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Duke and Stanford Announce ACE 2023 Participants

Published by ACE Staff
group headshot of duke and stanford athletes

The Rubenstein-Bing Student-Athlete Civic Engagement Program (ACE) is set to offer its immersive summer service experiences for the eighth consecutive year in 2023. This summer marks the return of ACE’s in-person international programming after a three-year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ACE program, a collaboration between Duke and Stanford Athletics, will offer international in-person programming in South Africa, Vietnam, and a new location in Costa Rica for summer 2023. This summer, ACE will also continue a virtual international program option with a virtual program that focuses on community partners in Thailand.

Nineteen Duke and twenty-one Stanford student-athletes have been selected to the ACE Summer 2023 programs. Nine Duke teams and fifteen Stanford teams are represented among the participants this year.They will work on collaborative service projects, form relationships across the Duke and Stanford athletic communities, and connect with community partners around the world. This year, the Costa Rica program is a new addition where student-athletes will engage in conservation work in the Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge and work on conservation-focused projects with local community members. In Vietnam, student-athletes will partner with Vietnamese college students to teach academics and sports to youth living in the rural countryside. In South Africa, student-athletes will engage in community and youth development work, including running afterschool sports workshops for local youth and maintaining facilities for youth education such as libraries and gardens in partnership with local organizations based in Cape Town. The ACE program will maintain one virtual program for summer 2023, ACE in Place Thailand, providing student-athletes with a more flexible option to participate in ACE. They will support Shark Guardian, a UK-based organization focused on marine conservation, education, and supporting and promoting shark conservation efforts in Thailand and around the world. The virtual program allows student-athletes to participate while living on campus, taking summer classes, or remotely from their hometowns around the world.

Read the full articles from Duke Athletics and Stanford Athletics to learn more about the student-athletes and the details of their programs.

Duke’s ACE 2023 Participants

  • Chloe Beittel (’24) – Women’s Fencing | ACE in Costa Rica
  • Cameron Kerr (’23) – Men’s Soccer | ACE in Costa Rica
  • Jala Wright (’24) – Softball | ACE in Costa Rica
  • Kelsey Zampa (’25) – Softball | ACE in Costa Rica
  • Michael Bennett (’25) – Men’s Track & Field |ACE in Costa Rica
  • Megan McGinnis (’25) – Women’s Track & Field | ACE in Costa Rica
  • Rory Cavan (’23) – Men’s Track & Field + Cross Country | ACE in South Africa
  • Megan Maransky (’25) – Field Hockey | ACE in South Africa
  • Charlotte van Oirschot (’25) – Field Hockey | ACE in South Africa
  • Mary Claire Morrison (’26) – Rowing | ACE in South Africa
  • Michael Volpe (’25) – Men’s Swimming & Diving | ACE in South Africa
  • Abigail Geiser (’25) – Women’s Track & Field | ACE in South Africa
  • Chelsea Proutt (’26) – Rowing | ACE in Vietnam
  • Grace Norair (’25) – Field Hockey | ACE in Vietnam
  • Julia Boyet (’24) – Softball | ACE in Vietnam*
  • Lillie Walker (’24) – Softball | ACE in Vietnam*
  • Seamus Harding (’24) – Men’s Swimming & Diving | ACE in Vietnam*
  • Conor Bohrer (’25) – Men’s Track & Field + Cross Country | ACE in Place Thailand
  • Matyas Csiki-Fejer (’24) – Men’s Track & Field + Cross Country | ACE in Place Thailand

Stanford’s ACE 2023 Participants

  • Phoenix Clarke (’26) – Beach Volleyball | ACE in Costa Rica
  • Audrey Suarez (’26) – Women’s Track & Field + Cross Country | ACE in Costa Rica
  • Jordan Stock (’26) – Lightweight Rowing | ACE in Costa Rica
  • Caelan Koch (’25) – Softball | ACE in Costa Rica
  • Ivy Davis (’26) – Artistic Swimming | ACE in Costa Rica
  • India Houghton (’24) – Women’s Tennis | ACE in Costa Rica
  • Alana Vawter (’23) – Softball | ACE in South Africa*
  • Abigail Alemayeho (’26) – Squash | ACE in South Africa
  • Emilie Moore (’26) – Women’s Swimming & Diving | ACE in South Africa
  • Valencia Xu (’25) – Women’s Tennis | ACE in South Africa
  • Brandy Atuatasi (’25) – Women’s Track & Field | ACE in South Africa
  • Jaden Abas (’24) – Wrestling | ACE in South Africa
  • Sophie Kubiak (’26) – Beach Volleyball | ACE in Vietnam
  • Marcus Kushner (’25) – Men’s Gymnastics | ACE in Vietnam
  • Ava Sorrento (’26) – Women’s Gymnastics | ACE in Vietnam
  • Elizabeth Sutro (’26) – Women’s Rowing | ACE in Vietnam
  • Michelle Lahrkamp (’24) – Sailing | ACE in Vietnam
  • Sydney Steele (’23) – Softball | ACE in Vietnam*
  • Nicola Hogg (’26) – Women’s Track & Field + Cross Country | ACE in Vietnam
  • Hayden Kwan (’26) – Men’s Swimming & Diving | ACE in Place Thailand
  • Henry Morrissey (’26) – Men’s Swimming & Diving | ACE in Place Thailand

*Denotes ACE participants who previously completed an ACE in Place virtual program in 2021 or 2022.