The Freedom From Religion Foundation, with the financial backing of individual donors, has collaborated with the Secular Student Alliance (SSA) to select, announce and distribute major secular student activism awards for 2025.

FFRF is pleased to announce this year’s winners of the Al Luneman Student Activist Award are Dustin, Ava and Rafael, who each received $1,000. Additionally, the Cliff Richards Memorial Student Activist Award winners of scholarships reserved specifically for freethinking students going to Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are Sariyah and Donte, who each received $1,000. SSA 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 SSA policy, only students’ first names are used to protect their identities.

Al Luneman Student Activist Award

Ava, Manalapan (N.J.) High School
Ava is a high school student at Manalapan High School in New Jersey, graduating in 2026. She plans to study psychology and neuroscience, aiming for a career at the intersection of science and empathy through clinical work, research or community-based mental health support. Her long-term goal is to reduce stigma around mental illness and expand equitable access to care through evidence-based practice.

Identifying as agnostic and culturally Jewish, Ava established and leads the Secular Student Activists club at her school, organizing meetings and awareness efforts on secularism, science education, mental health, and state/church separation. This year, Ava plans to expand her club’s programming with events, collaborations, and guest speakers while continuing to publish on secular values and mental health. She hopes to remain engaged in secular and humanist organizations in college and contribute to civic efforts like voter registration.

FFRF thanks member Al Luneman for making these scholarships possible.

For more information about this year’s scholarships and student recipients, go to: secularstudents.org/scholarships/2025-recipients

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 42,000 members, FFRF advocates for freethinkers’ rights across the globe. For more information, visit ffrf.org.