The Celebration of Academic Excellence (CAE) is a day-long event dedicated to celebrating student and faculty scholarly and creative achievements. It is a hallmark academic event at Salem College – one that unites students and faculty in sharing their academic and creative work, responding to the insights of others, and making visible the impact of a Salem education on their own intellectual development.

Students present work in a variety of formats: formal papers, creative work, poster sessions, and spoken presentations.  Presentations stretch across the disciplines, showcasing excellence in the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and health fields. Regardless of the format or topic, the impact is the same: students and faculty deepen their understanding of the world and demonstrate their growth as leaders, scholars, and community members.

CAE offers a venue for Salem’s commitment to deepening our collective understanding of what contributes to health and wellbeing, a variety of health-related topics are explored across the CAE presentations.

• Design students showed their plans for building healthy businesses in healthy buildings
• Nutrition students shared their research on the interplay of trace minerals and anxiety. 
• English students demonstrated how creative writing about gender, identity, and health offered new insights into well-being and self-understanding.
• Political Science and Nonprofit Management and Community Leadership students collaborated to identify wide-ranging solutions to provide mental health support to the most vulnerable in our communities.