Park University was named a 2024-25 NAIA Five-Star Gold Institution on Monday, announced by the NAIA national office.
We are proud of our student-athletes and staff commitment to the NAIA's The Right Way to Play and Park's mission to transform lives through higher-education.
Institutions are measured on a demonstrated commitment to Champions of Character and earn points in character training, conduct in competition, academic focus, character recognition and character promotion. Institutions earned points based on exceptional student-athlete grade point averages and by having minimal to no ejections during competition throughout the course of the academic year.
A big credit to Park's Director of Athletics Kristin Gillette for leading the Pirates to a second consecutive year at the gold level. Gillette will be entering her fifth year at the head role of the athletics department and the emphasis on character driven athletics is at the core of how she leads the Pirates. Our coaches have propelled that messaging forward and the results speak for itself.
Over the past year, Park's students and staff have banned together with the community to be a helping hand. From a Teddy Bear Toss, youth clinics, men's basketball's consistent partnership with Jerry Lee Jarrett Life Center, softball Striking Out Cancer with Jill's Hope, or Sock It to Poverty with the Remy Williams Legacy Foundation; the Pirates have been an active participant in making positive impacts in the lives of others. This only lists out a few of the outreaches carried out by our terrific students and staff from this past year. With that said, Park Athletics looks ahead to 2025-26 with eagerness to hold fast to the values of Park University, the Heart of America Athletic Conference, and the NAIA.
