Featured Stories
Michigan State University Research Foundation: Common Vector Robotics Wins $425,000 at Grand Rapids PitchMI Semifinal
EAST LANSING, Michigan, Sept. 19 -- The Michigan State University Research Foundation issued the following news release:
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September 18, 2026
Common Vector Robotics Wins $425,000 at Grand Rapids PitchMI Semifinal
Detroit-based robotics company takes top prize in Defense & Aerospace competition and advances to statewide PitchMI Championship
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LANSING, Mich. (Sept. 15, 2026) -- Common Vector Robotics (CVR), a Detroit-based robotics manufacturer, took home $425,000 after winning the Defense & Aerospace semifinal of the PitchMI Startup Competition at the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre.
Led in
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EAST LANSING, Michigan, Sept. 19 -- The Michigan State University Research Foundation issued the following news release:
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September 18, 2026
Common Vector Robotics Wins $425,000 at Grand Rapids PitchMI Semifinal
Detroit-based robotics company takes top prize in Defense & Aerospace competition and advances to statewide PitchMI Championship
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LANSING, Mich. (Sept. 15, 2026) -- Common Vector Robotics (CVR), a Detroit-based robotics manufacturer, took home $425,000 after winning the Defense & Aerospace semifinal of the PitchMI Startup Competition at the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre.
Led inpartnership by the Michigan State University Research Foundation and Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), PitchMI is one of the nation's largest founder-focused startup competitions, designed to identify, support, and invest in some of Michigan's most promising startups.
A $500,000 statewide co-investment from Anchor Up Ventures, Kalamazoo Forward Ventures, JM Longyear and ID Ventures increased each semifinal prize from $250,000 to $375,000. In Grand Rapids, 20Fathoms, a Traverse City startup incubator and entrepreneurship hub, added another $50,000 to CVR's award, bringing the company's total winnings to $425,000.
"It's incredible to build in Michigan and to be with all my other fellow founders building in the same space," said Arnold Kadiu, CEO and co-founder of Common Vector Robotics. "I really wasn't expecting the check. This is going to be huge for our business to grow and get it to that next stage."
Building rugged robotics in Michigan
CVR builds rugged ground robots for critical operations on and off the battlefield. The company develops key components including battery packs, battery management systems, motor controllers, ECUs, and suspension systems in-house.
Its two signature products include:
* Ghostrunner: A high-speed, off-road robotic platform built for rugged field operations: distributed sensing, mobility, communications support, and field logistics. Engineered around the CVR vertically integrated hardware stack, Ghostrunner is built to operate where infrastructure cannot.
* GL-1: A 400 kg autonomous base built to carry your payload - robotic arm, sensor mast, or rack - into the field. It navigates by Visual SLAM, is supervised from a single command center, and a modular power payload up to 27 kWh runs the equipment it carries.
"Being in the PitchMI space is really exciting, just the energy of all these startups pitching," Kadiu said. "I hope for a lot more competitions like this, to allow a lot more companies to grow and succeed."
The Grand Rapids event was the first of four PitchMI industry semifinals happening across Michigan. Each semifinal winner advances to the statewide PitchMI Championship in spring 2027 for a chance at an additional $1 million.
Learn more about PitchMI and RSVP for the upcoming semifinal events at msufoundation.org/pitchmi.
* AI & Software: Kalamazoo on Sept. 22.
* Advanced Manufacturing, Materials, & Outdoors: Marquette on Sept. 24.
Healthcare & Life Sciences: Detroit on Oct. 1.
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Original text here: https://msufoundation.org/common-vector-robotics-wins-425000-at-grand-rapids-pitchmi-semifinal/
Hispanic Access Foundation: Rep. Barragan Re-Introduces Resolution to Establish Latino Conservation Week
WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 -- The Hispanic Access Foundation issued the following news release:
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Rep. Barragan Re-Introduces Resolution to Establish Latino Conservation Week
17 September 2026
As the nation celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month, Congresswoman Nanette Barragan (CA-44) re-introduced her resolution today to designate the third week of September as "Latino Conservation Week". "Latino Conservation Week" spotlights the Latino community's efforts to preserve and develop public spaces and outdoor recreation, as well as the importance of equitable access to outdoor spaces.
