Official Rules for the Black Ivy Time Capsule

1. The Contest

The Black Ivy Time Capsule (the “Contest”) is a writing and content creation competition hosted by Black Ivy Stories and funded by Belonging at Yale. Black Ivy Stories will curate and publish a series of submitted content (“Newsletter” or “Newsletters”) on the @blackivystories Instagram page, blackivystories.com, through a Time Capsule digital newsletter emailed from blackivystories@gmail.com.

2. Agreement to Official Rules

Participation in the Contest constitutes the entrant’s full and unconditional agreement to and acceptance of these Official Rules and the decisions of Black Ivy Stories, which are final and binding. Winning a prize is contingent upon being compliant with these official rules and fulfilling all other requirements set forth herein.

3. Eligibility

Black Ivy Time Capsule (the “Contest”) is open to any person of any race, ethnicity, or background or organization that self-identifies as an affiliate of the Ivy League, e.g., current student, alumni, parent, faculty, staff, etc. Members of Black Ivy Stories are not eligible for prizes.

4. Submission Requirements

To be eligible for publication in a Newsletter, submitted content must comply with all of the following submission requirements.

1. The topic must relate to Black, i.e., African and African Diasporan, life at Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, and/or Yale.

2. The content must have been created between circa June 2020 and June 2021.

3. The work must be submitted by the content creator. Individuals may not submit on behalf of another person

Any type of creative work may be submitted, e.g., reported article, opinion editorials, visual artwork, music, video, etc. Published and unpublished work is eligible to be submitted.

Submissions will be reviewed by Black Ivy Stories to determine inclusion into the Newsletter. Length is not a deciding factor for review, but internal capacity constraints of Black Ivy Stories may play a factor.

5. Inclusion Criteria

All eligible submissions will not be included into the Newsletter. Inclusion into the newsletter is at the sole discretion of Black Ivy Stories. Black Ivy Stories may request to edit unpublished work as a condition of inclusion. The editorial process will be a collaborative decision between the content creator and Black Ivy Stories.

6. How to enter

Submissions to the Contest begins on May 15th at 11:59 PM EST and ends on June 18th at 11:59 PM EST (the “Submission Period”). Entries submitted before or after the submission period will be disqualified.

Entries must be submitted online via a google form available on www.blackivystories.com.

Entries will be accepted on a rolling basis within the Contest Period with hard deadlines for inclusion into specific Newsletters. For a Submission to be included in a specific Newsletter, the submitter must Submit at least seven (7) days before Newsletter Publication Date. Submission will be accepted until 11:59 PM EST.

As of May 15th 2021, Black Ivy Stories will publish four (4) Newsletters with the following Publication Dates: June 4th, June 11th, June 18th, and June 25th, 2021.

7. Prizes and How to Win

Six prizes will be awarded during the month of July: four (4) Newsletter Prizes (worth $100 each), an Overall Prize (worth $400), a Yale Honorable Mention (worth $100), and at least one referral prize.

Newsletter Prizes

The most popular content from each Newsletter will be awarded a Newsletter Prize. Popularity will be determined by Instagram engagement, a weighted function of Instagram likes, comments, shares, and saves. A standardized template (the “Template”) created by Black Ivy Stories will be posted to @blackivystories Instagram on or before the Newsletter Publication Date, and Engagement for each post will be tracked over a period of 25 days from the Template publication date. The content with the most engagement per Newsletter will win a prize worth $100.

Overall Prize

The first- and second-most popular content from each Newsletter (8 pieces in total) will be eligible for the Overall Prize worth $400. The Overall Prize will be determined by popular vote. The method of voting will be announced.

Yale Honorable Mention

The content with the most engagement from a self-identified Yale affiliate will win the Yale Honorable Mention worth $100.

Potential winners will be notified via email and announced by @blackivystories Instagram, www.blackivystories.com, and blackivystories@gmail.com.

Referral Prize (TBA)

8. General Conditions

In the event that the operation, security, or administration of the Contest is impaired in any way, for any reason, including, but not limited to fraud, virus, bug, worm, unauthorized human intervention or other technical problem, or in the event the Contest is unable to run as planned for any other reason, as determined by the Sponsors, in its sole discretion, the Sponsors may, in its sole discretion, either (a) suspend the Contest to address the impairment and then resume the Contest in a manner that best conforms to the spirit of these Official Rules or (b) terminate the Contest. Black Ivy Stories reserve the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Contest or to be acting in violation of these Official Rules or in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner.

9. Release and Limitations of Liability

By participating in the Contest, entrants agree to release and hold harmless the Sponsors from and against any claim or cause of action arising out of participation in the Contest or receipt or use of the prize (including any travel or activity related thereto), including, but not limited to: (a) any technical errors associated with the Contest, including lost, interrupted or unavailable network, server, wireless, service provider, or other connections, availability; (b) unauthorized human intervention in the Contest; (c) mechanical, network, electronic, computer, human, printing, or typographical errors; (d) any other errors or problems in connection with the Contest, including, without limitation, errors that may occur in the administration of the Contest, including announcement of the winner, the cancellation or postponement of the evet; (f) injury, death, losses or damages of any kind, to any person or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from entrants participation in the Contest or acceptance, receipt or misuse of the prize (including any travel or activity related thereto). Entrant waives the right to claim any damages whatsoever, including, but not limited to, punitive, consequential, direct, or indirect damages.