Seven WSU Writing Center consultants land top senior awards plus a poetry prize as spring semester 2016 comes to a close

PULLMAN, Wash.—Five peer consultants in the Writing Center at Washington State University have been honored by their major departments in the College of Arts and Sciences with “outstanding senior” awards, another received the Ruth Slonim Poetry Prize, and a seventh was named a university-wide top senior.

Floricel Gonzalez is the consultant who received a WSU top ten senior award in the area of academics.  Top seniors in their departments are Alistair Fortson, Kyle (Raleigh) Hansen, Hailey Roemer, Sophia Stephens, and Ruben Zecena. The $1,000 poetry prize winner is Taylor Bereiter.

“These seven students have been invaluable in the Writing Center as role models, leaders, and as writing consultants, and we could not be more proud that their departments have chosen to recognize them also,” said Brooklyn Walter, director of the Writing Center.

Gonzalez, a microbiology and English major from Wenatchee, is one of two students university-wide to receive this year’s top ten senior award in academics, presented by the WSU Alumni Association plus the WSU Student Alumni Ambassadors. The presenters said, “she has been a standout with her research and extracurricular involvements. She researches diseases, in particular, the interactions that occur between a disease and a host.” She has won several awards for her research with a faculty mentor, and will be first author on a forthcoming manuscript.  She also received the new Harold and Jeanne Rounds Olsen Award for Outstanding Contributions to Writing Center Initiatives for her work as a peer consultant to assist other writers.

From CAS, the outstanding senior award in history went to Fortson, who is from Berkeley, Calif. Hansen received the award from philosophy and is from Vancouver, Wash. Roemer, from Sumner, Wash, received the award from political sciences. Stephens, from Wenatchee, received the award from comparative ethnic studies. Zecena received the award from women’s studies and is from Pasco, Wash.

The College of Arts and Sciences defines an outstanding senior as “one who has excelled in academic performance and in service to their school or department and the university community.” Awardees are selected by the department faculty and chairs for each program in the college.

Bereiter is a creative writing major from Port Angeles, Wash. She received the award for two of her poems, one of which is a sestina memorializing the death of a woman murdered for being transgender.

All of the award winners work in the Writing Center, which is a part of WSU undergraduate education. They are uniquely skilled at assisting and supporting undergraduate writers with the challenges of writing at the university.

The Writing Center hires undergraduate students from all disciplines and assists student writers with papers from all classes and all departments. Students are hired primarily based on their interest in talking about writing and communication, not necessarily on GPAs or writing samples. According to Walter, “The Writing Program thrives because our consultants are dedicated to supporting each other and their WSU peers in pursuing and achieving their goals.”

Contacts:

Brooklyn Walter, Writing Center Director, WSU Writing Program, 509-335-1323, Brooklyn.walter@wsu.edu

Victor Villanueva, WSU Writing Program Director, 509-335-2680, victorv@wsu.edu