Awards and Honors

William H. Leahy Prize

Established in 1925 in honor of William H. Leahy by his wife and his brother, James, this prize is awarded to the graduating senior who has made the greatest contribution to dramatic art at Santa Clara as determined by the members of the Department of Theatre and Dance.

Anna Halprin Dance Award

This award honors the extended creative and socially active career of Anna Halprin, a pioneer in the art of dance. This award is given to the graduating senior dancer who best exemplifies excellence in dance and an awareness of community values while at Santa Clara University.

Charles Lampkin Award for Performance

This annual award, established in 1989 in honor of Charles Lampkin, the late actor and University artist-in-residence, is given to the junior or senior African-American student who has demonstrated excellence and commitment to performance in theatre, music, dance, or television.

Alpha Psi Omega

Alpha Psi Omega is the national theatre arts honor society founded in 1925 at Fairmont College. Chapters are called "casts," and the Alpha Gamma Psi cast at Santa Clara University was started in 2000. Alpha Psi Omega has sponsored the formation of theatre honors societies with the aim of encouraging dramatic production at every step in a person's academic career. The Alpha Gamma Psi cast provides an opportunity for student leadership and a regard for academic excellence and active participation in the Department of Theatre and Dance. Members must accumulate a minimum of 75 points by active participation in two Theatre Arts disciplines and maintain an appropriate cumulative GPA.

National Honor Society for Dance Arts

The National Honor Society for Dance Arts™ (NHSDA) collegiate program was created by the National Dance Education Organization in 2012 and established at SCU in 2017 as a way of recognizing outstanding artistic merit, leadership, and academic achievement in students studying dance in the Department of Theatre and Dance. To be eligible, a student must be a Theatre Arts major with Dance emphasis or Dance Minor, and must have performed significant service to the department, university, community, the profession and/or toward justice causes through performances, choreography, pedagogy, research/scholarship, directing, producing, designing, technical support, stage crew work or community-based outreach. Students must also have achieved an appropriate grade point average as set out in the bylaws. To graduate with Honors in Dance, members of NHSDA must have a higher level of service points, and present research on their leadership in the field of dance.