Rutgers Alumni Association To Induct 2026 Loyal Sons & Loyal Daughters On Saturday, April 18th

A 68-year tradition, the Loyal Sons and Loyal Daughters of Rutgers are individuals who have made a meaningful and long-standing commitment towards the betterment of Rutgers, The State University through extraordinary alumni service or by making a significant impact on University life and culture. Nominations are made by existing Loyal Sons & Daughters, and the finalists named by a special selection committee. Founded in 1831, the Rutgers Alumni Association (RAA) is the nation's 4th oldest alumni association serving over 200,000 alumni on the New Brunswick/Piscataway campus of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.

The honorees will be inducted during a black tie affair to be held at Rutgers University’s Livingston Campus Center in Piscataway, NJ on Saturday, April 18, 2026.

The 2026 Loyal Sons and Loyal Daughters who will be recognized on April 18 are:

Hollis Alphonso Copeland Jr. RC '78: While mainly known for his key role with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights’ incredible men’s basketball team’s 1975-1976 Final Four run, Copeland has given back to Rutgers in a myriad of unparalleled ways. He served with distinction as a long standing member of University’s Board of Trustees before more recently joining the Board of Governors. Copeland has served as a member and chair of the Board of Governors’ Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics, actively looking after the interests of Rutgers Athletics teams and mentoring its student-athletes. Copeland resides in Ewing, NJ.

Anthony Covington SAS '15; RBS '15: Covington’s volunteer commitment to Rutgers began as an undergraduate with his involvement with the Chi Psi fraternity, Rutgers Student Government, volunteer first responder with Rutgers Emergency Services, a Student Charter Trustee on the Rutgers Board of Trustees. Covington became an alumni trustee member of the board and has been an indispensable resource to fellow Board members and University Administration. Covington, a resident of Montclair, NJ has also served on the Rutgers-Camden Board of Directors as Vice Chair and currently serves Rutgers-Newark as a Chancellor Advisory Board member and as a member of the Rutgers University Foundation’s Board of Directors.

Christiana Foglio DC '84; BSPPP '86: Since graduating from Douglass College, Foglio has devoted herself to serving the Rutgers University community through her service on the Rutgers University Board of Trustees, the Rutgers University Foundation Board of Directors and the Cancer Institute of New Jersey Director's Advisory Board. Over the years, Foglio has given generously to the Douglass Residential College BOLD Center for Leadership, Career and Personal Development and their annual BOLD Career Conference for students which is named in her honor.

Foglio was also a member of the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy Advisory Board and is a contributor to the Bloustein School Academic Excellence Fund and Bloustein's Healthy Communities Initiative Fund. She also established the Chris R. Foglio Annual Graduate Fellowship in Planning, which supports female graduate students enrolled in the Master of City and Regional Planning program. Foglio resides in Princeton, NJ.

Jim Kelly RC'79; RBS'81: A resident of Edison, NJ, Kelly has played a pivotal role in shaping the future of the Rutgers Alumni Association (RAA) through his leadership of the organization’s Long Range Planning committee and work on their strategic plan. Kelly also served as co-chair of the RAA’s Nominations Committee, ensuring that the next generation of RAA leaders is well-prepared to carry the Association forward. Kelly was one of the drivers in pushing for wider social media outreach for the RAA through LinkedIn. As part of this workstream, Jim’s insights into developing webinars for students and recent graduates helped shape content that was not only practical but deeply empowering for participants. His suggestion to incorporate examples from well-developed student profiles and his emphasis on self reflection as a foundation for professional networking were instrumental in making those sessions impactful for undergraduates and recent graduates.

Sheila Kelly Hampton DC '70: Since graduating from Douglass College over 55 years ago, Hampton has been steadfast in her commitment to the Associate Alumnae of Douglass College (AADC), her class and fellow Douglass alumnae. She served as president of the AADC from 2004 to 2008 and on the AADC Board of Directors as Vice President for Development and Public Relations. Hampton, a resident of Millburn, NJ is the recipient of the AADC Medal, Margaret T. Corwin Award and the Alumnae Recognition Award. The Sheila Kelly Hampton Prize for Student Leadership was created in 2009 to honor undergraduates embodying her passion and efforts for the Douglass Residential Community. Hampton received the AADC’s Vanguard Service Award in 2021.

Joshua P. Weiss RC'96: Cabaret Theatre is Rutgers University’s oldest student-run theater company. Founded in 1975, Cabaret has been an instrumental part of the college experience for five decades-worth of alumni, and has served as a training ground for award-winning Broadway, TV, and film professionals. However, were it not for Joshua P. Weiss’s thirty years of tireless volunteer work, the organization’s history, alumni network, and archives would be scattered to the wind. Like so many students before and after him, Joshua found his experience with Cabaret Theatre to be transformational.

Recognizing Cabaret’s foundational role in Rutgers University’s arts community, he wanted to preserve its legacy for alumni and posterity. Instead of his 1996 graduation from Rutgers College marking the end of his journey with the organization, he made it the beginning of his role as its de facto historian. Joshua painstakingly compiled an archive of programs, posters, and photographs from past shows, along with bios and contact information of alumni. When the organization faced a post-pandemic financial shortfall, Joshua united with alumni from the last five decades to plan a 50th anniversary celebration and put Cabaret Theatre back on solid financial footing. Nearly 200 alumni gathered to reconnect, raise money, and re-engage with Cabaret -- none of which could have happened without Joshua’s years of dedicated research, documentation, and community building.

The RAA’s Loyal Sons & Daughters Award is its highest recognition of service. Recipients are individuals who have made a meaningful and long-standing contribution to the betterment of Rutgers by performing extraordinary volunteer service or by making a significant impact on university life and culture.

For more information about the Loyal Sons & Daughters gala and the Rutgers Alumni Association, please visit www.rutgersalumni.org.