SASN Awards Banquet Celebrates Student Achievements in the Arts & Sciences
SASN Dean Jacqueline Mattis. Photo by Seth Cohen
On May 3, 2023, outstanding Rutgers University-Newark students were honored at the School of Arts & Sciences-Newark (SASN) Annual Awards Banquet, held at the Paul Robeson Campus Center. The students received their awards among an audience of professors, mentors, and peers, while family and friends were able to watch a livestream on YouTube and cheer them on remotely.
Every year, the Office of Academic Services (OAS) works together with the Office of the Dean and the academic departments across SASN to present awards to a select group of students, mostly seniors, for going above and beyond in their chosen areas of study. The awards are a combination of scholarships, monetary awards and plaques or certificates.
Sofia Pinto-Figueroa, Dean of Academic Services, looks forward to the event each year.
Be humble, be rebelliously brilliant, be compassionate in your excellence, but do the work of making this world a better place.
“The SASN Annual Awards Banquet, a yearly tradition at the university, is a special event where faculty and staff from the School of Arts & Sciences-Newark come together to celebrate and acknowledge our exemplary undergraduate scholars,” she said. “It’s a very exciting time to gather as a community to not only celebrate the impending graduation for each of our scholars, but to also honor them for their excellence in one or more areas of study.”
She added “We appreciate everyone that was able to attend the event, including Chancellor Cantor, Executive Vice Chancellor Butterfield, Vice Chancellor Gunkel, all of the SASN faculty, staff, and students, and our incredible keynote speaker, Dean Jacqueline Mattis. We wish our graduates much success as they step into the next chapter of life.”
In her remarks to the audience, SASN Dean Jacqueline Mattis encouraged the students to use what they’ve learned during their time at Rutgers-Newark to improve the world around them. She reminded students that those who have the capacity to achieve excellence also have the responsibility to be excellent. “Take your excellence in the world, be humble, be rebelliously brilliant, be compassionate in your excellence, but please do the work of making this world a better place.”
The event was livestreamed on YouTube for those who could not attend and is available to watch in full below. View a photo gallery of the event on Facebook.
The full list of 2023 awards and recipients are as follows:
