- David Hudak Memorial Black, Indigenous and Persons of Color Student Essay Competition Winners
- William Schulz High School Essay Contest Winners
- College Student Essay Contest Winners
2024 BIPOC Student Essay Contest Winners
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is proud to announce the 11 top winners and seven honorable mentions of the 2024 David Hudak Memorial Black, Indigenous and Persons of Color Student Essay Competition.
FFRF has paid out a total of $18,850 in award money for the contest this year.
BIPOC students were asked to write on the topic of “How does religion hinder racial equality and civil rights?” where they were to compose an essay from the perspective of history or currents struggle, religious psychology or personal experience.
Winners, their ages, the colleges or universities they are attending and the award amounts are listed below. (FFRF seeks to distribute essay scholarship monies to a higher number of students, so ties — such as fourth place in this contest — are not regarded in the typical tie fashion, where, in this instance, fifth place would be skipped.)
FIRST PLACE
Rita Nyamkimah, St. Joseph’s University, $3,500.
SECOND PLACE
Katelyn Boozer, Jacksonville State University, $3,000.
THIRD PLACE
Lionel Walraven, University of Hawaii-Maui, $2,500.
FOURTH PLACE (tie)
Akil Malik, Alabama A&M University, $2,000.
FOURTH PLACE (tie)
William S. Torres, Texas A&M University, $2,000.
FIFTH PLACE
Alexander Lumala, Arizona State University, $1,500.
SIXTH PLACE
Sarah Ramos-Gonzalez, Yale University, $1,000.
SEVENTH PLACE
Naya Lewis, University of Oregon, $750.
EIGHTH PLACE
Yao Liu, Northeastern University, $500.
NINTH PLACE
Krishna Verma, Simon Fraser University, $400.
TENTH PLACE
Devin Armstrong, University of North Carolina, $300.
HONORABLE MENTIONS ($200 each)
Jailyn Agard, Ramapo College of New Jersey.
Zyah Bostick, University of North Carolina.
Shaun Chaney, Groucher College.
Dominique Davie, Vanderbilt University.
Georgia Davis, University of Central Arkansas.
Bianca Dishmon, Northwestern University.
Bridelle Toumani, Russell Sage College.
FFRF thanks Lisa Treu for managing the details of this (and FFRF’s other essay competitions).
FFRF would also like to thank our volunteer and staff readers and judges, including: Darrell Barker, Patrick Duff, Kate Garmise, Ricki Grunberg, Linda Josheff, Dan Kettner, Sammi Lawrence, Bernard Leigg, Michael Luther, Katya Maes, Don Onnen, PJ Slinger, Kimberly Waldron and Karen Lee Weidig
This contest is named for the late David Hudak, an FFRF member who left a bequest to generously fund a student essay contest.
FFRF has offered essay competitions to students of color since 2016. It has also offered essay contests open to all college students since 1979, high school students since 1994, grad students since 2010 and one for law students since 2019.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is proud to announce $19,850 in scholarship money to the winners of the 2024 William Schulz High School Essay Contest.
College-bound high-school seniors were asked to write a personal persuasive essay based on this prompt: “How can young ‘Nones’ help transform the United States with their secular values, such as by voting?”
FFRF awarded 12 top prizes and 14 honorable mentions. (FFRF seeks to distribute essay scholarship monies to a higher number of students, so ties — such as fifth place in this contest — are not regarded in the typical tie fashion, where, in this instance, sixth place would be skipped.)
Winners are listed below and include the college or university they are now attending and the award amount.
First place
Finn Mosher, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, $3,500
Second place
Garrett Hartfelder, University of Southern California, $3,000
Third place
Ashkon Shirazi, Brown University, $2,500
Fourth place
Toby Shu, Georgetown University, $2,000
Fifth place (tie)
Olivia English-Saunders, Michigan State University, $1,500
Lynn Sepersky, University of Wisconsin, $1,500
Sixth place
Ivy Nichols, Colorado State University, $1,000
Seventh place
Natalie Mendoza, Arizona State University, $750
Eighth place
Quinn Weidner, North Carolina State University, $500
Ninth place (tie)
Evelyn Dietz, Rollins College, $400
Brandon Norman, Mercer University, $400
Tenth place
Emily Turner, Case Western Reserve University, $300
Honorable mentions ($200 each)
Brietta Chen, Georgia Institute of Technology
Anushka Chillale, University of Michigan
Jayla Cole, Colorado College
Abrahm Drake, Dickinson State University
Ellie Emmelhainz, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Emily Fadgen, University of California-Riverside
Tyler Howell, University of Florida
Sarah Lam, UC-San Diego
Samuel Lund, Colorado State University
Jaiden Maltbia, Fisk University
T Schiding, West Chester University
Elijah Shewell, St. Mary’s College of Maryland
Jacey Tanioka, Lewis & Clark College
Aaminah Zeinelabdin, Howard University
The high school contest is named for the late William J. Schulz, a Wisconsin member and lifelong learner who died at 57 and left a generous bequest to FFRF.
