Meet Rutgers graduates who have left their mark on this institution and are poised to pursue their passions after commencement. These students are exemplars of this diverse and engaging academic community. We celebrate their achievements and look forward to the bright futures ahead.


Rutgers' First Big Ten Champion Seeks Olympics Berth – and a Career Helping Others

Gabrielle Farquharson has been running track for as long as she can remember. She believes that facing both the ups and down of competition will make her better able to master a career in social work and sports. She will earn a master’s degree from the School of Social Work this month. 


 Sharing Commencement with President Obama

The president of the United States will not be the only lawyer who grew up in Hawaii at Rutgers’ commencement this Sunday. Like President Obama, Michael Ganoot, who will graduate from Rutgers Law School in Camden with a juris doctorate, was born and raised on the island of Oahu.


Computer Scientist, Photographer or Both?

Shirley Yu has worked as a professional photographer throughout her undergraduate years. Her images have racked up half a dozen awards and appeared in multiple publications and websites, including People, TeenVogue.com and on the cover of Time.


Rutgers Student-Veteran Knows the Importance of Language

David Garcia, a former “Air Force brat,” enlisted in the U.S. Army after high school. He served as a military intelligence specialist in Iraq and Germany for five years, attaining the rank of sergeant. He graduates from Rutgers University-Camden with an English major and a minor in writing.


A Daughter’s Death Motivates a Mother to Become a Doctor Late in Life

After raising three children, Deborah Horenstein pursued her medical degree Rutgers' New Jersey Medical School because her youngest daughter, Ariella, died following a bone marrow transplant. She will stay at NJMS for pediatric residency and hopes to do a pediatric neurology fellowship beyond that.


Sisters’ Paths Diverge at Rutgers in Shared Pursuit of Labor Studies

Quinnetta and Bridgette Williams will each receive degrees from Rutgers’ School of Management and Labor Relations this month. Quinnetta will receive her master’s of arts degree in labor and employment relations. Bridgette will receive a bachelor’s of science degree in labor and employment relations.


Student Employee Celebrated

Jeffrey Vazquez is a supervisor in Rutgers' Community Service Officer (CSO) program.The graduating senior, who majored in criminal justice at Rutgers University-Newark, was named student employee of the year for New Jersey by the Northeast Association of Student Employee Administrators.


Rutgers Law Student's Project Untangles Web of Services for Developmentally Disabled

Amanda O’Keefe watched her mother devote hours a day hunting unsuccessfully for programs for her developmentally disabled sister, Paige. Inspired by her family’s struggle, O’Keefe launched “Learn Empower and Advocate for the Developmentally Disabled” (LEAD) during her first year at Rutgers Law School in Camden. 


Rutgers Student Led a Team that Built a Prosthesis for Little Girl’s Hand

Rutgers biomedical engineering graduate Katherine Lau was looking for a research project when she went home to Las Vegas during the summer. A UNLV professor selected her to head up a team of three students to fashion a custom-fitted prosthetic hand using 3D printing.


All About That Bass

Lee Caplan, who earned his undergraduate degree in music and journalism, is one year away from completing the five-year master’s program in jazz history and research from Rutgers University-Newark.  He co-teaches an online “Introduction to Music” course for the university and plans to become a professor.


Finding Her Power in Poetry

Jaleesa McEachin defines herself as a mother and an entertainer – a sense of self that has grown out of a life of nurturing and creative expression. She graduates from Rutgers University-Newark with a major in criminal justice and credits a nonprofit called The Bridge with lifting her up in her time of self-doubt. 


A Calling to Help the Underserved

Suzanne Elshafey will begin a three-year internal medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, the teaching hospital of Harvard University, after she graduates from Robert Wood Johnson Medical School this month. She graduated summa cum laude from Rutgers University-Newark with a degree in biology in 2007.


Talented Musician Overcomes Setbacks to Graduate from Mason Gross School of the Arts

It took two attempts and six years for Jonathan LiVolsi to earn his degree from Rutgers. The bassoonist is considered one of the most talented undergraduates to go through the Rutgers music program, but he struggled academically. In the fall, he will attend DePaul Graduate School of Music, Chicago, and is considering a doctoral degree in music.  


A Hard-won Degree

Letitia Jones’s interest in science began in childhood. She loved Bill Nye the Science Guy, but it was a National Geographic story that sparked her interest in geology. Now, at the age of 30, she is a Rutgers graduate after receiving her bachelor’s degree in geology from the School of Arts and Sciences in New Brunswick.


Living with a Disability Inspires Graduate to Teach Others How to Cope with Life’s Challenges

Annie Reading was never one to let a disability get in her way. Born with syndactyly – a congenital condition in which the fingers or toes are webbed or joined –  Reading became aware at an early age that she is a part of a population that is different in appearance and abilities.