Department Awards 2026
Greetings from the Department Chair
Dear Friends of the English Department,
Students in English have gathered to themselves honors of many kinds this year. Listed below, you’ll see their names next to awards from the Department, College, and University. Behind those simple typed black and white words stand hours of hard work, reading and writing early in the mornings and late into the nights (well, maybe more nights than mornings). They were fueled by disciplined concentration, frantic research binges, words flowing through fingers in that magic creative mind space outside of time, and a lot of coffee and sugar.
But they were not just solo achievements. They were thoughtfully structured by dedicated teachers, warmly helped and cheered on by our community of staff, kept sane and happy by their friends, and, most of all, rooted in and buttressed by the lifelong love of their families. Achievement of academic knowledge and success is a collective effort that enriches our world, and we take this moment each year to be grateful for our shared commitment to this laudable goal.
Our Scholarship Committee deserves our hearty thanks for their careful work: thank you Tatiana Nekrasova-Beker, Maurice Irvin, and Debra Walker, for your care, attention, and time. Thank you as well to Tom Conway, for helping polish our ceremony and enhance its impact. And a very special thank you to Sheila Dargon, who makes this event her own and dedicates herself every year to making it beautiful and celebratory.
To our many wonderful donors who make these scholarships possible, we hope you feel the joy your generosity gives to all who love and practice the disciplines and arts of English.
Sincerely,
Julia Schleck
Chair, English Department
Undergraduate Creative & Performing Arts Scholarship Awards
Fiction
1st Place
Leah Stephenson
“Yamara”
2nd Place
Claire Davis
“The Continuation of the End of the World”
3rd Place
Ashley Launer
“What Could Have Happened”
Creative Nonfiction
1st Place
Ashley Launer
“Untitled”
2nd Place
Stella Van Buskirk
“A Tremendous Way of Being”
3rd Place
Kyla Ballard
“A Woman-Shaped Space”
Poetry
1st Place (tie)
Jessica Pettingill
“Luisa,” “Roses in July,” “Walking Backwards,” “What She Learned” and “What the Desert Said”
1st Place (tie)
Willow Engle
“twenty-two pounds shy,” “all they want is my blood, my body, my reticence,” “boulder hymn,” “anticynclonicism” and “the in-betweens”
2nd Place (tie)
Kelly Hobbick
“Postmortem Examination of a Secondary Survivor’s Brain” and “Grapefruit Tree”
2nd Place (tie)
Nikita Wozniak
“Vanilla” and “Metamorphosis”
3rd Place
Erica Halvorson
“[in the mountains]”
Department Scholarships and Fellowships
Recipients of department scholarships and fellowships receive a certificate, inscription on the departmental perpetual plaque, and scholarship or fellowship funding. Current students select a faculty member to say a few words about them and to present the award. The following students received scholarships for 2026-2027.
The Diane Keating Woodcox and Larry G. Woodcox Scholarship
Endowed by an alumna of the English department, this scholarship is awarded to a full-time junior or senior undergraduate major with an overall minimum 2.5 GPA. The student must have held gainful employment or have participated in a paid or unpaid internship and exhibit exceptional focus and determination as a student. Preference is given to a graduate of a Colorado high school. This year’s recipient is Willow Engle.
The Judith A. Dean Memorial English Scholarship
This scholarship was created in memory of Judith A. Dean, a graduate in the master’s program in the Department of English, and prominent professional in the English teaching field and the organizations that support it. Judith Dean earned an MAT at Colorado State in 1978 and taught at high schools in Colorado, Idaho, and New Mexico. She served two terms as President of the Colorado Language Arts Society, and several years on the Society’s executive committee—strong measures of her prominence in public education in Colorado. The recipient is Sofia Arredondo.
The Sarah Sandra Collins Creative Writing Memorial Scholarship
Sarah Sandra Collins attended Colorado State University in 1970 and 1971. She discontinued her studies in Psychology and English to become a CSU police officer, due to lack of funds and a desire to help people. Sarah was a profoundly honest and courageous person with great loyalty and generosity towards those she loved. Undaunted by difficult decisions in her work or personal life, she sometimes found herself enmeshed in controversy…an African American poetry writing police sergeant who converted to Orthodox Judaism in her thirties. She wrote poetry and short stories, serious and whimsical, throughout her life. The purpose of this Scholarship is to provide financial assistance for a CSU full-time undergraduate student and encouragement for the lifelong pursuit of creative writing. This year’s recipient is Ashley Launer.
The O’Connor-Miller Scholarship
This annual scholarship is given by an alumna of the English department and parent of a former CSU student who studied electrical engineering, computer science, and string bass performance. The recipient of this award must be a full-time graduate or undergraduate student, or a part-time graduate or undergraduate enrolled in the College of Liberal Arts in the Department of English. The recipient is Lily Hammang.
The Donna Weyrick Memorial Scholarship
The Donna Weyrick Memorial Scholarship honors the memory of Donna Weyrick, a 1962 graduate of the Department of English. This endowed scholarship for undergraduates is made possible by contributions from the Weyrick family and friends. This year’s recipients is Nikash Kalechofsky.
The Smith-Schamberger-Swinson Literature Fellowship
The Smith-Schamberger-Swinson Literature Fellowship was created to honor Charles Smith, Edward Schamberger, and Ward Swinson, three distinguished emeritus faculty members of the CSU’s English Department. Each year, one merit-based fellowship is awarded to an incoming graduate student in literature whose work shows exceptional promise, or to a continuing student who is a contributing member of the Literature program. This year’s recipient is Dany Batchelor.
