School Notes: Yale College
January/February 2024

Undergraduate veteran awarded Truman and Tillman Scholarships

Bobby Atkinson ’24, a ten-year US Air Force veteran and current Eli Whitney student, is among 62 US college students to be named a Truman Scholar. Nominated by their institutions, the scholars were selected by the Truman Foundation for their records of leadership, public service, and academic achievement. Atkinson also was awarded a Tillman Scholarship in recognition of his military service, academic passions, and dedication to service beyond self. On campus, Atkinson received the Francis Gordon Brown Prize, given to the member of “the junior class in Yale College who most closely approaches the standards of intellectual ability, high manhood, capacity for leadership, and service to the university set by Francis Gordon Brown.” He is the first veteran and first Eli Whitney student to win the prize. Atkinson was also selected to deliver student remarks at this year’s Veterans Day ceremony.

Dean’s series addresses crucial topics

Pericles Lewis, dean of Yale College, launched his Dean’s Dialogues last year as an opportunity for students to engage in conversation with faculty and visitors about crucial and controversial topics. This September, he hosted Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who spoke about the regulation of immigration and the rise of populism across Europe and the United States. An October session addressed citizenship and education as part of Yale’s Civic Thought Initiative led by Professor Bryan Garsten. And in November, Dean Lewis hosted Professors Feisal Mohamed and Peter Cole to talk about difficult conversations, including across the Muslim and Jewish communities, and the role of intellectual community.

Career Services offers online tool for students and alumni

Yale’s Office of Career Strategy is pleased to announce the creation and launch of an engaging online tool available to the Yale student and alumni community. Thanks to a gift from the Hastings Foundation, this tool builds on original concepts developed at Stanford University to apply design thinking principles to career decision-making, and has been honed further by the career advisers at Yale. The tool can be accessed directly through the Office of Career Strategy’s website.