Two young men with a talent for writing and a hope for change were honored in McKinnon Hall Tuesday, Jan. 19 during a special College Coffee sponsored by the office of Student Activities as part of this week’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Program.
The MLK Commemorative Essay Contest is a program that seeks to promote awareness of King’s vision for a more humane nation through a short essay and application.
The contest was established in 2001 and is open to all middle school students enrolled in public, private or charter schools in Alamance County.
This year’s recipients were Cooper White, a seventh grade student from Northeast Guilford Middle School with an essay titled, “A Look to the Future," and Brock Neorr, a sixth grade student from Brown Summit Middle School with an essay titled, “Peace Conveys Solidarity & Peace.”
White attended the ceremony and read his winning essay urging readers and audience members to consider his three solutions to addressing racial injustice — installing body cameras on all police officers, creating proportional police ticketing to avoid racial profiling and encouraging all policemen to participate in diversity training. Neorr was unable to attend the event and read his essay.
White and Brown received a plaque and cash award along with Elon University merchandise as a prize.