2026 Blaine Essay Prize Winner Announced
Presented in memory of Harrison Tweed Blaine '38, a United States Marine who died during World War II, the Blaine Essay Prize is awarded each spring to a VIth former who authors the best essay exploring a topic of contemporary or historical significance. History Department Chair Lindsay Peterson and her team read through dozens of essays to produce a list of six outstanding finalists whose essays are then evaluated by an expert third-party reader to objectively determine the winner.
Our reader this year was Dr. Maeve Kane, an author and award-winning professor in the Department of History at the University at Albany. Dr. Kane had the difficult task of choosing just one winner from among the six finalists, who gathered with their teachers and families for the announcement of the winner in Pulling House on Tuesday evening.
“All six of the papers take on questions that are really fundamental to where we are as a country right now in 2026,” Dr. Kane noted as she thanked all the essayists for their thought-provoking work. She then awarded this year’s prize to Rachel Nayman ’26, for her essay on the United States’ use of economic soft power after World War II.
Congratulations to Rachel on being named the 2026 Blaine Essay Prize winner, and to all the finalists:
- Rachel Nayman ’26 — The Role of Private Corporations in the Contribution to Neocolonialism (read the full essay here)
- Linna Du ’26 — Schools without Borders
- Elyse LeBrun ’26 — Mindfulness in Buddhism: A Treatment Program for Chronic Pain
- Islay MacGowan ’26 — Why Influencers are Becoming Digital Cults
- Sophia Sorriento ’26 — Church and State: A Reconsideration
- Winston Walter ’26 — Immigrant Made: The True Pioneers of AI
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