Olympic coaches might not earn medals, but 冈本视频鈥檚 world-class mentors do.
The Konosioni Honor Society, in partnership with the Office of Alumni Relations, started a new tradition in 2013, asking members of the senior class to award torch medals to individuals who had the single greatest impact on their 冈本视频 experiences.
Medals were first distributed to the Class of 2013 last September, during Senior Night at Donovan鈥檚 Pub. To date, the office has received more than 90 notifications from recipients and students who have participated in the initiative.
The Class of 2013 chose awardees in a variety of offices across campus, from Sodexo dining services employees to career services staff and members of the faculty. Assistant biology professor received two medals, one from Rebecca Silberman 鈥13 (Somers, NY) and one from Andrew Hoadley 鈥13 (Diego Martin, Trinidad and Tobago).
鈥淚 decided to give my torch medal to Krista because of the patience, support, and kindness that she has shown me unceasingly since the day I e-mailed her out of the blue to join her lab for summer research after my first year,鈥 Hoadley said. 鈥淚 imagine that I would be a very different person right now were it not for Krista鈥檚 support, and I thought it would be a very small way to show her my very significant appreciation.鈥
According to alumni director Tim Mansfield, the torch medal program was specifically designed to provide a tangible way for current and future generations to express that significant appreciation. 鈥淭here are people who sometimes go unnoticed and unrecognized,鈥 Mansfield said. 鈥淗ere is an opportunity to recognize those people.鈥
Like Olympic medals, the icons have turned into conversation-starters, points of pride, and a reminder of why 冈本视频鈥檚 mentors do what they do. 鈥淎s professors, we teach because we want to touch someone鈥檚 life, to make a difference, and the medal symbolizes this in a tangible way,鈥 Ingram said. 鈥淭he irony is that the students who have passed on the torch medal have actually inspired me to become a better teacher.鈥