May 3, 2013
Department of Theatre and Dance graduating senior Isaac Gomez is a second prize recipient for the George H. Mitchell Awards for Academic Excellence.
Gomez took home the $5,000 prize for his work with The Women of Juárez, an ethnographic research and performance project detailing the many atrocities and homicides perpetuated on the female population in the Mexican border town. The project led Gomez to travel to Juárez to interview several women affected by the local violence, and his play was presented as part of Cohen New Works Festival presented by the University Co-op in March 2013. "We hoped to honor those stories and lives in ways that haven't been done before," says Gomez. "The critiques in play making go along with theatre for social change."
"I have rarely encountered a student with Isaac’s range of artistic talents and intellectual ability." says Theatre and Dance Lecturer Andrew I. Carlson, who nominated Gomez for the award. "He is a leader in the department and in the larger UT community; I believe he can become a leader in the American theatre for years to come."
The Mitchell Awards are annual prizes from the University Co-op honoring students who have made an uncommon contribution to their fields of study by way of research project, literary work, musical composition, humanitarian project or similar undertaking. The awards were developed by University Co-op President and CEO George Mitchell and the Co-op's Chairman of the Board, Dr. Michael Granof.