The Provost's Prize has been awarded to four students who have made a significant contribution to the College community during their time at King's.
The winners of this year's prize are graduate student Anna Germon and undergraduates Eunice Adeoyo, Dylan Whitaker and Stan Szymanowicz. The awards were conferred by the Provost with the following citations:
Anna Germon has, over the recent difficult months, contributed to the college community by raising awareness of the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of our graduate students. She conducted (entirely on her own initiative) a substantial and very informative survey of graduate experiences, the details of which have been invaluable for the Tutorial team. She has been instrumental in organising Graduate Welfare events throughout the year and in setting up an online forum for students to talk about their mental health and share resources to support each other. These contributions go above and beyond her role as Welfare Officer in KCGS.
As KCSU President during the outbreak of the pandemic, Eunice Adeoyo played an integral role in mediating between the College hierarchy and the student body at what was a difficult and overwhelming time for all involved. She successfully navigated the transition of KCSU from in-person to online with calm assurance, and at all times demonstrated a willingness to co-operate with College staff, providing invaluable insight into the concerns of her peers and ensuring key information was disseminated and understood. She was one of three students who came forward in 2019 to response to the Governing Body’s call for summer research by students into the college’s historic connections with slavery and the slave trade; and she has been an invaluable member of the Legacies committee. Eunice was also involved in the 2019 BME Open Day. She recruited student helpers, contributed towards the overall organisation of the event and on the day led sessions and looked after the student helpers. The Admissions Team found her to be professional and enthusiastic and commented that she was a delight to work with.
Dylan Whitaker has made considerable contributions to the College over the last five years. In his first year studying medicine, he began coxing for King's College Boat Club (KCBC). In the second year, he took on roles as head coxswain, treasurer and social secretary for KCBC before joining the Cambridge University Boat Club, where he has been coxswain in both heavyweight and lightweight varsity races. This culminated in him being selected for the lightweight women's Boat Race in 2019 and 2021, the open weight women's Boat Race in 2020 and 2021, collecting a total of 4 full blues and steering the Women's University team to success in the 75th Boat Race in the spring. His achievements are all the more remarkable given that he was volunteering to help on the Covid-19 intensive care unit at Addenbrooke's Hospital whilst undergoing a gruelling training regime every day. Dylan was also treasurer for King’s Affair two years running, managing to juggle his busy academic schedule and organising an event for over 1500 people, as well as devoting time in May Week to ensure the event ran smoothly.
Stan Szymanowicz has made a significant contribution to the College and the current cohort of engineering undergraduates. He has been in the first team of King's boat club for all four years of his undergraduate studies, becoming vice-captain and captain, organising the training and racing. He is a fun, friendly and relaxed character who has always helped the other engineering students with problems or technical questions. With a positive attitude, he contributed greatly to supervisions, pushing assumptions and probing the understanding of concepts, making the sessions more interesting and useful (and a bit more testing for the supervisor!). Recently he entered and won the competition to create the King's College Signature Cocktail, which you can now order at the college bar!
