2026 College of Humanities Awards

Communication - Ruth Grace Insos Simbiak (RG)

RG, an international student from Papua, Indonesia, is a double major in communication and health, society and policy. She selected these two majors because she wants everyone to have access to healthcare and education.

English - Morgan Champine

Morgan is an English major and has found that her position writing on the Daily Utah Chronicle (the Chrony) has been a wonderful, rewarding opportunity and that it made her more attuned to the pulse of the world. She also participated in several theatre productions and produced two of her own plays. Morgan plans to pursue an MFA at one of the four institutions that has offered her a spot for next year.

Ethnic, Gender, and Disability Studies – Jill Dumont

Jill is majoring in gender studies with a queer studies emphasis and a minor in disability studies. She is really grateful for the leadership and activism experiences she has had in the department, and specifically with the Gender on the Hill course and an internship working on the history of gender studies at the U. Jill loves to be a voice for those who need it, whether human or animal.

History - Teyanna Kaibetoney 

Teyanna is a proud Diné (Navajo) and Mexican woman from Salt Lake City, Utah majoring in history teaching with a minor in ethnic studies. She chose to major in history because of the power of stories and has overcome health challenges and more to persevere through college. She looks forward to teaching her students that their stories matter and that what they choose to do with those stories matters even more.

Linguistics – Randa Viets

Randa is a linguistics major who discovered a love for research in sentence processing during her time at the university. She works as an IT systems analyst and credits linguistics with developing a passion for academia. She finished her degree magna cum laude and will continue her research this next year while she looks at PhD program opportunities.

World Languages and Cultures – Kellen Hullinger

Kellen is graduating with degrees in German, world languages and cultures, and linguistics. He participated in learning abroad programs, served as a Humanities Ambassador, and started teaching language as well.  When he is not teaching, he is often rock climbing or having coffee with friends. Kellen has been selected as a recipient for the 2026-2027 US Fulbright program in Germany.

Writing and Rhetoric Studies – Emerson Hagy

Emerson is a double major in writing and rhetoric studies and psychology. He came to Utah from Oklahoma and found great mentorship through the climbing community and the Daily Utah Chronicle. Emerson served as the Head News Editor of the Chrony.  He will be going on to start law school in the fall.

Katherine Berensen (philosophy of science and biology) received a UROP award for her research in Spring 2025. She has participated in Research on Capitol Hill and has presented at multiple conferences.  

Camila Cloward (Middle East studies and political science) had a UROP award focused on the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war in the Palestinian–Israeli conflict. She has had the opportunity to present her work in multiple settings. 

Peyton Cooper (philosophy of science and biology) has participated in UROP and other research projects with her mentor, Matt Haber and has presented at multiple conferences and is on track to co-author 2 papers.

Teyanna Kaibetoney (history teaching) has participated in research on the American Indian Movement and a UROP about the AIDS epidemic and families of same sex attracted men.

Savannah Squire (communication) has conducted research centered on the development of longitudinal survey instruments to measure program impact and member experience for Salt Lake County’s MVP AmeriCorps Program.

Julia St. Andre (communication) has designed her own experiment for an honors thesis testing how emotions associated with climate change motivate young adults to act. She has also produced a documentary about the environmental challenges facing the ski industry.

Jevan Winn (classics) has conducted research examining women’s writings in the Roman Empire, a UROP project about adverbs in Old English and archaeological fieldwork in Italy.

Gabby Garza (communication PhD) Gabby has been working on multiple projects and engaged with community members about health and reproductive communication.

Abby Laskey (environmental humanities MA) has been working on an ongoing project around the Nature Center at Pia Okwai and how community members and neighbors use this space.

Jack Rouse (environmental humanities MA) developed a community based project in partnership with Utah Japantown Advocated (UJA) to produce an oral history project focused on memories about Salt Lake City’s Japantown.

Savannah Squire (communication) has been working on a project that helps vulnerable members of the community with housing, employment, healthcare and more. 

Mara Scallon (environmental humanities MS) Has co-led a community-engaged project on the Oquirrh Mountains and built relationships with the Oquirrh Foundation to ensure community relevance and assistance with outreach activities. She has partnered with community members and a large group of stakeholders on this research.

Caitlin Quirk (environmental humanities MA) has worked on multiple projects centered on the areas of meltwater and pollution effects on communities. She works with compassion, creativity, and engages with the community.

Gabby Garza (communication PhD)has served on the graduate Retention, Promotion, and Tenure committee, the Graduate Student Advisory Committee and other leadership roles in the Department of Communication and is serving on committees for national organizations as well.

Haven Elison (linguistics and English) has been a quiet and consistent presence in the College of Humanities and has served as a college ambassador and fulfills multiple leadership roles and tasks for the Humanities Registered Student Government.

Pamalatera Fenn (history) has been the ASUU senator for the college this year and the president of the Humanities Registered Student Government.  She is an ambassador and has been instrumental in so many events and activities in the college.

Anna Locke (religious studies and economics) in addition to being a leader in the classroom, she has also completed work with the President’s office as a Presidential Intern, the Huntsman Cancer Institute, the Utah Office for Victims of Crime, the Office of U.S. Congressman Blake Moore, the Kem Gardner Policy Institute.

Natalia Lopez (Bachelor of University Studies in Humanities) has been instrumental in the growth of the Spanish club hosting many events and bringing together Spanish speaking community groups with students on campus.

Juniper Nilsson (gender studies and urban ecology) has served as the senator for the former School for Cultural and Social Transformation. She has helped students in the newly formed Ethnic, Gender and Disability Studies Department have their voices heard.