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On June 25, Allison K. Powell ’02 of Sterling, Va. received the Congressional Award Gold Medal, the highest honor bestowed upon young people by the U.S. Congress, in the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington D.C. The Congressional Award, the first and only award for youth legislated by the U.S. Congress, looks to honor and encourage volunteer public service and recognizes the unsung and important accomplishments of young Americans throughout the United States. It provides a unique opportunity for young people to set and achieve personally challenging goals that build character and foster personal development, community service, and citizenship.

As a Villanova student, Allison was a member of Blue Key Society in which she volunteered her time giving tours to prospective students and their families in an effort to make the difficult college-search process more comfortable. She also participated in other special campus events and traveled to New Mexico, for a six-day retreat, to build houses for a Habitat for Humanity project.

Allison fulfilled her personal goals by developing her skill at playing the piano, an activity she enjoyed for nearly 15 years. She also improved her running ability in an effort to become more physically fit. Her determination in this extended beyond the Congressional award as she completed a 5K National Race for the Cure for breast cancer in June in Washington D.C.
Many Villanova personnel supported Allison and helped validate the amount of time she devoted to the award including her advisor for the award, professor of political science, Dr. Frank A. Pryor III. Erin Fitzsimmons from the Admission Office and Noreen Cameron from Campus Ministry also verified Allison’s hours for the Voluntary Public Service and six-day Exploration/Expedition segments of the award.

Allison graduated cum laude and is currently a contracts representative with the Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) in Crystal City, Va.