2026 Gandhi / King Peace Scholarship

The Illinois Community College Trustees Association's Gandhi / King Peace Scholarship provides a $750 scholarship to the student who best articulates the peaceful messages of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This award has been endowed by Oakton Community College trustee Jody Wadhwa and the Oakton Education Foundation. IVCC will also provide a $100 award to the winner of the local contest.

Guidelines

Participants must address the Writing Prompt described below. Each submission must be no longer than 500 words in length, typed single-spaced in business-letter format.

All entries will be judged on the basis of the following criteria:

  • Demonstrated understanding of the significance of the work of Gandhi and King
  • Content, strength and persuasiveness of argument
  • Personal goals and involvement in peacebuilding efforts
  • Writing style, clarity of expression, and correct grammar and punctuation

Failure to follow these rules will result in the disqualification of an entry .

Writing Prompt

Both Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., advocated for nonviolence as the way to confront the hate and discrimination that so often accompanies the disrespect of other human beings. The work and words of Gandhi and King are both an example and a road map for the way forward for our country. As a community college student, outline a plan that will educate the members of your college community about the scope of the problem and the elements of and rationale for a nonviolent response. In the description of your plan, draw on the lives and writings of Gandhi and King.

Contest Deadlines

All entries must be received by 2 PM, Friday, February 20, 2026. The winner of the Gandhi / King Peace Scholarship competition at IVCC will win $100 and then will be submitted to compete to win a $750 cash stipend for educational expenses during the fall 2026 semester as part of the statewide competition.

To submit an entry for the Gandhi / King Peace Scholarship competition, please send your essay to:

IVCC President Tracy Morris
Deliver to Office C-300 or Email to tracy_morris@ivcc.edu