Features

When Rachel Toepfer is playing in the fantasy realm of Dungeons & Dragons, they tend to play the role of a paladin, a holy knight who fights for a cause. 

In the real world, the Rutgers University-New Brunswick senior has taken up an advocacy role, too, advancing the cause for LGBTQ+ rights.  

Toepfer, who identifies as nonbinary, attends the School of Arts and Sciences and is majoring in political science with a minor in women’s gender studies. 

Mariana Diaz is dedicated to expanding and connecting the intersections of life, culture, economics, trade, tourism, and relations between Mexico and New Jersey. Building upon her long and distinguished career in Mexico´s Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores (Mexico´s Ministry of Foreign Affairs), she is now the Head Consul of Mexico in New Brunswick, the newest Mexican Consulate in the United States and the fifty-third overall.

From October 7 through 10, the Honors College Faculty Fellows hosted the first ever Honors College Teach-In as a way to connect with students and the issues that society is confronting. The goal was to encourage open dialogue and engage in respectful conversations.

Last year, Rutgers celebrated its first Delta Scholar, Casey Fortson (‘25, SAS/HC), in this nationally competitive program aimed at college sophomores and juniors who are committed to combating systemic injustices in the Mississippi Delta region and similar communities, particularly focusing on improving public health, legal, and e

Gavin Wagner ('24, SEBS/SOE/HC) has been in Antarctica since late October working on the McMurdo Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project as a technician maintaining stream gauges and assisting other graduate students with their sampling efforts—he lives in F6 hut in Taylor Valley, and temperatures recently just rose above freezing for the first time since he arrived.

At the end of every semester, Honors College (HC) students share and celebrate their work with their peers in the Academic Showcase. From first-year students presenting their first projects to seniors showcasing their final Capstones, the Academic Showcase unites students in an open and supportive interdisciplinary environment.

At this year’s Fall Academic Showcase, many students expressed enthusiasm about being able to share their work with fellow students within the Honors College community.