In hopes to strengthen the archive department, the Student Government Association has started a contest that allows students to portray their lives at St. Edward’s University.

Described as an opportunity for students to remember their time at the university, “Documenting Your Journey” is open to any student who has attended St. Edward’s, past or present.

“A lot of the photos and artifacts that are brought out at class reunions, alumni gatherings and other events are submitted by students,” said junior SGA Sen. Karissa Eudy. “The shortage of submissions means that there isn’t much of a physical record of the time that some students have spent at St. Edward’s.”

Eudy drafted the legislation to create the contest and sought approval for it at a senate meeting in February.

The contest asks students to submit a portfolio containing 10 artifacts that accurately and appropriately embody their time spent at school. The portfolio can be submitted by an individual student or by a recognized organization on campus. Alumni and even faculty and staff may submit artifacts that represented their past time at St. Edward’s, but they will be ineligible for the cash prize.

“We think that [the current lack of artifacts] is a result of the fact that students are not aware that the archive department accepts submissions,” Eudy said. “The contest is a way to get the word out and get more people adding their memories to St. Edward’s history.”

Students are encouraged to submit anything that documents their social and academic journey at St. Edward’s. The contest’s guidelines are very lenient; entries may include photos, video clips, art work, promotional posters and T-shirts.

Though sponsored by SGA, the contest will be judged by members of the archive staff. However, students will submit their entries to SGA’s Student Outreach Committee, which Eudy currently chairs.

The winner of the contest will receive $200, whether the entry is submitted by a recognized organization or an individual. The second and third place winners will receive $100, respectively.

Archivist and Curator of Special Collections April Sullivan had not known SGA sought to gain entries through a contest, but she said she is nonetheless pleased and very excited. She had approached the Student Outreach Committee about the lack of archival material out of concern that the most recent university graduates would not have much to document their year.

“I am excited to see what students bring in that have to do with social lives and not their academic lives,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan compared the amount of archive material for the past decades as opposed to now, and she said she worries that this graduating class will not have much to show.

“I don’t necessarily have anything,” Sullivan said. “I’m trying to preserve your history.”

There is a Facebook public event that gives the guidelines of the contest. The Student Outreach Committee will be accepting entries until May 6 at midnight. Students can either bring their entries to Ragsdale (Room 311) or e-mail entries to SGA.

For those not interested in the chance at a cash prize, the Archive Department is encouraging anyone who believes their artifact truly represents their time spent at St. Edward’s to submit it to the archives.