Hubbard scholarships awarded at USU
Issue date: 6/4/08 Section: Campus News
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The scholarship was created in memory of Grant Hubbard Redford and Gwennie Hubbard Redford by Ralph Hubbard Redford and Lora Bryning Redford to support students who show the promise of becoming the next May Swenson or Rick Bass. That is, the scholarship goes to students who are outstanding juniors and seniors at USU who demonstrate deep, abiding interest in the environment together with creative writing talent. The scholarship is administered by the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at Utah State, but is open to all upper division students at the university.
"The support of the Hubbard family has continually encouraged the development of student interest in the environment and writing about the natural world," said Ed Glatfelter, HASS associate dean. "There were a number of very good applicants this year. We are pleased that is was possible to support these two outstanding students."
Scholarship recipient Clawson said that as a Cache Valley native, some of his earliest memories are of feeding the cows on his grandfather's farm, hiking in Logan Canyon and hanging out at the county fair.
"Only now do I realize the impact that my surroundings - the rural and natural atmosphere of Cache Valley - have had upon my life," he said.
Clawson is a year from completing his degree in literary studies at USU with minors in Portuguese, Latin American Studies and British and Commonwealth Studies.
"As a result of my research experiences at USU and some time in Brazil, I have come to realize the importance of the environment upon everyday people around the world," Clawson said. "My passion for creative and academic writing has led me to examine those ideas more closely."
For his honors thesis, Clawson is investigating the impact the culture and atmosphere of rural Brazil and Nova Scotia had upon the poet Elizabeth Bishop. He will travel to Nova Scotia this summer to research the topic more fully.
"This project, in addition to my poetry, has helped me to understand the importance of rural life and the natural landscape in my own experience," he said. "For this reason, I am committed to the preservation of this atmosphere for future generations and will continue writing about the environment creatively and academically as I pursue a career in higher education."
