diversity essay contest

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TRI-STATE CONFERENCE ON DIVERSITY & INCLUSION SEPTEMBE R 19, 2024

Tri-state conference on diversity and inclusion, 2022 undergraduate student diversity essay contest.

All entries must be submitted by 5:00 pm on August 22, 2022.

The Undergraduate Student Diversity Essay Contest, sponsored by the Tri-State Conference on Diversity and Inclusion Planning Committee, is intended to increase awareness, promote understanding and engage students in a discussion to help foster diversity and inclusion within the university/college community.

Essay Topic

“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”   -James Baldwin

How have your life experiences led to your views on diversity and inclusion today? ?o you feel things are equitable for all? If not, What improvements  would you make and what hinderances would you  mitigate  to  encourage restorative practices? 

Who Can Enter?

Undergraduate students enrolled at any of the seven partnering institutions: 

Ohio University Southern

Marshall University (Includes Medicine & Pharmacy School)

Ashland Community & Technical College

Shawnee State University

University of Rio Grande & Rio Grande Community College

Mountwest Community & Technical College

Morehead State University

Students must be enrolled in at least six credit hours for the spring 2022 and fall 2022 semesters.

Contest Guidelines

Each student may submit one essay.

The maximum length of essays should be 3-5 pages. 1000 words maximum.

The essay should be double-spaced, use 12-point type size in Times New Roman or Barlow font, with 1-inch margins and numbered pages.

Essays must be the original, unpublished work of the student.

No name or other identifying references should appear anywhere in the essay, which includes the cover page.

Keep a copy of your essay since no materials will be returned.

Award Information

$750.00 one-time scholarship

The winning student will be notified via email.

The selected winning essay will be announced during the Tri-State Diversity Conference on Diversity and Inclusion.

By accepting this prize, winners grant to the Tri-State Conference on Diversity and Inclusion Planning Committee and all seven partnering institutions the right to edit, publish, copy, display and otherwise use their entries in connection with this contest, and to further use their name, likeness, and biographical information in advertising and promotional materials, without further compensation or permission, except where prohibited by law. No responsibility can be assumed for lost or late mail. Entries will not be returned.

How to submit your essay

Complete the online Undergraduate Student Diversity Essay Contest Entry Form

Attach your essay (No name or other identifying references should appear anywhere in the essay which includes the cover page)

Submit the essay

You will receive a receipt once the essay has been successfully submitted

To submit your essay:

https://ohio.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9ZXS5SYLCS3O3oF

All submissions become the property of the Conference Planning Committee and may be used by the Conference Planning Committee in accordance with their mission.

A seven-member panel of faculty, one representing each campus, will evaluate each submission and select the winning essay. The panel’s decision will be final.

​Selection Process

Essays will be judged according to:

Research and use of relevant sources.

Quality and clarity of message.

Understanding, interpretations, and conclusions regarding diversity and inclusion in the context of the essay topic.

Full compliance with all competition procedures.

Marlita Cadogan

Coordinator | Student Life, Diversity & Inclusion

Phone: (740) 351.3516

[email protected]

Robert Pleasant

2021 Conference Committee Chairperson

Associate Director-Office of Student Services

Phone: (740)533.4608

[email protected]

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Undergraduate Diversity Essay Contest

For Undergraduate Students. All entries must be submitted by March 31, 2023.

Sponsored by The College of Agricultural Sciences Diversity Coordinating Council

The Undergraduate Diversity Essay Contest, sponsored by The College of Agricultural Sciences Diversity Coordinating, is intended to increase awareness and promote an understanding and valuing of diversity among our students. The undergraduate students of today will be our future employees, and leaders of tomorrow. Cultural competence and the ability to interact effectively with people from a variety of different backgrounds is quickly becoming an employment skill and expectation.

Essay Topic

Why is it important to understand, appreciate, and value diversity in your professional field? Please consider research and literature related to diversity in your field.   For purposes of this essay contest, Diversity is defined as:

Differences among people with respect to:

• physical and mental ability
• sexual orientation
• spiritual practice, and
• other human differences.

Who Could Enter?

Undergraduate students enrolled in the College of Agricultural Sciences.

