Six Dwight Hall seniors honored with top prizes on Class Day

On Monday, May 18, 2025, Yale held its 324th Commencement ceremony on Old Campus, right outside of Dwight Hall, officially conferring degrees upon about 1,800 undergraduates. Of these graduating seniors, 74% held affiliations with Dwight Hall programs and groups. Of those, nearly 400 seniors held committed student leadership positions within Dwight Hall in student member groups and fellowship programs.

The day before graduation, eleven graduating seniors were awarded top honors during Class Day by distinguishing themselves in academics, in athletics, and in the greater Yale community. Of the eleven awardees, six seniors were affiliated with Dwight Hall groups and programs over their four years. We highlight their Dwight Hall involvement below.

Mia Levy ’25 (Silliman) was awarded the Nellie Pratt Elliot Award, for “a senior woman whose excellence on the field of play, and in her life at Yale, best represents the highest ideals of American sportsmanship and Yale tradition.” In addition to being the Yale women’s crew team captain and a three-time NCAA championship participant, Mia was a writing partner with the Yale Prison Education Initiative at Dwight Hall. She was also a Dwight Hall Summer Fellow in the summer after her junior year, where she worked with the director of recruitment and retention for New Haven Public Schools on a pilot mentorship program for educators of color.

Ethan Estrada ’25 (Pauli Murray) 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.” Ethan was a student member and co-historian of the Dwight Hall Member Group MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztl n) de Yale where they planned presentations on the history of MEChA, a teach-in discussing Latin America and its connections to Palestine and historical solidarities, and their Baile Por un Sueño annual fundraiser to fund a scholarship for an undocumented student.

Kennedy Odiboh ’25 (Berkeley) was the other Nakanishi Prize awardee. Kennedy spent an intensive Junior year tutoring incarcerated students through the Yale Prison Education Initiative as a Dwight Hall Urban Fellow. He was very involved in Dwight Hall member groups, as an Executive Board member of the Yale Black Men’s Union and an active member of both the Yale Undergraduate Prison Project and the Black Student Alliance at Yale.

Nyché Andrew ’25 (Branford) 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.” As a first-year, Nyché worked on a Connecticut housing program with the Yale Undergraduate Legal Aid Association, a Dwight Hall Member Group. She is known for her Indigenous advocacy and played a pivotal role in establishing the new certificate in Native and Indigenous Studies at Yale.

Teddy Tawil ’25 (Saybrook) received the Arthur Twining Hadley Prize, awarded to a social sciences major “who ranks highest in scholarship.” Throughout college, while earning straight As in every course, Teddy served as a tournament judge for the New Haven Urban Debate League, providing feedback to local middle school students to help improve their argumentation skills. He says the Dwight Hall community helped lead him to pursue other opportunities in public service, like the Liman Public Interest Law Undergraduate Summer Fellowship.

Ethan Levinbook ’25 (Grace Hopper) 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.” Ethan has used his exceptional language ability to create the first English translations of works by Victor Hugo. Ethan volunteered since his first year with the Yale Interpretation Network, a Dwight Hall member group, where he leveraged his skills to provide French translation and interpretation services to bridge the gap between Limited English Proficient community members and social services in New Haven.

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.