THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 | 5
THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE
QUINN_SPOONER / AGGIE
Prize named after UC Davis professor emeritus awarded to student with autism for her Star Trek essay Prize was created as a surprise for professor emeritus Peter Hays by wife Myrna Hays ANJI N I V EN UG OPA L features@theaggie.org Each June, the UC Davis English Depart-
ment hosts an annual year-end celebration and awards ceremony. The Peter Hays Writing Prize was awarded for the first time to fourth-year biotechnology major Lisa Malins this past June.
AGGIE ARCHIVES
Fall quarter signals the start of school — and rush week Panhellenic members open up about the process, give tips for incoming participants ISABEL L A BERI STAIN features@theaggie.org The beginning of a new school year means that formal Panhellenic recruitment is right
around the corner. Though the percentage of UC Davis undergraduates involved in Greek life is small — only about 3,000 students participate out of 30,000 — many consider it to be a meaningful opportunity to take advantage that of in college.
The prize was created by Myrna Hays, wife of UC Davis professor emeritus Peter Hays, as a surprise. After hearing from a friend who honored her husband by creating a prize in his name, Myrna was inspired to do the same for Peter. “My husband has been teaching since 1966 in Davis, and although he certainly has published a great deal of research articles and books and enjoys that very much, his passion has always been teaching, and the focus of his teaching has always been to teach students how to read carefully and to write well,” Myrna said. “As he approached his 80th birthday and the potential of retiring sometime, who knows when, I decided that [creating the prize] would be something I would like to do.” Myrna was further encouraged when she covered her husband’s class one day and met fourthyear Michael Montgomery, a student in one of Peter’s seminars. Montgomery helped make sure she got to class and was thanked afterwards. Later, Myrna learned that Montgomery had come up with an original idea in one of Peter’s seminars. Peter met with him and guided him to do research, which eventually led Montgomery to write an article that was published in “The Hemingway Review.” He later presented the article at the International Hemingway Conference in Paris and won a $500 prize from the Hemingway Society.
The first week of school is action-packed, especially for girls looking to join a sorority in Davis. This year, recruitment begins on Sept. 27. Panhellenic has also extended the recruitment process to two weekends instead of one. “Rush” will conclude on Oct. 6 and, hopefully, with a bid from the house of one’s choice. Erin Love, president of recruitment for the UC Davis Panhellenic Association, gave a few pointers for any girls hoping to go Greek. “Recruitment will begin with an orientation evening and then each day will be centered around different discussion points that are important to our chapters, such as philanthropy and sisterhood,” Love said. “Each woman who signs up for the recruitment will be given a recruitment counselor who will help them through the process, facilitate new friendships and make the transition to college easier.” Formal Panhellenic recruitment is described as a “mutual selection process,” with each girl picking her top houses and each house picking their top prospective members. All chapters try their best to make recruitment a values-based process. Conversations become more serious as the days inch toward the final step of the rush process: preference evening. Interactions will be-
“I thought that was really wonderful,” Myrna said. “Let’s see if we can encourage other students to take that same kind of initiative, so I set upon the idea of having the prize.” With the help of English Department Chair John Marx, Undergraduate Counselor Lynda Morlan Jones and Administrative Assistant to the Chair Mary White, Myrna decided that the best venue for the prize would be in the setting of a First Year Seminar. Because these seminars are limited to 19 students, Myrna said they enable students to have a “small section and get more attention from the faculty members.” “[Another] reason we selected the First Year Seminar program to be the vehicle for awarding the prize [was] because Peter has always felt that it is important across all disciplines to read carefully and write well,” Myrna said. “And in order to encourage instructors to focus on their students in that particular area, we also included a prize for the instructor in the form of research funding.” The surprise was revealed when Montgomery brought Peter to campus, where Dean of the College of Letters and Science Elizabeth Spiller and Marx announced the prize to him. “Well, the video shows my jaw dropping,” Peter said. “I walked into the room with Michael, and there was everybody gathered — the dean, the chair, friends. It came as quite a surprise.”
WRITINGPRIZE on 11 come longer with the goal of establishing a genuine connection between potential new members and chapter members. Second-year mechanical engineering major Ananya Tyagi is excited for the upcoming process and explained why she is rushing. “I want to be a part of a group of women who are working towards philanthropy while overall having fun,” said Tyagi. There are 10 sororities at Davis. Nine participate in rush week and one, Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi, UC Davis’ resident associative sorority, conducts a separate informal rush week for prospective candidates. Janina Larsen, a fourth-year clinical nutrition major and Panhellenic recruitment counselor — also known as a Pi Rho Chi — gave her thoughts on the extensive process. “Coming to college can be a really stressful time, especially for freshmen and junior transfers,” Larsen said. “Joining the Greek community here at UC Davis is a great way to make a really big campus feel smaller and more like home. By going through recruitment, you’re joining a community that values academics, social responsibility and genuine friendship.” Interested students should visit www.davispanhellenic.org for additional information, including a detailed schedule and outfit recom-
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