Undergraduate senior Jaya Dayal receives the Barnhill Civic Trailblazer Award

November 27, 2024

Carolina undergraduate student Jaya Dayal was selected to receive an award for demonstrating innovation in civic engagement. The award is presented by North Carolina Campus Engagement, a statewide network of colleges and universities committed to preparing students for civic and social responsibility. Dayal is a recipient of the network’s John H. Barnhill Civic Trailblazer Award, which honors one student service leader in North Carolina from a member campus during their senior year. Dayal was honored during the virtual Engagement Matters Awards Ceremony on November 13. The award will also be presented in-person at the 2025 NC Campus Engagement Pace Conference and Presidents Forum.

Jaya Dayal

Dayal, a senior obtaining her Bachelor of Science in Public Health, has built a reputation as a dedicated service leader committed to building bridges and connecting across differences. During her time at Carolina, Dayal served as an AmeriCorps-City Year member, Global Gap Year Fellow, UNC Violence Prevention and Advocacy Services Volunteer & Peer Educator, Community Empowerment Fund Advocate, and NC Student Dialogue Ambassador. She also held multiple internship roles.

Dayal was foundational in the formation of the annual UNC Y Dialogue Series, which hosts a series of five dialogues on campus each semester about topics relevant to the Carolina community. She is also the Co-Founder of the UNC Democracy & Dialogue Fellows Program, a year-long initiative that empowers students to use dialogue as a tool to have challenging yet necessary conversations while developing civic skills. The program launched in fall 2024 and is housed and funded by the UNC Y.

When asked about her experience with the Democracy & Dialogue Fellows so far, Dayal shared her hope that the program will inspire people to “think more deeply about how we can be leaders in our space, and lead with listening, and make that a bigger part of the culture here.”

Sarah Smith, assistant director of the UNC Y and Co-Founder of the Democracy & Dialogue Fellows program, who nominated Jaya for the award said, “During Jaya’s sophomore year, she and I spent many hours discussing our concern over how polarized our campus was becoming…Instead of putting her head in the sand, or even disengaging altogether, Jaya decided she wanted to do her part to help counteract this narrative and fight for the space that gave her a home at UNC-Chapel Hill.” She went on to say, “Jaya is truly an exceptional young woman. I have worked in higher education for well over 10 years and have not worked with someone as passionate about civic engagement and as dedicated as Jaya.”

The Barnhill Award included a $100 donation made in Dayal’s name to the Community Empowerment Fund in Chapel Hill, as well as a $100 award to Dayal.

North Carolina Campus Engagement is a collaborative network of colleges and universities committed to educating students for civic and social responsibility, partnering with communities for positive change, and strengthening democracy. Learn more at www.nccampusengagement.org.

Contact the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health communications team at sphcomm@unc.edu.