Raines Receives SoCon Postgraduate Scholarship

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Mercer's Jack Raines is one of the Southern Conference's 10 postgraduate scholarship recipients for the 2019-20 academic year, the league office announced Thursday.

Raines is one of two recipients of a Bob McCloskey Insurance Scholarship. A defensive lineman and outside linebacker for the Bears' football team, Raines went from walk-on to starter and team captain over the course of his career, earning a full athletic scholarship after two seasons and wrapping up his career with 53 tackles that included six tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks during his redshirt senior season.

Throughout his career, Raines was active in the Mercer community and beyond, volunteering with the MS Society of Georgia, Rebuilding Macon, the American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity and Traffick Jam in the Macon, Georgia, area, and traveled to Zaruma, Ecuador, with the Mercer on Mission program, serving as a translator for Mercer engineering students and working with the city council of Zaruma to create an economic redevelopment plan. Raines, who was also President of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, annually raised money for the fraternity's Nick Whitlock Foundation.

A first-team CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2019, Raines is a three-time Academic All-SoCon performer and a four-time SoCon Academic Honor Roll selection, earning the Commissioner's Medal all four times for posting a GPA of 3.8 or higher and posting a 4.0 GPA three times. He finished his undergraduate career with a 3.99 GPA, completing the University Honors Program curriculum and graduating summa cum laude, and turned in a 3.75 GPA in 12 hours as a non-degree seeking student in his final semester. Raines was a member of the Phi Kappa Phi honor society and was a Mercer Presidential Scholar, a status he maintained throughout his college career.

A finance and Spanish double-major, Raines is a member of Columbia Business School's first deferred enrollment class, which will allow him to enter the workforce for two to four years before enrolling to complete his MBA. Raines was recently hired by UPS to serve as a domestic finance specialist in the company's global headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.

The recipients are nominated by their schools and selected by the SoCon Graduate Scholar Committee. The scholarships, worth $2,000 each, are awarded to student-athletes about to receive their undergraduate degrees who intend to pursue advanced degrees in graduate or professional school. The student-athletes are evaluated on academics, athletics and community service.

2019-20 SoCon Postgraduate Scholarship Recipients
Dave Hart Scholarship – William Stout (Wofford)
Dorothy Hicks Scholarship – Danni Vines (Furman)
Insurance Office of America Scholarship – Kirsty Beckwith (Chattanooga)
David Knight Scholarship – Maggie Johnston (Samford)
Bob McCloskey Insurance Scholarship – Jack Raines (Mercer); Sam Franklin (VMI)
William V. Moore Scholarship – Lakelyn Bouldin (Chattanooga)
Southern Conference Presidential Scholarship – Nikki Grupp (ETSU); Alexis Pitchford (UNCG); Emily Zipay (Western Carolina)

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Raines Receives SoCon Postgraduate Scholarship

Players Mentioned

Jack Raines

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