Special Election for Presidential Search Committee Representatives
The Senate will vote at the Fri. Nov. 15 Senate meeting to choose two potential candidates for a Senate representative to the Presidential Search Committee. Of those two, the Presidential Search Committee will select the final Senate representative. Click on the nominees’ names below to read their campaign statements.
Presidential Search Committee Representatives (Elect Two)
Adnan Alkhalili, School of Arts and Sciences-NB, Student
Taryn Cooper, Camden Staff
Thomas Figueira, School of Arts and Sciences-NB, Faculty
Lucille Foster, Newark Staff
Fred Hoffman, Rutgers Business School:Undergraduate NB, Faculty
Gary Santos Mendoza, Newark Staff
Heather Pierce, Lecturer-New Brunswick, Faculty
Audrey Truschke, School of Arts and Sciences – Newark, Faculty
Campaign Statements
Presidential Search Committee Representatives
Adnan Alkhalili, School of Arts and Sciences-NB, Student
As a deeply involved Palestinian Muslim student and a proud Arab, I believe my perspective brings a valuable layer of representation to this process. The committee already has experienced faculty and panel leaders, but having a student who not only understands the student body but also brings a voice from the Palestinian and broader Arab communities could strengthen our efforts to select a leader who resonates with our diverse campus.
Being an active part of the university community, I understand the importance of balancing student and faculty interests. I’m confident that my background and personal connection to current global and campus issues would allow me to serve as an effective advocate and mediator for a range of voices and concerns.
Taryn Cooper, Camden Staff
Now more than ever, the concept of shared governance is a crucial piece to an equitable and transparent relationship between administration and its constituents. During my time on the Senate, I have seen numerous examples of the positive impact our advisory body can have on the President and his cabinet. I have also seen how our group has grown from difficult conversations and uncomfortable scenarios. I view this position on the Presidential Search Committee as a new beginning, a clean slate, and opportunity for a reliable and functional relationship with the prospective president of Rutgers University. If I am selected to serve in this capacity, it is my number one priority to ensure that shared governance is at the forefront of my input. It is a non-negotiable item that the next president truly understands the value Rutgers University has in hosting multiple campuses; each with unique and individual stories to tell. To even begin to understand the unique complexities of this University, we must have access to thoughtful conversations aimed towards the betterment of the Rutgers community. Thank you for your time in reading this statement and for your consideration.
Thomas Figueira, School of Arts and Sciences-NB, Faculty
Virtually my whole career has been in Rutgers service. Among my many successes has been mentoring our most recent Gates Fellow to Cambridge and Ertegun Fellow to Oxford (to single out from many joyous outcomes). I am unconditionally committed to quality teaching and research for all, advancing intellectual freedom, protecting academic rights, and supporting accountability. As a historian, I can contribute to the presidential search a truer history of Rutgers with profound humanistic engagement. Why not have the Rutgers Senate represented by a senior scholar offering counsel without self-promotion, whose international academic standing should bring gravity to our presidential search.
I teach classical languages and civilization, and ancient history in the Classics and History Departments (SAS-NB, 1979-) at all levels. I have occupied departmental offices, served on Douglass and Livingston committees (including Chair, Executive Council, Livingston), and as member of SAS and University committees. Add service with AAUP (-AFT), including many committees, long tenure on its Executive Council, with acting as NB-Secretary-Treasurer (2012-14), and NB-President (2014-16). I chaired the Committee on Academic Freedom at Rutgers and was NJ Education Association Chairman at Rutgers. My senate service has been 2008-2013, 2019-2024; also Chair, Budget Oversight Committee (2013) and now cochair, Budget and Finance Committee. On the NBFC, I served 2019-2025 as Chair, Budget, Finance, and Infrastructure. Scholarly accomplishments: 170+ publications (mostly exclusive authorship); scholarship appearing in 19 countries, translated into 6 languages; 43 papers at international conferences since 2000.
Lucille Foster, Newark Staff
I am deeply honored to be nominated to represent our Senate on the Presidential Advisory Search Committee. This is a critical role, one that demands a commitment to detail and an understanding of the complexities involved in selecting a leader for our university. My primary focus will be to help identify a president who embodies the principles of shared governance and who values the voices of all university stakeholders.
As a senator, I understand the vital role our Senate plays across Rutgers University, and I believe that our presence on this committee will emphasize the importance of Senate input in shaping our institution’s future. I am committed to bringing clarity, dedication, and focus to this role, ensuring that our values are integral to the selection process. I promise to meet with each of you throughout this process to ensure that your ideas and views are carried forward. This is a critical role, one that demands a commitment to detail, and an understanding of the complexities involved in selecting a leader for our university. My primary focus will be to help identify a president who embodies the principles of shared governance and values the voices of all university stakeholders.
Our Senate plays a vital role across Rutgers University, and I believe our presence on this committee will underscore the importance of Senate input in shaping our institution’s future. I am committed to bringing clarity, dedication, and focus to this role, ensuring that our values are integral to the selection process.
