Susan Lowther retired from The Writing Center in May of 2024 after 25 years at Washington University. Ms. Lowther earned her BA in European Culture Studies from the American University of Paris, her MA in Studies in Fiction from the University of East Anglia, and her MA in English and American Literature from Washington University. In The Writing Center, she served as Undergraduate Support Coordinator for 8 years, a role in which she played a critical role in supporting undergraduates while also training and mentoring our peer tutors.
Susan brought her experience and insight – paired with her light-heartedness and genuine love for her students – to every student with whom she worked in The Writing Center. A key part of her success when it came to encouraging writers was what she called The Theory of Cheese: “It first came up when I was talking with an applicant for med school a long time ago. She was afraid of sounding cheesy. I had heard this a lot and I just suddenly got tired of people saying that. I had an epiphany: You should embrace the cheese!”
What Susan realized in that moment is that embracing the cheese is a way for writers to allow themselves to be open: “When we say we’re afraid of sounding cheesy what we’re really saying, I think, is that we’re afraid of being vulnerable on the page. But that vulnerability is what pushes us forward,” she said.
The Theory of Cheese is just like Susan: at once lighthearted and genuinely wise, a wisdom made more affecting by the fact that it doesn’t take itself too seriously.
In honor of Susan’s many years of helping students and our peer tutors not take themselves too seriously, The Writing Center established a peer tutor award in her name.
The Susan Lowther Peer Tutor Award (nicknamed the “Embrace the Cheese Award”) is awarded to a graduating peer tutor who has demonstrated outstanding dedication to serving undergraduates.
The first recipient will be named in May 2025.
We look forward to this award continuing Susan’s legacy in The Writing Center.
Read more about Susan’s contributions to our writing center here.