Douglass Now Part of Tradition. A Whole New Inspiration.
November 2014 Issue
Message from Dean Jacquelyn Litt, Ph.D.
PSEG/Douglass-Rutgers SoE Partnership Creates Winning Team When New Jersey’s Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG), a diversified energy company, recently began a new partnership with Rutgers’ Douglass Residential College and School of Engineering (SoE), it created a win, win, win scenario.
Dean Jacquelyn Litt and Lavinia Boxill, Vice President for Development at the Rutgers University Foundation, at October’s School of Engineering Medal of Excellence Dinner.
This academic year is off to a busy and exciting start. In September, we welcomed a record number of new-to-Douglass women, totaling 603 incoming students! This represents an incredible 26% increase over last year’s incoming class. What we offer to our students is consistent with our mission of providing innovative opportunities for women, preparing them to thrive in a rapidly changing global workforce, and facilitating opportunities for our students to be agents of change in the world. Our overarching theme this year, “the health and dignity of women and girls worldwide,” is intentionally integrated into many of our educational experiences, programs, and events. Recently I was honored to attend the School of Engineering’s Medal of Excellence dinner, which recognizes distinguished graduates of Rutgers University School of Engineering in industry, academia, government, research and business. Here I was reminded of the incredible achievements of our own graduates as well as our current students, who continue to bring the “Douglass Difference” to the forefront. Douglass women design, program, dance, sing, teach, write, lead, and increasingly change the world. Read more
Douglass Student Breaks Barriers As Miss NJ
The PSEG Foundation is providing important funding for the Douglass Engineering Living-Learning Community (DELLC), a joint program between Douglass Residential College and the SoE. “The mission L-R: Ololade Sanusi, Nicole Koplitz and Laura Gunderson, of the DELLC is to promote the Douglass Engineering Living-Learning Community members, with recruitment and retention of women their finished project. undergraduates in SoE and prepare them to pursue successful engineering careers,” explained Elaine Zundl, Assistant Dean of the Douglass Project for Rutgers Women in Math, Science and Engineering. “The Douglass Engineering Living Learning Community is comprehensive in the support it provides to aspiring female engineers and is in line with the PSEG Foundation’s mission of partnering with universities to create a pipeline of the best and the brightest pursuing a field of study in science, technology, engineering and math,” said Ellen Lambert, President, PSEG Foundation. “According to the U.S. Census Bureau, women’s representation in STEM occupations has increased since the 1970s, but they remain significantly underrepresented in engineering occupations. Initiatives such as the DELLC are a best-practice for counteracting national trends.” Read more
Global Summit Focuses on Health and Dignity of Women and Girls
Douglass Residential College is proud to announce its first annual Douglass Global Summit, Saturday, November 22 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Douglass Student Center. The event will focus on “Women’s Health and Dignity for the 21st Century” and will commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo (1994). Esteemed women's rights leader Dr. Nafis Sadik will deliver the keynote address. Dr. Sadik is one of the world’s high profile advocates for the rights of women and girls. Currently serving as Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General with additional responsibilities as Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Asia, she was formerly the head of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), having been the first woman to lead a major program for the United Nations. For more information about the Global Summit, contact Margot Baruch, director of Global Engagement, mbaruch@echo.rutgers.edu or visit (https://douglass.rutgers.edu/ global-summit). Please register for this event at https://douglass.rutgers.edu/ dialogues-improving-health-and-dignity-women-and-girls-worldwide Read more
Douglass Students Make a Difference In September, Douglass Residential College (DRC) welcomed 603 new incoming and transfer students —each of whom is creating her own path in higher education. In this issue of Douglass Now! we spotlight new student Kai Durant, an energetic 18 year old, who is originally from New Jersey.
