Ashland University has been most commonly regarded for its excellence in athletics at the Division II level. AU’s focus on athletic superiority has put the university on the map when it comes to NCAA and GLIAC leaders, but it is what individual athletes are doing off the field that is getting them noticed in the things that matter the most.

Senior linebacker Zach Bernhard exemplifies excellence in off-the-field production and service to the Ashland community and university.

In September, Bernhard was recognized as a member of the 2016 Allstate America Football Coaches Association Good Works Team.

An award only given to 24 college football players across the nation, Bernhard’s membership to this team is one of the most prestigious awards that an athlete can receive throughout his or her college career.

Bernhard described the moment head football coach Lee Owens told him he had received the award.

“My reaction was something along the lines of “are you kidding,”” Bernhard said. “I was in a special teams meeting and you can ask any guy in that room, I think I smiled for the rest of the meeting. It was five years of hard work all coming together.”

The 25th anniversary Good Works Team had 165 nominees. 12 athletes were chosen from the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision. 12 more were chosen from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision, Division II, III and NAIA schools.

Among those 24 athletes, one can be chosen as the Good Works Team Captain. Also out of those 24 athletes, not one goes to a college in the same town where they grew up.

“Doing service for this community, with the people I grew up with and those who helped shape and create me into who I am; this is an award for them as much as it is an award for me,” Bernhard said.

As an Ashland native, Bernhard has involved himself in a number of volunteer groups and opportunities that have carried over into his college career. 

Throughout his first few years at AU, Bernhard volunteered countless hours as the University Hospitals Samaritan Medical Center, either assisting the medial staff or individual patients. He has also coached local youth basketball and baseball in the Ashland area, allowing him to serve not only as a mentor, but a role model for several children.

“Spending time with the kids around the community and coaching the different teams is the most rewarding service I have done in the Ashland community,” Bernhard said. “My love for sports and wanting to see the high school do well is important to me and that starts with the youth.”

Bernhard got involved in these service opportunities in his efforts to get into medical school. After graduating in spring 2016 as a Biochemistry major, Bernhard is now working towards getting his MBA at AU and is currently applying for medical schools down south.

Outside of his volunteering in the Ashland community, Bernhard took a Cultural Immersion trip to Navajo in the summer of 2015. This program, sponsored by AU’s college of nursing and health sciences, takes students on a cultural journey to Window Rock, Arizona where they worked at the Fort Defiance Indian Hospital and learned about how the hospital integrates traditional Navajo healing practices into western medicine.  

“Going out there and seeing the third world living conditions that all these people lived in and seeing that type of environment in the middle of the U.S., you wouldn’t think that really exists,” Bernhard said. “Seeing the type of care that was being given to the people out there and being a part of it was awesome. It was probably the most life changing service I have ever done.”

In most recent years, Bernhard has gotten involved with AU’s Student Athletic Advisory Committee, which he has served as president of the past two academic years.

It was following Bernhard’s revamping of the committee that S.A.A.C. really began accomplishing the goals they would set at the start of the school year. 

“The biggest change is involvement and engagement,” AU athletic director Al King said. “They are doing things they have never done before. What we needed was a couple of students that could really take ownership and come up with ideas to raise money and that is what Zach has done.” 

S.A.A.C. finally raised more than a few hundred dollars for their philanthropy, Make A Wish, raising over 5,000 dollars last year. All the money was raised after the successful execution of events and his push for all athletes to involve themselves more in the committee. 

Bernhard attributes S.A.A.C.’s success in the past two years to the committee’s advisor and AU’s Director of Sports Marketing and Promotions, Rachel O’Connor.

“Rachel has really been a catalyst to everything that we have wanted to get done,” Bernhard said. “We always had good ideas, but we did not have anyone to help us get them pushed through and established by the university. Rachel was able to bridge the gap for us.”

Bernhard will continue serving as S.A.A.C.’s president for the remainder of his time at AU and they will continue sponsoring events in hope to raise more money for the Make a Wish Foundation than they had last year.

“He has a lot of credibility,” King said. “People listen to him, not just in football but across the student body. He has really been able to rally the troops and convince people that this is important.”

Bernhard and the rest of the award recipients will be recognized during halftime of the 2017 Allstate Sugar Bowl on Jan. 2. The deadline to vote for Bernhard is Nov. 23.

To vote for Bernhard as the Good Works Team Captain, visit ESPN.com/Allstate.