Camacho admitted that, though he did not expect more than 20-25 submissions that would be narrowed down to 14 finalists, his expectations were exceeded when over 60 essays were submitted for review by the editorial board and Dialogue staff. Many of the essays were originally class papers, and were then edited to meet the characteristics of the academic essay. Others, like one student's philosophical analysis of race relations on campus, were written especially for the journal.
Carhart, detailing the selection process, explained that editors narrowed down the submissions to five semifinalists in each category: social science, natural science, philosophy/theology, and literature/arts. A detailed description of each essay's strengths, weaknesses, and editing potential was attached to each piece, and the staff then voted on the finalists.
Camacho hopes that in the future, Dialogue can expand to include more essays in its annual issue or publish biannually. He also welcomes potential "point-counterpoint" essays that may be in response to an essay featured in a previous issue. "These essays are not conclusions in themselves," he said.
Spring Break
