The Honors College Changemaker Award is an annual scholarship established to recognize students who have demonstrated exceptional awareness and commitment to service, an integral part of our mission. Please join us in congratulating this year’s outstanding Changemaker Award recipients who have served in their communities in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and beyond:
April Nicklaus
April ('19, SEBS/HC/DRC), above left, has made an extraordinary impact already during her time here at Rutgers. This spring, she chaired the steering committee for the first Rutgers Grassroots Organizing Conference, a training and networking event attended by more than 60 student, community, and professional advocacy organizations. She also helped found and implement the Open and Affordable Textbooks Project (OATS), a program led jointly by NJ Public Interest Research Group (NJPIRG) Students and the Rutgers Libraries, which provides grants to Rutgers faculty and staff to switch to using open licensed textbooks; with just $32,000 of grants this cycle, OATS is saving students $1.6 million in its first year alone. April has begun to serve on the City of New Brunswick's Green Team to review and recommend sustainability initiatives, and has worked with the mayor's office to analyze municipal solar policies and coordinate last year's Solar Summit, which drew more than 100 community members, students, and solar industry representatives. During April's tenure as chair of the State Board of Directors for NJPIRG Students, the organization and its national coalition have been victorious in their public health campaign to get KFC to stop purchasing chicken raised with the routine overuse of antibiotics.
"Being honored with the Changemaker Award has caused me to reflect on how much I have accomplished and flourished at Rutgers," said April. "I wholeheartedly thank all whom I have had the opportunity to work with—the staff at the Honors College for the support I need to become a true Changemaker, the City of New Brunswick for the experience of working with local government, and the organizers at NJPIRG for the opportunity to address significant issues in our community."
Sarah Pomeranz
In just her first year at Rutgers, Sarah ('20, RBS/HC/DRC) has already served in a number of ways, from an Alternative Break Service Trip to Guatemala this spring to learn about the struggles of coffee farmers, to a range of HC service events throughout the year and participation in organizations such as the Honors College Student Advisory Board (HCSAB), Residence Hall Association, First-Year Fellowship leadership program, Rutgers Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance through activist theater, and others. Her service in the area of social innovation and social justice advocacy is especially commendable. She is a member of the steering committee for the Rutgers Grassroots Organizing Conference, a new forum organized by NJPIRG, the Douglass Women's Center Coalition, and the HCSAB, to provide a nonpartisan atmosphere for organizations to participate in skills workshops and collaborative discussions. She has won awards in several social innovation pitch competitions, including the Hult Prize Challenge at Rutgers University, which recognizes students whose ideas tackle global challenges through innovation and sustainable start-up enterprises. Sarah's team won for "Pangea," a crowd-sourcing platform concept for refugees that would allow for more accessible and transparent philanthropy.
"I am incredibly honored to be receiving the Honors College Changemaker Award," said Sarah. "This award means the world to me specifically because of how much I cherish being a part of this incredible community, institution, and state. The few ways I have been able to give back are immeasurably smaller than all that I have gained from my time at Rutgers."