Leominster's Grace Levesque '17 Receives Academic Excellence Award

2017 Mar 24

Assumption College senior Grace Levesque '17 has been named the recipient of the 2017 George A. Doyle Merit Award for Excellence in Economics or Global Studies. Levesque, of Leominster, is a double major in global studies and political science.

The Doyle Merit Award is named for the late Professor George Doyle, Ph.D., who established the economics and global studies program at Assumption College. Each year, the Department of Economics and Global Studies selects a senior who embodies Dr. Doyle's principles of having "extraordinary intellect, recognized community service, and potential within their field." The award carries a $1,500 prize, made possible by generous gifts to the Doyle Merit Award Fund.

Levesque matriculated to Assumption in 2014 with a Presidential Scholarship, and will graduate this spring, a full year early due to amassing 28 college credits while still in high school. As an undergraduate, she worked in the College's Reach Out Center for three years and is currently the College's service director for the Nativity School for Boys in Worcester. In this role, Levesque organizes tutors and other volunteers to work with the boys at the school one afternoon a week. An Augustinian Scholar, Levesque has studied at the College's Rome, Italy, Campus and interned for U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern in constituency case management where she focused on the areas of immigration, federally funded housing and the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program. This year, she was chosen as one of two student members of the Worcester World Affairs Council, a Massachusetts-chartered non-profit corporation formed in 1958 under the auspices of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

Upon graduation, Levesque plans to pursue a graduate degree, or work in a position related to climate change policy.

Levesque received her award during a ceremony on March 23. Keynote speaker Christina Presenti '09, an Assumption alumna who majored in global studies and 2009 Doyle Award recipient, spoke about her career since graduating from Assumption, in particular, her work with the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.