Sonya Hopkins has been promoted to Associate Athletic Director of Academics at Butler. Vice President/Director of Athletics Barry Collier made the announcement Wednesday, Nov. 25.

Hopkins will continue to oversee academic services and support for the more than 500 student-athletes within Butler's athletics department. Her expanded role places her on the department's senior leadership team. Hopkins has also taken on the responsibility of spearheading the department's #BUnited Initiative and serves as Butler's representative on the BIG EAST Diversity and Inclusion Working Group.

"Our student-athletes have greatly benefitted from Sonya's guidance since she first arrived at Butler," said Collier. "Her experience as an administrator, coach and student-athlete continues to be a valuable resource to our department. This enhanced role will allow Sonya to have an even larger impact on our student-athletes and Butler Athletics as a whole."

Butler student-athletes posted one of the most impressive academic semesters in program history during the spring 2020 semester. The Butler Athletics department and its teams combined to post a cumulative GPA of 3.563. Three Butler athletics teams were recognized with BIG EAST Team Academic Awards for the 2019-20 season for having the highest collective grade-point averages in their respective conference sport. That total ranked fourth among the conference schools.

Butler had five of its programs honored by the NCAA with Public Recognition Awards in May. The distinction is for academic excellence after they scored in the top 10 percent of their sports in the most recent Academic Progress Rate (APR) results. Butler's women's golf and women's tennis programs are among an exclusive list of 62 teams nationally that have earned Public Recognition Awards in all 15 years of the program.

Butler Athletics launched BUnited, a department-wide initiative focused on empathy, education and experience, in June. Its mission is Building Unity Through Leadership, Education and Respect.

Hopkins joined the Butler Athletics staff in August of 2006 as the Coordinator of Academic Support. She most recently served as an Associate Director. In addition to her academic oversight responsibilities, Hopkins has worked alongside Butler's Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), and is the liaison between the athletic department and the NCAA for the Student Athlete Affairs program (formerly CHAMPS/Life Skills). 

Hopkins served as the volleyball coach at her alma mater, Southern Illinois, for 14 seasons. She was named Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year in 2002, as well as being named the Black Coaches Association Female Coach of the Year in 2003. As a student-athlete, Hopkins (then known as Sonya Locke) earned All-America honors in 1981 and was inducted into SIU's athletics Hall of Fame in 1988.