Douglass Engineering Student Building a Hand for Little Girl Cierra Kaler-Jones
Douglass Orientation Committee Chairwoman Cierra Kaler-Jones is the reigning Miss New Jersey 2015 and represented New Jersey in the recent 2015 Miss America pageant in Atlantic City. Kaler-Jones is the second Douglass student in history to be crowned Miss New Jersey. In addition in 2010, Douglass’ Brielle LaCosta won the Miss New Jersey International pageant. Both students are representative of highachieving Douglass Residential College students, continuously breaking barriers. Read more Kai Durant and Sparty, the Rutgers mascot
“Douglass in DC” Seminars Develop Leadership Skills
Want a chance to travel to the nation’s capital and meet such notable women as Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg? Would you like to network with various U.S. congresswomen? Perhaps you would like career tips from women who are shaping public policy in national security, immigration, environmental protection, and other fields. These experiences are among the many offered by “Douglass in DC,” Douglass Residential College’s participating organization within the national Public Leadership Education Network (PLEN). PLEN (https://douglass.rutgers.edu/ public-leadership-education-networkdouglass) is a nation-wide consortium of women’s colleges working together to prepare women for public leadership. The organization adheres to the conviction that women’s participation in policy making is critical in shaping public policy throughout our communities, the nation, and the world. For more information about PLEN or Douglass in DC contact Douglass PLEN coordinator, Amanda Roberti, 848-9323046, or email: PLEN@echo.rutgers.edu. Read more
Douglass Engineering Student Building a Hand for Little Girl This summer DRC engineering student Katherine Lau, another Project SUPER student at Douglass, led a project at the University of Nevada in her Katherine Lau home town of Las Vegas to help design a robotic hand for little girl born without a fully developed hand. Read more
As she is begins her college journey, Durant knows that she has the support of Douglass advisors, staff, peers, and an expansive alumnae network to explore her interests and prepare for her career. She is building an educational foundation in psychology, sociology and women and gender studies. “Douglass Residential College offers an ideal atmosphere for my interests,” she pointed out. The combination of Rutgers academic offerings with the learning environment at DRC was a winning combination for this first year student. Read more
Incoming Students Encouraged to “Claim Their Education”
Dean Jacquelyn Litt speaks at Fall Convocation in the Voorhees Chapel.
“With a longstanding history and tradition, Douglass is a place where you will feel connected to those who graduated long before you and those who will follow in your footsteps,” Cierra Kaler-Jones, 2015 Douglass Orientation Committee Chairwoman, told an overflow crowd during the Dean’s Welcome Convocation kicking off the start of the academic year at Douglass Residential College in September. Along with Kaler-Jones, speeches from Dr. Jacquelyn Litt, Douglass Residential College’s Dean; Courtney McAnuff, Vice President for Enrollment Management; and Jeanne Fox DC’75, President of the Associate Alumnae of Douglass College Board of Directors, inspired and motivated the members and guests of Douglass’ newest students. Dean Litt called on the young women to “…claim [their] education as the rightful owners of [their futures].” She urged them to “…assert and challenge us. Claim Douglass Residential College as your own to build and transform, and in turn you will build and transform your lives.” Read more To read Cierra Kaler-Jones’ welcome speech, click here To view a video of the entire one hour Fall Welcome Convocation, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwHHELy6tDM
Douglass Students Engage in Summer Research
Raisat Zaman, Douglass Science Scholar
Douglass Residential College offers undergraduate students who are interested in doing research the opportunity, with a $3,000 summer stipend, to partner with faculty. This past summer 45 students engaged in a variety of research projects. Of those, 43 received funding from the Douglass Project through the STEM Summer Stipend Program and the Rodkin Science Scholars programs.
All of these students are part of Project SUPER (Science for Undergraduates: A Program for Excellence in Research) at Douglass. A science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)-focused enrichment program, Project SUPER offers undergraduate women the opportunity to actively participate in academic research. Raisat Zaman, a Douglass Science Scholar, spent her summer at a Rutgers-New Brunswick lab, studying circadian rhythms in order to learn more about controlling human biological clocks. Zaman lives in the Bunting-Cobb Living-Learning Community, a women-only residence hall devoted to supporting science students. “I’ve met people here who are just as passionate about science as I am,” she said. “It’s the perfect environment.” Read more
Facebook: Douglass Residential College Twitter: @RUDouglass Instagram: instagram.com/rudouglass