May 27, 2011
English department awards scholarships
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- A Marion native added to her collection of awards as she earned an English degree from Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
Rosalind Whitley earned both the William Lewis Farmer Memorial Scholarship and the Thelma Louise Kellogg Scholarship -- Top Graduating Senior from the Department of English. Whitley was an undergraduate research assistant at SIUC.
She also worked with mentor Rodney Jones, professor, poet and Distinguished Scholar, to create a collection of original poems as her project for the REACH grant project. REACH is Research-Enriched Academic Challenge, and is one of the several University-wide undergraduate research programs at SIUC. Whitley’s REACH grant totaled $1,100 and helped her produce a collection of publishable poems. Her project included a weeklong workshop at the Iowa Summer Writing Festival, an extensive reading list and considerable work in varying types of poetry to compile 15 pages of potentially publishable work.
Alexandra Rude of Rockford also earned a Thelma Louis Kellogg Scholarship as a senior student. Rude previously earned other scholarships as an English major, including a Louis and Monica Petroff Memorial Award and a grant through the Inspiring Women program.