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Greensboro. N.C.
Dean's awards honor excellence In student writing
Benjamin Kelly
Staff Writer
Most of the time, Guilford writers struggle
anonymously. Theirs is a private battle:
when athletes are glorified, when drama students
receive top billing in the new play, when student
government leaders have the honor of holding lofty
titles, the writer is grinding out page after page,
alone.
But once a year, there is the Dean's Writing
Awards Contest.
The contest recognizes exemplary student writing
and rewards winners with cash prizes. Students are
invited to submit work in six different categories.
Traditionally academic categories, like Writing in the
Physical and Natural Sciences, are supplemented
by awards for poetry and fiction.
Writing Director Cynthia Nearman, who joined the
Guilford faculty last semester, is organizing the 2005
contest.
"The contest helps raise the profile of writing on
campus," she said. "We are committed to creating
more opportunities for (writers)."
"Writing is really hard work," she continued. "If you
can write at a college level - that deserves celebra
tion."
The contest is now in its tenth year. English
Department chair and contest founder Jeff Jeske
organized the first Dean's Writing Award Contest
when he was writing director.
"Guilford defines itself as a writing intensive
school. The contest was a natural outgrowth of that,"
Jeske said.
Originally, the contest only rewarded academic
writing. In 2000, the English Department introduced
the Betty Place Prize for Poetry, and last year a fic
tion category was added.
"The addition of fiction and poetry categories has
regenerated interest in the past years,"
Jeske said.
In 2004, students submitted 50 pieces of writing.
This year, the judges are hoping for 100 entries.
"What we really want more than anything is for a
lot of writers to submit stories and poetry," said tutor
Doug Smith, who is a judge for both the poetry and
fiction contests.
Many students who plan to submit their writing
praised the contest.
"The fact that it has deadlines and rules motivates
me," said sophomore Daniel Bullard-Bates.
"Entering the contest will be rewarding in itself - it
feels good to put energy into getting my writing out
to people," wrote sophomore Dylan Grayson in an e
mail. "I'm glad Guilford has such an opportunity, and
I hope we will have more opportunities for creative
writers."
Opportunities are coming: a writing track will likely
be introduced soon to the traditional English major.
A fiction workshop and the success of poetry read
ings are other indicators that Guilford is becoming a
haven for writers.
"There's a confluence of forces: students bringing
the interest, and the college seeing the expanding of
the writing program being consistent with its mis
sion," Jeske said. "Students seem to come to
Guilford enormously interested in writing."
FEATURES
Though many students are excited by this year's
contest, some are still angry over the 2004 outcome.
Last year's winning fiction entry, "Me and Jesus,"
won Katie Elliot 'O4 both the first Dean's Award for
Fiction and the harsh criticism of CCE student Lara
Kadlecek and other offended Christians.
Elliot writes through the voice of an issue-laden
woman who is sexually obsessed with Jesus. The
story presents a satire of a personal relationship
with Jesus and closes with the phrase, "Jesus is
inside me," skewed to sexual connotations.
"I was appalled at the contents of Ms. Elliot's story,
not only because of the vulgarity and pornographic
content, but more so because of what her story
does to the name of Jesus Christ," Kadlecek wrote
in a letter to the English department.
Sex and the Semester:
The slut phenomenon, part one
Samantha Kittle
Sex Columnist
I've always been intrigued by a notion I came
across while reading some of the works of 90's
feminist Naomi Wolf. She wrote that for a woman to
have sex in our culture does not make her a slut:
talking about it and enjoying it does.
Let's examine this idea; do you remember the girl
from your junior high school that wore fishnets, tight
clothes, and thick, black eyeliner? She was the slut
before ever having sex.
I was intrigued by her - this archetype who was
the scapegoat for our age group when we were all
ashamed about our budding sexuality. Whatever
desire we had for anyone around us, we blamed
her. By laughing about the blowjob she gave behind
the bleachers, we were all a little bit safer, cleaner,
purer. How frightened we were.
Have we grown up since then?
V Hf
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WWW.PHASECLOTHING.COM
www.guilfordian.com
Despite complaints, the English Department and
Adrienne Israel, the Academic Dean, stood by the
judges' decision.
"We support the right of the contest judges to
award (the story) first place-even while we deeply
regret that the story and the awarding of the prize
offended you personally," Jeske wrote in a letter to
Kadlecek.
"That's what makes writing stand out," Nearman
said about the story. "It walks on the edge, it pushes
the limits."
Smith agreed that the contest should not be limit
ed by cultural proscriptions.
"We're looking for originality in language and mas
tery of form," said Smith. "Beyond those two things
anything is open."3€
Where down the line did we realize that sex felt
good and that we actually wanted it? Why do we still
blame the slut for liking what we all want?
I must expand upon an idea brought up by Camille
Paglia in Sexual Personae to explain this further:
women's genitals are essentially hidden, holy, a
mystery.
There is a secret to her sexuality, which man
inherently wants to discover. Out of his frustration
with being unable to perceive her genitals and sex
the way he can his own, he is led to constant anxi
ety over her sexuality, and a constant desire to
either understand it fully or destroy it completely.
Now, back to sex at Guilford. I believe now that
we are college age, we have a better idea of what
sex is and we do not need the slut as a scapegoat
the way we did when we hit puberty. Back then, we
thought masturbation made us blind and that casual
sex rendered one forever damaged and revolting to
the opposite sex. Now we know better; most of us
aren't too afraid of sex - we are experimenting and
getting comfortable.
College-age men are realizing the power that
women have over them sexually and that makes
them angry. College-age women are beginning to
see that some girls utilize this power more often or
effectively than they and that makes them angry.
No one wants to relinquish their power and no one
wants to feel weakened, especially when it comes to
sexuality.
So, we have this girl who is having the sex the
rest of us want, and she is not ashamed to talk
about liking it. We brand her a slut because she rep
resents the person with the strongest grasp on the
aforementioned mystery and holiness of female sex
uality.
She is most closely attached to the life giving
force and sexually powerful energy that everyone
else desires to claim as their own. But it is not theirs;
it belongs to the sexually assertive and powerful
woman.
Feb. 18, 2005