2026 Student Essay Competition Results
Tags:Freedom From Religion Foundation, Politics, Religion
The Freedom From Religion Foundation 2026 student essay competitions are now closed.
Information on FFRF’s 2027 student essay competitions will be announced in March 2027.
Information on FFRF’s 2027 essay competition for law students will be announced in November 2026.
Thank you for your interest in our student essay competitions!
THE 2026 WINNERS OF THE STUDENT ESSAY CONTESTS:
- David Hudak Memorial Essay Contest for Freethinking, First-in-the-Family College Students – Winners will be announced soon.
- William J. Schulz Memorial Essay Contest for Freethinking College Bound High School Seniors – Winners will be announced soon.
- Kenneth L. Proulx Memorial Memorial Essay Contest for Freethinking Ongoing College Students – Winners will be announced soon.
- Cornelius Vander Broek Memorial Essay Contest for Freethinking Graduate/”Older” Students (to age 30) – Winners will be announced soon.
THE 2027 ESSAY CONTESTS WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN MARCH.
THE 2026 WINNERS OF THE ESSAY CONTEST FOR LAW STUDENTS:
THE 2027 ESSAY CONTEST FOR LAW STUDENTS WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN LATE 2026.
2026 David Hudak Memorial Essay Contest for Freethinking, First-in-the-Family College Students
Winners will be announced soon.
2026 William J. Schulz Memorial Essay Contest for Freethinking College-Bound High School Seniors
TOPIC: My favorite freethought/humanist hero/ine.“The world would be astonished if it knew how great a proportion of its brightest ornaments — of those most distinguished even in popular estimation for wisdom and virtue — are complete skeptics in religion.” — John Stuart Mill
PROMPT: Studies show that nonbelievers are still at the bottom of the social ladder when it comes to social acceptance. Many Americans don’t realize how many activists or achievers they admire are not religious. To help educate them, write a personal essay about your favorite freethinker or humanist and what they did or are doing to improve or enrich our lives. It might be a nonreligious scientist, an artist or writer, a reformer — or an everyday person in your life who has made the world better and inspired you. Please briefly explain their influence or accomplishments and briefly document their nonreligious views. Tell us what they have meant to you as a humanist and nonbeliever. For quotes or citations, please document using links or footnotes.
Winners will be announced soon.
2026 Kenneth L. Proulx Memorial Essay Contest for Freethinking Ongoing College Students
TOPIC: Why Trump is wrong that ‘you just can’t have a great country if you don’t have religion.’
PROMPT: Write a first-person essay that makes the case about why President Trump is wrong to claim that “you just can’t have a great country if you don’t have religion.” Choose one or more such quotes by Trump (citing them in your essay) and show why his claims are fallacious. You may wish to marshall evidence or history that contradicts Trump’s claims, or address how his words threaten state/church separation and religious freedom. Save room to include something about your own reaction as a nonbeliever to such pronouncements by the president. Include links or footnotes for quotes or major citations.
Winners will be announced soon.
2026 Cornelius Vander Broek Memorial Essay Contest for Freethinking Graduate/”Older” Students (to age 30)
TOPIC: “Why the 250-year-old United States of America is not a Christian nation.”
PROMPT: Research and write an essay documenting why the U.S. government is not based on God or Christianity. Refute the claim by President Trump and others that the 250-year-old Declaration of Independence proves that our government is based on God. Include and refute a few other timely examples of legislators, public officials or other individuals promoting the Christian nation myth. Save space to include your own thoughts on why you find “Christian nation” propaganda and disinformation dangerous to our democracy and also how you feel about this as a nonbeliever. Include links or footnotes for quotes or major citations.
Winners will be announced soon.
2026 Diane and Stephen Uhl Memorial essay competition for law students
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is proud to announce the three winners (and two honorable mentions) of the Diane and Stephen Uhl Memorial Essay Competition for Law Students.
FFRF paid out a total of $10,000 to the winners of this year’s contest.
TOPIC: Analyze how the principle of “parental rights” has changed. In 2025, the Supreme Court extended Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972), citing it repeatedly in Mahmoud v. Taylor, where the court sided with religious parents who objected on religious grounds to public school instruction that included books with LGBTQ themes or characters. Analyze how the principle of “parental rights” changes from Yoder to Mahmoud. What other constitutional or societal interests might conflict with this expanded understanding of parental rights in the First Amendment context? Discuss how the court could or should balance these competing interests in future cases.