The Community Engagement Scholarship
This scholarship is awarded to a full-time undergraduate or graduate student who is majoring in English with a demonstrated interest in community service activities. It was established by Pattie Cowell, former chair of the English department and of the Women’s Studies Interdisciplinary Program, and her partner Sheryl Pomering, whose career included education and counseling for children and women in Fort Collins and Larimer County. This year’s recipient is Anna Skarupa.
The Robert Zoellner Literature Scholarship
This scholarship was established by a CSU alum in honor of Professor Robert Zoellner, a member of CSU’s Department of English from 1958-1994. The recipient of the award must be a full-time graduate student enrolled in the English department as a MA candidate in Literature. Preference is given for a student focusing in the area of American Literature. This year’s recipient is Dany Batchelor.
English Department Legacy Scholarship
This annual scholarship prioritizes support for high-performing undergraduate and graduate students to finish their degree.
Nevaeh Janzen
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The TEFL/TESL Scholarship
Funded by the INTO CSU English Language Program, the TEFL/TESL Scholarship is awarded to an outstanding student in the TEFL/TESL graduate program. The recipient is María Fernanda León Velásquez.
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The Cross-Cultural Understanding Scholarship
The Cross-Cultural Understanding Scholarship is awarded to an outstanding graduate student who has demonstrated a commitment to international/cross-cultural issues and education. The recipient is Hongling Zhu.
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The James J. Garvey Graduate English Language Scholarship
This award is also given in memory of Professor James Garvey, and presented annually to an undergraduate student who has a documented interest and coursework in the study of the English language. Recipients of this award also demonstrate a commitment to diversity in education and may be first-generation students. The recipient is Olivia Louise Johnson.
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The James J. Garvey Undergraduate English Language Scholarship
This award is given in memory of Professor James Garvey. It is presented annually to a graduate student in their second semester or beyond in the TEFL/TESL graduate program, or a student in the Rhetoric and Composition or English Education graduate programs. The recipient must have shown a strong interest in advanced language study. Recipients of this award may be first-generation students. The recipient is Hongling Zhu.
The Ann Osborn Zimdahl Memorial Scholarship
This scholarship is awarded in memory of Ann Osborn Zimdahl, a 1981 graduate of the CSU MA TEFL/TESL program. Ann taught in the Intensive English Program and contributed to the international community of the university and Fort Collins. Her career also extended overseas where she held several different teaching appointments. Ann was strongly committed to cross-cultural understanding and enthusiastically shared her love of new cultures with her students both here and abroad. There were a total of two recipients this year.
The first award is for an outstanding graduate student in the TEFL/TESL program who is committed to international education and language teaching in support of the second year of study. The first recipient is Maria Fernanda León Velásquez.
The next award is given to an outstanding graduate student in any program in English. The recipient is Ian Horn.
The Karyn L. Evans Scholarship
This scholarship is awarded to undergraduate students in memory of Karyn L. Evans, an alumna of the English department, and is created through a gift from her estate. The recipients are Ava Richardson, Lily Mulstay, Tyler Sterling, and Medhaa Lakshman.
Ava Richardson
Lily Mulstay
Tyler Sterling
Medhaa Lakshman
The Stephen Reid Award for Excellence in Teaching
The award recognizes the long-standing contributions and commitment to teaching of Dr. Stephen Reid, who taught in the Department of English from 1972-2014 and who is nationally known for his work in writing pedagogy. The selection committee have chosen a prize winner and an honorable mention; this year’s awardees are Bel Mercado and Maia Coen (honorable mention).
Bel Mercado
Maia Coen
Outstanding Literary Essay Awards
These awards, selected by the English department’s Literature program, recognize outstanding critical writing and interpretive work in literary studies. Applicants must be registered graduate or undergraduate English majors or minors.
Graduate
1st Place
Amelia Jones
“More Beauty Than Our Eyes Can Bear: Gilead and Robbinson’s Philosophy of Entelechy”
Undergraduate
1st Place
Ryan Offermann
“Close Reading and Format Analysis of Nightwood”
2nd Place
Stella Van Buskirk
“Anonymous is a Woman”
Outstanding Writing Awards in Composition, Rhetoric, and Literacy
These awards recognize innovative ideas, critical thinking, and stellar communication in the broad area of writing studies.
Graduate
1st Place
Sydney Meier
“Gender Performativity in New
French Extremism”
2nd Place
Garrett Wolverton
“Shameful Apology: Hate and the
Promise of Shame”
Undergraduate
1st Place
Ryan Offermann
“The Threat of Readicide to Our Younger Generations: How Reduced Literacy Could Have More Devastating Consequences Than We Think”
2nd Place
Audrey Weishaar
“The BMI Causes Unchallenged Weight Bias”
Graduate Distinctions
English graduate students can earn recognition for excellence on a final project, portfolio of work, or thesis.
Noah Larson
Distinction for TEFL/TESL Thesis
Andy Parker
Distinction for Literature Research Project
Creative Writing Master of Fine Arts Awards
Josephine Gawtry
Awarded The Academy of American Poets Prize for her poem, “Apopka”
Samuel Ellington
Named Honorable Mention for The Academy of American Poets Prize for his poem, “Swallow”
Selene Hofstetter
Named a 2026 AWP Intro Journals Project Winner in Poetry for her poem, “wanúukshi | ocean coast”
Liz Ramirez
Named a 2026 AWP Intro Journals Project Honorable Mention in Prose for her essay, “Aztlán”