Gracie Cates ’26 is one of only 10 Ohio college students to receive this year’s Charles J. Ping Award, recognizing her efforts to lead students in Habitat for Humanity projects and to increase Denison student volunteers and service hours by more than 300% over the past three years.
“Gracie is a skilled servant leader who listens to students and community members, and leads with empathy,” said Denison University President Adam Weinberg. “Through her leadership, deep passion, and dedication for serving her community, Gracie has built strong relationships with community leaders and nonprofit organizations and created multiple opportunities for students to engage in service across Denison’s campus.”
A chemistry major, Cates will attend dental school in the coming year. Due in part to Cates’ leadership, the Denison Community Service Association (DCSA) has grown from 150 members in 2021 with 8,000 campus-wide hours of community service to 700-plus members and the institution recording 24,000-plus service hours across campus.
With her DCSA co-president, Cates collaborated with student organizations and connected the Make a Difference Day program with Newark City Schools After School Adventures program. Together, they helped 345 students experience college life by bringing them to Denison for a day. She encouraged Denison students with a wide variety of interests and backgrounds to introduce Newark students to sustainability, gardening, improv comedy workshops, dance, and other cultures. This program was nominated for the Innovative Program Award with the Ohio College Personnel Association. Plans are in place to expand the program to work with K-12 students in Licking County and engage more student organizations.
Cates was the president of the Denison chapter of Habitat for Humanity and coordinated service opportunities for students at Habitat build sites and the Habitat ReStore in Newark. Over several years, she led immersive, out-of-state Habitat for Humanity alternative spring break experiences, in which Denison students participated in building houses.
Over her four years at Denison, Cates built relationships with community partners such as Newark Homeless Outreach, Together We Grow Gardens, GO Soccer, Dawes Arboretum, and Licking County Aging Partners. She revitalized the Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week programming on Denison’s campus, planning educational panels regarding food and housing insecurity in Licking County, food drives where the University donated 300-plus pounds of food to Food Pantry Network of Licking County, and a fundraiser. She also brought an author to campus to talk about their lived experience with food and housing insecurity and intimate partner violence.
The Ping Award is issued by the Community Campus Coalition, which provides statewide leadership to strengthen Ohio colleges and universities’ capacity to educate students for civic and social responsibility and to improve community life.
