On May 13, 2009, the Writing and Rhetoric and Introduction to the Humanities Programs celebrated the Boothe Prize for Excellence in First-Year Writing--a ceremony that celebrates both excellence in writing and excellence in teaching. The Boothe Prizes are given in recognition of the best essays written as part of regular coursework in PWR and IHUM.

Led by John Bravman, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, and Jennifer Summit, Chair of the English Department, the ceremony began with a tribute to Barry and Joan Boothe and their longstanding commitment to the development of excellence in writing. In articulating the evaluation criteria for the awards, Professor Summit specified the importance of the writers' intellectual curiosity, freshness of thought and expression, and intense engagement with the ideas of others. The students whose PWR essays embodied these qualities are listed here: Anna Grummon, "It's Not the Situation's Fault: Protection of Self-Image in the Milgram Obedience Experiments" (Spring 2008, Instructor: Stephen Osadetz), Jacob Stern, "If You Give an Artist an Apron" (Autumn 2008, Instructor: Jenna Lay), and Rachel Kolb, "A Journey Into the Heart of Silence: The Rhetoric of Expression, Gesture, and Thought" (Winter 2009, Instructor: Gabrielle Moyer). The Honorable Mention winners were Kylie Tuosto, for "The 'Grunt Truth' of Embedded Journalism" (Spring 2008, Instructor: Ryan Zurowski);  Katherine Disenhof, for "Sweet Surprise: Visual Rhetoric and the Flawed Message of the Corn Refiners Association's Sweet Surprise Campaign" (Autumn 2008, Instructor: Alyssa O'Brien), and Caitlin Colgrove, for "Fugue in A minor for Carbon and Silicon" (Winter 2009, Instructor: Gabrielle Moyer).

Each winner and finalist received a copy of the Riverside edition of the complete works of Shakespeare with a bookplate, a copy of The Boothe Prize Essays 2009, a certificate, and a check. The ceremony and reception were arranged by Cristina Huerta, PWR's Program Assistant.

The winning essays from PWR as well as those from IHUM are collected each year into the Boothe Prize Essays publication, and are now available in print as well as online at http://ual.stanford.edu/AP/univ_req/PWR/Boothe.html. The journal is produced by the Boothe Committee: Joel Burges, Shay Brawn, and Marvin Diogenes of PWR and Russell Berman, Joann Kleinneiur, Michael McFall, Parna Sengupta, and Melissa Stevenson of IHUM.