St. Francis Brooklyn Secures Building Communities Award presented by Bayer 6/11/2015 Somerset, NJ - Sacred Heart’s “Drive for Five” was derailed by St. Francis Brooklyn’s surge up the leader board. The Terriers won the NEC Building Communities Award presented by Bayer, ending Sacred Heart’s four-year run as the BCA champion. “Special congratulations to St. Francis Brooklyn for winning its first NEC Building Communities Award, which recognizes the student-athlete population that has the highest percentage of participation in community services activities as well total hours donated,” explained NEC Commissioner Noreen Morris, who supported the establishment of the award in 2010. The Building Communities Award presented by Bayer was conceived by the NEC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) as a means of recognizing the institution which demonstrates the highest dedication to making an impact in the community. As part of its corporate partnership with the NEC, Bayer, one of the world's foremost life sciences companies specializing in human, animal and plant health, is recognized as the presenting sponsor of this prestigious honor. Bayer's support of this program includes a donation to the charity of the winning institution's choice. As a whole, NEC student-athletes from 10 member institutions accounted for 24,922 hours of service during the 2014-15 academic calendar. That number immensely impressed Morris. “On behalf of the NEC Council of Presidents, I would like to thank the NEC student-athletes for continuing to give back to their communities in record numbers!” “I’m proud to be associated with these student-athletes, as they are dedicated to making a difference and enhancing their local communities,” said Morris. St. Francis Brooklyn’s athletics director Irma Garcia has enjoyed a fruitful year in Brooklyn Heights and was pleased to close it out with the department’s first-ever Building Communities Award. “It is truly an honor to receive this award.” A former SFBK student-athlete herself, Garcia pointed to the College’s Franciscan roots and the mission to serve. “This was an incredible year, and it’s a thrill to conclude it by winning the Building Communities Award! Our student-athletes and coaches did an outstanding job to demonstrate who we really are, and to live by what is known as the ‘Franciscan Way.’ As a college and an athletic department, we are all about serving our communities.” Garcia will be present to formally accept the award from Morris at the Spring Meetings Commissioner’s Banquet on Thursday in Red Bank, NJ. Sacred Heart, which finished second in the point-based rankings, totaled the highest numbers of service hours (6,723). Each of the top six finishers exceeded 2,000 hours of service. About Bayer Corporation Bayer Corporation is a subsidiary of Bayer AG, a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, agriculture and high-tech materials. As an inventor company, Bayer sets trends in research-intensive areas. Bayer products and services are designed to benefit people and improve the quality of life. At the same time, Bayer aims to create value through innovation, growth and high earning power. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development and acts as a socially and ethically responsible corporate citizen. In fiscal 2014, Bayer employed 118,888 people at year-end and had sales of €42.2 billion. In North America, Bayer had 2014 net sales of €10,248 million ($13,630 million) and employed 16,317 at year-end. For more information, go to www.bayer.us. About the Northeast Conference Now in its 34th year, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of 10 institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to four of the largest markets in the United States - New York (#1), Pittsburgh (#23), Baltimore (#27), and Hartford/New Haven (#30). Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 22 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 14 different NCAA Championships. NEC member institutions include Bryant, Central Connecticut, Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU Brooklyn, Mount St. Mary's, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league's official website (www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Google+, all @NECsports.