The Prizes Program at UC Berkeley (prizes@berkeley.edu) is an important forum for rewarding creative expression and scholarly achievement by Berkeley’s finest students. Winners receive both recognition and a cash prize, which is coordinated with the winner’s financial aid package.
Below you will find all of Berkeley’s Prize contests. Please note the criteria of each contest before entering.
Note: Prize contest entries need to be submitted, via our online submission form before 4 p.m. on the contest deadline (listed on the chart below). See the General Rules for Competitive Prizes for complete submission information. Please click on the contest names below for specific details about each prize.
The Lipson Program
The Leslie Lipson Program at UC Berkeley is intended to encourage undergraduate students to study humanistic values and their practical application for individuals, societies, and states.
The program consists of the Lipson Essay Prize, the Lipson Scholarship, and the Lipson Research Grant.
Leslie Lipson Biography. The Leslie Lipson Program is endowed in memory of Professor Leslie Lipson, who taught political theory and comparative government at Berkeley for 33 years. As a professor, Lipson’s first love was the undergraduate curriculum, and undergraduate students twice selected him as the best teacher in the Department of Political Science. Berkeley honored Lipson in 1980 with the Berkeley Citation, for individuals of extraordinary achievement in their field who have given outstanding service to the campus. Lipson’s books include The Great Issues of Politics, which has been published in ten editions, translated into numerous foreign languages, and used in introductory political science courses across the country; and his seminal work, The Ethical Crises of Civilization, in which he analyzed the historical developments in world civilizations that have resulted in both better and worse ethical choices. “Humanistic values are the fundamental values of good and evil, right and wrong, just and unjust, as carried out by individuals and societies in service of or against humanity” (Leslie Lipson).
Lipson Essay Prize
The Leslie Lipson Scholarship and Prize Fund (“the Fund’) will assist deserving financially needy undergraduate students enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley, and is open to students regardless of race, color, national origin, or religion. The Fund is dedicated to educating outstanding undergraduate students in humanistic values and to provide the means to conduct research concerning those values.
All recipients of Leslie Lipson Prize, Scholarship and Research Awards will be known as Leslie Lipson Scholars. Lipson Prize winners will receive a scholarship only if they are scholarship eligible and demonstrate financial need as determined by the Financial Aid Office. The Fund will provide all or a portion of their need-based scholarship. Recipients of the scholarship may also be eligible for the Research Award to conduct research during the summer between their scholarship terms.
Candidates shall apply at the end of the fall semester of their freshman or sophomore years, and recipients will be selected by the end of the spring semester of the year in which they apply.
Successful candidates are awarded the Lipson Prize in spring and Lipson Scholarships will be awarded for their sophomore through senior years for those who apply as freshmen, and for the junior and senior years for those who apply as sophomores.
Eligibility
To be eligible for the Lipson Essay Prize, students need to be eligible freshmen or sophomores and have a minimum 3.0 grade-point average (GPA). Students from any field of study are welcome to apply. Essays will be reviewed by the Lipson Committee, and the committee may award prizes for all Scholarship Winners.
Currently it is often said that democracy in America is at a crossroads, in terms of its very
ability to exist. Do you agree or disagree? What are the causes of such a disintegration,
if indeed that is occurring?
As famously stated by Daniel Patrick Moynihan, “You are entitled to your own opinions,
but not to your own facts .” Has “red” and “blue” tribalism in current American culture
now made it difficult, or even impossible, for people of different parties and persuasions
to agree on what is reality or what is “true”?
Is America in danger of becoming an authoritarian state? Are American democratic
institutions, as embodied by our three branches of government, strong enough to defeat
peaceably an armed threat of civil war?
What response to terrorism is consistent with and upholds humanistic values?
Should there be any limits on political speech at universities? If you believe there should
be limits, what would those be and how would they be enforced?
Explain the persistence of anti-semitism over the centuries and why there is a resurgence
today.
Lipson Essay Prize Submission Process
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Prize Amounts
A prize of $10,000 is awarded to students who submit winning essays on one of six topics related to humanistic values.
