{"id":1767,"date":"2017-12-15T10:54:56","date_gmt":"2017-12-15T15:54:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/?p=1767"},"modified":"2018-09-11T10:34:16","modified_gmt":"2018-09-11T14:34:16","slug":"17-things-loved-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/17-things-loved-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"17 Things We Loved About 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

17.<\/span> Oxford connections.<\/h2>\n

While winning multiple awards at Oxford University\u2019s Model United Nations contest, eight students<\/a> also got an insider\u2019s look at what it\u2019s like to attend the world\u2019s top-ranked university courtesy of Monmouth grad and Oxford doctoral candidate Sam Maynard \u201914.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

16.<\/span> Great reads.<\/h2>\n

Monmouth faculty published more books in 2017 than we have room to highlight here. Luckily the library did it for us<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

15.<\/span> Count \u2019em: One, two, three, four commencements.<\/h2>\n

An undergrad ceremony, a first-ever separate ceremony for grad students, plus two more celebrations for athletes who were competing on their graduation day added up to a week\u2019s worth of tassel-turning last May.<\/p>\n

14.<\/span> Having hands down the best<\/em> view of this year\u2019s Solar Eclipse.<\/h2>\n
\"\"
Photo by Anthony DePrimo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

13.<\/span> New spaces.<\/h2>\n

The University opened dedicated classroom space at the Lakehouse Music Academy in Asbury Park and, together with the Borough of Rumson, unveiled plans to develop a new Monmouth Marine and Environmental Field Station along the banks of the Navesink River.<\/p>\n

12.<\/span> Discovering our cats actually like us.<\/h2>\n

Who knew?
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

11.<\/span> Men\u2019s lacrosse\u2019s worst-to-first storyline.<\/h2>\n

Just four years removed from the program\u2019s winless inaugural season, the 2017 squad captured the MAAC regular season and tournament championships and made the program\u2019s first appearance in the NCAA tournament.<\/p>\n

10.<\/span> Christening a new stadium with a win.<\/h2>\n

Coach Kevin Callahan\u2019s squad beat Lafayette, 31-12, in the first game played in Henni Kantor Kessler & John H. Kessler Stadium.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo by Monmouth Athletics.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

9.<\/span> Your generosity on Giving Tuesday.<\/h2>\n

Monmouth University saw an 80 percent increase in donors<\/strong> and a 342 percent (you read that right\u2014342 percent) increase in dollars raised<\/strong> compared to last year\u2019s event.<\/p>\n

8.<\/span> This.<\/h2>\n
\n

https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MonmouthUniversity\/videos\/vb.22972703930\/10155298087613931\/?type=2&theater<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

7.<\/span> Welcoming new Hawks.<\/h2>\n

\"\"
\nMonmouth\u2019s freshman class exceeded enrollment targets and features the highest-ever percentage of out-of-state students in University history.<\/p>\n

6.<\/span> Monmouth <\/em>magazine\u2019s new look.<\/h2>\n

Sure, we\u2019re a bit biased\u2014but based on the letters you\u2019ve sent, we think you love it too.<\/p>\n

5.<\/span> Seeing so many of you at Homecoming.<\/h2>\n

This year\u2019s Alumni Tailgate Party was the largest-ever alumni-attended<\/a> event at Monmouth.<\/p>\n

4.<\/span> Soaring in the rankings.<\/h2>\n

Monmouth achieved its highest-ever ranking in U.S. News & World Report<\/em>\u2019s listing of \u201cAmerica\u2019s Best Colleges\u2014Regional Universities North.\u201d<\/p>\n

3.<\/span> Bruuuce!<\/h2>\n

The Boss returned to campus<\/a> last January for a candid conversation about his life and music and to mark the establishment of The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo by Danny Clinch.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2.<\/span> A football season for the ages.<\/h2>\n

The historic 25th<\/sup> season<\/a> of Hawks football was highlighted by a perfect 5-0 home record and the program\u2019s first-ever national ranking and FCS playoff appearance.<\/p>\n

1.<\/span> President Grey Dimenna.<\/h2>\n

His tireless work in advancing the University, absolute dedication to the students, unique sense of humor, and ability to be seemingly everywhere (seriously, does the man ever sleep?) are just a few reasons that Hawks everywhere have been smiling since his return to campus last February<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An unapologetically idiosyncratic list of the Monmouth people, places, and events that made us smile this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":1826,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"image_focus":"","hide_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"thumbnail":"\"\"","catString":"Uncategorized","issue":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/60"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1767"}],"version-history":[{"count":52,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8288,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1767\/revisions\/8288"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}