Stephen Evarts of Frenchtown, a Social Sciences major who graduated from Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) in May, has been honored by the New Jersey Council of County Colleges (NJCCC) as a recipient of the 2024 New Jersey Council of County Colleges Student of the Year Award.
Evarts was recognized at the NJCCC’s awards dinner on June 11 at Bally’s Atlantic City. He is one of two New Jersey community college graduating students selected for this award, which acknowledges those who have excelled academically, actively engaged in their campus community, and made significant contributions to collegewide initiatives.
Evarts grew up in Hunterdon County and was homeschooled from kindergarten through grade 12. At RVCC, he was actively involved with the college’s Student Government Association, securing a position as a senator for the 2023-2024 academic year. Among his accomplishments were installing five Little Free Libraries across campus and hosting several college events, including a fast fashion education panel and a pop-up thrift shop event.
Evarts’ honors include receiving the Nota Bene award, the Norman Somer Scholarship, and the U.S. State Department’s Critical Language Scholarship. The latter will allow him to study Turkish at the TÖMER Institute in Ankara later this summer. Following this program, Evarts plans to transfer and complete a bachelor’s degree in Linguistics with a focus on language acquisition and cognition.
Raritan Valley Community College, located on Lamington Road in Branchburg, offers approximately 90 associate degrees and certificates, as well as career training and professional development courses.
