Rutgers-Newark Students Greet Kamala Harris At NJ Airport

NEWARK, NJ — It’s a “powerful” feeling to know that the vice president wants to say hello.

This sentiment from a university administrator at Rutgers-Newark was on the minds of many of the 100 or so people invited to greet Kamala Harris on the tarmac of Newark Airport on Wednesday.

The crowd, which included Newark residents in addition to Rutgers students, got a chance to greet Harris as she descended from Air Force Two and headed to a fundraising event in Paramus. Afterward, she taped a spot on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" in New York City.

Rutgers-Newark administrators said that the day before Harris’ plane landed in Newark, the vice-president’s staff contacted them, asking if a group of students, staff and faculty could be at the airport to meet her when she arrived.

They didn’t disappoint.

“[The vice president] looks for opportunities whenever possible to engage with residents and community groups, and this was one of those opportunities,” a White House official said. “We were thrilled the Rutgers-Newark students were able to join her.”

In addition to dozens of community members, about 20 students were able to attend, along with a handful of campus staff and leadership.

“The fact that she reached out to Rutgers is very powerful,” said Shante Palmer, Rutgers-Newark vice chancellor for external and governmental relations.

Palmer said that Rutgers staff were asked to assemble a group of students, particularly any Greek organizations that were part of the “Divine Nine,” a group of historically Black fraternities and sororities which Harris has often touted.

Some of the students who greeted Harris at Newark Airport were members of Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA), the Black sorority she pledged in 1986 while attending Howard University.

For AKA member Sophia Kondilas, meeting Harris was an unforgettable moment.

“I feel like I’m part of history now,” said Kondilas, a fourth-year student and criminal justice major.

As Harris made her way through the crowd, Kondilas mentioned that her AKA mentor – Inez Brown of Bloomfield – was Harris’s “line sister” who pledged with her at Howard 37 years ago.

“She was very excited and said she still has a close relationship with all of her line sisters,” Kondilas said.

AKA member Tiffani Bennett said that she believes Harris has always shined a light on Black Greek organizations because of the tremendous odds they overcame to establish themselves in 1937, when the The National Pan-Hellenic Council was founded.

The groups provided solidarity at a time when African-American students, especially women, were denied rights on college campuses, Bennett said.

“We were able to stand there when others were telling us to leave,” said Bennett, a Rutgers Business School student who will graduate this year.

Additional student groups that were there to meet Harris included the Student Government Association, Black Organization of Students, Inter Fraternity and Sorority Council, and RU Dreamers.

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