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Westminster Celebrates Graduation of Class of 2015
Family members, friends and faculty gathered on Commencement Lawn May 23 to celebrate the graduation of 107 students in Westminster’s Class of 2015.
“We gather as a school family today to congratulate the Class of 2015, to salute those who have excelled in the different realms of school life, to thank those who have made this achievement possible and to say farewell to those who will soon depart our school community,” said Headmaster Bill Philip.
He then cited accomplishments of the year in admissions, college counseling and the annual fund, and recognized the recent gifts of trees and benches by alumni. “This school continues to flourish thanks to the passion of our school community, both students, faculty, parents, alumni and friends here on campus today, but also those around the country and the world, who continue to cherish and seek to advance this school,” he said.
He credited members of the Class of 2015 and its leaders for a terrific school year. “In so many ways, both formally and informally, this class led our school community impressively this past year. This legacy of effective student leadership pervaded all of your initiatives, ranging from Sixth Formers living with Third Formers in Milliken and Edge houses, to captaining teams to leading student organizations. You set a welcoming, responsible tone and our school was a better place for your leadership.”
In his Salutatory Address Head Prefect Ryan Seymour ’15 recounted memories from his class’s time on the Hill and shared how Westminster teachers prepared members of the class to move on to their next journey. “Today, we say thank you to our families,” he said. “Today, we say goodbye to Westminster, and we receive our diplomas because we can. Today, we are the greatest Class of 2015 in the world. We were born to be Martlets, every one of us. We were meant to fly together.”
In his Outstanding Scholar Address, Tom Dudzik’15 talked about a prestigious centuries-old poetry competition in Barcelona, Spain, that presents a silver rose as its third prize, a gold rose as its second prize and a living rose as its first prize. “The rose has true intrinsic beauty, something its metal counterparts lack,” said Tom. “And maybe just maybe, this aspect gives it more value than gold or silver. … We’ve been forging and creating our poems, our stories of our lives, our identities since we started here at Westminster. Now, it’s time to decide what we want to achieve with them: a gold metal object or a living, breathing, beautiful being while we can.” He encouraged his classmates to live in the present without taking things for granted, to set big goals, envision their future, and “dream large, for dreamers are not the most unrealistic people in the world.”
The keynote speaker was Scott Reeves, a longtime Westminster English teacher and Web manager, who is retiring at the end of the academic year. He asked the Sixth Form to recite Emily Dickinson’s poem “Number 76,” which they had studied and memorized in English 6. “I believe that one point of the poem is the divine intoxication and exultation of setting sail, which is what we are about to do, you and I,” he said. He then spoke about service and leadership saying, “They are words that describe significant human behavior, behavior in assistance of others.” He talked about less visible forms of service and leadership and asked the students to “think of service and leadership as inverting physics, making that pyramid lighter as more hands pile on to serve and lead at all levels and in all ways.” He concluded by reading 14 lines from Walt Whitman’s poem, “Passage to India.”
The following faculty members and students received awards:
FACULTY PRIZES
Twenty-Year Service Pins
Joan Howard P’00, ’03 and Bill Sistare
The Swayze Award:
Presented annually in honor of distinguished alumnus, trustee and former Chairman of the Board of Trustees Townsend Swayze ’55, this award is given to a member of the faculty for outstanding contributions to the life of the school.
Lee Huguley
The O’Brien Award:
This award is presented annually in honor of Marianna and the late Junie O’Brien P’81, who devoted their lives in service to young people and to schools. It recognizes a member of the faculty who has, over the course of the year, been especially selfless and generous with time and care in the nurture and support of students and whose extraordinary, ongoing personal commitment to young people sets an example to the Westminster community.
