The Freedom From Religion Foundation has persuaded the Iowa High School Athletic Association to revise the criteria student-athletes need to win the state’s highest school honor.

A concerned Iowa parent reported that the Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) was imposing a religious criterion on students in order to be eligible for the Bernie Saggau Award of Merit, an award described as the “highest student honor” that the association awards annually. According to the official description, the award is “presented annually to the graduating student who best exemplifies a patriotic spirit, with strong religious and moral convictions, living and professing the qualities of honesty, integrity and sportsmanship [emphasis added].” FFRF learned that high schools throughout Iowa were advertising the award using the “strong religious and moral convictions” language.

FFRF stepped in to make certain nonreligious students are also eligible for the award.

“Because the IHSAA is a state actor due to its operational agreement with the Iowa Department of Education, the IHSAA is obligated to respect students’ First Amendment rights,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote to the district.

Public school students have a constitutional right to be free from discrimination on the basis of religion or nonreligion when participating in the Iowa High School Athletic Association contest. Participation includes students’ eligibility for the Bernie Saggau Award of Merit regardless of whether they subscribe to a religion. It is well settled that public entities may not show favoritism toward or coerce belief or participation in religion, especially in the school context. By conditioning eligibility for the award on “strong religious . . . convictions,” the association is clearly favoring religion over nonreligion.

Thankfully, the organization took FFRF’s guidance on the issue.

Iowa High School Athletic Association Executive Director Tom Keating emailed FFRF informing the state/church watchdog of a new, more inclusive approach regarding the award. 

“The words, ‘religious and’ have been removed from the verbiage on the award certificate,” Keating wrote. “This year’s certificates will reflect that change.” 

FFRF is pleased to see the Iowa’s top school athletic association work to make a respectful environment for freethinking Hawkeye State students.

“Students should never be excluded from an award because they are atheists or otherwise nonreligious, particularly when 44 percent of young people today have no religious affiliation,”  says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “We’re pleased the association corrected this unconstitutional requirement and will judge students based on merit rather than applying an inappropriate religious litmus test.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 41,000 members across the country, including hundreds of members in Iowa. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

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