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St. Clair Family

Speech & Debate Award

Conceived of in 2006 and first awarded in the 2007-2008 academic year, the St. Clair Family has presented this scholarship to graduating seniors at Bridgewater-Raritan High School in New Jersey who have set themselves apart academically and as active leaders on the debate team. A list of recipients and statistics can be found below.

 

Of the nearly 20 recipients:

 

• Approximately 30% have been women

 

•75% have been from 1st-generation immigrant or ethnic minority backgrounds

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•Recipients have received 9 post-graduate advanced degrees and 1 Fulbright Award

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Recipients have earned Undergraduate and Advanced Degrees from the following universities and programs:

 

• Stanford

• Harvard

• Drexel

• Hunter

• UPitt

• MIT

• NYU

• Yale

• McGill

• Emory

• Georgetown

• UPenn, Wharton

• UMich Law School

•Columbia/Sciences Po, Dual Degree

•TCNJ/Rutgers, New Jersey Medical School, 7-Year BA/MD Program

1. 2007-2008 — Mr. Abhinav Jain

  • MIT, undergrad (2012)

  • UPenn Wharton, MBA (2019) 

  • Investment banking and private equity 

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2. 2008-2009 — Mr. Abhishek Yeleswarapu & Dr. (Mr.) Paras Minhas

 

Abhishek 

  • Drexel, undergrad (debated at UPenn, 2014) 

  • Clinical product management career

  • Professor at Drexel 

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Paras 

  • The University of Pittsburgh, undergrad (2013)

  • Stanford University, M.D./Ph.D. (M.D. earned, 2017, still working towards Ph.D.)

  • Has held various prestigious research fellowships, started non-profit 

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3. 2009-2010 — Ms. Martha O'Donovan

  • NYU Gallatin School, undergrad (2014) 

  • Received a Fulbright Fellowship in Zimbabwe 

  • Arrested as an activist in Zimbabwe in 2017 for tweeting against Robert Mugabe, she was held in a state of legal limbo until January 2018. 

4) 2010-2011 — Mr. Kevin Sun & Dr. (Mr.) Prashanth Palvannan

 

Kevin

  • BRHS Class Valedictorian 

  • Harvard University, undergrad (2015)  

  • Private equity and Investment Banking Career

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Prashanth

  • TCNJ, undergrad (2015)

  • Rutgers, MPH (2016)

  • Rutgers, NJ Medical School, M.D. (2018)

  • General Surgery Resident at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital 

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5) 2011-2012 — Ms. Esther Vinarov & Ms. Mariah Xu 

 

Mariah

  • Yale University, undergrad (2016) 

  • Hunter College, Master’s Degree, Clinical Psychology (2020) 

  • Researcher & Graphic Designer

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Esther

  • McGill University, undergrad (2016)

  • The University of Michigan, J.D. (2021) 

  • Attorney 

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6) 2012-2013 — Mr. Jonathan Chylinksi

  • Emory University, undergrad (2017) 

  • Substantial Volunteer Activities 

  • Accounting & Management Consultant 

7) 2013-2014 — Ms. Gina Kim 

  • Georgetown University, undergrad (2018)

  • Published Author

  • Human Resources

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8) 2014-2015 — Ms. Grace Chen

  • Harvard, undergrad (2019) 

  • Harvard, Master’s Degree, Statistics (2019)

  • Private Equity & Investing 

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9) 2015-2016 — Mr. Sahaj Garg

  • Stanford University, undergrad (2020) 

  • AI & Software Engineer 

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10) 2016-2017 — Mr. Ryan Jin

  • TCNJ (2021)

  • Rutgers NJ Medical School (2024)

  • Public Health Researcher 

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11) 2017-2018 — Mr. Raj Koshal 

  • Columbia University (2022) & Sciences Po (2020), undergrad dual-degree program 

  • Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Crossfire

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12) 2018-2019 — Mr. Julian Melendi 

  • Yale University, undergrad (2023) 

  • Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Crossfire

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13) 2019-2020 — Mr. Darpan Chahal 

  • Recent BRHS Graduate (2020) 

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14) 2020-2021 — TBD

  • Will be awarded in June, 2021 

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Neil St. Clair - Contact

N.B. Regarding certain quotations used on this site: I recognize the modern controversy following some of the quoted figures. I further recognize the potentially harmful beliefs these figures held in their time. In quoting them, it is not my intention to glorify or demonize. Rather, I cite their discrete thoughts, which represent a moment of interesting thinking, as separate from their total biography.

© Neil St. Clair, 2020-2025

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