"Latino Conservation
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WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 -- The Hispanic Access Foundation issued the following news release:
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Rep. Barragan Re-Introduces Resolution to Establish Latino Conservation Week
17 September 2026
As the nation celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month, Congresswoman Nanette Barragan (CA-44) re-introduced her resolution today to designate the third week of September as "Latino Conservation Week". "Latino Conservation Week" spotlights the Latino community's efforts to preserve and develop public spaces and outdoor recreation, as well as the importance of equitable access to outdoor spaces.
"Latino ConservationWeek recognizes the Latino community's longstanding connection to nature and commitment to protecting the environment," said Representative Barragan. "Every family deserves clean air, clean water, and access to parks and open spaces in their community. Latino communities have been strong voices for protecting the places we live, work, and enjoy, and this resolution celebrates that leadership. Protecting our public lands and natural spaces is a responsibility we all share, and it is a responsibility we must uphold for generations to come."
"For thirteen years, Latino Conservation Week has made visible what was already true: Latino leaders are stewards of this country's lands and waters," said Maite Arce, President & CEO of Hispanic Access Foundation. "We thank Representative Nanette Barragan for bringing this resolution to the House Floor. Official recognition matters because the future of public lands depends not only on access, but on whether Latino youth, families, and leaders have the agency to shape what happens next."
The resolution raises concerns about the significant environmental and health disparities experienced by Latino communities across the country, as well as their lack of access to urban parks, greenspaces, and the outdoors. Two out of three Latinos have stated that their health and the health of their families have been negatively affected by the high levels of air pollution and water contamination in their communities. Access and protection of natural spaces in Latino communities can help mitigate air pollution and extreme heat that exacerbates the pollution.
Representative Barragan reintroduced the resolution with the following cosponsors: Reps. Jim Costa (D-Calif.), Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.), Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fla.), Juan Vargas (D-Calif.), Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.), Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.), and Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.).
The resolution is supported by the Hispanic Access Foundation, Sierra Club, Sierra Nevada Alliance, Nature Forward, Sonoma Land Trust, BASE Landscape Architecture, Asociacion Guatemaltecos Sin Fronteras, Retos Servicious de Educacion Integral, PEACE New Jersey, Wasatch Community Gardens, Immigrant Network of Johnson County, Iglesia Bautista la Resurreccion, Tampa Bay Kaya Anglers, Wilderness Workshop, Jesse Miranda Center, ProShow Disc Jockey Service, Iglesia Amistad, Huellas Latinas, Environmental Justice Journalism Initiative, Immigrant Welcome Network of Johnson County, Iglesia Aliento de Vida, San Diego Bird Alliance, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Templo El Salvador de las Asambleas de Dios, City of Olympia, ID Latino Conservation Week Planning Committee, Latinos Aventureros de las Carolinas, Purpose en Espanol, Vail Valley Mountain Trails Alliance, Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project, Nature Center of Watsonville, HawkWatch International, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, My Future Pathways, Regeneracion - Pajaro Valley Climate Action, City of Pharr, Moms Clean Air Force - EcoMadres, Azul, GreenLatinos, Leave No Trace, Centro CHA Inc, Transformados En Cristo/FMC, and Primera Iglesia Bautista Hispana.
For the resolution text, click here.
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Original text here: https://www.hispanicaccess.org/news-releases/3141-rep-barragan-re-introduces-resolution-to-establish-latino-conservation-week
WLF Opposes Hospital's Attempt to Use State Law to Enforce Federal 340B Drug-Pricing Requirements
WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 [Category: Law/Legal] -- The Washington Legal Foundation issued the following news release:
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WLF Opposes Hospital's Attempt to Use State Law to Enforce Federal 340B Drug-Pricing Requirements
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Click HERE to read WLF's brief.
