JACKSON — Copiah-Lincoln Community College is the recipient of the John C. and Ernestine McCall Halbrook Award.

The $1,000 cash award is presented annually to the college that experiences the largest increase in the percentage of athletes graduating. Co-Lin’s graduation rate for athletes went from 71 percent to 91 percent.

The annual awards program was authorized by a legislative resolution in 1984 and named in honor of its founder and endower, former Representative David M. Halbrook and his brothers, John C., James G., and J. A. Halbrook.

The Halbrook Awards for Academic Achievement Among Athletes program is administered cooperatively by the Institutes for Higher Learning, the State Board of Community and Junior Colleges, and the Mississippi Association of Independent Colleges. The purpose of the awards program is to recognize colleges and universities that maintain and achieve high academic standards for student athletes, thus encouraging high graduation rates among athletes.

In the public universities division, the University of Southern Mississippi was recognized for having the highest percentages of both male and female athletes graduating. Millsaps College was recognized in the independent colleges division, and Meridian Community College won in the community and junior college division.

This year’s awards were presented during the Mississippi Association of Colleges and Universities Annual Conference hosted by Jackson State University.