Rutgers at the Races was a fun day at Monmouth Park on June 26, 2022.

The event was sponsored by University College Rutgers New Brunswick Alumni Association (UCRNBAA) and Livingston Alumni Association (LAA).

It included a buffet lunch served on the clubhouse patio terrace. There was a private betting booth, and the location was perfect for trackside viewing.

UCRNBAA and LAA sponsored a race, and Monmouth Park provided the photo collage shown on this page, with representatives from the Rutgers Business School Alumni Association (RBSAA), Rutgers Alumni Association (RAA), UCRNBAA, and LAA.

Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the graduation of its most acclaimed alumnus, Rutgers University dedicated a plaza named for Paul Robeson on April 12, 2019, to honor his legacy as a distinguished scholar, athlete, actor, and global activist for civil rights and social justice.

The open-air plaza, which features eight black granite panels detailing the story of Robeson’s life, stands in a prominent location next to the Voorhees Mall on the College Avenue campus at Rutgers–New Brunswick.

The Livingston Alumni Association (LAA) is honored to support this plaza in dedication to Robeson. The LAA purchased a brick paver installed in a circle at the plaza, which reads: Livingston College / Alumni Association / Preserve The History / Advance The Legacy / .

More information on Robeson Plaza and Paul Robeson:

• Rutgers Dedicates Plaza to Paul Robeson, Renaissance Man for the Ages
• Paul Robeson Plaza Dedication (with video and more photos)
• Paul Robeson Centennial Celebration (2019)

Photo of Paul Robeson Plaza (top) by Jeffrey Armus

Information and links to documents and photos related to the 50-year anniversary of Livingston College.

Livingston Legacy Lectures (2009-2010)

Alumni Talks (Since 2021)

The Livingston Alumni Association (LAA), in association with our partners within Rutgers University, has held multiple events and embarked on projects to celebrate and commemorate the 50+ years since Livingston College opened in 1969. These include events specifically related to the college’s history.

Livi at 50: A Celebration of Livingston College’s 50th Anniversary kicked off with a keystone event at the James Dickson Carr Library on Livingston campus on October 25, 2019. The event was co-presented by Rutgers University–New Brunswick Libraries and the LAA.

It featured a panel discussion of prominent Livingston alumni, a presentation of the Riki Jacobs Livingston Pride Award, and an exhibition from the University Archives of materials including yearbooks, photographs, and other artifacts that captured Livingston’s evolution from its beginnings as the military base Camp Kilmer in the 1950s through the present day.

A panel discussion reflected this diversity, with alumni Noah Hart Jr. LC’73, GSED’88, Staci Berger LC’94, EJB/GSNB’04, and Robert W. Snyder, LC’77 all speaking about their formative years at Livingston and the impact the college had on them. In addition to the panel discussion and audience Q&A, student Eshan Kaul, SEBS’19, RWJMS’22, was named recipient of the 2019 Riki Jacobs Livingston Pride Award.

Pictured: Hart, Snyder, and Berger.

Livi at 50: A Remembrance of Livingston College: Latino Studies and the Livingston Panthers Sports Teams

Our April 22, 2021, “Livi at 50” online event celebrated the formation of the Latino Studies program and the history of the Livingston Panthers sports teams. Iris Martinez Campbell LC’75, SSW’81, moderated a discussion about the Latino Studies program with Margie Rivera LC’72 and Grizel Ubarry LC’74. LAA President Jeff Armus led a discussion about the Livingston Panthers with Lucille Lo Sapio LC’76, BernaDette Session LC’75, Dwight Williams, defensive coordinator of the Panthers, and Rick Williams LC’74, a member of the team. Watch a replay (58 minutes).

Livingston: A Governor, a College, and the Long Echoes of Slavery at Rutgers

A historical marker on the Livingston campus, placed in 2021, explains its namesake William Livingston’s deep involvement in slavery and his halting efforts to abolish slavery as New Jersey’s first governor.

