Craig Lavoie Named 2007 Carl Albert Award Recipient

Craig Lavoie, a University of Oklahoma student majoring in letters and political science, has been selected as the recipient of the 2007 Carl Albert Award, presented each year to the outstanding senior in the OU College of Arts and Sciences.

Lavoie, who plans to pursue a career in public service law in Oklahoma, will graduate summa cum laude May 11 with a 4.0 grade-point average. He will be presented with the $2,500 Carl Albert Award at 1:15 p.m. Monday, April 9, in the Mary Eddy and Fred Jones Auditorium, Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave.

While at OU, Lavoie has received numerous honors and awards. In 2005, he was a Cortez Ewing Public Service Fellow and a Robert Dean Bass Memorial Scholar. He also has been a finalist for a Rhodes Scholarship, a George Nigh Leadership Scholar, an OU Alumni Scholar and a member of Phi Beta Kappa honor society.

Also during his time at OU, Lavoie has served as an undergraduate teaching fellow for freshman political science classes taught by OU President David L. Boren and Shad Satterthwaite, former U.S. Sen. Fred Harris, and political science professor David Ray, and in summer 2006 was a congressional intern for Ernest Istook.

His community service has included work with Big Brothers/Big Sisters since April 2003. Earlier this year he founded and served as coordinator of Sooners to Gulf Coast, and he was a live-in volunteer for the Hands On Network in New Orleans in August 2006.

In his winning Carl Albert Award essay, Lavoie recalls earning a 67 on his first exam, in Latin, at OU. Rather than give up on his goal of obtaining a perfect 4.0 grade point his first semester, he renewed his efforts, studying late nights and early mornings. “Although, admittedly, I’ll never be able to translate the Iliad, the challenge presented by the course required the establishment of strong study habits that have served me well throughout my college career,” he writes, adding that he now realizes that he was fortunate to have encountered a professor early on who cared enough to challenge him.

His second “reality check,” he recalls, came at the hands of his Honors Perspectives Course instructor, when his first paper was returned with numerous edits in red ink. It was in this class, he said, that he learned that “the best paper in the class may still not be a good paper on its own merits.” In this class, Lavoie says, “I began to embrace criticism and seek it out when someone was willing to offer it.”

Also in his essay, Lavoie says that cultivating relationships with his professors has proven to be the most rewarding experience in his university career. Although many of his instructors at OU played important roles in his life, he specifically cited one of his professors, David Ray – who taught the first class Lavoie attended as a university student, “The CIA and Congress,” and for whom he currently serves as a teaching fellow – for the hours he spent with him outside the classroom in discussions over coffee as well as for the numerous books he gave him over the years.

Also in his essay, Lavoie speaks of being awakened to the fact that he is “extremely privileged” to have grown up in America, to enjoy a middle-class lifestyle, to attend a university, and to have the opportunity to receive awards for internships and study abroad. “Some might be fooled into thinking that hard work entitles them to such things – but it does not,” he said. “Each one of us owes a tremendous debt; we all carry great responsibility that is tied to our privilege, whether we recognize it or not.”

Similarly, he added, he now realizes the importance of volunteering. “I now understand that it [volunteering] is the rent we pay for our space on Earth,” he writes. “Though I do not know where my life will take me, I am certain it will be dedicated to service. Those who possess talent to combine with advantage should not find it hard to make money, if that is their only goal. Making a difference in the lives of others is the only challenge worthy of those with ability and privilege, and that is what I hope to do.”

After completing a fellowship in the OU Honors College Leadership Center and working for Teach for America, Lavoie said he plans to pursue a career in public service law in Oklahoma.

The Carl Albert Award, the most prestigious given to a student by the OU College of Arts and Sciences, is based on academics, moral force of character and promise of future service to the state and nation. First presented in 1966, the award was established to honor Carl Albert, OU alumnus and former U.S. Speaker of the House, for his distinguished undergraduate career and national service. Julian Rothbaum, former state regent and longtime friend of Albert, endowed the award in 1965.