Morris Weiss was a founder of the Holocaust Center of Northern California. A Holocaust survivor who testified at Nazi war crimes trials, Morris Weiss was dedicated to fighting Nazism. In his memory, his family established a scholarship open to 11th and 12th grade Bay Area students each spring.

The student with the winning essay will receive a $1000 scholarship to be used towards their post-secondary education. See Scholarship Rules below for more details.

The Holocaust was a time when people lost sight of their own humanity.

Respond to the following quote:

The Morris Weiss Scholarship is for students grades 11 and 12, and the essay submission must reflect a genuine engagement with the question posed and constitute a thoughtful response. The entry will be judged both on the quality of writing and the ability of the author to meaningfully connect the essay topic to the lessons of the Holocaust

The 2010 Morris Weiss Scholarship is open to all 11th and 12th grade students living in these counties: San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano, Marin, Napa, and Sonoma. Each participant may submit one entry. Entries that do not meet contest requirements will not be eligible for judging.

Format, Length and Verification

• Entries must be in the form of an essay, with a maximum of 900 words.
• Entries must be computer-generated, double-spaced, on 8.5 x11 inch white paper. Pages must be numbered at the bottom, right hand corner.
• Entries must be formatted as .doc, .docx, or PDF files.
• Personal or identifying information must not appear anywhere on the body of the essay. Such information may only appear on a separate title page. Each entry must be accompanied by the following title page:
  Morris Weiss Scholarship Title Page
• Essays that are not submitted in the above format will be returned.

Content

• The entry must represent the independent effort of the student.
• Every essay must include a Works Cited, a Reference Page, or a Bibliography if secondary sources are used.

Submission

• Submit your entry to via email to scholarship@hcnc.org
• All entries must be sent by email only with the essay and title page as attachments to scholarship@hcnc.org. The subject line should contain your name and the words “Morris Weiss Scholarship.” HCNC will not accept entries sent to it in any other format.
• All entries become the property of the Holocaust Center of Northern California.
• The winner grants the Holocaust Center of Northern California the right to publish his/her essay, in whole or in part, along with the winner’s name, grade and school.
• By submitting an entry, each entrant and his/her parent and/or legal guardian agree to and have read, understand and will comply with these rules.
• By submitting an entry, all applicants certify that their work is original, produced solely by the applicant, and does not infringe upon the rights of any third persons.

Scholarship Timeline and Award

• All entries must be time-stamped by March 9, 2010, 11:59 p.m.
• The winner and his/her sponsoring teachers (if any) will be notified by March 31, 2010.
• The winner will receive a scholarship in the amount of $1,000 to be used toward tuition at a university, college, trade-school, technical institute, vocational training or post-secondary education program.
• The winner agrees to provide his/her social security number to the Holocaust Center of Northern California for the purposes of making the scholarship award.
• The Morris Weiss Scholarship winner must attend the community-wide Yom HaShoah Observance on April 11, 2010 at Congregation Emanu-El, 2 Lake Street, San Francisco, CA 94118, at 5:30 p.m.
• The Holocaust Center of Northern California reserves the right not to award the Morris Weiss Scholarship in the event that submissions do not meet contest standards or criteria.