Washington, DC-Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) today filed an amicus brief in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire opposing a request by Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital for a preliminary injunction against Eli Lilly and Company. In its brief, WLF argues that the hospital's lawsuit is an impermissible attempt to privately
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WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 [Category: Law/Legal] -- The Washington Legal Foundation issued the following news release:
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WLF Opposes Hospital's Attempt to Use State Law to Enforce Federal 340B Drug-Pricing Requirements
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Click HERE to read WLF's brief.
Washington, DC-Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) today filed an amicus brief in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire opposing a request by Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital for a preliminary injunction against Eli Lilly and Company. In its brief, WLF argues that the hospital's lawsuit is an impermissible attempt to privatelyenforce the federal 340B drug-pricing program through state-law causes of action, despite Congress's refusal to create a private right of action under the statute. WLF filed the brief with the pro bono assistance of Hollis, New Hampshire attorney Randall B. Clark.
The dispute arises from Lilly's requirement that healthcare providers participating in the 340B program provide certain claims data to receive program discounts. Lilly adopted the condition to help verify compliance with federal program rules designed to prevent duplicate discounts and improper diversion of discounted drugs. After Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital declined to provide the requested data, Lilly suspended the hospital's access to 340B pricing, prompting it to sue Lilly and seek injunctive relief under various state-law theories.
WLF argues that the Supreme Court's 2011 decision in Astra USA, Inc. v. Santa Clara County forecloses the hospital's claims because Congress vested exclusive enforcement authority over 340B pricing disputes in the Department of Health and Human Services rather than private litigants. WLF argues that allowing hospitals to pursue state-law claims based on alleged violations of 340B would undermine Congress's enforcement scheme and risk inconsistent judicial rulings across the country. Apart from Astra, WLF argues that federal law permits the claims-data conditions disputed by the hospital and that claims data is essential to ensuring program integrity.
Since 1977, Washington Legal Foundation has preserved and defended America's free-enterprise system by litigating, educating, and advocating for free-market principles, a limited and accountable government, individual and business civil liberties, and the rule of law.
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Original text here: https://www.wlf.org/2026/09/18/communicating/wlf-opposes-hospitals-attempt-to-use-state-law-to-enforce-federal-340b-drug-pricing-requirements/
The Nobel Prize is increased by SEK 1 million
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Sept. 18 -- The Nobel Foundation posted the following news release:
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The Nobel Prize is increased by SEK 1 million
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The Nobel Foundation has decided that the amount of the 2026 Nobel Prize will be SEK 12 million per prize category. This represents a SEK 1 million increase per prize category compared to previous years.
"This year, we are celebrating the 125th anniversary of the Nobel Prize, and in connection with this, we are pleased to be able to increase the prize amount by one million. By increasing the prize amount, we uphold the long-term significance of the Nobel
... Show Full Article
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Sept. 18 -- The Nobel Foundation posted the following news release:
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The Nobel Prize is increased by SEK 1 million
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The Nobel Foundation has decided that the amount of the 2026 Nobel Prize will be SEK 12 million per prize category. This represents a SEK 1 million increase per prize category compared to previous years.
"This year, we are celebrating the 125th anniversary of the Nobel Prize, and in connection with this, we are pleased to be able to increase the prize amount by one million. By increasing the prize amount, we uphold the long-term significance of the NobelPrize and ensure that the financial part of the prize retains its value over time.", says Hanna Stjarne, Executive Director of the Nobel Foundation.
When the first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901, the prize amount was SEK 150,782 per prize category. The prize amount has been adjusted several times over the past 15 years. The amount of the Nobel Prize was reduced from SEK 10 million to SEK 8 million in 2012, simultaneously with a broader programme to strengthen the Nobel Foundation's finances being initiated. Since then, the prize amount has been increased on three occasions. Now, in 2026, an additional increase is made amounting to SEK 12 million.
This year's Nobel Prizes will be announced on 5-12 October.
