Gatlinburg, Tenn., Student Wins American Legion Oratoricals

Earns $25K Scholarship, National Championship

HILLSDALE, Mich., May 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A high school senior from Gatlinburg, Tenn., capped a busy weekend of competition by earning a $25,000 college scholarship and first place in The American Legion High School Oratorical Scholarship Program – "A Constitutional Speech Contest." Gina Raj Harjani's winning prepared oration was titled "The Constitution in the Digital Age."

Harjani started the weekend as one of 50 state or department champions in the 86th annual contest. She advanced to the championship through three rounds of intense competition. She was sponsored by American Legion Post 202 in Gatlinburg.

Mary Payton Crosby, a home-schooled junior from Burlington, Wash., earned a $22,500 college scholarship with a second-place finish, while Elena May Andrews, a 12^th grader from Beresford, S.D., earned $20,000 and third place in the competition. The scholarships account for a small portion of post-secondary scholarships that The American Legion, the nation's largest veterans organization, awards annually.

In her prepared oration, Harjani said that while social media postings are protected by the Constitution, "opaque algorithms" decide which voices get heard.

"The founders may not have foreseen the Internet, but they understood a universal truth: threats to liberty remain constant, even as their forms evolve," she said. "Our U.S. Constitution is not an artifact of history. It is a living, breathing document that guides us through current challenges."

In each round of the weekend competition, orators delivered a rehearsed 8- to 10-minute address and a randomly assigned 3- to 5-minute oration on a constitutional topic, each without the benefit of notes and in front of a live audience, including the judges. The 1.5-million-member American Legion developed the contest to encourage young people to improve their communications skills and to study the U.S. Constitution. The American Legion awarded more than $8 million in youth scholarships at the post, state and national levels in 2024.

Media Contact:  John Raughter (317) 630-1350, [email protected].

SOURCE The American Legion