Dennis Butler, Class of 1987

Linguist, athlete, lover of music, strong devotee of German culture—this description of a typical Williams student both discloses and conceals what was extraordinary about your undergraduate career. “I never gave up wanting to return to Williams,” you said of the time following the accident, as one of the College’s ski patrollers, that left you paralyzed from the neck down. With extraordinary courage and determination you quickly applied yourself to a regimen of physical therapy and to course work at George Washington and Howard Universities near your home in the nation’s capital, with the result that you fulfilled your dream of returning to Williams—and a life filled with languages, music, Kafka, and Mann—and managed even to graduate within a year of your entering class. Not content with that accomplishment, you have continued with your studies and, after working as a researcher at the National Rehabilitation Hospital, are now pursuing an M.B.A. Aware of the contribution that play makes to physical and mental health, you have been cited by no less an authority than Sports illustrated magazine for your pinball wizardry and your role in helping develop games that have reintroduced play into the lives of the disabled and the elderly. But more remarkable than these accomplishments are the positive outlook, the generosity of spirit, and the wonderfully dry sense of humor that have been an inspiration to so many here at Williams and in the world at large. In recognition of your distinguished achievement in overcoming severe physical trauma, Williams College is proud to honor you with its Bicentennial Medal.