VCU news

By Justin Hurdle
VCU Communications and Public Relations

Sainath Iyer, a senior Virginia Commonwealth University mass communications, international relations and religious studies major, is spending this semester at the White House.

Iyer is interning in the White House Office of Management and Administration, which offers administrative support for the President, the Executive Office of the President and the White House Internship Program. His responsibilities include managerial tasks such as memo writing, data input and scheduling.

Iyer says he is taking advantage of the opportunity to learn more about policy reform, something that particularly interests him. He hopes to contribute to the reformation of education policies, especially in low-income, inner-city communities.

“In a real sense, education is the crux of social policy in general,” said Iyer. “That’s why I’d like to be part of the social policy world.”

Iyer credits his time at VCU for preparing him for his current responsibilities.

“I have never grown and learned as much in such a relatively short period of time as I have at VCU,” he said. “I would not substitute that experience for anything.”

Iyer plans to return to VCU for the upcoming spring semester, and will graduate in May 2012.