SLS 23RS-1448 ORIGINAL
2023 Regular Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 87
BY SENATOR PEACOCK
COMMENDATIONS. Commends Raj Letchuman on winning the Louisiana Student of the
Year award.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To commend Raj Letchuman on winning the Louisiana Student of the Year award.
3 WHEREAS, Raj Letchuman is the son of Santhi and Rama Letchuman and a senior
4 at Caddo Parish Magnet High School; and
5 WHEREAS, Raj Letchuman earned a perfect score on the ACT and is an avid
6 science enthusiast; and
7 WHEREAS, not only does Raj Letchuman excel in the classroom, Raj also serves
8 his community through tutoring and volunteering. Raj also frequently volunteers at the
9 rescue mission where he serves lunch and dinner to the homeless; and
10 WHEREAS, Raj Letchuman also tutors students in a wide variety of topics ranging
11 from math to English and preparation for standardized tests, including the ACT and PSAT;
12 and
13 WHEREAS, as the communications chair of the teen advisory committee for the
14 Community Foundation of North Louisiana, Raj Letchuman works with high school students
15 from across Caddo Parish to advise community leaders on how to allocate time and money
16 to improve mental health in Caddo Parish schools; and
17 WHEREAS, Raj Letchuman is a member of the Caddo Parish Magnet High School
18 mock trial team, acting as both an attorney and coach, in conjunction with serving as a
Page 1 of 3 SR NO. 87
SLS 23RS-1448 ORIGINAL
1 defense attorney for the teen court program via the juvenile diversion program of the Caddo
2 Parish District Attorney's Office; and
3 WHEREAS, Raj Letchuman also competed as an attorney at the National High
4 School Mock Trial Championship and competed at the National Science Bowl; and
5 WHEREAS, Raj Letchuman is the president of the astronomy club and the world
6 languages club in addition to being a Caddo Parish Magnet High School student ambassador;
7 and
8 WHEREAS, Raj Letchuman is a member of the Caddo Parish Magnet High School
9 Key Club and National Honor Society; and
10 WHEREAS, among Raj Letchuman's numerous extracurricular activities, his
11 favorites include participating in state science bowls, learning new computer programming
12 languages, conducting independent biomedical research, and competing in biology
13 olympiads throughout the state; and
14 WHEREAS, Raj Letchuman participated in the following academic competitions:
15 first place in chemistry for the Caddo Magnet Science Fair and the regional Louisiana
16 science fair, first place in the exhibit category for regional national history day, first place
17 at the Louisiana State Mock Trial competition, first place at the Louisiana State Science
18 Bowl, first place in computational biology at school, regional, and state fairs, and first place
19 in biomedical and health sciences at the Louisiana State Science Fair; and
20 WHEREAS, Raj Letchuman placed second in chemistry for the Louisiana State
21 Science Fair and second in the exhibit category for Louisiana State National History Day
22 competition; and
23 WHEREAS, Raj Letchuman placed third overall at the Louisiana State Junior
24 Science and Humanities Symposium and earned a one thousand dollar award for his
25 achievement; and
26 WHEREAS, Raj Letchuman served as the attorney general for Louisiana Boys State
27 in 2022 and as one of two Louisiana senators for Boys Nation 2022; and
28 WHEREAS, Raj Letchuman recently collaborated with Dr. Elahe Mahdavian, a
29 biochemistry professor at LSU Shreveport and Raj's research mentor, for his research project
30 entitled, Identifying Promising Drug Candidates Against SARS-CoV-2 Using Computational
Page 2 of 3 SR NO. 87
SLS 23RS-1448 ORIGINAL
1 Drug Repurposing Methodology; and
2 WHEREAS, Raj Letchuman has also published a research project entitled, Targeting
3 CaSR-GSH Interaction with Quinazolinone-Based Derivatives to Inhibit Angiogenesis; and
4 WHEREAS, through his diligent study and hard work, Raj Letchuman recently
5 qualified for the International Science and Engineering Fair in Dallas, Texas, to be held
6 May 14 – 19, 2023; and
7 WHEREAS, Raj Letchuman is one step closer to achieving his dream of becoming
8 an astronaut after earning a prestigious internship with NASA for the summer of 2023; and
9 WHEREAS, Raj Letchuman plans to continue his education this fall at Yale
10 University.
11 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
12 does hereby commend Raj Letchuman on winning the Louisiana Student of the Year award.
13 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
14 Raj Letchuman.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Nicholas Davison.
DIGEST
SR 87 Original 2023 Regular Session Peacock
Commends Raj Letchuman on winning the Louisiana Student of the Year award.
Page 3 of 3