Princeton University to hold ceremony Monday.
By: Jeff Milgram
It is time for every American to take a stand against racism and hatred, Ariana Vera, an eighth-grade student at Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, wrote in her first-place winning essay in Princeton University’s Martin Luther King Day essay contest.
"It is our turn, our turn this time. Our turn to rise against the racism, the homophobia, the sexism, the hate. Martin Luther King has taken his turn as has Thomas Jefferson, and John F. Kennedy," Ariana wrote. "Many people throughout our history as Americans have stood up against hate, and now it is our turn, yours and mine, to take our stand. It is our turn to prove to our heroes and heroines that we support them still, that their messages have not died. Their messages will never die, but they will echo through time, whispered reminders."
Her stirring call to action earned Ariana a $100 prize for top honors in the grades 7-8 category. Ariana and the other winners will be honored 1:30 p.m. Monday during the university’s Martin Luther King celebration at Richardson Auditorium.
In all, nearly 500 students from 16 schools submitted essays or videos that would have the impact of Dr. King’s famous "I Have a Dream" speech and an additional 500 students in grades four through six submitted posters.
"The disappointing truth is it may be decades before the time will come when it is second nature for all residents of this world to examine personality quirks and beliefs before race, skin color and ethnicity," wrote Prerna Sinha, an eighth-grade student at Montgomery Middle School, in his third-place essay. "For generations to come, Americans need to work together to create a country where it is habitual to rejoice, gloat and be proud of your diverse background, not a place where you feel ashamed."
Jessica Boston, a 12th-grader at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North, wrote about the importance of education in her essay, which took second place in the 11th-12th grade category.
"I will never forget what my grandmother told me. She said, ‘They can take everything away from you, but they can’t take your education.’ These words resounded in my mind as I thought of the statement’s truthfulness. ‘They’ meaning anybody or anything can attempt to take everything that you possess, but an education is something that no man or thing can take away. Education, therefore, equals a limitless power that only you can control and possess," she wrote.
Monday’s event, which is free and open to the public, will include an address by Valerie Smith, director of Princeton University’s Program in African-American Studies, and musical selections by the University Gospel Choir.
Professor Smith, the Woodrow Wilson Professor of Literature and professor of English, will speak on "Memory."