Contest Guidelines

• Each student may submit one essay.
• The maximum length of essays should be 3-5 pages.
• The essay must be printed on white, standard-sized paper, one side only. It should be double-spaced, use 12 point type size in Times, Times New Roman, or Courier font, with 1 inch margins and numbered pages.
• A completed Diversity Essay Contest Entry Form should be attached to the essay. No name or other identifying reference should appear anywhere in the essay.
• Entries may be written in a variety of styles, however, the essay must include a "connection to self." Your thoughts or opinions should be represented within the essay.
• Essays must be the original, unpublished work of the student.
• All entries must be submitted by March 31, 2023.
• Keep a copy of your essay since no materials will be returned.

Essays will be evaluated by the following criteria:

I.    Clearly Written in Response to Essay Topic  ______ II.  Clear Organization                                          ______ III. Appropriate use of language                         ______ IV.  Power and Impact of Essay                           ______ V.   Connection to Self                                          ______

$300.00 First Place

$200.00 Second Place (2 second places winners will be chosen)

Awards will be presented at an appropriate venue

PDF document, 110.4 KB

Department of English

• Undergraduate
• First-Year Writing

FYW DEI Essay Contest

The First-Year Writing Program sponsors a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Essay Contest each year to showcase student writing. Students in FYW classes are encouraged to submit essays that explore issues of diversity through narrative, research, and personal experiences. Winning essays are evalauted by a panel of FYW teachers through a blind review process.

The award winners for each year are listed below, along with links to the essays (posted with student permission).

ENGL 1310 - First-Year Writing I

First Place: Charan Niroula , "Life as a Refugee in Nepal". Read the Essay (PDF)

Runner Up: Kalkidan Thompson , "A New Perspective"

ENGL 1320 - FIrst-Year Writing II

First Place: Kyra McNally Albers , "The Detrimental Effects of Poor Minority Representation in Children." Read the Essay (PDF)

Runner Up: Lorenzo Canizares , "Separating Art from the Artist: Good v. Virtuous" Read the Essay (PDF)

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START Diversity Essay Contest Details

Essay Question:

Describe what a society that is equitable and efficient for all would look like. How would this society function in terms of class, politics, social norms, and trade? What would need to happen in our modern society to attain this new society that ensures the inclusion of identity, gender, ability, culture, and different ways of thinking?

Disclaimer:  Please note that the use of plagiarism is a violation of the Smeal Honor Code. Please use your own thoughts and ideas to formulate an effective essay.

Eligibility

You must be a full-time undergraduate student enrolled at any Penn State campus to submit an essay for consideration in the START Essay Contest.

Your submission must meet the following criteria: 

• Must be a written expression i.e., essay, poem, or story 
• Cover page  MUST include: title of paper, student name, major, semester standing, and Penn State email address 
• 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, one-inch margins 
• Written expressions are to be no longer than 5 pages 
• No group submissions allowed 
• Students may only enter the contest one time 
• Submissions  must use a   Penn State  email address ([email protected]). In addition, please note how you heard about the START Essay Contest. Otherwise, the submission will not be accepted. 
• If chosen as a finalist, presentations must last between 4-7 minutes.  Winners will be recognized and are  required  to present their submission at the START Conference on Wednesday, March 27th, 2024
• Submissions must be submitted to Pauline Hough at [email protected] by January 16th, 2024 by 5:00pm EST

Criteria for Judging

• Quality of writing
• Relevance of topic
• Creative expression
• Adherence to guidelines
• After the submission deadline, the student committee will select a slate of finalists according to the criteria set forth.
• These finalists will be contacted via email to schedule a time to present their work to the START Conference Committee. The winners will be selected from this round and invited to present at the START Conference. 
• Contestants will present their submissions after the lunch keynote speaker in random order. They will not be told where they place until all three presentations are completed. At that time, contestants will be presented with their awards.

Members of the START Committee will select the finalists and winners. The Committee includes undergraduate students from first-year to senior standing, many but not all pursuing a major in the Smeal College of Business, in addition to the graduate assistants in the Office of Diversity Enhancement Programs.

• First place -      $3,500
• Second place -  $2,500
• Third place -     $1,500

*Winners will be recognized and are required to present at the START Conference.

