ROCKLAND — Three students from the University of Maine at Augusta, participating through University College at Rockland, took top honors in the Camden Conference 2017 Bill Taylor Essay Contest.

Jonas Eichenlaub, of Hope, took first place with an essay entitled, Refugees Can Be Part of the Solution: The Challenges of Lebanon. Eichenlaub participated in the University’s 3-credit college course at URock as a dual enrollment, High School Aspirations student.

Second place went to Zoe Fitzgerald-Beckett, of Appleton, who wrote on Climate Change Refugees: What’s in a Name?

The Third Place award went to Brad O’Brien, of Milford, who contributed, Oh, Child Left Behind: The Next “Lost Generation”. O’Brien took the first place essay award in 2015.

The contest included submission of an 8-10 page evidence-based paper focused on one specific challenge that confronts international refugees today as discussed during the 2017 Camden Conference the Refugees and Global Migration. The paper must make a case for ways host countries can become more effective in assisting refugees in the current humanitarian crises. Judges included members of the Camden Conference Board of Directors and the Education Committee.

College students were asked to focus on one specific area and to explain how governments and/or international institutions can more effectively address the current global refugee crisis.

Twenty-two UMA/URock students participated in the Spring 2017 Camden Conference with the support of Bangor Savings Bank which provided a grant to each enrolled student to attend the three-day weekend conference.

The Camden Conference course is an annual upper level history course in the curriculum at University College at Rockland. For more information contact URock at 596-6906.