Donor generosity enables law student Alex Gagnon to make change in Canada’s prison system
Anna Schmidt – 13 January 2025
Alex Gagnon
Two weeks before Alex Gagnon was scheduled to start her law degree, she received an e-mail that prompted happy tears that blurred her vision as she dialed her mom’s number.
Gagnon had just found out she’d be receiving two prestigious donor-funded scholarships to support her studies at the University of Alberta. After juggling work and late-night study sessions through her undergrad, she knew these funds would transform her law school experience. She could now focus on pursuing meaningful endeavors and professional development.
“The scholarships were life-changing. There is stress with so many life expenses,” says Gagnon. “So receiving that support — it was a huge relief. I can breathe better now.”
Thanks to generous donors, Gagnon can dedicate herself to studies and hands-on research with the U of A Prison Project, Canada’s first in-depth study on reintegration for formerly incarcerated individuals. For Gagnon, this means opportunities for her to create a lasting impact on Canada’s justice system.
Donor-funded scholarships are an area of student success supported by Shape the Future, a fundraising campaign to enhance financial support for experiential learning, student spaces, and access and affordability.
For Gagnon, these scholarships included the John A. Weir Memorial Scholarship, an award named after the first dean of the U of A’s Faculty of Law and supported by an endowment from Weir’s former students. She also received the Louis Desrochers Scholarship in Law thanks to the generosity of law grad and former chancellor Louis Desrochers and his wife Marcelle.
“When I walk into my classes, I think about the people that came before me,” says Gagnon, who is now in her first year of law. “I’m in the same seats that past judges have sat in, that someone on the Supreme Court was in. It’s really inspiring. … And then I look around me and think, ‘There’s changemakers in here.’ ”
Shifting the justice system
Driven to create change herself, Gagnon says scholarships enable her to not only prioritize her classes, but devote her free time to projects that further her academic and personal goals.
Building on work she started during her sociology master’s, Gagnon is continuing as a research assistant on the U of A Prison Project, a major study based out of the university’s Centre for Criminological Research. The project team is examining people’s experiences in Western Canadian prisons, with the goal of applying their findings to make evidence-based changes to the justice system.
Gagnon is a member of the re-entry study team, helping conduct Canada’s first systematic research into what factors contribute to a person’s successful reintegration into society after incarceration. Gagnon will be conducting interviews in provincial institutions and in the community. Eventually, she envisions herself using her legal expertise and findings from research to advocate for systematic change in Canada’s justice system .
This kind of hands-on learning is another area supported by Shape the Future. By supporting the campaign, donors can help open doors for students to become leaders, innovators and change makers.
“If I didn’t have scholarships, I might not be so heavily involved in research. …Donors bridge the gap so students can achieve their dreams.”
Students have a remarkable will to change the world. They will broaden our horizons, feed the world, improve health outcomes and take on inequity. Join the Shape the Future campaign as we raise $100 million to provide the next generation of U of A change makers with the access, opportunities and spaces that will help them shape an inspiring future for all.
3-600, 10230 Jasper Avenue NW
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T5J 4P6
giving@ualberta.ca
(780) 492-7400
The University of Alberta, its buildings, labs and research stations are primarily located on the territory of the Néhiyaw (Cree), Niitsitapi (Blackfoot), Métis, Nakoda (Stoney), Dene, Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) and Anishinaabe (Ojibway/Saulteaux), lands that are now known as part of Treaties 6, 7 and 8 and homeland of the Métis. The University of Alberta respects the sovereignty, lands, histories, languages, knowledge systems and cultures of all First Nations, Métis and Inuit nations.
