Contest Rules and Procedures

Updated on December 7, 2015

The Basics:

Review the“Contest Rules and Procedures;”

By Monday, January 25, 2016, register online your intent to participate in the contest;

Focus on the themecontext: “Hallowed Grounds: Sites of African American Memories;”

Consult library research resources as you brainstorm;

Experiment with a topic that capturesthe essence of the theme;

Write and allow ample time to revise your essay, recheck references, and ensure completion;

By February 8, 2016, submit your essay electronically to the website pvamu.edu/presidents contest

By Friday,February 19, 2016, finalists will be notified by email; they will be invited to practicesession for the oratory presentation;

On Thursday, February 25, 2016 at 6:00 p.m.in the Don K. Clark Auditorium,each essay component finalist will deliverbefore the judges and audience assembled a 7-9 minute oration based upon the individual’s essay;

Prizes

Win: $2,500 Place: $2,000 Show: $1,500

Spirit award amounts: To be determined

Eligibility

Participants must be enrolled as full- time undergraduate students at the University as of Spring 2016. They must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0, placing them in good academic standing and they must be in good student conduct standing as determined by the Office of Student Conduct.

Entry and Photo Release Form

Students who are notified that they are finalists in the essay component of the contest are to complete the “Entry and Photo Release Form” and bring it with them to Ms. Traci Chernosky in Room??? of the J.M. Drew Complex (building east of the Willie A. Tempton, Sr., Student Memorial Center).

Library Research Resources

  • Electronic Databases: Articles (journals, magazines, newspapers)
  • Oxford African American Studies Center
  • American Historical Newspapers
  • Discovering Cultures
  • Issues and Controversies
  • JSTOR
  • Legal Collection
  • NewsBank
  • World News
  • EBSCOhost All Databases
  • Online Catalog: Books (print and eBooks)
  • APA Reference List Style Guide, 6th Edition
  • Library Research and Finding Tools

Contact Information

Please contact Ms. Gay, Head of Reference and Information Services Librarian if you need researchguidance.

Office Number: 936-261-1506
Office email:

Preparation Requirements

Paper:Cover Page:

Three (3) type- written, double-spaced pages of 1500to 1700 words

(No abstract required)

Reference Page

Style: American Psychological Association (APA Guide,6th Edition)

References: A minimum of four (4) reputable sources: magazines, books, journals, reports,

special reports, credible websites domains such as edu. Org., gov., but no blogs or

wikipedia

Documentation: Writers are advised to recheck paper to be sure paper properly credits others

for their scholarly work; not only should plagiarism avoided, the appearance of it

should also be avoided.

Print Type:New Times Roman

12 Point

Microsoft Word

Contest Rubrics

  • Rubric for Essay
  • Rubric for Oratorical Presentation

The Essay Topic

Thenational theme of the 2016 Black History Month is the overarching theme of the Second Annual President’s Essay/Oratorical Contest and topics on which students write must capture the theme’s meaning and intent:

Hallowed Grounds: Sites of African American Memories

Theme Context

If American history is the record ofthe events, traditions, places, actions, and values of the people, but there are inhabitants for whom the records are non-existent or existent but ignored, how then can that be the history of the people? This is especially problematic when those inhabitants were the ones who were for centuries forced to push back the frontier, thus building the infrastructure of the new world.be complete? This must have been among the pivotal questions that kept Dr. Carter G. Woodson awake at night long after lengthy sessions conducting research in pursuitof hisPh.D. degreecompleted in1912 when he became the second African American to earn that degree from Harvard University. Compelled to find a way to have the story of the Negro told and broadly shared, he founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History now known as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Scholarly contributions published in the Journal of Negro Historyand theNegro History Bulletin laid the groundwork for intellectual inquiry and broad dissemination of the facts about therich heritage of a people. The week-longcelebration of black history began in 1926. Fifty years later, in 1976, the February celebration was extended to become a month long event heightening awareness of black life and culture among various segments of the population. To Dr. Woodson, Dr. Dubois, Dr. John Hope Franklin and other scholars of early generation to more contemporary scholars such as Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Dr. Cornell West, and Dr. George C. Wright to name a few, the world is indebted. They have engaged in historical archaeology, uncovering of and interpreting movements, writings, communities, music, structures, scientific discoveries, means of transportation, methods of governance, worship practices, economies, et cetera that are woven into a tapestry that tells the story of African Americans. Theirs is a legacy worth preserving. No story of America is a true story without the history of the African American.

The 2016 theme selected for Black History Month, “Hallowed Grounds: Sites of African American Memories” challenges us to recall, interpret, understand, disseminate, and properly place discoveries about the African American experience in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It makes the thinker and writer take on the role of the forensic inquiry which is at the heart of historical scholarship. What are the memories evoked by a visit, actual or electronic, to the campus of what came to be known as Bethune Cookman College in Daytona Beach, Florida and the Washington, D.C. home of the college’s founder, Mrs. Mary McCleod Bethune? Are the memories those of a people long denied, even assaulted, for wanting to get an education? Or, are they memories of a black woman educator who defied the odds by forging a way to provide educational opportunity for the progeny of former slaves? What do the memories say to us and what can we glean from them? Are there lessons to be learned and is there action to be taken by African Americans or others to promote educational opportunity and success for previously denied population.

Whether the memories evoked by actual or vicarious visits to the sites of African American memories such as the home of Frederick Douglas, the laboratory of George Washington Carver, Mother Bethel A.M. E. Church, the DuSable Museum, stops along the Underground Railroad, or other sites, it is important for the essay writer not stop at what the visit and exploration reveal as worthy of memory, it is important for the writer to devote at least a half page to implications for contemporary life of African Americans. Memories that hold great meaning also fuel thoughts about actions or strategies. If the drive to become well educated was evident in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, is there any less need for that same fervor today? What plan of action might hold promise? Is there something learned from evoking past memories during exploration of the “hallowed” sites that help to inform the present and lead to a plan to fully realize the dream of opportunity and access?

Again, writers are advised to be careful to accurately cite sources used in completing this assignment.

Registration Form

President’s Essay/Oratorical Contest Registration Form

  • Each student who wishes to enter the contest must have completed the online Registration and Intent to Participate Form accessible by submitting the form below. The final essay must be submitted online by Monday, February 8, 2016 by midnight.
  • Name*

FirstLast

  • Last Four of Student ID #*
  • Classification*

  • Major (if declared)
  • Address*

Street AddressCityState / Province / RegionZIP / Postal CodeCountry

  • Email*

Enter EmailConfirm Email

  • Cell Phone*
  • Contest Mentor/Advisor*
  • Contest Mentor/Advisor Email*

Enter EmailConfirm Email

  • Declaration of Intent Statement*
  • I herein declare the intention to prepare and submit an original essay on a topic of my choosing that is inspired and informed by the general theme, “Hallowed Grounds: Sites of African American Memories.”Furthur, I agree to follow the contest rules including adherence to the schedule for submission, guidelines for writing , avoidance of plagiarism and requirement to publicly deliver on February 25, 2016 an oration based on the essay with which I became a finalist.

.

Essay Submission Form

  • Date*
  • Name*

FirstLast

  • Email*
  • Last four of Student ID #*
  • Essay Topic*
  • File*

Accepted file types: doc, docx.

Only Word Format is permitted

  • Verification of Authenticity of Essay*
  • I have written and/or created this essay. I have not copied, plagiarized any parts of it from another source. I verify that this is my work. I assume all responsibilities and consequences if my work is found to be otherwise. Prairie View A&M University will not be held responsible if legal action results from publication.