Creating Pathways to a Meaningful Life
As “A first-generation American” of immigrant parents, Alex Richardson ’19 never counted on college. “My initial plan was to go straight to the police academy after high school,” he said.
Surprisingly, it was summer baseball that changed his mind. Richardson’s father, a native of Saint Martin, had played baseball in the Caribbean, “so baseball was in my blood,” said Richardson, who took up the sport at a young age.
In searching for a summer travel team, Richardson discovered the team started by Robert Lewis, Jr., formerly known as the Astros. Lewis began the team in Boston’s Villa Victoria public housing complex in the 1970s. That effort grew into The BASE, a premier national urban youth academy that today combines sports and academic opportunities, serving over 850 student-athletes annually.
“At The BASE, there’s this slogan, ‘Earn your spot,’ which means that, if you show up and work hard, you will be rewarded,” said Justin Auguste ’20, a scholar of The BASE and a business management major. “Lots of kids in the program have struggled in school but go to college because of The BASE.”
Assumption was one of the first institutions to enter into a partnership with The BASE. Today, it provides two full-tuition scholarships annually to The BASE scholars from the original Roxbury facility. Plans are under way to support two more annual scholarships for The BASE national students as Lewis expands his program.
“Assumption has become an institution of choice for our students,” Lewis said. “It’s amazing what a institution and its leadership can do for urban education.”
Forming scholarship partnerships dovetails with Assumption’s mission, said President Francesco C. Cesareo, Ph.D. “Our goal is to provide students from all backgrounds with a college education, but more importantly, with a pathway to successful careers and a meaningful life.”
Richardson, a sociology and criminology major, hopes his next step will be a career with a nonprofit organization. “My duty now is to give back to others who are less fortunate than I am.”
By Supporting Them, We Support Others
Grace Clark ’19 thought she wanted to be a teacher until her senior year at Worcester’s St. Peter-Marian Central Catholic High School when she made a life-changing mission trip to Haiti.
“We went with the Be Like Brit Foundation and built a house for a family in need while also helping at the orphanage,” she said. While she was there, she was told that, as the property was being excavated to build the Be Like Brit orphanage, “they found the casket of a baby who died of a disease that could have easily been cured. That was when I realized I wanted to go into medicine.”
Clark was able to attend St. Peter-Marian thanks to the Worcester Diocese’s Adopt-a-Student program, which provides scholarships for families with a demonstrated need. Assumption forged a partnership with the Adopt-a-Student program to provide support for deserving students who lack the resources to pay for a private Catholic institution education.
At Assumption, Clark has been active as a resident assistant and in Campus Ministry. She has also continued to work in underserved communities. Besides traveling to Haiti several times to volunteer at the Be Like Brit orphanage, she earned a Community Engagement Grant from SOPHIA (SOPHomore Initiative at Assumption) to travel to Uganda and participate in the Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children’s Summer Health Fellowship.
After graduating with a biotechnology and molecular biology degree, Clark will attend the highly competitive Master of Physician Assistant program at Mass College of Pharmacy. She traces her success back to both of her scholarships. “Now I can pursue my goal of increasing the accessibility of quality health care around the world by going and providing medical care wherever there is a need,” she said.
Life-Changing Opportunities
Growing up in Irvington, NJ, as the son of immigrant parents was “very tough,” said Roupnel Pierre ’14, MBA ’16. “The kids there typically ended up in gangs, in jail, or dead.”
Earning a scholarship from Assumption through the Sister Thea Bowman Black Catholic Educational Foundation, a nonprofit organization that empowers African Americans to pursue their dream of earning a degree from a Catholic institution or university, gave him new opportunities. “Without the help of this Foundation, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” said Pierre, now a senior accountant at Unispace, a startup company in Boston.
The support he received from Assumption’s Associate Dean Jennifer Morrison, Ph.D., and Mary Lou Jennings HD ’17, executive director of the Foundation, “was amazing,” he said. “Dean Morrison supported me academically and socially, and Mary Lou came often to visit and review my academic progress. I got a lot more support than just a scholarship.”
“Assumption is such a wonderful school for us to partner with because of the institution’s dedication to teaching students how to think critically and form their own ideas,” Jennings said. “Assumption educates students not only pragmatically, but existentially, and that’s in keeping with our mission.”
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
I intend to make the most of it,” said Jasmin Veerapen ’21
Finding Purpose and Perspective
Jasmin Veerapen ’21 is equally appreciative of her scholarship from the Lynch Foundation, which awards financial aid to graduates of the Archdiocese of Boston’s inner-city Catholic high schools. Currently, in the Honors Program, she chose to major in psychology partly because her twin sister is on the autism spectrum. She was also inspired to consider a career in psychology or education by Assumption’s SOPHIA program, where “we talk about vocation, how to find your purpose in life, and what we can do to help people.”
“At Assumption, Lynch Scholars are provided the tools needed to become leaders in their communities and, in turn, positively impact the lives of those whom they encounter,” said Katie Everett, executive director of the Lynch Foundation. “Assumption’s commitment to providing not only financial assistance, but also academic support, mentoring, and leadership training to encourage the education of the whole person parallels the Lynch Foundation goals of increasing access to higher education and fostering the development of future leaders.”
“College is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” she said. “I intend to make the most of it.”
