General | 1/21/2026 10:09:00 AM

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference announced its inaugural class of L.P. Hill Unity in Sports Award honorees for the 2025-26 season. The award recognizes the contributions of an individual or group on each member campus that, through intercollegiate athletics, epitomizes the promise of Unity, Equity, and Access For All. This year, Bloomsburg's Executive Director of Diversity, Inclusion and Multicultural Affairs Madelyn Rodriguez was named the department's honoree.
 
The award is named after Leslie Pinckney Hill, the first President of Cheyney State Teacher's College. From 1913 to 1950, he was the Principal of the Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia and oversaw its establishment as Cheyney State Teachers College.  The Phi Beta Kappa, Harvard-educated son of a former slave taught at Tuskegee Institute and was a renowned educator, writer, poet, and community leader. 
 
In 1927, a year after the first documents that created the Pennsylvania State Normal School Athletic Association, Mr. Hill argued for the inclusion of Cheyney in the Associations bylaws which had been left out in the initial drafting.  The Board of Principals immediately rectified this error, and all 14 state-owned institutions were then included in the Association's initial governing documents.

Rodriguez was selected because she provides support for underrepresented student-athletes and programming to engage with issues of equity and belonging. Rodriguez is the Executive Director of Diversity, Inclusion and Multicultural Affairs and is the Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Designee.

L.P. HILL AWARD WINNERS – 2025-26
- Bloomsburg: Madelyn Rodriguez, Executive Director, Multicultural Center
- California: Pete Ware, Campus Ministry
- Clarion: Brehan Kelly, Head Men's/Women's Swimming Coach
- East Stroudsburg: Dr. Shawn Munford, Faculty Athletics Representative
- Edinboro: Fighting Scots Football Team
- Gannon: Dr. Jinhee Yoo, Professor, Sport Management and Marketing
- Indiana: Scott & Liz Weigner, Campus Ministry
- Kutztown: Christine Price, Director, Women's Center
- Lock Haven: Kenny Hall, Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Designee
- Mansfield: Molly McLeer, Sprint Football Student-Athlete
- Millersville: Center for Health Education and Promotion
- Pitt-Johnstown: Sherri Rae, Director of Campus and Community Engagement
- Seton Hill: Jasmine Browner, Coordinator, Student Services
- Shepherd: Annie Lewin, Title IX Director
- Shippensburg: Miranda Fisher, Assistant Director of Sports Medicine
- Slippery Rock: Ryenn Micaletti, Head Women's Basketball Coach
- West Chester: Dr. Tammy James, Professor, Department of Health