LSU CxC Communication Mentor Grayson Loudon awarded Outstanding Tutor of the Year
Thursday, March 9, 2023
BATON ROUGE—During its annual conference, the South Central Writing Centers Association (SCWCA) named LSU Communication across the Curriculum (CxC) Communication Mentor Grayson Loudon as Outstanding Tutor of the Year for 2023.
SCWCA’s primary focus is writing centers, and while CxC’s studios across campus provide writing support, they also extend even further to address communication beyond the written word. By specializing in multimodal communication, mentors are able to support students across disciplines in any number of projects.
Grayson, a senior majoring in architecture, is a prime example of the efficacy of this varied approach. He has worked as a communication mentor with CxC since his freshman year in 2019. Harnessing the visual skill set of his field, Grayson began by providing visual communication support, and gradually expanded his expertise in written and spoken communication as well. Now in his final semester at LSU, he serves as one of the few mentors specializing in three modes of communication for undergraduate students across all disciplines. He has demonstrated a continuous commitment to learning and developing his own skills to best support his fellow students.
“Throughout my years of being a mentor I have learned that there is a greater knowledge shared and gained through multi-disciplinary and multimodal communication,” Grayson says, “and that patience can help foster a space for clients to reflect.”
Rather than just checking an assignment for accuracy, an essential tenet of CxC’s communication support services is to give each student the tools to develop their own skill set with the intention to continuously build them beyond a single session. Grayson upholds this value daily. In his appointments with students, he shares meaningful feedback while providing space for his peers to be heard and tell their own stories, all in support of the student becoming a more confident communicator. Outside of sessions, he also serves as a mentor for his fellow CxC student team members as they find their own styles and specialties.
As CxC’s Manager of Student Communication Coaching Services, Christina Rothenbeck sees first-hand the ways Grayson exemplifies CxC’s ethos and outstanding peer mentoring. “In the years I have worked with Grayson,” Christina says, “I have watched him grow from a reserved and sometimes hesitant visual communication tutor into someone who embodies all the best qualities we ask for from our undergraduate consultants: a commitment to personal and professional growth, patience with clients and coworkers alike, dedication to building and improving communication skills, and serving as an active participant and member of the studio’s community.”
Since launching the SCWCA Outstanding Tutor of the Year award in 2010, Grayson is the second LSU CxC student mentor to receive this accolade. Stormi Verret received the award in 2021 as a graduate student majoring in Library and Information Science.
About the Outstanding Tutor of the Year Award
The SCWCA Outstanding Tutor of the Year Award recognizes contributions of quality and innovation to the writing center both within and beyond traditional tutoring. One award is given each year. Undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, and staff whose primary responsibility is to tutor in a writing center in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, or Texas are eligible for the award.