PPE major Ben Cross '20 wins President's Medal

Ben Cross ‘20, a Political Science, Philosophy and Economics major, was awarded Denison’s President’s Medal, the college’s highest student honor.

Denison annually recognizes graduating seniors who have demonstrated exemplary leadership and service to the University through their involvement in student organizations, in co-curricular activities, on Denison’s staff, and as athletes and scholars.

Cross’s President’s Medal Citation:

As team captain we could start on the football field. But Ben, in the classroom we are told by one of your faculty nominators in the Politics, Philosophy, and Economics program that while many students can excel in class discussions because they talk a great deal, the real strength of your contribution in class is a gift for depth. You not only offer reflective responses to content questions, you ask questions about significance, tensions, or potential contradictions in an author’s work. This is probably why you are a Phi Beta Kappa inductee, why you received the Harold Titus Award for Outstanding Work in Political Philosophy, why your teachers describe you as an exceptionally memorable student, and why you have received the very prestigious NCAA post-graduate Scholarship. But it’s a different sort of depth that allows you to lead in many roles outside the classroom as well. On the athletic field, your accomplishments are many and your efforts helped lead to Denison football’s first ever back-to-back championship seasons. It’s no surprise that head coach Jack Hatem states that you have been, in his experience, one of the finest of all student-athletes in his 35 years of teaching and leading in the liberal arts.