Noyes Keller Grovier ’91

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Kelly Grovier is described by friends and faculty as “a real doer,” who achieved the remarkable, going well beyond what is expected of undergraduates.

Kelly single-handedly organized UCLA’s Second Harvest, which has become the largest student philanthropic project for the hungry and homeless in America. Due to Kelly’s efforts, students now have the option of checking a box on their registration fee card authorizing their gift of $2 to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. It took hundreds of hours of work to write letters, make calls to administrators and legislators and enlist student support in order to bring Kelly’s dream to fruition. The project raised more than $10,000 from students during the first quarter of its existence.

In addition, Grovier was founding editor of the first UCLA English Department undergraduate poetry journal, now known as “Rash Imagination.” Then, after attending a conference on the study of early 19th century literature in England, Kelly decided to publish another periodical dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of the Romantic period in Europe. He found a donor to fund the project, and then enlisted an eminent scholar in the field to serve as editor. He also persuaded nearly a score of renowned scholars to join the editorial board. “European Romantic Review” is now widely considered a major contribution to English studies.

His dynamic energy and powerful intellect, as well as his genuine concern for those less fortunate, make Kelly Grovier a fitting recipient of the Outstanding Senior award.