Undergraduate and Graduate Student Awards and Accomplishments

The Department of English congratulates:

2022-2023:

  • The winners of the English Department's 2023 Graduate Student Awards:
    John D. McCabe Award for Excellence in Teaching: Holly Burgess
    Sarah Jo Mayville Award for Excellence in Scholarly Writing: Alex Gambacorta and Jen Stanislawski
    Donna Decker Award for Excellence in Scholarly Writing: Wendy Fall
  • Michael Werning, recipient of the English Department's 2023-24 Goeden Dissertation Fellowship
  • Noah Smith who won the English Department's 2023 Outstanding Senior English Major Award
  • The winners of the English Department's 2023 Undergraduate Writing Awards: 
    Creative Writing--Fiction Award: Julliane Negre (Biological Sciences '23), Honorable Mentions: Isabelle Carrell (Secondary Education '26, Clara Perotti (Literature '24), Katie Smith (Chemistry and Writing-Intensive English '24)
    Creative Writing--Poetry: Emma Strick (Writing-Intensive English '23), Honorable Mentions: Jenna Koch (Literature and Educational Studies '23 and Sam Zingsheim (Business Economics and Human Resources '24)
    Foundations in Rhetoric Award: Delaney Matson (Psychology '26), Honorable Mention Rashad Alexander (Journalism '23)
    Creative Writing--Nonfiction Award: Fred Pyter (Writing-Intensive English '25, Honorable Mention: Jenna Koch (Literature and Educational Studies '23)
    Writing about Literature Award: Hayley Weeder (Literature '22), Honorable Mention: Mark Claerhout (Secondary Education '26)

2021-2022:

  • The winners of the English Department's 2022 Graduate Student Awards:
    John D. McCabe Award for Excellence in Teaching: Susan Jones-Landwer
    Sarah Jo Mayville Award for Excellence in Scholarly Writing:  Serina Jamison
    Donna Decker Award for Excellence in Scholarly Writing: Jessie Wirkus Haynes
  • Amanda Zastrow, recipient of the English Department's 2022-23 Goeden Dissertation Fellowship.
  • Michael Werning, recipient of the English Department's 2022-23 Schmitt Fellowship
  • Jannea Thomason, recipient of the English Department's 2022-23 Smith Fellowship
  • Mara McAndrews who won the English Department's 2022 Outstanding Senior English Major Award.
  • The winners of the English Department's 2022 Undergraduate Writing Awards: 
    Creative Writing--Fiction Award: Josh Feryance (Bioelectronics '23); Honorable Mentions: Gwendolyn Lazenby (English Language Arts and Educational Studies '23), Taylor Morant (Journalism '22), Ben Abrams (Writing-Intensive English and History '22), and Nick Collins (Civil Engineering '22)
    Creative Writing--Poetry Award: Jenna Koch (Literature and Educational Studies '23), Honorable Mentions: Jessica Diebold (Criminology and Law Studies and Writing-Intensive English '22) and Aditii Wakhlu (Biomedical Sciences '23)
    Literary Award: Katherine Hovland (Writing-Intensive English and Interdisciplinary Data Science '22), Honorable Mention: Anna Van Dyke (Psychology and Writing-Intensive English '23)
    Creative Writing--Nonfiction Award: Grace Schmaling (Biological Sciences '22), Honorable Mention: Raquel Torres (Political Science '23)
    Multi-modal Award: Noah Smith (Literature '23)

2020-2021:

