The Southern Conference announced its 2011-12 honor roll Monday afternoon, and 178 Georgia Southern student-athletes earned spots on the list, which recognized 1,950 student-athletes from the league’s institutions.

Southern Conference athletic directors established the honor roll prior to the 1988-89 athletic season as a way to recognize the league’s outstanding student-athletes. The academic honor roll consists of student-athletes who participated in varsity sports at member institutions and posted a 3.0 grade-point average or higher while passing at least 24 hours in two semesters of classes or its equivalent for other academic calendars.

Georgia Southern had 18 student-athletes posting a perfect 4.0 GPA, while 83 earned Commissioner’s Medal, recording a 3.5 GPA or higher.

Each of Georgia Southern’s teams were honored led by the Eagle football squad, which placed 35 members on the honor roll. The GSU swimming and diving squad logged 22 members, while the men’s soccer team had 17 honorees. The Southern Conference champion softball team had 16 honor roll student-athletes, including Effingham County High grad Tabby Douberly. Douberly, a junior, has a 3.24 grade point average in biology.

Women’s soccer had 15 honorees, followed by volleyball (13), women’s tennis (10) and women’s basketball (10).

As a unit, Georgia Southern athletics set a new program record with a 2.96 overall GPA for the 2011-12 academic year. The Eagles also set a new record with a 3.0 GPA in the spring semester of 2012, besting the previous semester record of 2.92 set in the fall of 2011.