2004 Diversity Essay Competition Results

The Sikh Coalition is proud to announce the winners of the Diversity Essay Competition for the year 2004. In its very first year, the essay competition attained an international character with entries from all over the world. We thank all of you for your submission. Reading the essays was an enriching experience for all of us and the judges.

This year we had invited young people of all denominations, faiths, cultures, sexes, races and ethnicities to share their views on the following topic

Religious pluralism is not mere tolerance of others. It requires constructive and active engagement with those who are "different," recognizing that diversity can enrich our lives.

Final Awards There were so many deserving essays. It was difficult for the judges to come to a final decision. In view of the quality of essays, we have decided to offer six consolation prizes to students who came very close to winning one of the prizes, besides the three prizes that had been announced earlier. The winners are: First Place ($1,000): Patrick J. Halloran (Danville, IL, USA) Second Place ($500): Jupin Kaur Malhi (Garland, TX, USA) Third Place ($250): Shannon Elizabeth Werle (Springboro, OH, USA) Consolation prizes of $50 have been awarded to the following: Kari Lombard (Seattle, WA, USA) Meneka Kaur Dhand (Boca Raton, FL, USA) Shawnbir Singh Gogia (Fair Oaks, CA, USA) Dewi Harjanto (Irvine, CA, USA) Illyana Ovshiyeva (Moscow, Russia) Byron Chou (Syosset, NY, USA) We heartily congratulate all the prize winners. We greatly appreciate all the participants submitted their essays in this competition, and trust that the Coalition will continue inspire them. We thank the teachers who took an interest and encouraged their students to participate. With your help, we hope to make The Diversity Essay competition an even bigger success in the coming years. Please feel free to send your comments and suggestions to essay@sikhcoalition.org We have been reaching out to a number of schools. Please suggest names and addresses of high schools and colleges that you would like to be included in our mailing list. E-mail addresses and web sites of schools will be particularly helpful. The contest for 2005 will be announced in April.

Read some of the selected Essays Byron Chou Dewi Harjanto Ellen Lusby Ishraj Singh Jolly Ilyana Ovshiyeva Jupin Kaur Malhi (Second) Kari Lombrad Mary Scott Ambler Menaka Kaur Dhand Mario Melton Nigel Alexander Edwards Patrick Halloran (First) Shawnbir Singh Gogia Encourage the young members of your community to send in their entries next year.