The Middlebury Campus

Issue date: 2/17/05 Section: News

Katherine Stamper ´04.5 and Devin Greene ´04.5 were nominated by their peers and subsequently selected to receive the first annual Jason Fleischman Award. [Click to enlarge]

The first annual Jason Fleishman Award was presented to co-recipients Katherine Stamper '04.5 and Devin Greene '04.5 at the Feb Ceremony in Mead Chapel earlier this month. The award was recently established in honor of Jason Fleishman '03.5, who passed away shortly after last year's Feb Celebration.

According to a campus-wide email sent out by the Jason Fleishman Award Committee, "The award will be given annually to the student that most embodies the following characteristics of Jason's life as a model Feb at Middlebury: Feb and College pride, academic passion and determination, excellence in leadership and involvement, a positive attitude and care for others."

Joanne Leggett, divisional operations manager for the Dean of Student Affairs Office, noted that this award is especially significant for the Feb Class of 2004.5 because many of the students knew Fleishman "and understood the qualities that made him an extraordinary friend and classmate."

Members of the College community were asked to submit nomination statements to the Dean of Student Affairs by Jan. 19. All Febs graduating in 2005 were eligible. This year's co-recipients, said Leggett, were recognized as exceptional candidates by those who nominated them and the selection committee. Happily, she added, there were no restrictions on the number of recipients. The award includes a very modest fund raising-based monetary gift. Greene and Stamper were also presented with certificates, two inspirational poems and letters of congratulations featuring quotations from nomination statements.

The award was established in part to celebrate Fleishman's amazing life, as the following excerpt from award materials demonstrates - "Jason had an overwhelming love for the outdoors and lived with the most positive attitude, no matter the obstacles. A neuroscience major with a pre-med track, he was determined to make the best of his education at Middlebury. Above all, Jason identified himself as a Feb, through and through. Jason was committed to making a difference at Middlebury College and in the world and in the lives of the people around him. He always put other people first."

"Jason was both a friend and an academic colleague," said Stamper, one of this year's recipients. "Anyone will testify to his contagious humor, unwavering enthusiasm and genuine compassion. I am honored to be one of the first recipients of this award, [which] recognizes an individual not only for academic achievements, but an overall passion for life and a dedication to the well-being of others."

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