The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity and LRN Announce Student Winners of the 2015 Prize in Ethics Essay Contest

NEW YORK, Oct. 26, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity and its exclusive corporate sponsor, LRN, announced today that Alexandra Stewart, University of New Mexico, Class of 2015, is the first place winner of the 2015 Elie Wiesel Foundation Prize in Ethics essay contest. 

Stewart, an International Studies major from Edmond, OK, won first place for her essay, "The Ethics of Transcendence," 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. Stewart writes, "We must understand that, although we operate in separate spheres, humanity as a whole is constantly impacted by the opinions we hold as individuals…if we are unable to put aside our differences to surmount the barriers we have created for ourselves, perhaps we are missing the point of life itself."

"Today's college students are listening to the ethical voices within. They are drawing on their memories and the lessons of their teachers, and are concerned with the morality of their private and public experiences. They are challenging us all to make a difference," said Elie Wiesel.

The Prize in Ethics Essay Contest is an annual competition that challenges college students in the U.S. to submit essays on the urgent and complex ethical issues that confront us in the modern world. Since the contest's inception in 1989, thousands of young people have composed essays for consideration.  In November 2010, Yale University Press published "An Ethical Compass: Coming of Age in the 21st Century," an anthology of some of the most outstanding entries from the prize's first two decades.  Last year, the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity and LRN partnered with the Miami-Dade County Public Schools to introduce the Prize in Ethics at the high school level. 

"It's an honor to continue our partnership with the Elie Wiesel Foundation and its Prize in Ethics, which has inspired thousands of students across the country," said Dov Seidman, CEO of LRN. "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."

Additional winners of the 2015 Prize in Ethics Essay Contest include:

• Second Prize: Andrew Mueller, for his essay, "The Ethics of Giving: Lessons from the Ship and the City," in which he illustrates a developed framework for ethical giving after witnessing firsthand acts of inhumanity during his time at sea visiting the port of Djibouti. From Meridian, MS, Mueller attended the United States Merchant Marine Academy.
• Third Prize: Andrew King, for his essay "Humans, Animals, and the Kingdom of Ends," in which he considers and defends reasons for understanding the lives of animals to be analogous to our own, through a combination of philosophy and personal essay. From Hayward, CA, King attended the University of California, Berkeley.
• Honorable Mention: Robert Chan, for his essay, "From Shackles to Square Hats: Higher Education and Lifer Prisoners," in which he explores the moral and practical implications of higher education for convicts, sharing a perspective through his current experience as an incarcerated student. Born in Taiwan, Chan attends Colorado State University –Pueblo.
• Honorable Mention: Joshua Asaro, for his essay, "Public Service in the Social Media Age: How Ethics and Perception Must Guide Our Service Members," in which he reflects on the duty and responsibility of public servants in the social media age to accept expanded roles associated with earning public trust. From Florissant, Missouri, Asaro attended the United States Merchant Marine Academy.

About The Elie Wiesel Prize in Ethics Essay Contest 
The Elie Wiesel Foundation Prize in Ethics Essay Contest encourages students to write thought-provoking personal essays that raise questions, single out issues and offer rational arguments for ethical action. Submissions for the 2016 contest will open in the Fall 2015 Semester. The contest is open to undergraduate full-time Juniors and Seniors who are registered at accredited four-year colleges or universities in the United States during the Fall 2015 Semester. All submissions to the essay contest are judged anonymously. A distinguished committee reviews the essays, and a jury headed by Elie Wiesel chooses the winners. Winning essays present intensely personal stories, originality, imagination, and clear articulation and genuine grappling with an ethical dilemma.   For suggested essay topics and more information, visit http://www.eliewieselfoundation.org/prizeinethics.aspx

About The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity
Elie Wiesel and his wife, Marion, established The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity soon after he was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize for Peace. The Foundation's mission, rooted in the memory of the Holocaust, is to combat indifference, intolerance and injustice through international dialogue and youth-focused programs that promote acceptance, understanding and equality. For more information: www.eliewieselfoundation.org, "like" us on Facebook, or follow @eliewieselfdn on Twitter.

About LRN: Inspiring Principled Performance
Since 1994, LRN has helped over 20 million people at more than 700 companies worldwide simultaneously navigate complex legal and regulatory environments and foster ethical cultures. LRN's combination of practical tools, education, and strategic advice helps companies translate their values into concrete corporate practices and leadership behaviors that create compliant cultures and sustainable competitive advantage. In partnership with LRN, companies need not choose between living principles and maximizing profits, or between enhancing reputation and growing revenue all are a product of principled performance. LRN works with organizations in more than 100 countries and has offices in Los Angeles, New York, London, and Mumbai.

For more information, visit www.LRN.com, find us on Twitter @LRN, or call: 800 529 6366 or 646 862 2040

SOURCE LRN

Related Links

http://www.LRN.com