2008 FFRF High School Senior Essay Competition

First Prize: Blanche Fearn Memorial Award--$2,000
Second Place--$1,000
Third Place--$500
Honorable Mention(s)--$100

"Why There Should be No Religious Test for Public Office"

Eligibility: High school seniors in North America who are college-bound in fall 2008. (Currently-enrolled college students should enter the College Essay Competition.)

Topic: "Why There Should be No Religious Test for Public Office." Article VI of the U.S. Constitution reads: "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust." Yet is there a de facto religious test for public office in place today? Students may analyze the timely intrusion of religion into the 2008 presidential race, and/or write from a historic, legal or editorial perspective on why this provision adopted by the country's founders must be honored and preserved. FFRF is nonpartisan; please keep essays apolitical and nonpartisan.

Requirements: High school essays of 3-4 typed, double-spaced pages and standard margins should be stapled, include the student's own title, and a one-paragraph biography. The biography should include permanent and campus address (if known), e-mail and phone numbers, name and city of high school they are graduating from, and name and location of college or university in which they will be enrolled in the fall. The paragraph should include intended major and interests. Do not include a resume.

Deadline: June 1, 2008. The high school essays must be postmarked no later than June 1, 2008. No faxed or e-mailed essays will be accepted. Students will be disqualified if they do not follow instructions. Winners will be announced in August 2008. The essay competition is open only to students living in the United States or Canada.

Winners will be asked to provide a photograph suitable for publication. By entering our contest, winning students agree to have their essays printed in full or in part in Freethought Today, the Foundation's newspaper, and later posted online at our web site. Winners will receive a school-year subscription to Freethought Today. All eligible non-winning entrants will be offered the choice of a freethought book, or a school-year subscription to Freethought Today.

Who was Blanche Fearn? She was a longtime member and benefactor of the Foundation who died in 1995. Although she never had the opportunity to attend college, she was a lifelong learner. As an elementary-school student in the early 1900s, she bravely objected to prayers at her public school. She maintained an interest in the separation of church and state throughout her life.

Mail (do not email) essay, postmarked no later than June 1, 2008, to:

High School Essay Competition
FFRF, Inc.
PO Box 750
Madison WI 53701