First Place: $1,500 Essay and $1,000 Video!
Second Place: $500 Essay and $300 Video!
This contest is currently over!
The 2022 First Place Essay Was Written By Calyn L on Competitive Schools and Can Be Read Here.
The 2022 Second Place Essay Was Written By Mia B on the Homelessness Crisis and Can Be Read Here.
The Libertarian Party of Alameda County (LPAC) awarded a cash scholarship for the best essay and best video, based on a topic selected by LPAC.
The topic for Spring 2022 LPAC Scholarship Award was: How should a Libertarian government respond to a local or state political controversy of your choosing?
Eligibility:
All junior and senior students enrolled at private and public schools, or homeschooled, and residing in Alameda County, under 20 years of age during the time of the contest, are eligible to submit an essay or video. Students may enter regardless of GPA, citizenship, financial status, ethnicity, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.
Essay:
Essays must be between 1,500 and 3,000 words long, not including any footnotes or references. Please attribute quotes and source materials accordingly based on your preferred style guide (APA, Chicago, or MLA), no plagiarism is allowed. Essays must be submitted as a PDF via email to [email protected] for judging by 11:59 pm May 31st, 2022. Please refer to “SUBMISSION DETAILS” listed below.
Video:
Videos must be between five and ten minutes in length in total. Please attribute quotes and source materials accordingly based on your preferred style guide (APA, Chicago, or MLA) in a PDF document during submission, no plagiarism is allowed. Videos should be uploaded to YouTube, Odysee, or Vimeo, the link should be unlisted and submitted. Videos may be listed after the winners are announced. Video links must be submitted via email to [email protected] (attach your PDF for references and provide your video link) for judging by 11:59 pm May 31st, 2022. Please refer to “SUBMISSION DETAILS” listed below.
Judging:
Essays and videos will be judged by a panel of members of the Libertarian Party of Alameda County, based on how closely the essay accurately reflects Libertarian principles, strength of persuasiveness, and/or arguments of the topic, and grammar and spelling (essay) or presentation (video).
Awards:
The first-place winner of the essay will be awarded $1,500 cash. The second-place essay winner will receive $500 cash. The first place winner of the video will be awarded $1,000 cash. The second-place video winner will receive $300 cash.
Notification:
Winners will be notified via email by June 30, 2022. Awarding of cash will be presented July 16, 2022, at a location to be determined based on the location of winners, where the winners will read their essays and videos be broadcast if they are able to attend. Dinner and non-alcoholic beverages for the first and second-place winners will be paid for by LPAC at the restaurant. Attendance to the July 16th, 2022 award dinner is not required to receive the scholarship money.
If you are unfamiliar with Libertarian principles or the Libertarian Party, you can begin your research by reading:
The National Libertarian Platform
Henry Hazlitt “Economics in One Easy Lesson”
For any further questions about the scholarship program and contest, please email: [email protected]
SUBMISSION DETAILS:
You can either submit your entry via email to [email protected] with the following information:
- Name
- Birthdate
- Email
- Phone (optional)
- School name or home school
- Home address
- City
- Zip Code
- Essay (attach as PDF) or Video (provide video link and PDF quoted & source material)
- Topic
- Title
- If you would like to receive further (non-scholarship) information from the LPAC such as meeting information or monthly newsletters.
Privacy:
Information collected for this scholarship contest will only be used to verify the residence of applicants, reply to questions, and notify the competitors once a decision has been made. Information will not be saved or used beyond this year's scholarship contest and will not be used for further (non-scholarship) contact of any time.
Previously Asked Questions:
Q: The brief states that you need to represent how a libertarian government would respond to local or political controversy. Does this mean political or social conflicts?
A: The prompt is intentionally very open-ended, so you can write about whatever you want; however, the issue that you pick should be considered a political issue that there is controversy over the government's role in. However, often times these issues are also social issues, such as abortion, LGBTQ rights, etc.