Jesse Eaves, son of Laura Kay and John Eaves of Nashville, was among six graduating Denison University seniors who were honored by President Dale T. Knobel as this year's "President's Medalists" during the University's annual Academic Awards Convocation on April 19.

Eaves, a history major, was inducted into Phi Alpha Theta (the international history honorary), Alpha Kappa Delta (the international sociology honor society), Mortar Board (a senior honorary based on scholarship, leadership and service), Phi Society (an honorary recognizing excellence in the first year) and Omicron Delta Kappa (the international leadership honorary). A consistent dean's list student and member of the Honors Program, he holds the Estelle King Van Buren, Lewis Newton Thomas III Memorial, and National City Bank scholarships at Denison and also was awarded an Anderson Summer Scholarship to pursue research with a faculty member during the summer. A fellow in both the sociology/anthropology and the history departments, he did an independent research project in Uganda, East Africa, and an honors project on the history of the Iteso tribe of Uganda. He was one of two Denison students nominated for the USA Today All-American Academic Team and was named to Who's Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities.

Eaves served as vice president and president of the Denison Community Association, as fund raising chair of its Habitat for Humanity committee and also volunteered with the After School Drama Club committee and the Nursing Home Companions committee. His more than 100 hours of volunteer work during the school year with these service projects was recognized twice with the President's Service Award. Eaves also served as a board member of Ohio Campus Compact, a collegiate service learning consortium, as a head resident in the residence halls and on the student staff for the June Orientation program. He was a member of the Denison Jazz Combo and served as a DJ on the student radio station, WDUB.

Eaves is a graduate of Montgomery Bell Academy and completed the requirements for his bachelor of arts degree, summa cum laude, last December.

Presentation remarks:

"Jesse, in your richly active career at Denison you have given lie to the notion that there are only 24 hours in a day. Your name pops up with amazing frequency on the lists of academic, student life, and service organizations on the campus. A history major and summa cum laude graduate of Denison in December of this past year, you are a model of learning for its own sake.

"In the words of one of your teachers, your keen insights and enthusiasm in the classroom 'raised the level of dialogue in the entire class.' In the summer of 2000, that academic commitment led you out of the classroom and into the African interior of Uganda where you lived with and interviewed the Iteso people, producing a two-hundred-page honors project based totally on original research, whose final two chapters have been submitted to the Journal of Modern African History.

"In addition to these academic accomplishments, you have been known as 'Mr. Service' on and off of this campus. Yours is an extraordinary laundry list of contributions to the larger life of the college: vice president and then president of the Denison Community Association; Head Resident for two years; June orientation staff member; DJ for WDUB; Board Member and Private School Representative for Ohio Campus Compact; volunteer worker for Habitat for Humanity, Nursing Home Companions, and After School Drama Club; member of the Denison Jazz Combo; and, to no one's surprise, winner of the President's Service Award for two years running.

"In the Second World War, the saying 'Kilroy Was Here' began to appear as graffiti at home and abroad, signifying America's widespread presence throughout the world. Jesse, through your ever-present enthusiasm and your countless contributions to Denison, you have inscribed a similarly forthright and indelible message on this college: 'Jesse Was Here.' "