Graduation Fall 2021
Go English — Fall Class of 2021!
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The Department of English celebrates and congratulates the Fall Class of 2021! To the graduates: your English professors are incredibly proud of you. We are sure that you will do great things in your futures, and we hope you will stay in touch and let us know where your paths take you. Your humanistic education has given you the tools to read thoughtfully and deeply, to think critically, to analyze the world around you, and to communicate well in different media and to diverse audiences. You have the tools you need. Now, go out and use them to make this world better.
The Fall 2021 ECU Commencement Ceremony was held in Minges Coliseum on December 17.
Outstanding Graduating Students
Tyler Sehnal — Graduate Student
Our Outstanding MA Student in English, Tyler Sehnal, teaches English Language Arts in the Randolph County School System. As a student of Multicultural and Transnational Literatures, he has pursued professional interests in postcolonial theory, world literature, and the historical trajectory of American Orientalism over the last century. In addition to completing an ambitious and well-received thesis, Tyler has already published scholarly articles in New Literaria and the Iowa Journal of Cultural Studies and has been recognized for his fiction writing. He is currently applying to doctoral study while continuing to develop his work for publication.
Watch Tyler’s speech to his fellow graduates on YouTube.
Go English!
Chloe Easton — Undergraduate Student
Hailing from Jacksonville, NC, Chloe Easton is this semester’s Outstanding Senior in English. She graduates with a BA in English, minors in creative writing and communication studies, and a certificate in business and technical communication. During her time at ECU, Chloe has developed her own voice while helping others in the ECU community develop theirs. She has worked for ECU’s undergraduate research journal, The Lookout, as well as the award-winning North Carolina Literary Review. She has served in several writing, editorial, and leadership roles at the East Carolinian, culminating in the top position as editor-in-chief, all while writing and seeking publication for her own independent creative, analytical, and investigative writing across multiple genres.
Watch Chloe’s speech to her fellow graduates on YouTube.
Go English!
The Student Scholarships and Awards Committee also offers Honorable Mentions to two additional finalists for the Outstanding MA Student award:
Max Kilgore: “The last four and a half years in the English undergraduate and graduate programs have contained some of the most touching and heart-wrenching moments of my life. They are memories I will always cherish and a family I will never forget.”
Veronika Gunter: “The English department has challenged me to recognize, develop, and ethically use my ability to contribute to any discussion and every discussion—academic, professional, community, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. It has nourished my desire for meaningful work and helped me distill and operationalize principles and practices that will enable me to do meaningful work to meet human needs in myriad contexts.”