On Sept. 25, the College Writing Program honored the 2024 winners and finalists of the Dean James E. McLeod First-Year Writing Prize.
The award, open to first-year students across WashU, recognizes exceptional research focused on race, gender, and identity. The prize was created in 2013 to encourage students to engage in research early in their undergraduate careers.
The late Dean McLeod, the prize’s namesake, advocated for students to find intellectual inroads to subjects related to their own lived experiences. The prize was created to honor him and to encourage students to immerse themselves in subjects they are passionate about.
Two prizes are awarded each year: one to a student in the College of Arts & Sciences, and one to a student in the McKelvey School of Engineering, Olin Business School, the Beyond Boundaries Program, or Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts. Along with a winner, the prize also recognizes a runner-up and an honorable mention in each area.
Aileen Waters, lecturer in the College Writing Program and co-chair of the prize, said the contest continues to be a wonderful outlet for students, with 168 entries submitted this year. “Dean McLeod is remembered for encouraging students to engage in research in ways that are meaningful to their lives, and that is something that we can really see in the work of our finalists and winners,” she said.
Lydia Pita, a sophomore majoring in environmental studies, won first prize among the Arts & Sciences entrants and chose to explore the topic of queer representation in post-apocalyptic media. She wrote about the third episode of the 2023 HBO series “The Last of Us,” which focuses on characters in a dystopian narrative who subvert the stereotype of the white, hypermasculine body.
“I grew up in a small town where there was implicit homophobia and bias,” Pita said. “To write a piece expressing my identity and receive this kind of recognition for it at a place like WashU has been really meaningful.”
Sciences winner, Lydia Pita.
Arts & Sciences winners and finalists
First prize: Lydia Marie Pita for “A (Review) Bomb Representation of A Post-Apocalyptic Queer Romance”
Runner-up: Kate Theerman Rodriguez for “Zines, Platform, and Refuge: Media and Mediation for Queer Identities”
Honorable Mention: Myla McGhee for “Exploring the Significance of Black Authenticity in Disney’s The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder”
Other winners and finalists
First prize (tie): Amelie Maltz, with Sam Fox, for “The Greenspace Gap: Environmental Racism and Park Disparities along the Delmar Divide”
First prize (tie): Alex Bonham Walsh, with Sam Fox, for “Gender Representation in Modern Children’s Media: The Disguised Damsel in Distress”
Runner-up: Astrid Burns, with Beyond Boundaries, for “Feelin' Like a Criminal: Fiona Apple and the Lolita Effect”
