Professors David Roman and Danzy Senna, co-chairs of this year’s Selections Committee, recently announced the 2020 recipients of the Jimmy Gauntt Memorial Award, aka The Jimmy. The Jimmy is awarded to the top graduating seniors who have majored in English, Creative Writing or Narrative studies. Normally, six stellar seniors receive The Jimmy. Professor Roman explained why this year 8 awards were bestowed.
“We decided to distribute the love more widely this year. We could not resolve who would be our sixth recipient, so we decided to give it to the three students who were under consideration. Over 30 students were nominated by the faculty, and then Danzy and I narrowed it down to a shorter list of 15 students for the committee to consider.”
Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we were not able to have the customary dinner to celebrate the 2020 Jimmies. The dinner is widely attended by faculty members and the Gauntt-Kirby family. It is hoped the dinner can be rescheduled as soon as possible.
We are proud to announce the 2020 recipients of The Jimmy. This is the 11th year the award had been given out and there are now 66 Jimmies walking the planet. Congratulations to you all!
Sydney Ahmed
Fedja Celebic
Danielle Collins
Siying Feng
Anissa Jones-Montano
Kanak Kapur
Rami Kirio
Luke Van Lant
