HARVARD GAZETTE ARCHIVES

Three Harvard seniors were honored as Joseph L. Barrett Award recipients at a special ceremony this past Monday (May 15). Administered by the Bureau of Study Counsel (BSC), the award commemorates Barrett (Class of '73) and is given in recognition of promising young people at Harvard College who have enhanced the learning of others "with the vigor and openness so characteristic of Joe."

The recipients of this year's award are John Jernigan '06, Margaret Barusch '06, and Jim Pautz '06.

Jernigan was cited for his outstanding service as a peer tutor with the BSC, where he's offered help in economics courses over the past two years. In 2005-06, he amassed more than 140 tutoring hours. Additionally, many of his tutees are referrals from previous tutees, while many students retain him as their tutor from one semester to the next and from course to course.

"While juggling classes and helping his peers," cited the award announcement, "John manages to remain friendly and upbeat with every e-mail we send, every payroll question, and every phone call we make asking him to take on yet another tutee."

During her time at Harvard, Margaret Barusch has served as a peer tutor/counselor in the Freshman Outdoors Program and as a former co-chair of the Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and Supporters Alliance. She has been a staff member for Contact, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender peer-counseling group, and most recently has served as its co-director. Barusch is also co-coordinator for the Transgender Task Force, an organization whose mission is to improve the lives of transgender people in the Harvard community, and she serves on the College Transgender Advisory Group.

"Barusch is known to many on campus as a respectful and helpful listener, a resource for information and referrals, and source of support and inspiration," cited the award announcement. She played a significant role this year in helping the University amend the nondiscrimination code to include gender identity and has helped to organize several events to promote social justice, safety, and equality for underrepresented groups at Harvard and beyond.

Jim Pautz was selected for his outstanding service as an ESL tutor at the University. "Jim epitomized the qualities we hope to find in a tutor, and he has continued to develop his skills and fine-tune them in ways we admire and appreciate," according to the award announcement.

With a basic knowledge of how to tutor English, such as assessing fluency and understanding the many variables that go into developing good pronunciation, Pautz hasn't limited his tutoring to just pronunciation and grammar.

"He takes on the whole person, factoring in culture, personality, learning styles, and other intangibles that can be so important to a teaching/learning relationship," explains the citation.

"He is wholeheartedly himself as a tutor as well. Perhaps it is this openness and honesty that are the keys to his ability to connect with his tutees."