Features

For Ezekiel Medina (’20, SAS/Bloustein/HC), the power of community is at the heart of all he’s experienced in college. A double major in public health and Latino and Caribbean studies, Ezekiel has fostered student wellness and cultural connections, all while promoting awareness of social justice issues with a focus on equitable healthcare and education systems for vulnerable populations. Recently named a Fulbright Scholar, Ezekiel will be an English teaching assistant at a university in Argentina after graduation.

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.

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.  

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. 

“It is a career highlight, for sure, and I look forward to another exciting year.”