Our Alumni
Memorial University
Darcy McMeekin
Fry Family Foundation Graduate Leadership Award, 2006
Fry Family Foundation Graduate Leadership Award, 2006
I was honoured to be the recipient of the inaugural Fry Family Graduate Award for Leadership. My time as a student was a wonderful experience filled with opportunities to become involved in both academic and community service oriented programming. The impact of that involvement has reverberated throughout my life since and includes meeting my wife, Rhonda, and many of my closest circle of friends.
Your award signified the pinnacle of my post-secondary experience and love for volunteering. I can vividly remember listening to the citations of the other worthy candidates and thinking that I was honoured to be in the same room as such accomplished young professionals. I can still remember Dr. Axel Meisen announcing that I was the recipient and being immensely proud. I was also in a bit of shock as I thought the award was honorific only. I didn’t realize it came with such amazingly generous support. That feeling of accomplishment, excitement and pride in achieving such a prestigious award changed the direction of my future career choices.
I had initially considered a role in alumni relations to help build a stronger representation of the Memorial University alumni community. However, that day changed my plan and I decided to pursue a role in philanthropic development. I have since been privileged to be part of a team at Memorial dedicated to ensuring that students are supported in their times of need and enabling research that makes a difference in the lives of our citizens.
My goal is to help relay that feeling of accomplishment I had felt through the Fry Family Award to the next generation. Working with philanthropists, people dedicated to making the world a better place, has given me a tremendous sense of purpose and unwavering passion for my work. It is now my privilege to play a small role in supporting the work of the Fry Family Foundation and their mission of advancing Newfoundland and Labrador. In closing, I am grateful for the award I received 15 years ago, but I'm even more grateful for the person you helped me to become, and what we now accomplish together.
Darcy
Your award signified the pinnacle of my post-secondary experience and love for volunteering. I can vividly remember listening to the citations of the other worthy candidates and thinking that I was honoured to be in the same room as such accomplished young professionals. I can still remember Dr. Axel Meisen announcing that I was the recipient and being immensely proud. I was also in a bit of shock as I thought the award was honorific only. I didn’t realize it came with such amazingly generous support. That feeling of accomplishment, excitement and pride in achieving such a prestigious award changed the direction of my future career choices.
I had initially considered a role in alumni relations to help build a stronger representation of the Memorial University alumni community. However, that day changed my plan and I decided to pursue a role in philanthropic development. I have since been privileged to be part of a team at Memorial dedicated to ensuring that students are supported in their times of need and enabling research that makes a difference in the lives of our citizens.
My goal is to help relay that feeling of accomplishment I had felt through the Fry Family Award to the next generation. Working with philanthropists, people dedicated to making the world a better place, has given me a tremendous sense of purpose and unwavering passion for my work. It is now my privilege to play a small role in supporting the work of the Fry Family Foundation and their mission of advancing Newfoundland and Labrador. In closing, I am grateful for the award I received 15 years ago, but I'm even more grateful for the person you helped me to become, and what we now accomplish together.
Darcy