STELLAR ENGLISH SENIORS HONORED AT THE 10TH ANNUAL JIMMY GAUNTT MEMORIAL AWARD DINNER

Here is a link (followed by full text) to the wonderful article written by Susan Bell, Managing Editor of USC Dornsife Magazine

Stellar English seniors honored at the 10th annual Jimmy Gauntt Memorial Award

Six outstanding seniors nominated by faculty from USC Dornsife’s English Department are recognized for their commitment to the arts at an awards dinner that remembers alumnus Jimmy Gauntt.

By Susan Bell
June 11, 2019

The 2019 Jimmy Gauntt Memorial Award winners celebrate with Jimmy Gauntt’s family and 2019 Jimmy committee members, USC Dornsife’s David Román, Melissa Daniels-Rauterkus and David Treuer. From left to right: Brittany Gauntt Kirby (Jimmy Gauntt’s sister), David Treuer, Zharia O’Neal, Francisco Juaregui. Isabella Preisz, Dimitris Tzoytzoyrakos, Catalina Acebal-Acevedo, Ryan Kirby (Jimmy Gauntt’s brother-in-law), Melissa Daniels-Rauterkus, Casey Gauntt (Jimmy Gauntt’s father), David Román, Christina Similien, Hilary Gauntt (Jimmy’s Gauntt’s mother). (Photos: Steve Cohn.)

Laughter, admiration and heartfelt tributes echoed around the room filled with faculty and seniors from USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences’ Department of English. They had gathered at Ostrich Farm restaurant in Los Angeles’ Echo Park neighborhood for the 2019 Jimmy Gauntt Memorial Award Dinner.

Gauntt, a poet, musician and playwright, graduated from USC Dornsife in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in English. Two years later, he was struck by a car and killed. He was 24.

The awards created in his honor in 2009 by his mentor and friend David Román, professor of English and American studies and ethnicity, recognize six outstanding seniors in the English Department who have demonstrated a commitment to the arts. Known affectionately as “The Jimmys,” the awards are open to majors in English, creative writing and narrative studies and include a $500 prize.

Remembering his son at the dinner, USC alumnus Casey Gauntt described Jimmy as “an old soul.”

“He was so present, so curious, so inquisitive, so challenging, especially of himself.”

Moving words

Delivering her acceptance speech, Zharia O’Neal spoke of the recent death of a friend and fellow USC student, Victor McElhaney. “He was 21 years old. … It was incredibly hard for me to see a light go out that fast,” she said. Learning three weeks later that she’d won the award, she began reading about Jimmy and his legacy.

“I thought if there could be two people like this who are lights in people’s lives and they go out and people are still grappling and they’re still finding ways to touch this person even 10 years later, then we’re going to be okay, we’re going to be alright if we can make two of these people,” she said. “Let’s make some more.”

Earlier, Professor of English David Treuer praised his nominee, Zharia O’Neal, as “the student of our dreams … the kind of thinker, writer and citizen whose virtues are exactly those we look for when awarding the Jimmys.”

Nurturing aspiring writers

Isabella Priesz, a spring transfer student from community college who self-published a book of verse that sold 10,000 copies online, was nominated by Gender Studies Professor in Media and Gender and Professor of English, Comparative Literature and Gender Studies Joseph Boone.

Priesz, who participated in the Paris Maymester as part of Professor of English Mark Irwin’s “The Poet in Paris” seminar, paid tribute to Irwin for “opening the door into what it meant to be a poet.”

“I’m so honored that I got to learn from the people in this room,” she added. “They’re the most inspiring, uplifting and empowering individuals I’ve ever come across.”

Catalina Acebal Acevedo, who was nominated by associate professor of English Elda Maria Román, co-founded an undergraduate literary society with Priesz, enabling English majors to meet, share work and obtain professional guidance.

Acevedo said when she was 5 years old she told her mother six words that changed her life: “I want to be a writer.”

“The USC Dornsife English Department allowed me to say not only, ‘I want to become a writer’ but, ‘I am a writer,’” Acevedo said. “I will forever be indebted to the English Department for that.”

In Jimmy’s spirit

David Román noted that the Jimmy Awards highlight the commitment of faculty in mentoring undergraduates, providing them with the skills not just to succeed, but to be happy.

Nominated by USC Dornsife Writer in Residence Geoff Dyer, Dimitris Tzoytzoyrakos said English Department faculty “showed me how to find beauty and resonance in my own life and to be confident about what’s important. …They cared so much about us as students.”

Haiti native Christina Similien, nominated by Assistant Professor of English Anna Journey, revealed that when she arrived in the United States, she was insecure about speaking English in public. Similien described how she found refuge in books, which led to her love of reading.

Román described his nominee, Francisco Juaregui — a first-generation student and the recipient of a highly prestigious Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Fellowship — as one of the most impressive students he’s taught in more than 25 years.

“I launched the Jimmy Awards to honor a student who was full of life and heart. Francisco embodies that spirit,” Román said. “Like Michel de Montaigne, like Walt Whitman, like Jimmy, he’s totally thrilled to be in his life. What more can we ask of our students? What more can we ask of ourselves?”