This fall, Professor Alec Ewald was named the winner of the 2022 College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Service Award! Professor Ewald has always been a stalwart provider of service to the university, college, and department. However, in the past year he truly distinguished himself through admirable service to the community, particularly through his outreach to and engagement with incarcerated individuals in Vermont’s prison system. Professor Ewald has long volunteered with Burlington’s Dismas House, which provides transitional housing for individuals released from prison, and now serves on the Dismas of Vermont Board of Directors.
This past year, Professor Ewald conducted a voterregistration program in Vermont’s six prisons as well as an additional facility in Mississippi where about one hundred Vermonters are incarcerated. Visiting each facility for a full day and working with correctional staff, he talked with incarcerated men and women about voting and helped them fill out registration and absentee-ballot forms, following up afterward with town clerks as needed. While this was a powerful and rich learning experience for him, it also served UVM’s public mission. Congratulations!