FYE Prize
Candace Carlucci Backus '66 FYE Prize in Honor of Student Academic Achievement in
the First-Year Experience
The First-Year Experience Prize, supported with the generosity of Candace Carlucci
Backus 鈥�66, will be awarded annually to up to three projects by first-year students
in recognition of exceptional scholarly or artistic achievement in the fall鈥檚 Scribner
Seminars.
During the spring semester, the First-Year Experience Office will solicit nominations
from the previous fall鈥檚 Scribner Seminar instructors. Nominations may be either for
individual or collaborative projects, and may include any kind of exemplary work 鈥�
written, visual, or performative.
Congratulations to the Class of 2029 First Year Experience Backus Prize Winners!
Benjamin Rosan 鈥�29, Julian Ho脿ng '29, and Madeline Mechanic 鈥�29 are the recipients of the 2025-2026 Candace Carlucci Backus Prize for their outstanding work in their Fall 2025 Scribner Seminars.
Class of 2029 FYE Backus Prize Winners:
Julian Ho脿ng, for their creative project No Longer Human, No Longer Tragic: Despair Remodeled into Ironic Detachment, with accompanying original artwork from the Scribner Seminar, World of Japanese Animation, with Professor Masako Inamoto
Madeline Mechanic, for the literary memoir Khatchkar from the Scribner Seminar, Imagining Memory: Storytelling, Movies, Memoir, with Professor Melora Wolff
Ben Rosan, for the essay and original song Sounds Like Chaos from the Scribner Seminar, Dynamics of Chaos, with Professor Rachel Roe-Dale
Congratulations to the Class of 2029 FYE Backus Prize Nominees!
Luke Splendido, nominated by Professor Adam Tinkle
Rebecca Perl, nominated by Professor Charlotte D'Evelyn
Julia Nguyen, nominated by Professor Eunice Ferreira
Maisie Shuffelton-Sobe, nominated by Professor Joerg Bibow
Finnean Sieks, nominated by Professor Joerg Bibow
Virginia Kyle, nominated by Professor Matt Wilt
Jazzy Matthews, nominated by Professor Matt Wilt
Ada VanDyke, nominated by Professor Matt Wilt
Audrey Williams, nominated by Professor Matt Wilt