On Monday evening May 9, the USC English Department hosted the 13th annual James Gauntt Memorial Award dinner and bestowed “the Jimmy” to seven more outstanding graduating seniors majoring in English, Creative Writing or Narrative Studies. After two years of suspending the dinner because of the pandemic, this year the celebration was held on campus at the Moreton Fig restaurant in the Epstein Family Alumni Center. Over 20 faculty members were on hand to introduce and celebrate the award recipients at the dinner hosted by Professor David Roman and award committee co-chair, Professor Danzy Senna. Also attending were Jimmy’s parents, Hilary and Casey, his sister Brittany Kirby and his nephew, Hunter. It was a memorable and heart-warming evening. Eighty “Jimmies” have been awarded since 2010. Here are the 2022 Jimmy recipients. Congratulations!
Joseph Debaerien Jordan Bucknor Faith Florez Dylan Goodale Eli Gruen Lauryn Jones Ben Parkhill
2022 Jimmy Awards L to R Joe Debaerien, Dylan Goodale, Jordan Bucknor, Professor David Roman, Brittany Kirby, Hunter Kirby, Casey and Hilary Gauntt, Ben Parkhill, Faith Florez and Lauryn Jones (Photo courtesy of Steve Cohn)2022 Jimmy Awards L to R Ben Parkhill, Joe Debaerien, Faith Florez, Professor David Roman, Jordan Bucknor, Lauryn Jones and Dylan Goodale (Photo courtesy of Steve Cohn)2022 Jimmy Awards- Professor Amy Bender2022 Jimmy Awards –Casey Gauntt
Major: English Minor: Songwriting 2022 Jimmy Award Recipient
I was drawn to USC because of the campus’ proximity to my extended family. Although I was born in Inglewood, CA, my family moved to rural Texas when I was young, and I often lost the ability to visit family due to financial struggles. My time at USC was positively supplemented by my ability to visit my family while away from home.
My time at USC as an English literature major and songwriting minor was initially challenging because I felt isolated from my peers. Professor David Roman’s class was transformative, and my remaining time at USC helped solidify my belief in myself to make community with others and try my best academically.
Being a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow at USC provided me with leadership experience. I mentored a few students applying to fellowships in the years following my cohort. It was impactful for me in that I felt that I could positively impact younger students who had similar aspirations.
I love music, as perhaps is evident given my minor in songwriting. Every week while at USC, usually Fridays, I would update “Lauryn’s Top 10,” a playlist of songs I like. At times, they were new tracks; sometimes, old goodies that have been stuck in my head. It’s really fun to share with friends and look back on an archive of music I enjoyed.
Following graduation from USC, I will pursue my studies as a PhD student in the Cornell University Department of Literatures in English. I am continuing my research on representations of Black joy in the contemporary American literary canon and contemporary popular music here with the aspiration of becoming a professor of American literature one day.
Major: Narrative StudiesMinor: LGBT Studies2022 Jimmy Award Recipient I used to be a professional child actor. I started doing theater in elementary school but transitioned into professional shows around Chicago starting in 5th grade. I quit right before high school. I chose USC to be a screenwriter. I love movies and film criticism, and the […]
Major: EnglishMinor: Philosophy2022 Jimmy Award Recipient I transferred to USC at twenty-nine years old. Prior to the pursuit of an education, I had travelled the world and competed as a professional surfer. I was drawn to the history, tradition and community aspect of the school, as I recognized the importance of creating lasting relationships: you […]
Major: English Since I am a first-generation student, I applied to a generic list of “good schools” at my high school counselor’s direction. USC accepted me. I started at USC as a psychology major determined not to do anything creative, but changed majors as I finished my sophomore year during the COVID-19 pandemic and realized […]
Major: Narrative StudiesMinor: American Studies and Ethnicity I was drawn to the University of Southern California and specifically to the Department of English because I was interested in studying literature in historical context. In my sophomore year, I switched over to an interdisciplinary program in the department known as narrative studies, which allowed me to […]
Major: English (Creative Writing)Minor: Screenwriting I am a LA born-and-bred writer. Reading was my first love and quickly became an obsession, so majoring in English never felt like a choice for me; I was stuffing 300-page books into my backpack in elementary and was publishing (honestly pretty bad) fanfiction all throughout middle school. I spent […]