In a virtual presentation held Jan. 18, 2022, Robert Snyder LC’77, a professor emeritus of journalism and American studies at Rutgers–Newark, talked with Jesse Bayker SGS’19, digital archivist for the Scarlet and Black Project at Rutgers–New Brunswick, who discussed Livingston’s life.

Brooke A. Thomas, an African American history doctoral candidate at Rutgers–New Brunswick, shared the importance of Livingston College to Rutgers, why it was created, and how activism was one of its important contributions to Rutgers. Thomas is also a co-author of the chapter “We the People: Student Activism at Rutgers and Livingston College, 1960–1985” in Scarlet and Black, Volume 3.

Livingston College graduates Snyder and Debra O’Neal LC’87 shared their experiences of educational innovation and campus activism from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. The discussion ended with a question-and-answer forum.

This event was sponsored by the RUAA, the LAA, the School of Arts and Sciences, and the Rutgers Alumni Association.

Programs Celebrating Livingston College’s 50th Anniversary and Beyond

The Livingston Alumni Association (LAA), in cooperation with the Rutgers University Alumni Association, is sponsoring a series of events featuring Livingston College alumni speaking about their lives and careers.

These have included:

Covering New York City

An online conversation (March 25, 2021) with WCBS Reporter Marla Diamond LC‘92 and Rutgers professor Steven Miller.

Diamond, a reporter for WCBS Newsradio 880, joined Miller, Director of Undergraduate Studies at Rutgers’ School of Communication and Information, in a one-on-one conversation about covering New York City in good times and bad.” Watch a one-hour video of the event.
 
Diamond got her start in radio at WRSU and joined WCBS radio in 1997. Diamond has been recognized by the Associated Press and other news organizations for her on-location news reporting. She received the Livingston College Distinguished Alumni Award in 2009 and has returned to “The Banks” to serve as the emcee for events like the Rutgers Loyal Sons & Daughters Awards and a panel organized by Rutgers Career Services and the School of Arts & Sciences.

This event was jointly sponsored by the Livingston Alumni Association and Rutgers School of Communication and Information Alumni Association. 

From Rutgers to the National Security Beat

An online conversation (June 8, 2021) with Vivian Salama, LC ’00 SC&I ’00, national security correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, and Steven Miller RC ’79, director of undergraduate studies, Journalism and Media Studies program, Rutgers School of Communication & Information. Watch the replay (59 minutes).

Salama has covered U.S. foreign policy and national security issues for nearly two decades, reporting from more than 80 countries. A native of New York, she earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Rutgers University, a master’s degree in Middle East politics from Columbia University and a law degree from Georgetown University.  Salama previously covered the Trump White House and national security for the Wall Street Journal, CNN and NBC. Before moving to Washington, she served as Baghdad bureau chief for the Associated Press, during which time she covered the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, as well as Iran’s growing influence across the region. She also covered the refugee and IDP crisis spurred by the violence, visiting camps across the Middle East. The experience inspired Salama to write a children’s book, The Long Journey Home, about an innocent Syrian boy who is forced to flee his home because of the war.

Over the course of her career, she has called Iraq, Egypt, Pakistan, Israel and the Palestinian territories, and the United Arab Emirates home. She has also reported more broadly from five continents, with extensive experience in several East Asian countries as well.

Pictured: Vivian Salama.

This page lists all programs sponsored by LAA or of interest to the Livingston community held since Jan. 1, 2018.

• Current events
• LAA ongoing and signature events.

Click here for our current events

The Livingston Alumni Association (LAA) organizes a variety of programs, where Livingston alumni can socialize and network, and celebrate the history and legacy of Livingston College. These programs include:

• Livingston Distinguished Alumni Awards and Livingston Legacy Awards
• Student-Alumni Speed Networking
• All-Alumni Theater Events
• Reunion (Alumni Weekend)
• Homecoming
• Community Service
• Livingston Legacy Lectures (2009-2010)
• Livi at 50 and Livingston College History Events (Since 2019)
• Alumni Talks: Careers, Life, and More
• Social Events

Would you like to help plan a program? Contact us.

