Jake Brown ’27 Wins 2024 RAD Friendship Prize

At the Upper School Morning Meeting before Thanksgiving Break, Jake Brown ’27 received the 2024 Russell A. Divak (RAD) Friendship Prize.

The RAD Friendship Prize is awarded annually in honor of RPS alumnus Russell A. Divak ’85. Russell was part of a group of friends at RPS that began playing poker together around 9th grade. In his friend group, Russell was the storyteller and the source of new and unusual information. 

The award was created by Russell’s family and friends to celebrate Russell’s life and, most importantly, the kind of person Russell was. It is given each year to a current student (a freshman, sophomore or junior) who personifies the characteristics of friendship that defined Russell—a genuine concern for others’ well-being, the willingness to go the extra mile for someone else, an engaging personality that attracts others, and a curious mind that wants to share knowledge with their peers.

Jake read his prize-winning essay aloud to his Upper School classmates, faculty, and the Divak family. In it, he shares his experience of making new friends when he first came to Rutgers Prep in 8th grade. Though finding community was initially a challenge, a turning point came that same fall when two classmates invited him to join their lunch table for what Jake described as “the best Thanksgiving meal [he’s] ever had.” That small gesture was the start of what is now a cherished group of friends. Jake closed his essay by expressing just how much those friends mean to him.

“I cannot put a price tag on what you’ve given me, the memories I have, and the ones I look forward to creating with all of you.”

Congratulations, Jake, on a job well done!

See Photos from the Event: