The Department of Writing and Rhetoric hosted the 4th annual awards ceremony to honor exceptional faculty and students. The ceremony and reception followed the College of Arts and Humanities graduation ceremony. All students and their families within our department were invited, and the turnout was fantastic.
Three of our students were presented with awards: Ali Valerio received the award for Undergraduate Student Excellence, Ella Raynor received the award for Graduate Student Excellence, and Somaily Nieves received the award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching.
Three of our faculty members were also presented with awards: the award for Outstanding Contribution to Teaching and Learning of Writing was given to Steffen Guenzel, the award for Excellence in Promoting Diversity and Inclusion was won by Nichole Stack, and finally the award for Outstanding Community Engagement was given to Mark Hall.
Throughout the year, the department has what is referred to as “The Box of Awesome” where anyone can deposit an index card with anonymous compliments about the faculty and staff. A poster board with all of the notes was displayed throughout the event, and everyone had fun reading the nice words about one another.
Angela Rounsaville’s capstone students last semester were tasked with reading “The Rise of Writing” by Deborah Brandt, and analyzing the text. One of the projects was displayed on the wall during the ceremony and reception, and it was popular among the attendees to discuss amongst themselves; even at a party, our students and faculty prove themselves to be bookworms!
We are so proud of our graduates and the faculty who strive for excellence on a daily basis, and wish the best to our students on their future endeavors!