This past summer, our community lost two feminist trailblazers who dedicated their lives to advancing gender equity. Throughout their lives, Dr. Lilli Vincenz DC’59 and NJ Lieutenant Governor Shelia Oliver modeled strength, leadership, and service to community. This month, we celebrate their legacies.
In March 2020, the Class of 2023 left Douglass in the middle of their first year of college due to the Covid-19 pandemic. For the next year and a half, they persisted through online learning, built community across computer screens, and adapted and re-adapted to evolving uncertainty in the wider world. On May 13, the College was thrilled to come together to honor this special graduating cohort at the 102nd Douglass Spring Convocation.
The College is honored to announce that five members of the Douglass community have been awarded Fulbright grants this year. Douglass students account for over a quarter of all Rutgers students awarded this prestigious recognition in the 2022-2023 school year. Douglass caught up with two of the awardees, Gabrielle Jacob DRC'20 and Aditi Kiron DRC'22, to learn more about their awards, the work they are doing as part of the program, and where they hope to take their future careers.
* The following is a message from Chancellor-Provost Francine Conway to the Rutgers Community
Dear Rutgers–New Brunswick Community,
Please join me in congratulating Meghan Rehbein, whom I have appointed permanent Administrative Dean of Douglass Residential College. This appointment follows her distinguished service since last June as Interim Administrative Dean.
On Friday, March 3, the Douglass Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee presented the fourth annual Women's Day at Douglass. Over 200 students, staff, and community members gathered in the Kathleen W. Ludwig Global Village Living-Learning Center for an activity fair, student performances, spoken word artists, and lunch. Students also put on a fashion show, displaying and sharing cultural style from their heritages.
During the height of the pandemic in 2020, staff and students at Douglass gathered over zoom to share the experiences of Black women in America. The zoom call would be the first of many spaces created, both in person and virtual, in a pivotal new program series at Douglass known as Black Women’s Voices.
Industrial engineering major Chelsea Obade DRC’25 is a leader in the classroom, the research laboratory, and the Reilly Douglass Engineering Living-Learning Community. An accomplished STEM student, Obade has excelled in her field. At the same time, she’s embraced an interdisciplinary approach to her major, leading her to use her talents in unexpected ways.
This past month, Douglass students and staff traveled to Kuwait! While abroad, students took part in educational and service-learning experiences centered around the feminist topics they study and research as part of the Douglass Global Leaders program.
On Sunday, December 4, Douglass’ Annual Yule Log Ceremony took place in Vorhees Chapel. Stair seniors, The Traditional Events Committee, and the Voorhees Chapel Choir led the community in a program filled with songs, readings, and traditions drawn from a diverse mix of cultures and religions. This year, Julianne D'Avirro Humphrey DRC’23 and Amanda Shapiro DRC’23 led the planning of the event as the student co-chairs of the Douglass Traditional Events Committee.
"We are happy to have helped continue this long-standing tradition and as seniors we are excited to pass it on to our next co-chairs,” said the duo.