Format
2,000 to 1,500 words; typed
Essays shorter or longer than the recommended amount will not be disadvantaged by sole virtue of their length
12-point font; double-spaced with one-inch margins; numbered pages
Last 4 digits of your student identification (SID) number in top-right corner of every page
Submission
You may submit only one essay per calendar year
Your submissions need to be anonymous; please do not include your name
2023-24: Victoria Fan, "The Center Will Not Hold: The State of Democracy"; Sophia Martinez, "How Echo Chambers and Algorithms Have Led Americans Away from a Universal Truth"; Zoe Lodge, "Sense and Desensitivity: Polarization is Destroying the Fabric of American Political Culture"; Carmen Berry, "When Feelings Become Fact: Climate Change Denialism as a Symptom of Political Mistrust"; Grace Camperi, "In the Cave of Political Tribalism"; Connor Eubank, "State of Terror: The Ethical Cost of Legitimizing State Terrorism"; Alex Lewis Richter, " Countering Forever Wars: A Framework for Just & Unjust Counterterrorism Operations"; Alkis Loannis Toutziaridis, "Rights and Resistance: The Dual Front in Counter-Terrorism Strategy"; Viraj Roy Gupta, "Untangling the Hydra: Combatting the Many Faces of Anti-Semitism"; Guanjie Cheng, "A Historical Journey Through the Persistence of Anti-Semitism”; Chloe Sabrina Zitsow, " Money, Money, Money: How the Myth of Jews and Finances Drives Antisemitism"
2022-23: Peyton Koch, "The Democracy Camel: Has the Final Straw"; Irina Velitskaya, "The Consequences Are Clear: Social Media and the History of Human Innovation"; Agodi Okoroafor, "What do the Wealthiest 1% owe the 99%?"; Julia Gignac, "From Imperfect Progress by Unsatisfying Compromise"; Hy Nguyen, " An Invisible Hand plaguing our economy: The economics behind the Medical-Industrial Complex"; Ashley Kim, "BeReal… Let’s Be Real"; Keshwanth Babu Puligulla, "Agree to Disagree: An Examination of Political and Cultural Polarization"
2021-22: Madeleine (Maddi) Wong,"America MMXXII: The Return of Democracy- An Attack on De Jure and De Facto Democracy through the Jeopardization of Civil Rights"; Margaux Bauerlein,"Social Trust and Negative Liberty: Free to Be Me (and Suffer for It)"
2020–21: Stephan Dai, "Lies and Internet Posts, Evidence that Brandenburg’s Toast?"; Aleeza Adnan, Alxander Fung, Emma Gerson, Valmic Muking, "Culture Warn’t: The Imaginary War the 1% Wants us to Fight"; Vyoma Raman, Deborah Le-En Tan
2019–20: Evan Juan, "The Obligation of a Human Right to Health"; Aditya Varma, "American E(conomics) X(clusion) C(hurch) E(xpansion) P(rogress) T(echnology)-ionalism"; Max Zhang, "Sleeping at the Wheel"
2018–19: Hannah Herrick, "The Persistence of Racism through Colorblindness"; Vedant Kajaria, "A Consummate Relationship with Anarchy"; Karen Lee, "Condemned to Condemn"; Tara Madhav "American Democracy, Racism and the State of Exception"; Kathleen Navas, "Psychological Basis and Modern Impact of Racism on Society"; Wyatt Singh, "The Second Coming: A Century Later, W.B. Yeats' Words Are Still Relevant"; Sharon Marie Vaz, "Yeats' Spiritus Mundi and its Relevance to 2019"; Leo Zlimen, "Our Own Phantom World"
2017–18: David Olin, "The Spirit and the Machine", Nicholas Pingitore, "Wandering with Walden", Evan Schwartz, "Arguments for Disobeying Trump's order for a Preemptive Nuclear Strike: Echoes from the Nuremberg Tribunal", Talia Wenger, "How Artificial Intelligence Re-Ignites the Human Spirit"
2016–17: Alexander Casendio, "Is democracy in general, as a form of government, currently broken on an international basis?"; Daniel Rosenthal,"What are the reasons for the cultural and political polarizations in the U.S. and what is its impact on humanistic values. Is this only a national trend, or is it an issue internationally?"; Thomas Lee Kadie,"The Licensing of Right-Wing Populism"
2015–16: 1st prize: Liya Nahusenay, "Islamophobia: A Detrimental Misnomer"; Neel Somani, "Contemporary Stereotyping: Exploring the Seduction of Bias"; 2nd prize: Nina Djukic, "A Rare Drought Rain"; Suleman Khan, "The Government That Cried Wolf: Refugees and National Security"; Olivia Maigret. "The Complicity of Religion in Terrorism"
2014–15: Carter Bryce Keeling, "The People's Climate March"; Ismael Farooqui, "The Invisible Hand: The results of wealth accumulation in a democracy"; Joprdan Hyatt-Miller, "The Logic of Violence"; James Rosenberg, "Legal Accountability for Torture: Preserving a Nation of Rights and Values"; Zijing Song, "One Oligarchy, Under God"
2013–14: Elizabeth Carroll, "A Nation of Suspects: Modern Surveillance and the Right to Privacy"; Wenyan He, "The Bilateral Nature of Ethics in Economic Inequality"; Taylor Madigan, "A Rawlsian Approach to Economic Inequality"; Sharada Narayan, "The Politics of Political Ethics"; Zijing Song, "The State of Obama's Union"
2012–13: Pierre Bourbonnais, "No Excuses for Lying"; Apruva Govande, "Emotional Bridges through Empathy"; Adithyavairavan Murali, "War on Terror: The Great Game of Education, Economics and Human Dignity"; Seth Victor, "The Lies and Unethical Nature of the War on Terror"
2011–12: Adam Susaneck, "How Party Stratification Leads to Duopoly as Ideology Establishing Elections as a Script Creating Not Deadlock, Livelock!"
2010–11: Ayden Parish, "Fundamentalism, Church and State"; Timothy Borjian, "The Problems with American Exceptionalism"
2009–10: Jasmine L. Segall, "Ethical Implications of Anonymous Methods of Modern Warfare"; Spreeha Debchaudhury, "We the People: A Colorful Portrayal"
2008–09: Alexander Setzepfandt, "Optimism: Breaking Free from the Unethical Behavior of Others"; Anirudh Narla, "The Triumph of Grey: The Importance of Indeterminacy and Complexity in Black and White"
2007–08: Danielle Rathje, "Fair Trade and Global Responsibility"; Keith Browner Brown, "Factoring in Humanity: The Failure of Population Control"
2006–07: Andrina Tran, "Varieties of Morality: William James, Pragmatism and Freedom "
2005–06: Erica Mu, "Dismantling Torture: An Examination of the United States at a Political and Ethical Crossroads"; Jillian Marks, "Torture: An Analysis of Its Evils"; Alexander H. Lau, "Revealing Racial Bias: A Case for Affirmative Action"
2004–05: Jacqueline Nader "The Greatest Danger of Our Time"; Yanpei Chen, "Morality and Political Discourse"; Charles Lin, "Avoiding a Tragedy: Reconciling International Interests in the Atmospheric Commons"
2003–04: No award given
2002–03: Jennifer Greenburg, "Women's Participation in Post-Apartheid Reform"; Sebastian Petty, "Back to the Land: Institutional Forms of Community Supported Agriculture"; Tina Sang, "Chinese Household Registration System"
2001–02: Susan Tche, "Effects of the New World Economy on Post-Embargo Vietnam"
2000–01: Cynthia Houng, "Sustainable Development? Towards a New Synthesis of Environment Ethics and Philosophy"; Joseph Kim, "Does Absentee Voting Have Anti-Social Effects on Voters?"; Pha Lo, "The Hmong of Laos: Cultural Perspectives on Implementing a Global Agenda"
Lipson Scholarship
The Lipson Scholarship, established in 2001, is a need-based scholarship awarded up to a scholar’s full financial need per year and is only available to eligible students who submit winning essays for the Lipson Essay Prize.
