Worthington Essay
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About the Worthington Essay Contest
In 2002, Plan II alumnus Roger Worthington (’80) provided funding for an annual essay prize in Plan II. Originally a single prize, Plan II now awards 3 prizes each year, including a first-year student prize. The essay topics have ranged from hypothetical scenarios to real-world events and always challenge students to form an argument on one side of a legal, scientific, medical, or ethical debate and present it convincingly. All current Plan II students are eligible to enter, and Plan II faculty members select the winning essays from among the submissions.
Grand Prize: $5000
First-Year Prize: $3500 (best essay written by a first-year student)
Second Place Prize: $2500
2024 Prize Winning Submissions - Climate Change Intervention and Ethical Considerations
Grand Prize: Vijay Davis, Class of 2027
First-Year Prize: Gauri Kanakkancheril Binup, Class of 2028
Second Prize (tie): Michaela Fearey, Class of 2025, and Keerthi Chalamalasetty, Class of 2027
- 2025 Essay Prompt: Climate Change & Meat Industry
The year is 2040. Large portions of the United States of America are in permanent drought. Nationwide, cattle populations have dwindled to record lows and beef prices are skyrocketing. Traditional ranchers and beef producers are in crisis.
In the meantime, the lab-grown meat industry has flourished. Scientists have made significant advances toward perfecting a variety of remarkably life-like meats that originate from cells but look and taste just like “actual” meat products. For more than a decade, however, the “traditional” meat industry has lobbied hard against widespread adoption of cell-cultured meats, succeeding in several states in the passage of bans of all meat that doesn’t come from livestock. The meat industry argues that these “unnatural” meats don’t provide the same health benefits or classic taste, not to mention that they take away jobs from one of the oldest and most advanced sectors of the American economy. Boosters of lab-grown meats point to the incredible improvements in taste, look, and feel, as well as the inevitability of market adoption of lab-grown meat to keep up with demand as American cows continue to die out at alarming rates.
You are a government official hosting an annual industry summit in Washington, DC. This year’s theme is “The Future of Agriculture.” For the first time, just as many representatives of lab-grown meat ventures are in attendance as leaders of the conventional meat industry.
It is your responsibility to draft an opening address for your boss, the Secretary of Agriculture, to deliver at the start of the conference. It must be no longer than 3000 words and must set out tangible legislative goals of the summit, while explicitly engaging with the four to five most pressing ethical, sociopolitical, and/or legal issues concerning the future of the meat industry. Lastly, the address must provide a framework for any future legislation.
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2025 Entry Instructions
- Deadline: 11:59 P.M., Saturday, November 15th, 2025
- Submit your essay via file upload here. NO LATE ENTRIES.
- At the top of your essay, please include your full name, eid, and class year.
- Submit your entry as a PDF file using the following filename format:
lastname_firstname_eid
- Your response should be 3000 words or fewer
- Students who receive financial aid should check with the UT Office of Student Financial Services to find out if winning a prize will affect their aid package.
- Questions or difficulty submitting? Email planiischolarships@austin.utexas.edu
