Megan Brewer ’26 has been named the 2025-2026 Grappone Fellow at the Gregory J. Grappone Humanities Institute, the third student to serve in the ambassadorial role which awards the recipient with full tuition and fees.
Brewer is an Honors Classical Archaeology and History double major from Orono, Maine who credits both the humanities, and the larger discipline of the liberal arts, for pushing her to broaden her horizons.
She was chosen by a selection committee led by Professor Robert Anderson, who shared that choosing her was a “delight.”
“Megan lives and breathes the humanities,” Professor Anderson said. “She is inspired by the field in ways that many of us know first-hand.”
A faculty recommendation pointed towards her relentless pursuit of self-improvement and determination to share the importance of the humanities with others.
A dedicated learner, she values social and cultural history and believes that the best way to grasp a subject is through hands-on experience – a principle that has led her to spend the past two summers at the Orvieto Archaeological Field School, excavating at the Etrusco-Roman site, Coriglia, in Castel Viscardo, Italy.
Beyond academics, Brewer is a leader among her peers, working as a Resident Assistant, peer tutor at the Academic Resource Center, Co-Editor of the student journal Humanitas, and project assistant with the Lavalliere Franco American Collection in the Geisel Library archives.
As she begins her final year of undergraduate studies, Brewer is excited to immerse herself in her research. One of her projects will explore the role of the Catholic Church in the formation of New England Franco-American communities and her second will focus on the depiction of race in ancient artwork.
Alongside her academic and extracurricular involvements, Brewer will be representing the Grappone Humanities Institute in memory of Gregory J. Grappone ’04, after whom the Institute and fellowship are named. To honor their son’s love for the humanities, the Grappone family established the fellowship to support students with the same passion.
“I’m very grateful to the Grappone family and Professor Bouchard,” Brewer said. “The humanities have always played a very important role in my life and I’m looking forward to taking part in promoting their wider importance and the mission of the Institute.”