May 30, 2007

Scholarships awarded to English students

by Andrea Hahn

CARBONDALE, Ill. — The College of Liberal Arts at Southern Illinois University Carbondale recently presented scholarships to top students in the Department of English.

Abigail S. Blank, a senior from Hayden, Idaho, won the William Lewis Farmer Scholarship, a $1,500 award. Blank is a member of the SIUC swim team and competes in medley events, requiring mastery of at least four different swim strokes. She said her swimming scholarship made it possible for her to attend SIUC. A declared English major before she even arrived here, she was inspired by her poetry writing mentor Judy Jordan. She plans to begin graduate studies.

Nicholas J. Eastman, a senior from Du Quoin, won the Carl Lutes Scholarship, a $750 award given to a student showing academic achievement, financial need and sound character. Eastman specialized in the department's teacher education program and earned straight A's while at SIUC. Eastman, who double-majored in English and German, also won a Helmut and Mary Liedloff German Scholarship Award from the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature. He will attend summer school in Salzburg, Austria, and then finish his German major next year at SIUC. He plans to pursue graduate work in English literature after completing his German major.

Douglas Moore, a doctoral student from Paducah, won the Robert Partlow Memorial Scholarship, a $500 award intended for a graduate student concentrating in the study of Victorian literature. Partlow was a founding member of the Dickens Society and edited The Dickens Studies Newsletter. He was chair of the department when he retired in 1979. Moore completed and defended his doctoral dissertation this year on the subject of Victorian literature and legal reform.

The following students won Thelma Kellogg Scholarships, a $1,000 award:

  • Carbondale: Madison Smith, senior.
  • Carterville: Hope David, junior.
  • Colona: Kassandra Merril, senior.
  • Makanda: Jennifer Blair, senior.
  • Pinckneyville: Maryl Epplin, junior.
  • Roscoe: Kristin Tolliver, senior.
  • South Holland: Rebecca McCarthy, senior.