ADL Seeking Student Entries for "Moral Courage" Essay Contest

Date: December 28, 2009

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The Mountain States Regional Office of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is seeking student entries for the 2nd annual Leslie and Norman Davis Student Essay Contest – A Tribute to Moral Courage: Standing Up Against Injustice. This middle and high school student essay contest asks students to research and write about an individual who took a strong stance on a specific issue based on his or her personal beliefs or convictions, regardless of danger or threats to personal safety.

The Holocaust provides the backdrop for students to delve into the history of rescuers, those “ordinary” people who took extraordinary risks to become an ally to Holocaust survivors. Students will research and write about a person who demonstrated moral courage during the Holocaust or during another time, contemporary or historic. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Ida B. Wells, and Lech Walesa are a few examples, but there are many more.

There are two contest divisions: 7th-9th grade students and 10th-12th grade students. Monetary prizes will be awarded for first, second and third place in each division. The deadline for submitting entries is February 26, 2010, and the presentation of awards will be made on April 7, 2010, at ADL’s Governor’s Holocaust Remembrance Program in Denver, Colorado.

This student essay contest has been generously underwritten by the family of Leslie and Norman Davis. Leslie and Norman Davis shared a lifelong commitment to social justice and civic service, acting to address injustice whenever they encountered it.  Each served as the Chair of ADL’s Mountain States Regional Board and received ADL’s Distinguished Community Service Award.  Leslie was a founder of the Denver's Women’s Bank and Georgetown University's Program for Jewish Civilization, and was Board Chair of Children’s Hospital.  Norman was Board Chair of National Jewish Hospital and both were involved in numerous philanthropic activities for people of all faiths and backgrounds.  This essay contest is dedicated to their memory.