Rutgers–Newark Launches STAR Fund Scholarship to Help Students Stay on Track Through a Sudden Expense

Rutgers–Newark Chancellor Tonya Smith-Jackson described the critical need for the newly launched STAR Fund at a gala in honor of the scholarship effort, which will help students overcome unforeseen obstacles, according to the university's own report of the event, read in full by this desk. An acronym for Student Achievement and Resilience, the fund will help students stay on track to earn their degrees despite hardships such as housing and childcare disruptions, food insecurity, and transportation problems, the university said.

Smith-Jackson told an audience of 200 donors, students and community leaders at the gala, held at Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hall on homecoming weekend, that eighty percent of Rutgers–Newark students commute and many are balancing jobs and family obligations, according to the report. Many are first-generation college students, veterans, adult learners, immigrants and students supporting children or relatives while pursuing their education, the university said. In the report, Smith-Jackson said one unexpected expense, an $800 car repair, can derail a student's progress — not for lack of talent or determination, but because the system has no margin for error.

Two student emcees at the event, Esron Holder and Janiyah Smith, emphasized how scholarship support made their own education possible, according to the university. Smith, a first-generation psychology major, Honors Living-Learning Community student and member of the Rutgers–Newark softball team, said financial assistance allowed her to focus on school instead of debt, the report said. Smith-Jackson said the fund emerged from conversations with students, data on student retention, and a year-long effort with Rutgers University Foundation leaders to better understand when students are most vulnerable, according to the report.