Named after William Livingston, the first post-colonial governor of New Jersey, Livingston College opened in 1969 as the first coeducational, residential, liberal arts college at the New Brunswick-Piscataway campuses of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. (The college's official founding date of 1965, seen in its "Strength Through Diversity" logo, reflects when Rutgers committed to opening the college, which occurred four years later.)
The university states: "Livingston embodied the spirit of social responsibility and cultural awareness demanded by students of the time." The college was created in response to the socio-political changes in the United States during the 1960s, including addressing the needs of African-American and Puerto Rican students as well as of non-traditional white students that well not well served by Rutgers College and Douglass College.[2] It was seen as a "safe" experimental college because it was part of a 200-year-old university. Livingston College established several academic departments at Rutgers University including Journalism, and Urban Studies and Planning.[2]
Like the other former liberal arts colleges—Douglass College, Rutgers College, University College (Rutgers University), and the liberal arts facet of Cook College—Livingston College maintained requirements for admission, good standing, and graduation distinct from the other colleges. In 1982 Rutgers merged the faculties from these various colleges into a new Faculty of Arts and Sciences. By the turn of the century, many in the university's community questioned whether these multiple colleges and their disparate academic requirements had become redundant and inefficient. Livingston College ceased to exist with a 2007 merger which created the School of Arts and Sciences, but students who had enrolled prior to the merger still earned Livingston College degrees until the college's final graduation ceremony in May 2010.[1]
Academics
Livingston College offered its students over 60 majors to choose from, with a focus on liberal arts.[1]
Honors program
Livingston College invited students to apply, or selected students based upon grades, into the Livingston College Honors Program. The honors program was led by the honors dean of the college. Honors students were required to take honors colloquia courses in addition to their required, general undergraduate coursework. By the end of a traditional four-year undergraduate degree, honors students were also expected to complete an undergraduate honors thesis.
In 2007, the Livingston College Honors Program, along with the other honors programs of Rutgers University's colleges, merged into the School of Arts and Sciences (SAS) Honors Program.
Pedro Guanikeyu Torres (1973-1977) Is a Native American Tribal Government Representative and a Taino Native American Indian Civil Rights activist and former Native Actor (1973–76) with the Livingston College Guazabara Theater Group, was first Native American Indian to graduate in 1977 in full Native American ceremonial regalia, Star Ledger Newspaper article "A Cap of a Different Color".
Lisa Naugle (1977)—dance improvisor and choreographer[1]
Byron Scott (1981) Broadcast Journalist with 1010WINS, WHYY-TV-12, National Black Network Radio, Fox 61 WTIC, WPHL 17 Philadelphia, PA, WCAU NBC10 Philthe a. PA, WWOR-TV, FOX 5 New York, The Washington Afro-American Newspaper
^ abcdefghijkl"College History". Livingston Alumni Association of Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey. 23 September 2013. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
