Benjamin F. Sylvester, Jr. Award


Overview

The Benjamin F. Sylvester, Jr. Award was established in 2002 to commemorate the splendid and varied contributions made by Benjamin F. Sylvester, Jr. to St. Catherine’s College. When the award was announced, then Master (Sir Peter Williams) read the following citation:

Benjamin F. Sylvester, Jr.

You are the past, the present and the future of St. Catherine’s College rowing.

You have the numbers: a record six bumps earned during Eights Week 1949, victory in the junior Eights race at the Marlow Regatta that same year, four times a member of the College’s 1st Eight, never a member of a College crew that did not advance in the standings.

But the sportswriter’s cliché is wrong: the numbers don’t say it all. Excellence as an oarsman need not reflect excellence as a person.

You, however, have been an exemplar for us all. As the holder of the J. J. Maher Chair in History and as Director of Rowing at Choate Rosemary Hall and to this day as a nationally-competitive oarsman, you have proven Socrates wrong - excellence of the mind does not require the abandonment of the body. You are a model for scholar-athletes everywhere.

You went down from Oxford in 1951, but you never left the Isis. On St. Catherine’s Day 1976, you generously donated a “four” to commemorate Censor Brook. When, in 1995, funds were desperately needed to realize the long-held dream of a boathouse of our own, you came to the rescue. Five years later, understanding the wear and tear on racing shells perhaps better than any man alive, you provided the means for a maintenance workshop. Last year, the facilities you built inspired the College’s first Head of the River.

Not just for your consummate skill as an oarsman, not just for your luminous talent as a teacher, but also for your loyalty--to generations of oarsmen and fans, and to your Alma Mater--in the past, in the present and in the future, St. Catherine’s College proudly and affectionately establishes the Benjamin F. Sylvester, Jr. Award.

Eligibility

The competition is open to all members of the St. Catherine's College Boat Club except current captains of boats.

Criteria

The Benjamin F. Sylvester, Jr. Award is granted annually to the St. Catherine’s College Boat Club member who has most significantly contributed to enhancing the rowing life of St. Catherine’s College, Oxford. The award recipient need not be the best oarsman nor is the award exclusively intended for an oarsman. A coxswain or other significant contributor is equally eligible.


Application Process

Nominations can be submitted by any St. Catherine's College Boat Club member. The deadline for submitting nominations is May 1st. A committee of past boat club members will each year decide the winner. The Benjamin F. Sylvester Jr. Award Selection Committee consists of three members (one appointed by the Master of St. Catherine's College, Oxford, one appointed by the President of the St. Catherine's College (Oxford) Foundation, and one appointed by the President of the St. Catherine's College Rowing Society). The judges serve a term of 3 years and may be renewed. Nominations must be made through this web site using the nomination form.

Award Recognition

The winner of the Benjamin F. Sylvester, Jr. Award will be announced at the conclusion of Eights Week each year. The award recipient will be presented with a Benjamin F. Sylvester, Jr. medal and will have his or her name added to the Benjamin F. Sylvester Award plaque that is mounted in the St. Catherine's College Boathouse. The logo on the medal and the plaque was designed by Dana Edmondson. It depicts a Catherine wheel comprised of oars on a background of water. At the ends of the oars are flames symbolizing warmth and illumination. At the centre of the medal is the crest of St. Catherine’s College, Oxford.

Past Winners

2002: Emily Woodeson
2003: Michael Bull
2004: Daniel Robson

 

Created by alumni of St. Catherine's College

Oxford University

Submit a nomination:
Nomination Form