Casey Donahue wins French Consulate in Boston’s 2018 Excellence Award

salvetoday Posted On June 6, 2018
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Representatives from the French Consulate in Boston recently traveled to Salve Regina to present their 2018 Excellence Award to Casey Donahue ’18, recognizing her as “the most remarkable student in New England for the promotion of study abroad in France.”

Cultural attachee Latifa Bentiri was joined by her educational colleagues, K-12 education officer Edit Dibra and higher education officer Michael Vallee, in presenting the award. The annual competition is open to all colleges in the district of the French Consulate of Boston that includes Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

“Casey, you were the best candidate for this award,” Bentiri said. “Thank you for your commitment and your dedication to the French language and to the French culture.”

Donahue studied for a semester at the Catholic University of Lyon’s French Language and Culture Institute. While in Lyon, she stayed with a French family, and this experience supplemented her classroom learning in such a way that she returned with dramatically-improved language proficiency. In addition to traveling on university-sponsored trips to various locations in France, she participated regularly in the International Club, whose president was her best French friend.

While at Salve, Donahue lived in the University’s language house, represented the Department of Modern and Classical Languages at admissions events and was an advisory board member for the annual French Film Festival. As a global ambassador for the Office of International Programs, she spoke to fellow students on a regular basis to promote study in France.

“Casey’s growth as a student, her activities in the promotion of French and study in France, her outstanding work ethic, and her numerous academic honors, make her a deserving winner of the French Consulate in Boston’s 2018 Excellence Award,” said Dean de la Motte, professor in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages.

Donahue will complete her master’s degree in administration of justice and homeland security at Salve while applying for the Teaching Assistant Program in France for 2019-2020. Her ambition is to one day live in France, perhaps combining her love of the language and culture with her interest in technology and cybersecurity.