Founder's Day Essay Contest

Submit your essay for Founder's Day

Our undergraduate students are invited to participate in an essay contest as part of the celebration of John Simmons' birthday – our Founder's Day.

The winner will be invited to read their essay at the Founder's Day celebration on Wednesday, October 25, 2023 and will be awarded a $1000 prize.

Essay Prompt: A Birthday Present for John Simmons?

“It is my will to found and endow an institution...to enable the scholars to acquire an independent livelihood.” That was John Simmons’s bequest, over 150 years ago, in 1870.

Last month, on Women’s Equality Day 2023, President Wooten described the results of John Simmons’s gift, and her remarks make it clear that those results go far beyond allowing Simmons scholars to provide the basic necessities of life for themselves. “Graduates of women’s centered colleges like Simmons,” President Wooten tells us, “on average hold higher positions in their careers, increase their earning power, and find more satisfaction in their work.”

What, then, might be an appropriate birthday present for John Simmons? How might we best honor and celebrate his founding and endowment of this institution?

Essay Submission and Deadline

Submit your essay of 750-1000 words (with the subject line "Founder's Day Essay Contest") to Kelly Hager, Associate Provost for Curriculum, Assessment, and Accreditation ([email protected]) by Wednesday, October 11. Submissions will be accepted until 11:59pm on October 11; please submit your essay as a Word or a Google doc.

Previous winners

• 2022: Jamie Lee ’23
• 2021: Starleina Murphy '23
• 2020: Brooke Zahine '24
• 2019: Pragyee Nepal '21
• 2018: Delaney Gagnon '21

Questions?

Contact the Provost's Office ([email protected]) or Associate Provost Hager ([email protected]) for more information.