https://www.nj.com/education/2024/05/black-thought-sends-off-rutgers-newark-graduates-in-rousing-commencement-ceremony.html

EDUCATION


Black Thought sends off Rutgers-Newark graduates in rousing commencement ceremony


Updated: May. 15, 2024, 4:46 p.m.|Published: May. 15, 2024, 4:35 p.m.
Rutgers-Newark grads cap college years with commencement speech from Black Thought


Tariq Luqmaan Trotter, known as the artist Black Thought, was Rutgers-Newark's commencement speaker during Wednesday's ceremony at the Prudential Center in Newark.Ed Murray| For NJ Advance Media


By Jackie Roman | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com


Rutgers-Newark conferred degrees to one of the largest classes in its history Wednesday in a commencement ceremony at the Prudential Center in Newark capped off with a speech by hip hop icon Tariq Trotter, the musician known as Black Thought.

Trotter is the Grammy Award-winning co-founder and lead emcee of The Roots, a group he formed in 1987 with Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson.


The prolific poet and musician called on Rutgers-Newark’s more than 3,000 graduates to chart their own futures.

“You all will be the ones shifting the world for my generation,” said Trotter. “Right now, we have fear. No one knows how we’re going to come out on the other side of all this hurt that has been growing in our chests since well before 2020.”

The Rutgers-Newark Class of 2024 will be the ones helping guide society on the other side, he said.

“You are the authors of the new myth borne out of the collapse of the old world, a myth that will finally connect us all,” said Trotter.

The Newark campus’ commencement included only a portion of Rutgers University’s total graduates for 2024. On Sunday, the New Brunswick campus’ ceremony awarded degrees to 13,300 students. Rutgers has a total of 17,970 graduates across the state this year.


Rutgers-Camden held its ceremony Tuesday at the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden with commencement speaker Brian Bridges, the state’s secretary of higher education.

On Sunday, Rutgers-New Brunswick’s commencement ceremony at SHI Stadium in Piscataway included a walkout by pro-Palestinian protesters. At least 60 graduates exited the ceremony after the commencement speaker’s address. Many of the protesters wore keffiyehs, the traditional Middle Eastern headdress popular among pro-Palestinian campus activists.


The demonstration was not planned by any specific Rutgers group, according to protesters who participated. Several college commencements around the nation have been disrupted by protests tied to the Israel-Hamas war.


A graduate carries the flag of Palestine during Rutgers-Newark commencement Wednesday at the Prudential Center in Newark.Ed Murray| For NJ Advance Media

There was no walkout during the Rutgers-Newark commencement ceremony on Wednesday. But, some students decorated their caps with pro-Palestinian images and several graduates carried a Palestinian flag on stage with them while claiming their degrees.

Two graduates walked on the stage holding a cardboard cutout that said “Disclose, Divest,” referring the protesters’ calls for Rutgers to divest its investments from companies tied to Israel.

This year’s Rutgers commencements followed a large pro-Palestinian encampment on the Rutgers-New Brunswick campus that was set up by students demanding the university divest its investments from companies tied to Israel. The protesters voluntarily disbanded the encampment May 2 after successfully getting some of their demands met by Rutgers officials, though the school did not agree to divestment.


A similar pro-Palestinian encampment on the Rutgers-Newark campus, which started May 1st, was still ongoing Wednesday morning. The encampment has grown to more than two dozen tents. Protesters were gathered in tents or under tarps Wednesday as graduation ceremonies in Newark continued.

Rutgers Endowment Justice Collective, a coalition of Rutgers organizations advocating for divestment from companies with ties to Israel, posted calls on social media Tuesday for additional protesters to join the Rutgers-Newark encampment outside the university’s Center for Law and Justice building, between University Avenue and Washington Street.

The graduate students speaker at Rutgers-Newark’s commencement said the Class of 2024 has been through a lot in their years at the school, which began during the pandemic.

“When reflecting on our journey, we realize that success is not easily obtainable,” said Malayja Brown, the graduate student speaker.

“However, the challenges we have faced on our journey to get here have only made us stronger and prepared for the life that awaits,” said Brown.

The Prudential Center’s Jumbotron displayed photos of students decorating their graduation caps and celebrating the final days of college.

More than 3,100 students will receive degrees, certificates and diplomas from Rutgers-Newark this year, including 393 doctoral students and 944 master’s degree students. This year’s graduating class consisted of students from 32 different countries.


Rutgers-Newark's Class of 2024 was one of the most diverse in its history, with graduates from 32 different countries around the world. Ed Murray| For NJ Advance Media

Undergraduate student speaker Ghufran Hussain, a first-generation Iraqi immigrant, touched on the current political and social climate.

“Throughout our four years, many of our lives have been touched by national discord and global conflicts that reach from our distant lands that we hold close to our hearts, to the communities in which we live today. Among these conflicts are the ongoing injustices in Palestine, Sudan, Congo, Haiti, Ukraine and other regions throughout the world,” said Hussain.


“Throughout the challenges and the loss we have faced, we continue to forge a path of resilience,” said Hussain.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who announced a bid for governor in March, called on graduates not to shy away from the public discourse.

“The world is once again repeating history, fighting on college campuses. And I will tell you this, if we can’t disagree at a university, if ideas can’t contend in college, if we can’t have different points of view at institutions of higher education, then we are in trouble,” Baraka said.

“So, hopefully you go out into this world and attack the things that are holding us back and preventing us from being together, and create opportunities for all,” Baraka said. “I need you to walk out of this university as your best self, your best mind, the highest elevation of who you could be, and begin to fight for justice, equity, freedom, and equality for all Americans.”

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