The Freedom From Religion Foundation and its donor members have collaborated with the Secular Student Alliance (SSA) to select, fund and distribute major secular student activism awards for 2026.

FFRF is pleased to announce that $1,000 has been awarded to a student activist receiving FFRF’s Strong Backbone award.

The Secular Student Alliance 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 alliance policy, only students’ first names are used to protect their identities.

Strong Backbone Student Activist Award

Dustin
Dustin is a high school student, volunteer and avid activist attending Hightower High School in Houston, Texas. He has a passion for animal care and conservation and is committed to standing up for the justice of all through outreach, protest and charity.

Dustin believes that his secular identity is foundational to who he is, having been raised on humanist values by ex-Mormon parents. It is as a humanist that he finds the propagation of hatred and bigotry in America to be deeply unacceptable. Striving to be the change he wants in the world, Dustin leads his peers in improving their community, has confronted both his school board and city council on their injustices, hosted charity drives and pollinator plant giveaways, presented his work to Houston secular organizations, and much more.

In the future, Dustin hopes to become a wildlife veterinarian while maintaining his strong presence as an activist in his community, putting action and change into the world, not thoughts and prayers.

This award is underwritten by a generous octogenarian FFRF member.

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 40,000 members, FFRF advocates for freethinkers’ rights across the globe. For more information, visit ffrf.org.