Class Day

Yale Old Campus

Yale Old Campus

Prizewinners

	Alpheus Henry Snow Prize Awarded to the senior who, through the combination of intellectual achievement, character, and personality, shall be adjudged by the faculty to have done most for Yale by inspiring in his or her classmates an admiration for the traditions of high scholarship Brennan Carman, Grace Hopper College Elected to Phi Beta Kappa after four terms, Brennan Carman graduates summa cum laude in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry (MB&B), with Distinction, and in Statistics and Data Science (S&DS) with a 4.0 GPA. In the senior projects for his two majors, he completed research that will positively affect health outcomes for vulnerable populations. For MB&B, he analyzed structural and functional aspects of the HIV envelope protein. In S&DS, he focused on disability disparities in the United States at the county level. At Yale, Brennan created his own path in service in the realm of disability accessibility resources. He was co-founder and president of Disability Empowerment for Yale (DEFY). He is now a Senior Advisor for the group, and his investigatory work about accessibility at Yale culminated in a co-authored report on the status of Yale’s disability resources, resulting in several accepted recommendations. Brennan provided consultation on accessibility through the Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale; he volunteered with Demos, teaching science to local elementary schools; and he sang with Pitches and Tones. A future scientist, social analyst and policy-maker, Brennan’s self-imposed mandate, as the title of an Op-Ed he once wrote implies, is to “do this”—provide public education and accessibility—“for the children.” For his remarkable combination of scientific gifts and moral vision, his increasingly sophisticated pursuit of both evidence-based approaches and considered collective action on behalf of social justice, and his passionate desire to learn more about imaginative public approaches to disability and disability rights, Yale College is proud to bestow the Alpheus Henry Snow Prize upon Brennan Peter Carman.
	Russell Henry Chittenden Prize Awarded to the graduating senior majoring in the natural sciences who ranks highest in scholarship Tiger Zhang, Jonathan Edwards College Tiger Zhang, a double major in Chemistry and Math, graduates summa cum laude with 47 Yale College credits and Distinction in both majors. Inducted into Phi Beta Kappa in his junior year, he is a two-time winner of Yale’s Barge Prize for excellence in mathematics. He was also awarded first place in the 2019 Undergraduate Research Symposium. Tiger researched organic chemistry in the Miller Lab at Yale and has undertaken studies in immunology at the Sloane-Kettering Cancer Center. He has also served as the president of Yale MMATHS, which organizes math tournaments for high school students. His teachers have praised him as an “exceptionally talented scholar” with “innate technical and analytical skills” and express their highest confidence in his future as a scientist and educator. For his exceptional scholarship and his future promise in his field, Yale College is proud to confer the Russell Henry Chittenden Prize upon Tiger Zhang.
	Arthur Twining Hadley Prize Awarded to the graduating senior majoring in the social sciences who ranks highest in scholarship Jasper Feinberg, Berkeley College Jasper Feinberg graduates summa cum laude, with Distinction in both of his majors: Economics and Engineering Science-Mechanical. Every grade Jasper has earned at Yale is an A, including seminars outside his majors in Ethnicity, Race & Migration and History. On the strength of his exceptional academic record he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in his junior year. Beyond the classroom, Jasper has contributed in meaningful ways to the Berkeley community, most notably in his role on the Leadership Council of the Commonplace Society and in Berkeley’s Senior Mellon Forum, which awarded him the Commonplace Society Prize in order to recognition his outstanding dedication to supporting his senior classmates in their engagement with academic life. For his extraordinary accomplishments as a scholar, and to recognize his great promise for the future, Yale College is proud to confer the Arthur Twining Hadley Prize upon Jasper Blake Scheider Feinberg.
	Warren Memorial Prize Awarded to the graduating senior majoring in the humanities who ranks highest in scholarship Noah Kravitz, Grace Hopper College Noah Kravitz is a double major in Mathematics (Intensive) and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. In his sophomore year here he gave early evidence of his two intellectual interests by writing a paper on Arabic mathematics that was praised for its sophistication. He has now received Exceptional Distinction in his two majors, a remarkable achievement even by Yale standards. Elected to Phi Beta Kappa after four terms at Yale, he subsequently exceeded the College’s minimum requirement of 36 credits for the degree, earning a total of 41 credits in eight terms and graduating summa cum laude. He is adept at literary translation from the Arabic, and, in 2019, he won the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship for his scholarly work in mathematics. In recognition of his exemplary achievements, Yale College is proud to award the Warren Memorial High Scholarship Prize this year to Noah Benjamin Kravitz.