Pictured, from left: LAA board members Yash Dalal, Jason Goldstein, and Tiffany (Torpey) Berg at Rutgers-New Brunswick’s Homecoming game on September 29, 2007.

The Livingston Alumni Association (LAA) and the Livingston Theatre Company (LTC) Alumni Association have partnered with the Internet Archive to scan and digitize the printed programs from the Livingston Theatre Company’s productions — from the first production in 1999, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, through the final production of the 19th season, Oklahoma!, in 2017.

The LAA has partnered with the LTC to offer All-Alumni Theater Night/Afternoon events.

This project is made possible through financial support received from the Rutgers University Alumni Association.

Links to the individual printed programs are below:

Board members of the Livingston Alumni Association (LAA) and other graduates of Rutgers’ Livingston College participated in two annual community service events in fall 2013: a coat drive held before a home football game, and a career networking event for students.

Partnering with the organization Jersey Cares, alumni and other football fans donated more than 100 coats during a coat drive, held before the Nov. 16 home game against the University of Cincinnati Bearcats.

The coat drive, part of the Rutgers University Alumni Association’s annual Day of Service in honor of the anniversary of the university’s  founding, was organized by the Rutgers Alumni Association (RAA), via its tri-chairs, Gene Armstead, Luis Largo and Bruce Marich, kicking off with 320 coats collected at High Point Solutions Stadium and the Louis Brown Athletic Center (the RAC) before the game. RAA and Jersey Cares partnered with Rutgers Athletics, Livingston Alumni Association, University College Alumni Association, Rutgers University Alumni Association, Rutgers Mock Trial Association, Rutgers Chapter of Circle K International and the Friends of Frank Tailgate.

Among the many volunteers at the coat drive were LAA board members: Rosemary Agrista, Jeffrey Armus, Joe Capo, Jason Goldstein, Iris Martinez-Campbell, Eric Schwarz and Marty Siederer, as well as Livingston College graduate Langston Campbell.

Back on campus Dec. 4, about 200 alumni filled the multipurpose room of the Rutgers Student Center on College Avenue in New Brunswick, to offer career advice to students (also numbering about 200, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels) at the eighth annual Alumni-Student Career Speed Networking Night. The event is dedicated to providing support and networking opportunities to current Rutgers students before they graduate, with alumni from various career fields interacting with students during short “speed dating”-type intervals to provide career advice and networking tips and to help students become confident job-seekers, with an opportunity for students and alumni to continue their conversations afterward.

The program was sponsored by the Rutgers Alumni Association’s (RAA) Undergraduate Committee, RAA Young Alumni Committee, Cook Community Alumni Association, Livingston Alumni Association, Graduate School of Education Alumni Association, Graduate School New Brunswick Alumni Association and Rutgers University Career Services.

The following Livingston College alumni participated in the Speed Networking event: Rosalie Adox, Rosemary Agrista, Farhan Ali, Ali Ali, Ndidi Amutah, Jeffrey Armus, Yao-Ming Chen, Marc Gerrone, Jason Goldstein, Mindy Hoffman, Arjay Ignacio, Michelle N. Jackson, Michael Kim, Charles Maderal, Jorge Mercado, Debra O’Neal, Niket Parikh, John Reyes, Eric Schwarz and Marty Siederer.

Pictured: Livingston Alumni Association board members help collect coats at the Nov. 16, 2013, coat drive at the Louis Brown Athletic Center (the RAC): Eric Schwarz, Rosemary Agrista, Jason Goldstein, Jeffrey Armus and Joseph Capo. See additional photos from the two events.

Originally posted January 17, 2014
Revised March 19, 2016

Livingston College alumni collected coats and helped rehabilitate a Delaware cemetery as part of the second annual Rutgers Day of Service on Saturday, Nov. 10, 2012.

