2015 President's Medalists

Allison, a staff member commented that you “represent our campus and the liberal arts in an authentic way and model the multi-dimensional life that our students can have.” You have shown this exceedingly well, both in the classroom and on the soccer field.

An English and political science double major, senior editor of “Articulate,” editor of “Exile,” tutor in the Department of Political Science and a member of Sigma Tau Delta, the International English Honor Society, your academic success has been shaped by your discipline, perceptiveness, focus, compassionate intelligence, leadership and creativity. Your willingness to participate in class discussions, even controversial ones, with exuberance and intelligence has been noted by your professors and classmates alike. Your success in political science research was recognized not only with the VO Key Award, but shown again with your presentation of a research paper at an academic conference this past fall. All this and you are known to be one of those rare individuals who “love public speaking.”

Your exuberance was also noted on the soccer field during team tryouts as a newly arrived first year student. Your coach recalled that “the first whistle blew and the 90 lb soaking-wet, sweet voiced girl, turned into a savage…. Chewing up the other freshmen, terrorizing the sophomores, mowing down the juniors and buzz sawing through the seniors. You took them all on and won.” Your success on the field continued, being named the Most Valuable Defender by your teammates, Capital One Academic All American, second team Academic All-Ohio and All NCAC conference, and recipient of Denison’s top 50 student-athletes and the Ted Barclay Top 5 Award.

Allison, we thank you for your disciplined leadership and for showing us what it truly means to be a team player. We know that you will excel in your studies of Law at Indiana University in Bloomington.

Chris, coming to Denison after your service in the United States Marine Corps, with deployments in both Afghanistan and Iraq, made you a unique student on this campus. You brought life experiences and leadership capabilities that aided you in all you accomplished here and expanded the world knowledge of many of us on campus.

As an economics major, you have excelled in the classroom with your endless curiosity and capacity. A member of the dean’s list for your entire Denison career, you have been described by one of your professors as an “econ major with a soul.” That is, someone who is “always conscious of the social and political issues in contemporary society and one who sees studying economics as a way to understand the world and to find solutions to some of the world’s problems.”

Your leadership capabilities will leave their mark on Denison for years to come. As a founding member of Denison Enterprises, you audited the Bandersnatch and established accounting and inventory systems, you led the renovation of the Roost, and you are helping to lead a team to establish a student summer storage company. Your leadership extended onto the playing fields as well, where you served as captain on both the club rugby and intramural football teams.

Chris, we thank you for sharing your life experience and global perspectives with us, and we know that the world beyond this campus will be better for your passion and service.

Emma, you have astonished many at Denison with all that you have done in your four years here. You have risen to the challenges and responsibilities put before you by both your numerous academic and community engagement activities.

Your choice of a double major of sociology/anthropology and women’s and gender studies, repeated membership on the dean’s list, being named a sociology/anthropology department fellow and as a program fellow in women’s and gender studies are reflective of what has been described as your “high work ethic and a commitment to learning that rises above and beyond your individual performance.” Your preparation prior to class consistently raised the bar in classroom discussions and, as one faculty member noted “you came prepared to provide answers to the questions he posed, but also invited other students into the discussion by posing questions to them — and then continued to facilitate the group discussion — often proving to be a co-instructor as much as a student in the class.”

Your strong work ethic and leadership capabilities extended into your intentional approach to engaging in the co-curricular arena of campus. You built upon your first-year Denison Service Orientation trip to Washington, D.C. with subsequent Breakaway education trips in 2013 and then led a Breakaway Civil Rights Trip to Selma, Alabama. You became a leadership fellow, a program coordinator for D.U. Lead, a leadership assistant in CLIC, worked with both June O and August O groups, and became the primary writer and creator of an entirely new leadership program, Signature.

Emma, throughout your Denison career, you have made thoughtful choices about your commitments, and have been careful to sustain and deepen those commitments to the benefit of all those involved. Your combination of leadership, intellectual aptitude and community involvement make you most deserving of this medal and we are proud to call ourselves your alma mater.

Julie, your nominators have described you as the perfect example of what a scholar athlete at a liberal arts institution should be, as you have truly taken advantage of everything Denison has to offer.

