Scripps College is honoring Olympic gymnast Simone Biles with the Ellen Browning Scripps Medal, the college’s highest honor. Biles will be present at the medal ceremony in May to receive her award, the college confirmed in an email to TSL.
Scripps President Amy Marcus-Newhall announced the decision in an Oct. 4 email to the Scripps community.
“As we mark 100 years of educating and empowering students, we are celebrating the values that define our institution—confidence, courage, and hope,” Marcus-Newhall wrote. “Ms. Biles’ journey embodies all three.”
The medal is awarded to passionate public figures that “brin[g] considerable positive attention to Scripps,” according to the college’s website. In their medal criteria, the college wrote that they seek out “dynamic, compassionate” women who are highly respected and demonstrate leadership in their field, for the award.
In her email, Marcus-Newhall cited Biles’s athletic prowess, national recognitions and advocacy work as ways she “inspires the next generation of women to lead with impact.”
The medal ceremony will be held on May 1, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. on Elm Tree Lawn. According to Marcus-Newhall’s email, it will launch the college’s celebration of its 100-year anniversary.
Nevenka Bollini SC ’27 competed in gymnastics all four years of high school. She said she was very excited when she saw the email announcement that Scripps was honoring Biles and inviting her to campus.
“I was over the moon,” she said. “I sent [it] to my parents immediately. I said, ‘You’ll never believe who’s coming to Scripps next year.’”
Bollini said she was similarly in awe when Olympic gymnast — and former teammate of Biles — Aly Raisman spoke at a Scripps Presents event this October.
“They say never meet your heroes, but, I mean, I was even more in awe when I met [Raisman] in real life,” she said. “The opportunity to see Simone Biles live and in person is just incredible.”
“The opportunity to see Simone Biles live and in person is just incredible,” Bollini said.
Bollini said she was “proud of Scripps” for recognizing Biles’ strength as both a gymnast and survivor, referencing her prominent testimony in a sexual abuse case against USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.
“Scripps teaches you that you need to empower the people who don’t have that voice and who struggle to be heard,” she said. “Biles is one of the best examples of someone who was able to not only end up speaking out for herself, but has been such an advocate in trying to help other people.”
Scripps senior communications manager Emily Peters confirmed Biles’ presence at the medal ceremony to TSL, saying that the college has been “in communication” with Biles’ team.
In her email to the Scripps community, president Marcus-Newhall said that the Centennial Ambassadors’ Council — composed of students, faculty, alumni, parents and trustees — was in charge of sorting through nominations and leading the selection process.
Biles is a seven-time Olympic gold medalist, owns 23 world titles and was awarded her most recent gold medal in the women’s vault final in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Biles has not yet confirmed whether she will be competing in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
“I think as athletes, you always want to end up on top and it be your choice when you end,” Biles said in an exclusive interview with the Olympics’ website in August. “Paris was such a special moment.”
Bollini said she is excited to see how Biles’ visit will bring the Scripps community together.
“People who don’t even watch sports … still know the name Simone Biles,” she said. “I can’t wait to meet her.”
Scripps has only awarded the medal thrice before: former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 1994, former supreme court justice Sandra Day O’Connor in 1998 and congressmember Gabrielle Giffords SC ’93 in 2013.
Biles’ media team did not respond to TSL’s request for comment.
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