FIRE’s “Freedom in Academia” Essay Contest http://www.thefire.org/index.php/article/9253.html
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) is pleased to announce its first annual “Freedom in Academia” essay contest. High school students from across the U.S. are invited to write an in-depth essay explaining why free speech and First Amendment rights are crucial to higher education and how abuses of these rights harm education.
FIRE is a nonprofit educational foundation that unites civil rights and civil liberties leaders, scholars, journalists, and public intellectuals from across the political and ideological spectrum on behalf of individual rights, due process, freedom of expression, academic freedom, and rights of conscience at our nation’s colleges and universities by learning how to make smart choices.
FIRE’s mission is to defend and sustain individual rights at America’s colleges and universities. These rights include freedom of speech, legal equality, due process, religious liberty, and sanctity of conscience—the essential qualities of individual liberty and dignity. FIRE’s core mission is to protect the unprotected and to educate the public and communities of concerned Americans about the threats to these rights on our campuses and about the means to preserve them.
One first place winner will be awarded a college scholarship of $5,000. The second place winner will receive a $2,500 college scholarship.
Essay Contest Rules
Deadline: November 20, 2008. Winners Announced: December 19, 2008.
Instructions:
1. Go to FIRE’s website at http://www.thefire.org/ and familiarize yourself with FIRE and FIRE’s issues.
2. Click on FIRE’s multimedia button. Watch two short videos about real students who were censored and punished for speech that is protected by the U.S. Constitution:
Video #1: FIRE on Campus: An Introduction to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. This video serves as an introduction to FIRE, its principles and issues, and its commitment to liberty on campus. It then turns to FIRE’s case at San Francisco State University, where students endured a months-long investigation for stomping on Hamas and Hezbollah flags during an anti-terrorism protest. It also discusses campus speech codes.
Video #2: FIRE in Action: Valdosta State University. This short film highlights FIRE’s fight against Valdosta State University’s (VSU’s) unconstitutional free speech zone policy and chronicles FIRE’s victory on behalf of VSU student T. Hayden Barnes, who was expelled for engaging in a peaceful protest.
3. Answer the Essay Question: In 700 – 1200 words, please discuss the videos you have seen and explain how these universities betrayed the purpose of a university and violated the constitutional guarantees of free expression. Focus on why such codes and practices are incompatible with higher education and why free speech is important in our nation’s colleges and universities.
4. Submit your essays to scholarships(at)thefire.org (replace (at) with @). All essays should be submitted to FIRE by November 20, 2008. Include your name, contact information, school, and school address on the top, right hand corner of your essay. You may also mail your essay to: FIRE Attn: Essay Scholarship Contest, 601 Walnut Street, Suite 510, Philadelphia, PA 19106.
GOOD LUCK!!
