The late Alfred “Fred” Maurice’s curiosity and desire to see students succeed inspired him to establish a challenge prize for Western Oregon University students.
A WOU benefactor and honorary faculty member, he created the J. Dolores and Alfred P. Maurice Endowed Challenge Prize, a challenge for undergraduates who complete a year-long project in quest for a $5,000 prize.
2024 Prize winners
The 2024 Prize winners are Angeles Reyes Mondragon (left) and Jaidah A. Garcia (right). Angeles is a junior majoring in education with a minor in English to speakers of other languages (ESOL) and Jaidah is a senior majoring in psychology and participating in the university’s Honors Program. Their project researched the prospects of establishing a Dream Center at WOU to assist undocumented students, who may also be referred to as “Dreamers” and/or “DACA” recipients. The focus of their efforts is to address the distinctive challenges undocumented students encounter in pursuing higher education that other students do not face. The students presented their work at WOU’s annual Academic Excellence Showcase.
Maurice Undergraduate Initiative $5,000 AWARD
A professor to the last day of his life, Alfred Maurice continues to inspire students even after his passing. He didn’t care if students failed trying to find a solution to a problem. Instead, he encouraged students to get out of their comfort zone to learn something.
That was his incentive for creating the challenge for undergraduate students.
Students interested in competing for the prize need to:
- Identify a problem that matters to you
- Approach problem-solving in a way that demonstrates your creativity, innovation and collaboration with others—even if you don’t finish solving the problem
- Share what you learned about yourself and your abilities, what you learned about the problem, and what you think your project shows us about your own “art of living”
The $5,000 prize will be given to the individual or team demonstrating the deepest learning and problem-solving strategy.
Interested?
To apply, read the guidelines under the tabs above, and submit an “Intent to Participate” by Dec. 13.
