Columbia Hispanic Pre-Law Review (HPLR) Announces Winner of 2025 High School Essay Competition
Columbia University, Low Library.
NEW YORK, Sep. 26, 2025 – The Columbia Hispanic Pre-Law Review (HPLR) is an undergraduate publication dedicated to publishing legal scholarship. Today, HPLR announced the winner of its 2025 High School Essay Competition: Sanvi Das of Clarksburg High School. Sanvi will receive a monetary prize and a feature on HPLR’s online platform.
With a record number of applications this year, the competition recognizes high school students who demonstrate rigorous, original, and compelling writing. Each year, participants are invited to respond to a prompt by developing an argument, providing supporting evidence, and reaching a coherent conclusion.
This year’s prompt asked:
“The Immigrant Question: ‘Mr. Speaker, our Nation depends on immigrants' labor, and I hope we can create an immigration system as dependable as they are’ (U.S. Representative Luis Gutierrez, 2005). To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement? What are the policies or legal mechanisms that explain your positioning?”
HPLR’s Editorial Board evaluated all submissions using a scoring rubric. The average score across reviewers identified Sanvi Das as the 2025 winner.
“Sanvi’s essay opens new avenues for thinking about the future of immigration and leaves the reader with one important question: What does it mean to live the American life as an immigrant?” said José Caballero, HPLR Co-Editor-in-Chief.
“The immigrant question is not only a legal or political matter but also one that is deeply tied to the safety and well-being of the communities we represent – and those we continue to build,” added Mariley Melo, HPLR Co-Editor-in-Chief. “It is also our greater aim to push back against censorship, as the pencil is the greatest tool and reading is our most powerful weapon.”
“As broad as it may sound, today’s immigrant question traces back to centuries of debate on the ideal citizen and the epistemologies of citizenship,” José continued.
Sanvi’s winning essay is now published on the HPLR online platform.