To receive the Lipson Scholarship, students must win the Lipson Essay Prize and be a freshman or sophomore when they apply. The Lipson Scholarship will fund the costs of the scholars’ sophomore through senior years at UC Berkeley for those who apply as freshmen, and the costs of the scholars’ junior and senior years for those who apply as sophomores, based on their financial need as determined by the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office.
Lipson Research Grant
The third component of the Lipson Program, which is optional, is the Lipson Research Grant (established in 2001).
Lipson Scholars who wish to do research in greater depth have the opportunity to apply for funds to support their own original research project. Scholars will undertake such projects during the summer. Scholars selected for the Lipson Research Grant will receive a $5,000 stipend for summer living expenses so that they may devote their time to their summer research project; an additional $250 will be awarded in the fall semester after the scholar submits a paper about his or her summer project. Lipson Research Grant recipients may decide to develop the paper further into an honors thesis, or even a graduate-level dissertation. Projects must relate to humanistic values and their implementation, and might, for example, address such topics as human rights issues, bio-ethics, the impact on developing societies of global capitalism, or environmental concerns in the 21st century. Students will receive further details about this research opportunity following their selection as Lipson Scholars. While the Lipson Research Grant is optional, it is an important part of the Lipson Program.
The Richardson Latin Translation Prize is open to all UC Berkeley students. A first-place prize and second-place prize are awarded for the best translation of classical English into Ciceronian Latin.
History of the Prize: The Richardson Latin Translation Prize was established through the will of George Morey Richardson of Berkeley, dated May 16, 1896: “I give and devise to The Regents of the University of California, two lots or parcels of land, situated in Highland Trust, Oakland Township, Alameda County, State of California, to expend the income there or from the proceeds thereof, when sold, for an annual prize known as the ‘Richardson Latin Translation Prize,’ to be awarded to undergraduates (later to include graduate students) of the University of California for the best translation of classical English into Ciceronian Latin.” The prize was established in 1896.
The Philo Sherman Bennett Prize in Political Science is awarded for the best essay encompassing some aspect of politics other than international relations.
The prize is open to both graduates and undergraduates.
History of the Prize: Philo Sherman Bennett’s 1905 will stated: “I give and bequeath to Wm. J. Bryan of Lincoln the sum of ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00), in trust, however, to pay to twenty-five colleges or universities, to be selected by him, the sum of four hundred ($400.00) each, said sum of four hundred dollars ($400.00) to be invested by each college receiving the same and the annual proceeds used for a prize for the best essay discussing the principal of free government.”
The Regents Minutes of August 8, 1905 recite the following: “Mr. Wm. Jennings Bryan informed the University that he was glad to leave the decision by the college authorities the details of the Bennett Essay Prize…”
The Owen D. Young Prize in International Relations is awarded for the best essay dealing with some aspect of international relations.
A minimum of 4,000 words is required with a maximum word limit of 5,000 words. Open to undergraduates only.
History of the Prize: From the Regents’ Minutes of October 10, 1933: “Mr. Owen D. Young delivered the Charter Day Address in Berkeley on March 24, 1930, returned to the Regents his honorarium as such speaker and in addition donated the sum of $250. This was intended to be used for three prizes … to undergraduate students registered in the colleges at Berkeley … who offered the best three essays on the topic, ‘What can a college student do to further good understanding among the nations and thereby promote peace?’ Mr. Young, on June 2, 1931, [amended] the conditions of this … contest, [whereby] the remainder of his donation, to wit, $900, be set up as a permanent fund, the income therefrom to be devoted to an annual prize for the best essay on some aspect of international relations. The Committee on Prizes is authorized to change the topic of the essay from time to time as they may see fit to do so.” The Owen D. Young Prize was established in 1958.
The Thomas G. Rosenmeyer Greek Translation Prize is awarded to a graduate or undergraduate for the best translation of classical English into an appropriate classical Greek style.
Appropriate styles include those of Plato and of the classical Attic orators, but other styles appropriate to the content are not excluded, such as the style of Herodotus, or even verse composition. The selection will normally be formal English prose and will be 350 to 500 words in length.
History of the Prize: The Rosenmeyer Prize was established in 1995.
The Dorothy Rosenberg Memorial Prize in Lyric Poetry will be awarded for composition of the best original unpublished lyric poem. Each entrant may submit only one poem; the length should not exceed thirty lines. A lyric poem is a poem that sings. It is usually quite short. When the poem is read aloud, it should inspire and delight by its heartfelt thought and feeling and the beauty of its language.
History of the Prize
When Dorothy Rosenberg died, her husband, Professor Marvin Rosenberg, established a fund to award this prize in her name.
