Martin Luther King Jr. Day
2006 Essay & Video Contest

 
We are inviting New Jersey students in grades 7 through 12 to participate in our efforts to keep King’s legacy alive by encouraging them to participate in this year’s essay and video contest. The deadline for submission is Friday, Nov. 18, 2005. Contest winners and their families are encouraged to attend the King Day celebration, where winners will be recognized for their achievements. They are awarded significant prizes, and their work helps contribute greatly to our community’s understanding of King. Last year, we received about 300 essays and videos from 19 area schools.
 

“So long as I do not firmly and irrevocably possess the right to vote I do not possess myself. I cannot make up my mind – it is made up for me. I cannot live as a democratic citizen, observing the laws I have helped to enact – I can only submit to the edict of others.”
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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Give Us the Ballot – We Will Transform the South, May 17, 1957.

This year’s contest theme is the power of the vote -- Aug. 6, 2005 marked the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, which has been called the single most effective civil rights legislation ever enacted by Congress. In New Jersey, a gubernatorial election takes place next month while nationally voting issues are being debated on many fronts. For example, several provisions of the Voting Rights Act are set to expire in 2007. Efforts like the 15-year-old Rock the Vote campaign are trying to get young people, ages 18 to 24, to vote as a block to dramatically impact national elections. Other groups are organizing to try and lower the national voting age. Students also can envision ways in which the vote has been or will be relied upon as the Gulf Coast recovers from the devastating effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Please review all guidelines as there are new ones since last year’s contest.

General guidelines:
We ask students to express their feelings about the power of the vote, a fundamental component of democracy, through posters, essays or video projects. Students should exhibit a broad command of this issue and express themselves in a way that could influence at least one person of voting age who does not currently vote to do so. As always, winning entries will be judged on a variety of factors including message, creativity, originality, accuracy and inclusion of Dr. King and/or the messages for which he stood. Students may not use copyrighted material without proper permission. Submissions may not be returned unless self-addressed envelopes are included with requests for returned materials. Submissions also may be picked up immediately following the MLK Day Celebration on Jan. 16, 2006. This contest is open to New Jersey students only.

Students must attach (staple preferred) the 2006 MLK contest submission form to each entry and may enter only one contest. In the poster and essay contests, we expect to award, per grade grouping, one prize of: $100 as first place; $75 as second place; and $50 as third place, as well as honorable mentions. There will be first-place winners only in the video category, per grade grouping. Award winners may need to provide their Social Security numbers for prize payment. In keeping with Dr. King’s messages of inclusiveness, social and racial justice and respect for the dignity of others, submissions that include profanity and/or language inconsistent with Dr. King’s philosophy will be disqualified.

Essay Contest:
Each student (in grades 7 and 8, 9 and 10, and 11 and 12) may submit one original essay, between 600 to 1,000 words, explaining the power of the vote. Essays may be typed or handwritten, but any essay that is illegible and/or unduly long will be disqualified. Pages must be single-sided and numbered, with the student’s name appearing on the back of each page.

Video Contest:
Each student (in grades 7 and 8, 9 and 10, and 11 and 12) may submit one original VHS, DVD, CD-ROM or PowerPoint presentation that explains the power of the vote. Submissions are limited to three minutes in length. Submissions that malfunction or are too long will be disqualified. Entries that are deemed by the University to infringe upon copyright protected material will be disqualified.

Entries must be delivered to the Office of Communications, with entry form, by 5 p.m. on Nov. 18, 2005. For more information or clarification, please call Thomas Bartus, 609-258-3601.