Please note that if at any time your scholarships, grants, and other types of student financial aid are in excess of your federally computed “financial need” or your “cost of attendance”, it may be necessary for the Office of Student Aid to make adjustments to your previously awarded aid sources.

In order to receive the scholarship, you must be enrolled as a full-time student in good academic standing at the Pennsylvania State University. If you are planning to be on internship, are registered for less than 12 total credits, or if you are studying abroad through a non-Penn State program, your scholarship funds will be forfeited and awarded to another deserving student. It is your responsibility to notify our office of your change in enrollment.

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Progress Notes' Diversity Essay Contest

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.

In 1963, after being arrested during a civil rights protest in one of the most segregated cities in America, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” shedding light upon the disparities undergirding our institutions and calling for action. Dr. King was a visionary who devoted his life to combating injustice. In honor of Dr. King’s legacy and in the midst of recent events exposing the continued disenfranchisement of marginalized populations, we recognize that we must take a stand against injustice as current and future medical providers and scientists.

Progress Notes , the student magazine of Baylor College of Medicine, put out a call for narrative reflections on diversity in medicine and the biomedical sciences. This student-led project is co-sponsored by the Office of Community Engagement & Health Equity. All submissions were subsequently reviewed by the DEI Awards Subcommittee of Baylor’s Inclusion and Excellence Council which decided upon categorical winners based on various criteria including consideration of originality, effectiveness, and construction.

Here are this year’s winning entries:

• Faculty Category: Dr. Carmella Caldwell, Family & Community Medicine - “Inside the life of a black physician"  
• Staff Category: Catherine Domingo, research administration associate with the Translational Research Institute for Space Health at Baylor College of Medicine - "Forging a New Path for Diversity in Outer Space”

The editorial board of Progress Notes and the Office of Community Engagement & Health Equity wish to thank all the students, trainees, faculty and staff who submitted an essay for consideration, as well as the Inclusion and Excellence Council, Office of Communications and Community Outreach, and others who helped this project come to fruition.

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2024 TEAM Westport Teen Diversity Essay Contest, Co-Sponsored by The Westport Library

First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker (far left), TEAM Westport Chair Harold Bailey (second from left) and Westport Library Executive Director Bill Harmer (far right) with the 2023 teen essay contest winners.

TEAM Westport, the Town of Westport’s diversity engagement committee, has announced that hate speech will be the topic for its 2024 Teen Diversity Essay Contest.

The contest is open to students attending public or private high school (Grades 9-12) in Westport. Those who live in Westport and attend public or private high school elsewhere are also invited to participate.

This year’s essay prompt is as follows:

The regulation of hate speech must balance limiting speech that may be considered offensive, threatening, or hurtful with the constitutional right of free expression. In 1,000 words or less, with respect to speech that targets specific people or groups based on race, religion, ethnicity, and/or LGBTQIA+ identification, consider the guidelines one should set for themselves within Westport’s schools and in our community. Explain how a diversity of opinions can be safely and respectfully shared. Are the rules different in a school community than on social media? 

The entry deadline for the essay contest is 11:59 pm ET on Monday, March 4. The Westport Library is co-sponsoring the event and will host the winners for a special ceremony to be held Monday, May 6 .

The prompt and contest entry rules are available online at teamwestport.org and westportct.gov/teamwestportessay .

Subject to the volume and caliber of entries received, at the discretion of the judges, up to three cash prizes will be awarded. The first prize is $1,000, second prize is $750, and third prize is $500.

“In our current environment, hate speech seems to rend the fabric of our society further on a daily basis.” said TEAM Westport Chair Harold Bailey Jr. “We look forward to this input from our young citizens to help us inextricably mend that fabric well into the future.”

Said First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker, “This community encourages constructive, respectful dialogue.  As representatives of our talented and thoughtful population, the youth of Westport can be instrumental in sharing diverse ideas that ensure that everyone who lives, works, plays, and learns here feels welcomed and valued.”

The essay contest is now in its 11th year. Prior challenges have tackled topics from white privilege and Black Lives Matter to micro-aggressions and dialogue and have drawn widespread attention and engagement in Westport and beyond.

