President Holloway Delivers Final Annual Stakeholder Address

Rutgers is making remarkable advances throughout some deeply challenging years by widely telling the university’s larger story, President Jonathan Holloway said in his third annual address to the university’s key supporters.

Holloway, in the fifth and final year of his presidency, noted the university has persevered through a pandemic, a labor strike, student protests and a budget deficit while holding firm to Rutgers’ commitment to excellence and access, building community and a determination to contribute to the common good.

“We shone a spotlight on the scientists and health care heroes and others at Rutgers who helped us and the world come through the pandemic. We celebrated the remarkable talent of our faculty, helped our outstanding students capture some of the most coveted fellowships in the world and reached out to our alumni near and far to share in our relentless pursuit of excellence,” Holloway said.

The president acknowledged that this year’s annual address, to thank stakeholders and convey the university’s most recent milestones, occurred at an especially solemn time amid turbulent political currents both global and national.

“Many times over the last year, my peer presidents and I have struggled to strike the right chord, doing everything we could to keep our communities safe while also protecting the freedoms that are the lifeblood of the academic enterprise,” Holloway said. “I didn’t need the events of the last year to let me know that I will not get everything right, but due to so many events in the last year, there is one thing of which I am certain: never has our society needed higher education more. It is needed to protect inquiry, to provide open forums for exchanging difficult ideas, to change lives and create opportunities and to preserve those democratic values we hold most dear.”

“Fortunately, never has Rutgers been better positioned to make a difference,” he told nearly 2,000 alumni, students, faculty, staff, donors, university board members and government officials who gathered virtually and in person at Jersey Mike’s Arena.

Rutgers on the Rise

He called out Efesson Meyer, a Posse Scholar in the audience who is part of the selective leadership training program, as the kind of remarkable student who is choosing Rutgers. Holloway noted applications to the university are at an all-time high, with more than 76,000 students applying over the past year alone from New Jersey, across the country and around the world.

Record applications led to record enrollment this year. The Class of 2028, the largest incoming class in Rutgers’ 258-year history, is also one of the most diverse, with 25% hailing from another state or another country.

Rutgers also has made significant gains in the U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings during Holloway’s presidency, with Rutgers-New Brunswick rising from #23 to #15 of top public universities and all three Rutgers locations among the top 100 national universities. Since 2021, Rutgers-New Brunswick has moved up 22 spots in the best national university rankings to #41, Rutgers-Newark has moved up 38 spots to #80 and Rutgers-Camden has moved up 55 spots to #98.

“Recognize what the U.S. News rankings have made clear, two years in a row: we are an elite institution with outstanding academics and a deep commitment to social mobility across all our campuses,” Holloway said.

Meanwhile, research revenues to university faculty rose 40% during the last four years.

“In the past year, Rutgers faculty earned a record $970 million in research grants and sponsored programs in fields such as artificial intelligence, climate resilience and mitochondrial biology,” Holloway said. “Our researchers are studying tobacco cessation, developing a sweeter, firmer blueberry, assessing environmental impacts on pregnancy and child health and so much more.”

New levels in alumni engagement drew more than $250 million in funds raised last year from more than 34,000 unique donors – 7,500 of whom donated to Rutgers for the first time, Holloway noted.

“That happened because Rutgers donors by the thousands heard our story, shared our values and personally committed themselves to our mission,” he said.

In his address, Holloway highlighted several impressive achievements of students, faculty and alumni in the audience, noting they are among thousands who have made the most of their time at Rutgers.

The president also praised the university’s staff, whose efforts – seen and unseen – to support students, faculty and administrators, underpin the transformative learning and innovation occurring across Rutgers.

Civic Engagement and Rutgers

As the Scarlet Service initiative – launched by the president to provide students with life-shaping paid internships at nonprofit and government organizations in New Jersey and Washington, D.C. – enters its fourth year, and his Byrne seminar on citizenship for first-year students is in its second year, Holloway said he will be focused on the broader goal of making Rutgers synonymous with civic engagement by creating a universitywide culture of service.

“I want people across the country to say, ‘look at what’s happening at Rutgers. How can we engage our students and our faculty in serving the common good like they’re doing?’ ” Holloway said.

At Holloway’s request, a group led by Rutgers-Camden Senior Vice Chancellor Nyeema Watson and Eagleton Institute Director Elizabeth Matto provided recommendations on how to increase civic engagement for students, including connecting with more community partners and increasing incentives for faculty to build public service into their curriculum – recommendations the president said he is eager to implement.

“If I can connect my name with anything that lives on at Rutgers long after I have gone, it is this: to affirm to ourselves and the world that Rutgers is deeply and passionately committed to advancing the common good, to civic preparedness, to civil discourse,” Holloway said. “Dare to believe in the power of civic engagement, and in our university’s enormous potential to become a model for the nation in serving the common good.”