CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia women’s lacrosse junior Alex Burtnett will receive the prestigious T. Rodney Crowley, Jr. Memorial Scholarship this spring.

Awarded to an accomplished student who demonstrates leadership, sportsmanship, character and integrity, the Crowley Scholarship provides the equivalent of full in-state tuition for the recipient’s undergraduate fourth year.

A third-year majoring in global studies in UVA’s College of Arts and Sciences, and minoring in leadership in its McIntire School of Commerce, Burtnett has made the Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Honor Roll in each of her three years and has been recognized with Distinguished Student honors.

As a Virginia student-athlete, Burtnett has a strong record of community service, especially in the areas of sustainability and carbon neutrality. She has served as president of the Green Leadership Council and is co-leader of the UVA Student-Athlete Groundskeepers, an advocacy group for social justice and anti-racism. She serves as co-leader of the Carbon Neutral UVA Lacrosse Initiative. Nike Inc. selected Burtnett for a coveted internship in global sustainability at the company’s Oregon headquarters this summer. She has also worked with various groups to bring lacrosse to young girls in the local community and is an active member of the One Love Foundation, which works to address relationship violence.

Burtnett, from Oakton, Va., graduated from St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes School in Alexandria, where she captained both the field hockey and lacrosse teams and was a US Lacrosse Academic All-American.

“Alex is amazing,” women’s lacrosse head coach Julie Myers said. “I’ve been the coach here for twenty-seven years and leaders like Alex do not come around often enough.”

One of the University’s most prestigious undergraduate awards, the T. Rodney Crowley, Jr., Memorial Scholarship was established in 1991 to honor that rising fourth-year student who best exemplifies the qualities of its namesake. Remembered as the consummate student, athlete, coach and friend, Crowley played varsity tennis each of his four years at Virginia and captained the team before competing professionally. After taking his degree from the College of Arts & Sciences in 1980, he coached UVA women’s tennis to a season and state championship in 1981. Crowley was a member of Zeta Psi social fraternity, the Z Society and T.I.L.K.A. He died of brain cancer in 1991.

Nominations for the Crowley Scholarship were submitted over the fall and early winter. Finalists were interviewed by a committee of Crowley Scholarship Trustees, which consists of University alumni, several of whom are past winners of the award.