From your philosophy/international studies double major; your work with Denison’s Amnesty International group, USAID; internships with both Human Rights Watch and the National Endowment for the Humanities; to your semester in Indonesia doing field work studying attitudes toward female genital mutilation — you have shown that you are driven by a belief that what you do matters in its own right. Your academic success is reflected in being named a philosophy fellow as a junior, a rare decision, as well as being named a Truman Scholarship Finalist last year. Your philosophy professors are in agreement that not only is your writing terrific, your skill in verbal argumentation, in vocabulary, and in organizing your thoughts is quite astounding.

Your quiet, patient and dedicated manner also has served you well in all you have undertaken outside of the classroom, gaining you the label of “silent assassin” on the softball team, not as a flashy or loud player, but always able to perform in pressure situations. This ability earned you numerous athletic honors, including selection to the NCAC All Conference team, being named a NFCA All-American Scholar Athlete and as the 2014 NCAC Softball Player of the Year. You managed to find time to work with Big Brothers/Big Sisters, the Catholic Campus Community Group, the Writing Center and to serve as the president and founder of the Whistling Dixies, Denison’s first all-whistling a cappella group!

Julie, you describe yourself on your website as “the girl from Ohio with a penchant for writing and a passion for human rights who wants to help change the world.” We agree with those who have said, “changing the world is tough, but if anyone can, it might be you. And, it’s a safe bet that you will make the world a better place.”

Megan, you have approached your four years at Denison with clearly defined passion and values that are reflected in your engagement both in the classroom and across campus.

From your first Denison involvement on the DSO trip to Washington, D.C., your ability to humbly and purposefully learn, lead and serve the community soon became apparent. Being named a senior fellow in the Department of Psychology and as a Bowen Summer Science Scholar, your election and induction into leadership roles in the national Psychology honorary, Psi Chi and Lambda Pi Eta, the communication honor society, Phi Beta Kappa and your honor as a Distinguished Leadership Award, are all testaments to your academic excellence.

As a psychology major, your academic work has been described as “reflecting a keen mind, one impatient with conventional disciplinary boundaries, always striving to ask the next question and push ever-deeper to the most compelling answers.” Your professors have noted that your “insights into the relationships between theory, methodology and statistics are at the graduate level and contribute to your ability to provide appropriate and practical interpretation of study results.” All this is reflected in your summer scholar work on the “Effectiveness of Health Based Public Service Announcements,” which you will be presenting next month with your professor at the Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention.

You used your time here well and dedicated yourself to the DCA, spearheading efforts such as the 9/11 Day of Service, Make a Difference Challenge, MLK Service Challenge and Big Red’s Big Day. All this while serving as a tour guide and interviewer on the Admissions team. You have been recognized for your involvement at the highest level – becoming a member of the Senior Interviewer Team in Admissions, president of DCA, and a leader at both D.U. Lead and August O. One of your nominators wrote that you “lead through professionalism, kindness and commitment and are exceptionally gracious and just plain nice.”

Megan, with this medal, we honor your dedication and sincere commitment to Denison which has made our community all the better.

Whitney, your time here at Denison has been marked by a passion for learning and a deep sense of empathy that have allowed you to lead with conviction and care.

Professors in your double majors of communication and environmental studies all agree on your exemplary intellectual leadership and the high level of rigor, critical thinking and creativity that you bring to your work. You are known to often choose the challenging route and then you supersede expectations. It is no surprise that you have been chosen for the Senior Fellowship in Environmental Studies, and have been elected to membership in Mortar Board National Honor Society and to Lambda Pi Eta, the national communication honorary. Your commitment to the power of communication led to your multi-authored paper on environmental communication, which was accepted for presentation at the DePauw University National Undergraduate Honors Conference, the most prestigious undergraduate communication research venue in the country.

Whitney, your leadership on the lacrosse team has not gone unnoticed. You have started every game, served as captain for two seasons, and have received numerous honors, including being named to the All-Great Lakes Region and All-NCAC teams, the 2014 IWLCA Honor Roll and earning the NCAC All-Tournament team honors after leading Denison to the NCAS Tournament Championship in 2014. Your coach has stated that you truly “understand that having the opportunity to play collegiate athletics is a privilege and, after suffering two separate ACL tears in your high school career, it is an opportunity you are not willing to squander or take for granted.”

Whitney, your commitment to learning both on and off the field “not simply for the rewards that come with academic growth, but also for a discovery of a meaningful life,” make you most deserving of this President’s Medal.