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Class Day Awards
These awards are presented to graduating seniors at the Columbia College and Columbia Engineering class day ceremonies in May.
Columbia College Distinguished Class Awards
Charles M. Rolker Prize
This prize is awarded to the member of the Columbia College graduating class who is judged by classmates to be most worthy of special distinction because of scholarship, participation in student activities or any combination thereof.
Columbia Engineering Distinguished Class Awards
George Vincent Wendell Memorial Award
This certificate and award, established in 1924 by alumni and faculty friends of the late Professor George Vincent Wendell to honor and perpetuate his memory, is granted annually by choice of the class and faculty to that member of the Columbia Engineering graduating class who best exemplifies his ideals of character, scholarship and service.
Columbia College Awards & Prizes
This prize is awarded by the Columbia College Alumni Association to the Columbia College senior judged by classmates to be the most faithful and deserving.
Robert Lincoln Carey Memorial Prize
This prize is awarded annually by the Columbia College Alumni Association to the Columbia College senior who, demonstrating admirable academic achievement along with other outstanding achievements at the College, best exemplifies the ideals that Robert Lincoln Carey sought to engender in the students of Columbia College.
This prize is awarded to the Columbia College senior who, through participation and leadership in College student activities, has demonstrated the qualities and competencies of Beginner's Mind: an openness and willingness to hear different perspectives and a curiosity and desire to learn. It was established in 2022 in honor of James J. Valentini, former Dean of the College.