Harrison Student One of Just Twenty Nationwide Selected for Prestigious Civics Fellowship
A Harrison High School student will participate in a highly competitive civic education and leadership development program after earning a 2026 Bill of Rights Institute Student Fellowship.
Atharv Gandhi, a resident of Harrison, was one of just twenty students from across the United States selected to join the Student Fellowship program, an elite six-month educational opportunity that helps high school students develop as leaders and learn skills necessary for building civil society.
The Bill of Rights Institute is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that develops market-leading civics and history resources and programs for teachers and students nationwide.
Through the Institute’s Student Fellowship program, Gandhi will participate in dialogue around primary sources, create civic engagement projects, meet with civic leaders, and co-design a week-long capstone experience in Philadelphia.
Previous Student Fellows have met with members of Congress, toured some of the most important historic sites in the nation’s capital, and even started their own civic initiatives in their local communities.
“At the Bill of Rights Institute, we equip students to become principled, productive citizens,” Bill of Rights Institute President and CEO David Bobb said. “Our Student Fellowship Program provides some of our most gifted young people an opportunity to explore our nation’s principles and civic virtues and gain the skills to positively shape its future.”
The 2026 Student Fellows were selected through a competitive national process that included being nominated by educators and composing essays that explored topics about leadership and how to be a good citizen.
Rachel Davison Humphries, the Bill of Rights Institute’s Senior Director of Civic Learning, and a former classroom teacher, said she is looking forward to providing a rich educational experience to this year’s Fellows.
“Each year, our Student Fellows bring their own backgrounds, beliefs and eagerness to learn about citizenship and leadership together,” she said. “I’m looking forward to this year’s Fellows showing the same commitment to collaboration and civil discourse that represents the best of the Fellowship and of civic life in America.”
The Bill of Rights Institute is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that teaches civics and history through market-leading curricula and educational programs for teachers and students. To learn more about the Bill of Rights Institute, visit www.mybri.org.