2025 Hatfield Prize Recipients

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What is the Hatfield Prize?

The Hatfield Prize is awarded annually to three student-faculty pairs. Recipients conduct research on social policies that impact vulnerable children, families, and communities, and explore the impact of these policies in their local communities. This semester-long research project culminates in three policy reports that make recommendations for both government and civil society institutions in contributing to policies that promote flourishing communities. The Prize honors the legacy of the late Senator Mark O. Hatfield, who served as a United States senator from Oregon for three decades. Hatfield was known for his principled Christian faith and for his commitment to working across differences to find common ground.

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From Whitworth University

Melinda Mullet is a nontraditional senior studying English and American Studies at Whitworth University in Spokane, WA. She is a George F. Whitworth Honors student, a Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society officer, and the nonfiction editor for professional literary journal Rock & Sling.

Her experience as a full-time caregiver for a terminally ill family member inspired a passion for healthcare access and public health policy. After graduation, Melinda intends to study law and theology, aspiring to be an advocate for healthcare justice.

Research Question: What are the current Medicare and Medicaid benefits for end-of-life care, how adequate are they, and what disparities exist in hospice access and utilization in Spokane County, Washington?

Bert Emerson, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of English and Director of the Honors Program at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington. He is the author of American Literary Misfits: The Alternative Democracies of Mid-Nineteenth-Century Print Cultures (UNC Press. 2024) and co-editor, with Gregory Laski, of an interdisciplinary collection of essays titled Democracies in America: Keywords for the Nineteenth Century and Today (Oxford UP, 2023).

From Westmont College

Kate Robinson is a through and through New Englander, born and raised in Beverly, MA and now attends school in Santa Barbara, CA at Westmont College. She is a sophomore studying Political Science and minoring in Spanish and Religious Studies. She has found some of the best friends she’s known amongst those living on the streets at a downtown Santa Barbara park and since then has not stopped chasing the kingdom of God in the place she’s seen it most clearly, with those living on the margins of society. She serves as a Resident Chaplain in her dorm; an intern with Kingdom Causes Inc., a local nonprofit working with homelessness and human trafficking; and a student employee of the chapel greeting team. In her future career, she seeks to facilitate collaboration between nonprofit, religious, and government sectors to address the issue of homelessness and somehow see the big picture solutions while never losing sight of the face to face conversations that are our key to understanding the system.

Research Question: What is the role of faith-based organizartions in preventing and addressing homelessness in Santa Barbara, CA?

Katherine Bryant, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Westmont College, where she teaches courses on international relations and quantitative methods. Her research is primarily focused on institutional design, foreign aid, and international development. More recently, she has been examining the role of state and non-state actors in development, particularly in the area of climate policy. She regularly leads students at the National Model United Nations Conference. Outside of the classroom, her three young sons keep her quite busy.

From Hope College

Noel Vanderbilt is a senior at Hope College from Saugatuck, Michigan studying creative writing and political science. She values her experience as both an Emmaus scholar and a Markets and Morality member, programs dedicated to cultivating intellectual communities informed by Christian thought through reading rich texts and engaging in thoughtful dialogue. She is passionate about using writing as a tool to reflect on culture, promote justice, and advocate for change. She aspires to continue her education at the intersection of law and policy.

Research Question: How do variations in state nondiscrimination and religious exemption policies affect foster care systems and the ability of faith-based agencies to provide services in West Michigan?

David K. Ryden, Ph.D. is the Peter C. & Emajean Cook Professor of Political Science at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. He has published extensively on questions of evangelicalism and public policy, religious liberty, and the intersection between Supreme Court jurisprudence and election law. He holds a law degree from the University of Minnesota law school and received his Ph.D. in Politics from the Catholic University of America.