Fred Hoffman, Rutgers Business School:Undergraduate NB, Faculty
As a first-year University Senator, eight-year professor, and proud forty-year alumnus of Rutgers University, I bring unique insights to our presidential search. My thirty years in the private sector, including leading complex executive searches as a professional recruiter, make me particularly attuned to the search process.
This pivotal moment demands a leader who honors our institution’s legacy while boldly steering us into the future. Our next president must profoundly understand Rutgers’ triple mission as a public land-grant institution, a leading research university, and New Jersey’s state university system. They should demonstrate unwavering commitment to academic excellence while ensuring accessibility for our diverse student body.
Having been part of Rutgers’ evolution in the last decades, I understand the delicate balance between tradition and innovation. As a Big Ten Conference member, Rutgers needs a president who can strengthen our position academically and athletically, leveraging our membership to enhance our national reputation.
The ideal candidate should prioritize faculty development, embrace technological advancement, and expand higher education accessibility for all qualified students. Most importantly, they must possess the financial acumen to navigate our complex budget while securing new funding sources for strategic initiatives, including athletic program development.
As we conduct this search, we must remember that our choice will impact generations of future Scarlet Knights. We must select a leader who embodies Rutgers’ values and can guide us toward even greater achievements in our next chapter.
Gary Santos Mendoza, Newark Staff
I am Gary Santos Mendoza (he/him/his/el), Director of the Intercultural Resource Center and co-chair of the Student Affairs Committee within the Senate; I formally submit my interest in serving as the Senate representative for the University Presidential Search.
In my role at Rutgers-Newark, I have gained valuable experience in campus governance, response, and, most importantly, shaping the vision for our campus, particularly in my capacity as Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Additionally, I have collaborated with alumni and faculty, including serving as an adjunct professor of the Newark Honors Living-Learning Community. My work has earned international recognition through the American College Personnel Association for my contributions as a student affairs practitioner. These experiences have deepened my commitment to Rutgers and its mission and demonstrated my capacity to represent the university’s interests in this important search.
With nearly 15 years of experience in higher education, I possess a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and opportunities universities face today. My background in strategic planning, divisional governance, and fostering collaborative environments has equipped me with the insight needed to help select a president who aligns with Rutgers’ mission and values.
As a potential representative, I am committed and would be honored to ensuring a transparent, inclusive, and thoughtful search process that considers the needs of students, faculty, staff, and the broader university community. I aim to bring diverse perspectives to the table; help identify a candidate with the academic vision and leadership qualities to guide Rutgers into its next phase of success.
Heather Pierce, Lecturer-New Brunswick, Faculty
As a University Senate representative to the search committee, I pledge to bring regular updates back into our shared governance spaces, and to ensure the will of the Senate is heard and considered by the search committee. I will advocate for the next president of Rutgers to be a leader who will respect and directly engage in shared governance, and who values our students and the high quality support and instruction they need to be successful. I will also commit to elevating the voices of any other students, faculty, staff, and alumni on the search committee.
I currently serve as the faculty representative to the Board of Governors, as a University Senator for Lecturers and as a Lecturer Representative to the NBFC. As a teaching faculty member in the Political Science Department in NB-SAS, I educate hundreds of students each semester, engaging them inside and outside of the classroom. I am also an Executive Board member and the Contract Enforcement Chair for the Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union, and helped negotiate the current union contracts. In these roles, I regularly engage with key stakeholders—students, faculty, staff, and administration—and therefore have a unique perspective that bridges the gaps that have been structurally built into our decentralized institution. My regular interactions in deliberative and learning spaces will allow me to bring not just my own thoughts and concerns to this search but for all those around me who provide the foundation of this university.
Audrey Truschke, School of Arts and Sciences – Newark, Faculty
I will push for shared governance—and especially a greater role for the Senate—under the leadership of the next president of Rutgers. I have advocated for greater shared governance since joining the Senate in 2023 as a representative of Newark-based faculty. I currently chair the Shared Governance Subcommittee, within the University Structure and Governance Committee of the Senate.
Shared governance has been under a multi-pronged attack at Rutgers over the last several years as power is increasingly centralized in the hands of a few. This top-down governance approach has weakened our university and individuals therein across the board. We have seen substantial turnover in university leadership, along with expressions of deep dissatisfaction—from the President of Rutgers to Senate leadership to rank-and-file union faculty and staff members to students—about relations between different constituencies within our University community. That is a failure of leadership, and we need a turnaround. My priority is appointing a president that will lead through collaboration, giving real, substantive power to a broad array of stakeholders across the university.
Rutgers has three major missions –– education, research, and public service — which we pursue through an array of curriculum, programming, events, institutes, centers, and more. Just as our actions within Rutgers University are diverse and diffuse, so too should be the decision-makers who decide how to allocate resources, devise policies, and run our University. Share power will mean an increased role for many groups within Rutgers, and the Senate should stand at the center as the lynch-pin.