Please visit this webpage by the end of February 2017, when the new guidelines for all 4 essay competitions will be released.
William J. Schulz High School Essay Contest
2016 William J. Schulz High School Essay winners - FFRF awards $9,950
The Freedom From Religion Foundation congratulates the 16 college-bound high school seniors who won this year's essay competition. FFRF has offered essay competitions to college students since 1979, high school students since 1994 and graduate students since 2010.
Seniors were asked to pick from two topics: "The challenges of growing up a freethinker," or "Why Boy Scouts of America should welcome atheists and nonbelievers."
After carefully reviewing 140 submissions, FFRF awarded seven top prizes (including a tie for sixth place) and nine honorable mentions.
"FFRF is proud to offer these scholarships to deserving freethinking students," FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said. "We are glad to support them as they head off to college and begin this new chapter in their lives."
Winners are listed below and include the award amount and the college or university they will be attending this fall.
First place
Avery Boltwood, Duke University ($3,000)
Second place
Mahad Olad, Ithaca College ($2,000)
Third place
Mary Breeden, Illinois Wesleyan University ($1,000)
Fourth place
Kaylor MacLaughlin, Oregon State University Honors College ($750)
Fifth place
Bethany Wasilik, College of William and Mary ($500)
Sixth place (tie)
Erin McCoskey, Wichita State University ($400)
Sixth place (tie)
Elizabeth Robbins, Tisch School of Arts ($400)
Honorable mentions ($200 each)
- Niha Ahmad, University of Illinois-Chicago
- Christian Beveridge, University of Pittsburgh
- Kristian Harrell, Missouri Southern State University
- Matthew Joy, Chapman University
- Alexandra Lauria-Daley, Northeastern University
- Brody McNutt, Dartmouth College
- Noelle Shaw, San Diego State University
- Kayla Spitzer, Northwest Arkansas Community College
- Conrad Wright, California Polytechnic State University
The high school contest is named for William J. Schulz, a Wisconsin member who died at 57. He was a mechanical engineer and cared deeply about FFRF's work, leaving a bequest that funds the awards.
FFRF also thanks Dean and Dorea Schramm of Florida for providing a $100 bonus to students who are members of a secular student club or the Secular Student Alliance. The total of $9,950 reflects bonuses.
The college student essay winners will be announced in the September issue and the grad student essay winners will be announced in the October issue.
This contest is now closed for entries. Please return next spring for FFRF's 2017 essay prompts.
Michael Hakeem Memorial College Essay Contest
2016 Michael Hakeem Memorial College Essay winners - FFRF awards $11,450
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is delighted to announce the 2016 Michael Hakeem Memorial College Essay Contest winners.
The list of awardees has seven top places and 13 honorable mentions from colleges located all over the country. Students were asked to write 700 to 900 words on the topic of "Why I am a freethinker." FFRF, an educational state/church watchdog with 24,000 members nationwide, has offered essay competitions to college students since 1979, high school students since 1994 and graduate students since 2010.
The winners of the competition are listed below and include the award amount, age and college or university they are attending.
First Place
Adam Simmons, 19, Freshman at University of Tennessee - Knoxville ($3,000)
Second Place
Alex Reamy, 21, Senior at Arizona State University - Tempe Campus ($2,100)
Third Place
Katherine Gramling, 19, Sophomore at University of Minnesota - Twin Cities ($1,100)
Fourth Place
Leah Kennedy, 22, First year graduate student at New York University ($750)
Fifth Place (Tie)
Karl Yee, 19, Junior at University of Maryland - College Park ($500)
Fifth Place (Tie)
Elias Rodriguez, 22, Senior at University of Texas - Dallas ($500)
Sixth Place
Adrick Tench, 21, Sophomore at Northwestern University ($400)
Honorable Mentions
($200 each) ($300 with Secular Student Alliance bonus)
- Cheyenne Barger, 19, Sophomore at Gannon University ($300)
- Savannah Flusche, 23, Junior at Texas Woman's University of Denton ($300)
- William Gardner, 24, Sophomore at University of Delaware
- Syd Gettier, 21, Junior at Notre Dame of Maryland University
- James Harder, 23, Athabasca University
- Camille Kaiser, 19, Sophomore at University of New Mexico ($300)
- Jonathan Ortiz, 18, University of Florida
- Fallon Rowe, 19, Junior at Utah State University ($300)
- Aiden Sorge, 20, Junior at Arizona State University - Tempe Campus ($300)
- Elizabeth Turovsky, 19, Sophomore at Barnard College
- Manon von Mil, 24, Senior at Queen's University
- Camille Sanchez, 19, Sophomore at Pomona College
- Alexis Serra, 20, Drexel University
The winning essays for the college contest will appear in a future issue of Freethought Today. Next to be announced will be the winners of FFRF's graduate student essay competition.
