Academic achievement prizes, prize scholarships and other recognition of student accomplishments were awarded at Hamilton's 56th annual Class & Charter Day convocation on Friday, May 5, in the Chapel. Among the top prizes, Tyler Zink '07 won the Milton F. Fillius Jr./Joseph Drown Prize Scholarship, and Haley Reimbold '06 was awarded the James Soper Merrill Prize. A total of 176 students won other prizes and scholarships for public speaking, writing and achievement in all academic disciplines.
Life trustee Elizabeth McCormack was awarded the Esther W. Couper Presidential Award by President Joan Stewart. She was the second recipient of the award, which was established and awarded to Esther Watrous Couper at the celebration of her 100th birthday in 1998. It recognizes distinguished service to Hamilton College as exemplified by the award's namesake.
McCormack delivered the Class & Charter Day address, titled "The Challenge of Engagement," in which she challenged attendees to become engaged in the world and practice civil virtue. She noted that the problems in the world in 1979, when she last gave the Class & Charter Day address, remain the same today -- gas supplies, war and the economy. "The problems haven't been solved and your challenge is to understand them and be engaged in possible solutions," she said.
The Milton F. Fillius Jr./Joseph Drown Prize Scholarship, established by the Joseph Drown Foundation, is awarded to a student completing the junior year who has been very successful academically, who has demonstrated outstanding leadership qualities while at Hamilton, and who is likely to make a significant contribution to society in the future. The scholarship will be used to repay any loans that the recipient may have taken during his/her first three years at Hamilton. In addition, the loan portion of his/her financial aid package for the senior year will also be covered through this award.
The James Soper Merrill Prize, established in memory of James Soper Merrill by his cousin, James P. Soper, Class of 1911, is awarded at Commencement to that member of the graduating class "who, in character and influence, has best typified the highest ideals of the College." Selected by the faculty, the recipient is presented with a gold watch.
Zink, a mathematics and psychology major from Walpole, Mass., is a Levitt Scholar.
Reimbold, a women's studies major at Hamilton, was recently awarded a national Samuel Huntington Public Service Award. She has been active with HAVOC and was recently instrumental in establishing the Underground Cafe, a teen center in Utica.
