Senior Honor Awards 1959-Present

The Senior Honor Awards are generously endowed by Sally L. Katz C’82, a devoted alumnus and President of the Class of 1982.

Among the oldest traditions at the University of Pennsylvania are the senior class leadership awards. The oldest of them, the Spoon, is documented as early as 1865, when Penn still occupied a campus on 9th street, in Center City, Phladelphia. Today, no fewer than 8 of these distinguished awards are presented on Ivy Day. Elected by their fellow students in recognition of outstanding service to the University community, the receipients of these awards have alw ays included the best and brightest of each graduating class.

The Women’s Senior Honor Awards spawned from Women’s Hey Day which was first celebrated in 1926, six years after the passing of the nineteenth amendment which gave women the right to vote. The ceremony, usually held in Bennett Hall, consisted of an academic procession, the changing of offices, a valedictorian address, as well as the induction of new members into various honor societies. Although women were not eligible for the Spoon, Bowl, Cane and Spade Awards, the following awards were established to recognize the outstanding women in the graduating class.