2015–16: Alani Hicks-Bartlett ($1,000); Evan Bauer, Raj Bhargava, Ismael Farooqui, Carter Bryce Keeling, and Alan Xu ($800 each)
2014–15: Christopher Miller and Mary Wilson, graduate winners ($1,000 each); Lillian Berger, Andrew David King, and S. Carlota Salvador Megias, undergraduate winners ($1,000 each)
2013–14: Jane Gregory, graduate winner ($2,000); Andrew David King, undergraduate winner ($2,000)
2012–13: Rachel Trocchio, graduate winner ($850); Laura Ferris, Andrew David King, Larry Narron, and Claire Tuna, undergraduate winners ($850 each)
Elizabeth Mills Crothers Prize in Literary Composition
The Elizabeth Mills Crothers Prize in Literary Composition is awarded for excellence of composition in poetry, story writing, drama, or another field of literary composition. Judging is based on excellence of composition. Open to all graduate and undergraduate students.
History of the Prize
This fund was accepted by the Regents on August 13, 1929. The Corpus thereof, in the amount of $3,000, was, by Judge George E. Crothers, pursuant to an agreement dated October 13, 1921, between Judge Crothers and the late Maria Elizabeth Mills, transferred to Mrs. Mills for the support of a fellowship in music in Mills College. This agreement provided that upon the death of Mrs. Mills the fund should pass to the Regents to support the Elizabeth Mills Crothers Prize in Literary Composition at the University of California.
2018–19: Clara Jimenez, Mary Mussman, Tessa Rissacher, Noah Warren ($750 each)
2017–18: 1st Prize: Mary Wilson ($2000); 2nd Prize: Evan Bauer, Selden Cummings, Nina Djukic, Zachary Kiebach($800 each)
2016–17: 1st prize: Rosetta Young ($600); 2nd prize: Jesslyn Whittell ($400); 3rd prize: Shelby Gregg ($300); Finalists: Sheryl Barbera and Khamillah Zimmer ($250 each); Honorable Mention: Mary Wilson, Laura Ferris, Hannah Ling, Julia Apffel, Evan Bauer, Sean Dennison, and Balark Mallik ($100 each)
2015–16: 1st prize: Carter Bryce Keeling ($2,000); 2nd prize: Claire Marie Stancek ($1,000); 3rd prize: Rachel King ($1,000); Finalists: Roxanne Forbes, Griffin Morin-Tornheim, Leah Tyus, and Anthony Williams ($250 each)
2014–15: 1st prize: Andrew David ($2,500); 2nd prize: Stanford Shoor ($500); 3rd prize: Rachel Trocchio ($500); 4th prize: Mary Wilson ($500)
2013–14: 1st prize: Ismail Muhammad ($1,500); 2nd prize: Manjing Zhang ($1,000); 3rd prize: Jessica Cox ($750); 4th prize: Tara Fatemi ($500); 5th prize: Michael A. Shaw ($250)
2012–13: Allison Berke, Cora Bernard, Myles Parker Osborne, Kayla Krut, and Eli Wirtschafter ($800 each)
2011–12: 1st prize: Gabriel Thibodeau ($1,500); 2nd prize: Kayla Krut ($1,000); 3rd prize: Yi (Jenny) Xie and Zoe Pollak ($750 each)
2010–11: Kelsa Trom and Tom Recht ($150 each)
2009–10: Faith Gardner, Angelene Smith, David Krolikoski, and Natalie Tsang ($800 each)
2008–09: Mia You ($600); Angelene Smith, Jennifer Reimer, Thomas Gamburg and Natalie Tsang ($350 each)
2007–08: Joseph Cadora, Jude Dizon, Adrienne Johnson and Nalini Rae G Sareen ($250 each)
2006–07: Martine Charnow, Zachary Tomaszewski, and Sara Lahue ($300 each)
2004–05: Jacqueline Palhegy ($500); Leslie MacMillan, Erica Kidder Jensen and Edgar Garcia ($150 each)
2003–04: 1st prize: Bernice Santiago and Katherine Willett ($350 each); 2nd prize: Brandelyn Castine ($200); 3rd prize: Roger Porter ($100)
2002–03: Winners for poetry: Ellen Samuels ($250), Rachel Teukolsky ($175), Laura Wetherington ($175); Winners for Prose: James Ramey ($250), Maria Elena Howard ($150)
2001–02: Jennifer Hasa and Soyoung Jung ($1,000 each)
2000–01: Jennifer Ahn and Karen Lee ($1,000 each)
1999–00: 1st prize: Azin Arefi-Anbarani and Matthew Gleeson ($900 each)
1998–99: 1st prize: Bruce Maritano, Benjamin Russack, Caleb Smith, Frank B. Wilderson III, and Lin Zou ($300 each)
1997–98: 1st prize: Jennifer Stroud ($500); 2nd prize: Asali Solomon ($300); 3rd prize: Bryce Maritano ($200); runner-up: Michael Holt and Yuval Sharon ($100 each)
1996–97: 1st prize: Caleb Smith ($400); 2nd prize: Anh Bui ($200); 3rd prize: Asali Solomon and Julia Cho ($175 each); 4th prize: Ola Metwally ($150)
1995–96: 1st prize: Judy Kemelman ($300); 2nd prize: Amy Graff and Karin Spirn ($250 each); 3rd prize: Viet Nguyen and Hamilton Tran ($200 each); 4th prize: Philip Huynh and Bryan Malessa ($150 each)
1994–95: 1st prize: Cynthia Lin ($500); 2nd prize: Elizabeth Scarboro and Karin Spirn ($350 each); 3rd prize: Lysley Tenorio, Lyn Dilorio, and Jack Wooster ($200 each); 4th prize: Cat Dale and Jessica Hahn ($100 each)
The Emily Chamberlain Cook Prize in Poetry is awarded for the most outstanding single unpublished poem.