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Original text here: https://www.nobelprize.org/press-release/the-nobel-prize-is-increased-by-sek-1-million/
Royal Society of Edinburgh: Irish President Receives Honorary Fellowship
EDINBURGH, Scotland, Sept. 18 -- The Royal Society of Edinburgh issued the following news:
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17 September 2026
Irish President receives Honorary Fellowship
The President of Ireland, Catherine Connolly, has been made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the highest honour it can bestow.
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Her Fellowship was conferred during a visit to the RSE as part of her week-long series of engagements across Scotland. She becomes the third Irish President to receive this honour from the RSE and joins her predecessors Professor Mary Robinson HonFRSE and Professor Mary McAleese HonFRSE.
President
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EDINBURGH, Scotland, Sept. 18 -- The Royal Society of Edinburgh issued the following news:
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17 September 2026
Irish President receives Honorary Fellowship
The President of Ireland, Catherine Connolly, has been made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the highest honour it can bestow.
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Her Fellowship was conferred during a visit to the RSE as part of her week-long series of engagements across Scotland. She becomes the third Irish President to receive this honour from the RSE and joins her predecessors Professor Mary Robinson HonFRSE and Professor Mary McAleese HonFRSE.
PresidentConnolly said: "It is a privilege to receive this Honorary Fellowship from the Royal Society of Edinburgh and to have the opportunity of meeting with some of those working in such a wide range of disciplines for the public good.
"I particularly welcome the work that is being undertaken between researchers in Ireland and Scotland which will help inform public policy in both countries."
Galway-born President Connolly was elected as the 10th Irish President in 2025, serving as the third woman to do so. She was for many years an elected councillor and held senior offices such as the Mayor of Galway and Leas-Cheann Comhairle (Deputy Chairperson of Dail Eireann), before being elected as President. Ms Connolly has a master's in clinical psychology and a law degree - practising in both fields before entering politics in 1999. She has a long history of commitment to social justice issues and community wellbeing.
The citation for President Connolly highlights her commitment to cultural and linguistic heritage in her politics - which was a large feature of her electoral campaign in 2025. She pledged to use her Presidency as a voice for peace, bringing her longstanding commitment to dialogue, inclusion and public service.
Professor Jo Shaw, General Secretary of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, said: "It is a true honour to welcome President Connolly into the RSE's Fellowship.
"Throughout her career she has consistently demonstrated her passion and drive for helping others, from being a barrister and psychologist to her public service.
"An Honorary Fellowship is our Society's highest honour that we can bestow, so on behalf of our entire Fellowship and staff I am deeply proud that President Connolly has accepted."
President Connolly joins the ranks of the RSE Fellowship which numbers around 1800, who are elected in recognition of their commitment to public service, excellence in scientific endeavour or the world of business or the arts. Honorary Fellowships recognise individuals of truly exceptional distinction who are internationally renowned and widely known outside their specialism. Other notable Honorary Fellows include broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, Olympian Baroness Katherine Grainger, musician Dr Annie Lennox, and physicist Professor Peter Higgs.
The Royal Society of Edinburgh has a long history of working with Ireland through the Royal Irish Academy (RIA), supporting researchers in both countries through its Ireland-Scotland Bilateral Network Grants. This partnership has supported research into domestic violence and the impact of COVID-19 on children and young adults.
Following President Connolly's formal acceptance of her Honorary Fellowship, Professor Jemina Napier and Lucy Clark presented their research into domestic abuse of deaf women - one of the research projects that was a direct result of the Ireland-Scotland Bilateral Partnership. A roundtable discussion about deepening links and renewing the partnership then followed.
The partnership began in 2021, with the RIA and the RSE committing a maximum of pound sterling12,500 each to support two research projects. From 2026 this figure has increased to pound sterling15,000 each.
A total of 10 research projects have been supported between 2021 and last year, with five being administered by the RIA and five by the RSE. The projects that were funded covered a range of themes, including oceanography, rural, coastal or island communities, and diasporas.
