CONWAY, Ark. (March 14, 2014) – Hendrix freshmen Steven
Hulsey and Chirag Lala, both of Little Rock, Ark., were honored by the national
office of Project Pericles as one of this year’s winning submissions to the
Debating for Democracy competition.
“There
was stiff competition from this campus as well as the 28 other campuses,” said
Dr. Lisa Leitz, assistant sociology professor and director of Project Pericles
at Hendrix. “We sent three great letters from student teams,
and I’m proud of this year’s students for continuing Hendrix’s strong showing
in this competition. No Pericles institution has had more finalists in the
Debating for Democracy Letter to an Elected Official competition than Hendrix,
and only three other schools have had four years of finalists.”
This year’s other winning teams included students from Macalester College, New England College, Pitzer College,
Swarthmore College and Wagner
College.
In their letter,
Hulsey and Lala urge Arkansas State Sen. Joyce Elliott to advocate for the
establishment of a public state bank to sustainably finance small businesses,
local banks, and critical development projects.
The idea is modeled
on the Bank of North Dakota (BND), the only public state bank in existence
today. Such a model would offer a low-interest lending solution for a variety
of unmet state infrastructure needs cited by the American Society of
Civil Engineers (ASCE), including Arkansas public schools, drinking water and
wastewater infrastructure improvement, replacement of 2,929 structurally
deficient or functionally obsolete bridges, and $22 million unmet need for park
systems.
Project
Pericles will provide a $500 award to fund advocacy and education activities,
including lobbying trips and workshops.
Founded in 1876, Hendrix College is a national leader in
engaged liberal arts and sciences education. For the sixth consecutive year,
Hendrix was named one of the country’s “Up and Coming” liberal arts colleges by
U.S. News and World Report. Hendrix is featured in the latest edition of Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change
the Way You Think about Colleges,
as well as the 2014 Princeton Review’s The Best 378 Colleges, Forbes magazine's list of America's Top Colleges, and
the 2014 Fiske Guide to Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United
Methodist Church since 1884. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.