2024 Essay Contest winners with Judge Gregory, Senior Judge Keenan, and Chief Judge Diaz.
On September 26, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit recognized the winners of the 2024 Fourth Circuit Essay Contest during a Constitution Day program at the Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Courthouse in Richmond, Virginia.
On the 70th anniversary of the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), students were asked to share their thoughts on the question: "Has the decision in Brown, viewed through the lens of 2024, achieved its
purpose of ensuring equal opportunity in public education?” The contest was open to middle school and high school students from the five states within the Circuit, and the court received 275 entries.
In his opening remarks, Chief Judge Diaz stated, “I think I speak for my colleagues when I say we all feel so much better when we see those who are coming behind us to continue the work of making our more perfect union.”
The program started with a theater-style reading performed by the middle school contest winners, five Albert H. Hill Middle School students, and two Fourth Circuit law clerks. These performers played the roles of several historical figures involved
in Brown v. Board of Education, including Linda Brown and Justice Thurgood Marshall, while images of those figures were displayed on screen for the audience.
 Students from Albert H. Hill Middle School prepare for the reenactment. |  Linda Brown, 1952
(AP Photo) |  Reenactment by students. |
High School Winners
Left to right: Kennedy Grams, Alaine Deng, Asher Ermentrout.
The first-place high school winner, Kennedy Grams, received a $2,000 prize for her essay. She proposed that schools aid minority students in AP courses “in order to actualize the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment” after
witnessing the racial composition of her own AP classes. A senior at Pikesville High School in Baltimore, Maryland, Grams was joined by her mother Brook Grams and grandfather William Moore. “There is still a lot of progress to be made
in order to fully realize the potential that diversity in schools has for the future of the country and our democracy. We cannot expect to live in a fully functional society if we cannot interact in a productive way with our neighbors who look
different from us.”
Second-place winner, Elaine Deng, was awarded a $1,500 prize for her essay. She contended that, while Brown was a “symbolic moment in American history that continues to promote societal equality to this day,” disparities in
equal educational opportunities still exist due to the persistence of racial discrimination, limited and poorly executed public policies, and continued differences in economic status. A senior at Horry County Schools Scholars Academy in Conway, South
Carolina, she was joined by her parents Yilang Liu and Major Deng.
The third-place winner, Asher Ermentrout, was the recipient of a $1,000 prize. He argued there is still a lot of work to be done to ensure true equal opportunity in public education, including addressing how schools are funded. “As society
continues to dismantle practices that promote segregation, communities will become less racially divided and schools will follow suit. A public education system that provides an equal opportunity for success to every student is one that truly represents
American and democratic values.” A sophomore at Grimsley High School in Greensboro, North Carolina, Asher was joined by his father, Daniel Smith.
Middle School Winners
Left to right: Makayla Macklin, Isabelle Yam, and Aydin Soner.
Makayla Macklin received a prize of $500 for her first-place essay. She began her essay by imaging a mother in 1954 saying, “shh,” while nervously waiting for the Supreme Court to issue its decision in Brown. “The
court recognized the detrimental effects that segregation had on African American children.” And while more rights and opportunities resulted from that decision, she argued that continued “economic segregation” results in poorer
communities not receiving equal educational opportunities. “Until we see more disadvantaged communities being reconstructed, restored, and invested in, there will be a lot more work that needs to be done before we can claim there are equal opportunities
in public education.” Makayla, a freshman at Hillside High School in Durham, North Carolina, was joined by her mother, Da-Nay Macklin, father, Chris Macklin, and a friend of the family, Tom Polak.
Second-place winner Isabelle Yam received a prize of $250 for her essay. Using a relay race as a metaphor, she argued that one team started with better access to economic opportunities and better school funding provided by property taxes, while the second
team was not allowed to start until members of the first team had finished. She contends that the creation of viable funding policies which equally benefit all neighborhoods and address the legacy of racism and bias in our country are needed to achieve
the goal of Brown. A junior at The Langley School in McLean, Virginia, Isabelle was joined by her mother, Brittany Root, father, Kevin Yam, and grandfather, Barth Root.
Third-place winner Aydin Soner was awarded a $200 prize for his essay. A rising seventh grader and homeschooled in Columbia, South Carolina, through the Ubuntu Nation Builders Academy, Aydin explained he first learned about the decision in
Brown after learning about a related case in South Carolina, Briggs v. Elliot, and the dissent written by Judge Waties Waring. Aydin stated that de facto desegregation remained in place after Brown, and also
referenced the Kerner Reports of 1967 and 2018. Identifying with “Generation Alpha,” he stated that recent state laws and court rulings “can only widen the educational disparities Brown sought to close. The bigger
issue to be addressed, however, is how long should blacks wait to be afforded full constitutional rights in education.” Aydin was joined by his mother, Kutina Williams.
Chief Judge Diaz closed out the program by recognizing the winners and sharing a quote from Thomas Jefferson:
“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.”
He stated, “I think it’s fair to say that, listening to the young bright minds who spoke here today, that they are certainly not ignorant.” Chief Judge Diaz expressed to the students “that you’ll work hard with your
fellow citizens to continue to improve our democracy because it will only be as good as those who come after us. I have great faith after listening to each and every one of you that we are in very good hands.”
The winners unveil a plaque with their names added during a reception in the Fourth Circuit Library.