Special Commencement Issue • May 26, 2017
Congratulations, Class of 2017! Berkshire bids a fond farewell to its 110th graduating class. Warren Berger, innovation expert, journalist, and author, delivers commencement address.
The Graduation Prizes Andrea L. Cass of Southwick, MA: The Berkshire Cup, the highest distinction Berkshire confers on one of its graduating seniors. It is given each year to the student who is considered by the faculty to have made the greatest contribution to the success of the school year. Silvana Gomez of North Bergen, NJ: The Headmaster’s Prize, awarded to the student whose particular contribution to Berkshire has distinguished the school year in a special way and whose leadership led others and influenced many. Genesis Paulino of Lawrence, MA: The Robert A. Powers Award, which recognizes a Sixth Former who has demonstrated personal growth, loyalty to the school, and dependability of performance which has distinguished his or her career at Berkshire.
Madison P. Biasin of Lee, MA: The Herger Trophy, awarded to the sixth-form female student who has best exemplified proficiency and sportsmanship in interscholastic athletics. Siqi (Michelle) Zhou of Shanghai, China: The Peter Lance Anderson Award, decided by the membership of the Cum Laude Society and given to the student who best exemplifies the qualities of personal excellence, integrity, and academic scholarship. And The Princeton Cup, the top sixth-form academic prize awarded for diligence in studies and success in co-curricular activities. Samuel M. Bannett Mas of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico: The Anna S. Barrasch Prize, awarded for unselfish interest in people and loyalty to Berkshire.
Abbey N. Turner of Bethlehem, CT: The Calvin Fentress Citizenship Award, given for exemplary personal performance, loyalty to Berkshire, and outstanding citizenship in the school community. Andrew C. Pitcher of Grand Isle, VT: The Morris Trophy, awarded to the sixth-form male student who has best exemplified proficiency and sportsmanship in interscholastic athletics. Jasper Turner: The Aliis Non Sibi Award. Selected by members of the graduating class, the recipient of this award follows the motto “for others, not themselves.” It recognizes a member of the faculty who, through a love of teaching and abiding commitment to enriching the lives of students, embodies the ideals and spirit of an engaged and treasured member of both the faculty and, equally important, the Berkshire community.
Prize Night Awards and Prizes Clive E. Davis and Tasia Cheng-Chia Wu win top teaching award; Charlotte Childs and Ahria Simons named head prefects; Mo Omar wins Dean Trophy; Cum Laude Society inducts six
THE CUM LAUDE SOCIETY Induction of new members Class of 2017: Viggo G. Blomquist, Hiu Yuen Victor Leung Class of 2018: Jackson C. Brex, Tian (Victor) Li, Amaal I. Mahamed, Edward C. Tuckerman
BLACK ROCK SCHOLARS Class of 2017: Samuel M. Bannett Mas, Kyle T. Bason, Phuong (Kristine) Nguyen, Genesis Paulino, Michael S. Petersen, Berit W. Randall
ACADEMIC PRIZES The Thomas L. Chaffee Award for Excellence in Third-Form English: Max S. Rhie The Lance Turner Third-Form Essay Prize: Max S. Rhie The Joan Williams Award for Excellence in Fourth-Form English: Camille M. Kittredge The Brown Book Award: Tucker K. Donelan The Tertius Van Dyke Prize for Excellence in Sixth-Form English: Samuel M. Boorstyn The Gerald B. O’Connor ’46 Prize in Journalism: Manqing (Maggie) Zhu The Prize for Excellence in Fiction: Mikayla M. McEwen The Arthur C. Chase Poetry Prize: Brooke M. Gordon and Gracie A. Kraft
The William P. Matthews ’61 Prize for Creative Writing: Greer M. Gibney
The Prize for Excellence in Fourth-Form Mathematics: Sanghyun Ko
