Holly Springs -- The Executive Leadership Council and The Executive Leadership Foundation announced that over 2800 AA undergraduates from across the country competed in their "2010 Award for Excellence in Business Commentary National Essay Competition."

Rust College's own Stefen White was named the sixth place winner for this year.

The 10 African-American undergraduate students from across the nation were vying for scholarship awards that include cash distributed among the winners, an internship at a Fortune 500 corporation, and participation in an all expense-paid, week-long Honors Symposium in New York City. 

Students were asked to examine and discuss how corporations should work with schools to help develop minority leaders. It was based on a 2009 McKinsey & Co. report estimating that the achievement gap affecting minorities in public schools leads to a loss in Gross Domestic Product of between 310 - 525 billion dollars each year. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that "by 2023, minorities will comprise more than half of all school-age children." 

The essay contest, now in its 16th year, is generously supported and underwritten by The Coca-Cola Foundation. 

The 10 student winners of the 2010 National Essay Competition are: 

  1st Place     David Alexander, Howard University

    2nd Place    Aeisha D. Reese, Wayne State University

    3rd Place     Folake Dosu, Stanford University

    4th Place     Shannon Evans, Emporia State University

    5th Place     Tristan Francis, University of Pennsylvania

    6th Place     Kurt C. Griggs-Swanson, Wayne State University

    6th Place     Ayesha Massquoi, Iowa State University

    6th Place     Ashli McLean, Hampton University

    6th Place     Kenneth Ware, Jr., Texas Southern University

    6th Place     Stefen White, Rust College