2024 Loyal Sons & Daughters

Rosemary Agrista of Meyersville, NJ joined the Livingston Alumni Association’s (LAA) board in 2001 and has been an active volunteer since day one. In 2005, she was asked to become the LAA’s program and events chair. While not having much in the way of past volunteer leadership experience, Rosemary currently serves as a vice president of the LAA and continues to be hands-on with organizing all aspects of the Rutgers All Alumni Theater event, which is supported by a broad array of alumni associations and includes a performance by the Livingston Theatre Company. While the event was started by Jason Goldstein LC ’02 RBS ’05, it has flourished under Rosemary’s leadership and has become a must-do on the calendars of Rutgers alumni, their families and friends. Rosemary has also fought passionately to ensure that Livingston College’s place in the history of Rutgers and its impact on the overall community is enshrined. For her unassuming leadership and passion for bringing alumni from all parts of Rutgers together, Rosemary Agrista is worthy of the designation of Loyal Daughter of Rutgers.

Valerie Anderson of Somerset, NJ, currently serves as the Executive Director of the Associate Alumnae of Douglass College (AADC). Outside of her role, she proudly volunteers her time as an alumnus of Rutgers University. Valerie is a lifetime member of the Rutgers African-American Alumni Alliance (RAAA). She has been an active member on the annual Hall of Fame, recruitment, and planning committees. Anderson served in the planning of the Paul Robeson Centennial Celebrations, the development of the Paul Robeson Plaza and as a donor. She is currently serving with President Holloway, the RAAA, Rutgers University Foundation and Rutgers University Alumni Association to plan the Black Alumni Collective National Conference, which Rutgers will host in 2024. Anderson has been instrumental on the Dr. Jewel Plummer Cobb Women’s Empowerment STEAM conference executive leadership planning committee, which established and organizes an annual conference for Rutgers Students. She helped establish the “Women’s Empowerment Prize”, which provides financial awards and prizes to students for their academic, leadership, and service commitment to Rutgers. Anderson was recognized for her incredible service to the Rutgers community in 2018 when she was awarded the Women of Achievement Award from the New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Clubs (Founder of Douglass College), the recipient of the Sojourner Truth Phenomenal Woman Award from Rutgers Student Affairs and was inducted into the RAAA Hall of Fame.

Anthony Culpepper of Plainfield, NJ has been in service to the Rutgers African-American Alliance (RAAA) for over 20 years. Culpepper’s passion has been to help create a more engaged and inclusive alumni community. His professional background serves as a firm foundation for his work with the RAAA and the Rutgers University student population. Culpepper was the co-founder of the RAAA’s predecessor organization and a founding member of the RAAA in 2004. Formerly, he has served the RAAA as member of the Constituents Concerns Committee, RAAA representative for the Rutgers Alumni Fraternity and Sorority council, Concessions Coordinator, Parliamentarian, By-Laws committee chair, Membership committee chair, co-chair of the RAAA Hall of Fame committee, and team member of the RAAA Paul Robeson Plaza Campaign. Culpepper is the Vice President for the RAAA and has been serving on the RAAA Hall of Fame committee since its inception.

Since graduating from Douglass College, Mary, of Lawrenceville, NJ, has been very active within the Associate Alumnae of Douglass College (AADC) and the University. Mary served as an AADC student mentor, as well as on the AADC Board of Directors and several committees, including the important Fund Development Committee. Mary also represented the AADC on the Rutgers Alumni Federation and was active on its Homecoming and Government Relations Committees. In 2013, Mary was elected to the Rutgers University Board of Trustees and served on its Nominating Committee, Task Force on Assessment, Task Force on Legislative Engagement, and the Executive Committee. Mary was elected Board Chair in 2018 where she helped establish the Board’s fundraising initiative for the Scarlet Promise Grant, which provides financial support to the neediest students at the University. Mary, along with her husband Victor (Cook College ’82) made a gift to help launch this Board initiative. The Board of Trustees recognized her service by electing Mary to be a lifetime Trustee Emeritus. In 2019, she was elected by the Trustees to the Board of Governors, where she serves on the Health Affairs Committee and Joint Committee on Investments, and as a member of the Camden Board of Directors. Mary continues to mentor Rutgers students. In 2023, the AADC selected her to the prestigious Society of Excellence for her outstanding accomplishments.