“As a library, our goals are to foster inclusivity, understanding, awareness, and the free and open exchange of ideas so that we all can grow and thrive — as individuals and as a community,” said Westport Library Executive Director Bill Harmer. “The annual TEAM Westport Teen Diversity Essay contest uniquely illustrates that commitment, all while engaging young people throughout Westport to consider and work through the important and complex issues of the day.

“Combating hate speech should be a commitment for everyone, in Westport and beyond. I look forward to reading the essays put forth by our town’s talented and thoughtful teens, and The Westport Library is once again proud to support the essay contest and honored to host the 2024 honorees.”

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Northern Illinois University Department of English College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

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• English Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Anti-Racism

English Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Anti-Racism (IDEA) Committee

The English department strives to be an inclusive and welcoming learning environment for all NIU students including English majors and minors, first-year composition students and general education students from across the university. 

To continually improve and ensure this commitment, we have created a department committee to direct these efforts.  The committee is made up of professorial and instructional faculty as well as graduate and undergraduate student members. 

The committee welcomes your suggestions and interest. If you would like to volunteer, partner with us on a program or leave a suggestion for activities or topics, please complete our committee request/feedback form .

The English IDEA Committee aims to foster a sense of belonging for all students, faculty, and staff; promote anti-racist, inclusive, and equitable pedagogies, policies, and curricula within the department; and generate productive dialogue among our various constituencies. Across our many programs, we are committed to empowering students as readers, writers, educators, and agents whose words can create a more just and equitable world.

Committee Goals

In the 2020-2022 period, the committee has:

• Developed a BIPOC Support Statement
• Created new accessible syllabus templates
• Added diverse literature requirements to undergraduate curriculum (2019) and graduate curriculum (2021)
• Increased diverse course offerings at the undergraduate and graduate level including new courses on LGBTQ+ Drama, BIPOC American Drama, LGBTQ+ Film, Feminist Theory by Women of Color, and more regular offerings of Literature of Social Justice, World Literature, Postcolonial Literature, African American and Black Diasporic Literature, Latina/Latino Literature, Native American Literature, Women Writers, and additional diverse special topics courses
• Expanded professional development and training opportunities for instructional faculty through FYC First Friday and Brown Bag lecture series with topics on inclusive teaching, teaching with technology, LGBTQ+ inclusion, NIU Land Acknowledgment, linguistic diversity, Black joy, neurodiversity, and more
• Administered a Department Climate survey to undergraduate and graduate students
• Initiated a new “Fostering Belonging” Award for undergraduate and graduate English students
• Held a new student welcome event for Students of Color (Spring 2021)
• Removed barriers to graduate admissions
• Increased BIPOC recruitment efforts in both undergrad and grad programs
• Advocated for diverse faculty and staff hiring across the university and for mentoring programs to support these hires
• Advanced NIU’s Land Acknowledgment statement in collaboration with the History department and other units on campus
• Collaborated with Student Government Association and other units on campus for a DuSable Hall rededication event to highlight the history DuSable Hall’s name and the history of student activists’ who have emphasized Northern Illinois’s diverse regional history and student demographics
• Beyond NIU, continued representing race and ethnicity in the profession via Modern Language Association Delegate Assembly membership (2020-2022)

First-Year Composition Actions

Our First-Year Composition program has prioritized BIPOC students and anti-racist practices by:

• Contemporary Voices, an anthology of the work of developmental writers (1985-present)
• Unity in Diversity Essay Contest (1987–2016)
• Common Reading Experience Essay Contest (2017-present), including Kahn-Cullors and Bandele’s When They Call You a Terrorist (2019–2021) and Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime (2021-2023) required in all sections of ENGL 103
• Fall Open Mic, covering such topics as identity, race, difference, diversity, discrimination (2002–present)
• Anti-racist and diversity pedagogy training
• FYComp Diversity and Inclusion ad hoc subcommittee (2019–present)
• Equity Gap Initiatives (2017–present)
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• Statement of Support
• MLA Statement Deploring Systemic Racism
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Regions Riding Forward® Scholarship Contest

Their Story. Your Voice.

Your voice is your own. But it's also been impacted by others. Who, we wonder, has inspired you? Let us know by entering the Regions Riding Forward Scholarship Contest. 

You could win an $8,000 college scholarship

For the opportunity to win an $8,000 scholarship, submit a video or written essay about an individual you know personally (who lives in your community) who has inspired you and helped you build the confidence you need to achieve your goals.

