BIRMINGHAM – Former UAB track and field student-athlete JaCarey Heard has been awarded the NCAA Ethnic Minority Enhancement Graduate Scholarship.
The NCAA awards $10,000 to 13 ethnic minorities and 13 female college graduates entering their initial year of graduate studies. The scholarship is awarded to those accepted into a sports administration program that will help the applicant obtain a career in intercollegiate athletics.
“Congratulations to JaCarey for earning the Ethnic Minority Scholarship,” said track and field head coach Kurt Thomas. “She is such an amazing story and has worked so hard for this. Carey was a good athlete for us and worked tremendously hard. She became a mentor and tutor for our athletic department and now is furthering herself with this master’s degree. She is a great role model for female student athletes and is very deserving of this scholarship.”
Heard, a high jumper for the Blazers from 2015-17, graduated cum laude from UAB in the fall of 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in heath management. She was a multi-year recipient of the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll and the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll, twice earning Presidential and Dean’s List Honors. In 2016, she received both the Arthur Ashe Junior Scholar Award and the BWOMAN Scholastic Excellence.
The Atlanta, Ga. native is currently a graduate student at the University of Alabama studying sports management. She works fulltime in the athletics department at Tide Pride Ticketing Office and is expected to graduate with her master’s degree in December of 2020.
“Winning this award lets me know that everything happens for a reason,” said Heard. “While at UAB, I studied Healthcare Management but thanks to the opportunities I had interning with UAB’s Student Athlete Support Services and working with the Mayor’s Office of Sports and Entertainment, I was able to recognize my true passion in Athletic Administration. My goal after graduation is to positively influence the lives of college student-athletes as an athletic administrator by cultivating a culture focused on athletic success, academic excellence and the sustained vitality of student athletes beyond graduation. I want to thank the NCAA for choosing me for such an amazing award.”
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