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Princeton University Athletics
Cameron Atkinson Wins Coveted Spirit Of Princeton Award
April 28, 2003 | Football
April 28, 2003
PRINCETON, N.C. - Senior football player and track captain Cameron Atkinson is one of six recipients of the prestigious Spirit of Princeton Award. He joins seniors Mike Kimberly, Michael Ritter, Nida Parks, Kate Redman, Jaquan Levons and junior Corey Sanders as 2002 winners.
Atkinson has served as a peer mentor in the Princeton Achievement Alliance as well as the secretary and treasurer for the Varsity Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. He was one of two head ushers for the Commencement ceremonies last year, where he had the task of organizing 50 student-ushers for five different events. At the same time, he had to work with assistant marshals in ensuring the entire graduation procedure went smoothly. He was the delegate to the International Mission for Medicine and the lone student-athlete contributor to the Penn Center for Higher Education Management roundtable on Intercollegiate Athletics and Selective Admissions. Among his fellow contributors were Miles Brand, president of the N.C.A.A., and James Schulman, coauthor of "The Game of Life." He has also been a peer mentor since 2001 for young minority students. Academically, Atkinson carries a 3.3 GPA into his final semester as a chemistry major. His thesis is entitled "Development and Application of a Pluorometric Assay for Prodomain-CARD Interaction." He explained to me that it involved the development of a test for anti-ischemia and cancer drugs and the first stages in the development of such a drug with the synthesis of an initial drug candidate. He has gained professional experience in his field, working as a research assistant at the Princeton University Chemistry Department and with the McLendon Group. While helping the upkeep of the laboratory equipment, he also worked on research of the mitochondrial pathway for apoptosis.
As a member of the Princeton football team, he earned first-team All-Ivy League honors last season as our running back. He rushed for 1,028 yards, sixth-best ever for a single season at Princeton. He ended third on the all-time rushing list at Princeton with 2,449 career yards. He jumped into third place in his final game, when he rushed for an incredible 233 yards against Dartmouth, which helped our team to its first winning season in years. That stat was what Cameron was most proud of, as he is the true team-first player. He earned our team's Donald B. Lourie trophy in 1999 as the top freshman offensive player and the John P. Poe - Richard W. Kazmeier Trophy in 2002 as the team's most valuable player. His academic successes have also earned him honors, as he is a two-time Regional Academic All-America selection and a winner of National Academic All-America honors. He was also a recipient of the National Scholar-Athlete Award, which is given to 14 players in college football. He was one of three winners in Division I-AA and the lone Ivy League recipient, and he has been an Academic All-Ivy selection twice.
Atkinson is also the captain of the track and field team, which has won four Ivy League championships during his time here. He won the team's Babb Memorial Trophy in 2000 as the team's top freshman.
Since 1995, The Spirit of Princeton Awards have recognized a select number of undergraduate students for their positive contributions to campus life during their years at Princeton. Past award winners have demonstrated a strong commitment to enhancing the undergraduate experience through contributions in areas such as: student organizations, athletics, community service, religious life, residentially based initiatives, and the arts. These awards particularly seek to recognize those students whose service has gone unrecognized by the greater University community. Recipients are honored at a dinner each spring and are presented with a certificate and a book prize.