The director of the Hopkins Center will select the recipient of the award after consulting with voice faculty, voice ensemble directors and other arts faculty. The award will be presented annually at the Hopkins Center's spring awards ceremony.
Criteria for receiving the award include "talent in the area of vocal music, accompanied by a serious passion for its performance; an overarching creative spirit as demonstrated through a broad engagement in the arts, be it other performing arts, the visual arts or in creative writing" as well as "personal qualities of humor, grace, generosity and a concern for others and breadth of individual achievement and an impact on campus life."
"Christina was an exceptionally musical, artistic, intelligent and loving person and our hope is that each year this award will be given to a graduating senior that exemplifies these same qualities," Glee Club member Sarah Ball '06 said.
Before her accident, Porter was an active member of the arts community at Dartmouth and at home in Brooklyn, N.Y. She was part of the Subtleties a capella group and the Dartmouth Glee Club. Her poetry also won gold and silver awards in the annual Scholastic Art and Writing awards program, and her poem "Tuning the Street" was exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum.
Dean of the College James Larimore worked closely with Porter's parents to help them develop the award.
"I've gotten to know Christina's parents over the past few years and I think this new award is a wonderful testament to their love for Christina and for the activities that brought her joy during her time at Dartmouth," Larimore said.
Porter's father hopes that the award will provide students with opportunities they might not otherwise have.
"We wanted to allow that young person graduating from Dartmouth to do that extra thing, to give them that extra chance to travel and experience some special creative endeavor that they might not have the money for," Porter said. "The Christina Award will hopefully give them that extra incentive to do something special,"
A second project, the Christina Porter Poetry in the Schools program, will bring poetry to New York City public schools with the goal of eventually reaching schools across the country. A Brooklyn public school is currently developing the poetry curriculum that will be implemented next fall.
This project is designed for sixth, seventh and eighth graders, but there are plans to expand it to elementary school students as well. Participating students write their own poems which are then read aloud by guest readers, including popular performing artists, actors and poets. The students will also illustrate their poetry and have it exhibited in the heart of the New York City art district.
"The main goal is to get kids who would not normally write poetry to take that chance, to hear their work performed and to illustrate their poems and see them exhibited," Porter said.
These two projects were launched at the Jan. 22 premier of "Four Porter Songs" in Brooklyn. This event was a musical performance of four songs drawn from Porter's poetry and set for chamber orchestra and voice by Rice University professor of music Pierre Jalbert.
"I think it is a good way to remember her contribution to the vocal performance community," Nathan Hamilton '06 said. "I also think that everyone can actively honor her memory even more by choosing to wear helmets while skiing, to reduce the likelihood of another accident of this nature."
