The 9th Semi-Annual

William A. Solemene Foundation

Scholarship Essay Contest

William A. Solemene was a long time Dallas advertising executive.  He was generous in his philanthropy and active in civic service and party politics.  In sponsoring this scholarship, the William A. Solemene Charitable Foundation wishes to honor the spirit of active citizenship and love of country that was such an important part of his life.  Through the generosity of the Foundation, the University of Dallas has been able to award over the past seven years $225,000 in scholarships apportioned to multiple students. 

Once again, the Solemene Charitable Foundation has contributed $25,000 to be apportioned among the authors of the top two or three essays. Submission requirements and the topic and prompt for the essay are listed below.

Deadline:

Deadline for submission is April 10, 2025 at 11:59 pm CDT. Scholarships will be awarded for the fall 2025 semester.

Qualifications:

1. Applicant must be a current University of Dallas undergraduate with at least 15 credit hours already earned (completed at UD) but not more than 110 credit hours earned at UD at the time of application.
2. Applicant must be a Liberal Arts Major, pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in any major.
3. Applicant must have submitted a 2025/2026 FAFSA. Financial need is a consideration.
4. Applicant must be a US citizen or permanent resident.

Requirements: 

1. 800-1,500 word essay - see topic below.  Line spacing for the essay should be at 1 1/2 lines.  Do not include personal identification in the essay; only include your UD student ID number at the top of your essay.  Your essay must be uploaded within the application.
   
2. One letter of recommendation from a University of Dallas professor.  This letter may be uploaded with your application or emailed (either by the applicant or directly from the professor) to finaid@udallas.edu.  If the letter is emailed, the subject line of the email must be: Solemene Scholarship, ID (insert the applicant's UD ID number).

Topic of the William A. Solemene Foundation Scholarship Essay

Human Intelligence Today: An Essay

Essay Prompt:

The new power of generative AI is all around us: our phones, watches, computers, and digital assistants boast the ability to summarize texts and lectures, produce papers and speeches, and create images tailored to our every whim. 

While technological innovation is rarely a matter of purely good or bad, the very way in which AI in short order has seamlessly been inserted into everyday life means we have scarcely begun to become mindful of its consequences, including its unintended ones. 

In keeping with UD’s commitment to the search for wisdom, the task of this essay competition is to meditate on AI and its relation to the human: How should we respond to the increasing presence of generative AI in human life? 

• What is the difference between human and artificial intelligence when it comes to generating speech and/or images?
• How might a specific liberal art, such as the art of definition or the art of argumentative writing, resist duplication by generative AI? 
• What virtues need to be cultivated in the presence of AI that were not needed in the same way before?
• From politics, what is the role of language in communal life, and how might generative AI alter that role?
• From history, how does the development of AI compare to other major technological revolutions, from the invention of the book to the invention of the printing press?
• How might poetry or philosophy be important humanizing activities in a world of increasingly recycled linguistic content?
• In view of the Vatican’s warning about AI and its potential for idolatry, what theological questions are raised by generative AI?

Once you have your essay and letter of recommendation from a UD professor ready, submit your application.