JCU French majors win big

Ryan Baker won first place and Juliana Reifsnyder won third. They received $400 and $200 respectively.

Helene Sanko and Marvin Richards of JCU’s Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Cultures sponsored the prize winners.

Each year, all colleges and universities in Northeast Ohio are invited to sponsor one French major to participate in the contest.  Additionally, each professor who is a member of the Maison is permitted to sponsor a student. However only four students per school may participate, according to Martha Pereszlenyi-Pinter, a JCU French professor and director of the Concours.

Baldwin-Wallace, Hiram, Youngstown State, Kent State, Cleveland State, Akron, Case Western, Wooster and Oberlin sponsored students in the contest.

Contestants are given two hours to write a 500 to 700 word essay in French on a variety of topics administered at the beginning of the contest. Afterward, each student must maintain an oral interview, in French, with three judges who are members of the Maison.

The Maison was established in 1918. In addition to the Concours, the foundation administers several programs, including lectures on French Art, literature and politics.
The Concours, which translates in English as “French Contest,” also invites Cuyahoga high school students to participate in a contest independent of the one offered at the college level.

Hiram, Akron and Wooster students also earned high placement.