West Newbury Resident Matthew Pendergast Makes Mark on Saint Anselm College

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Matthew Pendergast recognized for service and leadership at Saint Anselm College graduated on May 18.

MANCHESTER, NH (05/23/2013)(readMedia)-- West Newbury, Mass. resident Matthew Pendergast, graduated magna cum laude from Saint Anselm College on Saturday, May 18, following a distinguished college career of service and leadership.

In April, Saint Anselm College awarded Pendergast with the Paul S. Coleman Senior Service Award for Outstanding Community Service. As a junior, Campus Compact recognized him for his inspiring leadership and community service naming Pendergast a 2012 Newman Civic Fellow, along with 161 other students from 32 states.

Pendergast is said to leave a service mark not only on the campus, but around the country. During the last four years he was deeply involved in helping families living in Langdon Mills, an apartment complex for refugee families in Manchester, N.H. There he served as a member of the team that equips tenants with the skills and tools necessary to monitor for bedbugs in their homes, and helped provide activities for the building's youth. He also led the college's Furniture, Clothing, and Food Drive at the end of the academic year.

In addition, Pendergast participates in the college choir, provides leadership for the Wednesday night Mass music group, and has completed Road for Hope and Service & Solidarity Mission trips.

In awarding the Peace and Justice Studies major, Sue Gabert, Director of Campus Ministry, said he is, "the go-to-guy whenever you want to get something done."

"He is always bringing his youthful, fun-loving, sometimes a little off-the-wall spirit to all he does. Matt does not simply engage in service, he commits himself to the communities and people he meets through his service experience."

Dan Forbes, Director of the Meelia Center for Community Engagement at Saint Anselm, said, "Service to others has been a defining characteristic of his [Pendergast's] Saint Anselm experience, and it will no doubt continue to guide his life after graduation. His service has been outstanding by every measure: he has engaged in a wide variety of service roles; he has powerfully touched many, many lives; he has been the go-to volunteer for a number of campus departments; he has embraced some of the most challenging service work available and he has attended to his own growth and development along his service journey."

Pendergast earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Saint Anselm. He will continue his education through Notre Dame University's Alliance for Catholic Edication (ACE) Program, where he will earn a master's in education (from Notre Dame) while teaching fourth grade at St. Mary's Catholic School in Richmond, Va.

Saint Anselm College is a Catholic, Benedictine, liberal arts college in Manchester, N.H.