F&M Stories

Freshly minted Franklin & Marshall College graduate Rachel Codkind is a young woman in a hurry.

"When I came to college, I kind of hit the ground running," she said. "I wanted to get involved in as many things as I could, try things that I hadn't tried. I really wanted to make the most of this time because I'm never going to have another chance to have these four years."

Codkind embraced F&M from her first day, launching herself on an educational journey in which she thoroughly immersed herself in almost every academic and extracurricular opportunity the campus had to offer, and with the mindset to develop her capacity for scholarship and ability for leadership.

Along the way, she earned some of the College's most competitive and prestigious scholarships and honors. She double majored in Classical Archaeology & Ancient History and Anthropology and also became a leader for a wide array of campus organizations. She served as a preceptor and acquired a reputation among her peers and her professors as insightful and always willing to help others.

At F&M's Commencement ceremony on May 9, the College recognized her contributions as a scholar and a student leader, naming her the recipient of the Williamson Medal, the College's highest award for student achievement.

"I feel so incredibly honored that the faculty thinks so highly of me," Codkind said. "It is truly a humbling experience."

Codkind became intrigued with Greek and Roman mythology at a young age. By the time she reached high school, she had decided she would attend a liberal arts college and pursue her interest in classical studies. At the same time, she felt she had a calling somewhere in the field of academics.

"I knew I wanted to be in the realm of education. I am interested in education administration, specifically student affairs. Eventually, I would love to be a dean of students," Codkind said. "Coming to college showed me that I'm really interested in the intersection of academics, residential and co-curricular life."

No stranger to initiative, the list of Codkind's extracurricular activities and special appointments is long: TAG (for Saying T-hanks, Showing A-ppreciation, and Celebrating G-enerosity) chair, TEDx committee chair, executive board member of Club Council, peer academic and resident adviser, Kappa Delta sorority member, tour guide, and student ambassador, to name a few.

The list of her academic awards and achievements is equally long: Rouse Scholar, Hackman Scholar, Phi Beta Kappa, Black Pyramid Senior Honor Society, Eta Sigma Phi (Classics Honor Society), Phi Alpha Theta (History Honor Society), and Pi Gamma Mu (Social Science Honor Society).

"Rachel has that classical background that the old liberal arts scholars had, but one you see infrequently these days," said Professor of Anthropology Misty Bastian, one of her academic advisers. "She's a good, strong student and the kind of representative of our College that makes me proud."

Codkind's pursuits in extracurricular activities were as much about self-discovery as engaging with fellow students and the campus life.

Self-described as shy and reserved when she arrived at F&M, Codkind said her extracurricular experiences helped her to grow and transform. "In their own way, they really helped me get out of my shell," she said.

Whether working on a committee or working on a project, College administrators and faculty describe Codkind as a "dynamo" -- always moving forward, highly motivated, organized, diligent, and conscientious in every effort.

"Rachel looks for the interconnectedness of what college has to offer," said Associate Professor of Classics Alexis Castor. "She grasps ideas and research problems quickly, and when she's challenged she's able to figure out pathways to reach solutions."

Dean of the College Margaret Hazlett said Codkind sought her out and requested to work as her student intern. Struck by Codkind's initiative, academic abilities and breadth of involvement in campus activities, Hazlett agreed to the request.

Codkind engaged fully, assisting the dean during meetings on policy and program development, participating in a steering committee for assessing the current academic advising program, and developing a plan and creating a manual for reorganizing the program.

"She came up with a new form for our academic advisers to use," Hazlett said. "And we're going to use it."

Codkind's passion for education blossomed at the oldest Quaker school in the world, William Penn Charter School near Philadelphia. While a student there, she worked as an intern at AIM Academy, teaching classics to students with language-based learning challenges such as dyslexia.

"I taught in the academy's Gods and Goddesses Club," Codkind said. "I got to apply my love of classics, even before I came to college."

A voracious reader who enjoys writing and crafting papers, Codkind's successful honors thesis for anthropology was 116 pages. Initially a 15-page paper for a classics course, she spent three years working on it after Bastian urged her to re-direct the work to her anthropology course and expand upon it.

"I focused on gladiators as a marginalized group in ancient Rome," Codkind said. "It's a paper I started in my sophomore year, and I never thought it would ever go beyond my 'Gender and Sexuality in Antiquity' class in the Classics Department. Even though I've finished the topic, I'm still so fascinated by it. I could write a book on it."

For Codkind, that would seem a likely step, but her destination seems to be that place where academics, student residential and co-curricular life meet, whether at a boarding school or a college.

"I want to make a direct impact on people's lives. I don't want to be in an office and just signing papers or working on spread sheets," Codkind said. "I have to be in an environment where I can make a direct impact."

Related stories

For Success in Life, HBO's Plepler Advises Graduates, 'Keep Your Style Yours'

Commencement 2015: Highlights Video

Commencement Remarks: Richard L. Plepler

Commencement Remarks: Franklin & Marshall President Daniel R. Porterfield

Citations:

Richard Plepler '81: Doctor of Letters

Robert Kwesi Koomson '97: Doctor of Humane Letters

Sherry Turkle, Ph.D.: Doctor of Science

Lynn Matluck Brooks: Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching

Michael L. Anderson: Bradley R. Dewey Award for Outstanding Scholarship

Robert Gray: Socrates Citation

Cecile Zorach: Socrates Citation

Lina Bernstein: Socrates Citation

Christine Alexander: Richard Kneedler Distinguished Service Award