We are excited to feature below our outstanding student winners from the Boothe Prize and the Lunsford Award from winter quarter. We celebrated these students along with our winners from Fall 2025 and Spring 2025 during our annual Awards Week in mid-May.
Winter 2026 Boothe Prize Winner: Siena Weisman
For "Collapsed Time: How Binge-Watching Rewrites Television Narrative,” written in Eldon Pei’s course, "Watch Now: Rhetorics of Film and Television."
Siena Weisman is a first-year student from San Mateo, California, planning to study Human Biology and Psychology on her way to law school. She’s especially drawn to the intersection of bioethics and global health, and hopes to one day help shape meaningful change in those spaces. When she’s not in class, you can find Siena behind the counter at Stanford’s student-run late-night café, On Call, fueling campus night owls, or off campus hunting down the best matcha spots.
“In a class centered on the rhetoric of film and media, I didn’t expect to end up writing my RBA on binge-watching, but it quickly became the perfect space to explore how my interests could intersect in unexpected ways. From the start, my professor pushed us not just to answer questions, but to generate our own; questions that were specific, original, and genuinely compelling. That challenge reshaped how I approached my topic. What began as a simple curiosity about binge-watching turned into a deeper investigation of how media platforms actively shape viewer behavior through rhetorical design.
“As I developed my project, I became increasingly interested in how features like autoplay, narrative pacing, and cliffhangers are intentionally constructed to sustain attention. My professor encouraged me to lean into the complexity of those observations and to trust that seemingly everyday habits could reveal larger arguments about agency, and media influence. That process taught me how to blend different interests (psychology, media studies, and even questions of ethics) into a single, cohesive line of inquiry.
“PWR 1 ultimately showed me that strong writing begins with strong, original questions. It gave me the confidence to pursue ideas that don’t fit neatly into one discipline and to see connections across fields. That ability to thoughtfully integrate my interests will continue to shape how I approach future coursework and my long-term goals in law and bioethics.
Winter 2026 Boothe Prize Honorable Mention: Evaristo Derby
For “Soccer Reaches the Bay: Latino Influence on the Fabric of Californian Fútbol,” written in Nissa Cannon’s course, "California, Dream or Mirage? Writing About California."
Evaristo is a MS&E major from San Antonio, Texas, and was born and grew up in Monterrey, Mexico. He is interested in policy and statistics, and is likely going to law school. Evaristo's dream is to one day be Governor of Texas and is deeply passionate about local and state politics. At Stanford, Evaristo is part of Stanford Consulting and serves as the Director of Community of Stanford Latino. Ever since he could walk, Evaristo's life has been surrounded by soccer (or fútbol). Growing up with four brothers, soccer became the tie that brought them together. Some of his most cherished life memories have come from the game. He sees soccer as one of the most beautiful expressions of humanness.
“As a Latino, now in California, and an avid soccer fan, my work felt deeply personal. It was an exploration into my identity and the ways my people have shaped the way soccer is lived out West. PWR, in many ways, gave me that foundation to explore that identity with rigor and intention.
“When I started this project, my focus was needlessly broad. At times, I felt as if I was trying to capture everything about Californian soccer. Dr. Cannon, however, pushed me to slow down and find a specific angle that was both meaningful to me and worth exploring. Together, we were able to narrow my area of research down to professional clubs in the Bay. With that guidance, I set off and conducted ample research, interviews, and built an argument for how Latino communities are not just fans of the beautiful game, but are actively shaping its culture at the professional level.”
Winter 2026 Lunsford Award Winner: Cynthia Wang
For “Silence and the Crisis of Witnessing in the Surveillance State,” presented in Peter Tokofsky’s course, "The Rhetoric of Bearing Witness."
Cynthia is a Computer Science major and Economics minor from Saratoga, CA. She enjoys thinking about agentic systems, markets, and access to financial infrastructure. On campus, she conducts research on mechanism design and is involved with entrepreneurship communities, Stanford Consulting, and Chang Le Dance. In her free time, she enjoys playing soccer (shoutout the Sons!) and visiting national parks.
“I think a lot about freedom, especially about the extraordinary privilege we have to write, speak, and share ideas openly. At Stanford, it’s easy to take this for granted, but much of that freedom now depends on systems we don’t control. AI, my major specialization, promises to enhance human autonomy. However, the more it does for us, the less we can do without it, and the same tools that personalize our feeds determine which accounts of events surface and which disappear. If what we see is chosen for us, what kind of freedom remains?
“I often change my mind, but my PWR class’s focus on bearing witness gave me a framework to return to. Drafting my RBA taught me to value precision of language, distinguish between anecdotal and empirical evidence, and recognize where my own knowledge ends. Articulating what we are witnessing in the rapid rise of AI and the centralization of power is a critical act of stewardship, and writing about surveillance states was my attempt to do exactly that.
I’m grateful for all the advice from Professor Tokofsky, whom I had for both PWR 1 and 2. The day before I presented my research proposal, I changed my topic with his support, which gave me the confidence to pursue a more ambitious idea. Listening to my classmates’ incredible presentations also motivated me to become a better researcher.”
Winter 2026 Lunsford Award Winner: Jessie Wang
For “Restoring the Right to Justice: 'Measure D' on the Ballot,” presented in Nora Kassner’s "Writing and Speaking for a Better World."
Jessie is a Political Science and Psychology major from Los Angeles, CA. She is passionate about the intersection of legal advocacy and public policy, with a focus on expanding representation for under-resourced communities. She was previously a Legal Intern at the Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office and is currently working full-time as a Legislative Intern in the U.S. House of Representatives. In her free time, she loves writing poetry, playing tennis, and browsing for her next binge-watch.
“Through PWR 2, I had the opportunity to give life to a project that had been taking shape before my time at Stanford even begun. Growing up in Los Angeles, I had long been a witness to how gaps in the criminal justice system disproportionately affected the community—an observation that led me to seek out work at the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office. There, I saw firsthand how structural constraints, from overwhelming caseloads to limited resources, were directly compromising the integrity of the legal system. In PWR 2, I was inspired to examine how targeted policy implementation could create tangible change in criminal justice systems. This project ultimately deepened my interest in how legal and policy frameworks shape the realization of justice and strengthened my commitment to pursuing community reform that is equitable and accessible.”
