Jennifer Knatz didn’t know she was part Irish until she was 16-years-old.
The history senior said she always had an interest St. Patrick’s Day, Irish history and folklore.
“I never really questioned it, until one day my mother said, ‘Oh, it’s because you’re Irish,’” she said. “My great-grandmother’s parents were the ones who came over on the boat.”
In June, Knatz represented Arizona and ASU at the Roses of Tralee International Festival in Laoise, Ireland, as the state’s Colleen and Rose award recipient. The Colleen and Rose program provides one $1,000 scholarship annually to a young woman, age 18 to 27, of Irish ancestry.
Knatz represented the program at the Tralee of Rose Festival, where representatives from across the globe competed in pageant form to be the International Rose of Tralee. She put the scholarship money toward books and tuition.
Last Saturday Knatz shared her summer experiences at the Irish Cultural Center in Phoenix as part of a fundraiser for the Colleen and Rose scholarship program.
“It’s green shock — they have so much rain, and it’s so beautiful,” Knatz said of her first visit to Ireland. “We got to actually see C.S. Lewis’s house and I am a huge literary nut… and to see his house was really special for me.”
Knatz found the Colleen and Rose program two years ago, while researching scholarships on ASU.edu.
After she joined the program, Knatz began researching her family history. She learned that her ancestors emigrated from Ireland after World War I.
Knatz’s mother Jo, long interested in Irish culture, encouraged her daughter’s curiosity.
“I always had a special connection to Celtic stuff for whatever reason,” Jo Knatz said. “It was sort of like, ‘Oh yeah, this is home. This is comfortable.’”
Within the program, there is a saying: “Once a rose, always a rose.” The motto encourages bonds between the current and past winners, and led to Knatz connecting with 2010 Colleen and Rose Danielle McBurnett.
McBurnett, 2009 ASU alumna, now serves on the Colleen and Rose committee.
“It was really exciting to do the crowning for 2011 because Jenny was already a good friend at that point so I was very happy for her,” McBrunett said.
Even after her title is passed on to someone else, Knatz still plans to be actively involved with the program.
“I plan on joining the Colleen committee as soon as I am able (to) ... just so that I can help to work to give back,” Knatz said. “I definitely want to be a resource for next year’s Colleen.”
Reach the reporter at shurst2@asu.edu
