Hope College Press Releases

THIS PAGE HAS MOVED. THE NEW ADDRESS IS -
http://www.hope.edu/pr/pressreleases/

Winners Announced in Howard Plaggemars
Essay Competition

Posted November 2, 2001

HOLLAND -- Four Hope College seniors have been named winners in the 20th annual Howard Plaggemars Essay/Poetry Competition, held for students enrolled in the 2001 Vienna Summer School.

All entries responded to some aspect of each student's experiences in Europe this past summer under the guidance of Dr. Stephen I. Hemenway, who has been director of the Vienna Summer School program for 26 years and is a professor of English at Hope.

First place was awarded to Beth L. Evans of Winfield, Ill., who is an education student with a language arts composite major, for her poem "I Awake." Second place was awarded to Rachael S. Pridgeon of Montgomery, who is majoring in English with a writing emphasis, for her essay called "Letter to a Hausfrau." Two students received third- place awards: Kristin L. Schneider of Naperville, Ill., who is a social work major, for her essay called "Weekly Pilgrim"; and Christopher B. Winkler of Boyne City, who is a social studies composite major for elementary education, for his essay on "The Ultimate in Viennese Sport."

Three Vienna Summer School graduates, all of whom are previous winners in the Plaggemars Essay Competition, served as judges: Tom Bamborough, a 1983 Hope graduate who is principal of Bamborough Print Communication in Ada; Robert Dietz of Southampton, N.Y., a 1999 Hope graduate who is an English professor at Suffolk Community College and a consultant for two public relations firms in the Hamptons; and Dr. Elizabeth Trembley, a 1985 Hope graduate who is a visiting associate professor of English at Hope and author of a study of Michael Crichton.

Consisting of two three-week sessions, the Vienna Summer School offers students a choice of work in art history, communication, economics, Austrian history, music history, German and Austrian literature, Eastern European literature and a senior seminar, all taught in English, as well as courses in German language, taught in German. Students are housed with Austrian families, and are free to plan their leisure time and take weekend excursions led by Hemenway to places like Salzburg, Venice, Budapest, Prague and the Austrian Alps.

-30-