Both graduate and undergraduate students are free to write up to 26 lines in length, in any meter, and upon any subject. Up to four winners may be chosen at the judge’s discretion.
History of the Prize
Yale University Professor Albert S. Cook, formerly on the UC Berkeley faculty, endowed this prize with $1,000. As noted in the August 10, 1909, minutes of the Regents of the University of California, Professor Cook specified that “it is highly desirable” that the prize be awarded “for a poem which reflects honor upon the University, when viewed in the light of the best precedents furnished by England and this country.” Professor Cook further specified that “the University shall be free at any time to reprint the poem as it may choose.”
In 1963, Samuel Marks established an endowment of $250,000 for the advancement of the arts on the Berkeley campus, in memory of his stepdaughter, Roselyn Schneider Eisner, an artist and sculptor. The Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on the Arts recommended the money be used to establish prizes in each of the Creative Arts.
Photo Imaging
The Eisner Prizes in Photo-Imaging are open to all UC Berkeley graduates and undergraduates of any major.
Contest deadlines vary. Please check the Prizes and Honors home page for this prize’s deadline.
Eisner Photo-Imaging Prize Rules
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Please review the General Rules for Competitive Prizes. Additional rules for the Eisner Photo-Imaging Prize contest are listed below. Submission link: Competitive Prizes Submission
You may submit 1 to 3 black-and-white or color images. Submissions must be anonymous. Include the last four digits of your student ID number on your file name and the total number of photographic images you're entering (e.g., "#1234 1 of 3," "#1234 2 of 3," "#1234 3 of 3").
Submissions may show either a body of work or 3 photos exploring 3 different themes. Judges will look for the artistic dimensions of the photos presented, including the creative uses of color ( tone values if you are showing black and white prints), lighting, graphic composition and framing .
Film and Video
The Eisner Prizes in Film and Video contest is open to both graduates and undergraduates in any department.
One to three films may be submitted, but the judges will only view up to 30 minutes of film for each applicant.
Contest deadlines vary. Please check the Prizes and Honors page for this prize’s deadline.
Eisner Film and Video Prize Rules
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Please review the General Rules for Competitive Prizes. The Eisner Film and Video Prize contest also has additional rules listed below.
Students can submit films as a Quicktime file on a flash/thumb drive or via a working URL on either Youtube or Vimeo.
The applicant must make sure the URL is open and working, and that the thumb drive is both PC and MAC compatible
You may submit 1 – 3 entries but are encouraged to submit only your best work. All film submissions must be in finished form, ready for public exhibition. Unfinished works or work-in-progress will not be considered. At least one submission must have been made during the period of your enrollment as a student on the Berkeley campus. Judges will not view more than 30 minutes of film or video. All submissions must be of the entire film, excerpts will not be accepted for consideration.
To be eligible, you need to be enrolled full-time in a degree-granting program for at least one regular semester of the academic year (not including Summer Sessions). Filing for a degree does not constitute enrollment for that academic year. Visiting students are not eligible to apply for prizes. A previous winner of this contest may not enter the following year.
Film or video submissions must be labeled with the last four digits of the entrant's student ID (SID) number, the film's title, running time and the original format of the entry (16mm, VHS, URL, thumb drive file. etc.). Also, a brief (one paragraph, typewritten) film description should accompany the submission. The maker's name must not appear on the entry or on the film credits.
The Prizes Office, 210 Sproul Hall, will hold film and video entries for pickup until mid-May.
Poetry and Prose
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The Eisner Prizes in Poetry and Prose contests are open to all UC Berkeley graduates and undergraduates in any department.
Prose submissions may include novels, plays, or a collection of short stories. Prose submissions should be a substantial body of work with a representative 20–30 pages earmarked. Poetry submissions should be a collection of poems with a minimum of 25 pages to a maximum of 40 pages. Entries must be paginated, stapled and include a table of contents and a title page. This contest may contain submissions that have won in other contests in previous years. However, entries to these contests must consist of a majority of new work not having previously won in any campus contest or simultaneously submitted elsewhere.
The Ina Coolbrith Memorial Poetry Prize is awarded for the best unpublished poem or group of poems by an undergraduate student at University of California campuses, University of the Pacific, Mills College, Stanford University, Santa Clara University, and St. Mary’s College.
Each participating school may submit three entries to UC Berkeley to compete in the overall contest. For information regarding the submission instructions for other campuses, read Information for Other Participating Campuses below.
History of the Prize
On March 18, 1933, a fund of $1,000 contributed by various donors was offered to the Regents for a poetry prize in memory of Ina Coolbrith, Poet Laureate of the State of California. The Ina Coolbrith Memorial Fund was accepted by the Regents on May 11, 1933.
Contest deadlines vary. Please check the Prizes and Honors home page for this prize’s deadline.
About Ina Coolbrith
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Ina Donna Coolbrith (1841–1928)
Born Josephine Donna Smith, oldest daughter of Don Carlos and Agnes Coolbrith Smith, in Nauvoo, Illinois, March 10, 1841, she entered California through the Beckwourth Pass in a covered wagon train in 1852. Her first poems were published in the Los Angeles Times in 1854. After a brief and tragic marriage at 17, and the death of her child, she moved in the 1860s to San Francisco, where she worked as a journalist on the Overland Monthly. Later she was librarian of the Mechanics Institute Library and the Bohemian Club library, and was the first librarian of the Oakland Public Library. She lost her San Francisco home and all her possessions in the earthquake and fire of 1906. Through the generosity of the best-known California writers of the day, another home was built on Russian Hill, where she lived until the infirmities of age led her to share the home of her niece in Berkeley in 1923. She died there on February 29, 1928.