The details

The 2024 Regions Riding Forward Scholarship Contest consists of four (4) separate Quarterly Contests - one for each calendar quarter of 2024. Regions is awarding four $8,000 scholarships through each Quarterly Contest.

Each Quarterly Contest has its own separate entry period, as provided in the chart below.

The entry deadline for each Quarterly Contest is 11:59:59 PM Central Time on the applicable Quarterly Contest period end date (set forth in the chart above).

No purchase or banking relationship required.

Regions believes in supporting the students whose passion and actions every day will continue to make stories worth sharing. That’s why we have awarded over $1 million in total scholarships to high school and college students.

How to enter, 1. complete an online quarterly contest application.

Enter the Regions Riding Forward Scholarship Contest by completing a Quarterly Contest application.  The second Quarterly Contest runs from April 1, 2024 through June 30, 2024. Complete and save all requested information. 

2. Prepare your Written Essay or Video Essay

For each Quarterly Contest, the topic of your Written Essay or Video Essay (your “Essay Topic”) must be an individual you know personally, who lives in your community. Your Written Essay or Video Essay must address how the individual you have selected as your Essay Topic has inspired you and helped you build the confidence you need to achieve your goals.

Written Essay and Video Essay submissions must meet all of the requirements described in the contest Official Rules. Your Written Essay or Video Essay must be (i) in English, (ii) your own original work, created solely by you (and without the use of any means of artificial intelligence (“AI”)), and (iii) the exclusive property of you alone.

Written Essays must be 500 words or less. You can write your Written Essay directly in the application, or you can copy and paste it into the appropriate area in the application form.

Video Essay submissions must be directly uploaded to the contest application site. Video Essays must be no more than 3 minutes in length and no larger than 1 GB. Only the following file formats are accepted: MP4, MPG, MOV, AVI, and WMV. Video Essays must not contain music of any kind nor display any illegal, explicit, or inappropriate material, and Video Essays must not be password protected or require a log-in/sign-in to view. You must upload your Video Essay to the application, and you may not submit your Video Essay in DVD or other physical form. (Video Essays submitted via mail will not be reviewed or returned.)

Tips to Record Quality Videos on a Smartphone:

• Don’t shoot vertical video. Computer monitors have landscape-oriented displays, so shoot your video horizontally.
• Use a tripod. Even small movements can make a big difference when editing.
• Don’t use zoom. If you need to get a close shot of the subject, move closer as zooming can cause pixilation.
• Use natural lighting. Smartphone lighting can wash out your video.

3. Review and submit your Quarterly Contest application

Review your information on your Quarterly Application (and check the spelling of a Written Essay) and submit your entry by 11:59:59 p.m. Central Time on the applicable Quarterly Contest period end date. The second Quarterly Contest period end date is June 30, 2024.

4. Await notification

Winning entries are selected by an independent panel of judges who are not affiliated with Regions. If your entry is selected as a Quarterly Contest winner, you will need to respond to ISTS with the required information.

Eligibility

For purposes of this contest:

• The “Eligible States” are defined as the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.
• An “accredited college” is defined as a nonprofit, two- or four-year college or university located within one of the fifty (50) United States or the District of Columbia.

To be eligible to enter this contest and to win an award in a Quarterly Contest, at the time of entry, you must:

• Be a legal U.S. resident of one of the Eligible States.
• Be age 16 or older.
• Have at least one (1) year (or at least 18 semester hours) remaining before college graduation.
• If you are not yet in college, begin your freshman year of college no later than the start of the 2025 – 2026 college academic school year.
• As of your most recent school enrollment period, have a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0 in school (and if no GPA is provided at school, be in “good standing” or the equivalent thereof in school).

