Volunteer of the Week: Nirmala Jayaraman '13

Publication Date

By: Maura Driscoll '15

Nirmala Jayaraman '13 is the Kenney Community Center’s Volunteer of the Week.

For the past three years, Jayaraman has been a member of Wells House, the community service theme house, and has been involved in various volunteer events, such as the annual UCARE Day carnival for local children.

An active volunteer with the Junior Science program for local elementary school students, she has helped plan and run experiments to encourage an interest in science. She is also a member of Safe Space, a student group that provides support to survivors of sexual assault.

While at Union, Jayaraman has also had an interest in the stories of post-war survivors, and invited both Takaaki Morikawa, a Hiroshima survivor, and Le Ly Hayslip, a Vietnam War survivor, to lead a discussion for the campus community to raise awareness about fostering peace and education outreach.

From Niskayuna, NY, she is an anthropology major currently enrolled in the Anthropology of Poverty course, through which she volunteers six hours a week at the Salvation Army.