	Nellie Pratt Elliot Award Awarded to a senior woman who, on the field of play and in her life at Yale, best represents the highest ideals of American sportsmanship and Yale tradition; the Nellie Pratt Elliot Award for 2020 is shared by two distinguished Yale athletes Frances Arnautou, Berkeley College Frances Arnautou led a dominant stretch for the Yale volleyball team with an impressive 69 victories in four years of competition. The three-time Ivy League champion boasted a 3.7 GPA in history and she earned Ivy League Player of the Year honors as well as Academic All-Ivy honors. Off the court, she was a founding member and contributor to the Communication and Consent Educator program and was the co-president of the Unorthojocks, the all-athlete a cappella group. These endeavors paired perfectly with numerous athletic honors and accolades including two unanimous First Team All-Ivy selections, two All-East Region team selections and a finalist position for the national Senior C.L.A.S.S. Award.
	Nellie Pratt Elliot Award Awarded to a senior woman who, on the field of play and in her life at Yale, best represents the highest ideals of American sportsmanship and Yale tradition; the Nellie Pratt Elliot Award for 2020 is shared by two distinguished Yale athletes Aerial Chavarin, Silliman College Aerial Chavarin set the standard for soccer players at Yale as just the third All-American in program history as well as the second ever National Women’s Soccer League Draft selection. Additionally, she was an Academic All-Ivy League selection while serving on the leadership board of the Athletes in Action (AIA). The three-time All-Ivy League selection did something not done in nearly 15 years for the Bulldogs when the United Soccer Coaches recognized her as a Second Team All-American. Additionally, she earned Ivy Defensive Player of the Year honors as a senior. It was her second major award from the league after unanimously earning the Rookie of the Year accolade in 2016. She capped her time at Yale by leading a program turnaround which featured 11 victories in 2019, the most for the Elis since 2005.
	William Neely Mallory Award Awarded to a senior man who, on the field of play and in his life at Yale, best represents the highest ideals of American sportsmanship and Yale tradition Thomas Digby, Branford College Thomas Digby ended his career as the most decorated Yale heavyweight oarsman of all time, despite missing a spring season of competition due to COVID-19, while sitting in the varsity eight boat every year of his career. He never lost a regular season competition and helped the Bulldogs to three-straight national championships while earning All-America and first-team All-Ivy League honors each year. In addition to unparalleled athletic success, Digby is part of the Yale Undergraduate Aerospace Association (YUAA). He has also worked in conjunction with The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to build a picosatellite that is set for launch in July of 2021.
	Louis Sudler Prize Awarded to two graduating seniors for excellence in the performing or creative arts Sadie Cornette Cook, Silliman College To say that Sadie Cornette Cook is a photographer barely scratches the surface of her varied, deeply personal, and multilayered studio art practice. She is a Photographer with a capital “P,” who lives and breathes cameras, lenses, and scanners, but one who also weaves in performance, sculpture, time-based media, bookmaking, and poetry into her work. Heavily reliant on the use of her own senses of touch and sight, she creates works in many shades of gray that deal intimately with the sense of self in relationships and in the outside world—and seek to interrogate identity, gender, and sexuality. The audience member approaching her installations may encounter a traditional print, an ethereal recording of a puff of breath, a pile of chalk dust, written poetry, or even a carefully placed and aged piece of beautifully decaying fruit. Furthermore, her constant presence in the critiques and studios at the School of Art these past four years has fed her practice—and, in turn, those of her peers—in a deep and meaningful way, and she has made an impression on our community as an exceptional young artist. Graduating cum laude with distinction in the major, Sadie will commence her time as a Fulbright Scholar in Iceland this winter. For her brave questioning and seeking of self with visually poetic means, Yale College is delighted to award the Louis Sudler Prize for Excellence in the Creative Arts to Sadie Cornette Cook.
