A Cause for Celebration

1. The official launch of the yearlong celebration of Rutgers’ 250th Anniversary begins on November 10, 2015, on the lawn of Old Queens, with music, games, and bell ringing. 

2. The Revolutionary monument—pictured here at the New Jersey State House in Trenton and displayed throughout New Jersey and Rutgers—is a birthday present from Johnson & Johnson. 

3. The grand reopening of 15 Washington Street, a Newark landmark and part of Rutgers–Newark, takes place on November 17, 2015.

4. The Benjamin Franklin Bridge, connecting Camden and Philadelphia, is lit in scarlet in tribute to Rutgers’ 250 years. 

5. The Eagleton Institute hosts a visit by Sonia Sotomayor, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, on April 11, 2016.

6. “Transformational Science,” the second of three Presidential Symposia, is held on September 28, 2016, at Rutgers–New Brunswick.

7. Jazz @Rutgers 250: Music, Art, and the Written Word is an evening of performances, art exhibitions, and literary displays at Rutgers–Newark on March 2, 2016.

8. An estimated 50,000 people were in attendance on May 15, 2016, to hear President Obama give the 250th Anniversary Commencement Address at High Point Solutions Stadium at Rutgers–New Brunswick.

9. The Rutgers Symphony Orchestra performs with the Rutgers Kirkpatrick Choir at Lincoln Center on April 16, 2016.

10. Happy Day Farm, in Manalapan, New Jersey, creates this corn maze to celebrate the university’s 250th anniversary and holds its Rutgers Alumni Day on October 29, 2016.

11. Rutgers brings the celebration of its 250th anniversary to New Jersey’s county fairs during the annual summer and fall events.

12. Rutgers Day, the annual open house in April, takes place in New Brunswick, Newark, and Camden—the first time at the three locations—attracting more than 100,000 people to Rutgers.

13. Historian and MIT professor Craig Steven Wilder presents “Rutgers and American Slavery: A History” on April 6, 2016, at Rutgers–New Brunswick.

14. The Writers House at Rutgers–Camden, a cultural center for the  university and the community, opens with a dedication ceremony on November 17, 2015.

15. The Class of 2020 marks its  entry into Rutgers at Convocation, September 3, 2016, at Rutgers– New Brunswick.