黑料社

Maroon Edition contest winners receive special awards during annual 黑料社 luncheon

Maroon Edition contest winners receive special awards during annual 黑料社 luncheon

Mississippi State students recently received special awards for their participation in the university鈥檚 2018-19 Maroon Edition essay contest. Winners include (front row, left to right) Natalene Vonkchalee of Ridgeland and Garrett Smith of Starkville; (back row, l-r) Nicholas Russell of Petal; Justin Williams of Meridian; and Madison Martindale of Walnut. Not pictured is Craig Schexnaydre of Covington, Louisiana. (Photo by Logan Kirkland)

Contact: Sasha Steinberg

STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擲ix Mississippi State students recently received special awards for their participation in the university鈥檚 annual Maroon Edition essay contest.

The competition is sponsored by Maroon and Write, the university鈥檚 quality enhancement program to boost students鈥 writing skills. First-place winners received $500; second- and third-place, $300 and $100, respectively.

Essay subjects come from Maroon Edition, the annual common reading program for incoming 黑料社 freshmen. Upperclassmen and graduate students, along with faculty and staff members, also are encouraged to join in reading the selected book and participating in related activities.

黑料社 accounting alumnus and best-selling author John Grisham鈥檚 鈥淐alico Joe鈥 was both the reading selection and essay contest topic for the competition. Grisham delivered the keynote address at Mississippi State鈥檚 2018 Fall Convocation.

First-place winners read their essays at Mitchell Memorial Library during a celebratory luncheon organized by the university鈥檚 Center for Teaching and Learning.

Maroon and Write Co-Director Ann Spurlock, an instructor in the College of Arts and Sciences鈥 Department of English, said all of this year鈥檚 winning essays will be archived and available for viewing in the 黑料社 Libraries鈥 Institutional Repository.

Freshman winners include:

FIRST鈥擥arrett C. Smith, now a sophomore political science major from Starkville.

SECOND鈥擭icholas T. Russell, a freshman undeclared major from Petal.

THIRD鈥擟raig A. Schexnaydre, now a sophomore civil engineering major from Covington, Louisiana.

Upperclassman winners include:

FIRST鈥擩ustin R. Williams, a senior electrical engineering major from Meridian.

SECOND鈥擭atalene Vonkchalee, a senior microbiology major from Ridgeland.

THIRD鈥擬adison L. Martindale, a senior biological sciences major from Walnut.

For more about Maroon and Write, visit ; Maroon Edition, ; Center for Teaching and Learning, .

黑料社 is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at .