Thirteen seniors were honored for their four years ofinvolvement and leadership at Tufts at the 50th annual SeniorAwards Dinner on Saturday night.
The students receiving awards represent a wide array of on- andoff-campus activities. The groups included Tufts Community Union(TCU) senators, a prominent member of the drama program, a diningservices employee, Leonard Carmichael Society (LCS) members,athletes, and leaders of cultural organizations on campus.
The thirteen seniors who won awards are Joshua Bauml, JoshuaBelkin, Anna Filatov, Lisa Fishlin, Marissa Goldberg, ZoëHastings, Julia Karol, Mitchell Lunn, David Mencel, Brian Mikel,Randall Newsom, Shioban Torres and Kelly Sanborn.
The award ceremony is put on by the Tufts University AlumniAssociation and held in Alumnae Lounge at the Aidekman ArtsCenter.
According to Alumni Association President Alan MacDougall, theAssociation usually gives out roughly ten awards every year. Thisyear's group of 13 was notably larger.
"After last year's ceremony, I didn't thinkwe'd be able to top that group, but this year I was provenwrong," MacDougall said.
The award winners are chosen based on four criteria: academicachievement, wide participation in campus and community activities,outstanding qualities of leadership, and potential for futurealumni leadership and service.
Students are nominated for the Senior Awards by faculty members,staff members, or alumni. The Alumni Association normally receives"five to six times more nominations than the number of awardsgiven out," according to MacDougall.
There is no fixed number of awards given out each year, so thisyear's high number of honorees is a testament to the"extraordinary quality" of students at Tufts,MacDougall said.
"It used to be easy to pick out the few students on campuswho were involved in service activities," MacDougall said."But now, we see a tremendous commitment to community serviceand virtually every student is involved."
The overarching theme of the night was expressed inMacDougall's speech. "I often use the analogy of afamily to describe Tufts, but we are not like a family," hesaid. "We are a family."
This was echoed in the acceptance speeches of many of the awardwinners. "We watch out for each other at Tufts," Mikelsaid.
Sanborn said, "Tufts gave me a chance to see a sense offamily on a worldwide scale."
Speeches also highlighted the caliber of students and staff atthe University. "There are so many people doing [great]things that it rubs off on you," Newsom said.
What makes Tufts special is that "faculty and staffmembers are interested in helping students grow," Karolsaid.
Alumni Association Director Mark Alpert reminded the seniorsthat their leadership at Tufts does not end at graduation."With this honor comes an obligation to serve," hesaid.
MacDougall pointed out that both of the two recently electedtrustees, Sharon Mead Halverson and William R. O'Reilly, Jr.,received Alumni Association Senior Awards as Tufts seniors. "This is the sort of people that come out ofthis night," he said.
"We know that these remarkable young people will turn intoremarkable older people," MacDougall said.
Several of the acceptance speeches included pledges to remainactive in the Tufts community. "There's something trulyspecial about being a Jumbo," Goldberg said. "I willcontinue wearing my brown and blue sweatshirt withpride."
Last year's awards ceremony was somewhat overshadowed bycontroversy. The Alumni Association rescinded their award offer toLiz Monnin (LA '03) for allegedly raising her middle fingertowards former President George H.W. Bush during his speech at theFares Lecture Series. "Thankfully, things werecontroversy-free this year," Director of Alumni Relations TimBrooks said.
