UPEI celebrates 14th annual MacLauchlan Prizes for Effective Writing
Members of the MacLauchlan family joined the UPEI campus community on Friday, December 5, in Schurman Market Square, Don and Marion McDougall Hall, to celebrate the accomplishments of students, faculty, and staff at the 14th annual MacLauchlan Prizes for Effective Writing. This event honours excellence in writing and recognizes those who demonstrate leadership in fostering strong writing within the UPEI community.
Leading the celebrations was UPEI President Emeritus Wade MacLauchlan; UPEI President and Vice-Chancellor Wendy Rodgers; Vice-President Academic and Research Greg Naterer; and guest speaker Dr. Richard Lemm, award-winning author and professor of creative writing and literature. Dr. Lemm recently retired after teaching in the Department of English since 1988.
The prizes recognize the importance of effective writing as a foundational skill for academic success and lifelong learning. They were established in 2011 by the MacLauchlan family to honour MacLauchlan’s contributions to the University and his 12 years of service as president and vice-chancellor from 1999–2011. Up to $30,000 are distributed annually in awards. This year, prize recipients included 35 students and one faculty member.
“In an age when it is becoming increasingly difficult to assess the credibility of communications because of their fleeting nature or the sheer volume of things coming at us through our phones and other platforms, it is important for us to go back to writing down our ideas so that we can make sure they are passed forward for somebody else to pick them up and build on,” said Rodgers. “This is, of course, the core of scholarship and has been for hundreds and hundreds of years. So, thank you to President Emeritus MacLauchlan and his family for establishing this great award.”
Students Brooke Foster, Faculty of Science, and Kylee Bustard, Faculty of Arts, read excerpts from their award-winning submissions.
Lemm spoke about the importance of writing—not only for personal fulfillment but also for strengthening communities and shaping the future of humanity and the natural environment. He told the prize winners that writing has value in every field of study and serves as a tool, skill, and art that carries political, economic, cultural, and psychological influence.
“Every one of you in this room had the courage to enter the MacLauchlan Prizes for Effective Writing competition,” he said. “You have all been named winners by judges who recognize writing excellence. All of you, I am fully confident, will embrace the news that you are gifted writers and will continue to create outstanding writing in the future which is first rate in terms of your growing mastery of language, including the specialized languages of your fields; writing that is creative as well as evidence-based, for there is creativity in all fields; and writing which is superb in terms of its value.”
The MacLauchlan family has made previous contributions to UPEI through the Harry W. MacLauchlan Scholarships in Entrepreneurial Leadership, MacLauchlan Arena, Robertson Library, athletic scholarships, and student prizes in mathematics and entrepreneurship.
The following recipients received a MacLauchlan Prize for Effective Writing in one of four categories:
Course Work, Community, Faculty and Staff, and Webster Centre for Teaching and Learning.
COURSE WORK
Brooke Foster, Faculty of Science
Emmy Csernyik, Faculty of Arts
Easten David Power, Faculty of Education
Kylee Bustard, Faculty of Arts
Madalyn Clempson, Faculty of Arts
Katherine Bryson, Faculty of Arts
Jack Grant King, Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering
Abby Chapman, Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering
Rachel MacAulay, Faculty of Arts
Kieran Chase MacMillan, Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering
Brittany Marie Dowie, Faculty of Nursing
Grace McQuaid, Faculty of Arts
Bailey Fall, Faculty of Arts
Conall Gibson, Faculty of Arts
Drew Laybolt, Faculty of Arts
Alice Gladstone, Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering
Forest MacPhee, Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering
Ellen Fraser, Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering
Chloe Dobrinsky, Faculty of Arts
Erica Nduku Kyalo, Faculty of Arts
Nikki Livingstone, Faculty of Arts
Thao Nguyen Phuong Bui, Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering
Mackenzie Alexander, McDougall Faculty of Business
Anagha Rajithkumar, Faculty of Science
Abdul Basit, Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering
Ainrhon Uy, Faculty of Science
Peng Shen, Faculty of Science
Xinglin Wang, Faculty of Science
COMMUNITY
Sidney Fall
Brennan McDuffee
Megan Guptill Adontae
Lymar Pratt
FACULTY AND STAFF
Mark Barrett, Faculty of Arts
WEBSTER CENTRE
Akeyo Sigsworth
Ufedo-Ojo Omale
Kalkidan Gutura
