Kyle Roderick '99 was waiting on tables at a Cape Cod restaurant last term when, one day halfway through lunch, his employer told him to leave immediately.
Roderick had planned to drive to the College that afternoon to speak at a reception for the recipient of the Ranny B. Cardozo Jr. '78 award -- an honor he was told would go to his "best friend" Rex Morey '99 -- but was concerned about leaving the restaurant; he had just missed a week of work due to an injury and was waiting on several tables.
When Roderick's employer told him "you're fired if you don't leave right now," he drove for three hours to an award reception -- not one for Morey, but for himself.
Roderick received the Cardozo Award, given annually to "'the outstanding member of the Junior class who most exemplifies Ranny B. Cardozo's academic enthusiasm, genuine concern for his fellow classmates, and energetic participation in campus and community activities'" partly in recognition of his work with the Tucker Foundation, Class Council and the Afro-American Society, Anat Levtov '98, last year's award recipient and chair of the award's selection committee, said.
Roderick developed DarCorps, a community service day that fills about 400 jobs in Upper Valley organizations, Dean of the Tucker Foundation Scott Brown '78 said.
Brown, who described Cardozo as a friend, said he thought Roderick had "a lot in common" with Cardozo -- "charity, spirit [and] a big heart."
Roderick has also worked to create a mentoring program for teens at Oxbow High School and was "an active member of the 1999 Class Council for three years," Levtov said.
Levtov also praised Roderick's "incredibly strong sense of character."
"I didn't realize I had done all those things, I guess," Roderick said after receiving the award.
Roderick's name will be added to a plaque in the dean's office, 1999 Class Dean Sylvia Langford said.
Letters asking for award nominees are sent to the Hinman boxes of each member of the senior class, Langford said.
She said a committee of 10 senior leaders chaired by the previous year's award recipient select each year's honoree.
The committee is advised by the Junior class deans, but the deans do not vote for the award recipient or take part in the group's discussions, Langford said.
