The same day the College of William & Mary celebrates its 322nd anniversary, it will honor a senior who dedicated her four years with the longstanding institution to community service.
Marge Lobeck, a literary and cultural studies major, will receive the Monroe Prize in Civic Leadership at the college’s Charter Day ceremony Feb. 6.
“I would honestly dedicate [the prize] to everyone who has ever helped me to do anything I’ve done,” Lobeck said in a news release. “It was a nice reminder that the work that I’m doing is useful and important.”
Lobeck started at the college as a Sharpe Community Scholar — a program for first-year students that combines academics with community engagement.
Her community involvement continued throughout her four years at William & Mary, culminating with an effort she spearheaded to launch of the college’s chapter of Camp Kesem, a national organization that provides free camp to children whose parents are suffering from cancer.
With the help of fellow W&M students, Lobeck successfully launched the first camp last summer at the Jamestown 4-H Educational Center.
“I literally cried every day at camp, but it wasn’t because I was sad for them or felt sorry for them or because their parents had cancer, but because they were so happy and they finally found that place where they fit in,” she said. “That was something that was indescribable to me.”
Also in her time with W&M, Lobeck volunteered with Big Brothers Big Sisters and Dream Catchers Therapeutic Riding Center. She interned with the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, led the AIDS Tanzania alternative break trip, worked in South Africa to revamp its art program, and serves as the current student director for Branch Out International to oversee trip leaders for all of the college’s international alternative breaks.
Lobeck plans to continue her involvement with community service after graduation, hoping to “provide people with the tools and resources to feel empowered.”
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