One $2,000.00 scholarship will be awarded to a student attending either a Catholic college or an ABA accredited law school. This contest is open to each student: (1) attending either a Catholic college or an ABA accredited law school; (2) domiciled in the Diocese of Buffalo; and (3) that is a practicing Catholic.

 

The scholarship check will be made payable to the scholarship recipient for education expenses, including tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, and/or transportation. 

 

All scholarship applicants must submit an essay on the following topic: Faith and Law. 

 

Please feel free to be creative in your assessment of the relationship between faith and law, and your understanding and/or interpretation of their intersection today or in the past.  

 

To guide your discussion, you may consider the following suggested prompts:

1. Throughout his life, St. Thomas More was a strong advocate of both law and morality. How do these concepts complement each other, and how to they conflict?

2. How has the simultaneously conflicting and complementary relationship between faith and law impacted today’s political climate?

3. How have you built a relationship between faith and law in your own life?

4. How can faith guide enforcement of the rule of law?  When is faith a basis to accept or challenge the rule of law?

5. How can political actors (legislators, judges, legal advocates, politicians) be guided by faith, as St. Thomas More was guided by his own faith? What is the role of faith in a secular society?

 

The essay must be typed and no more than 500 words.

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The current year of the student should be placed in the upper right hand corner of the first page of the essay. Please do not place any identifying information in the body of the essay.  Any such information will be redacted prior to review by judges.

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A completed Application Form must accompany the essay.  

 

The completed application can be submitted via email to stmgwny@gmail.com, or can be mailed (regular, not certified) to:

 

St. Thomas More Guild

P.O. Box 35

Buffalo, New York 14201-0035

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Incomplete applications will not be considered.  Email submissions must be in PDF format.

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There is no limit to the number of years an applicant can apply. 

 

The completed application must be postmarked or submitted via email on or before April 25.

 

The winner will be recognized at the Annual St. Thomas More Guild Luncheon.  The judges will not know the identity of any applicant during the judging process.  Payment of the scholarship award is conditioned upon the winner’s completion of this academic year, and continued enrollment in either a Catholic college or an ABA Accredited Law School for the following academic year.