FERRUM, VA, October 20, 2025 — On Wednesday, October 22, Ferrum College’s Inquiring Minds series will feature “Don’t Be So Past Tense,” a presentation by senior honors student Scout Lynch, with Professor of English Tina Hanlon. Lynch will present her project exploring prejudices and myths about formal and informal styles of language.
Inquiring Minds offers lively, informal presentations and activities on various interesting topics for the entire community. Stanley Library at Ferrum College presents the series on most Wednesdays during the academic year, in the LEaP Studio on the library’s main floor during the campus’s community hour from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
In Hanlon’s Linguistics course, Lynch’s project extends her study of language to fulfill a requirement of the Boone Honors Program. To raise consciousness about prejudices that are so ingrained in us, such as the need to use so-called “proper” English, she will invite the audience to discuss times when someone has criticized their language, or they have belittled others’ language faults. “Grammar Monsters Vent Their Pet Rants,” an article by Tom Angleberger, influenced her desire to stop people from being tense in outdated ways about conforming to ideas of “correctness,” to help everyone relax and enjoy casual speech in informal settings.
“As an English major, I find it important to not punish people for using problematically labeled ‘substandard’ forms of English,” wrote Lynch. “The English language is solidified through mutual understanding, so there is no need to shame anyone for using slang or a certain dialect in their speech. I am passionate about encouraging accessible language for everyone who speaks English.”
Audience members will learn some of the real story of the English language and how it works, and have the opportunity to discuss their favorite expressions and pet peeves. Some tips and resources will be offered for using standard English in academic and professional work.
Lynch is in her last semester as an English major with a political science minor. As a creative writer and the editor of Chrysalis Literary and Arts Magazine, she has served as MC for a number of coffee houses and Chrysalis reveal celebrations, as well as leading her peers in putting together the magazine and working on publicity. She has won professionally-judged contests for both writing and photography.
“Scout has been a leader in every class she has taken with me,” said Professor of English Katherine Grimes, the advisor for Chrysalis. “She has an attitude that draws other students into class discussion and experiences. Her enthusiasm for her own projects and encouragement of others make teaching a class with her in it a joy.”
“In her leadership of Chrysalis, she is a mentor who encourages newer artists and writers to share their work, and she praises them,” added Grimes. “Her talent and exuberance make coffee houses and Chrysalis Reveals into celebrations of the work of others, as well as her own. Scout’s graduation will be a triumph for her, but it will be a loss for the English program and especially for Chrysalis.”
Lynch has appeared on another stage at the College, singing and dancing as a member of the raucous Nightmare Band in the 2023 Blue Ridge Dinner Theatre production of the musical Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas. Her talents also extend to baking and crocheting. She has sold her homemade goods at the Ferrum Farm and Craft Market and other venues. Her other jobs on and off campus have included work as a barista and as a screen printer at a print shop.
As a past staff member of The Iron Blade, Lynch also has experience writing for a campus newspaper. She has worked at the College as a PAL tutor assisting other students. In the library she can be found working hard and also playing hard—in the video game room with the Gamers Guild.
At the spring 2025 Academic Awards Ceremony, Lynch received the James T. Catlin Citizenship Award for the student who has best demonstrated qualities of citizenship and general leadership ability, as judged by vote of the faculty. She was also given a commendation as editor-in-chief of Chrysalis for the past two years and awards for outstanding student in English and political science. She is a member of Sigma Tau Delta, the English honorary society.
“Teaching Scout linguistics as an independent study has been a great joy this semester,” said Hanlon, “because I love to talk about language, and it’s rare for someone who is gifted in creative arts to both enjoy and excel at analyzing language as precisely as modern linguistics requires. Her past experience as a spelling bee competitor helps, along with her zeal for learning and sharing her insights with others. I look forward to being her co-presenter at Inquiring Minds on Oct. 22.”
