Eligibility: An enrolled student who is a graduating senior in the current academic year
Submissions: Entries are judged blind. Instructions will be provided below when the contest opens for submissions.
Judges: A faculty member or members from Humanistic Studies, possibly along with a previous winner. Entries are judged blind.
Prize: $500 from an anonymous donor, plus recognition in the commencement booklet and on social media
Timeline: Generally, the department requests submissions by end of March and a winner is announced by mid April.
The 2024 judges were Jane Lewty, faculty, Kieren Jeane and Wyatt Carson, 2023 winners.
Judges' Commendations
Deceptively understated, “Center Mass” moves across registers of devotion, mortality and intimacy, told in vivid images and searingly-articulated sentiment. It anchors the reader in a moment of seeming crisis, one where indifference is not possible, and where the present moment of observation is united with a sense of purpose. This poem can be read as elegy, exhortation, or even as a celebratory and defiant claim to selfhood. The poet transmits their final lines in a precise blend of vulnerability and clarity; one that renders personal insight universal.