![Tess Dufrechou, MDiv ’25, and Kat Woodard, MDiv ’25 ](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_21_9__1920x825/public/2025-05/Tess-Kat-Buechner-Banner-2.jpg?h=1a3d29a5&itok=dClczUjc) # From Saints to Serpents: HDS Students Win 2025 Buechner Prize In honoring Tess Dufrechou, MDiv ’25, and Kat Woodard, MDiv ’25, as the recipients of the 2025 Frederick Buechner Prize, HDS celebrates not just excellent scholarship, but also the value of personal stories, creative expression, and thoughtful reflection on faith. May 22, 2025 [ Jonathan Beasley ](/people/jonathan-beasley) As the academic year comes to a close, Harvard Divinity School (HDS) announces that Tess Dufrechou, MDiv ’25, and Kat Woodard, MDiv ’25, have received the 2025 Frederick Buechner Prize. The award is given annually to two graduating MDiv students whose senior papers best embody the literary and theological vision of the late writer-theologian Frederick Buechner. Both Dufrechou and Woodard produced projects that reflect Buechner’s legacy in original ways—each drawing from personal experience and academic rigor to illuminate underexplored religious scholarship. Tess Dufrechou’s project, “A Modern Saint Francis Florilegium for the Morally Injured Fools Who Want to Stay in the World,” is a meditation on the life and ongoing reinterpretation of St. Francis of Assisi. Blending scholarly sources, personal reflection, and artistic creation, the zine—short for magazine—became a space for grappling with moral injury, climate grief, modernity, and queer desire. “I am so surprised and grateful that my little zine, which at times felt completely inconsequential, has been recognized with the Frederick Buechner award,” Dufrechou said. “It’s a privilege to learn more about Buechner and feel a new affinity with his work and responsibility to his legacy.” By engaging St. Francis through the medium of a zine—handcrafted, artistically constructed, and community-oriented—Dufrechou presented an appropriate medium for re-encountering and questioning the narrative of the twelfth-century saint who famously renounced his wealth and family to take a vow of poverty. “I’m not sure Saint Francis would want to be recognized in any way,” Dufrechou said. “But thank you, Francis, for all your inspiring strangeness and the ways you continue to hold up a mirror to ours.” Dufrechou credited Professor [Nikki Hoskins](https://www.hds.harvard.edu/people/nikki-hoskins) and teaching fellow Steve Rizzo for their guidance and encouragement. “Their feedback and kind guidance helped deepen the integrity of the project and challenged me to be more reflective in my work,” she said. Dufrechou also honored the long legacy of zine-making, acknowledging the artists and community storytellers whose work paved the way for her project. "To those who first created and circulated their own zines and to those who continue the tradition today for the benefit of their communities—I am indebted to you." Kat Woodard’s paper, “Grasping the Sacred,” is a layered exploration of the Christian practice of serpent handling in Appalachia, viewed through the lenses of embodiment, disability studies, and media representation. Rooted in oral histories, visual culture, and personal connection, the project interrogates the scholarly gaze often cast upon marginalized religious communities. Woodard, who grew up in Tennessee, found that her research gradually became an act of personal and communal discovery. “When I first toured HDS several years ago, a student told me this was a place where you could study practically anything,” Woodard said. “Only now, after three years, do I fully understand how true that is. I truly believe that this is the only place where my seemingly disparate interests in Appalachian folklore, religious ritual, disability studies, and visual culture could all be held in meaningful conversation with one another. Woodard’s work challenges how religious practices involving bodily risk—like serpent-handling—are viewed by both scholars and the public, particularly when intertwined with ideas about disability and agency. “This award affirms not just the academic value of these narratives,” she said, “but the importance of listening to communities often relegated to the margins.” Woodard also expressed deep gratitude to her advisor, Professor [David Holland](https://www.hds.harvard.edu/people/david-f-holland) and teaching fellow Mac Loftin for encouraging her to push disciplinary boundaries. “They helped me tell these communities’ stories with the nuance, richness, and careful attention they deserve.” In honoring Dufrechou and Woodard, HDS celebrates not just excellent scholarship, but also the value of personal stories, creative expression, and thoughtful reflection on faith. Their projects echo Frederick Buechner’s lasting invitation to write with honesty and beauty about what it means to be human. *Banner Photo: Tess Dufrechou, MDiv ’25 (left), and Kat Woodard, MDiv ’25, winners of the 2025 Frederick Buechner Prize. Photo by* *Marisol Andrade Muñoz* ## More Student Awards [ HDS Students Win Harvard Culture Lab Grant for Deep Listening Project arrow\_circle\_right ](https://www.hds.harvard.edu/news/2025/10/30/students-win-harvard-culture-lab-grant-deep-listening-project) [ HDS Students Awarded Building Bridges Grant for Black-Jewish Pluralism Project arrow\_circle\_right ](https://www.hds.harvard.edu/news/2025/12/18/students-awarded-building-bridges-grant-black-jewish-pluralism-project) See also:- [ Student Activities and Interviews ](/discover-stories-about/student-activities-and-interviews)