American Promise Scholarship Competition:
The Search for Our Next Constitutional Amendment
- It has been nearly three decades since the United States Constitution was last updated through ratification of the 27th Amendment. Over this time, trust in democratic institutions has deteriorated and social cohesion has frayed.
- To explore the Constitutional dimensions of America’s current trust deficit, American Promise is organizing a competitive scholarship opportunity for undergraduates. We will be confronting the fundamental sources of the problems facing American democracy — such as money in politics, hyperpolarization, and election access and integrity.
- This scholarship competition is open to undergraduate students at the University of Texas at Austin (UT) and Texas A&M University (A&M). Students will compete in teams of 4 people, and each university can send up to five teams. Each member of the winning team will receive a $2,000 scholarship ($8,000 total for the team).
- Each student team will propose specific text for a Constitutional amendment designed to strengthen trust between “We the People” and our government. The competing teams will present and defend their proposals at a live judging session on Sunday, October 10, 2021.
To apply to participate in the competition, please complete the online application at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScSv18shgbIMaGyYSuTnZM9yHwaGwT6Cm8CW87O9p0rWzOgcQ/viewform?usp=sf_link. APPLICATIONS ARE DUE BY MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2021.
Teams that are accepted into the competition will be notified by September 17, 2021 and will receive detailed instructions about how to access virtual “office hours” with subject-matter experts. Competing teams will have three weeks to develop their proposals before presenting to the judges on October 10, 2021.
This program is offered by American Promise Education Fund, our nonprofit 501(c)3 with a mission to unite and empower Americans from across the political spectrum to build a lasting republic and healthy democracy. Support for this program is offered by The Sumners Foundation, a Texas-based foundation dedicated to the study, teaching, and research into the science and art of self-government.
