Lindsay Newton Hines, who coaches swimming and women's golf at Campbellsville University, told a select group of student-athletes Wednesday morning that doing the right thing isn't always the most popular thing to do.

Hines knows because, she said, it wasn't that long ago that she was a student herself.

Hines was the guest speaker at the Champions of Character breakfast held in the Winters Dining Hall.

Champions of Character is a NAIA-sponsored program that has been mainstreamed into CU campus life through the University's “FIRST CLASS” initiative, headed by Dr. G. Ted Taylor, director ofthe CLASS (Character, Leadership and Stewardship Studies) Institute.

“No one else is doing it like we're doing it,” Taylor said.

Taylor said the university modeled the core attributes — respect, responsibility, integrity, sportsmanship and servant leadership — of the “Character” initiative and has encouraged every student to make a difference in someone's life as many times as they can throughout the year.

This year's breakfast was the fourth and also the fourth anniversary of the start of FIRST CLASS. CU has been named a Champions of Character University for six consecutive years.

“We're very proud of you and the way you represent the university and your team,” Rusty Hollingsworth, CU director of athletics, told the 17 students receiving the award for 2009.

Athletic teams have collected food for the poor, read to students in elementary schools, visited nursing homes, gone on mission trips and partnered with Sports Reach in collecting nearly 200 pair of shoes for the Appalachian Outreach.

“We are very pleased to once again be named a Champions of Character institution by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics,” Dr. Michael V. Carter, university president, said.

“The Champions of Character award is further evidence of our emphasis on basic values that define the type of servant leaders that we are trying to graduate from Campbellsville University. Our student athletes, coaches and the entire University family are to be commended for this further recognition from the NAIA. We are very grateful.”

Students spend as much as two hours a week in large and small groups, according to Taylor, working with peer mentors and an adult instructor.

“FIRST CLASS is the front door for every student on campus for character education,” Hollingsworth said.

CU's Champions of Character in each sport are: Nathan Quesenberry, baseball, senior, Elizabethtown, Ky.; Hristo Petkov, men's basketball, senior, Botevgrad, Bulgaria; Kristie Ensminger, women's basketball, junior, Kingston Springs, Tenn.;

Alicia Wren, cheerleading, senior, Bradfordsville, Ky.; Bryan Fuller, men's cross country, freshman, Russellville, Ky.; Amy Etherington, women's cross country, sophomore, Versailles, Ky.;

Sean Thompson, football, senior, Marion, Ky.; David Lee, men's golf, senior, Monroeville, Ala.; Cheris Evans, women's golf, junior, Inez, Ky.; Alex Adams, men's soccer, sophomore, Floyds Knobs, Ind.;

Danni Yannelli, women's soccer, senior, Lexington, Ky.; Jessica Gunby, softball, senior, Madisonville, Ky.; Lori Brooke Cato, swimming, freshman, Bowling Green, Ky.; John Harbold, men's tennis, freshman, Hopkinsville, Ky.;

Robin Hopkins, women's tennis, sophomore, Glasgow, Ky.; Tindi Munyasia, volleyball, junior, Nairobi, Kenya; and John Ashbrook, wrestling, freshman, Cynthiana, Ky.

Campbellsville University is a private, comprehensive institution located in South Central Kentucky. Founded in 1906, Campbellsville University is affiliated with the Kentucky Baptist Convention and has an enrollment of 2,601 students who represent 93 Kentucky counties, 27 states and 31 foreign nations. Listed in U.S.News & World Report's 2009 “America's Best Colleges,” CU is ranked 22nd in “Best Baccalaureate Colleges” in the South for the second consecutive year. CU has been ranked 16 consecutive years with U.S.News & World Report. The university has also been named to America's Best Christian Colleges®. Campbellsville University is located 82 miles southwest of Lexington, Ky., and 80 miles southeast of Louisville, Ky. Dr. Michael V. Carter is in his tenth year as president.