NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ—Rutgers University is holding its fifth annual Rutgers Day festival today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Rutgers Day includes exhibits, performances and activities from a variety of University clubs and student organizations.

Last year, 75,000 visitors of all ages attended Rutgers Day to learn firsthand about the university’s range of research and service and to enjoy perennial favorites like Ag Field Day on Cook campus, the Engineering Open House on Busch campus, the New Jersey Folk Festival on Douglass Campus, and Zimmerli Family Day at the school’s art museum.

This year, attendees can witness the start of a new tradition: the Rutgers Day parade.  The parade will start at 11 a.m. at Brower Commons and make its way down College Avenue through Voorhees Mall towards Hamilton Street, concluding at the historic Old Queens building.

In addition, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team will be kicking off their annual Scarlet-White spring football game at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway at 3 p.m.

Twenty-two children affected by Hurricane Sandy will be chosen to play the final five minutes of the game. Fans will be encouraged to make a $5 donation to the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund upon entering the gates.

Among the other events today that Rutgers is encouraging reporters to promote:

  • Busch Campus is home to the annual Engineering Open House and boasts dozens of interactive events all day long. Don’t miss the thrilling chemistry demonstrations at the Wright-Rieman Laboratories at 11 a.m., 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. Fly high with a flight simulation program to get a sense of how planes work. Or if you’d rather stay closer to the ground, check out the Rutgers Navigator, a robot designed and programmed by students.
  • As part of a nationwide campaign to discourage texting while driving, AT&T’s special, in-vehicle texting simulator will make a stop during Rutgers Day @ High Point Solutions Stadium, Scarlet Knight Way, Piscataway. The ongoing public service campaign, “It Can Wait,” was launched by AT&T to address a dangerous practice that puts millions of Americans at risk: texting while driving. The software is able to recreate real-life driving scenarios including pedestrians crossing the street, red lights, and cars changing lanes on the road. At the conclusion of each simulation, students will view a scorecard showing their performance, further emphasizing the dangers of texting and driving.
  • Visit the Rutgers Oral History Archive to record your Hurricane Sandy story for the statewide “Stories from the Storm” initiative. The ROHA team will be stationed just outside Van Dyck Hall on Voorhees Mall on the College Avenue Campus.
  • Ever wonder how a life-sized Barbie would look? Rutgers Project Heal, a student group that focuses on eating disorders and body image, will unveil a 5’ 4” Barbie constructed using a wooden frame, chicken wire and paper maché. It will be on display on the College Avenue Campus near Bishop House.
  • Ambassador Camillo Gonsalves, permanent representative to the United Nations for St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), will visit the annual New Jersey Folk Festival and speak from the Skylands Stage on Douglass Campus at 12:20 p.m. This year’s festival will feature the music and culture of the Garifuna people of Central America. The Garifuna, who are descendants of Carib, Arawak and West African people, were exiled by the British from SVG to Central America. They now live in Belize, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras. UNESCO proclaimed Garifuna culture a masterpiece of oral and intangible heritage in 2001.
  • Bring your unused and expired medications to Operation Medicine Cabinet near Lipman Hall on the Douglass Campus and the Rutgers University Police Department will safely dispose of them.

Due to expected high attendance, the Rutgers Police Department has issued a traffic advisory for the surrounding area.