Holloway delivers stakeholder address, U. community reacts

On Tuesday, University President Jonathan Holloway delivered his second annual stakeholder address, discussing Rutgers' recent initiatives and milestones to students, alumni, staff and community members.

Holloway spoke about four main factors that have shaped the University's educational mission: grants and scholarships, research, large-scale infrastructure projects and the consolidated Rutgers School of Medicine.

The University has also generated $929 million in revenue from academic research, he said. Holloway highlighted how the University received more than 4,200 research awards, covering topics from minimum wage to sustainable agriculture.

Additionally, Holloway noted the advancement in the University’s ranking among national public universities across the three campuses.

"We are always focused on ensuring that our students graduate on time, with minimal debt, prepared for successful careers — and now the rankings recognize this. In other words, we didn't chase the rankings. The rankings chased us," he said.

Regarding infrastructure, Holloway said on-campus projects include renovations of the Medical Science Building and Conklin Hall in Newark, the Cooper Street Gateway Project in Camden and construction of the New Jersey Health and Life Science Exchange building in New Brunswick. He also said there will be a continuation of University-wide solar panel installations in parking lots.

Holloway said of the University's social commitments that free speech, academic freedom and student participation in public service are crucial to the role of higher education in society.

He referred to several on-campus institutes, clinics and centers dedicated to civic engagement and social justice, as well as the Rutgers Scarlet Service Internship program demonstrations of the University community's dedication to public service.

He also discussed the importance of meaningful and civil discourse on campus.

"Universities should be a marketplace of ideas, where opposing viewpoints are put up for challenge and debate, not snuffed out," he said. "The college campus should be where you engage with people who think differently than you, not where you accept only those who share your views."

Members of the University community gathered to watch the livestream across all three campuses.

Before the livestream, Barbara Trueger, president of the Rutgers Graduate School of Education (GSE) Alumni Association who watched the event from the Rutgers Club on Livingston Campus, said she hoped to hear Holloway's short- and long-term plans for the University, especially concerning its diversity and prestige.

Trueger said Holloway has been modernizing the University through his diversity, equity and inclusion work. She expressed admiration for Holloway and his vision.

After Holloway concluded his remarks, Jordan Cohen, co-chair of the Rutgers Alumni Association Membership Services Committee, who watched the livestream from the Rutgers Club, reflected on Holloway's presidency.

Cohen said it is difficult to identify a president's legacy in the middle of their term, but Holloway's work will leave a lasting impact, especially with the medical school. Additionally, he said Holloway does well at focusing on service in the global community as well as Rutgers' reputation in academia.

Samantha Simon, a School of Arts and Sciences junior who watched the address from The Yard @ College Avenue, said the topics Holloway discussed were not priorities of the student population. She said she views Holloway as a political figure focused on financial gains rather than student interests.

"I noticed he mentioned that we had the largest incoming freshman class as if that was a good thing," Simon said. "Meanwhile, it seems to be impacting students negatively with traffic, housing, buses and registration," she said.

Both Cohen and Trueger said they are satisfied with the University's use of alumni donations. Trueger added that alumni can select where their funds go.

Trueger said she provides funds to the University and stays involved as an alum to give back. Furthermore, she said recent and future alumni should donate to the University as their donations help provide opportunities to students and aid in Rutgers' growth.

"If I could share with others my experiences and my knowledge base and exude from others who have graduated from the GSE their thoughts, their motivation, their drives into activities to develop more of a larger community, that would be wonderful," Trueger said.

Cohen said he also donates to the University because many Rutgers students cannot afford to attend. He said if every Rutgers alum donated even $5, they could make a significant difference.

"When you graduate from Rutgers, you're not leaving the community. You are just joining a larger community," Cohen said.

Audrey Truschke, professor and director of the Asian Studies program at Rutgers—Newark, said the administration's popularizing of the phrase "beloved community" is performative.

"A beloved community in a university setting is a community with support, solidarity and equality," she said. "A community that listens to one another, not just to then ignore the voices (they) have just heard and do it (their) way anyways, but a community that listens and then changes how it acts and the policies that it has. I think President Holloway talks a really nice game … but without action, it's just hollow words."

Truschke, a member of the Rutgers University Senate, said that beyond talking about University conditions, she wanted Holloway to propose steadfast responses to issues raised in the Senate's no-confidence vote last month.

She also expressed other concerns about the format of the stakeholder address and its significance to the Senate and University community.

She said typically, the President presents an annual speech to the Senate. But this year, Holloway informed the Senate, a decision he attributed to the Senate's decision to host meetings online, that the stakeholder address would substitute the Senate address.

Truschke said Holloway's logic does not make sense given that the stakeholder address could only be attended virtually, and said the stakeholder address is not a suitable replacement for the Senate address.

Opting not to address the Senate is another way University leadership disregards the University community’s voices and defers more authority to its administration, she said.

"The reason that he needs to address the Senate, specifically, is because one of the major roles, arguably the major role of the Senate, is to give advice to the President about how to run the University," Truschke said. "It's really hard to give advice to somebody who literally won't show up and talk to you … it's a huge middle finger to the Senate, which is to say to the Rutgers community because the Senate represents the Rutgers community at large."