Section H9 – SASHP Beloved Community

Shivam Agrawal, Ashlee Bonsi, Dewan Chowdhury, Rosanna Connelly, Zoya Khurram, Thomas Kwok, Daniel Marin, Diya Patel, Isha Patel, Alaka Rajesh, Neel Rana, Gregory Schultz, Anitej Thamma, Cameron Tortajada, Cielo Tumbokon, and Wesley Wu

Facilitator: Amanda Ackerman

You Are

2022
Collage, 20×30 in.
Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences Honors Program
Honors Colloquium Section H9

Rutgers is a large community made up of 40,000 students, but each individual experience is a window to the university’s soul. Different values form and evolve in the midst of the bustling campus life, rigorous academics, and spirited games at SHI Stadium. But the beauty of Rutgers is that each person can find a pocket to fit in and build the blocks that define their Rutgers experience.

We see our project connecting us with the idea of a “beloved community” as it visually represents Rutgers University. Our design is centered around a mirror in a brick wall, with different images displaying university settings, activities, and events on the stones. At the center of our beloved community is each and every individual that attends Rutgers and makes up our community. We see our university as a “window of opportunity” and the bricks represent the foundation on which this community is built on.The initial shaping point for our project was the idea to include a mirror so that the viewer can see themselves in what makes up the university. To evolve the idea, the mirror became a window into a Rutgers building: every student and faculty member is part of the foundation and the community that this university is built upon. To further this, we also decorated the surrounding brick wall with images and words that we believe reflect the idea of our “beloved community,” as they also represent what Rutgers is made of. Our group came up with the final product through a series of discussions and thoughtful planning. We started small with one idea—the mirror—and it metamorphosed as all of our individual ideas, opinions, and thoughts added onto it. This resulted in the various images displayed proudly on the bricks, complimenting the crux of our design: the mirror.Throughout the duration of this project, we’ve learned many skills: from five second brainstorming to label writing, our class has added many new tools to our metaphorical toolbox. The most significant lesson we’ve learned is the realization of how diverse Rutgers is and how we all see our school differently. For some it might be a safe haven to find like minded people and for others, a rigorous academic institution. In coming together to create this project, however, we’ve also learned collaboration, communication, and teamwork skills to produce a unique vision of what Rutgers University and the SAS Honors Program means to us. Links for the images we used are listed below: