The Ethel Waddell Githii Honors Program has created a new essay question for applicants to our program. In this season of authorship, where we have an opportunity to write/create traditions at Spelman, this contest comes as something new. This contest invites Honors Program students to answer the same essay question as the high school applicants. The top four essays (1 per classification) will be awarded a cash prize of $100.00, to be awarded at the Holiday Celebration. The deadline is November 12th at 5:00 pm. Here is the question:
Bowen H. McCoy’s classic essay “The Parable of the Sadhu” (1983) presents a case for examining individual and group responsibility. He shares that he and several others had spent months preparing to climb the Himalayan Mountains. At the point where this diverse group of hikers are exhausted and suffering the effects of altitude sickness, they encounter a sadhu–an Indian holy man–distressed and suffering from hypothermia. While they each attended to the man in some way, circumstantial constraints demanded that they decide to either stay with the sadhu and be assured of his fate or advance towards their individual goals. Ultimately, the group did not know “if the sadhu lived or died.” In his recounting, McCoy turns to his companion and asks, “where is the limit of our responsibility in a situation like this?” Compose a response that explains how the best answer to McCoy’s question serves the interests of an Honors Program. You have no word limit.
Deadline: November 12, 2021 at 5:00 pm
A digital copy of “The Parable of the Sadhu” can be found in your email.