"all black lives matter" printed in large yellow letters across a newark street

A Social Justice Champion

Rutgers University-Newark is focused on social justice in higher education. We're creating teaching and learning environments that support all students equitably without regard to race-ethnicity, gender identity, religion, or learning potential.

Image c/o Arturo Holmes/Getty Images | "All Black Lives Matter" Community Painting Day on June 27, 2020 in Newark, New Jersey. 

Dedicated to Social Justice

We proudly proclaim ourselves a school dedicated to social justice. America is transforming demographically, culturally and politically, and today’s students are seizing their power to shape the future. That means building a world where there is true equality of opportunity for people of all backgrounds. We know the lived experience of ours students, and their insights into society’s greatest challenges, positions them to create great change—globally and in their communities. Rutgers-Newark is not an “ivory tower,” where students and faculty are isolated from the people and places outside its walls. As an anchor institution, we dissolve traditional boundaries between academia and the urban centers where many universities are located. Our students and faculty are an integral part of the city, collaborating and partnering with leaders and residents. We are immersed in—and contribute to—Newark’s civic, cultural and economic life.

Social Justice in Higher Education

As an unmatched engine of social mobility, higher education also can be an engine of social justice. By opening up the doors to educational opportunity, colleges and universities provide means to overcome injustice and pave the way for new generations to do the same. Rutgers-Newark's expansive network of pathway programs was created to do exactly that.

speaker at podium in fredrick douglass field

Creating a Social Justice Degree

At Rutgers-Newark, any academic program can help advance social justice—through study, research, and action in the public sphere, or by opening doors to opportunity that are too often closed. From the Social Justice Minor offered through our Honors Living-Learning Community to degree programs in the arts and humanities, physical, social, and biological sciences, and the professions, these avenues exist in every one of our schools.

masked students at podium

Social Justice Careers

If each one of us is called upon the be the change we want to see in the world, we can start with exploring how we leverage what we learn. Many generations of Rutgers-Newark alumni have used their education to forge careers in policy-making, civic engagement, entrepreneurship, art, science, advocacy, activism, education and public administration. Others have worked to enhance equity and inclusion in fields that aren’t normally associated with social justice, such as accounting or geology. Every day, they make a difference with the work the do.

man in front of building

Social Justice Research

Drawing social lines between insiders and outsiders is as old as human society itself—and, unfortunately, so is the perpetuation of injustice based on identity. Colleges and universities have a pivotal role to play in identifying these injustices and the social structures that perpetuate them, as well as in devising solutions to dismantle them. Rutgers-Newark’s faculty, staff, and students do that every day, bringing their expertise to the table with others to create a more just and peaceful world.

warmly-dressed woman holding a basket of fruit