Department of English announces 2018 program awards

The Department of English is pleased to announce our 2018 program awards. 

In addition to receiving the citation of Outstanding Senior in English Literature, Literature major Tailor Dolgin was also recognized at the Student Awards Ceremony last week with both the Dean of Students Award and the American Association of University Women award for graduating seniors.

By recommendation from the School of Arts and Humanities, Literature and German major Riley Elder was awarded Outstanding Senior in the Humanities, while Literature minor Erin Rothweiler received the Outstanding Senior in the Fine and Performing Arts.

At the department level, Creative Writing major Hunter Peterson was awarded Outstanding Senior in Creative Writing, and Literature major Sienna Ballou was also named Outstanding Senior in English Literature. Literature majors Darcy Christoffersen and Kayla Luttringer share the inaugural Outstanding Senior in Editing & Publishing citation.

Additionally, we have underclassmen accolades to which are attached scholarships. The recipients of the Esther Evans Memorial Scholarship for juniors are Sophia Backus and Charli Elliott. The recipients of the Irving Storey Memorial Award for sophomores include Ash Adams, Kia Addison, Kymberlin Bush, Gillian Gauer, Emma Roles, Margaret McFarlane, Brennan Staffieri, Jacqueline Tufts, and Phoebe Whittington. Students selected to attend the prestigious Boldface Conference for Emerging Writers include Sophia Backus, Kymberlin Bush, Rachel Savini, and Joy Yokoy. 

Finally, we congratulate our colleague, Associate Professor Keya Mitra, on her receipt of this year’s President’s Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. This recognition acknowledges her outstanding service as a teacher and mentor to the students of Pacific University, as well as for excellence and innovation in teaching—which we are fortunate to know all too well. Her efforts remind students and faculty alike of the need to strive beyond the known, emulating the spirit of Sir Francis Drake’s poem upon the second circumnavigation of the globe in 1577:

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.
. . .
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

With many felicitations,
The Faculty of the Department of English

Sunday, May 20, 2018