View Official Rules

NO PURCHASE OR BANKING RELATIONSHIP REQUIRED. PURCHASE OR BANKING RELATIONSHIP WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. The 2024 Regions Riding Forward Scholarship Contest (the “Contest”) consists of four (4) separate quarterly contests (each a “Quarterly Contest”): (1) the “Q-1 Contest;” (2) the “Q-2 Contest;” (3) the “Q-3 Contest;” and (4) the “Q-4 Contest.” The Q-1 Contest begins on 02/01/24 and ends on 03/31/24; the Q-2 Contest begins on 04/01/24 and ends on 06/30/24; the Q-3 Contest begins on 07/01/24 and ends on 09/30/24; and the Q-4 Contest begins on 10/01/24 and ends on 12/31/24. (For each Quarterly Contest, entries must be submitted and received by 11:59:59 PM CT on the applicable Quarterly Contest period end date.) To enter and participate in a particular Quarterly Contest, at the time of entry, you must: (a) be a legal U.S. resident of one of the Eligible States; (b) be 16 years of age or older; (c) have at least one (1) year (or at least 18 semester hours) remaining before college graduation; (d) (if you are not yet in college) begin your freshman year of college no later than the start of the 2025 – 2026 college academic school year; and (e) as of your most recent school enrollment period, have a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0 in school (and if no grade point average is provided at school, be in “good standing” or the equivalent thereof in school). (For purposes of Contest, the “Eligible States” are defined as the states of AL, AR, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN and TX.) Visit regions.com/ridingforward for complete Contest details, including eligibility and Written Essay and Video Essay requirements and Official Rules. (Limit one (1) entry per person, per Quarterly Contest.) For each Quarterly Contest, eligible entries will be grouped according to form of entry (Written Essay or Video Essay) and judged by a panel of independent, qualified judges. A total of four (4) Quarterly Contest Prizes will be awarded in each Quarterly Contest, consisting of two (2) Quarterly Contest Prizes for the Written Essay Entry Group and two (2) Quarterly Contest Prizes for the Video Essay Entry Group. Each Quarterly Contest Prize consists of a check in the amount of $8,000 made out to winner’s designated accredited college. (Limit one (1) Quarterly Contest Prize per person; a contestant is permitted to win only one (1) Quarterly Contest Prize through the Contest.) Sponsor: Regions Bank, 1900 Fifth Ave. N., Birmingham, AL 35203.

© 2024 Regions Bank. All rights reserved. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender. Regions and the Regions logo are registered trademarks of Regions Bank. The LifeGreen color is a trademark of Regions Bank.

2023 Winners

High school:.

• Amyrrean Acoff
• Leon Aldridge
• Kharis Andrews
• Colton Collier
• Indya Griffin
• Christopher Hak
• Aquil Hayes
• Jayden Haynes
• McKenna Jodoin
• Paris Kelly
• Liza Latimer
• Dylan Lodle
• Anna Mammarelli
• Karrington Manley
• Marcellus Odum
• Gautami Palthepu
• Melody Small
• Lauryn Tanner
• Joshua Wilson
• Mohamed Ali
• Kayla Bellamy
• Lauren Boxx
• Alexandria Brown
• Samuel Brown
• Thurston Brown
• Conner Daehler
• Tsehai de Souza
• Anjel Echols
• Samarion Flowers
• Trinity Griffin
• Kristina Hilton
• Ryan Jensen
• Miracle Jones
• Shaniece McGhee
• Chelby Melvin
• Lamiya Ousley
• Kiera Phillips
• Gabrielle Pippins
• Ethan Snead
• Sydney Springs
• Kirsten Tilford
• Tamira Weeks
• Justin Williams

2022 Winners

• Paul Aucremann
• William Booker
• Robyn Cunningham
• Kani'ya Davis
• Oluwatomi Dugbo
• Lillian Goins
• Parker Hall
• Collin Hatfield
• Gabrielle Izu
• Kylie Lauderdale
• Jacob Milan
• Jackson Mitchell
• Carmen Moore
• Madison Morgan
• Kaden Oquelí-White
• Kaylin Parks
• Brian Perryman
• De'Marco Riggins
• Brianna Roundtree
• Sydney Russell
• Carlie Spore
• Morgan Standifer
• Ionia Thomas
• Ramaya Thomas
• Jaylen Toran
• Amani Veals
• Taylor Williams
• Alana Wilson
• Taryn Wilson
• Aryaunna Armstrong
• Hannah Blackwell
• T'Aneka Bowers
• Naomi Bradley
• Arianna Cannon
• Taylor Cline
• Catherine Cummings
• Margaret Fitzgerald
• Chloe Franklin
• Camryn Gaines
• Thomas Greer
• Kayla Helleson
• Veronica Holmes
• Logan Kurtz
• Samuel Lambert
• Jaylon Muchison
• Teresa Odom
• Andrew Payne
• Carey Price
• Emily SantiAnna
• Curtis Smith
• Jered Smith
• Mariah Standifer
• Maura Taylor
• Anna Wilkes

Finalists named in TEAM’s diversity essay contest

Awards to be presented Monday to three Staples’ students whose essays tackled challenging topic of free speech rights vs. hate speech limits. The post Finalists named in TEAM’s diversity essay contest appeared first on Westport Journal.

