The first official naturalization ceremony at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey for 34 citizenship candidates. Rutgers was founded as Queen’s College in 1766 – 10 years before American independence.

Citizenship candidates from China, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, India, Italy, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Poland, Republic of Georgia, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Ukraine. Candidates live in Middlesex and Somerset counties.

From Rutgers, Anastasia ‘Stacy’ Mann, assistant research professor and director of the Program on Immigration and Democracy, Eagleton Institute of Politics, and Katherine de la Merced (Class of 2013), a member of the Voorhees Choir who will sing the national anthem.

John E. Thompson, district director of the Newark Field Office, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Department of Homeland Security (who received his master’s and doctoral degrees from Rutgers), will present the candidates for naturalization. Randi Borgen, USCIS field office director, will administer the Oath of Allegiance.

This semester, The Eagleton Program on Immigration and Democracy launched “Citizenship Rutgers,” an opportunity for legal, permanent residents to apply for U.S. citizenship. Free information sessions open to Rutgers students, staff, faculty and friends were held on the New Brunswick, Newark and Camden campuses. Immigration lawyers reviewed eligibility on an individual basis, and applicants received assistance completing paperwork in various languages. They also received free photocopies of documents and photographs.

New Jersey, among the most diverse states in the nation, is home to 1.7 million foreign-born residents, of which about 400,000 are legal, permanent residents and are eligible to be naturalized under U.S. law.