Over the past five years, 40 applications were received from higher education institutions in Ireland and Scotland, with pound sterling122,000 being disbursed for projects in total.
As a result of the partnership continuing, research projects in 2026 will cover the theme of culture, language and sport.
The bilateral agreement is accomplished with the support of the Scottish Government Office in Ireland and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
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Original text here: https://rse.org.uk/irish-president-receives-honorary-fellowship/
Foundation for Economic Education Issues Commentary: Graveyard of Eastern European Socialism
DETROIT, Michigan, Sept. 18 -- The Foundation for Economic Education issued the following commentary:
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September 17, 2026
The Graveyard of Eastern European Socialism
Alex Tokarev
Kristin Tokarev
Competition exposed decades of economic failure.
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On October 12, 1960, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev pounded his shoe on the podium during a speech at the United Nations General Assembly, yelling at the capitalist countries: "We [the socialists] will bury you!" Within 30 years, socialism, not capitalism, was dead and buried in Eastern Europe. The USSR disappeared from the maps.
Why was
... Show Full Article
DETROIT, Michigan, Sept. 18 -- The Foundation for Economic Education issued the following commentary:
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September 17, 2026
The Graveyard of Eastern European Socialism
Alex Tokarev
Kristin Tokarev
Competition exposed decades of economic failure.
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On October 12, 1960, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev pounded his shoe on the podium during a speech at the United Nations General Assembly, yelling at the capitalist countries: "We [the socialists] will bury you!" Within 30 years, socialism, not capitalism, was dead and buried in Eastern Europe. The USSR disappeared from the maps.
Why wasthe Russian leader so confident in the victory of Marxism? Why was his prediction so wrong? The answer lies in the nature of socialism as a way to organize production and exchange. Capitalism relies on entrepreneurial profit-seeking and market price signals. Socialism relies on benevolent controls and the wisdom of experts.
Within five years of occupying Eastern Europe, Moscow entangled the economies of Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania with the USSR in the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (abbreviated as Comecon or CMEA). By 1978, this pact integrated Mongolia, Cuba, and Vietnam.
Private property was expropriated. Business initiative was criminalized. Profit became a dirty word. Everyone was employed by the state. Market mechanisms were replaced with central planning. Setting wages and prices became guesswork for bureaucrats in government agencies. The result was shortages and shoddy products.
CMEA members were ordered to specialize in producing something that the others would buy. Consumer preferences could not be revealed to determine what to make. The cost of resources could not guide the producers in finding the most efficient ways to manufacture the goods. Equalizing wages destroyed incentives to work.
Hungary made Ikarus buses--many more than what Mercedes-Benz produced in West Germany. Uncomfortable, noisy, with toxic exhaust fumes getting inside (where the passengers were either freezing or getting roasted), they were unsafe and needed constant repairs. Yet, hundreds of thousands were shipped across the CMEA.
East Germany made Wartburgs and Trabants. Those were almost as reliable as the first car made in 1769. With a cardboard coupe! How did they compare to the Volkswagen Beetle? As a hot dog to filet mignon. Customers could not buy from the West. So they had to wait 15 years for permission to buy these technological marvels.
Poland shows how specialization based on political rather than market principles could become a trap. The country became one of the world's largest coal producers, peaking at 200 million tons in 1979. Coal exports (second only to the US) kept the lights on in other CMEA members and supplied the country with valuable capitalist currencies.
The system depended on unrealistic estimates of ever-increasing production. Overworked and underpaid, the miners went on strike in 1980. Coal production and exports plunged. The socialist economy could not generate enough revenue to service its debts to Western banks. No new credit meant no import of machinery and parts.
The Polish economy went into a deep recession that led to a coup d'etat. It did not suddenly run out of coal, but exports to CMEA countries dropped 80% in just two years. The industry had pursued political priorities instead of profits. After decades of planning with ideological blindfolds, the day of reckoning was here.
