ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥

March 1, 2000
Life At Witt

Loveland, Ohio Native Becomes First ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥ Student To Win National Student Playwriting Award

ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥ Senior Dan Stroeh Receives a Life-Changing Call

Springfield, Ohio - On Sunday, Feb. 25, ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥ senior Dan Stroeh received a life-changing call. It was from a representative of the Kennedy Center/American College Theater Festival's national committee informing him that he had won the National Student Playwriting Award, the most prestigious playwriting honor for an undergraduate or graduate student in the United States.

Stroeh (pronounced STRAY) wrote a play titled "it is no desert" documenting his life story and personal reflections of an ongoing battle with neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder of the nervous system. Stroeh was selected for the national honor after appearing at the KC/ACTF Region III competition Jan. 10-14 in Milwaukee, one of eight such events staged in recent months that showcased the work of thousands of artists nationwide.

The award, created in 1974, has never before gone to a student from ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥ or any other academic institution in the state of Ohio. The honor will launch his professional career as Stroeh will be offered a contact for publication by Samuel French, will receive $2,500 from the William Morris Agency, will become a member of the Dramatists Guild, and will be given a fellowship to the Sundance Theater Lab.

Stroeh, who was diagnosed with the disease after he arrived on ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥'s campus in 1996, will perform "it is no desert" at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 23 and 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, April 24 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He will fly to nation's capital with a production team from ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥ that includes senior students Josh Keiter of Lansford, Pa. and Karl Miller of Silver Spring, Md., associate professor Jimmy Humphries, and professor and chair of the theatre and dance department Steve Reynolds.

About ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥

ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥'s curriculum has centered on the liberal arts as an education that develops the individual's capacity to think, read, and communicate with precision, understanding, and imagination. We are dedicated to active, engaged learning in the core disciplines of the arts and sciences and in pre-professional education grounded in the liberal arts. Known for the quality of our faculty and their teaching, ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥ has more Ohio Professors of the Year than any four-year institution in the state. The university has also been recognized nationally for excellence in community service, sustainability, and intercollegiate athletics. Located among the beautiful rolling hills and hollows of Springfield, Ohio, ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥ offers more than 100 majors, minors and special programs, enviable student-faculty research opportunities, a unique student success center, service and study options close to home and abroad, a stellar athletics tradition, and successful career preparation.

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