Yale College Juniors Recognized for Scholarship, Character

Published: May 1, 2009

New Haven, Conn. — Thirteen Yale College juniors received honors from the Council of Masters in recognition of their scholarship, contributions to college life and their character. The prizes, winning students and their award citations follow:

F. Wilder Bellamy Jr. Memorial Prize

Established by friends of F. Wilder Bellamy Jr., B.A. 1937, this prize is awarded to the students who best exemplify the qualities for which the alumnus is remembered, including personal integrity, loyalty to friends and high-spiritedness in athletics, academics and social life.

This year's winners are:

Dan Lewis, Saybrook College. "No member of the Class of 2009 in Saybrook College is more beloved than Dan Lewis," reads the student's citation. A cellist with the Yale Symphony Orchestra, the Saybrook College Orchestra and Low Strung (an all-cello choir), Lewis was taking part in the summer 2007 Habitat for Humanity bicycle trip, when he was hit by a vehicle near Vesper, Kansas, and sustained critical injuries including severe brain trauma and two broken legs. He is currently recuperating from his injuries. "His Saybrook classmates, Low Strung colleagues, fraternity brothers and many other friends visit him frequently during breaks and vacations, and in this way among many he continues to be a true member of the Yale community and a focus of the kinds of interpersonal relationships that are celebrated in the Bellamy Prize," notes the citation.

Caitlin Clements, Calhoun College. Clements is known for the "sparkling personality, energy and good-natured competitiveness she brings to the IM fields," reads her citation. "But although she approaches every event with determination, she maintains an environment where all students, regardless of their talent for athletics, feels welcome and needed by Calhoun's IM teams." Clements is also a volunteer, a social justice activist and a certified EMT. She was recenty elected president of the Calhoun College Council.

Robert Gibbs, Jonathan Edwards College (JE). "Bobby Gibbs represents the heart and soul of JE," reads his citation. "{H]e is the omnipresent student who knows every inch of the college and helps make the college run." He has been elected to the JE College Council every single year. He has run the Buttery, directed the Big Sibling program, and organized scores of Student Activity Committee events. He plays in the JE orchestra, and is a master's aide.

Kate Hawkins, Silliman College. A Yale Daily News photographer; musician, composer and arranger; Yale Precision Marching Band script writer; New Haven community volunteer; and American Studies major, Hawkins "embodies all the qualities one hopes for within the residential college community," reads her citation. "She gives the term ‘high spirits' new meaning in all that she does for Silliman and Yale. ... Her infectious optimism rubs off on all who encounter her."

Samuel Purdy, Davenport College. "An avid competitor in intramural sports and the voice of WYBC radio coverage of Yale football, men's and women's basketball and baseball, Samuel Purdy's enthusiasm and high spirits extend also to his engagement with the New Haven community," notes his citation. A history major, Purdy designed and teaches a course on the history of the Civil Rights Movement for rising sixth graders in the U.S. Grant Program, and has served as co-director of the 80-student program and special adviser to the board.

Bryan Twarek, Saybrook College. Known in Saybrook College and beyond as "BT," Twarek served on the Committee for Campus-wide Activities for three years, chaired the Undergraduate Organization Funding Committee, co-chaired Saybrook's Student Activities Committee; and was president of the Saybrook College Council. He has been a master's aide since his freshman year, and next year will be a freshman counselor. He was also a 2008-2009 FOOT leader. A community health educator and a member of the board of Dwight Hall, Twarek has also volunteered for the DEMOS Program, which teaches "hands-on" science to fifth graders; the PALS program for inner-city elementary school youths; Habitat for Humanity; the local Rotaract Club; and Young Life, a Christian outreach ministry for middle school students in the Fair Haven area. "He is the kind of leader that a residential college simply cannot get along without," says Saybrook College Master Edward Kamen.

John C. Schroeder Award

This award, which honors former Calhoun College Master John C. Schroeder, is given to students who have contributed to residential college life and who, in the opinion of the committee, will "play a part in the good labor of the world."

This year's winners are:

Sameer Gupta, Calhoun College. A mem­ber of Phi Beta Kappa and recently named a Goldwater Scholar, Gupta has been working on genetics since 2007 when he began conducting research at the Yale Medical School. Gupta has already published in the American Journal of Human Genetics and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Emory Case Studies. "Yet for all his brilliance and talent," notes his citation, "Sameer is unfailingly humble, easy-going and kind. He is never too busy to help a fellow student and never so focused that he neglects his friends."

Megnaa Mehtta, Ezra Stiles College. Mehtta "defines the spirit of altruism at Yale," notes her citation. As an anthropology major, she has studied poverty in many contexts, focusing on hunger in India and the United States. As a resident of New Haven, she has brought food to local soup kitchens, tutored immigrant Spanish-speakers at a city correctional facility, and been a member of the Undergraduate Organizing Committee. Prior to coming to Yale, she interned with the Royal Society for the Protection of Nature in Bhutan, she helped bring potable water to small towns in rural India, and she volunteered at the School for the Blind in New Delhi. She is currently studying abroad at the University of Cape Town, and she will conduct research this summer on unemployment in Argentina and Cuba.

Anna Smith, Morse College. "Anna Smith has blended her passion for public service with her strong intellectual curiosity to advocate for children's health," says her citation. "Whether on campus or beyond Yale's walls, Anna has worked tirelessly to help those children who most need assistance. Anna is incredibly warm, engaging and modest about her remarkable achievements. She strives to educate herself fully about the medical, political, and social dimensions of children's health, and has a proven record of leadership in public ­service."

Skawenniio Barnes, Berkeley College. Barnes is majoring in political science and international studies. She is currently serving as the president of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, the treasurer of the Association of Native Americans at Yale, and co-chair of the All Ivy Native Council. She is also a member of the Intercultural Affairs Council and the student member of the Native American Cultural Center's advisory board. Beyond Yale, Barnes serves on the executive board of the National Indian Education Association, the nation's oldest Indian education organization.

Shira Concool, Pierson College. "Al­most every day, we in Pierson College learn something new about Shira Concool's remarkable accomplishments as well as her devotion to people at Yale and beyond," reads her citation. "... [S]he is one of our truly exceptional students for whom hard work and self-enrichment are inseparable from the needs of others suffering from the evils of discrimination and oppression or the scourges of poverty and war."

Joseph Lentilhon Selden Memorial Award

Named for Joseph Lentilhon Selden, B.A. 1949, this prize honors juniors "whose verve, idealism and constructive interest in music and the humanities exemplify those qualities for which Joseph Lentilhon Selden is remembered." In recent years the award has gone to students who are especially notable for their contribution to the field of music.

This year's winners are:

Daniel Schlosberg, Branford College. Schlosberg is a pianist, composer and conductor. He has directed the Yale Opera company, performed as a soloist with the Yale Symphony Orchestra, and has placed first in numerous musical competitions. He is co-founder of an undergraduate music organization that recently sponsored an all-night New Music Marathon. He will spend this summer studying composition in Berlin and working on his own symphony with the help of a Class of '60 Fellowship.

Kevin Olusola, Morse College. Olusola "is a superb cellist, saxophonist and beatboxer to boot," reads his citation. "While majoring in East Asian studies and satisfying the pre-medical curriculum, he has shared his love for music in a dizzying array of venues not only at Yale and in New Haven, but also at the national and international level. Whatever instrument he chooses, his music sparkles with creativity and exuberance and invariably brings smiles of delight to his audiences."

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