FFRF is proud to announce the awarding of $16,250 to the nine top winners and four honorable mentions in the 2025 Cornelius Vander Broek Graduate/Older Student Essay Competition.

Students were asked to write on the topic: “State/church issues endangered by the Trump administration’s capitulation to Christian nationalism.” Student essays were asked to be focused on one issue that mattered to the contestants under threat in the current administration due to its Christian nationalist policies.

The winners, their ages, the colleges or universities they attend, and the award amounts are listed below. 

FIRST PLACE
Julis Calvert, 26, University of North Texas, $3,500.
SECOND PLACE
Kyria Santa, 24, Emory University, $3,000.
THIRD PLACE
Ian Webb, 29, Georgia Institute of Technology, $2,500.
FOURTH PLACE
Bailee Roberts, 23, Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling, $2,000.
FIFTH PLACE
Jacqueline Thomas, 25, University of North Texas, $1,500.
SIXTH PLACE
Claire Rosemary Lewis, 24, Duke University, $1,000.
SEVENTH PLACE
Ione A. Rodriguez, 30, University of Texas at San Antonio, $750.
EIGHTH PLACE
Megan Lyman, 29, Michigan State University, $500.
NINTH PLACE
Michael Richardson, 25, Berklee College of Music, $400.
TENTH PLACE
Matthew Reyes, 28, University of Texas at San Antonio, $300.

HONORABLE MENTION ($200 each)
Bailey Diaz, 25, San Jose State University
Lewis Luis, 27, City College of New York
Jeremiah J. Moore, 31, University of North Carolina At Pembroke
Morgan Wegner, 26, Upper Iowa 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 happy to see another generation of freethinkers raising their voices in protest against the continuing threat of Christian nationalism,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “The next generation promises to have the greatest population of freethinkers yet, and FFRF is proud to lend its support to keep student advocacy alive and thriving.”

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.

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