English Department Awards Reception

Faculty and students gathered for a reception on Thursday, April 21 to honor and celebrate this year’s achievements.

A total of 12 department awards were presented to students by faculty members. Here is a list of the awards and honorees:

• Stephen I. Hemenway Award for Promising Achievement in English Teaching – This award in honor of “Doc” Hemenway, who has taught in the Hope College English Department since 1972, will be awarded each year to two senior English majors who show outstanding proficiency in the study of literature and future promise as stellar teachers of English. Presented by: Dr. Stephen Hemenway Awarded to: Rachael Grochowski, Abigail Hamilton, Tara Haan and Carter Dykstra
• The Clarence DeGraaf English Award – An award to be presented to the senior whose interest and achievement in the field of English, as indicated by academic record, most merits recognition in the judgment of the English Department faculty. The award begun with 1988 Honors Convocation, and is named in honor of Clarence DeGraaf, long-time chair of the English Department at Hope College. The award was established by his daughter and son-in-law Ruth DeGraaf and Lamont Dirkse and his son Daniel DeGraaf. Presented by: Dr. Ernest Cole Awarded to: Claire Buck
• Jennifer Young Award in Creative Writing – This cash award, begun in 2008, will be presented each year to the senior whose interest and achievement as a creative writer and student of literature most merit recognition in the judgment of the English department faculty. Presented by: Dr. Susanna Childress and Dr. Pablo Peschiera Awarded to: Rebecca Pannapacker and Samuel Vega
• The George Birkhoff English Prize – The George Birkhoff English Prize is a cash award designed to promote study of the English literature and language. The prize is awarded for an essay on a topic selected by the English Department and submitted to the department for this competition. Presented by: Dr. Ernest Cole Awarded to: Eileen Ellis

• The John D. Cox Award in Shakespeare Studies – The John D. Cox Award in Shakespeare studies was established in 2016 in honor of John Cox, a Hope alumnus (1967) and a distinguished scholar and teacher in the Hope English Department from 1979 until his retirement in 2015. The Award recognizes Shakespeare and scholarship, both of which were important in Cox’s career. Presented by: Dr. Marla Lunderberg Awarded to: Olivia Stebbins and Grant McKenzie
• William B. Eerdmans’ Prizes – Begun in June 1951, the William B. Eerdmans’s prize is awarded to the student judged best in creative writing and poetry, and another awarded to the student judged best in creative writing and prose. Presented by: Dr. Susanna Childress Awarded to: Claire Buck (Poetry) and Emma Compton (Prose)
• The Sandrene Schutt Award – Sandrene Schutt Award for Proficiency in the Study of English Literature was established in 1967 in honor of Sandrene Schutt, English teacher at Grand Haven High School for 37 1/2 years. This award is presented to the senior who has shown proficiency in English literature and expresses an intent to enter the teaching profession in this field. Presented by: Dr. Ernest Cole Awarded to: Morgan Raymond
• Barbara Jo Stephenson Prize – This prize, awarded each semester to the author of the paper selected as the best submitted in the first- year writing course, is given to encourage young writers. Presented by: Dr. Tom Sura Awarded to: Reuban Koemen
• The Louis and Mary Jean Lotz Writers’ Conference Prize – The Louis and Mary Jean Lotz Writer’s Conference Prize in Creative Writing is an annual scholarship that pays tuition, room, and board for a Hope student to participate in the Bear River Writers’ Conference at Walloon Lake (near Petoskey, Michigan). Presented by: Dr. Pablo Peschiera Awarded to: Logan Pitsenberger
• Academy of American Poets –College-wide national poetry award for college students. Funded by Dr. Thomas Werge, Hope class of ’63, and Professor of English at the University of Notre Dame, to encourage excellent student writing and secure permanent membership for Hope College in the University and College Poetry Prize program of The Academy of American Poets. Presented by: Dr. Pablo Peschiera Awarded to: Fara Ling