On Monday, May 18, 2026, Yale held its 325th Commencement ceremony on Old Campus, right outside of Dwight Hall, officially conferring degrees upon about 1,600 undergraduates. Of these graduating seniors, 81% held affiliations with Dwight Hall programs and groups. Of those, nearly 300 seniors held committed student leadership positions within Dwight Hall in student member groups and fellowship programs.
The day before graduation, graduating seniors were awarded top honors during Class Day by distinguishing themselves in academics, in athletics, and in the greater Yale community. Of the twelve awardees, six seniors were affiliated with Dwight Hall groups and programs over their four years. Ttheir Dwight Hall involvement is highlighted below.
August Rios ’26 (Timothy Dwight) received the Alpheus Henry Snow Prize, which is awarded to a senior “who through the combination of intellectual achievement, character, and personality, shall be adjudged by the faculty to have done most for Yale by inspiring in his or her classmates an admiration for the traditions of high scholarship.” Majoring in Urban Sociology, August had a particular focus on structural poverty and housing policy. At Dwight Hall, August co-founded and directed the Yale Student Association for Small Claims Assistance (Y-SASCA), worked at the City of New Haven Fair Rent Commission and Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven as an Urban Fellow, and led two first-year orientation groups for FOCUS on New Haven.
Emily Hettinger ’26 (Pierson) won the James Andrew Haas Prize, awarded to the student “whose breadth of intellectual achievement, strength of character, and fundamental humanity shall be adjudged by the faculty to have provided leadership for his or her fellow students, inspiring in them a love of learning and concern for others.” Emily was active in the Yale Prison Education Initiative (YPEI) at Dwight Hall, where she connected more than one hundred fifty incarcerated students with Yale Library resources, managed a volunteer team of more than one hundred student researchers, and tutored students in Connecticut prisons. Emily was also a two-time Summer Fellow where she worked with YPEI in 2024 and the Orange County Public Defender’s office in 2025. She was also a student leader of YaleBleeds, a Dwight Hall member group aimed at destigmatizing menstruation and working towards menstrual equity, as well as being a part of the Yale Undergraduate Legal Aid Association.
Michaell Santos Paulino ’26 (Saybrook) was one of two awardees of the Nakanishi Prize, which is awarded to two seniors who, “while maintaining high academic achievement, have provided exemplary leadership in enhancing race or ethnic relations at Yale College.” Michaell served as the President of the Yale Interpretation Network, a Dwight Hall member group that provides pro-bono interpretation and translation services, where he helped to expand language access for Spanish-speaking communities in New Haven. He was also a student member of other member groups, including Mecha de Yale.
Joshua Ching ’26 (Ezra Stiles) was the other Nakanishi Prize awardee. Joshua was the co-president of the Yale Undergraduate Prison Project (YUPP), a Dwight Hall member group focused on working with formerly and currently incarcerated individuals and their families in their pursuit of educational, personal, and expressive goals. He was also involved in Dwight Hall member groups, such as the Yale Student Mental Health Association and the Yale Democracy Project.
Johnny Dedyo ’26 (Timothy Dwight) received the Arthur Twining Hadley Prize, awarded to a social sciences major “who ranks highest in scholarship.” Johnny contributed to the Yale Undergraduate Prison Project as a Pardon Director and Seminar Leader. He was also involved with MathCOUNTS, a Dwight Hall member group dedicated to providing fun and engaging programs for middle school students to get excited about math.
Sean Liu ’26 (Grace Hopper) received the Russell Henry Chittenden Prize awarded to a natural sciences or mathematics major “who ranks highest in scholarship.” Sean was a student leader for the Community Mental Health Fellows program on the Service Track. Aside from the program, Sean continued his dedication to service through the HAVEN Free Clinic, a Dwight Hall member group connecting New Haven residents with primary care, wellness education, and assistance in securing health care, where he served as a Longitudinal Care Director and Patient Navigator.
Students involved in member groups are emblematic of the Engage pillar of Dwight Hall’s Engage, Grow, and Advance program delivery model, forging trusted partnerships with New Haven neighborhoods, organizations, and agencies through community-engaged service. Similarly, students who served as Dwight Hall fellows epitomize the Grow pillar, which develops students’ intellectual, moral, civic, and creative capacities to the fullest with experiential learning.
The staff at Dwight Hall congratulates these students, and all graduating seniors, who, during their time at Yale, served New Haven and their communities in the pursuit of social justice.
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