Lingua Franca

Anna Snyder receives the department’s 2020 Frederick A. Meier Book Award

By Dr. Elizabeth Blood

Since 2018, thanks to the generous Edwin Francis Endowment, the department of World Languages and Cultures selects one outstanding graduating senior each year to receive the Frederick A. Meier Book Award. The Frederick A. Meier Book Award goes to a student who:

• Is a senior at Salem State University and a major in the Department of World Languages and Cultures
• Displays distinctive leadership in the discipline, such as in university student organizations and student government activities
• Achieves academic excellence
• Exhibits meritorious service to the discipline, such as in campus and community service
• Is committed to increasing awareness of cultural diversity and promotes respect for difference and inclusivity on campus

This year’s recipient is Anna Snyder, a senior majoring in the French concentration of the BA in World Languages and Cultures who is also completing our undergraduate Certificate in Translation and two minors, a minor in World Languages (combining Spanish and Arabic) and a minor in Geological Sciences. Anna was selected for the award due to her consistent demonstration of academic excellence and her passion for languages. During her four years at Salem State, she has taken on challenging coursework in three languages while also participating in co-curricular clubs and working part-time. She has been a member of the French Club for four years and has also served on the board of Active Minds, the student mental health advocacy club. She was inducted into our international honor society Phi Sigma Iota in 2018 and is also a member of the National Honor Society for Leadership and Success, Alpha Lambda Delta, and the National First Year Honor Society. She is currently preparing to take the exam for the Massachusetts Seal of Biliteracy. While we are sad that we will not be able to present Anna with her award in person, as our annual honor society ceremony has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 crisis, the faculty of the WLC department wishes to extend our heartfelt congratulations and thank Anna for her four years of dedication to the study of languages and cultures. We wish her all the best in her future endeavors!

You can read more about Anna’s journey at Salem State in this interview she gave last year: https://www.salemstate.edu/news/viking-profile-anna-snyder-20-mar-27-2019