Rising to the challenge
Student-athlete and aspiring physician Tyler Roberts ’25 is Lafayette’s 2025 Pepper Prize winner.
Photograph by Rick Smith
When he is up at 6 a.m. for training runs, you might think that Tyler Roberts ’25 would start to reconsider or regret loading his academic schedule while also playing on the football team. A biochemistry and neuroscience double major with a biotechnology and bio-engineering minor, Roberts is working toward becoming a physician. He’s also a tight end for the Lafayette football team, with which he celebrated the 2023 Patriot League championship win. But for Roberts, those two things aren’t in competition with each other.
“People are coming here and choosing a small liberal arts school because they want a really good education,” Roberts says. “We’re students first, athletes second, and everyone from professors to administration and coaches understand that. This is one of the things that stood out about Lafayette for me.”
Throughout his time at Lafayette, Roberts has conducted EXCEL research in chemistry, tutored as a Supplemental Instruction Leader, provided urgent medical care as an Easton Emergency Squad volunteer, and acted as a peer mentor for student-athletes. Now, he can add 2025 George Wharton Pepper Prize recipient to his list of extensive accomplishments.
“I certainly feel like it validates the idea that everything I was doing had a purpose,” Roberts says of receiving the prize. “With classes, multiple labs, a lot of short nights of sleep, followed by a lot of studying, and sometimes having to make the hard decision between doing something with friends and finishing a project, to see it come full circle and be acknowledged is a really affirming feeling.”
Originally from California, Roberts knew that Lafayette would be the place he could thrive in pursuit of his unique goals. “I’m getting those very hard science, chemistry, biology-type courses, but also have some opportunities to integrate with different disciplines,” Roberts says. “I wanted that Division I football experience, but I was looking at a lot of high academic schools because I knew I wanted to become a physician. I was trying to challenge myself on the field while not sacrificing my long-term career goals.”
In the fall, Roberts will be attending University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine, after which he hopes to practice neurosurgery or emergency medicine.
