Keebler Receives Honorable Mention in Writing Contest

The Prison Education Project would like to congratulate Ronald Keebler, a first-year student who joined the program in June 2019, on recently receiving an honorable mention for his submission to a contest hosted by the Washington University Common Reading Program. Keebler’s winning submission was a poem titled “Double Edged Sword,” which can be read below.

Common Reading Program

All first-year students at Washington University are invited to participate in a common reading program geared towards providing students with a common intellectual experience and introducing them to the nature of inquiry and debate that is found at Washington University. Before arriving on campus, students are asked to read a common book that has been selected by a committee of students, staff, and faculty. The goal of the Common Reading Program is to encourage students to explore different themes and begin thinking critically, even before the start of classes. From its conception in 2003 to its now 17th year, the Common Reading Program has been a long-standing experience that welcomes and propels students into the rigorous and stimulating academics of Washington University. This year, incoming students were asked to read HATE: Why We Should Resist It with Free Speech, Not Censorship by Nadine Strossen.

Contest

In addition to reading and discussing the common book, students were given the opportunity to take their ideas and thoughts further through a contest that responded to the following prompt:

Strossen argues the importance of addressing ideas that we disagree with using “counterspeech” rather than censorship. Throughout history, individuals and communities have used creative mediums to express their own “counterspeech”. Examples of dissent abound in creative mediums as diverse as operas, pop art, poetry, T.V., fiction, and cartoons. Using any creative medium (visual art, poetry, music, written prose etc.) produce a piece of “counterspeech” that demonstrates your opposition to an idea.