Some wanted family-style fun. Others needed career help. Many were just intrigued by the prospect of a major institution putting its talent, resources, and energy on display.

Rutgers Day on April 25 provided 50,000 people with an array of opportunities to connect with one of the nation’s top research universities.

“When we got to New Brunswick, my daughter said, ‘Mom, this feels like home,’ ” said Elizabeth Johnson, an Akron, Ohio, mom who drove seven hours so her teenage daughter, who is considering Rutgers, could experience a major campus event.

Scott Takaroff, a recent graduate, donned a business suit and came to the Busch Campus Center, where World of Work programs had been set up to help people improve their career prospects. Takaroff, who is seeking a job in criminal justice, spoke to a career coach.

“He was very helpful,” Takaroff said. “He offered some really good suggestions.”

Barbara Stafford, a retiree, strolled around the College Avenue Campus, thrilled to see the neighborhood where her grandson, a senior, had spent his college years.

"The best part for me was being someplace where my grandson has been for the last four years," Stafford said. "It was just kind of a neat thing."  

Experience the sights and sounds of Rutgers Day by viewing the Photo Galleries and Video Highlights

Rutgers Day, a celebration of the university and its relationship with New Jersey, featured an array of activities on the New Brunswick and Piscataway campuses that ranged from dazzling scientific displays to poetry readings to the annual Ag Field Day and New Jersey Folk Festival.

Buoyed by the season’s first dose of hot, sunny weather, people arrived early, filling up campus parking lots by mid-morning.

By noon, the campuses were packed with a diverse mix of people that included Rutgers students, staff, and faculty, and an influx of New Jersey families who came to experience the nearly 400 attractions.

“We saw hissing cockroaches and scorpions,” said Beth Hagan, a Colts Neck resident who took her grandson, Arik, to the exhibits at the Department of Entomology, which specializes in the study of insects.

For science buffs, like 11-year-old Vincent Peterpaul, the place to be was the Busch Campus.

“I want to see science and physics, because science is my favorite subject,” said Vincent, who was accompanied by his mother, Adrianne, a university employee in health services.

The two were not disappointed. They watched uncanny 3D illusions at the university’s Laboratory of Vision Research and took in a robotics demonstration at the engineering quad.

On the College Avenue Campus, the commotion was neither insects nor robots but bellowing behemoths. A team of hulking men dressed as Roman gladiators battled it out, while the chair of the Department of Classics got the fast-swelling crowd fired up.

 “This is no toga party!” Declared T. Corey Brennan, the emcee of the event. “This is historically accurate Roman gladiatorial fighting at its best.”

The department also hosted a fashion show on the steps of Brower Commons, with students and volunteers modeling Greek and Roman attire from 29 BC.

As Brennan and his students looked back to antiquity to create a stunning spectacle, members of the Program in Comparative Literature delved into the poetry of disparate world cultures.

At World Poetry Day, on the Cook/Douglass Campus, faculty and students created an oasis of quiet intensity amid the crowds of people heading to the folk festival or to Ag Field Day. The poems, which covered works from Sri Lanka, France, Russia, and other nations, were recited in their native language and then translated.

Professor Elin Diamond, graduate director of the Program in Comparative Literature, noted that the seats around the small stage remained occupied throughout the day.  “People are hungry for poetry," she said.
"Even though it’s windy conditions and a pretty crummy microphone, people are hanging out. They want to hear poems.”

In addition to being hungry for poetry, people were also just plain hungry.

At the annual cookout by the Society of Animal Science, visitors wolfed down more than 1,000 hamburgers and 18 pounds of pork roll.

“This has been a record day,” said Carol A. Bagnell, the chair of the Department of Animal Sciences, “I can’t ever remember it being this busy.”

Besides the fun, food, and culture, however, Rutgers Day was also a time for getting help with careers.

The World of Work programs at the Busch Campus Center provided an array of information on job trends, resume writing, workers’ rights, and online learning opportunities. 

 “I have been stuck in a bad job since I got out of college, and I am in a catch-22 situation,” said one man attending a resume writing class. “I can’t improve my qualifications unless I go somewhere else, but I can’t go somewhere else if my qualifications aren’t good.”

Suzanne Pye, a career management specialist with Career Services in New Brunswick, offered him some resume-building tips and also spoke with him after class.

 “I think he left feeling like he had more ideas and suggestions,” she said.

Rutgers President Richard L. McCormick, who took a tour of the World of Work site, said the programs were especially timely given the nation’s economic crisis.

“Rutgers Day is an opportunity for the university to demonstrate its vital role in the lives of New Jersey citizens,” he said. “The World of Work is one of the ways we have chosen  to welcome visitors and provide hands-on service in a distressing economic climate.”

Lending their expertise were alumni like Ray Gronau, now a manager of talent relations at the Borgata Hotel, Casino, and Spa in Atlantic City. Gronau, who earned a graduate degree in 2001 from the School of Management and Labor Relations, showed up ready to coach people on interviewing skills.

 “I don’t get up here too often,” Gronau said. “But I thought this was definitely worthwhile. I want to give my time to Rutgers.”