Constitution Day Essay Contest winners revealed
By Indiana Nash
ALBANY, N.Y. (Dec. 12, 2025) — The Preamble of the Constitution could use an update, according to Giovanna Vianna Esko, a University at Albany senior and one of the three winners of the 2025 Constitution Day Essay Contest.
“The original Preamble painted a picture of unity and freedom, but that vision was limited,” Esko wrote. “It excluded women, enslaved people, Indigenous nations, and the poor. Still, those 52 words set a foundation for something new: a democratic experiment that, over time, has slowly tried to become more inclusive. Nearly 250 years later, we keep both its promise and its unfinished business.”
She went on to propose a version that defines “we the people,” and includes phrasing on protecting the planet, advancing equity and defending human rights.
Organized by the UAlbany Division of Student Affairs & Enrollment and Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy, the essay contest has been running as part of the university’s Constitution Day celebrations for several years. This year’s prompt asked students if they would change the Preamble if they were writing it today.
A senior biology student from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Esko was inspired by her mother-in-law, who is a history teacher, to write the essay. When she saw the prompt and the contest on MyInvolvement calendar, she thought “I definitely want to be part of it.”
She ultimately took first place for her essay. Avikshith Macha, a freshman criminal justice student from India, took second place and Evan Banaszewski, a senior from Ballston Lake majoring in history, with a minor in political science, took third.
Macha’s essay focused on updating the language to be more inclusive and committed to social and economic justice, as well as stewardship of the environment and democratic resilience.
“These changes would not displace the original Preamble’s spirit. Rather, they would expand its moral compass so that aspirations, justice, peace, defense, welfare, and liberty are grounded in explicit obligations,” Macha wrote.
Banaszewski took a different approach, viewing the Preamble’s abstractness and broadness as a strength.
“The Preamble is not a set of laws which govern America, but rather the aspirations of what Americans should strive to be. It is a compass, not a rulebook, and is not in need of rewriting,” Banaszewski wrote.
Each student received a monetary award, funded by the Rockefeller College Prof. Harold W. Adams Student Experience Fund, which was endowed by Tim Murphy, an alumnus of the college.