Prize Day Winners
Ebyan Abshir ’24 and Anton Tatus ’24 captured the top two awards at Prize Day Saturday afternoon in Memorial Chapel.
More than 100 awards were presented to honor students for achievement in academics, leadership and community service.
An Africana studies major with minors in Spanish and Hispanic Studies and English from Medford, Mass., Abshir received the Frank Bailey (1885) Prize. It is awarded annually to the senior who has rendered the greatest service to the College in any field. It is considered the most prestigious student prize at Union.
At Prize Day Saturday, Ebyan Abshir ’24 (with President David Harris) received the Frank Bailey (1885) Prize. It is awarded annually to the senior who has rendered the greatest service to the College in any field. It is considered the most prestigious student prize at Union.
In presenting Abshir with her award, President David R. Harris said she “has always held a strong desire to serve the broader community. In her time at Union, she has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the College with the influence of her service reaching far and wide across campus.”
Among her many activities, Abshir is co-president of Black Student Union, STEP lead mentor, and a Writing Center mentor and coordinator.
“She has informed campus events and initiatives through her internship in the President’s Office,” Harris said. “She has touched many lives as a familiar face in the Unity Room. And she supports her fellow Posse Scholars by offering academic advice, providing valuable insight on her personal experiences and sharing words of encouragement when others need it most.”
Abshir has been awarded a prestigious Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, which offers a one-year grant to seniors “of unusual promise” to study and travel independently outside the U.S. She was also selected for the Judge Reginald C. Lindsay Fellowship by the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Harris cited her high GPA while balancing a heavy workload and noted that her writing has been honored with the Van Orden Prize, which she won for an essay her teachers describe as “possibly the best essay by a first-year student they have ever read.”
In addition to the Bailey Prize, Abshir received the Roger H. Hull Community Service award Saturday, presented to a senior who has rendered the greatest sustained service to the greater Schenectady community by initiating or being actively engaged in an ongoing community service project.
Abshir, Harris said, “has been an inspiration to her teachers and her peers and has made the college a better, more welcoming, more inclusive place. Her presence has made a real difference.”
Tatus, a managerial economics major from Ukraine whose mother and sister have fled to Slovakia, received the Josephine Daggett Prize, presented annually to a senior for conduct and character.
Tatus “embodies the essence of Union College by combining academic excellence with hard work, empathy and generosity,” Harris told the audience.
Tatus has worked closely with faculty to be a fierce advocate against Russia’s war on Ukraine. He has given over 12 talks on the war to student groups across campus and in the UCALL program, as well as in local retirement communities and libraries.
Anton Tatus ’24 (with President David Harris) received the Josephine Daggett Prize, presented annually to a senior for conduct and character.
“In his advocacy, he understands the importance of actions as well as just words,” Harris said. “He created an initiative to collect donated funds and supplies for a medical center in Kyiv, and rented a van and drove them to the Ukrainian border while on a term abroad.”
He has also been instrumental in co-organizing a program in which Union students volunteer to teach English to Ukrainian school children via Zoom, and he is currently working to bring a high school student from Ukraine to Niskayuna High School next year.
“As one nominator noted, this student’s maturity, discipline and character make him an important role model for all Union students,” Harris said.
Other presenters at Prize Day included Michele Angrist, the Stephen J. and Diane K. Ciesinski Dean of Faculty and vice president for Academic Affairs; Annette Diorio, vice president for Student Affairs and Dean of Students; Isabel Norman, class dean for the Class of 2024; and Kara Doyle, dean of Academic Departments and Programs. Lani Waggoner '24, president of Student Forum, served as master of ceremonies.
The event featured performances by The Eliphalets, one of the College’s a cappella groups.
The first Prize Day was held in May 1932 to complement the annual Block U Dinner for athletic achievement. The new event honored 20 seniors for their intellectual accomplishments.