Sep 20, 2011 - Claremont, Calif. -

Andrew Turner

Samuel Gutekunst

Lauren Winkler

Elly Schofield

Martha Cuenca

Harvey Mudd College recently recognized five students with the following awards and prizes:

Platt Freshman Prize

Andrew Turner ’14 and Samuel Gutekunst ‘14 received the Jean and Joseph Platt Freshman Prize, which honors first-year students who exhibit academic excellence and contribute substantially to theCollege community. The award includes a cash prize and a book of the recipient’s choice, endorsed by HMC’s first college president, Joseph Platt, and his wife Jean.

Turner’s contributions include participation in the Foster’s Run, HMC Jazz Band, PRISM and Burgers with Bill Gates. Turner also founded DrySHMC, which provides alternatives to drinking parties. Gutekunst served as an Honor Board representative, tutored students from his hometown via Skype, participated in the Catholic Pastoral Council meetings and was an Orientation Sponsor for the Class of 2015.

First-Year Writing Prize

Lauren Winkler ’14 received the First-Year Writing Prize, which is awarded annually to the author of the best paper in HSA 10, a humanities core course offered in the spring of freshman year. Prize recipients receive $100 and an inscription on a plaque displayed in the Department of Humanities, Social Sciences, and the Arts.

The selection committee praised Winkler’s paper, “A Postcolonial Response to English in Seamus Heaney’s Poetry,” for its “clear, engaging prose, seamless integration of primary and secondary source materials, compelling presentation of a research problem,” and “beautifully argued” thesis, according to HSA Department Chair Darryl Wright.

Dean Sundberg Prize

Elly Schofield ’13 received the Dean Chris Sundberg Prize, which recognizes a rising junior who demonstrates exceptional leadership and a positive impact on the HMC community. Prize recipients receive $500.

Dana Mohamed ’06 established the award in 2009 to honor Dean Sundberg and to encourage student involvement in campus life. Schofield’s involvement has included serving as freshman class president, ASHMC officer, writing fellow, dorm mentor and orientation director for the incoming Class of 2015. She also started “DUCK!,” an improvisation club, which now has about 20 members.

Spacapan Memorial Scholarship

Martha Cuenca ’13 was awarded a Shirlynn I. Spacapan Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $5,096.60.

Established by family and friends in memory of HMC humanities professor Shirlynn Spacapan, who passed away in 1995, the scholarship recognizes students for their community service.

Cuenca’s service includes volunteering two summers at the Outpatient Infusion Center at Seton Medical Center, serving with Science Bus—teaching elementary students about math and science—peer mentoring at the HMC Writing Center, and promoting women leaders in engineering and the sciences as co-president of HMC’s chapter of the Society for Women Engineers. She also helped draft a grant proposal that funded a Campus Action Project in which Cuenca and other female students mentored a group of female Pomona High School students in chemistry, biology and engineering.