LaBadie named Monmouth College's Student Laureate of the Lincoln Academy of Illinois

Recipient of prestigious honor is from Griffith, Indiana

by Barry McNamara

Monmouth, Ill. (09/14/2026) — Monmouth College senior Claire LaBadie of Griffith, Indiana, can't take credit for creating Chick-fil-A's "Eat Mor Chikin" slogan, but helping to market that fast food restaurant is definitely in her future, as she'll resume working for the company after she graduates in May.

But before she does that, the business and marketing major has a few more items to cross off her collegiate to-do list, including writing a Commencement speech and attending a prestigious ceremony in the state's capital.

Both are related to LaBadie being named Monmouth's Student Laureate of the Lincoln Academy of Illinois. Each fall, an outstanding senior from each of the four-year degree-granting institutions of higher learning in Illinois is awarded the Abraham Lincoln Civic Engagement Award. Student Laureates are honored for their overall excellence in curricular and cocurricular activities.

At the Oct. 24 ceremony in Springfield, LaBadie will meet other Student Laureates. She'll also likely get some ideas for the Commencement speech she'll deliver next May to other members of Monmouth's Class of 2027.

"I was thinking about starting to write the speech already, but they recommended waiting to start until after we've been to the ceremony and attended some of the leadership activities," said LaBadie. "We can take what we learn there and incorporate it into our speech."

'The easiest nomination I've ever made'

That will be just the latest in a long list of leadership opportunities for the high-achieving student. LaBadie is the founder and chair of the BEAM Club, which stands for business, economics, accounting and marketing, and which has grown quickly to two dozen members. A two-year swimmer for the Fighting Scots and a member of Pi Beta Phi women's fraternity, LaBadie is also very involved with student life through the Association of Student Activity Programming, including a term as ASAP's president.

"I love event planning," she said. "My favorite is helping with Homecoming. I enjoy walking around campus and having people ask me what's the next event we have planned."

"In my 17 years at the college, I have not met a student I would recommend higher," wrote business professor Tom Prince, LaBadie's nominator for the Student Laureate honor. "She is an excellent student, friendly person, kind, considerate and represents the very best of our students. This is the easiest nomination I've ever made."

LaBadie's supporting credentials are indeed impressive. In addition to her campus involvement, she carries a 3.983 grade-point average and has been very active in helping to support Monmouth students. The lead peer mentor has also tutored business and economic students.

"She's always volunteered and excelled in any academic or student life program that was offered," wrote Prince. "She's had an active, positive influence on our college throughout her time here."

Part of LaBadie's academic support of Monmouth students has come through "Inquiry & Identity," the college's first-year experience course. Looking back on her freshman year, she said, "'I&I' was my favorite class. I had it with (English professor) David Wright."

Helping her enjoy the class further were the two student mentors of the class, Lillian Hucke '24 and Corey Pevitz '24. "I really looked up to her," said LaBadie of Hucke, who was named that year's Student Laureate. "That made it really special to me to get the same honor she did."

The next year, LaBadie had her first stint as an "I&I" instructor, helping with Wright's class. She's currently working with the students enrolled in art professor Stacy Lotz's section of the course. "I really like working with her," said LaBadie. "She's got a great class."

A new favorite class for LaBadie is "Midwest Entrepreneurs," which she took the spring of her junior year. The course appealed to her, she said, because "I've always loved the idea of opening my own business."

Professors Mike Connell and Herb Schmidt brought in quite a few alumni and special guests with success stories (including viral sensation Judy Wang of Judy's Cafe), but students got to see the flip side, too.

"It was really eye-opening," said LaBadie of the class. "You got to see some of the risks of being an entrepreneur, some of the difficulties. They brought in people who had failed, as well as ones who'd succeeded. You learned that you really had to have a plan, you had to have an idea."

One of the other non-alumni success stories who spoke to the class was LaBadie's own mother and grandmother, who run a quilting business.

Back home (again) in Indiana

LaBadie's first connection to Monmouth was through swim coach Jake Dacus. She took him up on his invitation to visit and was impressed by the campus and its people. Meeting Prince - who's "been a huge mentor for me," said LaBadie - on that visit was also part of the appeal. Once she'd picked a college, choosing her major was easy. She'd always been interested in business, and she's never looked back from that choice.

That interest has only grown through her internship with her local Chick-fil-A, one town over in Schererville which, like Griffith, is near the Illinois-Indiana state line, a few miles south of the Chicago suburbs. LaBadie helped with Chick-fil-A's food truck, and she also had access to meetings that gave her a deeper understanding of the business. Her boss's wife, who serves as vice president of marketing for the Schererville location, is planning to retire, and LaBadie will step in as her successor.

"I'm so grateful to Monmouth for giving me this opportunity," said LaBadie, speaking of the Lincoln Academy honor specifically, but also her time on campus, in general. "My brother's a freshman at Indiana University-Bloomington, and they have, like, 40,000 students. He asked me, 'Do you regret not picking a school like Indiana?' I said, 'Not at all. I love it at Monmouth.'"

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