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Speech Scholarship

$1,000 Available to One Winner

Respond to this prompt in the form of a written speech:
  • Pretend that you’ve been invited to speak in front of the United States Congress. Write a 300–500-word speech to convey your ideas on how we can protect our democracy from becoming a theocracy and unite our country against religious bigotry.
Available to high school students in California.
Also check out about our other scholarships.

About Our 2024 Written Speech Scholarship

California Freethought Day believes that secular rights, science, social justice, civic engagement, and the First Amendment should be celebrated, and wants to support students as they continue their education.
To further that goal, we've launched a written speech scholarship contest for high school students in California.
We will award $1,000 to a student who addresses this prompt in the form of a 300-500 word written speech:
Pretend that you’ve been invited to speak in front of the United States Congress. Write a 300–500-word speech to convey your ideas on how we can protect our democracy from becoming a theocracy and unite our country against religious bigotry.
Entries must be submitted by September 10, 11:59 p.m. PDT, of the current year to qualify.

Who are we Looking For?

To be eligible, an applicant must:
  • have an interest in free speech, science, and the separation of church and state; and
  • be involved in, or leaders of, community organizations or school clubs; and
  • attend a California high school (grades 9-12) as of September 16, of the current year; and
  • plan to pursue postsecondary education at a community college, four-year college, trade school, or vocational school.
If this sounds like you, you should apply!

How to Apply

After writing your speech, you may click here to apply for our scholarship. You will need to paste your speech into our entry form.

Judging

Shortly after the deadline, members of the California Freethought Day Scholarship Committee will review the submissions. We’ll select the scholarship winners based on the originality, creativity, and quality of the submitted work. Preference will be given to students who have exhibited involvement and leadership in community organizations or school clubs.

Winning

We’ll notify the winner by the last day of September.
The winner, and their family, will be invited (but not required) to attend California Freethought Day in October, held in Sacramento. We may also ask the winner to record a video reciting and reflecting upon their winning work for our use in social media and at events.

Additional Rules and Conditions

In addition to the text above, the following rules and conditions apply.
Current Board members, Committee members, and agents of California Freethought Day and their immediate family members (defined as spouse, parents, siblings, and children) are not eligible to win.
Limit one (1) submission per person.
Responses that are obscene, pornographic, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable will be disqualified.
All applications and submissions become the property of California Freethought Day and will not be returned.
California Freethought Day assumes no responsibility for lost, late, misdirected, or unintelligible entries.
All submissions must consist of entirely original material and no portion may be generated through the use of artificial intelligence.
Should the winner decide to attend any California Freethought Day event, the winner will be responsible for travel and lodging expenses and must abide by our Code of Conduct.
The winner will receive a check to be used toward their postsecondary education expenses. The winner will be issued an IRS Form 1099-MISC stating their winnings.
The judges’ decision is final.
By submitting an application and submission, applicant (or, if a minor, their parent or legal guardian) agrees that California Freethought Day may, without any limitation or further compensation or notice, use their name, voice and/or likeness in any and all media, worldwide, for the purpose of advertising and promoting the website, California Freethought Day, the scholarship program, or any other promotion, contest, or sweepstakes of California Freethought Day.
The name of the scholarship prize recipient and their winning submission may be posted on any or all of California Freethought Day’s websites and social media channels.
By submitting an application and submission, applicant (or, if a minor, their parent or legal guardian) grants to California Freethought Day a worldwide perpetual non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, distribute and exploit the material submitted, including the worldwide copyright and any extensions, renewals, revivals, reversions and restorations thereof, for any educational, promotional, or other purpose. Applicant further agrees that California Freethought Day and its designees may edit and modify the submission and all elements of it in any and all media now known or not currently known, throughout the world in perpetuity without compensation, permission, or notification to applicant or any third party. Notwithstanding the foregoing, applicant shall be entitled to terminate the license granted to California Freethought Day hereunder upon written notice to California Freethought Day after a period of five years from the date applicant submits the application and submission.
Each person who enters this scholarship program represents and warrants to California Freethought Day as follows: (i) the application and submission, including any written content, are the applicant’s own original, previously unpublished, and previously unproduced work; (ii) the application and submission, including any written content, neither infringes upon nor violates the intellectual property rights or other rights of any other person or entity; (iii) the application and submission, including any written content, does not and will not violate any applicable laws, and meets the official rules set forth herein. Each applicant hereby agrees to indemnify and hold California Freethought Day harmless from and against any and all third party claims, actions, or proceedings of any kind and from any and all damages, liabilities, costs, and expenses relating to or arising out of any breach or alleged breach of any of the warranties, representations or agreements of applicant hereunder.
California Freethought Day shall have no obligation (express or implied) to use any winning submission, or to otherwise exploit a winning submission or continue the development, production, distribution, or exploitation thereof, and California Freethought Day may at any time abandon the use of the winning submission for any reason, with or without legal justification or excuse, and the scholarship prize recipients shall not be entitled to any damages or other relief by reason thereof.
By submitting, you fully and unconditionally accept and agree to these official rules and the decisions of California Freethought Day, which are final and binding.

For More Information, Contact, and Questions

Questions regarding the scholarship can be directed to scholarships@FreethoughtDay.org.

Recognition

We would like to recognize Scholarship Impact for their assistance with this scholarship.