The Great Catsby Roars Back

By Katy Kessler MA '26

The English Department’s recent 100 Years of The Great Gatsby celebration brought nearly 150 undergraduate students together for a festive evening of jazz, trivia, and literary community. Organized by second-year English graduate student Julia Reagan, the event kicked off with a spirited trivia game where students guessed whether a line was a Taylor Swift lyric or a Gatsby quote. “That’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool,” was a particularly challenging one: who would’ve known that Swift’s “Happiness” lyric, “I hope she’ll be a beautiful fool,” was inspired by Fitzgerald!

The night continued with a lively dramatic reading of Gatsby by graduate students Julia, Ryan Miller, Griffyn Leeds, Christopher Supplee, and second-year undergraduate student Alex Holguin. Guests then joined small-group discussions organized by bits of Gatsby trivia where students considered how race plays a role in the novel. Many students reported that this was a dimension that they had never previously considered in their high school discussions of the novel.

After reconvening, Alex Holguin closed the night with a moving reflection on the importance of the humanities. Nearly half of the students in the room reported that they were leaving with a newfound interest in taking an English course.

 

A special thanks to our spectacular readers, as well as those who helped with setup and cleanup: graduate students Jenna Kosnick and Katy Kessler and undergraduate students Allison Haugh, Charlotte Finch, and Jade Sorenson. Together with the guidance of Dr. Lutes and Julia Reagan, the evening was truly a “roaring” success.