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Finalists named in TEAM’s diversity essay contest

May 2, 2024 | Community , Education | 0

The essay contest was open to all high school-age students who live in Westport or attend school here.

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News & Announcements

Fourth circuit 2024 essay contest - deadline may 31.

Seventy years ago, the Supreme Court held in Brown v. Board of Education , 347 U.S. 483 (1954), that racial segregation in public schools violates the United States Constitution. The Court recognized that public education is "the very foundation of good citizenship," and Brown's impact on education and society has been the subject of much discussion and debate in our nation's history.

Has the decision in Brown , viewed through the lens of 2024, achieved its purpose of ensuring equal opportunity in public education?

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit is seeking submissions for its 2024 essay contest. 

Students are invited to consider and share their thoughts on the question: "Has the decision in Brown , viewed through the lens of 2024, achieved its purpose of ensuring equal opportunity in public education?"

The contest is open to all students currently in grades 6 through 12 from Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Grades 9-12: Essays are limited to 500-1,000 words , and students have the opportunity to win one of three cash prizes:  first place, $2,000; second place, $1,500;  and  third place, $1,000.

Grades 6–8: Essays are limited to 250-500 words , and students have the opportunity to win one of three cash prizes: first place, $500; second place, $350;  and  third place, $200. Deadline: Entry form and essay must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, May 31, 2024 . Winners will be announced in August, and the winning essays will be presented at the Fourth Circuit's Constitution Day Program in September 2024.

For instructions on how to submit your essay and questions to consider, visit www.ca4.uscourts.gov/essay-contest .

For questions about the contest, contact the Fourth Circuit Clerk’s Office at [email protected] or (804) 916-2715.

Please note: Prior award winners as well as children, grandchildren, stepchildren, and members of the household of a federal judge or federal judiciary employee are excluded from the competition.

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David Brooks

The Authoritarians Have the Momentum

By David Brooks

Opinion Columnist

The central struggle in the world right now is between liberalism and authoritarianism. It’s between those of us who believe in democratic values and those who don’t — whether they are pseudo-authoritarian populists like Donald Trump, Viktor Orban, Narendra Modi or Recep Tayyip Erdogan or straight-up dictators like Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping or theocratic fascists like the men who run Iran and Hamas.

In this contest, we liberals should be wiping the floor with those guys! But we’re not. Trump is leading in the swing states. Modi seems to be on the verge of re-election. Russia and Iran are showing signs of strength.

Over the last two centuries liberalism has evolved into a system that respects human dignity and celebrates individual choice. Democratic liberalism says we don’t judge how you want to define the purpose of your life; we just hope to build fair systems of cooperation so you can freely pursue whatever goals you individually choose. Liberalism tends to be agnostic about the purposes of life and focused on processes and means: rule of law, the separation of powers, free speech, judicial review, free elections and the rules-based international order.

In his stirring and clarifying new book, “Liberalism as a Way of Life,” Alexandre Lefebvre argues that liberalism isn’t merely a set of neutral rules that allow diverse people to live together; liberalism, he writes, has also become a moral ethos, a guiding philosophy of life. As other moral systems, like religion, have withered in many people’s lives, liberalism itself has expanded to fill the hole in people’s souls.

Liberals honor individuals’ right to see themselves with self-respect; racial slurs have become our form of blasphemy because they assault this sense of self-respect. Liberal morality tends to be horizontal — pure liberals don’t look upward to serve a living God; they look sideways and try to be kind and decent to their fellow human beings.

Pure liberals place a high value on individual consent; any kind of sex or family arrangement is OK so long as everybody agrees to it. At one point Lefebvre has a nice little riff on all the traits that make us liberals pleasant to be around. We respect autonomy and personal space, dislike hypocrisy and snobbery, and strive to achieve a live-and-let-live tolerance.

