In April 2016 during a luncheon celebration at Williams, the college announced that William McGuire ‘17 would be the latest student to benefit from Larry’s generosity and foresight. McGuire will spend the summer exploring the motivation of third-party political candidates, focusing on the Green Party. He’ll create a radio news feature to report his findings. The lunch also honored last year’s Levien Fellow, Joseph Bianco ’16, who studied the failure of the criminal justice system to deal with sexual assault.
Larry explained that his objective was to create a student experience that would be “180 degrees different from the typical internship.” Rather than shadowing others in the workplace, Levien Fellows “become part of the workplace, working with journalism pro’s to produce a print or electronic story chronicling their summer research.”
Larry established the Levien Journalism Fellowship because he had a sense that Williams could do a better job helping students to bridge the chasm between class and career. A decade ago, he couldn’t have imagined that in 2015 the Class of 1968 would decide to dedicate part of our 50th Reunion Fund to transforming the Williams College Career Center.
What’s the future of the Levien Fellowship? Reflecting on the benefits to Williams students and on the personal fulfillment he’s experienced, Larry has committed to provide additional funding to allow Williams to honor two students each year with a summer journalism fellowship.
To learn more about how to create a new Williams fellowship, contact Margaret or Amy in the Williams Office of Gift Planning:
Margaret McComish, Director of Gift Planning
Margaret.McComish@williams.edu 413-597-4560 or 413-597-3538
Amy Palmer-Ellis, Associate Director of Gift Planning
Amy.E.Palmer-Ellis@williams.edu 413-597-2981 or 413-597-3538