USS Coral Sea Remembrance Scholarships

Scholarship Sponsored by USS Coral Sea CVA-43 Association

Introduction and Background
Since 2002 the USS Coral Sea Remembrance Scholarships have been presented annually to qualifying relatives of members of the USS Coral Sea CVA-43 Association. The program currently offers a $2,000 first-place award and, beginning recently, a $1,000 second-place award (or an amount the Association’s Board may set). Scholarship funds have been provided through member contributions, and the Association has also placed $20,000 in mutual funds so that future scholarships can be paid from investment earnings.

Administration
The Scholarship Committee is made up of a chairman appointed by the Association president to serve a two‑year term and three committee members elected by the membership for staggered three‑year terms at the annual reunion. The committee members judge the contest; the chairman administers the program and is the only person on the committee who will know entrants’ identities (the chairman does not vote in the judging).

Important dates
- Contest opens: July 1 each year (entry packets available after July 1).
- Deadline for receipt of completed entries: April 1. Late submissions will be disqualified.

How to obtain an entry packet
Entry forms and the complete packet are NOT posted on this website or reproduced in the Association newsletter. To receive a current packet, applicants or their sponsoring Association members must contact Scholarship Chairman Guy Dunbar by telephone, mail, or email after July 1. The chairman’s contact information is listed in the Association’s September and December newsletter issues. Prior-year forms are not acceptable.

Eligibility
To be eligible, applicants must meet every requirement below:
- Relationship: Applicant must be the son, daughter, step‑child, grandchild, step‑grandchild, or great‑grandchild of one of the following: (a) an Association member in good standing on the date the scholarship is awarded, (b) a deceased member who was in good standing at the time of death, or (c) a non‑member who died in the line of duty while serving aboard the USS Coral Sea in ship’s company or air group, or who was captured as a POW, or who was so severely injured in the line of duty that separation from the U.S. Navy was required.
- Academic status and GPA: Applicant must be a high school senior with at least a B average (3.0 GPA).
- Intended use: Applicant must agree to apply the award toward their own education at an accredited two‑year or four‑year college, university, or an accredited post‑secondary technical/vocational school located in the United States.

Essay topics and length
Submit an original essay of 800 to 1,000 words on one of the following topics:
- “How to improve the homogeneity of American Society,” or
- “What it Means to Me to be an American Citizen,” or
- “Why We Need to Keep Our Armed Forces Strong.”

Entry requirements and format
- Request the current entry packet from the Scholarship Chairman after July 1. Complete the official entry form in full; information must be typed or clearly printed. Only one entry per applicant is allowed each year. A previous winner may submit in later years but will be considered only if there are no other applicants that year.
- The essay must be the applicant’s original work, typed, double‑spaced, and printed on one side of the paper only. All sources used must be cited and footnoted.
- Do not put the applicant’s name or address on the essay. Instead, place the applicant’s Social Security number in the upper right corner of each essay page; the SSN will be the only identifying mark on the essay.
- Include two dated and signed letters of recommendation from persons who have had a professional or working relationship with the applicant (clergy, teacher, employer, or community leader). Relatives may not write recommendation letters.
- Include an official high school transcript showing grades through the marking periods to date in the senior year and the corresponding GPA.
- The entry form, recommendations, and transcript must contain the applicant’s full name. All required items — the completed entry form, essay, two recommendation letters, and transcript — must be mailed together in one envelope and received by the Scholarship Committee chairman by April 1. A winning applicant’s scholarship check will be sent directly to the educational institution the winner designates.

Judging and selection
- A three‑member judging panel elected by the Association membership will evaluate essays. The chairman (appointed by the president) will distribute materials to the judges after removing any identifying information; the chairman will be the only person who knows the authors’ identities and will not participate in the vote.
- Initial committee terms are staggered at one, two, and three years. Thereafter, at each annual meeting one member will be elected for a three‑year term to replace the retiring member.
- The chairman will verify eligibility from the submitted documents (sponsorship, senior status, GPA, and intended accredited school).
- Essays are judged on originality, adherence to the assigned topic, completeness, writing quality, spelling, and punctuation. In the event of a tie vote, the applicant with the higher senior‑year GPA will be declared the winner.
- Relatives of committee members are ineligible to enter.

Additional provisions
- All materials submitted to the Scholarship Committee become the property of the USS Coral Sea CVA‑43 Association and will not be returned to applicants.
- The chairman’s name, telephone number, and address appear in the September and December issues of The Coral Sea Breeze newsletter for those seeking an entry packet.