College Writing Committee Posts Winners

03/20/2018 

The 13 winners of 2017 SUNY Cortland Outstanding Writing Awards will read their work at the annual “Transformations: A Student Research and Creativity Conference” on Friday, April 13.

In addition to reading from their winning entries at “Transformations” and seeing their work published in a booklet dedicated to the 2017 SUNY Cortland Outstanding Writing Awards, the student writers earned cash prizes. The first-place winners for each category earned a $100 prize, and honorable mentions earned a $50 prize.

This is the 19th year of the contest sponsored by the College Writing Committee, the group that also judges the submissions. This year, the College Writing Committee and the Collin Anderson family sponsored two contests with many awards: the Collin Anderson Memorial Awards in Creative Writing and the Writing across the Curriculum Awards for Academic Writing.

The committee received nearly 100 submissions of creative and academic work for the competition. The work was judged on originality, clarity, organization, development and editing. All submissions written for courses taken between January and December 2017 were eligible.

Individual award recipients included:

Jahniece McCollum, a senior professional writing major, won the Collin Anderson Memorial Award in Fiction for “Journey to Seoul,” written for a professional writing course taught Victoria Boynton, professor of English.

Alice Luo, a sophomore adolescence education: earth science major, won the Collin Anderson Memorial Award in Poetry for “Timber,” written in an English course taught by Lisa Neville, lecturer IV of English.

Sarah DeLena, a senior English major, won the Collin Anderson Memorial Award in Creative Nonfiction for “To My Father,” written in a professional writing course taught by David Franke, professor of English and professional writing. DeLena also won honorable mention for the Collin Anderson Memorial Award in Creative Nonfiction for “The Divide,” written in a professional writing course taught by Franke.

DeLena also won the honorable mention for the Collin Anderson Memorial Award in Fiction for “Black Water,” written in a professional writing course taught by Heather Bartlett, lecturer II of English.

Sage Dushay, a junior social philosophy major, won the Collin Anderson Memorial Award in Digital/Multimodal Writing for “Anderson Cooper Interview,” written in a communication studies course taught by Mical Williams, lecturer of communication studies.

Madeline Berry, a sophomore exercise science major, won the Kathy Lattimore Prize in First-Year Writing for “The Hidden Secret in Water,” written in a composition course taught by Jaclyn Pittsley, lecturer III of English.

Martin LaFica, a sophomore communication studies major, won honorable mention for the Kathy Lattimore Prize in First-Year Writing for “Why All Americans Should Rethink the Border Wall with Mexico,” written in a composition course taught by Jacob Richter, adjunct lecturer of English.

Sara Sampson, a junior professional writing major, won the Academic Writing Award in the School of Arts and Sciences for “So, What Does an Editor Do, Anyway?” written in a professional writing course taught by Gregg Weatherby, lecturer I of English.

Melissa Garrett, a senior inclusive childhood education major, won the Academic Writing Award in the School of Education for “Disability Autobiography,” written in a foundations and social advocacy course taught by Carrie Rood, assistant professor of foundations and social advocacy and professional development school co-coordinator.

Victoria Webster, a junior childhood/early childhood education major, won honorable mention for the Academic Writing Award in the School of Education for “Tale of Two Worlds: The Race Divide in America,” written in a foundations and social advocacy course taught by Rhiannon Maton, assistant professor of foundations and social advocacy.

Raquel Rodriguez-Asher ’17, a graduate student in community health, won the Academic Writing Award in the School of Professional Studies for “Get Yourself Tested,” written in a health course taught by Margaret Divita, associate professor of health.

Kayla Lowe, a senior health education major, won honorable mention for the Academic Writing Award in the School of Professional Studies for “Social Assessment,” written in a health course taught by Donna Videto, professor of health.

Theresa Mendez, a graduate student in English, won the Graduate Student Academic Writing Award for “Blake’s Anarchy of Form: The Utopian Method & ‘Subjugated Knowledges,’” written in a graduate English course taught by Distinguished Teaching Professor of English Karla Alwes.

A call for submissions for the 2018 Outstanding Writing Awards will be announced at the end of the semester and again in the fall. Eligible papers will include those written for courses in 2018, whether spring or fall semesters or winter or summer sessions.

For more information, contact Laura Davies, assistant professor of English and director of Campus Writing Programs, at 607-753-2086.