Rutgers Dedicates New Honors College

High-achieving students at Rutgers have a new home.

A dedication ceremony was recently held for the new Rutgers University-New Brunswick Honors College.

The ceremony was hosted last week on the College Avenue campus by Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno and Rutgers President Robert Barchi.

The Honors College is home to more than 500 high-achieving first-year students who are studying in the sciences, humanities and various professional schools at the university.

Officials hope to promote interdisciplinary learning by having the students “live and work together to examine global issues,” a news release said.

“This new Honors College brings the University’s highest-achieving students into one innovative community focused on intellectual curiosity and hands-on, collaborative learning,” Guadagno said in a prepared statement. “By engaging students from all disciplines in workshops, fieldwork, mentorships, and more, the Honors College will help Rutgers continue to provide one of the best educational experiences in the nation.”

The students will be members of the Honors College during their four years at the university. They will get mentoring and support from faculty-in-residence, the news release said.

“The Honors College will provide an education for the 21st century and nurture the brilliance of these accomplished young people,” Barchi said in a prepared statement. “It reaffirms that Rutgers should be the destination for the very brightest students from around the corner and around the world.”

The average SAT score of the students at the Honors College is 2160. New Jersey’s average is 1526; the national average is 1497. About 90 percent of the students were in the top ten percent of their high school classes, according to the news release.

“The Honors College is an outstanding choice for students seeking a small and highly competitive academic environment, while drawing on the superior resources of Rutgers University,” Richard L. Edwards, chancellor of Rutgers University-New Brunswick, said in a statement. “I applaud the work of the deans and faculty of the participating schools, and the Honors College Faculty Planning Committee, for bringing this extraordinary living-learning community to reality.”

According to the news release, “the Honors College is part of the College Avenue Redevelopment Initiative, a collaboration among Rutgers, Devco, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA), New Brunswick Theological Seminary and Rutgers Hillel.”

The five-story, 170,000 square-foot building is built to LEED silver standards, the news release said.

Photos courtesy Rutgers University; L-R: Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno; Christopher Paladino, president, New Brunswick Development Corp. (Devco); Honors College resident (and first-year student) Alexandra Joseph; Rutgers President Robert Barchi; Richard L. Edwards, chancellor, Rutgers University-New Brunswick; donors Robert and Harriett Druskin.