South Middlesex Times

Nearly 18,000 students graduated from Rutgers last week during commencement ceremonies held across the university. Rutgers University-New Brunswick and Rutgers Health graduates celebrated their milestone on Mother’s Day, adding special meaning to the event. Among the crowd were notable graduates, including a mother and daughter who completed their degrees together and a doctoral candidate who defended her dissertation from the hospital after giving birth earlier that day.

At the Rutgers-Newark commencement, rapper and creator Black Thought of The Roots urged graduates to become mythmakers during the ceremony at the Prudential Center. Rutgers-Camden marked the occasion with a week of ceremonies.

Freeman Hrabowski III, educator and civil rights champion, addressed the Class of 2024, encouraging them to build a future based on strong character and cherished relationships. “Watch your thoughts. They become your words,” Hrabowski said during the 258th anniversary commencement for Rutgers-New Brunswick and Rutgers Health. “Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny. Be the change, Class of 2024.”

Despite challenges shaped by a global pandemic and tumultuous world events, the scene was joyful Sunday as crowds arrived at SHI Stadium in Piscataway. “Having a regular ceremony like this is very special,” said Ahmir Brown, a graduate from the School of Arts and Sciences who started college remotely due to the pandemic.

President Jonathan Holloway referenced James Baldwin’s words in "Nothing Personal" to advise graduates that love for one’s community can guide us out of bleakness and uncertainty. “We are still in recovery,” Holloway reminded graduates. “This is a phrase that we need to ponder in a moment such as this: when we find ourselves buffeted by so many violent storms, by so much disagreement and pain and hurt and loss.”

Rapper Tariq Trotter, also known as Black Thought, co-founder of The Roots, encouraged Rutgers-Newark graduates to forge new myths out of a "collapsing old world" at their commencement ceremony. Citing sources such as Joseph Campbell’s "The Power of Myth" and the Declaration of Independence, Trotter encouraged the Class of 2024 to embark upon self-invention. “The collapse of the old world requires a new myth to be born that connects us all… You write it, discover it, calculate it, draw it, create it…You are the mythmakers,’’ Trotter said.

At Camden's Freedom Mortgage Pavilion, 1,676 graduates in Rutgers-Camden's Class of 2024 celebrated their achievements across various fields including science, art, business, nursing, law among others. Brian K. Bridges emphasized overcoming challenges has helped graduates identify their greatest opportunities and strengths. “My wish is that memories you have here – will anchor you and your purpose for years to come,” Bridges said.

###