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May 30, 2000
Members of Class of 2000 Honored at Class Day
Princeton, N.J. Members of the Class of 2000 were honored for academic and athletic achievement and for their service to the community at Class Day ceremonies on May 29. During the celebration, Princeton University President Harold T. Shapiro presented the senior class with a symbolic key to the campus.
The Class of 1901 Medal, recognizing the senior who, "in the judgment of the student's classmates, has done the most for Princeton," and the W. Sanderson Detwiler 1903 Prize for the senior who, "in the judgment of the student's classmates, has done the most for the class," both went to Spencer Merriweather. A politics major, Merriweather was senator, then vice president, then president of the Undergraduate Student Government. He lobbied for changes to the financial aid policy, helped student organizations secure funding, served as tutor and mentor to area middle school students and was active in the Black Men's Awareness Group. Next year, he will continue to represent classmates as Young Alumni Trustee.
Ian Hagemann and Susan Rea shared the Harold Willis Dodds Award, given to the senior who best embodies the high example set by the 15th president of Princeton, "particularly in the qualities of clear thinking, moral courage, a patient and judicious regard for the opinion of others, and a thoroughgoing devotion to the welfare of the University and the life of the mind."
Hagemann, a chemistry major, has been a peer adviser for potential chemistry majors, a tutor in molecular biology, a Student Volunteers Council (SVC) volunteer and an emergency medical technician. He also ran senior checkout.
Rea majored in chemical engineering and earned certificates in engineering biology and materials science. A Marshall Scholar, she is also a varsity athlete playing soccer and basketball. Rea volunteered with SVC and the Urban Crisis Ministry.
The Frederick Douglass Service Award goes 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 Janelle Wright. A Woodrow Wilson School major, she earned a certificate in African-American Studies. Former chair of the Third World Center Governance Board and a volunteer at the Clay Street Learning Center, Wright is this year's recipient of the University's Labouisse Fellowship, which is awarded to support research relating to problems of development and modernization.
The Priscilla Glickman '92 Memorial Prize, honoring "independence and imagination in the area of community service," went to Tamara Johnson and Joe Wardenski, both Woodrow Wilson School majors who earned certificates in African-American Studies. Johnson, a four-year member of Community House, has coordinated the Princeton High School tutoring project.
Wardenski has served on the board of the Student Volunteers Council, and been a project director, working with the University Brothers and Sisters Trenton project.
Alleda Flagg and Janelle Wright received the Allen Macy Dulles '51 Award, presented to the seniors whose activities "best represent or exemplify Princeton in the nation's service and in the service of all nations." Flagg majored in molecular biology. She co-chaired the Hallelujah! Worship Committee, volunteered in several community-based service projects, and worked with SVC and Community House to rebuild a burned-out church in South Carolina.
Athletic Awards
The William Winston Roper Trophy, honoring Princeton's outstanding male athlete, was shared by three students: John Mack, a psychology major who competed in track and field; Josh Sims an economics major who played lacrosse; and Peter Yik, a psychology major who played squash.
Goga Vukmirovic and Blair Irwin shared the C. Otto von Kienbusch Sportswoman of the Year Award. Vukmirovic left war-torn Sarajevo seven years ago and was introduced to water polo at high school in Connecticut. While she majored in molecular biology and earned a certificate n the Woodrow Wilson School, she helped her water polo team to three national championship tournaments. Irwin, a chemistry major, had a perfect record in women’s squash during her four years at Princeton.
The Class of 1916 Cup, awarded to the varsity letter winner with the highest academic standing went to golfer Moto Yogo, an economics major from Warren, N.J.
Honorary Classmates
Names honorary members of the Class of 2000 were Thomas Dunne, assistant dean of undergraduate students, and Princeton resident Larry Dupraz, longtime adviser to the staff of the Daily Princetonian.