The Richard P. Unsworth Prize for Excellence in Chinese: Gavin R. Bigall
The Berridge Prize for Excellence in Fifth-Form Mathematics: Huy Q. Kieu
The Award for Excellence in Fourth-Form Modern Language: Hussien H. El Desouky
The David Campbell Eipper Cup for Excellence in Sixth-Form Mathematics: Ivan A. Kulchitskiy
The Stanley Prize for Excellence in French: Siqi (Michelle) Zhou The W. Duncan MacMillan Prize for Excellence in Latin: Meixiao (Michelle) Wang The Jane Usher Dyer Prize for Excellence in Latin: Manqing (Maggie) Zhu The Prize for Excellence in Spanish: Jake A. Stackpole The W. Ross Hawkins Prize for Excellence in Modern World History: Samuel M. Boorstyn The C. Twiggs Myers Prize for Excellence in U.S. History: Jackson C. Brex The William F. Gulotta Award for Excellence in Government: James H. Spoehel The R. Bruce Morison ’61 Prize for Current Events and Political Science: Kevin R. Persky The Bosley Memorial Prize for Excellence in History: Samuel M. Boorstyn The Leslie W. Clifford Prize for Excellence in Third-Form Mathematics: Shun Iwata
The Rensselaer Medal for Distinction in Mathematics and Science: Amaal I. Mahamed The Award for Excellence in Fourth-Form Science: Nan (Sherry) Yang The Dwight C. Baum ’32 Award for Excellence in Chemistry: Amaal I. Mahamed The Richard T. Beebe Prize for Excellence in Physics: Yudu (Ryan) Zang The Chester W. Rice Science Award: Viggo G. Blomquist The William Stoddard, Jr. ’65 Memorial Prize: Claire M. Lemker The Bausch and Lomb Science Award: Edward C. Tuckerman The Prize for Excellence in Stagecraft: Rafael Arredondo The Ray Weston Memorial Prize in Theater Arts: Losseni O. Barry and Hannah L. Liencres The Berkshire Dramatics Cup: Ana M. Tolvo
PRIZES AND AWARDS
FIFTH FORM PRIZES The Marguerite L. Kreh Memorial Award: Charlotte B. Childs
The Terry Pines Memorial Prize for Dance: Siqi (Michelle) Zhou
The Arthur C. and Alice Ann Chase Commendation Awards: Max S. Rhie, third form; Martin M. Dimo, fourth form; Yoonjoong (Sean) Kim, fifth form; Claire M. Lemker, sixth form
The Margaret V. Beattie Memorial Prize for Excellence in Art: Jade E. Shatkin
The John F. Godman Award: Madelyn E. Beitler and Andrew C. Pitcher
The Jeannette B. Cooper Prize Book: Sophia M. McCarthy
The Segalla Memorial Art Award for Excellence in Studio Art: Ione E. Bartlett
The Spirit of Berkshire Award: Jules C.G. Öberg
The William Brooks Nolan Memorial Award: William S. Zegras
The Chaplain’s Cup: Nathaniel B. Jacobson
The Robert Davis Allen Prize: Losseni O. Barry
The Elaine Mansell Award: Kufre N. Udoh
The Smith College Book Award: Isabelle W. Maher
The Weil Family Prize for Public Speaking: Benjamin W. Dixon
The Williams College Book Award: Tian (Victor) Li
The Ernest L. Wakefield Prize for Excellence in Music: Andrea L. Cass and Manqing (Maggie) Zhu
The Allen Buck Prize for Excellence in Photography: Viggo G. Blomquist The Robert Leo Theriault Prize for Creativity and Excellence in Ceramics: Neeka Daemi The Rhode Island School of Design Book Prize: Dalia G. Banevicius The John E. Rovensky Memorial Prize for Excellence in Independent Study: Peter J. Koenigsbauer
The James Stone Memorial Award: Tucker K. Donelan
The Dartmouth College Book Award: Yoonjoong (Sean) Kim
The David Shumway Barrett ’59 Memorial Prize for Perseverance: Jaimeson E. Allan and Bryce F. Gomez
The Harvard Club Prize Book: Edward C. Tuckerman The Frederic S. Dean Trophy: Mohamed S. Omar
The St. Lawrence University Book Award: Peter J. Koenigsbauer The Lawrence Thomas Piatelli Prize: Simran R. Chatani
2017-18 Head Prefects: Charlotte B. Childs and Ahria D. Simons
Seaver Buck Faculty Award: Clive E. Davis and Tasia Cheng-Chia Wu
For school. For life.
