Chuy Renteria, an author who also works as an assistant director of strategic initiatives in UI's Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, is one of two authors to win the 2023 Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award. The prestigious award provides promising writers with a network for professional development. Renteria is the author of We Heard it When We Were Young, a memoir detailing their upbringing in West Liberty, Iowa, a vibrant community in rural Muscatine County.