The Secular Student Association has announced its 2026 scholarship awards .  EHST sponsored an award this year, and the recipient is Nav.   Nav is an activist and college student at Appalachian State University in North Carolina with a passion for journalism, religious hegemony, and cultural preservation. His activism focuses on political and social liberation, and he’s working toward creating change in his community by volunteering for non-profit food markets, filming videos for an abortion rights group in Boone, and creating content that explores the intersections of religion and politics in America. 

Nav’s secular identity is rooted in his Tamil–Hindu identity that has encouraged him to learn about religion with a curious and accepting mind, while rejecting extreme dogma and prejudice. He is inspired by the Tamil secular activists of the Self Respect Movement that spread secular ideologies throughout Tamil Nadu.

As a Second–Generation American, he has seen firsthand the obstacles that immigrants face. He hopes to create content that sheds light on the hardships, traditions, and rituals of immigrant communities. Nav has also earned an Honorable Mention in the NPR Student Podcast Challenge by investigating a Charlotte church’s ties to American political figures and right–wing Christian nationalism. 

He is currently working with AppTV to build awareness of Christian nationalist movements and how politics affects practitioners of folk religion and diasporic religious communities in Appalachia. Nav hopes to create more work that investigates politics and to utilize his secular identity in pursuit of deeper connection with his subjects.