When it comes time to apply for scholarships, it becomes a struggle for many people to find ones they are qualified to apply for. The Warren Court Prize, offered to Sonoma State University students, is open to all students who are in good standing within the university.

The Warren Court Prize comes from the Center for Ethics, Law and Society. To apply, students must write a 1,500 to 2,000-word paper, double-spaced, on matters of ethics, justice or constitutional law.

The paper can include textual analysis, empirical research or theoretical innovation, but must bring up a form of argument. Papers are graded based on the quality of the writing, originality, argumentative acumen, creativity, academic rigor and importance for and relevance to matters of constitutional law, justice or ethics. 

Students then must submit three final hard copies to the philosophy department office, Nichols 363, by Nov. 6 at 4 p.m. 

There are four winning awards for the scholarship. First place receives $500, second place receives $250 and two people receiving an honorable mention are awarded with $100. The prize was made possible thanks to the generous donations made by Professor Emeritus Ken Marcus.

The second place winner from last year, Dan Lyman, really likes what this prize stands for.

“It is definitely a neat thing to have such a broad prompt for an interdisciplinary contest,” said Lyman. “People went in all directions and it was fun to hear about other people’s topics.”

Lyman graduated last year with his degree in philosophy and is now attending the University of San Francisco’s Law School.

This scholarship was named after the famous Warren Court, which was named after Earl Warren, the 14th chief justice of the Supreme Court of the U.S. Many important cases from the nation’s history took place in Warren Court.

Some of these were Brown v. Board of Education, Griswold v. Connecticut and Miranda v. Arizona. This award goes out each year to a student whom greatly shows their drive and dedication to justice and ethics.

Joshua Glasgow, an assistant professor of the philosophy department, has directed the Center for Ethics, Law and Society since 2012. He is one of three faculty members who judge the papers.

The other faculty members, who have yet to be determined, will come from the political science department and the criminology and criminal justice studies department.

Glasgow was one of the three faculty members who judged the papers last year as well. Partnered with him were David McCuan from the Political Science Department and Eric Williams from the Criminology and Criminal Justice Studies Department.

Glasgow feels that this prize is incredibly important.

“It provides the students with another real incentive to produce excellent writing on important questions of law, ethics and/or justice and it gives the winners a chance not only to work on their writing, but also to attain a significant feather in their caps,” said Glasgow.

Prizes like these are considered important to those students who are driven to be academically successful and plan for a bright future ahead of them. Although there wasn’t an overwhelming amount of applicants last year, Glasgow is hoping for many more this year.

Anyone is welcome to apply and take advantage of this opportunity. Many scholarships have an overwhelming amount of requirements for applicants just for the eligibility process. However, this particular scholarship is beneficial for students to apply to because it’s open to everyone.