MLK essay competition deadline fast approaching

In honor of January’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the office of Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs is holding its annual King Day essay competition.

This year’s essay competition theme is “Times of Challenge and Controversy” to honor how King reminded people they are not measured by how they act in times of “comfort and convenience,” but how they act in times of “challenge and controversy.” 

To echo this message, Calvin Mackie, a motivational speaker and professor at Tulane University, spoke at last year’s IU King Day Celebration about his disappointment with the nation’s reaction to Hurricane Katrina, which devastated his hometown of New Orleans.

“He had a really critical conversation about how he felt his state had failed the victims of Katrina,” said Roberta Radovich, program coordinator for the office of DEMA. “So the core of the conversation is Martin Luther King’s idea that we are to be judged by who we are and what we do in times of controversy and challenge.”

This year’s essay competition invites IU graduate and undergraduate students to explain in a minimum of 1,000 words how they have taken action in response to Mackie’s call and honored King’s expectations.

Radovich said the first- and second-place essay winners will receive an iPod touch and iHome iH9B6 stereo system. The third-place winners will receive a 16 GB iPod nano.

While both graduate and undergraduate students are invited to submit essays, they will not be competing against each other. 

“There are a total of six prizes, and anybody can resubmit as long as they haven’t won a first-place prize previously,” Radovich said.

Winners are chosen based on how well they answer the question by making reference to their own experiences and observations as well as the life and teachings of King.

“I think they’re looking for craft and a succinct argument,” Radovich said. “And how gracefully and beautifully they can piece it together.” 

Six copies of each essay should be turned in by 5 p.m. Dec. 8 to the office of Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs in Bryan Hall. Radovich said winners will be notified of their success in early January. 

The essay competition is part of Bloomington’s two-day MLK Day Celebration that takes place Jan. 18 and 19. Activist and former Black Panther Party leader Elaine Brown will speak Jan. 18 at the Whittenberger Auditorium in the Indiana Memorial Union. Jan. 19 is the national 2009 MLK Day and will include numerous celebratory activities and events throughout the campus and city.

First-place essay winners will be asked to read their essays at the MLK breakfast on Jan. 19.

“The prizes are awesome,” Radovich said. “They’re worth taking the time to reflect personally on their own life and the world around them.” 

Despite this, Radovich said she is concerned not enough students will submit essays. She said she hopes to see increased submission.

“I think they find themselves frequently begging for students to submit something,” she said. “I know that it’s never enough. There are never enough students.”