Eclipse t-shirt design contest underway at HSU

Much of Arkansas will go dark in the middle of the day on April 8, 2024, as the region experiences a rare solar eclipse.

“While solar eclipses occur more often than once every 100 years, the last time Arkansas was in the path of totality was 1918,” said Dr. Shannon Clardy, director of Applied Professional Sciences and Technology at Henderson State University. “Arkadelphia will have just over two minutes of darkness during the day.”

Henderson will provide a festive atmosphere on the day of the event in cooperation with the Arkadelphia Alliance and Chamber of Commerce, Ouachita Baptist University, and the City of Arkadelphia. Special solar glasses will be distributed, and telescopes with solar filters will be set up to safely view the eclipse and take photos. Pinhole viewers will also be available.

A “Total Eclipse 2024” t-shirt design contest is under way, and the winning design will be used on t-shirts to be distributed at the event.

“The winner of the contest will have their design printed on 1,500 shirts that will be passed out for free to attendees on April 8,” Clardy said.

Designs must be submitted online at hsu.edu/eclipse by Nov. 15.

The contest rules are:

• Entrants must be a student in K-12 in Arkadelphia or a currently enrolled student at HSU or OBU.
• Each entrant may submit one design idea.
• The Henderson logo must be incorporated into the design.
• The design may not contain any profanity, offensive language, or offensive imagery.
• The design should be limited to two colors that may be printed on a solid color shirt. (The designer may suggest the shirt color.)
• The front of the shirt is reserved for an event logo. The back of the t-shirt is considered the design space.
• The t-shirt design must be your own unpublished, original work.
• Unique slogans representing the event are encouraged.
• Designs must be submitted as a jpg or png file.