Brett Billings, a 2008 Marion High School graduate, received the highly competitive Maggin Family Creative and Performing Arts Fellowship at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa.

Billings used his fellowship to produce the radio theater classic, “War of the Worlds,” in November at Lafayette’s Williams Center for the Performing Arts.

“There is a really interesting message in ‘War of the Worlds’,” Billings said, “if you listen carefully, a message that every conservational biologist wants people to realize … that people are the smaller part of a larger whole. Humans are just another organism on the earth.”

Under the direction of Billings, the production of Orson Welles’ 1938 original radio broadcast simulated a depression-era radio station on stage. The fellowship program provides up to $7,500 for the project.

Fellowship students are expected to perform, exhibit, or present their work to the college community as they develop their chosen form of artistic expression.

Billings is a junior, majoring in English with a minor in environmental science. He’s an officer for the rugby team club, a lifeguard at the college pool, a member of the pep band, and managing editor of The Lafayette, the oldest college newspaper in Pennsylvania.

Erik and Myrta Billings of Marion are his parents.