Isabel Yoon Wins Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Writing Award
- Associate Dean of Communications, MCS
Biological Sciences senior Isabel Yoon received second place in the college poetry category of Carnegie Mellon University’s 2020 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Writing Awards for her poem "Quality Inn."
Winners tackled topics that spoke to themes of injustice, inclusion, racism, police brutality and deportation. The awards program — established in 1999 to give high school and college students a safe, creative space to explore racial and cultural differences — received entries from 24 high schools and seven colleges.
Yoon, along with fellow college poetry winner junior drama major Joss Green, was interviewed on 90.5 WESA’s “The Confluence” about her poem, which deals with discrimination she experienced while in an elevator.
Student winners read their winning poems and essays at an awards ceremony on Monday, Jan. 20 in the Cohon University Center's Rangos Ballroom. They also received cash prizes and had their pieces published in a booklet.