TCNJ

23 FALL 2018 ARCELIO APONTE '85 FISCAL ACE AT RUTGERS-NEWARK Arcelio Aponte's mother was 27 when her husband died, leaving her with six children under the age of 11. "Of all the challenges I've had in my life, I think about my mom and the challenges that she faced and I come to realize that my issues pale in comparison," says Aponte, the third oldest, who grew up in the Hyatt Court projects in Newark. He was a senior at East Side High School, expecting to join the Marines or work in a factory, when a friend who had an appointment with an EOF counselor at Trenton State convinced him to take a day off from school and come along. His friend wasn't accepted. Aponte was. "In the entire housing complex of kids I grew up with, I knew of only two others who went to college," says Aponte, who earned a bachelor's in electrical engineering technology from TSC and then an MBA from Rutgers. Under Mayor Cory Booker's administration, he was named Newark's director of operations for housing development. Now the Senior Vice Chancellor for Administra- tion, Economic Development, and Chief Financial Officer for Rutgers University–Newark, he also serves as president of the New Jersey State Board of Education. "Many of them are the first in their families to attend college," he says of the Rutgers–Newark students. "That resonates with me for obvious reasons, so I'm particularly passionate for the work we do here."

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