When Stalin took Czechoslovakia, the country inherited one of Eastern Europe's most advanced industrial bases. It became a major supplier of equipment to the Soviet Union and other CMEA members. Socialist specialization, however, meant no competition. This tends to preserve old technology rather than encourage innovation.
State factories had guaranteed customers. They faced no market pressure to reduce costs, improve quality, or catch up with the West. When CMEA collapsed, the former socialist managers discovered that the products they had been manufacturing for decades had no customers willing to buy them at market prices.
The most telling example comes from Bulgaria, where they made Balkancar forklifts, sturdy as World War II tanks. State propaganda loved these "achievements." They were number one in the world! Not really. CMEA members bought them. They had no alternatives. Some were sold in the West--at a loss--to pay for high-quality capitalist imports.
Before he was shot by his people in the Revolutions of 1989, Romania's dictator Ceausescu tried to make Romania economically independent of Moscow. The government invested heavily in oil, steel, chemicals, machinery, electricity, and other heavy industries. The government repaid its debt to capitalist banks by almost starving its people.
During the last years of the socialist regime, the country was exporting manufactured products and agricultural goods to obtain hard currency while rationing electricity, gasoline, food, and other necessities at home. It had replaced dependence on the Kremlin and CMEA with dependence on the decisions of its own brutal masters.
The Soviet economy provided its customers a lower standard of living than Depression-era Americans. Want a color TV? Pay up, and come back next year. Just tell the government what color you prefer. Want a car, but don't want to wait a decade for your turn to buy it? Sure, have this Zaporozhets, almost as good as Fred Flintstone's vehicle.
In the 1980s, a Russian had to pay three years of his wages to buy a lousy Moskvich. Under the skin, those cars were the same as the models from 25 years earlier. An American worker could buy a Ford--five times better with five times less effort. While the United States cities suffered from too much traffic, Moscow's streets were almost empty.
Soviet citizens could not simply walk into a showroom and choose an Audi, Fiat, or Toyota instead. There was no competitive market to punish the manufacturer for making junk. The customer had to take whatever the state produced--whether sausages, shoes, or shower curtains--and be grateful that they were available at all.
The workers pretended to work. The government pretended to pay them. Ordinary citizens waited years for a mediocre Lada. Privileged members of the "nomenklatura" (party leaders and factory directors) could use a government-owned Volga, often with a driver. Everyone was said to be equal, but some were more equal than others.
Finally--Cuba. Even 37 years after the fall of socialism in Europe, that island nation still suffers the consequences of embracing Marxist ideas. After joining CMEA in 1972, Cuba specialized in producing cane sugar while the Soviet Union supplied oil, machinery, and food--all at prices that had little connection to world-market conditions.
Of Cuba's exports, 80% went to CMEA. Favorable terms of trade allowed the population to consume far more than it produced. Despite Moscow's subsidies, they remained poor. When the Soviet Union collapsed, Cuban GDP fell by roughly one-third. The economic shock was more severe than the effects of the Great Depression.
These are just a few examples demonstrating the impossibility of constructing a rational economic order based on socialist principles. Without real prices and competition, CMEA's orders could make a country a major producer of coal, machinery, buses, forklifts, or sugar while paving the way for economic collapse.
In 1991, the former socialist countries moved toward settling their trade in convertible currencies at global rates. The old trade relationships had been built around political priorities. Once buyers were allowed to choose and sellers had to compete, many industries discovered that their products were too expensive, too outdated, or too shoddy.
GDP numbers presented to Khrushchev created an illusion of economic strength. Socialist countries built factories, trained engineers, and made vast quantities of industrial goods. They produced impressive statistics, but failed to produce value for the consumers. Thus, socialism's inherent inefficiencies sow the seeds of its destruction.
CMEA organized production without competition and trade without market prices. It even subsidized entire countries through distorted terms of exchange. Balkancar became a world champion because the government allowed only one player on the field. And with every forklift it made, Bulgaria became poorer, and socialism got closer to its demise.
