Elie Wiesel and one of the contest winners
Elie Wiesel honors winners in ethics essay contest
Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate awards five US college students for essays about ethical issues close to their hearts.
Elie Wiesel
has done a lot in his 87 years. The Holocaust survivor and political activist won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal and many other awards and accolades. Over the past 26 years, he has been giving out medals himself through his non-profit, the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity.
niversities across the United States submitted essays on different topics.
On Thursday, in a ceremony sponsored by LRN, the foundation honored five US college students who submitted essays on the urgent and complex ethical issues mankind faces in the 21st century.
Wiesel with the contest winners
"Every year, the organization awards prizes to five college students who wrote an in-depth essay about a personal story on an ethical issue that is important to them and close to their hearts, in order to act on the matter and lead to a positive change," said Kathleen Brennan, one of the ceremony's organizers.
Hundreds of students from colleges and u
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"Together, we are helping cultivate the next generation of leaders to think and act ethically, a critical virtue in our interdependent world where the actions of so few can impact so many," said Dov Seidman, the CEO of LRN.
The students don’t have to be social activists. Instead, they are asked to express in their essay what motivated them to act for a higher cause.
The first place winner, Alexandra Stewart from the University of New Mexico, won $5,000 for her essay in which she discusses a personal encounter with familial sexual violence as a teenager. This experience changed her perceptions of cross-cultural interactions, leading her to believe that ethics must transcend cultural traditions.
Wiesel was on hand on Thursday to award the prizes, and contest organizers said he personally goes over the top 10 submissions and helps determine the winners.
"The award is inspired by Elie Wiesel's work and legacy," Kathleen said. "It seeks to encourage the younger generation to lead, and feel like they could lead, a real positive change in the world; for them to know how to identify wrongs or injustices and know that they can do something to make a change."
Throughout the years, many of the winners did go on to become activists, whether as men and women of religion or through social activism in the community or in the media. MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, for example, won the prize while she was in college.
