ALBANY, NY -- Union College senior Olivier Bouchard (Quebec City, QC) has been named the recipient of the inaugural ECAC Hockey League Mens Student-Athlete of the Year Award, as announced at the men's end-of season banquet Thursday, March 15.
Each school was asked to nominate a top scholar athlete who met the following requirements: a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.50 on a 4.00 scale through the fall term; participation in a minimum of 50 percent of the team's contests (33 percent of team's minutes for goaltenders); demonstrated leadership on and off the ice (e.g., character, contributions to the community, participation/involvement in institutional groups/committees, etc.).
Joining Bouchard among the finalists for the men's award were Andrzej Sandrzyk (Montreal, QC) from St. Lawrence University and Dan Shribman (Swampscott, MA) from Dartmouth College. The finalists were selected by a committee made up of athletic department and university administrators.
Bouchard has maintained a cumulative GPA of 3.5 while studying neuroscience with a concentration in pre-medical studies in a non-native tongue. He is a Dean's List student and is a three-time ECACHL All-Academic Team selection.
Bouchard has served as an on-ice leader throughout his four-year career. He ranks seventh in Union's Division I history in points with 86 on 43 goals and 43 assists. He led the team in scoring last season, and has netted a career-high three game-winners and two overtime goals this season.
He founded and serves as president of the Ozone House, an environmentally-friendly on-campus residence at Union where students have reduced energy consumption by 50 percent. He has worked to promote environmental awareness among students, faculty and staff by working with facilities to increase energy efficiency in campus buildings, and by helping to found U Recycle, a recycling program specifically for campus dorms which took in 5.2 tons of recycling last year.
Bouchard worked with dining services and more than a dozen local farms to co-found the Ozone Café, a once-a-week organic lunch alternative on campus where students and staff can use their meal cards to obtain lunches that are made of organic, locally-grown foods. Since the inception of Café Ozone in the spring of 2006, campus participation in the healthy-eating establishment has more than quadrupled, and the Café now serves close to 200 customers per week.