Since his graduation from Rutgers, Lal, of West Palm Beach, FL, has sought to give back to the university both through volunteering his time and expertise and philanthropically. A champion for the School of Engineering, Lal currently serves on the school’s Industry Advisory Board and in 2022 received the highest honor bestowed by the School of Engineering, the Medal of Excellence. In 2011, Lal was named to the Rutgers University Board of Trustees where he served on numerous committees and task forces. His signature committee assignment was the Joint Committee on Investments where he served for eleven years, eight of them as chair of the committee. During his service on the committee, the Rutgers University endowment grew from $600 million to $2 billion. Lal was a key player in the establishment of the university’s Endowment Office, the university’s efforts to bolster its divestment request procedures and ultimately the university’s divestment from fossil fuels. His tenure on the committee ended when he was elected Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees. In 2022, Lal was elected to serve as Chair of the Board of Trustees where he brought innovative ways to engage Board members during the pandemic. Tilak now serves on the Rutgers University Board of Governors and has returned to serve on the Joint Committee on Investments. The Board of Trustees recognized his service by electing him to be a lifetime Trustee Emeritus. Lal was recently elected to the Rutgers University Board of Directors.

Simone Mack-Bright of Union, NJ currently serves as President of the Rutgers African American Alumni Alliance (RAAA, Inc.), after having held offices of increasing responsibilities. She is a former Senior Counselor for the School of Arts and Sciences Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) program, and she has spearheaded a program that encourages alumni to return to campus and share information about their career paths with incoming EOF students.  Mack-Bright held various positions for the EOF Professional Association of New Jersey (EOFPANJ) and was the founding President of the EOF Statewide Alumni Association (EOFSAA). She chaired and co-chaired a number of statewide professional and student conferences for EOFPANJ.

Mack-Bright has been an active participant of the Connections Pillar subcommittee of the Rutgers Alumni Association’s (RAA) Long Range Planning Committee. Her insight and advice have enabled the RAAA, Inc.  and the RAA to share information and collaborate on events. In October 2023, she co-chair the 20th Annual RAAA, Inc. Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.  She is currently serving on the core planning committee for the Black Alumni Collective National Conference, which Rutgers will host in May 2024. Mack-Bright continues to help students in her current employment as the Associate Director for Transfer Students for the Center for Advising, Persistence and Success (CAPS) in the Division of Student Success and Retention at Kean University.

 Jon Newman of Glen Allen, VA graduated from Rutgers College in 1990, however he started on his journey at Rutgers University in 1978. As an undergraduate, he served as Sports Director at the Rutgers radio station, WRSU, and was a play-by-play announcer across all Rutgers sports. His passion to serve Rutgers and Rutgers student athletes spans over 40 years. The capstone of this service and dedication came in 2022 with the production of the documentary film “Forgotten Champions”, the story of the Lady Knights winning the last AIAW Championship. Newman volunteered his time, his personal network, and financial resources for more than 5 years to make this project a reality. Along the way, he worked tirelessly to raise funding for the project, and the Forgotten Champions team hired professionals, managed the filming and ultimate production of the film which premiered on the BTN Network and at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center in October of 2022. Along the way, the team also hired and trained Rutgers students in all aspects of the production of the documentary. Before the documentary, Newman co-founded the Scarlet Spotlight podcast which for five years covered all things Rutgers Athletics with distinguished guests from Rutgers Athletics history. Newman also helped fund RVision, a live streaming outlet which years later is now the live video production department at Rutgers Athletics. RVision produces all live stream events on B1G+ which are broadcast nationally for 12 Scarlet Knight Athletics programs. A host of students involved in RVision have gone on to work in the sports broadcast industry. Seeking another challenge involving Rutgers, Newman is currently involved with the Knights of The Raritan, Rutgers’ Name, Image and Likeness collective which brings alumni, and other partners together to support Rutgers student athletes. Newman’s long history of service to everything Rutgers and his continued dedication truly merit his recognition as a Loyal Son of Rutgers.

Sandy Stewart of Holly Springs, NC chaired the Board of Trustees in 2015 when a state legislature proposal would change the governance of Rutgers University from its independent status to governance by a state entity. Stewart worked to ensure the Board of Trustees independence and negotiated revisions to the Rutgers Act of 1956 with the state legislators. Stewart chaired the Board of Governors in 2017 and 2018. 2020 was a big year for Stewart, because of his transformational service he was inducted into the university’s Hall of Distinguished Alumni, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters at Rutgers University. Commencement. In recognition of Rutgers’ transformative role in his life, Mr. Steward made a $2.5 million bequest intention to create the Sandy J. Stewart Endowed Equipment and Instruments Fund at Rutgers University–Camden. This gift provides Rutgers-Camden students and faculty with cutting-edge instrumentation often found in core laboratories of the country’s finest universities.