The Evergreen State College landed among the top tier of NAIA schools nationally after earning Champions of Character Five-Star Silver recognition for the 2025-26 academic year.
The honor, announced Tuesday, Aug. 4, by Geoducks athletics, places Evergreen among 203 institutions nationwide recognized for character-driven competition. The NAIA scores schools on a 100-point scale across five areas: character training, conduct in competition, academic focus, character recognition and character promotion. Silver status requires 75 to 89 points.
The Cascade Collegiate Conference, Evergreen's home league, also earned Five-Star Conference status for 2025-26. Six CCC members received Gold (90-100 points), while Evergreen and four other conference schools earned Silver.
The program scores institutions on student-athlete GPAs and minimal ejections during competition throughout the academic year. Its five core values are integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship and servant leadership.
The recognition arrives as Geoducks fall sports ramp up. The men's soccer team returned to campus Aug. 1 and opens on-field action with the Alumni Game on Saturday, Aug. 8, at Geoduck Pitch on the Evergreen campus at 3 p.m.