Ina Coolbrith received many honors, including Poet Laureate of the State of California. She was the first person asked to write a Commencement Ode for the University of California and the first woman member of San Francisco's Bohemian Club. In 1924, Mills College awarded her an honorary Master of Arts degree; as a young woman she had attended Mills, known at the time as Benicia College for Women. On the day of her funeral the Legislature adjourned in her memory and afterward named a 7,900-foot peak near Beckwourth Pass "Mount Ina Coolbrith."
Ina Coolbrith corresponded with Tennyson, Whittier, Longfellow, and Lowell, and was close friends with Mark Twain, Bret Harte, Gertrude Atherton, Joaquin Miller, Charles Warren Stoddard, and William Keith. Jack London called her his "literary mother." Isadora Duncan recalled in her memoirs "the beauty and fire of the poet's eyes."
At the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in 1915 she was appointed President of the Congress of Authors and Journalists. At the Exposition a formal presentation of a laurel wreath was made to her by Dr. Benjamin Ide Wheeler, president of the University of California, and the Board of Regents, with the title "loved, laurel-crowned poet of California."
Some of Ina Coolbrith's most powerful poems were written after her 80th birthday. Her published works include A Perfect Day and Other Poems, Songs from the Golden Gate, and the posthumously published Wings of Sunset.
Information for Other Participating Campuses
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Each participating campus may submit three entries selected from submissions on their campus. An entry may be a single poem or a group of poems. While the judging to select the overall contest winners rotates from campus to campus, each campus must first forward its entries to UC Berkeley by the contest deadline. The overall contest judge will receive the entries from Berkeley in early February and will be asked to select the contest winners by early March.
The poems need to be typewritten. Include the following information in the upper-right corner of each manuscript:
The last four digits of the student’s campus identification number
The name of the contest
Write entrant information on a separate sheet and include the following:
Name
Local address
Permanent address
Phone number
Email address
Last four digits of student’s campus identification number
Contest name
Title of poem(s)
Since manuscripts cannot be returned and may go astray in the mail, please retain a duplicate.
Winning manuscripts are filed in the University Archives at the Bancroft Library on the UC Berkeley campus.
Previous Ina Coolbrith Memorial Poetry Prize Winners
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2021–22: No prize given
2020–21: No prize given
2019–20: 1st prize: Anthony DiCarlo, UC Davis ($600); 2nd prize: Jessica Pham, UCLA ($400); 3rd prize: Rhiannon Wilson, UCLA ($100); Honorable Mention: Jona Peters, Mills College
2018–19: 1st prize: Maia Vicek, Miles College ($1250); Honorable Mentions: Avery Ardent, UC San Diego ($250); Amanda Vong, UC Santa Cruz ($250); Cu Fleshman, UC Irvine ($250)
2017–18: 1st prize: Riley O'Connell, Santa Clara University ($500); 2nd prize: Steffi Pressesky, UC Santa Cruz ($250); 3rd prize Monica Pereles, UC Merced ($250)
2016–17: Serena Balk, UC San Diego; Delphine Candland, UCLA; Kevin Alexander Perez, UC Santa Cruz ($300 each)
2014–15: 1st prize: Christian Gella, UC San Diego ($1,100); 2nd prize: Katherine Duckworth, Mills College, Antony Fangary, UC Davis, Michelle Felmlee-Gartner, St. Mary's College, and Nilufal Karimi, UC San Diego ($100 each)
2013–14: 1st prize: Claire Bresnahan, Mills College, and Terry Taplin, St. Mary's College ($200 each); 2nd prize: Zoe Goldstein, UCLA, and Olivia Mertz, Mills College ($150 each); 3rd prize: Sabrina Barreto, Santa Clara University, Andrew David King, UC Berkeley, and Desmond Vanderfin, St. Mary's College ($100 each)
2012–13: 1st prize: Jacquelin Balderrama, UC Riverside ($400); 2nd prize: Laura Isabella Sylvan, Santa Clara University ($300); 3rd prize: Sabrina Barreto, Santa Clara University, Molly LaFleur, UC Santa Cruz; and Jacob Minasian, St. Mary's College ($100 each)
2011–12: 1st prize: John Liles, UCSD ($300); 2nd prize: Danni Gorden, UC Berkeley, and Ainsley Kelly, Santa Clara University ($200 each); 3rd prize: Andrew David King, UC Berkeley, Gabriel Malikian, UCLA, April Peletta, UCLA, and Kevin Zambrano, UCSB ($75 each)
2000–01: 1st prize: Hannah Love, Mills College ($300), 2nd prize: Elsie Rivas, Santa Clara University ($200), Allyson Seal and John Cross, UCLA ($50 each)
1999–00: Francesca Hersh, UCSC, Maggi Michel, UCLA, Aeryn Seto, UC Berkeley, Virginia Whitney Weigand, UC Davis ($100 each)
1998–99: 1st prize: Gareth S. Lee, Santa Clara University, ($250); 2nd prize: Kristen Robertson, Mills College ($150); 3rd prize: Jasmine Donahaye, UC Berkeley ($100)
1997–98: 1st prize: Emma Marxer, Mills College ($150); 2nd prize: E. Tracy Grinnell, Mills College ($100); 3rd prize: Ronald Laran, UC Davis, Lisa Visendi, St. Mary's, and Shannon Welch, UCSC ($50 each); Honorable Mention: Laura-Marie Taylor, UCSB
The Lili Fabilli and Eric Hoffer Essay Prize is awarded for the best essays of 500 words or fewer on a topic chosen by the Committee on Prizes.
The contest is open to students, faculty, and staff of the UC Berkeley campus of the University of California. Prizes awarded to faculty and staff are paid through the Berkeley payroll system and taxes are taken out of the disbursement.
