To the Faculty of Sierra Nevada College:

I write this letter on behalf of Dr. King toward his promotion to Associate Professor. Dr. King was immensely helpful to me during my time at Sierra Nevada College. In fact, he was the first non-admissions faculty member I met. During a campus visit, as I was walking alone from Prim Library to Patterson Hall, he asked if I was a potential student and encouraged me to attend SNC, and this unexpected encounter was one of the things that made up my mind to enroll that fall. As a student in the Creative Writing BFA, I took a lot of humanities courses, some of which were taught by Dr. King. I was always excited to attend his classes, because I felt that I was guaranteed to learn something useful, even if it was simply how to look at something I already knew in a different way. Dr. King was perpetually excited about the subject matter in his courses, and it quickly became very clear that he is an expert in his field. When I was assigned a paper topic in another class that involved some rather advanced philosophy, I asked Dr. King for assistance, and he sat with me for several hours, making sure that I understood the concepts I would need to successfully write the paper, going so far as allowing me to use him as a reference. There is absolutely no questioning Dr. Kings devotion to his students. After being invited by Dr. King to become a member of the then fledgling SNC Honors Program, I watched it thrive under his diligent care. During my time in the program, I was required to attend intriguing and stimulating campus and community events that I otherwise wouldnt have, for which I am grateful. But by far the greatest benefit I received was the encouragement from Dr. King to apply for programs and scholarships I never would have considered myself qualified for. It was under his recommendation that I applied for the 2013 NCUR conference at the University of Wisconsin - LaCrosse, and it was his advice and reassurances that enabled me to present my research paper at the conference. The honors program even provided a scholarship for travel funds, which I received. I can honestly say that before meeting Dr. King, I never would have dreamed of being a part of an honors program, let alone speaking on-stage at a national academic conference. Under his guidance, I went from being a high school student with a D-average and low self-expectations to an honors graduate, a straight-A student, and being accepted at several major UK universities. Dr. King has the rare gift o f not only recognizing someones potential, but coaxing it out of them, and helping them realize exactly what theyre capable of. He exemplifies what it means to be a professor by showing interest in his students aspirations, organizing events like the a nnual French Film Festival, and constantly showing the community and larger academic world exactly what SNC s students and professors are capable of. It is for these reasons that I give Dr. King my highest recommendation.

Sincerely, Kenneth Stoneman BFA Creative Writing Sierra Nevada College