2021 President's Medalist: Jacob Alan Rains

Each year, Denison chooses a select few to receive recognition as a President’s Medalist, Denison’s highest student honor. The preeminent criterion for receipt of a President’s Medal, established in 1985, is academic achievement. In addition, candidates must embody some combination of the following: service to the community, contribution to the arts, enlargement of the community’s global perspective, athletic fitness and achievement, leadership ability and contribution to community discourse.

Jacob Alan Rains: political science major, was selected as a 2021 President’s Medalist. His citation reads:

Jacob, one of your professors says that you provide a “truly outstanding, peerless model in developing [your] career interests.” From the state of Maryland’s legislature, to the United States Congress, and even for a Scottish Member of Parliament: you have gotten deeply and directly involved in government, politics, and health policy. That big picture participation is complemented by your impressive efforts on direct engagement with student voters, to get them to the polls and make sure they arrive informed, equipped, and aware of the stakes involved for all citizens. Here on campus, you’ve been called “a stellar student” and “a team player,” that combination which is central to what we mean when we talk about President’s Medalists. You’ve worked through injuries on the cross country/track & field team to become a team captain, and your appreciation for the importance of endurance, and for getting everyone across the finish line, carries over into how you’ve both studied and gotten into the practice of public policy, with a passion for health advocacy that literally extends across an ocean.