Dr. Sharyn Clough (whose previous life was as an event coordinator) decorated Hovland 100 with her usual panache and flair for the - purple hues!
Notice the lovely floral display and balloons in the front of the room.
Here is the signature purple table-covering with the congratulatory banner and balloons
- not to mention all the yummy stuff to eat.
Guests start to arrive; in this case, Dr. Blumenthal materializes out of the murky darkness of Hovland Hall while
Galen Barry looks for nacho recipes on his laptop.Jonathan Munster absorbs the general ambiance and
Kyle Fillmore (Mark's side-kick) contemplates the ethical question regarding pacifiers.
The room is filling up, Karen Willard has her bubbles ready and Dr. Moore is taking her seat as Dr. Clough
hurridly applies emergency scotch tape to her purple signage.
A word about the bubbles - it was Dr. Clough's vision that when each award was announced, a select group of
bubble-teers would proceed each winner, waving their bubble wands, leaving a plethora of bubbles in their wake.
However, due to a lack of dramatic timing and bubble-wand experience, the effect was mixed yet amusing.
Jonathan Munster applies his intellectual prowess to
the art of bubble blowing.
Dr. Courtney Campbell introduces Dr. Josephy Orosco as this year's
Master of Ceremonies and Official Certificate-Giver-Outer.
Galen Barry won The Matchette Award for Best Undergraduate Essay:
Dr. Sharyn Clough, presenter, Galen Barry and Dr. Joseph Orosco, holder of the certificates.
And speaking of essays, Michael Faris won The Outstanding Philosophy Essay by a Graduate Student Award:
Michael Faris, Dr. Lani Roberts (both are preparing to illustrate a difficult folk-dance from Russia requiring great stamina and repetitious leg kicks) and Dr. Orosco, prepared to jump in with his ubiquitous certificates.
Joscelyne Kravitz won The Manuel Pacheco Award for Excellence in the Study of Diversity and Social Justice for Undergraduates:
What more is there to say? Except that Joscelyne deserves it and looks like she's ready
to sprout wings and fly off to save the world!
Letetia Wilson won The Manuel Pacheco Award for Excellence in the Study of Diversity and Social Justice for Graduates for her committed work at CARDVA while pursuing her Master's Degree. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to join us.
Carly Johnson won the Ron Clark Book Award:
Dr. Kathleen Dean Moore introduces Carly Johnson's numerous and amazing accomplishments!
But who knew that Carly could also do Russian folk dancing?
And finally, in the student catagory, Jonathan Munster won the Peter C. List Award for Excellence in the Study of Philosophy:
Dr. Blumenthal introduces Jonathan to the audience but is temporarily taken aback by the sudden
appearance of Dr. Orosco and his ever-ready-to-hand-out certificates.
Jonathan Munster and Dr. Blumenthal. Posing.
Drum roll....this year's Philosophy Department Outstanding Service Award goes to:
Sharyn Clough!!!
Here she expresses her thanks to the Academy...
She goes on to explain her vision for next year's
Student Awards Ceremony which will involve
cement and plastic monkeys.
Lois Robertson and Leonora Rianda were also called up by Dr. Campbell to claim prizes for being supernatural office workers.
Doesn't Lois look pretty? Doesn't Courtney look trapped? Doesn't Leonora look natural?
And then, there's Dr. Michael Scanlan. Retiring ("ditching") the Philosophy Department for the exciting - maybe even dangerous - life in Vermont!
Cakes and the wild bears they attract are all a part of a Vermonter's daily routine!
Luke Sugie, Charlies Goodrich, Mark and Kyle Fillmore all look forward to a "beary" good piece of cake!
Dr. Bill Uzgalis presents Dr. Scanlan with some light, frothy summer reading about a Jewish logician who attends
a conference in the United States in 1939, thereby saving himself inadvertently from the Nazis.
Dr. Scanlan appreciated his new hand-saw the Philosophy faculty gave to him. He
can't wait to try it out on his office furniture.
A GROUP SHOT OF OUR PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT WINNERS: (from left to right): Jonathan Munster, Joscelyne Kravitz, Galen Barry, Carly Johnson, Michael Faris, and Sharyn Clough.