Eight undergraduates have been awarded the Spirit of Princeton Award, the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students announced Friday. Established in 1995, the award recognizes students who have positively affected University life through their involvement in student organizations, community service, the arts and other extracurricular activities.
This year’s winners are Nikhil Basu Trivedi ’11, Elizabeth Borges ’11, Claire Cole ’12, Sam Dorison ’11, Kadeem Gill ’11, Jennifer King ’11, Genevieve Ryan ’11 and Jane Yang ’11.
Nikhil Basu Trivedi ’11, from Atherton, Calif., is a molecular biology major with a certificate in finance. He has been heavily involved in entrepreneurship during his time at the University, serving as co-president of the Princeton Entrepreneurship Club for two years.
Basu Trivedi also served as co-chair of the Butler College Council and performed with Princeton South Asian Theatrics. He is currently a peer adviser for Butler College, a member of the Graduating Class Commencement Committee and the former technology chair for Cap & Gown Club.
“So many of my classmates have made unrecognized positive contributions to the University,” Basu Trivedi said in an email. “I am truly humbled to have received this recognition with such astonishingly accomplished awardees and nominees.”
Elizabeth Borges ’11, from Washington, D.C., is a psychology major with a certificate in American Studies. She has been involved in raising student awareness about issues of health and diversity, serving as student co-chair of the Alcohol Coalition Committee, an intern for the LGBT center, a moderator for Sustained Dialogue and an organizer of Manicure for the Cure.
Borges did not respond to a request for comment.
Claire Cole ’12, a psychology concentrator from Waco, Texas, founded Leaders for Change, a campus leadership training program, and is currently on the national team of Students for Education Reform and an intern for the Program in Teacher Preparation.
Cole also serves as the Breakout program coordinator for the Pace Center, an Outdoor Action leader and a residential college adviser for Rockefeller College.
Cole did not respond to a request for comment
Sam Dorison ’11, a Wilson School concentrator from Longmeadow, Mass., served as vice president of the USG and is currently a tutor at the McGraw Center and a member of the Honor Committee.
He spent the last two summers tutoring in South Africa and working on legal cases involving Guantanamo Bay detainees in Washington, D.C. Dorison is also a former sports writer for The Daily Princetonian.
Dorison said that he was aware of the award but was extremely surprised at being a recipient.
“I know several people who won the award in past years, but I never could have imagined being selected,” he said in an email.
Kadeem Gill ’11, a psychology major pursuing certificates in African American studies and dance, is a member of several campus dance groups as well as board member of the Performing Arts Council and a participant in the Leadership and Mentoring Program.
Gill, who is from Brooklyn, N.Y., is also a student manager at Frist Campus Center and a co-chair of the Pan-African Graduation Committee for 2011.
Gill said he was grateful to the University for the many opportunities it had given him, especially through the performing arts. He attributed his drive to take advantage of campus opportunities to his childhood in Brooklyn, where he witnessed gang violence and experienced the lack of educational opportunity, he said.
“I was just very honored,” Gill said after receiving the award. He explained that performing arts at Princeton “have always meant the world to me,” and that the recent recognition showed him that “other people were able to ... acknowledge ... how much performing arts meant to me as well.”
“Performing arts have allowed me to represent who I am and where I come from without suffocating anyone [in an audience],” Gill added.
Jennifer King ’11, a computer science concentrator pursuing a certificate in information technology and society, is from Greenwich, Conn.
King helped found Princeton Women in Computer Science and the Princeton student chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery.
King tied for first place at the TigerLaunch Business Plan Competition with a business plan designed to reduce the cost of speech therapy for those with cochlear implants.
“I was thrilled to hear about receiving this award,” King said in an email. “I’m honored to be in the company of the other seven winners, all of whom have done so much for the Princeton community, and many of whom I already knew well before the award was announced.”
Genevieve Ryan ’11, a politics major from Potomac, Md., has served as co-president of Princeton Against Cancer Together, a member of the Honor Committee, vice president of Cottage Club and the club lacrosse team’s social chair.
Ryan, an Annual Giving captain, also cofounded Circle of Women, a volunteer group.
“I am honored to receive this award,” she noted in an email. “It is something I heard about my sophomore year when a role model of mine, Parker Henritze ‘09, received it. I have absolutely loved my past four years at Princeton and am truly grateful for the experiences I have had here.”
Jane Yang ’11, a chemical and biological engineering concentrator pursuing certificates in engineering biology and sustainable energy, cofounded the Princeton chapter of the International Association of Hydrogen Energy.
Yang, who is from Ypsilanti, Mich., also served as co-leader of Hats for the Homeless and the Student Volunteer Council’s American Red Cross. Yang is a member of Engineers Without Borders and a head fellow at the Princeton Writing Center.
Yang said that she has known about the Spirit of Princeton Award since freshman year and was personally acquainted with past winners through her involvement in the Writing Center and some Pace organizations.
“I always viewed my involvement in the University community and beyond as my way of paying forward all that has been given me,” Yang said in an email. “Princeton has helped me grow immensely.”
Nominations for the Spirit of Princeton Award were submitted in early April and the winners were selected by a committee of administrators and undergraduates.
Any undergraduates are eligible for nomination, and any member of the University committee can nominate someone.
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