Dear Winners of the Fickert Award and Mickel Award,
The award you are receiving bears the name of a professor who devoted his life to helping Wittenberg students explore the life of the mind and engage in serious intellectual pursuits. They represented the best in education in the humanities and the virtues of openness and understanding between cultures fostered in the humanities.
The faculty of World Languages and Cultures have chosen you for these awards not merely because you have excelled in your studies, but because we trust you will carry these virtues and ideals forward into your lives after graduation. You have shown an appreciation for deep thinking and have shown the world that borders do not form walls between peoples but present instead an opportunity to build bridges between them.
We congratulate you and wish you much success in the future as ambassadors of Wittenberg and advocates for understanding among cultures. It has been an honor to teach you.
Dr. Bennett on behalf of the faculty of World Languages and Cultures