Janean Cuffee (New York, NY/The Lawrenceville School), a member of the New York University women's basketball team who graduated in May, has been awarded an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.

The NCAA awards up to 126 postgraduate scholarships annually. They are awarded to student-athletes who excel academically and athletically and who are at least in their final year of intercollegiate athletics competition.

"I could not be more honored to have been selected for this award," Cuffee said. "Given that this scholarship is across all three divisions, being selected out of many deserving applicants truly makes me feel special, especially since I was not able to play my senior year for NYU. Having the selection committee award me with this scholarship and honor is truly appreciated."

The one-time non-renewable scholarships of $10,000 are awarded three times a year corresponding to each sport season (fall, winter and spring). Each sports season there are 21 scholarships available for men and 21 scholarships available for women for use in an accredited graduate program.

Cuffee becomes the seventh Violet to receive the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship:
1992 - Kristina Brewer (Swimming)
1997 - Jennifer Krolikowski (Basketball)
1998 - Marsha Harris (Basketball)
2015 - Emily Doerner (Swimming)
2017 - John Messinger (Wrestling)
2018 - Kaitlyn Read (Basketball)

Cuffee had an outstanding playing career at NYU, including a brilliant junior season (2019-20) in which she helped lead the Violets to the second round of the 2020 NCAA Tournament. Cuffee's 20.4 points per game were the second-highest single-season total in program history. She was selected NYU Female Junior Scholar Athlete of the Year and the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association Division III Player of the Year, as well as First Team All-UAA (University Athletic Association), All-ECAC (Eastern College Athletic Conference) and D3hoops.com All-East Region.

 
Cuffee's brilliance extended to off-court honors, as well, as she was named CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) All-Academic District 3, received the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Student-Athlete Award, was a member of the UAA Presidents Council Scholar-Athlete Team, and earned the Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sports-Scholar Award.

"My collegiate basketball career was a special time as I was surrounded by amazing and loving people," Cuffee explained. "Without the support from all my coaches and teammates throughout my career, this award would not have been possible. I want to give Coach (Meg) Barber a shout out for pushing me to be the best I could be on and off the court and trusting me to leave a lasting impact on NYU. Despite having immense fun on the court and exceeding 1,000 points, my greatest accomplishment is the work I did my senior year off the court focusing on creating a diverse and equitable athletics experience for minority athletes and driving NYU athletes to use their voices, specially in regards to voting. Of course, the thrill and excitement of making it to the NCAA Tournament with the team my junior year will also not be forgotten."

Despite the absence of a 2020-21 basketball season due to the coronavirus pandemic, Cuffee continued to showcase inclusion of her peers in seeking justice through her efforts to drive voter enrollment during the November 2020 elections. Her initiative helped engage a voter population which has historically been underrepresented. Cuffee helped empower her peers to find their voices in states across the country, in many cases where a decision may have been made by the narrowest of margins which ultimately impacted the outcome of the election.

An avid supporter of NYU programs in support of justice, Cuffee helped create a student-athlete affinity group for the support of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPoC) students on campus while also serving on the Department of Athletics Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Working Group as a student representative. Cuffee also spearheaded a donation drive within the NYU men's and women's basketball teams as well as the UAA for the Black Lives Matter movement, and founded BLAC (Black Latinx Athlete Coalition) within the NYU Athletics Community.

"Although a number of things did not go right this past year due to the pandemic, a ray of light existed with Janean," stated Stuart Robinson, NYU's Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and Director of Athletics. "Throughout this past year, she never stopped being who she is in terms of thinking about and looking to have an impact on others. The NCAA Scholarship is recognition for her tremendous skills as a student, an athlete and most importantly, as a person. To be provided this opportunity will actually benefit the students whose lives she will impact. That is truly awesome."  

Cuffee, who also led the team in 2019-20 with 45 steals, accumulated 1,075 points during her three-year NYU playing career, graduating 14th on the team's all-time scoring list.

 

Now that her undergraduate career is over, she can concentrate on moving forward.  

"I am pursuing teaching in order to continue to leave a lasting impact on future generations," Cuffee revealed. "I will be an eighth-grade history teacher at Williamsburg Collegiate Charter School working with under-resourced and underrepresented populations. My goal is to assist these students to the best of my ability and ensure they know their voices are important and necessary."

Successful on and off the court as an undergrad, Cuffee now takes her talents to the next level.  

"My collegiate career opened my eyes to the many injustices within our country and the education system, and my goal as a history teacher is to shed light on how to better our society," Cuffee continued. "The students I am working with are the future, and their voices need to be heard. In addition to teaching, I will be attending a part-time program at Relay Education in Manhattan partnered with Uncommon Schools (a charter school network) to attain my teaching certificate and Master of Arts in Teaching."

As one experience ends for Janean Cuffee (New York, NY/The Lawrenceville School), the next one begins. No doubt success will follow wherever she goes.