	Louis Sudler Prize Awarded to two graduating seniors for excellence in the performing or creative arts Farrah Rothman, Saybrook College Farrah Rothman is a composer and lyricist of drive, variety, and intelligence. She graduates with majors in Music and, with Distinction, in Theater Studies. Her musical theater work in the Shen Curriculum for Musical Theater summons a level of precision, finesse, and polish seldom seen outside the professional realm. At Yale, Farrah burnished already impressive technical skills with keen observation and a burgeoning sense of long form musical cohesion. Her senior thesis—music and lyrics for Rumspringa—tells the story of an Amish community and its rite of passage to adulthood. The show is a moving expression of finding one’s way; the score combines music evoking the plain-spoken, proud and distinct traditions of the Amish with a coming of age spirit of whimsy and adventure. Farrah’s evocative music and lyrics are distinguished by the sheer force of her native ability, determination, and diligent habits of revision. In recognition of vast compositional ability and achievement, as well as virtually unlimited potential, Yale College is proud to award the Louis Sudler Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts to Farrah Rothman.
	James Haas Prize Awarded to that senior whose breadth of intellectual achievement, strength of character, and fundamental humanity shall be adjudged by the faculty to have provided leadership for his or her fellow students, inspiring in them a love of learning and concern for others Jackson Willis, Berkeley College Jackson Willis, a double major in Economics and Humanities, graduates cum laude with 47 course credits, with Distinction in Economics and Exceptional Distinction in Humanities. He is a previous recipient of the John C. Schroeder Award and David Everett Chantler Prize, in honor of his altruism, social service, courage, strength of character, and high moral purpose. Jackson has served as the Executive Director and Chair of the Board for the Yale Hunger and Homelessness Action Project. As Board Director of the Dwight Hall umbrella service organization, he helped establish a “New Haven Homeless Bill of Rights” and he has been a member of the Board for the New Haven Democracy Fund. Around campus, Jackson has been a speech and public speaking tutor at the Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning, and a tour guide at the Yale Center for British Art. In the fall of 2018 and spring of 2019, he took a year’s leave of absence from Yale to work with the Peace Corps Response in Guinea, West Africa. For his outstanding academic achievements and his commitment to public service, Yale is proud to bestow the James Andrew Haas Memorial Prize for 2020 upon Jackson Stovall Willis.
	Nakanishi Prize Awarded to two graduating seniors who, while maintaining high academic achievement, have provided exemplary leadership in enhancing race and/or ethnic relations at Yale College Emily Almendarez, Silliman College Emily Almendarez is an Ethnicity, Race & Migration major hailing from Los Angeles. Since she arrived at Yale, Emily has modeled the way to be in community with others, for four years serving as a member and co-moderator of MEChA and as a Peer Liaison (PL) for La Casa, this year as its Head PL. Off campus, she has been just as dedicated to serving alongside New Haven immigrant organizers, leading organizing efforts for environmental justice, divestment, and immigration reform; modeling how students can stand in solidarity with faculty through her organizing with the Coalition of Ethnic Studies; and providing an immeasurable amount of support and leadership to others. Emily is a truth-teller, a Central American Studies scholar, and the daughter of Central American immigrants, Luis and Dina Almendarez, from Honduras and Guatemala, and her impact at Yale is interwoven with the love of her parents. Through her service, she has been unapologetic in the pursuit of liberation for communities of color at Yale and New Haven and has honored the legacy of Don Nakanishi, a founding member of MEChA and of the PL program. For her commitment to community, Yale College is honored to bestow a 2020 Nakanishi Prize on Emily Almendarez.
	Nakanishi Prize Awarded to two graduating seniors who, while maintaining high academic achievement, have provided exemplary leadership in enhancing race and/or ethnic relations at Yale College Janis Jin, Grace Hopper College Janis Jin is an English and Ethnicity, Race & Migration double major who graduates magna cum laude and with Distinction in both her majors. As a scholar-activist, Janis has always sought to ground her community organizing and advocacy work in critical scholarship and pedagogy. Beginning with her work at the Asian American Cultural Center (AACC) as a student staffer, Janis poured countless hours of care and labor into setting up the AACC’s Gary Y. Okihiro Library, which houses over 2,000 books and is an invaluable Asian American Studies resource at Yale. As Co-head coordinator of the AACC, she also planned and implemented AACC events that engaged her peers in critical dialogues and increased their awareness around sociopolitical issues through an intersectional lens. From her involvement with the #FreeMelecio campaign related to immigration and deportations, to leading a coalition for ethnic studies support for faculty and again in support of Black Students for Disarmament at Yale, Janis has consistently used her voice both inside and outside of the classroom to inspire a critical hope, consciousness, and community that helps us reimagine new possibilities for a more just world. As one nominator stated, “Janis does not separate her scholarship from her activism, or vice versa; rather she recognizes the power of combining the two.” For her commitment to community, Yale College is honored to bestow a 2020 Nakanishi Prize on Janis Jin.