Where You’ll Find Them This Fall
Noah Abrams Daniel Aldam Alexander Amero Duncan Anderson Dalia Banevicius Samuel Bannett Mas Victoria Barnett Ione Bartlett Kyle Bason Madelyn Beitler Madison Biasin Gavin Bigall Viggo Blomquist Christina Bolarinwa Samuel Boorstyn Nicholas Botticelli Charles Boyle Robert Boyle William Bullock Sha Cao Andrea Cass Juan Cedeño Simran Chatani Brian Chudacoff Rawson Clough Matthew Cortes Brenden Cournoyer Margaret Curran Neeka Daemi Tara DeChellis Erin Dillon Benjamin Dixon Wilfred Dyer Kloman Djemo Fade Yoshinari Fukuzawa Samuel Gatsos Tristan Gaynor Amir Ghani Greer Gibney Charles Goldstein Silvana Gomez Brooke Gordon John Grace Hanna Graebner Malik Harvey Ian Heissenbuttel Jensen Hellmers Eui Jin Hwang Nathaniel Jacobson Su Min Jeong Ryan Jewell Lauren Kauffman Ryan Keelan Juliana Kokot Kyle Koopman Matthew Koopman Gracie Kraft Ivan Kulchitskiy Ethan Labi Alea Laigle
Northeastern University Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Colorado State University St. Lawrence University Drexel University Northeastern University University of Colorado at Boulder Loyola University Maryland Syracuse University Hamilton College Smith College University of Colorado at Boulder Columbia University McGill University Claremont McKenna College Connecticut College St. Lawrence University Trinity College (Hartford) Wake Forest University New York University Northeastern University Wentworth Institute of Technology Drexel University Dickinson College Wake Forest University Wake Forest University State University of New York at Albany Wesleyan University University of Massachusetts, Amherst Southern Methodist University Connecticut College Colby College Bates College New York University Middlebury College Colgate University Dean College Chapman University Pitzer College University of Southern California Harvard University Ithaca College Babson College Providence College St. Lawrence University Loyola University Maryland Loyola University Maryland University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Kenyon College Carnegie Mellon University University of Vermont Texas Christian University Connecticut College New York University Junior Hockey Providence College Hobart and William Smith Colleges Virginia Tech Tulane University University of Denver
Alonde LeGrand Claire Lemker Hiu Yuen Victor Leung Hannah Liencres Mu Chen Lin John Lloyd Maggie Markgraf Stephen Matlock Moe Matsuoka Antonia Matzka Anne McGraw Matthew McKinley Alex Meehan Tyler Morse Phuong Nguyen Stephen O’Connell Colin O’Connor Mary O’Neill Jules Öberg Nicholas Palumbo Roman Panibratyuk Genesis Paulino William Perekslis Michael Petersen Andrew Pitcher Kendall Pollart Catherine Quaintance Berit Randall Jeremy Richard Stephen Richey Dong Chan Ryu Jordi Sabrià Gabarró Gary Scarafoni Jade Shatkin Lydia Shedden Meredith Shields James Siff León Silva Cubillos Timothy Spears Sean Speegle Kenneth Sperl James Spoehel Luke Streett Liam Thor Ana Tolvo Autumn Truesdale Abbey Turner Kufre Udoh Quentin van der Lee Cole Venner Kai Walker Jack Weeden Juan Widoycovich Scagliotti Jeanna Willis James Wilson Zuoquan Wu Yudu Zang Siqi Zhou Manqing Zhu
Fairfield University Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Cornell University Emerson College Military Service Amherst College Northeastern University University of California, Los Angeles Georgetown University College of the Holy Cross Connecticut College Endicott College Northeastern University Wake Forest University Syracuse University Duke University Union College Marquette University Williams College Rollins College Occidental College Bates College University of North Dakota Trinity College (Hartford) Wesleyan University Providence College Northeastern University Santa Clara University Wheaton College University of Tennessee, Knoxville Emory University Georgia Institute of Technology Union College University of Colorado at Boulder Clarkson University Indiana University at Bloomington University of Denver Lindenwood University Stevens Institute of Technology Gettysburg College Emmanuel College The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina Franklin & Marshall College Kenyon College Muhlenberg College University of Richmond University of Colorado at Boulder Middlebury College Trinity University (Texas) University of Connecticut Boston University Santa Clara University Hobart and William Smith Colleges The College of Wooster Wake Forest University New York University Brown University Northwestern University King’s College London