Carleton University is the home of many incredibly accomplished women. Ranging from undergraduate students starting to make their mark on the world, to professors showing the next generation of academic women that their goals are achievable.
This article will highlight fourth-year humanities and religion undergraduate student Grace Richards and her accomplishments in creating lasting support that helps all Humanities students.
Who is Grace richards?
Richards is entering her fourth year of her undergraduate program at Carleton University, studying humanities and religion.
Over her years at Carleton she has become a rising academic figure. She has been asked to deliver different lectures and talks based on her academic area of interest, such as the counter culture movement of the 60s, and has worked with professors as a research assistant.
This is only one of the many examples of her accomplishments within her rising academic career.
Her academic success is not the only reason she is a prominent figure in both her Humanities and Religion programs amongst her peers.
How she created an environment for student Success
Richards made it her mission to implement an environment for students to grow and have all the tools needed in order to succeed in an undergraduate humanities degree. She did this by creating Carleton’s Humanities Academic Success Society in her first year.
Richards saw a need for a community within the humanities program. When she first entered the program she noted that, “a lot of the years did not talk to each other and there was no sense of community.”
She saw this lack of community and took it upon herself to create an academic society that would allow all years of humanities students to come together and help each other.
“I wanted to create a society that formed a community amongst all students. Other people in the program will be the ones who understand the academic struggles you might go through and I think it is important for people to be there for each other,” she said. “I also wanted to create a space for humanities students to succeed in their academic goals, but also meet lifelong friends.”
The society organizes and runs group study sessions for each humanities class upon student demand. These study sessions allow for students to get help from upper year students who have previously taken and excelled in the class.
Richards ran many of these study sessions this past academic year and helped create a bridge between professors’ expectations and student understanding.
Not only does the Humanities Academic Success Society organize group study sessions, they also have a student mentorship program. This program pairs up first and second-year humanities students with upper year students who share interests and who may have had similar anxieties entering their first year.
Under Richard’s leadership, this program has successfully partnered 20 first years with upper year students in the 2025-2026 academic year.
Gabriella Priori, a third-year humanities student, was Richard’s mentee through the Humanities Academic Success Societies Mentorship program.
“In my first year I felt lost and nervous. I didn’t know if I would fit into the college and make friends. That was when I found out about the HASS mentorship program,” she said.
“I filled out the form, hesitant to be paired up with an upper year, and ended up getting matched with Grace. From our very first coffee date I knew that I had met my best friend and biggest supporter through this chaotic and stressful academic journey.”
When asked about Grace, she said, “Grace gave me hope and determination to not just try to succeed in this program but also that it’s okay to fail as long as you never give up.”
Richards has created an academic society that will assist humanities students for years to come. Through her hard work and dedication to student success, Richards has become a role model and, most importantly, a friend to many other students within the humanities program wishing to pursue their academic goals.
To check out some of Richard’s writing please follow the link here!