The Committee on Enslaved and Disenfranchised Populations
In November 2015, Chancellor Edwards announced the creation of the Committee on Enslaved and Disenfranchised Populations in Rutgers History.
Chaired by Deborah Gray White, Board of Governors Distinguished Professor of History, the committee has worked diligently to trace the university’s early history and its relationship with local African-American and Native-American communities.
With active participation from students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, faculty, staff, local historians, and librarians, the committee has conducted painstaking research to reexamine the university’s roots, including locating and studying the wills of Rutgers’ founders and benefactors and other archived documents.
The Committee
Chair
Deborah Gray White, Board of Governors Distinguished Professor of History, Rutgers University–New Brunswick, School of Arts and Sciences, Department of History
Director of Research
Marisa Fuentes, Associate Professor, Rutgers–New Brunswick, School of Arts and Sciences, Department of History
Committee Members
Carolina Alonso Bejarano, Lecturer, Rutgers University–Newark, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Women’s Studies
Sonia Brown, Part-time Lecturer, Graduate School of Social Work–New Brunswick
Paul Clemens, Professor, Rutgers–New Brunswick, School of Arts and Sciences, Department of History
John Coakley, Professor of Church History, New Brunswick Theological Seminary
Thomas Frusciano, University Archivist, Rutgers University Libraries
Dionne Higginbotham, Student, Rutgers–New Brunswick, School of Arts and Sciences, Human Resource Management Major
Denajah Hoffman, Student, Rutgers–New Brunswick, School of Arts and Sciences, Anthropology Major
John Keene, Associate Professor, Rutgers–Newark, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of English
Felicia McGinty, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, Rutgers–New Brunswick
Richard Murray, Part-time Lecturer in English, Assistant Director for Marketing and Communications, University Undergraduate Admissions, Rutgers–New Brunswick
Jomaira Salas, Graduate Student and Fellow, Rutgers–New Brunswick, School of Arts and Sciences, Department of Sociology
Karen Stubaus, Rutgers University Vice President for Academic Affairs and Administration and Professor, Rutgers–New Brunswick, School of Arts and Sciences, Department of American Studies
Monica Torres, Student, Rutgers–New Brunswick, School of Arts and Sciences, Latino and Caribbean Studies and Women's and Gender Studies Double Major
Camilla Townsend, Professor, Rutgers–New Brunswick, School of Arts and Sciences, Department of History
Staff Member
Alexis Biedermann, Senior Executive Associate, Rutgers–New Brunswick Office of the Chancellor