Senior Brian Agler is the winner of this year's Wendell Phillips Memorial Scholarship, giving him the opportunity to speak at the Baccalaureate Commencement Ceremony in May, the Office for Campus Life announced yesterday.
The Committee on Student Life (CSL) presents the award each year to a junior or senior who demonstrates public speaking ability and a commitment to public service. Agler beat out four other finalists for the award, juniors Michael Hawley, Nan Lin, Melissa Reifers and Tomas Valdes.
The finalists delivered speeches on Wednesday before a panel of judges chose Agler as the winner, according to CSL Co−Chair and Associate Professor of Economics Thomas Downes.
Downes remarked that the overall caliber of the students' presentations was particularly high this year, making the judges' decision difficult.
"All the finalists were truly excellent, so … for the committee it was a pretty hard decision," he said.
"I think what struck the committee about Brian's speech was how effective his delivery was, how well constructed the speech was, that … how effectively he used humor, and how good a job he did making a deep and important point," Downes said.
The Wendell Phillips Memorial Scholarship, first awarded in 1896, is one of two prizes given by the Wendell Phillips Memorial Fund Association in honor of the Boston preacher and abolitionist for which it is named.
The field was narrowed down to 19 semi−finalists in February, and the committee chose five finalists based on a résumé, a writing sample, an initial short speech and list of activities.
The speech prompt for Wednesday's final presentation asked applicants to describe a situation they have faced while at Tufts that exemplifies the consequences of the gap between self−perception and real−life ability.
Caroline Howe, a freshman student representative on the CSL involved in selecting the winner, was impressed with Agler's interpretation of the question.
"He talked about the fact that those two things don't have to be separate," Howe said. "It was really creative and I think everyone was blown away."
"I got the sense from him that no matter what topic he decided to write about, no matter what he did … would be really creative," Howe said. "He's a really good public speaker — he tied everything together in a really interesting way."
In his speech, Agler said that people's perception and real−life ability may not be so separate.
"People who do great things do so when other people are telling them they can't," Agler told the Daily.
Agler cited to the Daily an experience he had while working as a video editor on a political campaign. When the campaign's manager asked him to leave during a private campaign−related discussion, Agler said he realized he had overestimated his importance.
"I got a little ahead of myself, I thought I was higher up in the campaign than I really was," he said.
Downes said the applicants' public service experience was an important consideration in choosing the finalists.
"When we received the applications … we asked them to both submit a résumé and a general statement of activities. Part of the process of coming up with the finalists is balancing off what we learn about students' activities both within and outside of Tufts… with their answers," Downes said. "All of the finalists [were] strong in the area of activities," he added.
