Ferris State University student Jessica Oakes of Roscommon, the editor-in-chief of The
Torch, the student-run newspaper and a Technical and Professional Communication major,
recently received a third-place award in the Freedom from Religion Foundation’s 2023
Kenneth L. Proulx Memorial Essay Contest for Ongoing Students.
Jessica Oakes, the editor-in-chief of The Torch, Ferris State University’s student newspaper, was honored by a national organization for an essay.
A Technical and Professional Communication major minoring in History, the Roscommon native was a third-place finisher in the Freedom from Religion Foundation’s student essay contest, earning a $2,500 award.
“I search websites to identify scholarship prospects, having posted basic information regarding my journalistic activities, focus on history and no specific declaration, in terms of a religion,” Oakes said. “That helped me find this nonprofit and its contest looked appealing to me.”
The Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation was founded in 1978, and its 2023 Kenneth L. Proulx Memorial Essay Contest for Ongoing College Students produced 10 winning entries beyond Oakes’ and six honorable mentions.
“We were asked to write a faux letter to Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene to give warnings with regard to promoting Christian nationalism,” Oakes said. “I started making notes on guest check slips while I worked at my job, taking a couple of days thereafter to develop my entry. It came about rather naturally.”
Oakes said she was involved in reporter duties with The Torch when she learned of her success.
“I was awaiting communication from the university on a breaking news event,” she said. “I was refreshing my emails searching for the update when the FFRF email popped up.”
The $2,500 represents the second-largest award Oakes has received in the last year.
“This particular scholarship was not as time-consuming as some of the other entries I have made recently,” Oakes said. “I gave an honest effort and am proud of the result amidst other entry activities I have been pursuing.”
Oakes said she has also earned a Provost’s Scholarship from Ferris State, an award from the Michigan Press Association Foundation, and a stipend from a Clearwater, Fla. business where she has worked during summers.
“All of these efforts are worthwhile so that I can leave Ferris with my education and experiences and little to no debt incurred,” Oakes said.