Welcome to the 104th Douglass Spring Convocation

Dr. Francine Conway is Chancellor-Provost of Rutgers University–New Brunswick, a top 20 public university (U.S. News and World Report) with more than 20 programs and schools in the nation’s top 20; a $907.8 million research portfolio that transcends the sciences, humanities, and arts; and a proud culture of diversity across its more than 40,000 students and 10,000 faculty and staff. She previously served as Provost. She also serves as Distinguished Professor in the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, where she served as Dean from 2016 to 2020. Chancellor-Provost Conway led the creation of—and is now leading the implementation of—the Rutgers–New Brunswick Academic Master Plan, a comprehensive blueprint for the institution’s future based on Four Pillars of Excellence: Scholarly Leadership, Innovative Research, Student Success, and Community Engagement. Dr. Conway, an internationally recognized clinical psychologist, is a graduate of Cornell University and Columbia University and earned her doctoral degree at Adelphi University.

Majoring in Psychology and Human Resources, Maryam Mendes DRC’25 is a proud Douglass graduate of the Class of 2025.

As a fellow with the Racial Justice Learning Community (RAJU) at the Institute for the Study of Global Racial Justice (ISGRJ), she is part of the first tri-campus undergraduate academic program dedicated to activism and advocacy. She is also a building manager at the recreation centers and a Resident Assistant (RA) on campus. At Douglass Residential College, Maryam is the chairwoman of the Douglass Welcome Ambassadors, a board member of the Red Pine Ambassadors, a member of the Douglass Student Recruitment Network and the Dean's Advisory Board. Outside of Rutgers, Maryam assists in organizing an annual Muslim Black family retreat and serves on the leadership team of the African-American Healing, Ancestry, and Development (AHAD) Collective. Maryam has served as an ambassador for Charity Week New Jersey as a logistics coordinator for the Muslim Interscholastic Tournament (MIST)—a national three-day competition for high school students—and as a member of the Ladders organization.

Herrin Oum Fontenette is a senior at the School of Arts and Sciences and Douglass Residential College at Rutgers University, majoring in history with a concentration in Black studies and minoring in public policy while earning a certificate in law and history. As a historian in a Eurocentrically dominated field, she amplifies the voices of Black American freedmen and African diasporic culture, while her public policy studies focus on equity, economic restitution, and political representation. A spoken word artist and activist from Jersey City, she uses her poetry to highlight the repression of marginalized communities and inspire tangible action, centering themes of Black femininity, unity, divinity, and resistance against anti-Blackness.
A dynamic leader in student advocacy, Herrin has performed at Rutgers' Opening Convocation, the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center, and the Mark Conference. She serves on the executive boards of Verbal Mayhem Poetry Collective and Black Students for Liberation and is president of the Douglass Black Students’ Congress. Beyond the stage, she has worked as an intern for the Dr. Jewel Plummer Cobb STEAM Women’s Initiatives in the Office of Student Involvement and Leadership, acting as a liaison between the office and Rutgers women’s organizations. In this role, she facilitates programming in honor of Dr. Jewel Plummer Cobb, scientist, cancer researcher, academic, professor, and the first African American dean of Douglass Residential College (1976–1981). She has also worked as a PLEN Public Policy Intern with the NJ Division of Civil Rights, and a Riley Bold extern with the NJ Bar Association. A published researcher and Rutgers Institute for the Study of Global Racial Justice Undergraduate Fellow, Herrin contributed to a digital zine archive documenting Black student self-determination across Rutgers campuses. She is also a proud member of the Cap and Skull Senior Honor Society.