B’nai B’rith Announces Winners of 2024 None Shall be Afraid Essay Contest

B’nai B’rith International is pleased to announce the winners of its 2024 None Shall Be Afraid essay contest. This year, we invited college students to share action plans universities should use to effectively address threats against Israel and Jews on their campuses.

With virulent anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism on the rise in the aftermath of the brutal Hamas terror attack on Israel in October, along with the increase in violent student-led protests against Israel on college campuses across the country, this year’s None Shall Be Afraid essay contest enabled college students—on the front lines facing anti-Semitism—to use their experiences to suggest critical adjustments to university leaders.

The three essay contest winners are Ilana Argentar, Rachel Applebaum, and Faith Ann Lord.

First place: Ilana Argentar, incoming freshman at Bradley University, Class of 2028. In her essay, Argentar recounts her family’s escape from Poland to the United States and draws parallels between their persecution in the 1930s and modern discrimination against Jews today. She argues that universities should take threats against Jews seriously and respond decisively.

Second place: Rachel Applebaum, College of Wooster, Class of 2026. Applebaum writes about the importance of education and open discussion in addressing naive discrimination.

Third place: Faith Ann Lord, University of Toledo, Class of 2026. In her essay, Lord argues that inviting Jewish speakers and fostering academic exploration of anti-Semitism on campuses can help universities create a more informed and compassionate student body.

A panel of judges from B’nai B’rith International evaluated over 180 essays, assessing the writers’ proposed strategies to help universities combat and reduce anti-Semitism. The top three winners were awarded scholarships of $2,500, $1,000 and $500, respectively. The first-place essay will also be featured in the 2024 edition of B’nai B’rith Magazine.

B’nai B’rith created the contest to keep a focus on the pervasive issues of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in our society today. None Shall Be Afraid was inspired by the 1790 letter from George Washington to the congregants of Touro Synagogue in Rhode Island, where he quoted Micah 4:4, “Everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid.”

Read about the initiative behind the contest here: https://www.bnaibrith.org/none-shall-be-afraid/

Read the winning essay here: bnaibrith.org/none-shall-be-afraid-essay-contest/