![\"Alfred](\"https:\/\/wou.edu\/mauriceprize\/files\/2020\/01\/Alfred-Maurice-2010.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The late Alfred \u201cFred\u201d Maurice\u2019s curiosity and desire to see students succeed inspired him to establish a challenge prize for Western Oregon University students.<\/p>\n
A WOU benefactor and honorary faculty member, he created the J. Dolores and Alfred P. Maurice Endowed Challenge Prize, a challenge for undergraduates who complete a year-long project in quest for a $5,000 prize.<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/wou.edu\/mauriceprize\/about-dolores-and-alfred-maurice\/” button_text=”More about Alfred Maurice” _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_margin=”|3%||3%|false|true” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”#efefef” custom_padding=”0px||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,2_3″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”45px||45px||true|” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/cdn.wou.edu\/mauriceprize\/files\/2025\/05\/Grace-Gedlaman-2025-Maurice-Prize.jpg” alt=”2024 Maurice Prize winners” title_text=”Grace-Gedlaman-2025-Maurice-Prize” _builder_version=”4.27.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.2″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_font=”Montserrat|700|||||||” global_colors_info=”{}”]
The 2025 Prize winner is Grace Gedlaman<\/strong>, a junior majoring in psychology, with minors in Communication Studies and in Art & Design. Grace\u2019s project involved building a sense of community around the campus garden\u2014to provide a place for students to gain a sense of belonging\u2014and reinvigorating the operations of the campus garden. The title of her presentation at WOU’ 2025 Academic Excellence Showcase was “Thyme to Grow: Cultivating Community Roots<\/strong>.”<\/span><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” collapsed=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”0″ make_equal=”on” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” module_class=” et_pb_row_fullwidth” _builder_version=”4.16″ width=”100%” width_tablet=”100%” width_phone=”” width_last_edited=”on|desktop” max_width=”100%” max_width_tablet=”100%” max_width_phone=”” max_width_last_edited=”on|desktop” custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” custom_padding_tablet=”” custom_padding_phone=”” make_fullwidth=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ background_color=”#484848″ background_enable_image=”off” custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.2″ text_font=”||||||||” text_text_color=”#FFFFFF” header_2_text_color=”#FFFFFF” header_3_text_color=”#FFFFFF” background_layout=”dark” min_height=”444px” custom_margin=”7%|5%||5%|false|true” global_colors_info=”{}”] <\/p>\n A professor to the last day of his life, Alfred Maurice continues to inspire students even after his passing. He didn\u2019t care if students failed trying to find a solution to a problem. Instead, he encouraged students to get out of their comfort zone to learn something.<\/p>\n That was his incentive for creating the challenge for undergraduate students.<\/p>\n Students interested in competing for the prize need to:<\/p>\n The $5,000 prize\u00a0will be given to the individual or team demonstrating the deepest learning and\u00a0problem-solving strategy.<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/wou.edu\/mauriceprize\/competition\/” button_text=”More information” button_alignment=”center” _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_button=”on” button_font=”||||||||” background_layout=”dark” custom_margin=”4%|3%|5%|3%|false|true” button_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” global_colors_info=”{}” button_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_bg_color__hover_enabled=”on|hover” button_bg_color__hover=”” button_one_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_bg_enable_color__hover=”off”][\/et_pb_button][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ background_enable_color=”off” background_image=”https:\/\/wou.edu\/mauriceprize\/files\/2020\/01\/Alfred-with-prize-winners.jpg” custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding_tablet=”” custom_padding_phone=”” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}” padding_last_edited=”on|phone” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ min_height=”400px” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The late Alfred \u201cFred\u201d Maurice\u2019s curiosity and desire…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":417,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"splash-page.php","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"The Maurice Undergraduate Initiative Prize at WOU awards $5,000 to undergraduates for creative, student-led projects that solve meaningful real-world problems.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-951","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/mauriceprize\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/mauriceprize\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/mauriceprize\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/mauriceprize\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/417"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/mauriceprize\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=951"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/mauriceprize\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15454,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/mauriceprize\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/951\/revisions\/15454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/mauriceprize\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Maurice Undergraduate Initiative<\/h2>\n
<\/strong><\/h2>\n
$5,000 AWARD<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n