Founder’s Medal
[Founder’s Medal, Awarded to the Student with First Honors in each Graduating Class]
Medallion, c. 1896
Vanderbilt University Archives
Beginning in 1877 with an endowment from Cornelius Vanderbilt, the Founder’s Medal has been awarded annually to the student in each college who has achieved first honors. James Allen Thompson Parks received this honor as the 1896 valedictorian of the Divinity School, which was then called the Biblical Department.