FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 05/05/2008

Two Seniors Recognized For Excellence in English

BRIDGEWATER, Va. — The Outstanding Senior Awards from the English Department at Bridgewater College were presented to Jenn Greenholt and Joshua O'Donnell during the annual Awards Convocation on April 29.

For their award, Greenholt and O'Donnell each received a monetary gift. Both seniors were selected for high grade point averages, excellent writing skills and performance at the 95^th percentile on a nationally normed exam on literature (the ETS Major Field Test). All four years, the two have demonstrated extraordinary abilities as writers and literary scholars.

Greenholt, an English major with minors in international studies and communication studies, is the daughter of Chandy and Pam Greenholt of Yadkinville, N.C. She is a member of the Philomathes Society, Bridgewater's scholastic honor society, and serves as president of the campus chapter of Alpha Chi. She is a member of the Honor Council and is a member of the Flory Fellowship of Scholars, the College's honors program.

In November 2007, Greenholt presented a paper, "Recreating the Restoration Woman: Tate's A History of King Lear," at the Undergraduate Research Shakespeare Conference at Virginia Military Institute. The paper received the award for Best in Conference.

O'Donnell, an English and philosophy and religion double major, is the son of Rodney and Joan O'Donnell of Royersford, Pa. He is a member of the Philomathes Society and Alpha Chi. He serves as a tutor in the Writing Center.

In April 2008, the two scholars presented papers at the Medieval Renaissance Forum held at Plymouth (N.H.) State University. Greenholt presented "`Trumpet to a Red-Look'd Anger:' Paulina's Courtly Speech in The Winter's Tale," and O'Donnell's paper was "Chaucer and Post-modern Irony."

Greenholt and O'Donnell will graduate on Sunday, May 11.

Bridgewater College, a private, four-year liberal arts college, enrolls more than 1,500 students. Founded in 1880 and located in the Central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, it was the state's first private, coeducational senior college.

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