Here are the winners:
First place: Sam Foer, Washington & Lee University School of Law, $4,000
The collapse of a constitutional boundary
by Sam Foer
Introduction
In 1972, in Wisconsin v. Yoder, the Supreme Court carved out a narrow but profound exception to compulsory education laws. Amish parents could withdraw their children from public high school not because they objected to a lesson or two, but because the state’s entire educational project threatened to dissolve their religious community’s way of life. Fast forward to 2025. In Mahmoud v. Taylor, the Supreme Court faced a very different kind of question: Do religious parents have a Free Exercise right to opt their children out of specific lessons depicting LGBTQ+ families? The court granted the opt-outs.
Read more of Sam’s essay in Freethought Today
Second place: Zoe Schacht, Brooklyn Law School, $3,000
Preferential ‘veto’ power
by Zoe Schacht
In the public school setting, the principle of “parental rights” has evolved from being a quasi-no-exemption rule to a preferentially treated “veto power.” This expanded understanding of the parental right to object to public school curricular or educational requirements on religious grounds creates potential tension with other constitutional or societal interests, such as the assertion of parental rights in nontraditional and progressive settings, the right to free exercise by non-conservative religious believers, and LGBTQ+ rights, generally. In future cases, the United States Supreme Court is unlikely to have a universal approach in navigating these competing interests. While it is unlikely to do so, the court should give this new “veto power” a leg to stand on and protect the parental right to raise children with the “beliefs and practices [they] wish to instill,” even when those beliefs and practices diverge from traditional, conservative values.
Read more of Zoe’s essay in Freethought Today
Third place: Ashni Verma, New York University School of Law, $2,000
The battle for curricular control
by Ashni Verma
Introduction
On June 27, 2025, the Supreme Court decided Mahmoud v. Taylor, granting parents in a Maryland school district the right to excuse their children from lessons that engage with storybooks about the LGBTQ+ community. This essay explores the development of hybrid parental rights claims and identifies strategies for schools to maintain their commitment to multicultural, inclusive curricula in the wake of Mahmoud.
Read more of Ashni’s essay in Freethought Today
Honorable mentions:
Wesley Michael Harris, Florida A&M College of Law, $500
Maya Gardner, University of South Carolina, Joseph F. Rice School of Law, $500
All eligible entrants of any student essay competition receive a digital year-long student membership in FFRF.
FFRF appreciates its members who make the effort to contact local high schools, colleges and universities to help publicize its competitions.
FFRF has offered essay competitions to college students since 1979, high school students since 1994, grad students since 2010 and one dedicated to students of color since 2016. A fifth contest, open to law students, began in 2019.
“FFRF is happy to see another generation of freethinkers raising their voices in protest against the continuing threat of Christian nationalism,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “The next generation promises to have the greatest population of freethinkers yet, and FFRF is proud to lend its support to keep student advocacy alive and thriving.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to promoting the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters of nontheism. With nearly 42,000 members, FFRF advocates for freethinkers’ rights across the globe.
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FFRF backs Arrowhead School District decision to keep graduation free from religion
Tags:Freedom From Religion Foundation, Politics, Religion
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is supporting the Arrowhead Union High School District for upholding the First Amendment by declining to include religious or political messages in its official graduation slideshow.
“Public schools exist to serve students and families from every religious background and none at all,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Maintaining religious neutrality ensures that every graduate is equally respected and that no student feels like an outsider during one of the most important milestones of their education.”
FFRF’s letter comes after the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) threatened legal action against the district on behalf of a graduate whose request to include a bible verse, and later a message thanking God, in the slideshow was denied. WILL argues that the district engaged in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination by permitting secular messages while excluding religious ones.
FFRF asserts that WILL’s argument misunderstands both the facts and the law.
“Arrowhead’s decision reflects exactly what the First Amendment requires of public schools,” says FFRF Legal Counsel Chris Line, who authored the letter. “Official school programs are not public forums for religious advocacy. Public schools have both the authority and the obligation to ensure that school-sponsored events remain religiously neutral and welcoming to students of every faith and none.”
FFRF notes that the district claims to have established neutral guidelines for the graduation slideshow before the ceremony, limiting submissions to family acknowledgments and students’ post-graduation educational or career plans. Those restrictions applied equally to religious and political messages and were directly related to the presentation’s educational purpose.
The Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized that public schools may exercise editorial control over school-sponsored student expression. In Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, the Court held that educators may regulate school-sponsored speech when reasonably related to legitimate educational concerns. Likewise, in Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe, the Court reaffirmed that speech in school-controlled settings may properly be treated as school-sponsored rather than private student expression.