But I confess that I finished the book not only with a greater appreciation of liberalism’s strengths but also more aware of why so many people around the world reject liberalism, and why authoritarianism is on the march.

Liberal societies can seem a little tepid and uninspiring. Liberalism tends to be nonmetaphysical; it avoids the big questions like: Why are we here? Who made the cosmos? It nurtures the gentle bourgeois virtues like kindness and decency but not, as Lefebvre allows, some of the loftier virtues, like bravery, loyalty, piety and self-sacrificial love.

Liberal society can be a little lonely. By putting so much emphasis on individual choice, pure liberalism attenuates social bonds. In a purely liberal ethos, an invisible question lurks behind every relationship: Is this person good for me? Every social connection becomes temporary and contingent. Even your attitude toward yourself can be instrumentalized: I am a resource I invest in for desired outcomes.

When societies become liberal all the way down, they neglect a core truth: For liberal societies to prosper they need to rest on institutions that precede individual choice — families, faiths, attachments to a sacred place. People are not formed by institutions to which they are lightly attached. Their souls and personalities are formed within the primal bonds to this specific family, that specific ethnic culture, this piece of land with its long history to my people, to that specific obedience to the God of my ancestors.

These life-altering attachments are usually not individually chosen. They are usually woven, from birth, into the fabric of people’s being — into their traditions, cultures and sense of personhood.

The great Rabbi Jonathan Sacks explained the difference between the sort of contracts that flourish in the world of individual choice and covenants that flourish best in those realms that are deeper than individual utility: “A contract is about interests. A covenant is about identity. It is about you and me coming together to form an ‘us.’ That is why contracts benefit, but covenants transform.”

The great strength of the authoritarians who oppose liberal principles, from Trump to Xi to Hamas, is that they play straight into the primordial sources of meaning that are deeper than individual preference — faith, family, soil and flag. The authoritarians tell their audiences that the liberals want to take all that is solid — from your morality to your gender — and reduce it to the instability of a personal whim. They tell their throngs that the liberals are threatening their vestigial loyalties. They continue: We need to break the rules in order to defend these sacred bonds. We need a strongman to defend us from social and moral chaos.

These have proved to be powerful arguments. One recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 52 percent of Republicans believe that America needs “a strong president who should be allowed to rule without too much interference from courts and Congress.”

We could be living in a year in which authoritarians take or keep power in nations across Europe, Latin America and in the U.S., while Putin continues to make advances in Ukraine and Hamas survives the war in Gaza. In short, the authoritarians still have the momentum on their side.

Worse, liberalism has prompted a counterreaction in our societies. Many people find themselves spiritually unfulfilled; they feel naked, embattled and alone. So they grasp at politics to fill that moral and spiritual void. They grasp at politics to give them the sense of belonging, moral meaning and existential purpose that faith, family, soil and flag provided to their ancestors. In so doing they transform politics from a prosaic way to negotiate differences into a holy war in which my moral side is vindicated and your immoral side is destroyed. Politics begins to play a totalizing and brutalizing role in their personal lives and in our national life. They are asking more of politics than politics can deliver.

If liberalism is to survive this contest, we have to celebrate liberalism while acknowledging its limits. It’s a great way to construct a fair society to help diverse people live together in peace. But liberalism cannot be the ultimate purpose in life. We need to be liberals in public but subscribe to transcendent loyalties in the depth of our being — to be Catholic, Jewish, stoic, environmentalist, Marxist or some other sacred and existential creed. People need to feel connected to a transcendent order; nice rules don’t satisfy that yearning.

Liberal politicians need to find ways to defend liberal institutions while also honoring faith, family and flag and the other loyalties that define the purposes of most people’s lives. I feel that American presidents from, say, Theodore Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan knew how to speak in those terms. We need a 21st-century version of that.

If liberals are merely nice and tolerant, and can’t talk about the deepest and most sacred cares of the heart and soul, which seem so threatened to so many, then this is going to be an ugly election year.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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David Brooks has been a columnist with The Times since 2003. He is the author, most recently,  of “How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen.” @ nytdavidbrooks