Saint Michael's College Senior Katherine Hackett of Huntington, NY, receives Campus Compact awards

Recognized for Service and Engagement

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2. Saint Michael’s Senior Katherine Hackett receives Vt,. Campus Compact Award from former Governor Madeleine Kunin, April 2011.

COLCHESTER, VT (04/27/2011)(readMedia)-- She is the leader of the Best Buddies program which pairs scores of Saint Michael's College students each year with people from the community with cognitive and physical disabilities. She single-handedly recruited more than 45 people to take the Penguin Plunge into icy Lake Champlain this winter, raising $3,500 in support of Vermont Special Olympics, a program involving many Best Buddies participants. And this is only the beginning.

She is Katherine Hackett, a senior sociology/anthropology major at Saint Michael's College, daughter of William and Madeleine Hackett of Huntington, N.Y., whose service and leadership is boundless. She was recognized April 7th for her outstanding community service by Vermont Campus Compact at their 2011 Statewide Awards Ceremony held in Montpelier at the Capital Hotel and Conference Center. Ms. Hackett was named the Saint Michael's recipient of the Commitment to Service & Engagement Award.

This week Ms. Hackett was named a Newman Civic Fellow by the national Campus Compact organization. 135 students from 30 states were honored as Newman Fellows, a recognition that singles out "inspiring college student leaders who have demonstrated an investment in finding solutions for challenges facing communities throughout the country." Newman Fellows are nominated by college presidents from each state.

Service work in Ecuador, Hartford, New Orleans and Vermont

Last year Ms. Hackett studied on a Saint Michael's College Lacey competitive fellowship at Universidad San Francisco de Quito, in Ecuador, focusing on Spanish language and Ecuadorian history, in Spanish-only classes. She also worked 20 hours a week at Fundacion Integrar, a program for children with disabilities, and lived with an Ecuadoran family in Quito.

Ms. Hackett has worked in Saint Michael's Extended Service programs in soup kitchens, shelters and with Haibtat for Humanity in Hartford, Conn., and New Orleans. Upon graduation this year, she will travel to the Dominican Republic to continue service work. She is also active in Saint Michael's College student government, the admission office, campus ministry and new student orientation. She has represented Saint Michael's, speaking on many occasions, most recently at the 2010 Academic Convocation.

"Katherine has demonstrated an extraordinary willingness to give of herself," said Heidi St. Peter, director of the Saint Michael's volunteer service program. "She has made a real difference in people's lives."

Vermont Campus Compact relocates to Saint Michael's College

Vermont Campus Compact relocated to Saint Michael's College in March with Cheryl Whitney-Lower, Interim Executive Director, after ten years of being hosted on the Middlebury College campus.

Vermont Campus Compact is a statewide consortium of 17 college and university presidents committed to creating a flourishing democracy. VCC presidents believe that through sustained and creative student, faculty and institutional engagement with communities, higher education can help prepare tomorrow's civic and social leaders while strengthening communities and improving lives in Vermont and elsewhere. For more information: www.vtcampuscompact.org

Nationally, Campus Compact is a coalition of some 1,100 college and university presidents-representing over 6 million students-who are committed to fulfilling the civic purposes of higher education to improve community life and to educate students for civic and social responsibility. Through the Newman Civic Fellows Awards, college and university presidents acknowledge students with the ability and motivation to create lasting change in our communities. For more information about the Newman Civic Fellows, visit www.compact.org

Learn What Matters at Saint Michael's College, The Edmundite Catholic liberal arts college, www.smcvt.edu . Saint Michael's provides education with a social conscience, producing graduates with the intellectual tools to lead successful, purposeful lives that will contribute to peace and justice in our world. Founded in 1904 by the Society of St. Edmund and headed by President John J. Neuhauser, Saint Michael's College is located three miles from Burlington, Vermont, one of America's top college towns. It is identified by the Princeton Review as one of the nations Best 371 Colleges, and is included in the 2011 Fiske Guide to Colleges. Saint Michael's is one of only 280 colleges and universities nationwide, one of only 20 Catholic colleges, with a Phi Beta Kappa chapter. Saint Michael's has 1,900 undergraduate students, some 500 graduate students and 100 international students. Saint Michael's students and professors have received Rhodes, Woodrow Wilson, Pickering, Guggenheim, Fulbright, and other grants. The college is one of the nation's top-100, Best Liberal Arts Colleges as listed in the 2011 U.S. News & World Report rankings.

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