The college contest is named for the late Michael Hakeem, a sociology professor who was an FFRF officer and active atheist known by generations of University of Wisconsin-Madison students for fine-tuning their reasoning abilities. FFRF also thanks Dean and Dorea Schramm of Florida for providing a $100 bonus to students who are members of a secular student club or the Secular Student Alliance. The total of $11,450 reflects bonuses.
FFRF congratulates the 20 college students who won this year's essay competition and wishes them all the best for their future endeavors.
This contest is now closed for entries. Please return next spring for FFRF's 2017 essay prompts.
Michael Hakeem Memorial Students of Color College Essay Contest
2016 Michael Hakeem Memorial Students of Color College Essay winners - FFRF awards $8,750
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is proud to announce the 10 winners of the 2016 Michael Hakeem Memorial College Essay Contest for people of color.
Essayists were asked to write a personal persuasive essay about why they are nonbelievers and their experiences as young nonbelievers of color.
Winners are listed below and include the award amount and the college or university they are attending. FFRF has paid out a total of $8,750 in award money for this contest.
First place
Nadia Duncan, SUNY Purchase College ($3,000)
Second place
Anuj Krishnamurthy, Brown University ($2,000)
Third place
Bahram Sherwani, San Francisco State University ($1,000)
Fourth place
Jonathan Azpeitia, Pomona College ($750)
Fifth place (tie)
Kamerin Winston, Spelman College ($500)
Fifth place (tie)
Tyneshia Griffin, Virginia Tech University ($500)
Sixth place
Benjamin Duru, California University-Long Beach ($400)
Honorable mentions ($200 each)
- Ana Almeida-Rojo, Oglethorpe University
- Taylor Johnson, SUNY at Purchase
- Alexandra Lewis, East Carolina University
FFRF has offered essay competitions to college students since 1979.
"It's a myth that most African-Americans, Latinos or Hispanic-Americans are uniformly religious," says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. "FFRF wants to showcase diversity and reward minorities in the freethought movement who are especially courageous in 'coming out of the closet.'"
The college contest is named for the late Michael Hakeem, a sociology professor who was an FFRF officer and active atheist known by generations of University of Wisconsin-Madison students for fine-tuning their reasoning abilities.
This contest is now closed for entries. Please return next spring for FFRF's 2017 essay prompts.
Brian Bolton Graduate Student/Older Student Essay Contest
2016 Brian Bolton Graduate Essay winners - FFRF awards $9,050
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is proud to announce the 2016 Brian Bolton Graduate/Older Student Essay Contest winners.
The list of awardees has seven top places and four honorable mentions. Students were asked to write 600 to 800 words on the topic of "Why God and politics/government are a dangerous mix." FFRF has offered essay competitions to college students since 1979, high school students since 1994 and graduate students since 2010.
The winners of the competition are listed below and include the award amount, age and college or university they are attending. Students who are a member of a secular student group received $100 bonuses.
First Place
Stephanie Wise, 26, Oregon State University ($3,000)
Second Place
Charlotte Ljustina, 23, Columbia University ($2,000)
Third Place
Ashley Peralta, 22, University of Colorado ($1,000)
Fourth Place
Landon Poe, 22, University of Cambridge Wolfson College ($750)
Fifth Place
Garrett Pekarek, 27, Missouri Southern State University ($500)
Sixth Place (Tie)
Regina Riem, 25, Herkimer County Community College ($400)
Sixth Place (Tie)
Arielle Neal, 28, Tennessee State University ($400)
Honorable Mentions ($200 EACH)
- Kurt A. Escobar, 29, University of New Mexico
- Ryan Collins, 23, University of North Texas
- Phillip Gauronskas, 27, Eastern Virginia Medical School
- Jason Schloss, 25, Long Island University-Post
The graduate student college contest is named for the Brian Bolton, a Lifetime Member who is a retired psychologist, humanist minister and professor emeritus at the University of Arkansas. FFRF also thanks Dean and Dorea Schramm of Florida for providing the $100 bonus to students who are members of a secular student club or the Secular Student Alliance. The total of $9,050 reflects bonuses.
FFRF congratulates the 11 graduate/older college students who won this year's essay competition and wishes them all the best in their future endeavors.
This contest is now closed for entries. Please return next spring for FFRF's 2017 essay prompts.
