Auburn’s Elinor Gunn, a senior theatre major at Washington State University, recently participated in the 42nd annual Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in Washington, D.C.

The festival showcases the nation’s finest student actors, who also competed for two Irene Ryan Acting Scholarships.

Gunn was accompanied by stage partner Cory Roseberry, a senior hospitality business management major at WSU.

Each year 300 performers audition at eight regional festivals for the scholarship and the opportunity to perform at the national festival. Two performers and their partners from each region are selected to take part in the final competition at the Kennedy Center.

As the winner of the District Seven regional competition, Gunn received a $500 scholarship and a week-long, expenses-paid trip to perform and compete at the festival, April 13-17.

The top two groups at the festival received $3,000 Irene Ryan Acting scholarships and the chance to apply for summer fellowships at the Kennedy Center. While Gunn and her partner were not selected for the scholarships, the experience was still a valuable one.

“I feel like very few things in this life are more rewarding than being an actor and being able to see art created on a daily basis,” Gunn said. “It was such an honor to have made it to the Kennedy Center. I have come back with so much knowledge and appreciation.”

Gunn was nominated by outside adjudicators for her role as “Heidi” in the WSU production of “The Heidi Chronicles,” which was performed in spring 2009.

“Elinor is a very versatile and excellent actress. She had a number of opportunities to take workshops and make connections at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. She has performed a number of leading roles for us and we are very proud of her,” said Laurilyn Harris, chair of WSU’s theatre and dance department.