MAY 18, 2020
MAY 18, 2020
Ceremony Officiated by James Bundy, Dean, Yale School of Drama Opening Celebration Introductory Remarks A Message from a Special Guest Presentation of Awards and Prizes ASCAP Cole Porter Prize Edward C. Cole Memorial Award Carol Finch Dye Prize John W. Gassner Memorial Prize Bert Gruver Memorial Prize Allen M. and Hildred L. Harvey Prize Morris J. Kaplan Prize Julian Milton Kaufman Memorial Prize Jay Keene and Jean Griffin-Keene Prize Leo Lerman Graduate Fellowship in Design Dexter Wood Luke Memorial Prize Donald and Zorka Oenslager Travel Fellowship Pierre-AndrĂŠ Salim Prize Bronislaw (Ben) Sammler Award Frieda Shaw, Dr. Diana Mason OBE, and Denise Suttor Prize for Sound Design Oliver Thorndike Acting Award George C. White Prize Herschel Williams Prize
Presentation of Certificates and Diplomas Closing Remarks Finale
Class of 2020 Technical Internship Certificate Perry Keller Adago
James Thomas McLoughlin
Erin Sims
Jenna Lauren Carroll
Kathrine Ford Pulling
Cameron Waitkun
Joseph Krempetz
Tiago Jose Rodrigues
Certificate in Drama Gregory Victor Georges
Juliana Aiden Martinez
Zoe Mann
John Evans Reese IV
Master of Fine Arts Evan Christian Anderson
Robert L. Hart
Ilia Paulino
Alicia Joann Austin
April Monique Hickman
David Patrick Phelps
Lucia Eve BacquĂŠ
Evan Gregory Hill
Christopher Audley Puglisi
Stephanie Julie Bahniuk
Hao-En Hu
Danilo Rocha Gambini
Zachry Jason Bailey
Tatsuya Ito
Dario Sanchez
Danielle Lynette Barlow
Jonathan C. Jolly
Rajiv Shah
Julia Faith Bates
Benjamin Tirado Jones
Emily B. Sorensen
Liam David Bellman-Sharpe
Sarah Rafaele Karl
Dakota Sylvan Stipp
Brandon Edward Burton
Manu Kumasi
Erin McKee Sullivan
Madeline Blaire Charne
Matthew Harry Lewis
Samantha Tirrell
Emma Elizabeth Deane
Doireann Mac Mahon
Jaime Francisco Totti
Noah Asa Diaz
Michael Jon VanAartsen
Margaret Eden Douglas
Alexander Lawrence Bertrand McCargar
Logan Ellis
John Joseph McGlone IV
Caitlin Elizabeth Volz
Samantha Rose Else
Ciara Monique McMillian
Adrienne Suzanne Wells
Christopher Henry Evans
Alexandra Erin McNamara
Jonathan Willis West
Alex Noel Vermillion
Fabiola Syvel Feliciano-Batista Martin Montaner Valdivieso
Devin Macneal White
Elsa Rinde GibsonBraden
Gwyneth Muller
Emily Duncan Wilson
Margaret Elizabeth Burns Gray
Anula Shirish Navlekar
Irene Yaro Yarashevich
Laurie Eileen Ortega-Murphy
Kat Yen
Lily Guerin
Elizabeth Rebecca Pauley
Yunzhu Zeng
Doctor of Fine Arts Byongsok Chon
History of the School
School of Drama Shield
Yale University founded a Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts in 1924 through the generosity of Edward S. Harkness, BA 1897. In 1925, the first class of students was enrolled and George Pierce Baker, freshly recruited from Harvard, arrived to serve as the first chair of the newly formed Department of Drama.
The shield of Yale School of Drama, designed by Theodore Sizer, incorporates the gold spear from William Shakespeare’s coat of arms on a brown background with gold footlights and a red stage curtain drawn back by three decorative gold buttons and a gold tassel.
In 1955, by vote of the Yale Corporation, the Department was organized as a separate professional school, Yale School of Drama, offering the degrees of Master of Fine Arts in Drama and Doctor of Fine Arts in Drama, as well as Certificates in Drama awarded to those students who had completed the three-year program without having the normally prerequisite bachelor’s degree. Eleven years later, the formation of Yale Repertory Theatre created a laboratory in which theoretical study in the classroom with experienced theatre artists would be grounded with professional practice in production work on Yale Rep stages. Yale Repertory Theatre transformed the landscape of American theatre training: theatres and training programs across the country emulate Yale Rep’s convergence of talented students and leading professionals in meaningful collaboration.