History of the Lili Fabilli and Eric Hoffer Essay Prize
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In a letter dated April 13, 1970, Eric Hoffer wrote to the Regents of the University of California: "I intend to give to the Berkeley campus of the University of California at least $10,000 in July 1970. The income of the fund shall be devoted to providing an annual prize or prizes for 500-word essays written by students, faculty, or staff at the Berkeley campus of the University. The sole criteria for the prizes shall be originality of thought and excellence in writing. This fund shall be known as the Lili Fabilli and Eric Hoffer Essay Prize." Hoffer felt very strongly that every idea could be expressed in a few words. Hoffer's own remarks follow:
Previous Lili Fabilli and Eric Hoffer Essay Prize Winners
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2023–24: Ryan Lackey ($3,000), Annie Foo ($2,000) and Mary Mussman ($1,000)
2022–23: 1st prize: Ryan Lackey ($3,000); 2nd prize: Bryan Jones ($2,000); 3rd prize: Andrew Kiser ($1,000)
2021–22: 1st prize: Ryan Lackey and Mary Mussman ($3000 each); 2nd prize: ($2000)
2020–21: 1st prize: Alex Brostoff ($3000); 2nd prize: Alysu Liu ($2000); 3rd prize: Michael Papias ($1000); 4th prize: Drew Kiser, Landon Iannamico and Roshonda Walker ($500 each)
2019–20: 1st Prize: Rebecca Brunner and Marcelo Garzo ($2000 each); 2nd Prize: Jordan Diac Depasquale and Bryan K Jones ($1000 each); 3rd Prize: Luisa M. Giulianetti, Ryan Lackey, Isaac Engelberg and Laura Marostica ($500 each)
2008–09: Linda Finch-Hicks (staff), Jacob Mikanowski, Kofi Boakye, and Jeremy Suizo ($750 each)
Topic: Rock, Paper, Scissors
2007–08: Joseph Cadora, Jacob Mikanowski, and Xialou Ning ($1,000 each)
Topic: In Defense of Sloth
2006–07: Samuel E. Pittman ($1,500) and Xiaolu Ning ($1,500)
Topic: Whatever You Say, Say Nothing
2005–06: Karen Sullivan, Jacqueline Palhegyi, and Zachary Gordon ($1,000 each)
Topic: Looking Forward to Looking Back
2004–05: Erin Cooper, Lawrence Ruth (staff), and Sandra Wulff (staff) ($1,000 each)
Topic: What I'd Really Like to Do Is...
2003–04: 1st prize: Casey Dominguez ($1,000); 2nd prize: Ken Prola ($750); 3rd prize: Ana Martinez ($500); 4th prize: Sarang Dalal and Michele Rabkin ($375 each)
Topic: What Were They Thinking?
2002–03: 1st prize: Ana Martinez and Michael Rancer (staff) ($750 each); 2nd prize: Julie Rodriguez (staff) and Carol Wood (staff) ($500 each)
Topic: Self-Deception: Benefits and Consequences
2001–02: Eric Walton, Joanne Sandstrom (staff), Joseph Kim, Nellie Haddad (staff) ($750 each); Honorable Mentions: Jimmy Tran, Carol Wood (staff), Lynley Lys, and Karen Lam
Topic: If Only
2000–01: Zack Rogow ($1,000); Ken Chen, Cassandra Dunn, Zachary Gordon, and Pat Soberanis ($800 each)
Topic: Are Books Dead?
1999–00: Casey Knudsen ($1,000); Amanda Cundiff, Eric McGhee, Serban Nacu, and Sissel Waage ($500 each)
Topic: Networks
1998–99: 1st prize: Kathryn Renee Albe, Paul Klein, Joanne Palamountain, Sissel Waage, and Zack Rogow ($500 each)
Topic: Brushstrokes
1997–98: 1st prize: Virginia Matzek ($1,250); 2nd prize: Dominic Ang ($750)
Topic: Where There Is Light . . .
1996–97: Kathy Gether
Topic: Hello 2000
1995–96: 1st prize: Anna Moore (staff) and Maureen Morley (staff) ($1,000 each)
Topic: Fired With Enthusiasm
1994–95: 1st prize: Chris Haight (staff) and Reed Evans ($1,000 each)
Topics: A Moment's Notice and How Beautiful
1993–94: 1st prize: Roberto Landazuri ($1,000); 2nd prize: Ingrid Zommers and Jim Lake (staff) ($500 each)
Topic: What's Next?
1992–93: 1st prize: Steve Tillis, Letitia Carper (staff), David Krogh (staff), and David Schweidel (staff) ($250 each)
Topic: What an Original Idea!
1991–92: 1st prize: Christopher Galvin and Steve Tillis ($700 each); 2nd place: Celia Carlson and William Corley ($300 each)
Topic: What a Century!
