Mary Byron Scholars
On December 6, 1993, Mary Byron ’91, was the victim of an act of intimate partner violence that ultimately took her life. The community of Assumption mourned our loss and this senseless act of violence. Fueled by the memory of Mary, and in honor of others who have suffered from intimate partner violence, the Mary Byron Scholars program was born.
Thanks to several generous donors we are able to honor Mary’s memory by awarding scholarships to six students who are committed to education and prevention efforts surrounding intimate partner violence. Together, with a faculty moderator, our Mary Byron Scholars work to implement programming that positively impacts our Assumption community and our students’ knowledge of healthy relationship dynamics.
Our Mary Byron Scholars collaborate with community members to create an annual dating violence prevention program, which is delivered each year to our sophomore class during Mission Week.
While activities and approaches have changed over the years, we have held true to the original intent to inspire and ignite students to become advocates, active in prevention in their everyday lives. Many of our program graduates continue this work in college and beyond.