Rutgers-Camden Graduate Students Enjoying Life at 330 Cooper

CAMDEN — Located on Cooper Street on the Rutgers–Camden campus, where it towers above the River LINE tracks and sits a stone’s throw from the Unites States courthouse, 330 Cooper is at the hub of activity in Camden’s University District.

The brand new apartment-style residential hall for Rutgers–Camden graduate students opened its doors in September2012 and residents are already carving out their own comfortable living community during its first year of existence.

“It’s a beautiful place to live,” says Nicole Ojo-Ohikuare, a second-year student at the Rutgers School of Law–Camden. “It’s well decorated, quiet, and conveniently located. I think it’s the quintessential graduate dorm. It exudes a real feeling of scholarship and there are so many efforts made to create community through study rooms on various floors and the various activities on the weekends.”

Ojo-Ohikuare, who is from West Orange in Essex County, is one of 350 Rutgers–Camden graduate students living at 330 Cooper. The 12-story residence hall — now the tallest building on campus — predominantly features three- or four-bedroom apartments.

The suites include bathrooms, kitchens, and living areas, offering Rutgers–Camden students an ideal place to live and study while helping to grow Camden’s University District and attract talented students to southern New Jersey.

“What I love best is that there is ample living space and study space,” says Neeta Goel, a doctoral student in Rutgers–Camden’s childhood studies program.

Goel, who is from Delhi, India, moved to the United States in 2011 to pursue her Ph.D. She says 330 Cooper offers a perfect environment for graduate students.

“I can study without disturbances in the second floor lounge, even though it’s an open space,” Goel says.

The new residence hall represents the first new student housing for Rutgers–Camden since 1989, when the Rutgers–Camden Tower opened to welcome residential undergraduate students.

In addition to the apartment, the building features all the amenities graduate students who decide to live on campus have come to expect. It includes student gathering spaces, a mail room, a business center with study space, and a roof deck that is accessible from the residential tower. 

On the exterior, a scarlet “spirit R” emblazoned on the upper level gives notice to the Delaware Valley that Rutgers–Camden is on the rise.

In addition to a unique on-campus living experience, many Rutgers–Camden graduate students say time management is one of the best perks of calling Camden home.

“Compared to what I would have had if I was living off campus, living on campus means I can have longer study hours and better access to the facilities, my professors, and even my fellow classmates,” says Andre Araujo, a second-year law student from Union County now living at 330 Cooper. “My access to the campus isn’t limited by public transportation timetables, rush hour traffic, or anything else.”

Rutgers–Camden’s newest residence hall is also serving the City of Camden as well as the campus community. In the fall, 7-Eleven opened in the retail space on the street level of 330 Cooper and soon, Subway and Three Chiles Grill will serve members of both the Rutgers and Camden communities.

“Rutgers–Camden is a small, but warm community,” says Jun Dai, a graduate student from China pursuing his master’s degree in chemistry. “The people here are like family.”

Rutgers–Camden continues to grow, with approximately 1,250 students living on or near campus, and 330 Cooper is a vital part of the growth and reinvigoration in the city.

For more on these students’ Rutgers–Camden experience, click here.