Bucknell President John Bravman Tabbed to Lead Patriot League’s Council of Presidents

Bucknell University President John Bravman will lead the highest governing body of the Patriot League, the Division l athletics conference in which Bison varsity athletes compete.

The league announced July 20 that Bravman will serve a two-year term as chair of the Council of Presidents, a body composed of the presidents and superintendents of the league's 10 member schools that oversees league policies, procedures and initiatives. Bravman has served on the council since joining Bucknell in 2010.

"I am honored by this responsibility," Bravman said. "I look forward to working with my colleagues across the league to advance its mission of embracing and promoting a true scholar-athlete model — one that holds academics paramount to our students' college experience."

As a charter member of the Patriot League, Bucknell has played an instrumental role in its foundation, growth and reputation as a place where student-athletes can excel at both academics and athletics without sacrificing high standards. A founding principle of the league is that member institutions admit and graduate scholar-athletes who are academically representative of their class. The Bison compete in the Patriot League in 24 varsity sports, 11 men's and 13 women's.

Bucknell has won the league's all-sports championship trophy, the Presidents' Cup, more than any other school, taking home the cup 18 of the 27 times it has been awarded. The Bison finished second in the 2016-17 Presidents' Cup race and closed out the academic year with six Patriot League championships. The Bison finished first in men's and women's basketball (clinching first-ever dual NCAA Tournament berths for Bucknell), women's cross-country, women's indoor track & field, women's outdoor track & field, and women's soccer. Men's water polo, which competes in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference, also earned a championship last year.

Bucknell also leads the league in Scholar-Athlete of the Year nods, and has the second-highest student-athlete graduation rate in the nation.

In addition to Bucknell, the Patriot League is made up of member institutions American University, Army West Point, Boston University, Colgate University, College of the Holy Cross, Lafayette College, Lehigh University, Loyola University Maryland and Navy. Associate members Fordham University, Georgetown University, MIT and the University of Richmond also compete in some sports.