Here’s how the contest was received at Hampton:

“I had Kristof’s sign up for a month,� faculty member Wayne J. Dawkins says. “Even drew the continent with a green marker to add art. Yet, I did not get any takers, and I took the sign down immediately after the deadline.�

Hampton students did apply, but only as part of a class assignment. Jack E. White, who taught a class for seniors, says, “Few of my students knew anything about the contest or the appalling situation in Darfur before they were assigned to apply for the contest.�

Still, White and Dawkins found the experience valuable. “Even though none of them made the list of finalists,� White says, “applying opened their eyes to a world few of them had paid much attention to. I hope that awareness sticks.�

Dixon, at Howard, tells of a schoolwide meeting at which a student complained about having to take news quizzes. A senior complained, too, but for a different reason. He found the quizzes a waste of time “because as a journalist, I know I have to be on top of the news.� His wish was that the others did not need such prods to keep up.
Journalism is a competitive business that needs more young people of color. They need to be challenged, not held back by peers who don’t belong there.

That’s the better way to allow "disadvantaged students to attain their
full potential."

— Richard Prince edits the online news service Black College Wire, writes the online media diversity column “Journal-isms� for the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education and works part-time as a copy editor at The Washington Post.