Megan Wilcoxon, MAS, MS
The Madeleva Award for Outstanding Graduate Student
May 20, 2023
The Madeleva Award is the highest award the College confers upon a graduate student. The recipient, selected from the cohort completing advanced degrees, is recognized for scholastic distinction and exceptional achievement.
This year’s Madeleva Award recipient is a student in the dual master’s degree program in Autism Studies and Speech-Language Pathology. During her time at Saint Mary’s, she has been a leader both inside and outside of the classroom.
After nearly 90 hours of academic and clinical coursework, she has earned the highest overall GPA in program history; and her professors describe her as a student whose classroom contributions have not only distinguished her as an exceptional scholar, but also elevated the educational experiences of all those in her cohort.
Outside of the classroom, she was a founding member of the College’s Graduate Student Association, and worked to build community amongst graduate students while advocating for their concerns. As a student clinician, she has led social skills groups for middle and high school students on the autism spectrum. She helped LOGAN Center launch our region’s first “PEERS” social skills group for young adults on the spectrum. And she served as a peer mentor in the College’s Mentoring Initiative for NeuroDiverse Students—or MINDS program—in which autism studies graduate students provide mentoring for Saint Mary’s undergraduates who are on the spectrum.
Her capstone project grew out of her work with the MINDS program. Her passion for supporting young people on the spectrum as they transition to adulthood—and especially for helping them develop the social skills they need to succeed in college, employment, relationships and other areas of life—led her to develop and implement a social skills curriculum tailored to the needs of Saint Mary’s undergraduates on the spectrum. This curriculum is now in its second year of use in the MINDS program, and will continue to benefit Saint Mary’s students for years to come.
In recognition of her scholastic distinction and exceptional achievement, we are pleased to honor Megan Wilcoxon with the 2023 Madeleva Award.