Frostburg State University Student Tiffany Arnett Wins Z Hacks People’s Choice Award

Nov 11, 2020 10:00 AM

In this year’s Z Hacks Humanity and Earth hack-a-thon, Frostburg State University student Tiffany Arnett walked away with the People’s Choice award and a $100 prize. Contestants were to design and submit posters in one of three categories: social justice, environment or the pandemic. 

“I chose social justice, advocating for the LGBTQ community,” said Arnett, for whom this subject is personal. “I’m bisexual, and I’m currently in a relationship with another woman. These topics are very important to us, especially during the extreme political environment we are enduring. We’re quite terrified right now about how politics is turning; we are afraid of losing our rights and afraid of being discriminated against at our jobs or in housing. So, it is an important topic for me.” 

Arnett’s poster featured an image of the Earth with three non-gendered people standing on top. The background has a rainbow and hearts, and the bottom says, “Love Is Love.” You can see Arnett’s winning design online. 

“We live in one world together, regardless of our sexual orientation and gender. We should show compassion towards each other and simply be humane towards one another,” Arnett said. “That is what I hope my poster represents.” 

Arnett, a student in FSU’s school counseling master’s degree program, participated in this competition through her class, Cultural and Technological Awareness in the Context of Global Education. She was given the choice between creating a graph or joining a Hack-a-thon. She chose the latter. 

“It was the easiest A I ever made!” 

Hack-a-thons by Devpost are traditionally meant for people who are talented in coding, app development and website creation. This year’s Z Hacks was more inclusive, incorporating artists, writers and painters into the competition. Creative students from around the country were able to submit projects. 

You can learn more information about Z Hacks online.  

Situated in the mountains of Allegany County, Frostburg State University is one of the 12 institutions of the University System of Maryland. FSU is a comprehensive, residential regional university and serves as an educational and cultural center for Western Maryland. For more information, visit the Frostburg State University web site or the FSU Facebook page. Follow FSU on Twitter @frostburgstate.