By Daniella Zoller
On Tuesday, April 29th, 2025, students and faculty came together to celebrate the end of the semester with a wonderful continental breakfast put on by Meredith Neuman and the office assistants. It has been a busy year here at Clark University, and the Department was happy to see so many familiar faces in attendance.
Professors and students chatting around the breakfast table.
The highlight of the event, though delicious, was not the bagel breakfast! Various prizes and certificates were presented by Meredith Neuman, Phil Lemos, Justin Shaw, and Elizabeth Blake throughout the morning, and it was happily spent celebrating our students’ successes!
Kate Galvinhill smashing the pinata!
To begin, Professor Lemos handed out the certificates to the winners of the creative writing contests. Recipients of the Prentiss Cheney Hoyt Poetry Contest included the following: Izzy Simoes, Reuben Glassenberg, Ian Cruz, Noah, Hart, and Aaron Femia. The Betty ’79 and Stanley Sultan Short Story Contest winners included: Kate Galvinhill, Silas Schwartz, and Sophia Lindstrom! The Loring Holmes and Ruth Dodd Drama Contest winners were Allison Rinehart, April Chronowski, and De’Angelo Blair. If you happen to see any of these students, be sure to congratulate them on their incredible creative writing skills!
Professor Gutmann-Gonzalez jumping for the pinata!
Professor Justin Shaw then presented the winners of the Leroy Allston Ames Essay Contest, including Silas Schwartz, Maddy Gaffin, and Jenn Milza! Shoutout to each of these students for all of their hard work and thank you to the students who submitted work but did not place. It is always a pleasure to have a window into the minds of the Department’s brilliant students.
Meredith Neuman then announced the winners of the two English Department prizes, the Virginia Mason Vaughn Prize and the William H. Carter Prize. The recipient of the Vaughn Prize this year was April Chronowski, for their outstanding Honor’s Thesis titled “‘You Know the Rules:’ A Dramatic Experiment in Aromantic Literary Theory.” Congratulations to April for their incredibly hard work! We wish them the best on their future endeavors. This year’s Carter Prize was presented to Daniella Zoller for her outstanding performance as an English major who cultivates community within the department.
The breakfast spread being set up by our wonderful office assistant Izzy Simoes.
Professor Blake then handed out the Sigma Tau Delta cords to the graduating seniors who are part of the Honors Society. Congratulations to each of you!
Nick Dlugos taking a go at the pinata!
This wonderful celebration ended with a pinata smashing because everyone needs an outlet during finals season! The pinata was shaped like a daisy and stuffed with various little fidget toys and candy. The students, and faculty, had a blast getting it open.
Janell taking a go at the pinata!
Thank you to all who helped us cultivate community within the department this year and made it a home away from home. We look forward to seeing you in the fall. Have a good summer and stay in touch!