FFRF warmly thanks FFRF’s Lisa Treu for managing the infinite details of this and FFRF’s other annual student competitions. And we couldn’t judge these contests without our volunteer and staff readers and judges, including: Don Ardell, David Chivers, Eric Evans, Richard Grimes, Tim Hatcher, Dan Kettner, Jeffrey LaVicka, Sammi Lawrence, Katya Maes, David Malcolm, Kurt Mohnsam, Chris O’Connell, Andrea Osburne, JoAnn Papich, Brooks Rimes, Sue Schuetz, Rose Mary Sheldon, PJ Slinger, Kimberly Waldron and Karen Lee Weidig.
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.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 40,000 members across the country. Our purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
2024 College Student Essay Contest Winners
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is proud to announce the 12 winners and six honorable mentions of the 2024 Kenneth L. Proulx Memorial Essay Contest for Ongoing College Students. FFRF has paid out a total of $19,400 in award money to this year’s college contest winners.
Currently enrolled college students (up to age 24) wrote on the topic of “Why is Gen Z the least religious generation?”
This contest is named for Kenneth L. Proulx, one of FFRF’s most generous benefactors, who died in 2019. The cupola at Freethought Hall, FFRF’s office in Madison, Wis., is called the “Above Us Only Sky Kenneth L. Proulx Cupola,” or “Ken’s Cupola” for short.
The $1,000 prize for sixth place in the ongoing college competition is generously endowed by actor and FFRF Lifetime Member Mr. Madison Arnold. Madison, who is 88, has given a $30,000 endowment as a living bequest, what he calls a “pre-quest.”
Essay contest winners, their ages, the colleges or universities they are attending and the award amounts are listed below. (FFRF seeks to distribute essay scholarship monies to a higher number of students, so ties — such as fourth place in this contest — are not regarded in the typical tie fashion, where, in this instance, fifth place would be skipped.)
FIRST PLACE
Sylvie Leyerle, 20, University of Illinois, $3,500.
SECOND PLACE
Daksha Pillai, 18, Columbia University, $3,000.
THIRD PLACE
Elias Abadi, 22, University of Southern California, $2,500.
FOURTH PLACE (tie)
Armin Kiffmeyer, 19, University of Wisconsin, $2,000.
Luke Ortiz-Grabe, 21, Colorado College, $2,000.
FIFTH PLACE
Atira Claude, 21, Florida Atlantic University, $1,500.
SIXTH PLACE (MR. MADISON ARNOLD AWARD)
Kayleigh Clark, 20, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, $1,000.
SEVENTH PLACE (tie)
Zoe Lilly, 21, University of Virginia, $750.
Riley Barker, 22, University of Florida, $750.
EIGHTH PLACE
Cassidy Taggart, 21, Rutgers University, $500.
NINTH PLACE
Danae Daniels, 23, University of South Carolina-Upstate, $400.
TENTH PLACE
Ta’Liyah Darden, 19, Fort Valley State University, $300.
HONORABLE MENTIONS ($200 each)
Hannah Bartoletti, 19, Penn State University.
Braelyn Caldwell, 21, Texas A&M University.
Jasper Chiguma Jr., 20, SUNY Broome Community College.
Melia Moorman, 19, University of Louisville.
Nicholas Spinetta, 23, University of Rhode Island.
Michael Whittaker, 24, South Mountain Community College.
FFRF thanks Lisa Treu for managing the details of this and FFRF’s other student essays competitions. We also would like to thank our volunteer and staff judges, including:
Don Ardell, David Chivers, Eric Evans, Richard Grimes, Tim Hatcher, Dan Kettner, Jeffrey LaVicka, Sammi Lawrence, Katya Maes, David Malcolm, Kurt Mohnsam, Chris O’Connell, Andrea Osborne, JoAnn Papich, Brooks Rimes, Sue Schuetz, Rose Mary Sheldon, PJ Slinger, Kimberly Waldron and Karen Lee Weidig.
FFRF has offered essay competitions to college students since 1979, high school students since 1994, grad students since 2010, one for students of color since 2016 and a fifth contest for law students since 2019.
