Alum Who Works for the ACLU Is Named a Gates Cambridge Scholar
Cassandra Vega, who graduated from Rutgers-New Brunswick in 2024, will pursue a master of philosophy degree in education at the University of Cambridge
Cassandra “Cassie” Vega, a civic engagement organizer for the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and a 2024 alum of Rutgers University-New Brunswick, is heading to the United Kingdom to pursue graduate-level studies as a Gates Cambridge Scholar.
The scholarship, one of the most prestigious international postgraduate opportunities available, is awarded to outstanding students from outside the United Kingdom and covers the full cost of studying at the University of Cambridge in England.
Vega, whose mother attended Rutgers and is a longtime employee of the university (first at the Center for Women's Global Leadership, then with Rutgers Libraries, said she is “incredibly grateful” for the scholarship, which is funded by the Gates Foundation (formerly the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation).
“It is more than just an award for me,” said Vega, who attended the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences and Douglass Residential College and majored in political science with minors in Latino and Caribbean studies as well as women’s and gender studies. “It’s an award for my family. It’s an award for my community. It’s an award for every single professor and every single teacher I’ve ever had.”
As a staffer with the ACLU of New Jersey, Vega supports the group’s political advocacy team, works with volunteers and organizes “Get Out the Vote” events for statewide elections, which take place every year. The 23-year-old will spend nine months at Cambridge pursuing a master of philosophy degree in education with a concentration in knowledge, power and politics.
“I will study how nontraditional education systems can be used to improve civic engagement and create a politically informed public,” she said. “When we think of education, we think of K-12, then college. There is this misconception that education abides by rigid structures, and that there are only specific periods of time in which you can learn. I believe that learning is so much more than that. It is a lifelong process that we participate in every day.”
Vega, whose hometown is South Brunswick, N.J., is the 12th Rutgers-New Brunswick student to be awarded a Gates Cambridge Scholarship.
Established in 2000, the Gates Cambridge Scholarship program selects roughly 80 scholars annually based on exceptional academic ability, leadership potential and a commitment to improving the lives of others. The scholarships cover all fees and living expenses for a student’s master degree or doctoral studies at the research university, which is about 60 miles north of London.
“We are so proud of Cassie and look forward to the great things she will accomplish at Cambridge,” said Rutgers-New Brunswick Chancellor Francine Conway. “Rutgers is the place where access and excellence come together to help students like Cassie fulfill their highest ambitions.”
We are so proud of Cassie and look forward to the great things she will accomplish at Cambridge.
Francine Conway
Chancellor of Rutgers-New Brunswick
Vega said as a participant in the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs in New York City last year, a friend of hers “really pushed me” to apply for the scholarship “because I came in every day talking about how frustrated I was with the world and the spread of misinformation and disinformation. People were uninformed, and I was increasingly disheartened at the state of our democracy. At some point she said, ‘You should do something about it.’”
Vega said she then came across a program at Cambridge focused on knowledge, power and politics within education.
“It is perfectly aligned with everything I'm passionate about and everything I believe in,” she said. “And the Gates Cambridge community is specifically focused on how to make the world a better place through different fields of study, adding another layer of intellectual diversity.”
She added, “Education is the bedrock of democracy. Without an informed and engaged public, there is no accountability, and we are seeing the ramifications of this with each passing day. This program explores how education is governed, understood, spread, and a key to peace and justice internationally.”
Vega kept busy as an undergraduate at Rutgers-New Brunswick. A member of honor societies Phi Beta Kappa, Cap and Skull, Pi Sigma Alpha and Iota Iota Iota, she participated in the
Lloyd C. Gardner Fellowship Program, the Undergraduate Associate Program at the Eagleton Institute of Politics and the Institute for Women's Leadership's Leadership Scholars Program.
When we think of education, we think of K-12, then college. There is this misconception that education abides by rigid structures, and that there are only specific periods of time in which you can learn. I believe that learning is so much more than that. It is a lifelong process that we participate in every day.
Cassandra Vega
Gates Cambridge Scholar
A founding executive board member of the Women's Pre-Law Society, Vega was a member of the Douglass Welcome Ambassadors and an ambassador of the Public Leadership Education Network at Douglass. She also is a member of the board of the Associate Alumnae of Douglass College.
Vega also helped form the Fellows in Racial Justice Learning Community alongside professors Carlos Decena and Michelle Stephens. Operated through the Institute for the Study of Global Racial Justice, the university-wide undergraduate program mentors and trains students to be intellectual activists.
“I am incredibly proud of the work we did there,” she said.
Vega, who plans to study law and become a civil rights lawyer, said she is grateful to educators and administrators at Rutgers, crediting professors Bailey Eaise and Saladin Ambar, both with the Department of Political Science, as well as Anne Wallen, director of the Office of Distinguished Fellowships at Rutgers-New Brunswick.
She added it is important to remember that academic awards such as the Gates Cambridge Scholarship aren’t just about individuals.
“They are about the people in communities that make up an individual,” Vega said. “So, anyone who's ever been part of my story has won this scholarship and will be with me in Cambridge this fall.”