  • The winners of the English Department's 2021 Graduate Student Awards:
    John D. McCabe Award for Excellence in Teaching:  Ibtisam Abujad 
    Sarah Jo Mayville Award for Excellence in Scholarly Writing (MA level):  Kate Braun
    Donna Decker Award for Excellence in Scholarly Writing (PhD level):  Jackielee Derks
  • Jannea Thomason, recipient of the English Department's 2021-22 Goeden Dissertation Fellowship.
  • Tom Besold (History; Literature minor '21), John Collopy (Literature '21), Elena Fiegen (Writing-Intensive English '21), Tyler Naekrsz (Literature and Philosophy; Classics minor '21), and Matthew Schwemmer (Writing-Intensive English and Political Science '21) on their election to Phi Beta Kappa.
  • Reilly Becker (Writing-Intensive English '22), John Collopy (Literature '21), Jessica Diebold (Writing-Intensive English '22), and Matthew Schwemmer (Writing-Intensive English and Political Science '21) on their election to the English Honor Society, Sigma Tau Delta.
  • Jonathon Jimenez (Secondary Education/English '21), recipient of the English Department's 2021 Outstanding Senior English Major Award.
  • The winners of the English Department's 2021 Undergraduate Writing Awards: 
    Creative Writing--Poetry Award:  Courtney Michaelson (Literature and Writing-Intensive English '22); Honorable Mention:  Sabrina Huston (Criminology and Law; Writing-Intensive English '21)
    Creative Writing--Fiction Award:  Betsy Richards (Literature '21); Honorable Mention:  Mari Rortvedt (Writing-Intensive English '21), Emma Strick (Writing-Intensive English '24), and Will Scheuerman (Digital Media and Writing-Intensive English '21) 
    Foundations in Rhetoric:  Emily Briones (Education/English '24)      
    Non-Fiction Essay:  Sawyer Regenbaum (Writing-Intensive English '21)  
    Non-Fiction Multi-Modal:  Haley Wellner (Accounting; Writing-Intensive English '21)
    Scholarly Essays:  Alex Lysonski (Literature '22); First Honorable Mention:  Chloe Lipka (Literature minor '22); Honorable Mention: Gavin Block (Writing-Intensive English '21), Iona McPeake (Writing-Intensive English '21), and Kelsie Kasky (Secondary Education/English '24)
  • Brea Brennan, who was named 2021 Student Employee of the Year by the Office of Student Educational Services. Special commendations go to Amanda Harris '21 and Matt Burchanoski (PhD Candidate), who received medals, respectively, from Campus Ministry and the Ott Memorial Writing Center.
  • Katie Breck (Writing-Intensive English, Digital Media, and Law & Society '22), who was elected President of the Marquette Undergraduate Student Government (MUSG) for 2021-22.
  • Ibtisam Abujad (Ph.D. Candidate) for organizing and hosting the "Liminal Existences and Migrant Resistances Conference," co-sponsored by the Center for Transnational Justice and the English Department (March 24-27, 2021, via Teams).
  • The winners of the Department's Spring Six-Word Short Story Contest
    1st place:  Ari Manta (Speech Pathology and Audiology '24)      
    2nd place (tie): Makayla Cooper (Criminology and Law '23), Sabrina Huston (Criminology and Law; Writing-Intensive English '21), Nora McCaughey (Secondary Education and English; History minor '22), Stephanie Waldschmidt (Psychology; Gender and Sexuality Studies '24), Mark Wisniewski (English PhD candidate). 
    Honorable Mention: Sarah Aaron (Psychology and Writing-Intensive English '22), Makayla Cooper (Criminology and Law '23), Eunbie Lee (Biological Sciences '24). 
  • The winners of the Department's Fall Six-Word Short-Story Contest: 
    1st place: Noah Smith (German and English Literature '23)
    2nd place: Christi Schmidt (Psychology '24)  
    Honorable Mention:  Jazmine Arteaga (Digital Media '23), Lyndsey Bassett (Biomedical Sciences '22), Scott Dale (LLC Faculty), Molly Glowacki (Speech Pathology '22), Nora McCaughey (Secondary Education and English; History minor '22).

2019-2020:

  • Jackielee Derks, recipient of the English Department's 2020-21 Goeden Dissertation Fellowship.
  • John Brick and Matt Burchanoski, recipients of Schmitt Fellowships from Marquette Graduate School for 2020-21.
  • John Brick, recipient of the 2020 Teaching Excellence Award from Marquette Graduate School.
  • The winners of the English Department's 2020 Graduate Student Awards:
    John D. McCabe Award for Excellence in Teaching:  Mark Wisniewski
    Sarah Jo Mayville Award for Excellence in Scholarly Writing (MA level):  Maxwell Wilde
    Donna Decker Award for Excellence in Scholarly Writing (PhD level):  Kathryn Hendrickson
  • Aishah Mahmood '20, who received the English Department's Outstanding Senior English Major Award.

  • Jessica Brown '20, Aishah Mahmood '20, Devin McCowan '20, and Sunaina Randhawa '20, who were elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
  • Isabella D'Agostino '21, Isaiah Isobal '22, Elisabeth Leneghan (Dec. '19), Jacob Lesch '21, Devin McCowan '20, Kate Rice '20, and Emma Wyngaard '22, who were inducted into the English Honor Society, Sigma Tau Delta.
  • The winners of the English Department's 2020 Undergraduate Writing Awards:
    Creative Writing--Poetry Award:  Alexandra (Sasha) Kokhan (Exercise Physiology '21) 
    Creative Writing--Fiction Award:  Mari Rortvedt (Writing-Intensive English '21) 
    Creative Writing Honorable Mention:  Laura Nootbaar (Public Relations & Writing-Intensive English '20)
    Literary Criticism Award:  Amy Lepp (Writng-Intensive English '20)
    Literary Criticism Honorable Mention:  Maya Mocarski (Literature '20)
    Non-Fiction/Rhetoric & Composition Award:  Amy Lepp (Writing-Intensive English '20)
  • The winners of the English Department's Six-Word Short Story Contest: Mitch Fair '20 (Fall Co-Winner), Dr. Jenna Green (Fall Co-Winner), Michael Hendricks '17/'19 (Fall Co-Winner), Amy Lepp '20 (Fall Co-Winner; Spring Winner), and Natallie St. Onge '21 (Fall Co-Winner). 

2018-19:

  • Jacob Zelinski (Public Relations and Writing-Intensive English), Senior Speaker at the 2019 University Commencement, who offered a powerful reflection on moral courage, life, and loss.
  • Cassandra Wessing (English Literature), recipient of the 2019 Outstanding Senior Award from the Helen Way Klingler College of Arts and Sciences, who spoke eloquently about the value of a liberal arts education at the College graduation ceremony.
  • Katherine Stein (English Literature) and Abby Vakulskas (Writing-Intensive English), co-winners of the 2019 Outstanding Senior English Major Award.
  • Jayla Hill (Writing-Intensive English), recipient of the 2019 Magis Award.