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Alex Tokarev
Dr. Alex Tokarev is Associate Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Northwood University. He earned his Ph.D. in Economics from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and his undergraduate degree at the University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Kristin Tokarev
Kristin Tokarev is a graduate of Northwood University with a BBA in Economics and a Master of Science in Business Analytics. She is a faculty member at Founders Grove Classical Academy.
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Original text here: https://fee.org/articles/the-graveyard-of-eastern-european-socialism/
FFRF Insists Tenn. School District Must End Coach-led Prayer and Proselytizing
MADISON, Wisconsin, Sept. 18 -- The Freedom From Religion Foundation issued the following news release:
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September 17, 2026
FFRF insists Tenn. school district must end coach-led prayer and proselytizing
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is urging that the Robertson County Schools system in Tennessee put an immediate stop to coach-led prayer and religious proselytizing in its football program.
A concerned parent has reported to FFRF that football coaches at White House Heritage High School and Middle School regularly lead players in prayer, including recitations of the Lord's Prayer,
... Show Full Article
MADISON, Wisconsin, Sept. 18 -- The Freedom From Religion Foundation issued the following news release:
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September 17, 2026
FFRF insists Tenn. school district must end coach-led prayer and proselytizing
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is urging that the Robertson County Schools system in Tennessee put an immediate stop to coach-led prayer and religious proselytizing in its football program.
A concerned parent has reported to FFRF that football coaches at White House Heritage High School and Middle School regularly lead players in prayer, including recitations of the Lord's Prayer,at practices and before and after games. Some students reportedly fear that they could be penalized for refusing to participate and therefore feel compelled to recite the prayer against their conscience.
The parent also reports that the high school football coach has brought Christian speakers to official team events on a weekly basis and that coaches regularly encourage players to attend Fellowship of Christian Athletes meetings.
FFRF is urging the district to investigate this situation and ensure that coaches immediately stop proselytizing and leading football players in prayer and promoting participation in Christian religious activities.
"Student-athletes have the First Amendment right to be free from religious indoctrination when participating in their public school's athletics program," FFRF Patrick O'Reiley Legal Fellow Charlotte R. Gude writes to the school's legal counsel.
Here, the football coaches seem to have crossed the constitutional line by leading students in the Lord's Prayer while acting in their official capacities as school employees, bringing in outside adults to proselytize players, and promoting attendance at a Christian club. Student-athletes are especially susceptible to coercion, and the relationship between student-athletes and their coaches is inherently coercive. Students know that their coaches control their positions on the team, including who plays in each game.
When coaches lead students in prayer and direct or encourage them to pray or engage in other religious activities, student-athletes will no doubt feel that participating in that prayer is essential to pleasing their coach and being viewed as a team player. Students are unlikely to speak up against coach-led prayer and proselytizing even if they do not feel comfortable. It is unrealistic and unconstitutional to make student-athletes choose between allowing their constitutional rights to be violated to maintain good standing with their coach and peers or openly dissenting at the risk of retaliation. By allowing coaches to lead students in prayer and foist their personal religious beliefs onto student-athletes, the district needlessly marginalizes students among the 24 percent of Tennessee residents who are religiously unaffiliated, including the 43 percent of Generation Z members who are nonreligious.
To protect students' First Amendment rights, Robertson County Schools must investigate the situation and ensure that football coaches refrain from leading students in prayer and promoting religion.
"Public school coaches have enormous authority over their players, and they cannot use that authority to pressure students to pray or attend religious athletic clubs," says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. "There should be no 'pray to play' practices or other overstepping of the professional boundary between coaches and vulnerable public school students. Robertson County Schools must ensure that participation in athletics does not come with a religious test."
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The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to defending the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters relating to nontheism. With more than 40,000 members and several chapters across the country, including nearly 500 members and a chapter in Tennessee, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
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Original text here: https://ffrf.org/news/releases/ffrf-insists-tenn-school-district-must-end-coach-led-prayer-proselytizing/
[Category: Religion]
