SCHOLARSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT
CONTACT: Lisa Ridge, NJHN President. Phone: 732-425-5233
NJHN Awards 2025 Secular Student Scholarship
(12/13/25) – A biochemistry major at Stockton University with a strong interest in gender equality and health education has been awarded the New Jersey Humanist Network’s annual secular student scholarship.
Shreya Gautam, 20, is from Kathmandu, Nepal, and came to the U.S. to pursue her higher education studies. Motivated by inequities she witnessed in her community, she hopes to advance women’s reproductive health through research, advocacy, and accessible solutions.
NJHN awarded the $1,000 scholarship in cooperation with the Secular Student Alliance, which honors students focused on building welcoming and inclusive communities and promoting strong secular values.
Shreya began to question religious authority and traditions after seeing how patriarchal religious practices in her country led to gender inequality. She saw girls being denied opportunities, religious restrictions around menstruation, and missionary groups exploiting vulnerable families.
Her experiences growing up motivated her to become an advocate for women, queer individuals, and others harmed by religious systems. In Nepal, she worked to support victims of abuse tied to religious beliefs. At Stockton, she is collaborating with the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Center and wants to continue to build secular approaches to health and equity.
For Shreya, secularism is a framework for authenticity, empathy, and fairness, guiding her studies and her activism.
“Secularism has given me a clarity of all my thoughts. It has given me peace and purpose to advocate for people who are not as privileged as me,” Shreya said.
This year, she will be working with the Peer Education program of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators to design workshops on women’s health, hygiene, mental health, and reproductive rights.
Shreya said she is grateful for the NJHN scholarship. “It’s frustrating knowing I have the passion and qualifications and courage to achieve my dreams but financial responsibilities keep getting in the way,” she said, adding that the scholarship will “ease the burden, help me focus on my education, and give me the chance to experience things and make a difference.”
Lisa Ridge, NJHN president, said the organization “is pleased to support a student leader who is working to promote social justice, fight for marginalized communities, and build a better world through activism.”
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Founded in 1994, NJHN is a secular humanist community that embraces a nontheistic philosophy emphasizing human reason, ethics, and social justice. We are committed to the application of reason and science to the understanding of the universe and to the solving of problems through our compassion, common experience, and civic engagement. Learn more at https://njhn.org/.