"Christians and all those who hate injustice are obligated to fight it with every ounce of their strength. They must work for a new world in which greed and selfishness will finally be overcome."

--Ignacio Ellacurķa, S.J.



In November 1989, Ignacio Ellacurķa, the Jesuit Rector of the University of Central America, five of his Jesuit colleagues, their co-worker and her daughter, were murdered by the Salvadoran army. Although Father Ellacurķa is no longer with us, his standards of academic excellence, social commitment, and faith live on as an inspiration to all of us. The Latin American Studies Committee at St. Joseph's University is proud to inform you that a new award to honor student achievement in the field of Latin American Studies has been established in memory of Ignacio Ellacurķa. The Jesuit community at St. Joseph's will co-sponsor the award and provide a cash prize to accompany the honor.

The Award will be based on the following criteria:

  1. The award will recognize the completion of an outstanding project related to Latin America in a course at St. Joseph's.
  2. The winning project should reflect a high standard of intellectual pursuit, as well as creativity in its approach to understanding Latin America. The term "project" is used in a broad sense. Nominated projects may be, but are not limited to, such diverse undertakings as research papers, fiction, poetry, paintings, photography, or ceramics.
  3. Students are eligible for the award at any point in their academic careers at St. Joseph's. However, no student may receive the award more than once during her undergraduate career.
  4. Student projects must be nominated by a faculty sponsor. Nominations must be presented in the form of a letter from the faculty sponsor. The nomination letter should detail the outstanding characteristics of the nominated project.
  5. The award will be given annually. Work produced either in the fall or spring semester of each academic year will be eligible for the award for that year.
  6. The Awards Committee will be selected by the Committee on Latin American Studies from among members of the St. Joseph's community.
  7. Deadline for submission of nominations is June 1.
  8. Nominations should be submitted to the Director of the Latin American Studies Program. A complete nomination will consist of one copy of the student's work accompanied by the faculty nomination letter. In the case of projects in the plastic arts, special arrangements may be made through the Director of Latin American Studies.

For further information about the Ellacurķa Award, please contact the Director of Latin American Studies:

lasp@sju.edu
Last Revision: July 5, 2001

http://www.sju.edu/~warren/clas/ellacur.htm