College of Liberal Arts Honors Students for Writing Excellence

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Twenty students from across campus were honored this year by the Rochester Institute of Technology College of Liberal Arts 44th annual Student Writing Awards presentation on March 22, 2024. 

Imani de las Casas and Faith Valentine received this year's Mary C. Sullivan Woman and Gender Studies Award. This award is named in honor of the late Dr. Mary C. Sullivan, the esteemed first female Dean of RIT’s College of Liberal Arts, who served 1977 to 1987.

Awards are given to students whose work embodies the ideals and standards of excellence, creative endeavor, and scholarship championed by the Rochester Institute of Technology. Selections and awards are made by faculty committees in each department within the College of Liberal Arts.

Other awards included the Henry and Mary Kearse Writing Award, created in 1980 thanks to a donation from Henry J. Kearse, founder and president of the construction firm H.J. Kearse Inc., and his wife, Mary, a longtime member of RIT’s Nathaniel Rochester Society, and an award named in honor of Stan McKenzie, also a former dean of the College of Liberal Arts.

Henry and Mary Kearse Writing Award Recipients:

• Kaatje Mayer; East Amherst, NY; College of Liberal Arts, Communication, fourth-year student
• Chloe Sitton; Penfield, NY; College of Liberal Arts, Criminal Justice and Sociology & Anthropology, fourth-year student
• Alisalee Aaron; Savannah, Grand Cayman; Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences, Computer Sciences and College of Liberal Arts, Economics, fifth-year student
• MaKenna Boyd; Saratoga Springs, NY; College of Art and Design, Film & Animation, second-year student
• Leo Makalsky; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; College of Liberal Arts, History, fourth-year student
• Semy Kong; Wilmington, DE; College of Art and Design, Industrial Design, fourth-year student
• Abigail Broscius; Florham Park, NJ; College of Science, Computational Mathematics, fourth-year student
• Vince Ruggiero; East Amherst, NY; College of Liberal Arts, Political Science and Sociology & Anthropology, fourth-year student
• Bo (Olivia) Allaby; Colorado Springs, CO; College of Liberal Arts, Psychology, fourth-year student
• Ali Stambayev; Almaty, Kazakhstan; Kate Gleeson College of Engineering, Computer Engineering, fourth-year student
• Lee Smith; Arlington, VA; School of Individualized Study, Individualized Program and College of Liberal Arts, Sociology & Anthropology, fourth-year student
• Ashton Polak; Cranberry Township, PA, College of Art and Design, Film and Animation, fourth-year student

Stan McKenzie Endowed Writing Award Recipients:

• Alexander Kogan; Lima Peru; Kate Gleeson College of Engineering, Chemical Engineering, first-year student
• Katrina Demkowicz; Colonia, NJ; Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences, Game Design & Development, first-year student

Mary C. Sullivan Women’s and Gender Studies Writing Award Recipients:

• Imani de las Casas; Rochester, NY; School of Individualized Studies, Individualized Program, fourth-year student
• Faith Valentine; Livingston Manor, NY; College of Liberal Arts, Psychology, graduated Dec., 2023

Tina Lent Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Museum Studies Recipient:

• Angelique Armstrong; Buffalo, NY; College of Liberal Arts, Museum Studies, fifth-year student

Robert Root Endowed Award Recipient: 

• James Cortigene; Chester County, PA; College of Liberal Arts, Applied Modern Language & Culture Japanese and English, fourth-year student

McKenzie Shakespeare Award Recipient

• Maya Heatley; Queens, NY; College of Liberal Arts, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, second-year student
• Rowan Parker; Cazenovia, NY; College of Liberal Arts, English, fourth-year student