Three Clemson students win 2010 J.T. Barton Jr. Ethics Scholarship Essay Competition

Published: March 3, 2010

By Hope Snipes

CLEMSON — Three Clemson University students won the J.T. Barton Jr. Ethics Scholarship Essay Competition: Thomas Bradford Saad of Greenville; Jacob Aubrey Farlow of Gibsonville, N.C.; and Carson Elizabeth Culver of Roswell, Ga.

Saad, a junior philosophy major, was awarded first place and a scholarship of $1,500. Second place was awarded to Farlow, a sophomore economics major, and third place was awarded to Culver, a freshman undeclared major. Farlow received a $1,000 scholarship and Culver was awarded a $500 scholarship.

Honorable mention went to Kaitlyn Ann Hauter, a senior philosophy law, liberty and justice major from Falls Church, Va.

The essay contest was established in 2001 by class of 1972 alumnus Stephan “Steve” Barton in honor of his father, J.T. Barton Jr., an alumnus of the class of 1950. Any Clemson undergraduate student, regardless of major or grade-point average, is eligible to compete in the essay competition.

The topic for this year’s essay competition questioned what qualifies people to be fit parents. Dan Wueste, director of Clemson’s Robert J. Rutland Institute for Ethics, said news stories on “Octomom” Nadya Suleman sparked interest in the topic.

“We posed a question we hoped would be an attention grabber: Should people have to have a license to be parents?” Wueste said.

Resources and specific questions were available on the Rutland Institute Web site to help the students prepare their essay topics. For example, students were asked to think about whether there is a fundamental right to reproduce, whether some people are unfit to be parents and whether low- or no-cost fertility treatments should be provided to those unable to conceive.

The scholarship awards will be given at the Honors and Awards Ceremony of the College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities Monday, April 16, at the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts.

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