Western Kentucky graduate Julien Lewis was named Wednesday as a Conference USA Fall Spirit of Service Award winner. The Madison, Ala., native is one of 13 C-USA student-athletes across the sports of cross country, soccer, volleyball and football to be honored.

Lewis was also recognized as the Male Athlete Community Outreach Award recipient at the inaugural TOPSY Awards in April and was also a nominee for the 2018 Wuerffel Trophy, which is known as college football’s premier award for community service. He is also an active member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and Fellowship of Christian Athletes at WKU.

The defensive lineman finished the 2018 season with 17 tackles, including one sack, while playing all 12 games for the Hilltoppers. For his career at WKU, Lewis made 63 tackles, including five tackles for loss, and blocked one kick in each of the past three years. He played in a team-high 39 straight games to cap his career at WKU.

In the classroom, Lewis graduated with a degree in sport management and currently boasts a 4.0 GPA in his recreation and sport management graduate studies. He is a two-time WKU President’s List, two-time C-USA Commissioner’s Academic Medal and three-time C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll recipient.

In the community, Lewis mentors high school students at Lighthouse Academy Alternative School in Bowling Green. He is also active with the Special Olympics community in Bowling Green, participating in its wheelchair basketball program as well as a Unified Flag Football game in May 2018.

The three Spirit of Service Award winners for WKU during the 2017-18 season were Hannah Chua of women’s soccer, Justin Johnson of men’s basketball and Mary Joiner of women’s golf.