Washington and Lee University
On May 25, 2011, the Philosophy Department held its reception for graduating senior majors and their families. Prof. Mahon, the head of the department, spoke about the year's events and awarded students prizes for their thesis work and their performance in intercollegiate debate.
The Edward Dodd Award for the best Honors Thesis prize was divided between Melissa Beth Henzel (nee Valentine) ('10) for her thesis A De Dicto Solution to the Non-Identity Problem: Why What We Do To Future People Matters Morally, and Shea Musgrave ('11) for his thesis Transcendental Idealism: An Original Interpretation. Their names were inscribed on the department's memorial plaque for the Dodd Award.
The Young Scholarship for the best Senior Thesis was awarded to Abby Urquhart ('11) for her thesis The Consequence of Trauma: An Application of Jean-Paul Sartre's Philosophy of Self to Holocaust Survivors.
The Charles Thomas Boggs Prize in Philosophy was awarded to Emmy Mathews ('11) for her thesis Nietzsche's Metaethics: A Eudaimonistic Theory: An Investigation into Nietzsche's Theory of Value. The Boggs Prize is a book prize awarded to the graduating senior with the best thesis or paper on a major figure or subject in philosophy taught by the late Professor Chuck Boggs ('66). For past students' and friends' recollections of Prof. Boggs, see here.
Pictured with Emmy and Prof. Mahon are Jeremy Boggs and June Boggs.
Emmy received a copy of Brian Leiter's Nietzsche on Morality, signed and dedicated to her by Leiter.
In addition to the thesis prizes, two students were awarded The William Wells Chafin Memorial Scholarship for their performance in the annual intercollegiate Ethics Bowl debate competition. The awardees were Shea Musgrave ('11) and Dessie Otachliska ('12).
Pictured on either side of Prof. Mahon, who is holding the memorial plaque with the names of the Dodd Award recipients, are Shea Musgrave ('11), Abby Urquhart ('11), Melissa Beth Henzel (nee Valentine) ('10), Emmy Mathews ('11), and Dessie Otachliska ('10).
Graduating philosophy majors at the reception with Prof. Mahon, back row from left: Melissa Beth Henzel (nee Valentine) ('10), Chuckie Fleischmann ('11), Ben Belair ('11), and Kristin Adams ('11); front row from left, Emmy Mathews ('11), Greg Bekiaris ('11), Lauren Skerret ('11), and Abby Urquhart ('11).
(Graduating majors not present: Mike Burnes ('11) and Rosie Purdy ('11)).
Prof. Mahon holding up the "Plato's Cave Alumni" graduation tee-shirt designed by Kristin Adams, Lauren Skerret, and Shea Musgrave.