ADP Sponsors Scholarship Essay Contest

The American Democracy Project is offering students, faculty and staff the opportunity to earn $1,000 for their take on democracy.

The essay contest, designed to capture “the essence of democracy,” will be divided into three categories, each with a different theme and specifications, according to ADP committee member Sam Souryal.

Faculty and staff will write a 20-page paper on “The Soul of Democracy,” graduate students will write a 15-page paper on “Living Democratically” and undergraduate students will write a paper on “Why Democracy?”

Papers for all three categories should be double-spaced and in APA style, The length of the paper excludes references.

“The purpose of this is to raise awareness among faculty and students that write and research about the importance of democracy in America,” Souryal said.

In addition to the $1,000 stipend, which winners may opt to donate to a scholarship or other group, winners will be recognized by university president James F. Gaertner during “a big day of activities” and will have their works published in a special monograph printed by the Sam Houston State University Press, Souryal said.

“ We will keep a large number of the monographs, and we will give them to visitors of Sam Houston, and dignitaries, and tell them this is a product of our American Democracy project,” he said. “So we are going to dress it up, and make it nice.”

Winners will be selected after each essay is blindly reviewed by members of the department of English and foreign languages, for general organization, grammar, style and syntax; then by members of the ADP committee, for consistency, logic, literary value and creative imagination; and finally by a committee of SHSU distinguished professors, who will select the winning essay among the five finalist submissions in each category based on the essay’s overall excellence and literary distinction.

A copy of the essay should be submitted both to Diane Dowdey, Department of English and Foreign Languages, Box 2146 SHSU, as well as to Joyce McCauley, Chair, SHSU American Democracy Project, Box 2119 SHSU.

The deadline for submission is Oct. 7, and the winner will be notified during the fall semester after the evaluation process is completed.

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SHSU Media Contact: Jennifer Gauntt
Aug. 30, 2005
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