Middlebury College student wins Vermont citizenship award

Middlebury College President Ronald Liebowitz and Middlebury College Alliance for Civic Engagement Director Tiffany Sargent congratulate junior Alexander Hall of Stillwater, Minn., for receiving the Vermont Student Citizen Award, presented by Vermont Teddy Bear Company.

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. ? Middlebury College junior Alexander Hall of Stillwater, Minn., is the recipient of the 7th annual Vermont Student Citizen Award for his efforts at the John W. Graham Emergency Shelter in Vergennes. Presented by The Vermont Teddy Bear Co., the award includes $1,000 for the student, a corporate gift of $1,000 to the non-profit organization where the student serves, and a $1,000 gift to the institution the student attends. According to Vermont Teddy Bear, the award recognizes exceptional volunteer efforts by college students across the state.

Hall, an international politics and economics major, was an intern at the Graham Shelter during the summer of 2006 and has continued working with the shelter and joined the Board of Directors. He has upgraded the organization’s computer applications, researched national and local trends in housing and homelessness to bolster the shelter’s grant writing efforts and built a fundraising database. Hall designed and produced a website for the shelter that is capable of accepting donations online and has helped arrange fund-raising events to benefit the shelter.

In addition to working with the John W. Graham Emergency Shelter, Hall has been active with the Middlebury College Alliance for Civic Engagement and the college’s Sunday Night Group, a student organization dedicated to tackling issues of environmental sustainability and social justice.

Created by The Vermont Teddy Bear Company in cooperation with Vermont Campus Compact, Vermont Higher Education Council and Vermont Life Magazine, the Vermont Student Citizen Award recognizes the outstanding community service contributions many Vermont college students make in the community to non-profit groups and civic organizations.