Chancellor’s STAR Fund Gala Launches New Scholarship to Help Students Stay on Track

Rutgers–Newark Chancellor Tonya Smith-Jackson described the critical need for the newly launched STAR Fund at a gala in honor of the scholarship effort, which will help students overcome unforeseen obstacles.

An acronym for Student Thriving And Resilience (STAR), the fund will help students stay on track to earn their degrees despite hardships such as housing and childcare disruptions, food insecurity, and transportation problems.

“Eighty percent of our students commute, and many are balancing jobs and family obligations,” Smith-Jackson told an audience of 200 donors, students, and community leaders at the gala, held at Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hall on homecoming weekend.

Many are first-generation college students, veterans, adult learners, immigrants, and students supporting children or relatives while pursuing their education.

“One unexpected expense, an $800 car repair, can derail things. So many things can unravel a dream, not because the student lacks talent or determination, but because the system has no margin for error,” Smith-Jackson said. “Financial support is not merely help in crisis. It creates the conditions for humans to survive and flourish.”

Two student emcees at the event, Esron Holder and Janiyah Smith, emphasized how scholarship support made their education possible.

Smith, a first-generation psychology major, Honors Living-Learning Community student, and member of the Rutgers–Newark softball team, said financial assistance allowed her to focus on school instead of debt.

“I know firsthand the toll that financial obligations can have,” she said. “Every student deserves the chance I had, a chance that is made possible with the STAR Fund.”

Holder, a Rutgers–Newark alumnus and current part-time MBA student at Rutgers Business School, recalled graduating debt-free and taking advantage of opportunities that included studying abroad, conducting research, interning on Capitol Hill, and launching his own video production business.

“When we invest in our students, we’re giving them an opportunity to discover how far their talents can go,” Holder said. “I’m happy to stand here as a return on investment.”

Smith-Jackson said the STAR Fund emerged from conversations with students, data on student retention, and a year-long effort with Rutgers University Foundation leaders to better understand when students are most vulnerable.

“We kept returning to the idea of a journey,” Smith-Jackson told attendees. “If we can map the twists and turns, we can intervene at the moments students are most at risk.”

Drawing on her background as a systems engineer, Smith-Jackson used the concept of “slack” to explain the fund’s purpose. In engineering, complex systems are designed with reserve capacity, allowing them to function when unexpected challenges arise.

“Systems operating at their limits are vulnerable to failure, and people are no different,” she said. “Slack allows a system to absorb pressure without breaking.

“We are building a university that will be state-of-the-art in creating slack,” she said.

Smith-Jackson, whose mother, Rebecca Smith, and several friends and family members attended the gala, closed the evening by reminding guests that educational opportunity changes lives, not only for individual students but for generations to come.

“We’re investing in students, affirming their resilience and helping turn their aspirations into achievement,” she said.

Also speaking at the event were Rutgers–Newark Advisory Board Chair Oliver Quinn, who is an alumnus; John W. Buford III, who has served as a member of the Board of Trustees for North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, where the chancellor was provost before arriving at Rutgers–Newark.

Rev. Raschaad Hoggard, interim pastor of the historic Bethany Baptist Church in Newark, was another speaker. Rhiana Young, a poet and graduate of the School of Public Affairs and Administration, read a poem she composed for the gala, titled “The Star Does Not Rise Alone,” which uses stars as a metaphor for individual potential and collective support.