The College of DuPage athletic department was honored on Feb. 5 with the Silver Award in the Ron Case Cup, recognizing a second-place national finish among NJCAA Scholarship Division athletic programs during the 2024–25 season.

The award was presented at center court between the Chaparrals' women's and men's basketball games and celebrates overall excellence across COD's athletic programs. The Ron Case Cup is a national competition conducted by the National Alliance of Two-Year College Athletic Administrators (NATYCAA), recognizing the top-performing two-year college athletic departments in the country.

With the Silver Award, College of DuPage recorded its 10th top-three national finish in the history of the program.

Points in the Ron Case Cup are awarded based on team performances at NJCAA National Championship events, with national champions earning 20 points, second-place finishes earning 19 points, third-place finishes earning 18 points, and so on. Institutions may count the results of their top five men's sports and top five women's sports toward their total score.

During the 2024–25 season, the Chaparrals accumulated 164 total points, highlighted by national championships in football, men's cross country, men's track & field, and women's track & field. Additional scoring performances included third-place finishes in men's golf and women's volleyball, fourth-place finishes in men's tennis and women's cross country, and a seventh-place finish in women's tennis.

The award was presented by Ron Case, past NATYCAA president and creator of the Ron Case Cup more than 22 years ago. Case represented both NATYCAA and Daktronics, a world leader in large-format LED video displays, audio systems, and control systems, serving sport, business, and transportation markets globally.

"We appreciate Ron Case personally coming to College of DuPage to recognize our athletics department, along with Daktronics, as the second-best athletic department in the NJCAA Scholarship Division," said College of DuPage Athletic Director Ryan Kaiser. "This is a great honor to celebrate, and it reflects the efforts of our student-athletes, coaches, and administrators who make College of DuPage a special place to work."

NATYCAA is the only professional organization representing athletic programs at two-year institutions of higher education across the United States.