Constitution Day, created in 2004 by an act of Congress, mandates that all publicly funded schools provide educational programming on the history of the U.S. Constitution, which was adopted by delegates to the Constitutional Convention on Sept. 17, 1787.

An essay contest for undergraduates is sponsored by the UK Scripps Howard First Amendment Center, the Office of the President and the Provost’s Division of Student and Academic Life. The essays are blind‐judged by former UK journalism students who are lawyers, UK professors and media law professors at other universities. The entries are scored on the following criteria: historical and legal accuracy of the content, the strength and logic of the argument, the original ideas presented, the organization of the argument, including the thesis, and the quality of the writing.

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Winners from 2018

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2018 Constitution Day Essay Contest 1st Place--Social Media: Unifier or Divider, Claire Hilbrecht

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2018 Constitution Day Essay Contest 2nd Place, Courtney Vice

Winners from 2017

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2017 Constitution Day Essay Contest 1st Place--Donald Trump: The Modern Day Killer of the First Amendment, RyAnn Schoenbaechler

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2017 Constitution Day Essay Contest 2nd Place, Kelsey Mattingly

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2017 Constitution Day Essay Contest 3rd Place--The Fine Line Between Criticism and Control: How the Trump Administration is Weakening Freedom of the Press, Michael Di Girolamo

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2017 Constitution Day Essay Contest Honorable Mention--Liberty and Responsibility, Callum Case

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2017 Constitution Day Essay Contest Honorable Mention--On Freedom of Expression, Emily Baehner

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2017 Constitution Day Essay Contest Honorable Mention--On the Consequences of “Free Speech”, Duncan Barron

Winners from 2016

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2016 Constitution Day Essay Contest: 1st Place, Collin J. Laaker

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2016 Constitution Day Essay Contest: 2nd Place, Zoe Gabrielson

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2016 Constitution Day Essay Contest: 3rd Place, James A. Burke

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2016 Constitution Day Essay Contest: Honorable Mention, Drew Brinkman

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2016 Constitution Day Essay Contest: Honorable Mention, Michael Morris

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2016 Constitution Day Essay Contest: Honorable Mention, Shawn Murphy

Winners from 2015

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2015 Constitution Day Essay Contest: 1st Place, Thomas Phillips III

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2015 Constitution Day Essay Contest: 2nd Place, Diana Burden

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2015 Constitution Day Essay Contest: 3rd Place, Shawn Murphy