2009 Finalists

The McKinney Prize

Class of 2012
Hanbin Yang, "Evaluations from Volunteer Service"

Class of 2011
Rachel Pohl, "I've Just Seen a Face"
Andrew Harris, "Fourth and Long for the Economy"

Class of 2010
Thomas Coppola, "The Ethics of Gun Control"
Elijah LaChance, "Not being able to speak is not the same as not having anything to say: Why autism matters now"

Class of 2009
Rebecca Griffin, "Don't Gamble with Students' Futures"
Stuart Lombardi, "Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertisements: Bad for Your Health"

The Clark Prize

Topic: The Drinking Age - Should it be Reexamined or Frozen at 21?
Joseph Liotta, "Unprepared and Dangerous: How our Society Encourages Unsafe Drinking"
Rebecca Griffin, "Reexamining the Drinking Age"
Kara Labs, "Reexamining the Drinking Age in the U.S.: Is it Really Fair?"

The Warren E. Wright Prize in Public Speaking

Rebecca Griffin, "The Media and Body Image: Can you Really Love the Skin You're In?"
Stuart Lombardi, "The Impact of Climate Change on Coral Reefs"
Greg Kreitzer, "The Silent Epidemic"

Final Competition Judges

Julia Cowles '84, Attorney/Partner, Davis Polk & Wardwell (College Trustee)
J.K. Hage '72, Managing Partner, Hage & Hage, LLC
Jennifer Irons, Assistant Professor of Sociology
Susan Jasko, Associate Professor of Communication Studies, California University of Pennsylvania
Cynthia Reynolds, Secretary to the Dean of Students
Patrick Reynolds, Acting Dean of Faculty; Professor of Biology
Sharon Rivera, Assistant Professor of Government
Stephen Sadove '73, Chairman/CEO, Saks, Incorporated (College Trustee)
Susan Skerritt K'77, Managing Director, Bank of New York Mellon (College Trustee)
David Thompson, Blood Fitness Center Director; Professor of Physical Education
Nancy Thompson, Dean of Students
Jay Williams '54, Walcott-Bartlett Professor of Religion