Constantine Cannon Announces Winners of Whistleblower Essay Contest

Earlier this year, Constantine Cannon launched its Third Scholarship Essay Contest on the Importance of Whistleblowers. The goal of our contest is to hear what law school students have to say about the importance of whistleblowers and to reinforce the critical role whistleblowers play in our society.

Specifically, we ask for an essay between 250 and 750 words that addresses one or more of the following whistleblower subjects:

• What it means to be a whistleblower.
• A whistleblower act you personally have experienced.
• A whistleblower who has inspired you.
• The importance of whistleblowers in promoting transparency and protecting the health and safety of the public.

As with our prior contests, scores of students from law schools across the country submitted essays addressing these important issues. Many of them reflected very personal experiences with whistleblowing and with whistleblowers who deeply touched their lives. Others offered insights on how best to address the negative perception of whistleblowers and foster a culture where whistleblowers are hailed as heroes.

We applaud all the students who participated in our latest contest. While all the essays were thoughtful and well crafted, we only could select five winners. This was no easy task. After several rounds of review and cross-review, our essay review team (which comprised six members of our whistleblower team) picked the following five winners who we believe best captured the essence of whistleblowers – their courage, strength, integrity, selflessness, and a deep concern for public health and safety.

• First Place: Laney Fox – Florida State University School of Law.
• Second Place: Lana Thurman – University of Arkansas Bowen School of Law.
• Third Place: Leah Bechtold – Indiana University McKinney School of Law.
• Fourth Place: Grace Chisholm – Yale Law School.
• Fifth Place: Chana Deitsch – Fordham University School of Law.

Congratulations to this exceptional group! We will be posting their winning essays over the next few weeks along with more information on the winners. Thanks again to all who participated in this year’s contest. And watch this space for when we launch our next scholarship contest in the coming weeks.