B’nai B’rith Announces Winners of 2025 None Shall Be Afraid Essay Contest

B’nai B’rith International is proud to announce the winners of the 2025 None Shall Be Afraid Essay Contest. This year, we asked college students to share personal stories of encountering anti-Semitism on campus.

As the Israel-Hamas war evolves, anti-Semitism in the United States has surged, with universities becoming battlegrounds for Jewish students facing unprecedented levels of hate and hostility. Students from across the country submitted powerful essays reflecting on their experiences, the challenges they faced and the actions they took to stand up against hate.

The top three winners this year are Camilo Rey, Cooper Wright, and Madison M. Fernandez.

First place: Camilo Rey, Florida International University, Class of 2028.

In his winning essay, Rey shares how he worked with his campus Hillel to create a safe space for non-Jewish students to ask questions about Judaism and Israel. By working with staff and the student government, Rey and his team successfully pushed the administration to take reports of religious bias seriously.

Second place: Cooper Wright, East Carolina University, Class of 2027.

Wright wrote about how, as a non-Jewish student, he was able to challenge anti-Semitic stereotypes expressed by others during classroom discussions.

Third place: Madison M. Fernandez, University of Alabama, Class of 2029.

In her essay, Fernandez reflects on how she stood up for a Jewish student whose campaign posters were defaced during student government elections—an incident that prompted her school to create a Rapid Response Team and expand its Jewish history curriculum.

A panel of judges from B’nai B’rith evaluated essays from students across the country. 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 2025 edition of B’nai B’rith Magazine.

B’nai B’rith created the essay 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/