National deadline: December 5, 2011, postmark by 5:00 p.m. PST

Eligibility requirements:

• full-time juniors or seniors at accredited four-year colleges or universities in the United States

Award summary and conditions: The Elie Wiesel Prize in Ethics Essay Contest is an annual competition designed to challenge college students to analyze the urgent ethical issues confronting them in today's complex world. Students are encouraged to write thought-provoking personal essays that raise questions, single out issues and are rational arguments for ethical action.

Faculty Sponsor: Any interested professor at the student's school may act as a Faculty Sponsor. Students entering the contest are required to have a Faculty Sponsor review their essay and sign the Entry Form. Faculty members should only endorse thought-provoking, well-written essays that fall within the contest guidelines. Students studying abroad may have professors at their home or abroad institution serve as their Faculty Sponsor.

Awards:

• First Prize - $ 5,000
• Second Prize - $ 2,500
• Third Prize - $ 1,500
• Two Honorable Mentions - $ 500 each

Application process: online submission only

You may create an online account at any time, (even before you have completed your essay). Please note that once you have uploaded your essay, you may change your uploaded file until you "submit." We advise you to please work with your faculty sponsor on your essay before it is submitted for online verification. Your Faculty Sponsor must verify your entry by the deadline on December 5th, so please plan accordingly. Once your Faculty Sponsor has verified your essay, it is final, and you may not replace or change your essay. Any essay without Faculty Sponsor verification will be disqualified.

1. Your Essay
2. Your Contact Information
3. Enrollment Verification
4. A Faculty Sponsor and his/her Contact Information

Essay format:

• In 3,000 to 4,000 words, students are encouraged to raise questions, single out issues and identify dilemmas.
• Essays may be written in the formal or informal voice, but most importantly, an individual voice should be evident in the essay.
• The essay should be developed from the student's point of view and may take the form of an analysis that is biographical, historical, literary, philosophical, psychological, sociological or theological.
• Essay must be the original, unpublished work of one student. Only one essay per student per year may be submitted.
• Essay should be titled, typed in 12-point font in English, double-spaced with 1" margins and numbered pages.
• Submissions will be judged anonymously.  Hence, no name or identifying references (i.e. your name, school, or professor) should appear on the title page or in the document.  Our office will put a code on your essay.
• While relevant topics are suggested each year, applicants are encouraged to choose any subject they feel strongly about, provided it is related to the domain of ethics. Suggested topics:

• Articulate with clarity an ethical issue that you have encountered and analyze what it has taught you about ethics and yourself. (This is the suggested topic for 2012)
• Reflect on the relationship between religion and ethics in today's world, making sure to draw on your own life as a guide.    
• What does your own experience tell you about the relationship between politics and ethics and, in particular, what could be done to make politics more ethical?

Faculty Representative: Keith Raether. In addition each applicant is required to have a Faculty Sponsor (see above).

Selection process: What the readers look for:

• Clear articulation and genuine grappling with an ethical dilemma
• Adherence to guidelines and carefully proofread essays
• Observation of rules for Standard English usage (grammar, punctuation, mechanics) in writing and revising your work
• Thoroughly thought-out, tightly focused essays
• Originality and imagination
• Eloquence of writing style
• Intensity and unity in the essay

Contact information:

The Elie Wiesel Foundation For Humanity
555 Madison Avenue - 20th Floor, New York, Ny 10022, Telephone: 212-490-7788
www.eliewieselfoundation.org