COLCHESTER, Vt. - Saint Michael's College softball alumna Ashley Harkins '09 will receive the prestigious NCAA Award of Valor during the NCAA Convention in Nashville, Tenn., on Jan. 14, it was announced on Wednesday. This marks only the 24th time the NCAA Award of Valor has been handed out since its establishment in 1974. Harkins, a Connecticut State Police sergeant, will become the first Northeast-10 Conference honoree.
 
On Nov. 27, 2023, Harkins saved a suicidal woman from the Baldwin Bridge in Old Lyme, Conn. The woman, who was in her early 60s, climbed a 10-foot safety fence and sat on a nine-inch-wide concrete ledge 80 feet above the Connecticut River. Harkins, a native of Colchester, Vt., who currently resides in Westbrook, Conn., had finished her shift and was off-duty but responded to the 911 call along with another sergeant. That sergeant attempted to talk to the woman while Harkins scaled the fence behind her with no safety equipment or ropes.
 
Harkins descended the other side to the narrow ledge, scooted a few feet toward the woman, and then maneuvered to have one arm and one leg on either side of her. She gripped the fence and secured the woman to the fence with her body to keep her from falling. Harkins helped place the woman's foot on her thigh for leverage while she grasped the fence with one hand. Harkins pushed the woman up by her foot so she could climb the fence to waiting officers. The woman was cold from exposure to wind and temperatures in the low 50s but was otherwise uninjured. She was taken to a hospital for emergency mental health evaluation. Harkins was not injured during the incident.
 
Harkins' act of selflessness has drawn a vast amount of attention during the past year. In March, she was lauded by the Carnegie Hero Fund with the Carnegie Medal for Heroism, North America's highest honor for civilian heroism, recognizing acts of extraordinary heroism, risking serious injury or death to save others. In September, Harkins earned the Women of Law Enforcement RISE Award, recognizing an officer who displays exceptional bravery, heroism, and self-sacrifice by going above and beyond the call of duty in the saving of lives.
 
Harkins remains one of the Saint Michael's softball program's all-time greats, still holding school records for hits, runs, doubles and triples, while turning the rare feat of landing on the all-conference first team at two different positions during her career (shortstop and center field). She also saw time at catcher. The two-year captain graduated among the top 10 at Saint Michael's in 28 statistical categories, batting in the heart of the order throughout her four years. Harkins' season home run record, set in 2007, stood for 15 years, and her .342 career batting average is third since the reestablishment of the program in the early 1990s, and sixth all-time. Harkins was inducted into the SMC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2023.