Features

Honors College Graduate Makes a Difference Through Commitment to Social Justice

Mansi Shah’s (HC/DRC/SAS ’20)
Mansi speaking during the Anita Datar Lecture on Women's Global Health
Mansi presenting during Rutgers Figs seminar

Mansi Shah’s home in New Jersey is only about 20 miles from Rikers Island. While the distance between a New Jersey suburb and New York City’s main jail complex might seem insurmountable, the Rutgers Honor College graduating senior has devoted much of her time bridging the gap between her experience as a high-achieving honors student and the lives of the incarcerated.

Rutgers' Second Ertegun Scholar Goes Medieval

Jonas Tai (SAS/HC 20') is among an exclusive group of scholars worldwide to be accepted into what is formally known as the Mica and Ahmet Ertegun Graduate Scholarship Programme in the Humanities.
Tai, pictured in the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, will continue his research, which focuses on historical changes that have faced generations at Oxford.

When COVID-19 caused universities nationwide to shift the spring semester online and send most students living in on-campus housing home for the semester, School of Arts and Sciences senior Jonas Tai packed up his apartment at The Yard on College Avenue and got on a plane to Hong Kong, fairly certain that he had just said goodbye to New Jersey and life at Rutgers as he knew it.

But Tai, who majored in classics, ancient history and medieval studies and will graduate this month with a bachelor of arts degree, has big plans for the next steps in his academic career.  

Rutgers’ 2020 Goldwater Scholars Study Big Ideas on the Small Scale

Tanvi and Noah - Goldwater Scholars 2020
Tanvi Banota presents her research at a conference. Photo courtesy of Tanvi Banota.
Noah Paladino, a Rutgers 2020 Goldwater Scholar. Photo courtesy of Noah Paladino.

Using particle physics to gain a better understanding of the underlying principles of the universe. Researching inflammatory responses in the immune system. As disparate as these ideas seem, they are connected – at least for a moment – by two Honors College researchers at Rutgers University-New Brunswick with an achievement in common. 

Ritwik Baksi: Why I Give

Ritwik Baksi
Ritwik as a tutor for elementary school children
Senior Ritwik Baksi has spent the last several years making a difference in the lives of others at the HC, Rutgers, and in New Brunswick: "Each time a student engages with the community, we add building blocks to that connection... Service has changed me for the better in countless ways—some of which I haven't fully understood yet." Through service and sustained mentorship, Ritwik has shared his gifts with the HC and beyond.

Congratulations to the Fifth Annual Honors College Changemaker Award Recipients

Assata & Wamia - Honors College Changemaker Award Recipients
Assata (‘21, SAS/HC)
Wamia (‘21 SEBS/HC/DRC)
Each year, the Honors College recognizes students who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to service—an integral part of our mission. Please join us in congratulating and thanking this year’s outstanding Changemaker Award recipients, who have served in their communities in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and beyond—Assata Davis (L) and Wamia Siddiqui.

Congratulations to the Winners of the Spring 2020 Forum Pitch Competition!

Forum Spring 2020 Competition
This spring, our students once again demonstrated Curiosity,  Knowledge,  and Purpose as they collaborated in small interdisciplinary teams to create sustainable business and service concepts to address specific local challenges in communities near and far. Congratulations to all of the teams who presented before a panel of judges from business and academia and to our winners from this spring’s Forum Competition!  

Pruning: Grapevines & Life

Student inspecting grapes in a vineyard.
Resilience in the Age of COVID-19, an HC Series. For Jake Rattigan, the disappointments that came one after another over these last several months led him to explore an unexpected and fulfilling summer working in a vineyard. He says, "...I knew that I needed to reflect on what I wanted—and what I needed—to move forward." The vineyard provided him a crucial opportunity to reconnect with nature and reflect on life.

Strengthening Face-to-Face Connections Online During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Strengthening Connections Image

While social isolation and physical distancing during the global COVID-19 pandemic is keeping us physically separated from friends and loved ones, technology is keeping us more connected than ever before, says Mary Chayko , a sociologist, interdisciplinary teaching professor and director of the Digital Communication, Information and Media, and Gender and Media programs at the Rutgers School of Communication and Information.