The Sidney Prize is awarded monthly for outstanding investigative journalism that exposes social and economic injustices. The winner receives a $10,000 cash prize and an engraved medallion. The Sidney Prize is administered by the Hillman Foundation. The Hillman Foundation is a left-leaning organization that awards monetary prizes for journalism in service of the common good. The Foundation is also involved in activism and advocacy on behalf of its grantees. It has a board of trustees that includes Workers United president emeritus Bruce Raynor and actor Danny Glover.
In addition to the Sidney Prize, the Hillman Foundation awards several other prizes each year. The 2025 awards include the U.S Hillman Prizes and the Canada Hillman Prize. These prizes are based on the same criteria as the Sidney Prize. The foundation also honors a distinguished scholar with the Sidney Hook Memorial Award. This prize is named in memory of the prominent American philosopher and Phi Beta Kappa member who achieved national distinction in scholarship, undergraduate teaching, and leadership in the cause of liberal arts education.
A prestigious award given to a student whose essay shows the most promise for future achievement in writing and research. It is not restricted to a particular subject or field, but it is intended to be awarded to an essay of merit that will encourage and inspire students to pursue their creative ambitions and reach for greater heights of literary and artistic achievement.
The Sydney Prize was created in honor of the late Dartmouth professor who was widely revered for his literary skills and for the motivational influence he exerted on hundreds of his students both inside and outside of the classroom. This prize is offered annually to an undergraduate writer whose work most nearly meets the high standards of originality and integrity set by Professor Cox for himself and his students.
A well-known film, stage, and television actor, Sidney Poitier won an Academy Award for Best Actor for Lilies of the Field. His many other acclaimed performances include roles in the films The Defiant Ones, A Patch of Blue, In the Heat of the Night, and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. He was also a noted humanitarian and philanthropist.
In order to perpetuate in some small way the generative influence which Sidney Cox exercised upon so many of his students in and out of the classroom, a group of his friends have been soliciting funds with a view to establishing an annual prize for that piece of undergraduate writing which most nearly meets those high standards of originality and integrity.
The winners of the Sydney Prize are announced on the second Wednesday of each month. Anyone may nominate an article or essay for the prize. The nomination deadline is the last day of each month. Nominations should be submitted to the Sydney Prize website. A selection committee of journalists and academics will review the submissions, and the winning essay will be announced on the second Wednesday of each month.