2025 American Legion National Oratorical Contest Champion Gina Harjani

Gina Harjani of Gatlinburg, Tenn., won the 2025 American Legion National Oratorical Contest at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Mich., receiving a $25,000 scholarship. A senior at Gatlinburg Pittman High School, Harjani, will be attending Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., this fall to communications of science technology. Harjani’s winning speech, “The Constitution in the Digital Age,” focused on privacy and the Constitutional rights of freedoms online in a time of algorithms and artificial intelligence. “The reality is, every time we click ‘Accept’ without considering the consequences, we might be surrendering rights that people have fought and died to protect. Every time we share something online, we are shaping the future of free speech. And every time we disregard privacy settings, we are undermining the protections that previous generations worked to preserve. Here's the truth: when we enter the digital world, we do not, and we must not, forfeit our constitutional rights.” Watch her full prepared oration: https://youtu.be/wLD47mulf4g