The Freedom From Religion Foundation is proud to announce the 10 winners and 11 honorable mentions of the 2025 Kenneth L. Proulx Memorial Essay Contest for Ongoing College Students.
FFRF has paid out a total of $19,650 in award money for the contest. Students were asked to write on the topic of “Why the only afterlife that should concern us is leaving our descendants and planet a secure and pleasant future.” Actor and FFRF Lifetime Member Mr. Madison Arnold has generously endowed the $1,000 sixth-place prize. Madison, who is 89, has given a $30,000 endowment as a living bequest, which he calls a “pre-quest.”
The winners, their ages, the colleges or universities they attend, and the award amounts are listed below.
FIRST PLACE
Vera Ngene, 23, Wake Technical Community College, $3,500.
SECOND PLACE
Corryn Guarino, 19, University of South Florida, $3,000.
THIRD PLACE
Bryce Springfield, 23, University of Massachusetts Amherst, $2,500.
FOURTH PLACE
Elliot Graham, 21, California Polytechnic State University, $2,000.
FIFTH PLACE
Samantha Lopez, 19, Oregon Institute of Technology, $1,500.
SIXTH PLACE
(MR. MADISON ARNOLD AWARD)
Dipshika Rai, 19, Northern Kentucky University, $1,000.
SEVENTH PLACE
Naila Buckner, 23, Columbia College Chicago, $750.
EIGHTH PLACE
Lucas Papp, 19, University of Georgia, $500.
NINTH PLACE
Renata Hubbs, 18, University of Georgia, $400.
TENTH PLACE
Kevin Garcia, 21, Texas State University, $300.
HONORABLE MENTIONS ($200 each)
Jailyn Agard, 19, Ramapo College of New Jersey.
Gabriella Badami, 20, Savannah College of Art & Design.
Abigail Baltz, 20, Belmont University.
Bianca Brown, 19, Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University.
Sabrina Canales, 21, University of Texas at Austin.
Riley Coe, 18, University of New Mexico.
Emma Girten, 20, Auburn University.
Eli Lipsom, 19, Assumption University.
Logan Longenecker, 19, Sam Houston State University.
Godwins Makoule, 22, The College of New Jersey.
Natalie Mendoza, 20, Arizona State University.
FFRF thanks Lisa Treu for managing the details of this and FFRF’s other student essay competitions. We also would like to thank our volunteer and staff judges, including: Adeola Abilawon, Paul Baker, Dan Barker, Jon Galehouse, Annie Laurie Gaylor, Richard Grimes, Tim Hatcher, Linda Josheff, Tori Mizerak, Chris O’Connell, Brian Gillaspie, Ricki Grunberg, Katya Maes, Kurt Mohnsam, Brooks Rimes, PJ Slinger 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.
“FFRF is pleased to honor this year’s winners, and is encouraged by the willingness of so many students to raise their voices for freethought,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “FFRF is proud of its ongoing support for the next generation of freethinkers, the largest generation of religiously unaffiliated in U.S. history.”
FFRF has offered essay competitions to college students since 1979, high school students since 1994, graduate students since 2010, and one dedicated to students of color since 2016. A fifth contest, open to law students, began in 2019.
More detailed bios and short essays by the winning students will appear in the upcoming November issue of Freethought Today, FFRF’s lively 24-page (almost) monthly newspaper.
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 42,000 members, FFRF advocates for freethinkers’ rights across the globe. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
