Three undergraduates receive Coughlin Award

This year at Homecoming, three undergraduates received the WPI Community Service Award. This tradition, which began in 1988, is perhaps not well known around campus but is nonetheless a very important and prestigious award.

Presented in memory of Edwin B. Coghlin '23, the Community Service Award is presented to individual students who, through leadership and determination, have demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to community service and in doing so have set an example for the undergraduate body at large. Mr. Coghlin was, at the time of his death in 1981, the third of five Coghlins spanning four generations to attend WPI. He cared deeply about people, a trait characterized by his work with such organizations as the United Way, Worcester Area Boy Scouts, Worcester Boys Club and the WPI Alumni Association. His memory and the legacy of his philanthropy have been carried on by his family. Every year a committee led by his son Ted Coghlin, Jr. '56 solicits nominations from the WPI and Worcester Community.

Consideration is given to those nominees who have demonstrated an exemplary commitment to service which has had a tangible and measurable benefit to the community at large. This year's recipients, Brian Klauber, Karen Goodell and Rich Santora, all members of the Class of 1996, stood out from the other candidates who were nominated as those who have showed a remarkable commitment to a beneficial cause which was in the spirit of what Mr. Coghlin's effort represented - helping others.

The award, given out during the halftime announcements at the Homecoming football game every year, was presented this year by Patricia Coghlin Williams '85, her husband David and their son Christopher. Recipients receive a plaque and a check for $250 which is donated in their name by the Coghlin family to the group which has most benefited from their service.

Nomination forms will be distributed again in the Spring of 1996 for the awards which will be given at the Fall Homecoming next year. It is important to continue the tradition of this award by responding promptly to this call for nominations with the names of those who you feel are most deserving, and to encourage undergraduates to commit a portion of their time to community service work while they are here at WPI, for the benefit of others and the enrichment of themselves.