Friend,

I am excited to announce the launch of AU’s 2021 Student Essay Contest, with a first-place prize of $1,500!

Our essay contest encourages high school students to reflect on why religious freedom and church-state separation are important to them and their communities. This year’s contest is focused on an important piece of federal legislation that would ensure religious freedom for all, the Do No Harm Act.

The Topic:

The Do No Harm Act is designed to restore the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) to its original intent to protect religious freedom, especially for religious minorities, while clarifying it cannot be used to discriminate. RFRA is now being misused to harm others; for example, the Trump Administration has said that organizations can use RFRA to discriminate in employment for jobs funded by taxpayer dollars.

How would the Do No Harm Act impact church-state separation and the real lives of people in the United States?

• The strongest submissions will weave together personal experience and well-researched information on current and/or historical events to make a persuasive argument.
• Submissions can describe multiple ways that the Do No Harm Act would affect different groups or may focus on one topic (for example, discrimination against LGBTQ people in employment).

The Prizes:

• First place: $1,500 and essay will be printed on AU’s website and in Church & State magazine
• Second place: $1,000 and essay will be printed on AU’s website
• Third Place: $500 and essay will be printed on AU’s website

The Fine Print:

• The contest is open to high school juniors and seniors in the United States, including the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.
• The essay length should be between 750 and 1,000 words.
• Essays should be well written, well researched and should be the student’s original writing, supported by specific examples and/or properly cited sources where appropriate. Essays can reference current events, U.S. history, primary sources, personal experiences and information from AU.org.
• Essays must be submitted no later than 11:59 PM on April 19, 2021.
• Employees and board members of Americans United, and members of their families, are not eligible to participate.

If you are not an eligible student, please take a moment to share this contest with the students and young people in your life. This is a great way to bring them into our movement for church-state separation.

For more information on this contest, please visit www.au.org/essaycontest. To read last year’s winning essays, click here.

I can’t wait to see what our students submit this year!

Sincerely,

Alicia Johnson
National Organizer and Student Network Manager