Presented to the senior male student who best exemplifies the qualities of character, leadership and scholarship. One of the two recipients for this year’s award is given to Luke Charles Zarzecki (he/him pronouns).

Luke is from Chicago and graduates with an environmental studies degree from the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources.

In academic, extracurricular and social spheres, he is an articulate voice for building strong communities devoted to social justice.

Luke was a Dewey Collective for Civic Engagement Scholar all four years at UVM. The Dewey House for Civic Engagement, one of the university’s Residential Learning Communities, emphasizes deep commitment to working collaboratively for social justice. Luke was also a founding member of the UVM chapter of Delta Upsilon, a fraternity guided by principles of friendship, character development, diffusion of liberal culture and advancement of justice.

A talented writer, Luke wrote for Headwaters Magazine, UVM’s undergraduate environmental publication. He published numerous articles on local, regional, and global environmental issues and served as editor during his junior and senior years. He also wrote news and features for several Vermont publications, including VTDigger. His article “Making the Greens Less White: Whose Woods are These?” for Vermont Sports focused on the issue of making outdoor spaces more welcoming to people of color.

An outdoor lover himself, he was chosen participant in the outdoor leadership development program WILD (Wilderness Instructor Leadership Development). After completing the program, he led hiking trips for the UVM Outing Club.

In the academic realm, Luke completed an internship at the local law firm Blodgett, Watts & Volk, P.C. and served as a UVM Leadership & Social Change Learning Community teaching assistant in two different classes.

Post UVM, Luke plans on pursuing environmental journalism or law.