1990–91: 1st prize: Michael Ditmore; 2nd prize: Daniel Lee; 3rd prize: Shirley Hodgkinson and Ramah Commanday
Topic: The Sin of Cain
1989–90: 1st prize: Tim Edwards; 2nd prize: Paul Jaminet, David Krogh, and Joanne Sandstrom
Topic: The Thankful/The Thankless
1988–89: 1st prize: Ramah Commanday; 2nd prize: Kathy Newman and George Huang
Topic: Smoldering Embers
1987–88: 1st prize: John Nebrhass, Kathy Newman, Anthony Robinson-While, and William Webber
Topic: Presidential Campaigns
1986–87: 1st prize: John Hatton; 2nd prize: Dave Erickson and Stuart Wald
Topic: Hair Shirts
1985–86: 1st prize: Charlotte Redemann; 2nd prize: Doris Lynch
Topic: Patterns
1984–85: 1st prize: Kirin Narayan; 2nd prize: Benjamin Watson; Honorable Mention: Christie McCarthy (staff), Carol Pitts, and Helen Workman (staff)
Topic: Pets and Animals
1983–84: 1st prize: Debra Cooper; 2nd prize: Donald Green; Honorable Mention: Elizabeth Anderson, Ann Elliott, Christine Feldhorn, Andrew Lunt, Ellen Nakashima, Thomas Simmons, Alan Stephen, and Monica Zorovich
Topic: California
1982–83: 1st prize: Richard Reinhardt; 2nd prize: Susan E. Bailey
Topic: Trees
1981–82: 1st prize: Lizbeth L. Hasse; 2nd prize: Barry Taxman. Essay prizes without a topic awarded to: 1st prize: Professor David Littlejohn; 2nd prize: Matthew M. Neal; Honorable Mention: Joanne Sandstrom and Jeffrey Norris Klink
Topic: Our Most Over-Valued Institution
1980–81: Christopher Rayner and Jennifer L. Walden ($250 each)
Topic: Should California Be Split into Two States?
1979–80: Richard Ogar ($500)
Topic: Should Public Laws Regulate Private Vice?
1978–79: No award given
Topic: Where Should Humankind Go Next?
1977–78: Paul Chernoff ($500)
Topic: In What Additional Field Should a Nobel Prize Be Awarded?
1976–77: S.M. Blair ($500)
Topic: Should There Be Olympic Games in the Future?
1975–76: Jeffrey Lewis Gold ($500)
Topic: What Image or Figure Redefining and Symbolizing the American Dream Can We Offer in 1976?
1974–75: S.M. Blair ($500)
Topic: What Is the Place of Grade Winning in an Education?
1973–74: Ingrid Maidel Krohn ($500)
Topic: How Do We Change Our Attitudes in the Face of Diminishing Natural Resources?
1972–73: John Thomas Gage ($500)
Topic: Is Zero Population Growth an Invasion of Privacy or a Collective Necessity?
1971–72: Leslie Morris Golden ($500)
Topics: F.S.M., People's Park, and Cambodia: Whither the Direction and What Are the Functions of the Contemporary University?
The Nicola De Lorenzo Prize in Music Composition is awarded for the best original completed musical composition.
The prize competition is open to both graduate and undergraduate students of any major. The composition is required to be a piece composed during your matriculation at UC Berkeley. Submit a score and, if possible, a recording of the composition. For music that is not notated (such as fixed media pieces, improvised performances, and so on), submit a recording with a note about the work and why it is not notated. All entries will be judged blind—your name should not appear on recordings or scores.
History of the Prize
The Nicola De Lorenzo Prize in Music Composition was established in 1958.
2013–14: 1st prize: Lily Chen ($1,750); 2nd prize: Amadeus Regucera ($1,250); 3rd prize: Andrew V. Ly ($500)
2012–13: 1st prize: Matthew Schumaker ($3,000); 2nd prize: Thatchatham Silsupan ($1,000); 3rd prize: Jose Rafael Valle Gomes da Costa ($500)
2011–12: 1st prize: Javier Jimmy Lopez and Amadeus Regucera ($1,300 each); 2nd prize: Thatchatam Silsupan, Matthew Goodheart, and Sivan Eldar ($800 each)
2010–11: 1st prize: Javier Jimmy Lopez ($1,000); 2nd prize: David Coll, Robin Estrada, Jen Wang, Daniel Cullen ($750 each); 3rd prize: Nils Bultmann, Matt Schumaker ($500 each)
2009–10: 1st prize: Amadeus Regucera ($2,000); 2nd prize: Evelyn Ficarra and Heather Frasch ($1,200 each); 3rd prize: Gabrielle Angeles ($600)
2008–09: 1st prize: Matthew Goodheart ($2,000); 2nd prize Amadeus Regucera, David Coll and Robin Estrada ($1,000 each)
2007–08: 1st prize: Robert Yamasato and Heather Frasch ($2,000 each); 2nd prize: Jimmy Lopez ($1,000)
2006–07: 1st prize: Aaron Einbond, Robert Yamasato, and Mason Bates ($1,666 each)
2005–06: 1st prize: Mason Bates and Aaron Einbond ($2,500 each)
The Anne and Benjamin Goor Prize in Jewish Studies is awarded annually to two graduate and two undergraduate students for essays on research in any area of Jewish Studies.
Creative works are not eligible. The essays must have been written after the previous year’s submission deadline and must have been written while the authors are registered students in good standing at UC Berkeley. For those years in which one or more prizes are not awarded, the prize money shall be made available for prize augmentation or additional prizes in another year, as recommended by the judges. There may be no more than two winning submissions by a single student.
History of the Prize
The Benjamin Goor Prize in Jewish Studies was established in 1977 in memory of Benjamin Goor by his wife, Anne, to support programs and research in Jewish Studies. In 2005, upon the occasion of Anne’s death, the prize was renamed the Anne and Benjamin Goor Prize in Jewish Studies. Anne and Benjamin Goor were an integral part of the Jewish community in Phoenix, during and after World War II. During the war, their home was a kosher Shabbat and Passover haven for servicemen stationed at nearby bases. Anne was active in synagogue activities, B’nai B’rith Women, and Hadassah, serving as chapter president. She received many awards for her contributions to these organizations.
The Goor Prize is administered by Center for Jewish Studies.
Contest deadlines vary. Please check the Prizes and Honors home page for this prize’s deadline.
Previous Anne and Benjamin Goor Prize in Jewish Studies Winners
