HUNTINGTON -- Before he even stepped into a classroom, Aaron Preece started his Marshall University career.

The freshman was named the first winner of the Dan O'Hanlon Constitution Week and John Marshall Celebration Essay Contest Thursday.

The contest, which was made possible through an anonymous donor, was announced in June -- just as Preece was graduating from Huntington High School. But the history major said his interest in the Constitution led him to tackle the essay question, "Should colleges and universities be allowed to place restrictions on what is reasonable speech for faculty?"

He turned in his 12-page, in-depth research paper the first day of classes. And though the judges were impressed, he wasn't sure if he really had a shot.

"I was startled," said Preece, who is legally blind. "I'm a freshman, but I had a pretty good idea what they wanted. But I had never written a research paper that large."

Second place and $750 was awarded to Huntington resident and junior forensic chemistry major Katherine Nicole Bush. She said that despite being outside the College of Liberal Arts, which is in charge of the essay contest, she enjoys writing and thought the topic was interesting.

"You can't base your life on your major," she said. "You should be well rounded and be able to apply yourself to all aspects. You should definitely try. I did and look what happened."

David Pittenger, dean of Marshall's College of Liberal Arts, said a fair amount of essays came in during the short window that students had to write them. And they all were impressive.

"I was greatly impressed with the work of the two students who won the awards and the others who submitted essays," he said.

He added that the next essay question for the 2010 contest will be announced sometime in October.

O'Hanlon, who is a Cabell Circuit Court Judge and a Marshall graduate, said he'll always be grateful that the benefactor wanted the contest named for him and the first two winners.

But the judge added one interesting tidbit to the story. Jennifer Sias, an associate professor and information literacy librarian at Marshall, was called to jury duty in O'Hanlon's court this summer. She asked to be excused because she was mentoring a few students.

"One of those students was Aaron," O'Hanlon said.

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