Sophomore named Prudential Emerging Visionary

Saawan Duvvvuri ’26 earned the award, a cash prize, and coaching from a Fortune Global 500 and Fortune 500 financial company for his commitment to empowering students worldwide to advocate for inclusive curriculum in their schools.
By Ian Dinkins, Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications 

When Saawan Duvvuri ’26 started his education journey in Texas, he was often the only person of color in his class, he said, leading to not only feeling singled out but also upset about the lack of diversity in his class assignments and readings.

While Saawan’s classes read the classics like “The Odyssey or Antigone,” it wasn’t until he picked up a dystopian thriller called “Internment” that he said he saw a character that he could relate to and that spoke to some of the challenges that he faced as a person of color. 

Thinking that this is the kind of book classmates should read to better understand the world, Saawan decided to start LiteratureDiversified, a nonprofit advocating for equity by diversifying educational curricula and working to solve America’s racial disparities in education. 

“I noticed these racial and cultural gaps widen amongst students as we learned English and History from a Eurocentric perspective. I talked to my colored peers about the issues I saw in our education, and they voiced the same frustrations I felt with our curriculum," said Saawan. "As I flipped through the pages of ‘Internment’ and realized what the future could look like, I began to craft the idea of LiteratureDiversified.”

Since starting the nonprofit in 2023, LiteratureDiversified has connected 76 student advocates across 23 states and five countries with various racial and gender identities to advance educational equity. While the mission started with Saawan looking to change his previous school’s curricula, the mission has inspired teen activists worldwide to start chapters of LiteratureDiversified in their communities, where they develop solutions to foster more inclusive classroom environments for colored & LGBTQ+ students based on the student body at each school. 

LiteratureDiversified’s success led Saawan to be named a Prudential Emerging Visionary winner. As part of the recognition, Saawan will receive a $5,000 award to help take his nonprofit to the next level and an all-expenses-paid trip to Prudential’s headquarters in Newark, New Jersey, where Prudential employees will coach him and have the chance to meet other young leaders.

“Not only am I proud of Saawan for this achievement, but I’m excited to have students like him who are interested in the curriculum," said HS English Department Chair Freya Sachs ’00. "I’m looking forward to learning more about what he’s doing and where it overlaps with what USN is doing in terms of making sure students feel reflected in the stories they’re reading.”

Back

School News

List of 3 news stories.

  • University School of Nashville students Eleanor Mixon '27 and Dylan Omary '27 voted first the first time on Thursday, October 29, 2026 at the Scarritt Bennett.

    Seniors take field trip to cast first ballot

    All 40 eligible University School of Nashville students in the Class of 2037 registered to vote ahead of the voter registration deadline, and Eleanor Mixon '27 and Dylan Omary '27 walked across the street from USN to the Scarritt Bennett Center to cast their first ballots on the final day of early voting.
    Read More

  • The ballot box and beyond: USN Seniors civically engaged

    Students in High School History Teacher Cameron Parsons' Advanced Topics: American Government and Politics Class have been working diligently on civic engagement projects that required them to participate in the democratic process.
    Read More

  • An evening of erudition: 22 seniors enter Cum Laude Society

    Congratulations to the Class of 2027 inductees of the USN Cum Laude Society: Jack Barrett, Charlie Blau, Alder Brandon, Olivia Brown, Elisabeth Crane, Alexandra Drewry, Lucia Gellert, Melis Kurtulus, Abigail Manoukian, Lily Margalit, Eleanor Mixon, Louisa Nordberg, Mia Orefice, Karsen Puzniak, Ruchika Ramachandran, Jacqueline Seale, Elliott Spiller, Laine Theobald, Alexander Truss, Yifan Wang, Madeleine Wiseman, and Julia Young.
    Read More
Archive

Athletics News

List of 3 news stories.

  • Mountain Bike Team Takes on “Electric" State Champs Trails, Dehner Snags Overall Podium Medal

    Steve Smail & MTB Team Coaches
    With trail names like Megawatt, Electric Avenue, High Voltage and Livewire, the mountain bike team knew it was time to pedal out some extra watts for their NICA/TICL State Championships at Raccoon Mountain, and survive the technical trails above Chattanooga full of boulder gardens, rock drops and sandy rubble.
    Read More

  • Mountain Bike Team Takes on Winged Deer Trails, HS Makes Podium Appearance

    Steve Smail
    Winged Deer Park and trails in Johnson City hosted our 4th race on Sunday October 11th, and despite a bit of hurricane outwash winds and showers - and reduced team numbers due to fall break and distance from Nashville - our racers utilized all available skills and speed which helped “wing" Sophomore Claire Dehner to a 4th place podium spot, our first podium appearance and medal for the season.
     
    Read More

  • HS athletics recaps for September 11-17

    Tiger golfers have officially qualified for the region tournament, and our other teams are not far behind. Volleyball sits near the top of the district, finishing up regular season play next week with Senior Night. Girls soccer continues to hold first place in the district after another 9-0 win, and our cross country runners are chasing after some school records. To round it all out, our mountain bike team traveled to Oakfield to continue to improve on their times for the season. There’s plenty more where that came from- so be sure to come out to the River Campus, Sperling Gym, or out on the road to cheer on our Tigers before their seasons end.
    Read More

Contact

Edgehill Campus
2000 Edgehill Ave.
Nashville, TN 37212

Phone:  615-321-8000
Fax:       615-321-0889 
Email:    info@usn.org

River Campus
1200 County Hospital Road
Nashville, TN 37218

Resources

USN Mission: 
University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.