Arrington Writing Award Winners Announced at Utah State University
Three students took top honors at the 2011 Leonard J. Arrington Writing Awards competition at Utah State University. The awards are offered in conjunction with the annual Arrington Mormon History Lecture, traditionally held in the fall.
The competition is open to university students studying at any of the region’s universities. This year, the top three winners all attend USU.
John Brumbaugh, a graduate student in history, took the top prize with a first place award of $1,000. The $500 second place prize went to Alexander Fronk, a master’s student in family, human and consumer development with an emphasis on human development. The third place award of $250 went to Matt Bagley, a senior with a dual major in finance and economics and minors in Spanish and management.
The three winners were recognized Feb. 15 on the USU campus during the Friends of Merrill-Cazier Library spring lecture. The cash awards are provided by the Leonard J. Arrington Lecture and Archives Foundation.
The students’ winning essays were submitted to the competition following the fall 2011 Arrington lecture that featured Richard V. Francaviglia who presented “‘Like the Hajis of Meccah and Jerusalem — Orientalism and the Mormon Experience, 1820-1970.”
“Like many Americans in the early 19th century, the Mormons were fascinated by the Orient,” Francaviglia said in advance of his lecture. “The association of the Mormons with varied Oriental cultures — including ancient Egyptians, Jews and Muslims — provided ammunition to those who argued that Mormons were strange or even dangerous, and yet it also helped generate intense interest in the Mormon faith.”
Students entering this year’s Arrington Writing Awards competition responded to and expanded upon Francaviglia’s theme.
“We are pleased the interest in the writing competition continues to grow, and we congratulate this year’s winners,” said Brad Cole, of USU’s Special Collections and Archives and ex-officio member of the Leonard J. Arrington Foundation board.
This year’s top essay was submitted by Brumbaugh, who captured the third-place award in last year’s essay competition. The title of his first-place effort is “A Systematic and Orderly and Unusually Intelligent Fight: The Perpetuation of Mormon Orientalism During the Reed Smoot Hearings.”
Brumbaugh is a Montana native. He said his research interests include Western, Utah, social and cultural issues. His projects have appeared in Journal of the West, Utah Historical Quarterly and the Journal of Mormon History.
Fronk’s second place essay is titled “Egypt and Mormonism: Oriental Traits of the Latter-Day Saints.”
Fronk said he’s spent most of his life in Providence, Utah, and he is the oldest of 13 children of Dr. Thomas Fronk and Monica Fronk. He said his hobbies include teaching himself Latin, pennywhistle and reading practically anything — including eye-witness accounts of historical events. He recently returned from Kigali, Rwanda, doing the initial interviews for his thesis at the Kinamba Project, or Meg Foundation School.
Bagley, a senior, will graduate USU in December 2012 and is from North Logan. The title of his winning essay is “Mormons and Muslims: Living in an Intolerant World.”
During the summer of 2011, Bagley participated in the Go Global South America study abroad program with USU’s Jon M. Huntsman School of Business. He is currently a member of the New Venture Consulting Group with the Huntsman school. Like many USU students, he works while attending school and is employed in Logan at the Kater Shop. He said his hobbies include playing basketball, racquetball and spending time with family and friends.
The Arrington Mormon History Lecture is hosted by Special Collections and Archives in USU’s Merrill-Cazier Library.
For information on the lecture or the writing competition, contact Cole at (435) 797-8268, or by e-mail, brad.cole@usu.edu.
Related links:
USU Special Collections and Archives
Writer: Patrick Williams, 435-797-1354, patrick.williams@usu.edu
Contact: Brad Cole, Special Collections and Archives, 435-797-8268, brad.cole@usu.edu
John Brumbaugh, a graduate student in history at USU, took the top prize of the Arrington Writing Award competition with a first place award of $1,000.
Alexander Fronk took second place in the Arrington Writing Award competition. He recently traveled to Kigali, Rwanda, to conduct interviews for his master's thesis.
Matt Bagley, a senior at USU, took third place in the competition.
TOPICS
Awards 704stories Creative Writing 25storiesComments and questions regarding this article may be directed to the contact person listed on this page.
