Celebration of the Class of 2020 | May 22-24, 2020

Cheryl Townsend Gilkes, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Professor of Sociology and African-American Studies, chosen by students to receive the 2020 Charles Bassett Teaching Award. An ordained minister, Professor Gilkes is an expert on African-American religious history, race, and ethnicity in the United States, black women and social change, Gospel music, and W.E.B. Du Bois, among other subjects. Gilkes has taught at Colby since 1987 and was a close friend of the late professor of American Studies for whom the teaching award is named.

The Condon Medal, established in 1920 through the generous gift of Randall Judson Condon, Class of 1886, honors the graduating senior who exhibited the finest qualities of citizenship and made the most significant contribution to the development of College life at Colby. By the votes of her or his class and the faculty, the senior chosen as embodying the spirit of loyalty, service, and the full use of her resources would receive a gold medal. In Condon’s words, “Character is the supreme end of education; Citizenship is the expression of it in the community.”