St. Paul, MN - Ezra Blumer was named as the UMAC Male Scholar-Athlete Leadership Award winner. Blumer tied with Cody Nye of Minnesota Morris for the honor, while Elizabeth Lofstad of North Central was the female recipient. Each spring, the UMAC recognizes outstanding senior student-athletes who demonstrate a healthy balance by achieving excellence in academics, leadership, and service while participating in intercollegiate athletics, through the UMAC Scholar-Athlete Leadership Award.

Blumer becomes the fifth MLC student-athlete to earn the honor, with the last winner coming from Josh Koelpin in 2018-2019.

UMAC Commissioner Corey Borchardt said "Each year, it is so enjoyable to read through the list of nominees for this award and the supporting information for each nominee from our member institutions.  We have some incredible student-athletes in the UMAC that perform at such a high level both athletically and academically but also do some amazing service in their campus and local communities as well.  These three award winners, Elizabeth, Ezra, and Cody, embody the NCAA Division III philosophy and our UMAC core values, illustrated in their significant achievements and outstanding leadership to their teams, campuses, local communities and beyond." 

 Blumer is majoring in Biblical Languages (Pre-Seminary training in Greek & Hebrew + Spanish minor) and has a GPA of 3.46. The senior has played Men's Basketball (2020-2023) and Men's Soccer (2020) at MLC.

Academic Achievement: 

• 2x UMAC Academic All-Conference

• 2x MLC Dean's List

• Renewable MLC Witness Scholarship

• Northwestern College Alumni Scholarship

• Salem Grant Conrad Frey Scholarship

Leadership:

Ezra's basketball coach noted that "Ezra was as a positive leader and a willing servant." Ezra's leadership has been noted in various campus locations including Student Life, Admissions, the Academic Success Center, and the Cultural Engagement Center. Please see the notes below about these activities. 

Service: 

• Team Captain, organized workouts in the off-season, general check-ups on players 

• Volunteer work done as MLC Student Body Vice President (2022-2023), Committee member of Student  Organization Anchor (Anchor is in charge of providing service opportunities to students on campus) 

• Helped create a peer mentorship program (2022-2023) in MLC's Cultural Engagement Center (20 juniors paired with first-year students to provide opportunities for mentorship, as part of this we brought in speakers to  talk about mentorships; worked w/ Professor Robinson, Professor Thompson)  

• Member of Committee helping to better the overall student health at MLC (Wellness Committee 2022- 2023) Served on a committee committed to bettering emotional, physical, and spiritual help at MLC alongside professors (w/ Student Life office).  

• Raised $800 for non-profit Logan Loves through a Pancake Breakfast (2021): Logan Loves is an organization bringing joy to kids in the hospital at Minnesota Children's Hospital.  

• Paid work as MLC tour guide and a student ambassador for Martin Luther College (2021-2023) 

• Supervisor and tutor for the MLC Academic Success Center (2022-2023). 

• Started a Twin Cities Youth Night (2021) - Gathered churches from around the metro area for a 3x/year youth night, gathered kids from 8 churches and over 150 kids.  

• In charge of equipping and leading volunteers helped to employ Youth Nights across the Country (2021- 2022)  

• Served on a committee that brought the Youth Night idea across America, now over 20 churches across  the country have had a youth night in their area.  

• Organized volunteering at a Senior Citizen home with high schoolers at my church (2022). We raised  money, collected items, and assembled "blessing baskets" which we then distributed to our local senior citizen home Volunteered at a teen retreat at Cam.

Other:

Basketball stats for Ezra's career: 8.5 points per game, 1.21 steals per game, 5.8 rebounds per game, 2PT FG%:  35.6%. Career totals: 541 pts, 373 rebounds, 78 steals, and 100 assists.