“Contrary to claims being advanced by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, the First Amendment does not require public schools to include religious messages in school-sponsored programs simply because students would like to express them,” Line writes. “Had the district opened the slideshow to unrestricted personal viewpoints, different constitutional considerations might arise.”
FFRF also notes that accepting WILL’s position would create significant constitutional problems for public schools.
“Public schools may not selectively permit Christian messages while excluding other religious, anti-religious or political viewpoints,” the letter points out. “If the slideshow became a forum for personal advocacy, the district could be compelled to accommodate messages representing virtually any religious or ideological perspective.”
FFRF emphasizes that students remain entirely free to express their religious beliefs in their personal capacities before, during and after graduation. The Constitution protects students’ right to express their religious beliefs in their personal capacities. It does not require public schools to transform official graduation programs into forums for religious advocacy.
FFRF thanks the Arrowhead Union High School District for its commitment to upholding the constitutional rights of all students and offers its assistance should the district need additional support in defending its constitutionally sound policy.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with more than 41,000 members across the country, including more than 1,800 members and its national headquarters in Wisconsin. FFRF’s purposes are to defend the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
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FFRF applauds bipartisan bill to place Paine Memorial in the heart of nation’s capital
Tags:Freedom From Religion Foundation, Politics, Religion
The Freedom From Religion Foundation today is applauding bipartisan legislation introduced by Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., to secure placement of a Thomas Paine memorial in Area I of Washington’s monumental core, where some of the nation’s most significant founders and historical figures are honored.
The timely bill comes as the nation marks the 250th anniversary of its founding.
Placement in Area I, reserved for the small number of Americans whose contributions are judged of preeminent and lasting significance to the country, requires an act of Congress. For Paine, whose words gave the Revolution its voice, supporters say the distinction is overdue.
“Tom Paine, the extraordinary and indispensable patriot of the American Revolution and spellbinding exponent of democratic freedom, catalyzed our emerging nation to rise up against tyranny, monarchy and taxation without representation to conceive of a new nation based on religious liberty, freedom of thought, and democratic self-governance in service of the common good. On the 250th anniversary of the publication of Common Sense, our legislation finally brings the great Tom Paine from the attics and libraries of history to a place of shining prominence on our National Mall, establishing the dazzling national memorial he deserves.” — Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md.
“As we celebrate America’s 250th anniversary, we remember Thomas Paine’s timeless words: ‘These are the times that try men’s souls,’ which helped rally General Washington’s army before the crossing of the Delaware — a pivotal moment that changed the course of the Revolution. Their sacrifices should remind us of the price so many Americans paid to secure our freedom — a precious gift we have a solemn duty to preserve for future generations.” — Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind.
Paine arrived in the colonies from England barely a year before the American Revolution and became one of the most widely read writers of his age. He served in the Continental Army, and his pamphlets reached ordinary people in taverns and on street corners in numbers unheard of at the time. Beyond the case for independence, Paine opposed slavery, called for the universal education of both men and women, and was among the first to imagine a league of democratic nations. He even lent his hand to science and engineering, helping design an iron bridge. Yet despite his enormous influence, including coining the term “United States of America,” Paine has lacked a memorial in Washington, D.C.
“Without Thomas Paine, the United States of America would not be celebrating its 250th anniversary. Nothing will be a more fitting tribute to our nation’s semiquincentennial than ensuring that this overdue memorial to Paine will be prominently situated near the Capitol and National Mall, where Paine’s life, words and vision will inspire millions of visitors.” — Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president, Freedom From Religion Foundation
Thomas Paine gave this country its argument for independence and then took up a musket in the Continental Army to help win it. He sold half a million copies of ‘Common Sense’ when the nation was still an idea, and George Washington had ‘The American Crisis’ read aloud to the troops before they crossed the Delaware. Paine opposed slavery, called for the education of every child, and imagined a brotherhood of free nations long before the world was ready for it. Paine was a hero to Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, and Frederick Douglass. For 250 years the capital he helped bring into being has had no memorial to him. We intend to correct that, and Area I is exactly where he belongs.” — Margaret Downey, president, Thomas Paine Memorial Association.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation has worked alongside the Thomas Paine Memorial Association throughout the effort to honor Paine, a founder who championed reason, democracy and human liberty.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to defending the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters relating to nontheism. With about 41,000 members, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
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