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1992: Patricia Cornwell Creative Writing Scholarship In 1992, Patricia Cornwell ‘79 — at this point a best-selling author — begins funding a generous four year scholarship for creative writers, awarded annually to one student in the first-year class. As Tony Abbott notes in 1997, this scholarship “[makes] a statement that [Davidson is] interested in writing and good writers.” Since 1992, nearly a third of the recipients of the Cornwell Scholarship have written creative theses.
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1989: McGee Professorship of Creative Writing Established In 1989, the McGee Professorship of Creative Writing is established by John ’43 and Ruth McGee. This program brings a creative writer to campus one semester each year to teach both an introductory and advanced course in their genre of expertise and guide senior thesis writers. Since 1989, the McGee has featured poets, novelists, essayists, screenwriters, and playwrights, exposing students to experienced and diverse writers with a passion for teaching.
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1988: Multiple Creative Writing Courses Offered By Genre The 1988 college catalog signifies the first year multiple creative writing courses are offered with specific genre focuses. Introduction to Creative Writing taught by Tony Abbott is introduced at the 200-level. Meanwhile, new additions to the 300-level English courses include Writing Prose: Nonfiction, Writing Poetry, Writing Fiction, and Writing Plays. The catalog specifies that each of these courses will be taught during semesters “when a professor in residence or a visiting professor of writing focuses on” that genre (Davidson College Catalog 1988).
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1987: Charles E. Lloyd Award for Nonfiction Established This award, for both scholarly and creative nonfiction writing, is established in 1987 in memory of English professor Charles E. Lloyd. It’s given each year to a sophomore, junior, or senior nonfiction writer. Submissions initially include more formal scholarly essays in addition to personal essays until the creation of the Gibson Prize for Scholarly Writing.
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1980: Dr. Cynthia Lewis Arrives at Davidson In 1980, Dr. Cynthia Lewis joins the English faculty, offering courses in Shakespeare and his contemporaries, and taking on the course Advanced Composition, which had moved away from its original 1914 version and become more focused on analytical writing. However, under the direction of Dr. Lewis and eventually Dr. Shireen Campbell, this course moves back into the creative realm, incorporating new forms of creative nonfiction including memoir and literary journalism in the 1990s. Dr. Lewis has published many articles on Shakespeare and his contemporaries and a book entitled Particular Saints: Shakespeare’s Four Antonios, Their Contexts, and Their Plays. She has also written and published researched and reported nonfiction on topics ranging from female bodybuilders to local murder mysteries.
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Hattie's Ad Ad for the bar Hattie's with their motto and two Proverbs quotes
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"Davidson" This creative nonfiction piece shifts between the narrator drinking beers at Hattie’s, the local bar just outside of Davidson where students often went to drink, and a reflection on Davidson.
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"Good Deals Dept. Study Poll" An article with a fictitious poll which supposedly asked students their favorite place to study. While the piece is humorous, the word “unusual” suggests that students studying, drinking, and having sex is the norm.
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"A Christmas Carrel" This humorous short story is a parody of Dickens’ A Chrismas Carol. The “ghost of Davidson present” shows the narrator “fine young men, who had seen no drinking or ungentlemanliness at the afterdance parties.”
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"A Davidson Dance Weekend As Seen By..." In this piece, the writer parodies poems by famous poets like Wordsworth, Keats, and Shakespeare in “A Davidson Dance Weekend As Seen by…”. In the parody of Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” he writes: “Liquor, Liquor, everywhere, / But all the students did shrink; / Student Council everywhere, / So there’s not a drop to drink."
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1979: Patricia Cornwell Produces the First Creative Thesis Patricia Cornwell ’79 (known as Patsy Daniels at the time) is credited with producing the first creative honors thesis in the English department under the direction of Tony Abbott, who fought to get the department to allow Cornwell to take on this project. However, there is no documentation of her work — a novel — in the college archives, so it is unclear whether it is an official thesis or the product of an independent study. After she graduates from Davidson, Patricia Cornwell goes on to become a popular American crime writer and best-selling author, and in 1992 establishes a generous scholarship for creative writers at Davidson.
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1977: Randy Nelson Arrives at Davidson In 1977, Randy Nelson begins his forty-one year career as a professor of American literature and creative writing. Nelson has a reputation for being tough but is beloved by his students. In the mid-1990s, Nelson realizes that Davidson does not offer a course on short stories. Starting in 1998, he offers a new course called ENG 283: Short Prose Fiction, in which students read and write short stories. From the early 2000s onwards, the short story becomes a popular genre for creative theses. Nelson himself is the author of a range of published literature including a book on martial arts, a compilation of American literary history, a collection of short stories, and a novel. He has won many awards including the “Distinguished Short Story Award” in The Best American Short Stories in 2003 and 2007 and The Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction in 2005.
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1964: Tony Abbott Arrives at Davidson Tony Abbott arrives at Davidson from Bates College, joining the English department in 1964 as the Charles A. Dana Professor of English Emeritus and remaining until his retirement in 2001. He is credited among other English professors for playing a large role in the development of creative writing classes. He specializes in drama and American Literature, meanwhile pursuing his own creative interests outside of his courses. Abbott is the author of seven books of poetry, two novels, and four books of literary criticism. Winner of the 2015 North Carolina Award for Literature, he is inducted into the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame in 2020.
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Creative Theses Bar Graph This bar graph shows creative theses from the 1970s–2020s
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Plumer Smith Joke A self-deprecating joke in the 1907 Annual
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1992: Patricia Cornwell Creative Writing Scholarship
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Umbrella Flask Cartoon The cartoon depicts a student looking around, unscrewing the handle of an umbrella, and taking a swig from a hidden flask. The cartoon is humorous but also reflects that students probably went to great lengths to drink discreetly.
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"Public Relations Release Two" This short satirical story describes a freshman finding alcohol in an upperclassman’s room, from which the janitor would occasionally take sips. The story ends with the “High Tribunal” shipping the two boys and sentencing the janitor to a “slow death."
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Wildcat Handbook excerpts These wildcat handbook excerpts for the 1966-67 school year include policies on drinking and alcohol, as well as information on student life at the college.
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Beta Theta Pi Scrapbook Photos These photos depict Davidson students and other college-aged women partying and drinking at social events.
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Good Deals Dept. Study Poll & Hattie's Ad In this humorous Scripts 'N Pranks article, the fictionalized poll participants were supposedly answering the question, “What is your favorite study spot?” In the poll “results,” 45% said Hattie’s was their favorite study spot.
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The Bar Sinister and Cartoon The writers began opening each issue with a satirical section akin to an editor’s note in the early 1960s, called “The Bar Sinister.” In the December 1962 “Bar Sinister,” the narrator tells a strange story including a freshman who was forced to run down to the liquor store.
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The Davidson Boy's Christmas Carol Book In a parody of Christmas carols from the December 1959 S ’N Ps, Bill Armstrong ‘61 inserted many drinking references into each set of song lyrics.
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Frost After Hours A brief satirical piece entitled “Frost After Hours” that addresses the “sophistication” of the Davidson Gentleman and his choice in extracurricular activities.
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Scripts 'N Pranks: Midwinters Issue This is an example of a Scripts 'N Pranks cover. This particular cover is from 1962 and appears to be making a joke about the social scene and alcohol policy at Davidson. Everyone in the background is partying and drinking while the Davidson student in the foreground has a ball and chain on his ankle and looks downcast.