James Street Fulton Prize

Davis received the James Street Fulton Prize. The prize was established in 1981 by Mr. Edward Hinders, a distinguished alumnus of Will Rice College, class of 1971, in honor of the first master of Will Rice College. The James Street Fulton Prize is awarded to the Will Rice student who has distinguished himself or herself above all others in utilizing the educational opportunities of the University in the face of personal or financial hardship, and who has set an example of personal achievement and community service.

Here is one of the nomination letters written on his behalf:

To the members of Will Rice College:

I am nominating C. Davis Buenger for the James Fulton Street Prize because of his high level of academic achievement and commitment to the Will Rice College community while dealing with the illness and death of his sister.

On April 13th, 2009 over 900 people gathered at the First Presbyterian Church in Bryan, Texas to celebrate the life of Erin Channing Buenger. People came because they had lost a friend, a classmate, a teammate. They came because they had lost a fellow churchgoer, a fellow joke teller, a fellow animal lover, a fellow red-head. They came because in the words of Matthew Dahlgren: “Erin made everyone feel like they had a special connection with her.”

When Davis arrived at Rice his freshman year 9-year-old Erin had been battling relapsed Neuroblastoma, a pediatric cancer, for over a year. He threw himself into studying for Organic Chemistry and doing problem sets for Honors Calculus. Davis played almost every Will Rice sport. Davis made the Beer Bike team. Sophomore year Davis continued to take challenging classes and declared Mathematics as his major. He participated in math research through the VIGRE program. Without a position or a committee Davis contributed his creativity. He organized an art show, “The Restaurant La Phoenix”, and “Ceramic Rights.” His junior fall Davis studied abroad in Budapest, Hungary, and when he returned to Will Rice in the spring was instrumental in the preparation, spirit, and muscle of the Beer Bike Sweep. This year Davis received A’s in graduate level math classes, played club soccer with the Lads, volunteered his chess talent at a local elementary school, and led in position and spirit the Will Rice Bike team.

In between it all Davis has worried and thought about his parents and sister. When his parents and sister came down to Texas Children's Hospital for appointments he would meet up with them. He lives with the maturity that comes from realizing in ninth grade that you can’t complain to your parents about why they didn’t come to your soccer game when your five year old sister has cancer. He has spent his four years at college with the rare perspective that there are things that matter more than getting the best grades and having the best resume. He has lived with the crushing knowledge of his sister’s physical pains and his parents’ emotional burdens. He has woken up knowing that it is Erin smiling and talking and laughing that keeps them all going and woken up knowing that memories of her will have to do the same.

Sincerely,
Elizabeth S. Van Itallie

Davis's classmates were so moved by this story that the college president organized a voluntary collect from the students in the college and sent us $550 for the Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation.