young alumnae Katherine Noble ’08
has just graduated from The University of Texas at Austin and accomplished something no other undergraduate has: she has been awarded the Keene Prize for Literature for her collection of poems "Like Electrical Fire Across Silence." The Prize, named after E. L. Keene who graduated from The University of Texas in 1942, is one of the world’s largest student literary prizes. The $50,000 award is granted once a year to the student who demonstrates “the greatest artistic merit and narrative mastery of the English language and shows the greatest promise of becoming a professional writer.” “The judges were impressed by her spirituality, by her wide range of literary reference, and her bold experimentations with the form of the prose poem,” says Elizabeth Butler Cullingford, chair of the Department of English and the award selection committee.
Katherine Kling ’09
has just been named one of 12 Dean’s Distinguished Graduates of The University of Texas at Austin, College of Liberal Arts for 2013. It is the College’s highest honor. The Dean’s Distinguished Graduates program was established in 1980 to recognize graduating Liberal Arts students who have distinguished themselves in the areas of scholarship, leadership, and service to the community. Katherine will join an elite group of students who have made their marks in a variety of professions and are active alumni of the College of Liberal Arts. Katherine was honored at a special luncheon May 16 and specifically acknowledged at the May commencement program during the Liberal Arts joint commencement ceremony. Ultimately, her name will be inscribed on the “Dean’s Distinguished Graduates Wall of Honor” on The University of Texas-Austin campus.
Meeka Opong ’09
graduated from St. Agnes in 2009, from the University of St. Thomas in 2013, and has just started graduate school to pursue her masters in Vocal Performance at Austin Peay State University in Tennessee on a full tuition assistantship. At St. Thomas, Opong was president of the music fraternity Mu Phi Epsilon, Gamma Tau Chapter, a member of the Filipino Student Association and a student in the Honors Program for four years. Meeka received several scholarships including the V.J. Guinan Presidential scholarship her freshman year and Parish Scholarship Program, in which UST matches parish scholarship contributions. She is a first generation American whose parents attended college in the Philippines. Her performing arts teachers had this to say about Meeka: “She is the perfect combination a music teacher looks for in a music student: dedicated, talented, and fun to work with,” said Jeremy Wood. “Whether it was a role in a musical, an aria in The Messiah, or a solo in Performance Workshop, she was always re-setting the standard for both herself and her peers. She excelled at excelling.”
Katherine has also received the George H. Mitchell Undergraduate Award for Academic Ahievement, the Roy Crane Award for Outstanding Creative Achievement in the Literary Arts, the Ellen Engler Burks Memorial Scholarship, and the Bailey Prize in Poetry.
“Not only did she have a gorgeous voice, but she was a beautiful, giving young lady with a heart of gold,” said Kimberly Mendoza.
Please mark your calendars for the 25th Anniversary of the St. Agnes/Strake Jesuit Mixed Chorus’ presentation of Handel’s Messiah in the Strake Jesuit Parsley Center December 13-14. If you are a Mixed Chorus alum, join us for a Mixed Chorus Reunion Reception prior to Saturday’s performance! More details will be forthcoming.
Alumnae Connections
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