The Day of Service, organized by the Rutgers University Alumni Association, called on alumni (individuals and organizations) to give back to the community on or around the university’s annual Charter Day of Nov. 10.

COLLECTED MORE THAN 1,000 COATS

The Livingston Alumni Association (LAA) and the Rutgers Alumni Association (RAA) collected 1,170 new and gently used coats at the November 10 Rutgers-Army football game, outside both High Point Solutions Stadium and the Louis Brown Athletic Center (RAC). The coats were donated for distribution by Jersey Cares, a nonprofit community organization that supports those in need.

Jersey Cares collected additional coats at the Dec. 11 and 12 basketball games at the RAC.  Among volunteers in the coat drive were LAA board members Rosemary Agrista, Jeffrey Armus, Martin Dickerson, Jason Goldstein, Eric Schwarz, and Marty Siederer.

RAISING MARKERS TO HONOR VETERANS

In Wilmington, Delaware, Debra O’Neal, LAA’s first vice president, honored both the Day of Service and Veterans Day at the Historic Riverview Cemetery.

The Friends of Historic  Riverview Cemetery (FHRC) organized a “marker raising” on Nov. 10. Volunteers with FRHC visited the east side of the cemetery in Sections 18, 18-U and 18-S (along Eastlawn Avenue). Many veterans have been interred in these sections and the flat markers have sunken over time.   

“We formed teams to raise markers, add crushed stone, and re-set them,” O’Neal said. “We raised 23 markers this morning! It was an honor to hear the stories of volunteers who have served in the military as we worked to restore and preserve the honor of those vets who were interred.  

“The FHRC were glad that I chose this project as my Rutgers Alumni Day of Service Project. I had a chance to explain the purpose of the Rutgers Day of Service and the number of projects going on in New Jersey and around the country. Two volunteers have family in the New Brunswick area and were familiar with Rutgers. They welcomed me back again.”

FOCUS ON HURRICANE SANDY RELIEF

In the aftermath of the storm, Rutgers temporarily housed more than 800 evacuees from Atlantic County on the Busch and Livingston campuses. Rutgers Focus covered the university’s efforts to provide emergency shelter.

Pictured: (Top) Livingston College alumni at the coat collection at the RAC. (Bottom) Debra O’Neal, LC’87 (left) assists in the marker raising in Delaware. Check out additional photos from the two events.

Members and friends of the Livingston Alumni Association of Rutgers University (LAA) volunteered at the Community FoodBank of New Jersey on Saturday, November 8, 2014, as part of the fourth annual Rutgers Alumni Day of Service.

The Community FoodBank of New Jersey began operations in 1975, where President and CEO Kathleen DiChiara began distributing groceries out of the trunk of her car. Within months she created a food bank as part of the Archdiocese of Newark.

Today, the Community FoodBank distributes 40 million pounds of food a year to more than 1,000 non-profit programs, as well as more than 400 programs served by its Partner Distribution Organizations (PDOs). Through their combined efforts, they feed 900,000 hungry people in 18 New Jersey counties.

The LAA volunteers, along with volunteers from other community groups, helped package bags of various pastas, which were boxed and loaded onto pallets for distribution to food pantries throughout the state.

The Day of Service, organized by the Rutgers University Alumni Association, brings together hundreds of alumni volunteers to make an impact in their own local communities, all in the name of Rutgers, all on one day. Rutgers University’s commitment to service dates back to its founding fathers on Rutgers’ Charter Day, November 10, 1766. Thus, this program is inspired by the actions of Rutgers alumni and their long tradition of service.

Shown in photo at top of page: LAA volunteers hold the bags of pasta that they helped to package at the Community FoodBank of New Jersey on November 8, 2014. From left: Derek Young, Bernie Parkhurst, Jeff Isaacs, Brenda Isaacs, Jeff Armus, Eric Schwarz, Debra O’Neal and Olivia O’Neal.