Garfinkel Essay Scholarship Rules

PRIZES

Three prizes will be awarded through the Garfinkel Essay Scholarship each semester to the top three submissions from Bronx Community College students taking Business Law, Criminal Law, or Paralegal Studies, along with selected honorable mentions.

1st Place:   $1,500
2nd Place:   $750
3rd Place:   $500
Honorable Mentions

Winners and honorable mentions will be revealed at an awards ceremony at the Appellate Division, First Department courthouse for the fall semester and Bronx Community College’s Law Library for the spring semester, with details to be announced soon. Students will be notified prior to the ceremony if they have won a prize. Their families, faculty mentors, and administrators will be in attendance to meet and mingle with judges at a reception following the ceremony.

REQUIREMENTS

There are only a small number of requirements for the Garfinkel Essay Scholarship in addition to the eligibility requirements for students. These rules are:

  • Essays must be an original work of scholarship.
  • Essays must be between 1,500 and 5, 500 words.
  • Essays must be double spaced.
  • Essays must cite their sources and use a single citation style.

And most importantly:

Essays will be selected for submission to the Scholarship by your professor, so ensure you have completed your work on time! 

For more writing tips, check out our Steps To Writing Your Essay page.

DEADLINE

The deadline for the spring semester of the the 2020 Garfinkel Essay Scholarship is March 31 to your professor. 

Your professor will submit your essay for Scholarship consideration. 

PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism is strictly forbidden and will result in the immediate removal of the offending essay from consideration for any prizes without notification to the student who submitted the essay. The Society may contact the professor listed on a submission in the event of a suspected case of plagiarism.

Plagiarism can be intentional or unintentional. To avoid it, be sure to clearly cite any sources you reference, paraphrase, or directly quote. A good definition of plagiarism can be found on the University of Cambridge’s website. Do not hesitate to contact a professor or librarian if you are unsure about a passage in your essay.

JUDGING

Essays selected by your professors selected for the Garfinkel Essay Scholarship will be read by a panel of New York attorneys and judges. Judges will be assigned a group of essays at random and do not receive any identifying information about the essays until the winners have been selected.

Essays will be judged on the following criteria:

  • A clear, focused topic,
  • Effective organization and support of main ideas, and
  • Strong literary voice and word choice.

ELIGIBILITY

Students taking Business Law, Criminal Law, or Paralegal Studies in the Fall 2019 and/or Spring 2020 semesters at Bronx Community College are eligible for the 2020 Garfinkel Essay Scholarship, regardless of academic study.

The David A. Garfinkel Essay Scholarship is generously supported by Gloria and Barry Garfinkel in memory of their son David. Their support has enabled the Society to offer this scholarship since 2008.
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