Mark de Kanter ’91
STUDENT PRIZES
Gretchen Hupfel ’82Art Purchase Prize
Emily G. Kunsman ’15
Cowing Art Award
Margaret R. Forelli ’15
Lewis J. Powers Photography Award
Eliza T. Christman ’15 and Jae Won Choi ’15
Excellence in Dance
Lauren T. Boures ’15
Edward Scull Jr. ’71 Award for Excellence in Architecture
Bryson G. Tomcik ’15
Excellence in Physics
Thomas O. Dudzik ’15
Excellence in Science
Thomas O. Dudzik ’15
Joyce Wilson Prize for Excellence in Mathematics
Thomas O. Dudzik ’15
Excellence in Economics
Thomas O. Dudzik ’15
Class of 1941 Peter Mars Memorial History Prize
Andrew S. Brazer ’15
Dramatic Award for Service and Achievement in Acting
Shelby J. Gamble ’15
Design Award for Service and Achievement in Technical Support
Duncan R. Kellogg ’15
J. Lawrence Gilman Award for Achievement in Music and Participation in Musical Activities
Shelby J. Gamble ’15 and David L. Swenson ’15
Gordon McKinley Award for Excellence in English
Andrew S. Brazer ’15
Critchell Rimington Creative Writing Award
Shelby J. Gamble ’15
Shelby J. Gamble ’15
Burdett Prize for Excellence in the Study of French
Kristina Jezkova ’16
Richard P. Hopley Excellence in Latin Prize
Emma V. Filler ’15
Moncada Prize for Excellence in Spanish
Thomas O. Dudzik ’15
Chinese Prize
George C. Knight Jr. ’15
Sixth Form Prizes for General Scholarship
First in the Sixth Form: Thomas O. Dudzik
Second in the Sixth Form: Andrew S. Brazer
Third in the Sixth Form: Emily K. Kandarian
Butler Bowl
The faculty presents this award to a member of the Third Form for character and leadership.
Karus A. Sabio ’18
Adams Bowl
This award is presented annually to a member of the Fourth Form who best embodies the qualities of Richard and Barbara Adams, who gave devoted service to Westminster for over 40 years, showing outstanding personal qualities and concern for the community and unwavering dedication to students. Barbara served on the faculty from 1995-2011, and Dick served on the faculty from 1970-2013.
Joel T. Groves ’17
Wilbraham Bowl
This award is presented annually to a member of the Fifth Form who best embodies the qualities of Geoffrey Wilbraham, who gave distinguished and loyal service to Westminster from 1958 to 1994: high personal standards, consistent respect for others, unswerving commitment to the common good, steady insistence on fair play and abiding human decency.
Addison P. Cilmi ’16
Brian T. Bruyette ’77 Senior Athletic Award
This award is given annually to the Sixth Form boy and girl who best exemplify excellence in athletics and who contributed to the character of the team. It is given in memory of Brian T. Bruyette ’77, who in his enthusiasm, sportsmanship, effort and skills, represented all that is best in this school.
Katherine M. Savage ’15 and David Carter ’15
Richard K. LeBlond II Honor Award
This award is given annually to a member of the Sixth Form who exemplifies dedication to academics and loyalty to the school.
Hieu S. Do ’15
Paul Winship ’35 Alumni Book Prize
This book prize is awarded to a Sixth Former who has made an unusual commitment in both breadth and depth to the school’s programs and activities.
Jewel C. Brown ’15
Outstanding Scholar Award
This award is presented to the Sixth Former who, in the opinion of the faculty, is the outstanding scholar of the class. The award is not necessarily determined by rank in class but is based, rather, on the attributes of the true scholar: curiosity, imagination, power to associate new observations with prior experience, thoroughness, appetite for ideas rather than for grades as an end in themselves and the ability to move easily in the realm of concepts.
Thomas O. Dudzik ’15
Keyes Bowl
Established by the Class of 1966 and recognized as the school’s most prestigious commencement award, the Keyes Bowl is presented annually to a member of the Sixth Form and recognizes the qualities of loyalty, courage, leadership and humility.
Duncan R. Kellogg ’15
After the awarding of prizes, Headmaster Philip and Chairman of the Westminster Board of Trustees Tread Mink ’77, P’11 presented diplomas to members of the class. The graduates then participated in the Westminster tradition of passing their diplomas. They formed a circle on the Sixth Form Lawn and passed the diplomas they received randomly during the commencement ceremony until they received their own diploma. They then stepped out of the circle signifying their graduation.
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