The Expository Writing Program is grateful to Gene Andrew Jarrett, Dean of the College of Arts and Science, for his support of this publication.
The Mercer Street selection committee—Benjamin Gassman, Grant Ginder, Dan Kellum, and Christopher Stahl—and the editorial staff are also grateful to Interim EWP Director Denice Martone for her ongoing commitment to student writers’ success and achievement, and to her support as the production process for this year’s volume faced the challenge of being conducted entirely online.
The editors are also very grateful to EWP’s other Directors, including Nate Mickelson, William M. Morgan, and Abby Rabinowitz, in addition to our Editor, Jono Mischkot. And we would also like to thank Assistant Directors Olivia Birdsall, Nicole Callihan, David Cregar, Beth Machlan, Elizabeth Mikesell, and Tara Parmiter, as well as the many Writing Program faculty members who read submissions throughout the process. Finally, thank you to EWP Program Manager Christine Jensch, who provided invaluable support securing the necessary funding for us to proceed in a time of great uncertainty and flux.
We also thank Managing Editor Katherine Carlson and Senior Production Editor Richard Larson, both of whom ensured the seamlessness of our operation. Katherine’s editorial expertise and decisive management style, especially in the new and uncharted territory of online-only collaboration, ensured our successful production phase and a meticulously edited book. And last but certainly not least, we owe so much gratitude to our two talented and resourceful undergraduate student editors, Clare Kernie and Mark Weissglass, for their hard work and endless knowledge and skill, without whom this publication would not have been possible.
Diversity and Inclusion Award 2020-2021
The Diversity and Inclusion Award recognizes writing that thoughtfully explores topics related to diversity and inclusion, engaging critically and carefully with sources that help us understand our world in a more nuanced way. This year, the D&I Award is given to Mengyang Zeng, whose essay “Element of Surprise” emerges from intimate and scholarly engagement with life in the pandemic, drawing attention to the impact of this moment on our lives, including the writer’s own, and exemplifying diverse possibilities for the essay form itself.