The Freedom From Religion Foundation and its donor members have collaborated with the Secular Student Alliance (SSA) to select, fund and distribute major secular student activism awards for 2026.
FFRF is pleased to announce that two students have been selected for $1,000 Cliff Richards Memorial Student Scholarships reserved specifically for freethinking students going to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
The Secular Student Alliance annually publicizes some of FFRF’s specific student scholarships, along with those of other groups and individuals, provides applicant information, and vets the chosen students, which FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor praises as a “wonderful service to FFRF, other donors and students.” As per alliance policy, only students’ first names are used to protect their identities.
Cliff Richards Memorial Student Activist Awards
Kaleb
Kaleb is a sophomore animal science student at Prairie View A&M University in Texas with a passion for veterinary medicine and animal welfare. His activism focuses on advocating for animals and promoting compassionate, responsible animal care in his community. He would love to be able to give back to those pet owners who have a financial need.
His secular identity is rooted in respecting people with different beliefs and perspectives while valuing critical thinking, openness and freedom of thought. He believes people can have different beliefs while still treating one another with dignity, compassion and respect.
Kaleb began volunteering in middle school and gained hands-on experience in animal care, strengthening his commitment to animal advocacy. He hopes to become a veterinarian and use his career to advocate for animals, educate others about responsible care and serve his community. His secular values will help him approach that work with compassion, respect and an open mind.
Leila
Leila is an activist and high school graduate from Minneapolis with a passion for writing. She dreams of becoming a doctor who can make a meaningful change in her community. She is attending Tennessee State University as a biology major, hoping to follow a premed pathway.
She identifies as a humanist. Growing up mostly in her grandparents’ home, she saw firsthand how systemic racism deemed Black and Brown people as useless or undesired. Working in a rehab center, she saw people who were tossed off to the side or outcast for their perceived lack of value. These experiences led her to her humanist identity.
Leila plans to go to medical school to become a physician or medical researcher so she can help give back to her community and become an inspiring story for others in her community to follow and look up to.
FFRF is deeply grateful to Cliff Richards, who phoned FFRF shortly before his death to set up the Cliff Richards Memorial Scholarships to aid freethinking students, expressing special interest in aiding marginalized students.
FFRF has a variety of scholarships available to give directly to students for exceptional activism. If you know of any student who is actively helping to uphold state/church separation or fighting for the rights of nonbelievers, please use the form at ffrf.us/nominate.
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 more than 40,000 members, FFRF advocates for freethinkers’ rights across the globe. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
