By Nettie Finn, The DePauw
First awarded in 1927, the Walker Cup is presented annually to the senior who has contributed the most to the DePauw community during their college career.
Sandy Tran, 2014 Walker Cup finalist. PHOTO: CHRISTA SCHRODEL / THE DEPAUW
The three finalists, Ben Hazen, Sandy Tran and Olivia Flores, were selected by their peers. Each senior was given the opportunity to vote for a member of their class, and the three seniors with the most collective votes were then alerted to their status as finalists. The Walker Cup will be awarded by a vote of the academic department chairs and program directors and will be announced during the Academic Awards Convocation on April 28.
The DePauw News had the chance to speak with each of the three finalists about their time here at DePauw, their reactions to the news that they had become Walker Cup finalists and what they have done for the DePauw Community.
Ben Hazen is a kinesiology major, who is also a member of the Mortar Board and the Order of Omega. He has served as a First-Year Resident Advisor, First-Year Mentor, president of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee, a member of the varsity soccer team and is a Presidential Ambassador, among other activities and volunteer work.
The DePauw (TDP): When you first got the news that you were a finalist, what was you’re reaction?
Ben Hazen (BH): I was very honored and very humbled. It was nice to be recognized for the work I’ve done, but above all I was just very, very honored and grateful for the opportunity.
TDP: What do you think you’ve done that sets you apart?
BH: What I’m most proud of is the range of things I’ve been able to contribute. I’ve been a first-year mentor. I’ve been a first-year Residential Advisor. I’m the Student Athletic Advisory Committee president. I was the leadership intern so I worked with Greek life with the alcohol initiative, and worked with admissions office to work with Greek Life tours. I was a Presidential Ambassador. I also noticed a lack of pre-med advising at DePauw, and I brought a medical fraternity onto our campus to help with advising and mentorship. I am most proud of the amount of students I was able to try to help.
TDP: Whether or not you end up receiving the Walker Cup, you have the qualities that DePauw is looking for in a Walker Cup recipient. How do you think you will use those qualities moving forward?
BH: I’m heading to medical school next year, so I’m going to use the selflessness, and wanting to give back, wanting to give to others, which I think is what drives me to want to be a physician. I’ve also selected a smaller medical school, that in a lot of ways is similar to DePauw. It’s rapidly growing, it’s been growing a lot in the last 10 years. So I hope to be an ambassador at that school and to elevate it and make give it a place on the map. It’s North East Ohio Medical University. It’s where my dad went to school, so I’m kind of following dad’s footsteps.
TDP: Any last thoughts?
BH: If I win sweet. If I don’t sweet. I’m honored to have been a finalist. I didn’t work so hard to try to give back to win this award; I worked to try to improve the school that’s given me more than I could possible give back.
Sandy Tran is a conflicts study major, Posse Scholar, Bonner Scholar and a member of the Order of Omega. She is also a trained mediator for the Restorative Justice Program on Campus, a Presidential Ambassador, Associate Member Educator for Sigma Lambda Gamma, a First-Year Mentor and the director of The Movement.
TDP: When you first found out you were a finalist, how did you feel?
Sandy Tran (ST): I was in tears. I was filled with excitement, just because I felt it had come full circle in what I did in the beginning until now. I had a goal coming in of wanting DePauw and Greencastle to know who I am and what I stand for, but I had no idea that would add up to being a finalist, so I was definitely humbled. Once I was told, I just cried and was excited.
TDP: Being a Walker Cup finalist was really a decision that was made by your peers. How did that affect you when you learned you were one of them?
ST: I was shocked that people would recognize me for this award. Yeah, sure I’ve done a lot on this campus, but I didn’t think it was enough to be recognized in such a way. It speaks true to what the Walker Cup is: it’s supposed to be this senior who has had the most impact on campus, and normally its student government or whatever. I didn’t think that was me, I didn’t think I fit that mold. But through my accomplishments, namely the movement and all of the leadership I’ve held on this campus, I’ve gotten to this position.
Read the full article by Nettie Finn from the DePauw.
