CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. – ECAC Hockey has announced a new partnership with Project Rousseau as the official Community Service partner of ECAC Hockey.
Beginning in the 2024-25 season, Project Rousseau will sponsor two awards to honor one men's and one women's student-athlete for excellence and impact in community service.
Project Rousseau will also consider ECAC Hockey student-athletes for internship programs in the fields of law, education, public policy, and more. All opportunities will be made through the normal application process per the most current NCAA regulations and guidelines.
About Project Rousseau
Project Rousseau is a non-profit organization that helps young people in communities in the highest need to reach their full potential and excel through higher education. We primarily serve refugee and asylum seeking youth and families, homeless youth, and reservation-dwelling Native American youth. We provide four pillars of programming to holistically address the needs of our beneficiaries: 1) Student Needs (Legal Services and Social Services), 2) Academics, 3) Community Service, and 4) Broadening Horizons.
Founded in 2011 as a one-to-one mentoring program for young people in the Harlem community, Project Rousseau has grown based on two guiding principles: to serve the absolutely highest need young people we can possibly find, and to continuously grow our services to meet all of the needs of the young people we serve. Overall, we serve over 2500 youth and families. Our students go onto attend Ivy League Schools, MIT, Stanford, and many other universities, while others go onto community college and to pursue extraordinary vocations. We also have a program in which we hire our own beneficiaries, for they are the ultimate experts in their communities and our services.
Quotables
“We are excited to partner with Project Rousseau,” said ECAC Hockey Commissioner Doug Christiansen. “Their leadership has a distinct focus on community service and strive to make an impact in many areas. This partnership will generate celebrate student-athletes who engage in their communities and we are thrilled to welcome Project Rousseau to our team.”
"We are thrilled to be partnering with the ECAC to honor excellence in community service by ECAC student-athletes and provide meaningful opportunities for them to gain experience through summer internships with Project Rousseau," said Andrew Heinrich, Founder and Executive Director, Project Rousseau. "I founded Project Rousseau when I was a student-athlete, so I have a special appreciation for what these student-athletes strive to accomplish on the ice and in the classroom. I look forward to working with them, and to celebrating their commitment to serving others."
About ECAC Hockey
Established in 1961-62, ECAC Hockey is home to elite student-athletes from 12 of the nation’s most prestigious institutions: Brown University, Clarkson University, Colgate University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Princeton University, Quinnipiac University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, St. Lawrence University, Union College, and Yale University.