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Date: June 2, 1998
1998 Graduates Receive Honors at Class Day
Princeton, N.J. -- At Class Day on June 1, President Shapiro presented the senior class with a symbolic key to the campus, and several special Class Day awards were presented.
The Harold Willis Dodds Achievement Award, recognizing the senior who best embodies the qualities of Princeton’s 15th president, Dodds, "particularly in the qualities of clear thinking, moral courage, a patient and judicious regard for the opinion of others, and a thorough devotion to the welfare of the university and the life of the mind," was given to Anthony Cukras, a chemistry major from Scarsdale, N.Y.
A member of the Student Volunteers Council, Cukras has worked on Trenton housing initiatives. He has been an officer of the Student Health Advisory Board, and represented Princeton at the National American College Health Association. A volunteer in the Princeton Medical Center ER, he has also been volunteer counselor at a summer camp for Philadelphia oncology patients and their siblings.
The Frederick Douglass Service Award is given to "a senior who has exhibited courage, leadership, intellectual achievement and a willingness to contribute unselfishly towards a deeper understanding of the experiences of racial minorities, and who in so doing reflects the tradition of service embodied in education at Princeton." This year’s winner is Kevin Hudson, a sociology major from East Orange, N.J., who is also earning certificates in American Studies and African American Studies.
Chair of the Third World Center Governance Board and a minority affairs adviser, he has also been a member of the Race Relations Working Group and an intern at the Blairstown Center. As a student admissions associate, he made a special effort to reach underprivileged students who might not otherwise have considered Princeton an option. With the Dean of Religious Life Joseph Williamson and classmate Jeffrey Siegel, he organized and participated in a special service in the Chapel, where they and President Shapiro addressed issues of race and ethnicity.
The Allen Macy Dulles ’51 Award goes to "the senior whose activities while a Princeton student best represent or exemplify Princeton in the nation’s service and in the service of all nations." The 1998 award was given jointly to Hudson and Jessica Hulsey, an English major from Buena Park, Calif., who has become known nationally for her work combatting drug addiction. At Princeton, she is a project director for the Student Volunteers Council and gives antidrug talks at local schools. She also runs a tutoring and mentoring program at Corner House, a local drug abuse prevention center.
Hulsey has appeared on national television and shared the podium at last year’s Summit for America’s Future with President Clinton, President Bush and General Colin Powell.
The Class of 1901 Medal goes to the senior who, in the judgment of his or her classmates, has done most for Princeton. This year, it was awarded to Jeffrey Siegel of Staten Island, N.Y., a Woodrow Wilson School major. As president of the Undergraduate Student Government, he has devoted himself to improving campus life. He has helped institute shuttle service to movie theaters and supermarkets, all-day and all-night library hours during exam periods, extended hours in Dillon Gym and increased flexibility in dining plans. He has served on the faculty-student Committee on Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid and the Priorities Committee.
Patricia Chi, an English major, won the W. Sanderson Detwiler 1903 Prize, awarded to the senior who, in the judgment of classmates, has done the most for the class. Class vice president during sophomore year, she has served as president both junior and senior year. She was responsible for oversight of the class budget and coordination of all social, volunteer, alumni relations and publicity programs. She planned the first Goods and Services Auction to encourage campus, community and alumni fundraising, with proceeds going toward volunteer health services in Belize. A member of the Honor Committee in 1996-97, she was also on the ad hoc committee convened to review the mission statement for the Women’s Center.
Teaching English as a Second Language since 1994, she has helped foreign students attain fluency. In 1997, she was selected by the KoreAm Institute as one of five university students in the nation to represent the United States in South Korea as youth ambassador for international culture and language exchange.
The Priscilla Glickman ’92 Memorial Prize, honoring "independence and imagination in the area of community service," went to Stephanie Paffhouse, a chemistry major from McBain, Mich., who is also earning certificates in Spanish language and culture, Latin American Studies and the Teacher Preparation Program, and Pratik Shah, a chemical engineering major from Akron, Ohio.
Paffhouse, a project coordinator at Community House for three years, worked with the YWCA to establish an ESL program targeting Princeton’s Latino population. She also organized a Community House service trip to Santo Domingo de los Colorados in Ecuador over spring break that emphasized dental hygiene education.
Shah has been a Student Volunteers Council student administrator for four years, working on numerous projects such as Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, Youth at Risk Awareness Week, Communiversity and the Special Olympics. He is also an Urban Action leader.
Josue Lajeunesse of Mercerville, janitor in Pyne Hall, and Beth Morgan, Assistant Dean of Student Life, a Princeton resident, were named honorary members of the Class of 1998.
Athletic awards
The C. Otto von Kienbusch Sportswoman of the Year Award, presented to "a senior woman of high scholastic rank who has demonstrated a general proficiency in athletics and the qualities of a true sportswoman," was given to Amy MacFarlane, a religion major from Vancouver, B.C., and Nicole Harrison of Houston, Texas, who majored in sociology. MacFarlane captained the field hockey team to two NCAA Final Four appearances. Harrison set school records in seven indoor and outdoor track events.
The William Winston Roper Trophy, awarded for "high scholastic rank and outstanding qualities of sportsmanship and general proficiency in athletics," went to Christian
Ahrens of Whitefish Bay, Wis., who led the heavyweight crew to a national championship; Steven Goodrich of Philadelphia, Pa., the center in Princeton’s basketball offense; and lacrosse player Jonathan Hess of Upper Nyack, N.Y., who won the 1997 Turnbull Award as the nation’s top attackman. All three men majored in history.
The Class of 1916 Cup, presented to "the varsity letter winner who, continuing in competition in his or her senior year, achieved at graduation the highest academic standing," was shared by Jaclyn Schwenker, a psychology major from Poughkeepsie, N.Y. and breaststroker on the women’s swimming team, and Kemal Askar of Istanbul, Turkey, a civil engineering major and member of the Tiger lightweight crew.