Donald Keough, News Editor–
In the 100 year-old Swasey Chapel, students, parents and faculty pour into the pews, filling the hall with a nervous and excited energy as they await the most anticipated awards ceremony of the year.
“There’s no better hour in the entire academic year, and seeing the audience acknowledge excellence in my faculty colleagues and in our student body is a remarkably neat thing,” Sam Cowling said in an email, discussing the event. “The chance to step back and celebrate some of the countless ways a Denison student can build their life on the Hill is an evidently good thing.”
Cowling is the chair of the faculty as well as an associate professor and chair member in the Philosophy Department. As chair of the faculty, he was given the honor of announcing the winners of the President’s Medal, as well as reading some of these student’s accomplishments for the audience as the recipients got their award on stage.
During this event- officially called the Academic Awards Convocation- classes were canceled and numerous students and staff received awards that commemorated their work on the Hill. These awards consisted of the 2024 President’s Medalists, recipients of the Brickman and Bonar Teaching Awards, the Baker Research and Scholarship Excellence Award and the Provost’s Academic Excellence Awards. Several faculty members who will be appointed to endowed professorships were also recognized.
“I was thrilled to have the chance to help out President Weinberg this year.” Cowling said. “Each year, I’m floored by how different, how singular, and how successful our students can be. The award citations aren’t road maps for the success of other students; they’re closer to reminders that by embracing the liberal arts and understanding yourself and your strengths, this college becomes a place for students to do truly great things.”
One of the main awards of the event is the President’s Medal.
Established in 1985, the President’s Medal is awarded annually to seniors who are exemplary examples of academic achievement. In addition, recipients often have participated in community service, contributed to the arts, enlarged the community’s global perspective, demonstrated athletic fitness and achievement, shown leadership ability and contributed to community discourse.
This year’s Presidential Medal recipients were Cara Bodary, Torria Catrone, Katherine Griffin, Nadeem Jones, Priyanshi Kanoria, Jackson Nimesheim, Taylor Trimble and Maximilian Wisnefski, all of whom are seniors.
Bodary is a psychology major involved with a variety of research, including research with Dr. Andrea Lourie, a visiting assistant professor in the Psychology Department and through her internships since her summer after freshman year. Bodary also runs track and cross country, and she believes that track has been a big part of what has helped her keep up with her work.
“Running is a good de-stressor for me,” Bodary said. “I think that [running] is really helpful for dealing with the schoolwork and all of the responsibilities that I have… it makes me feel strong and it anchors me.”
Bodary also said that she found the community in running very supportive.
“I really love my coach and my teammates.” Bodary said. “They are all so emotionally present. When any of us have a tough day we can talk it out while we’re running. The long runs are just so fun to spend time with each other and kind of forget everything else that’s going on.”
Taylor Trimble ‘24, another recipient of the President’s Medal said that she also found similar community support in the Black Student Union (BSU). Trimble is the chief minister of BSU, and she helped lead BSU to win organization of the year this past spring.
“I think that BSU is unique from other organizations, where we’re not just an organization that does community service and social justice, but we are also a social group too.” Trimble said. “I can’t imagine what my life would be like at Denison without them.”
Along with support from her peers, Trimble is often motivated by doing service for others. Besides her role in BSU, she has worked at the Career Center as a peer fellow, she does tours for admissions and she is a community advisor for housing.
“Service has been a big part of my life.” Trimble said. “Helping others in ways that they’ve helped me has been really big.”
Trimble also said that she’s part of a family who’s big on helping others, and working with other classmen from BSU has inspired her to “pay homage to people like them.”
Throughout her time at Denison, Trimble said that she’s found the most success when prioritizing her values and sticking to what she enjoys.
“I think that students should focus on the extracurricular that speaks to them,” Trimble said. “Focusing on that one thing or project is really what makes Denison worth it for you. I think people want to do anything and everything, and that doesn’t always align with their goals or their values. I’ve found that doing what truly speaks to me has been super, super helpful.”
The process of recognizing students has a lot of behind-the-scenes effort, and Cathy Dollard, the Senior Associate Provost for Academic Affairs has been a part of the process this year. She acknowledged that there’s a lot of work put into the event from their office.
“Our office predominantly puts it all together.” Dollard said. “The event itself is just 60 minutes of just all sorts of beautiful things. [But] each one of those awards has a plaque. There’s processes for the recognition of every single one of those people both on the faculty side and the student side.”
Dollard said that she believes that the ceremony goes beyond just those who have received awards.
“It’s a super great tradition, and there’s a lot of history to it,” Dollard said. “It’s a celebration of our mission and I think while recognizing these specific people by itself is great, it is also meant to be a celebration of the full community. These people, who have been elevated with recognition [by the awards], are examples of what can be accomplished here, both as a student and as a faculty member.”