On Thursday, May 24th, we celebrated the accomplishments of our seniors who graduated this month at the Honors Year-End Dinner. Seniors, their families, representatives of the Honors classes of 2017 to 2020, faculty members, and trustees from the university enjoyed dinner while hearing brief remarks from Dr. Elizabeth Stewart, the Honors Program Committee Chair; Dr. Selma Botman, the provost of Yeshiva University; and Dr. Joshua Joseph, the Senior Vice President of YU.
Dr. Gabriel Cwilich, Director of the Honors Program, then spoke about the past year’s activities and accomplishments before presenting the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Award for Service to the Honors Program by a Graduating Senior to Chaim Metzger and Shai Berman. Awards for the best theses of 2015 were presented to Daniel Atwood (Social Sciences/Humanities) and Benjamin Statman (Natural Sciences).
After dinner, our guests split into four groups to hear the students’ Honors theses presentations, introduced by Professor Liesl Schwab, the head of the writing program. Once the presentations concluded, everybody reconvened for dessert and for a faculty address by Dr. Sumanta Goswami, the chair of the Biology department. The wonderful evening came to an end with closing remarks by Dr. Gabriel Cwilich and graduating senior Aaron Portman, who encouraged his fellow graduates to hold on to what they have achieved and learned in the academic world and to celebrate their accomplishments as they go out into the bigger world.
We couldn’t be prouder of our seniors and are thankful to all two hundred and fifty guests who attended the dinner and celebrated their accomplishments. This year’s dinner celebrated more students than ever, a testimony to the growth of the Honors Program. We look forward to next year!
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