F&M Stories
First-Year Students Honored for Excellence in Writing
Three Franklin & Marshall College first-year students were recently recognized for their exemplary writing across a wide range of subjects they discovered through their Connections courses, which are explicitly designed to help new students explore and answer complex questions related to real-world issues.
Guan Wang 鈥�29 submitted the winning entry in the Phyllis C. Whitesell Prize for Excellence in First-Year Writing contest, garnering him a $200 prize. He originally wrote the piece, 鈥淪ystematic Vulnerability: Why Epidemiology Must Incorporate Social Ecology,鈥� for his course, 鈥淐onceptualizing Community,鈥� taught by Associate Professor of Sociology and Ware College House Don Ashley Rondini. The Whitesell Prize is administered by F&M鈥檚 Writing Center.
鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 expecting to win. Don Rondini encouraged me to submit it, so I said, 鈥榣et鈥檚 try this out,鈥欌�� Wang said.
As an aspiring physician, his motivation is to look more closely at the social and cultural aspects of the predominantly science-centered field of health care.鈥淚 want to change people鈥檚 lives. We need to change how we study the topic in order to better monitor how we manage public health,鈥� he said.
Guan Wang 鈥�29 submitted the winning entry in the Phyllis C. Whitesell Prize for Excellence in First-Year Writing contest.
Brynn Harrison 鈥�29 received an Honorable Mention for her submission, 鈥淐olombian Transitional Justice.鈥�
Devin Mitchell 鈥�29 received an Honorable Mention for his submission of an untitled performance piece script.
Two students received honorable mentions and $75 prizes.
Brynn Harrison 鈥�29 submitted 鈥淐olombian Transitional Justice,鈥� written for the course 鈥淣ational Reckonings,鈥� taught by Professor of Government Jennifer Kibbe.
Devin Mitchell 鈥�29 submitted an untitled performance piece script written for the course 鈥淪olo Performance Art,鈥� taught by Associate Professor of Theatre and Theatre Program Co-Director Rachel Anderson-Rabern.
Justin Hopkins, director of the Writing Center, said there were 24 total entries. Five tutors narrowed the field to 12, then a panel of four judges decided the winning entry and two honorable mentions. The judges were Writing Center tutors Megan Corry 鈥�28 and Nikhita Kuntipuram 鈥�28, Kibbe, and Senior Teaching Professor of Geosciences Tim Bechtel.
The prize is named for Phyllis Whitesell, who directed the Writing Center from the mid-1990s through the early 2000s.
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