RFH GSA Club Awarded in Statewide Anti-Bias Competition

Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School’s (RFH) Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA) club has been awarded third place in this year’s statewide No Hate in the Garden State Youth Competition.

Organized by the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (DCR) in partnership with the Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ), the initiative is part of the Office of the Attorney General’s broader No Hate in the Garden State public awareness campaign to eliminate bias, discrimination, and hate across New Jersey.

This year’s competition featured 28 student groups comprising 179 middle and high school students from across the state, all presenting creative solutions and advocacy projects aimed at confronting the bias they witness or experience within their communities. Results were announced last month.

Under the guidance of club advisors Thomas January and Alexa James, the RFH GSA club engineered a comprehensive statewide digital platform called NJ GSA Union, designed to connect LGBTQ+ student organizations and foster statewide mentorship, communication, and resource-sharing. The website features public access pages with event calendars, news updates, initiative highlights, and registration portals, as well as secure, members-only spaces for peer tutoring, networking, and inter-club collaboration. To provide robust support for students, the platform integrates trusted educational and mental health materials from leading national organizations, including GLSEN, PFLAG, and The Trevor Project.

This recognition marks the second consecutive year that RFH students have placed in the top three of the Attorney General’s anti-bias youth competition. In 2025, the club earned honors for their Student Oral History Archive, a collection of interviews and stories from group members past and present, providing advice and guidance for future students.

— Edited press release from RFH