University of Delaware Athletics
Photo by: Mark Campbell
Aashaka Desai Named Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar of the Year Finalist
4/2/2020 3:30:00 PM | Women's Golf
FAIRFAX, Va. – University of Delaware women's golf senior Aashaka Desai earned national recognition this week as she was named a finalist for the 2020 Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar of the Year Award by Diverse: Issues In Higher Education.
Desai is one of 10 female finalists for the award, which honors outstanding young minority men and women who have distinguished themselves in their academic and athletic pursuits. Recipients must have maintained a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.5, are at least a sophomore academically, and have been active on their campuses or in their communities. Of the close to 1,000 scholar athletes nominated, one male and one female athlete will be selected as Sports Scholar of the Year.
"I am so proud of Aashaka," exclaimed head coach Patty Post. "She is truly the most giving, courageous person I know. She has a huge heart and a passion to help others that will lead her to great successes in the future. We were lucky to have Aashaka as a member of our team these past four years and as a member of the Blue Hens family forever!"
A team captain and native of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Desai is double majoring in computer science and cognitive science and is also a deaf student-athlete.
Within these majors, Desai works within the University of Delaware SLAM (Speech Language Acquisition and Multilingualism) Lab to research and learn how artificial intelligence technology can assist people with hearing loss in daily life activities. She has taken research and wrote software to analyze eye-gaze participant videos for experimental studies that use the Preferential Looking Procedure.
Desai has also worked with an anomic aphasia independent study project where she conducted research to identify gaps in literature. She also devised experiment for data collection and is working on an app to help with word recall using semantic networks, vectors and clutering techniques. Anomic aphasia (also known as dysnomia, nominal aphasia, and amnesic aphasia) is a mild, fluent type of aphasia where individuals have word retrieval failures and cannot express the words they want to say (particularly nouns and verbs). Anomia is a deficit of expressive language.
A consistent Dean's List and CAA Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll recipient, Desai is also a member of Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honors Society and the Association for Computing Machinery – Women in Computing Chapter. She also spends her time as University of Delaware Student Services for Athletes Student-Athlete Tutor and volunteers with the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation, Blue Hen Golf Camp, Emma's Art Kit Campaign, Exceptional Care for Children, Special Olympics Delaware, The First Tee Golf Clinic and the Omega Dubai Desert Classic/Ladies Masters.
Other female finalists for the award include: Maya Banks (Dominican University Tennis), Raena Eldridge (Texas A&M University Swimming & Diving), Carlene Luna California State University-San Bernardino Soccer), Thi Nguyen (Saint Joseph's University Track & Field), Erica Ogwumike (Rice University Basketball), Brenna Shanahan (University of Louisville Lacrosse), Faramola Shonekan (University of Missouri Track & Field), Chanel Thomas (University of Mississippi Soccer) and Claire Zanti (North Carolina State University Rifle).
Desai is one of 10 female finalists for the award, which honors outstanding young minority men and women who have distinguished themselves in their academic and athletic pursuits. Recipients must have maintained a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.5, are at least a sophomore academically, and have been active on their campuses or in their communities. Of the close to 1,000 scholar athletes nominated, one male and one female athlete will be selected as Sports Scholar of the Year.
"I am so proud of Aashaka," exclaimed head coach Patty Post. "She is truly the most giving, courageous person I know. She has a huge heart and a passion to help others that will lead her to great successes in the future. We were lucky to have Aashaka as a member of our team these past four years and as a member of the Blue Hens family forever!"
A team captain and native of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Desai is double majoring in computer science and cognitive science and is also a deaf student-athlete.
Within these majors, Desai works within the University of Delaware SLAM (Speech Language Acquisition and Multilingualism) Lab to research and learn how artificial intelligence technology can assist people with hearing loss in daily life activities. She has taken research and wrote software to analyze eye-gaze participant videos for experimental studies that use the Preferential Looking Procedure.
Desai has also worked with an anomic aphasia independent study project where she conducted research to identify gaps in literature. She also devised experiment for data collection and is working on an app to help with word recall using semantic networks, vectors and clutering techniques. Anomic aphasia (also known as dysnomia, nominal aphasia, and amnesic aphasia) is a mild, fluent type of aphasia where individuals have word retrieval failures and cannot express the words they want to say (particularly nouns and verbs). Anomia is a deficit of expressive language.
A consistent Dean's List and CAA Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll recipient, Desai is also a member of Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honors Society and the Association for Computing Machinery – Women in Computing Chapter. She also spends her time as University of Delaware Student Services for Athletes Student-Athlete Tutor and volunteers with the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation, Blue Hen Golf Camp, Emma's Art Kit Campaign, Exceptional Care for Children, Special Olympics Delaware, The First Tee Golf Clinic and the Omega Dubai Desert Classic/Ladies Masters.
Other female finalists for the award include: Maya Banks (Dominican University Tennis), Raena Eldridge (Texas A&M University Swimming & Diving), Carlene Luna California State University-San Bernardino Soccer), Thi Nguyen (Saint Joseph's University Track & Field), Erica Ogwumike (Rice University Basketball), Brenna Shanahan (University of Louisville Lacrosse), Faramola Shonekan (University of Missouri Track & Field), Chanel Thomas (University of Mississippi Soccer) and Claire Zanti (North Carolina State University Rifle).
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
Built To Win: NGWSD x Community
Tuesday, February 14
Delaware Blue Hens All-Sport Video 2021-22
Friday, December 09
Downstate Day
Thursday, April 19
2016 Outstanding Female Athlete - Andi Slane
Tuesday, February 06
