Dear Members of the Monmouth University Community:

As part of our ongoing efforts to foster a welcoming and inclusive campus community, I am pleased to share an update on the practical implementation of our Chosen Name Initiative, which allows students to more easily update their chosen name information, as well as indicate their pronouns and gender identity, through an e-Form within the Registrar’s Office.

The Initiative recognizes that in the course of their daily life at Monmouth, some individuals use first names other than their legal names, may want to indicate their pronouns proactively, and/or may have a gender identity/expression that differs from the markers on their legal identification.

This update will facilitate recognition of chosen names, personal pronouns, and gender markers for on-campus records across multiple university communications systems including class rosters, eCampus resources, housing rosters, and most other non-federal systems. Legal names will continue to be utilized where required, including for purposes of financial aid and student payroll.

Faculty and staff can continue to designate their chosen name by contacting Human Resources. As with campus systems that serve our students, there may still be data platforms where the use of the legal name and/or gender markers are required by University business or legal needs.

Additional information about the Chosen Name Initiative and other LGBTQIA+ campus resources are available online. Please join me in thanking Information Management, the Office of Equity and Diversity, Academic Affairs, and the Intercultural Center for their leadership in helping to implement these recent changes at our University.

Sincerely,

Dr. Patrick F. Leahy

President

Dear Members of the Monmouth University Community:

More than two decades ago, our nation experienced the most devastating attacks on American soil, claiming the lives of thousands in New York City, Washington, DC, and Shanksville, PA.

Twenty-one years may seem like a long time, and for many of our students, it represents a lifetime. As we mark the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, we pay tribute to the nearly 3,000 lives lost, and the countless acts of heroism and selfless service revealed during that dark hour.

In honor of our country and in remembrance of all those who lost their lives, there will be a tolling of the University bells for two minutes at the following times on Sunday:

8:46 a.m. │ AA Flight 11 was flown into the World Trade Center North Tower.

9:03 a.m. │ AA Flight 175 was flown into the World Trade Center South Tower.

9:43 a.m. │ AA Flight 77 was flown into the Pentagon building.

10:10 a.m. │ UA Flight 93 crashed in Somerset County, PA after heroic actions by passengers and crew.

Members of the Monmouth University community who are on campus are invited to observe a moment of silence at these times. At noon, the University bells will ring out our National Anthem.

While no words or deeds can ever eradicate the pain and sense of helplessness caused by the loss of life endured during the 9/11 attacks and the ensuing War in Afghanistan, my hope is that we – as a University community – will pause to honor the thousands of lives lost and to reflect on the solemn significance of this day.

Sincerely,

Dr. Patrick Leahy
President

Dear Colleagues:

I hope your first days of the fall semester are off to a great start. I write today with some important administrative updates, which I will also address at Fall Convocation tomorrow afternoon.

Office of the General Counsel

As I shared a few weeks ago, John Christopher’s final day as Monmouth’s Vice President and General Counsel is Friday, September 9. For the immediate future, the Office of Human Resources will function as a stand-alone unit, with our Associate Vice President for Human Resources, Robyn Salvo, reporting directly to me. Effective Monday, September 12, Charlene Diana will assume the role of Acting Vice President and General Counsel to oversee the Office of the General Counsel, protecting the University’s legal interests and managing the University’s legal affairs. Charlene will also be responsible for managing the Office of Equity and Diversity, the Office of Internal Audit, and the Office of Compliance.

A 17-year veteran of the Office of the General Counsel, Charlene first joined Monmouth in 2005 as a part-time staff attorney, and soon after became full-time. She was promoted to Assistant General Counsel in 2009, and promoted again in 2013 to Associate General Counsel, focusing on matters that could have legal implications for the University’s policies and procedures, contractual obligations, insurance, operations, and governance.

Charlene was a first-generation college student and has chosen to dedicate her legal career to higher education since she knows first-hand the power and impact of a college degree. Her commitment both to access and to student success make her an excellent candidate for the position of Acting Vice President and General Counsel, and I am so pleased that Charlene will be the first female in our University’s history to serve in this important leadership role.

Campus Planning and Facilities Management

Some of you may not yet know that Bill Siemer will be stepping down as Monmouth’s Executive Director for Campus Planning and Facilities Management to relocate out-of-state and be closer to family. Bill’s last day at Monmouth is also Friday, September 9. Since joining Monmouth just over a year ago, Bill has been responsible for overseeing many significant enhancements to our campus. Under his leadership, we have revitalized and reprogrammed the Great Hall, successfully opened the Parson Café, completed construction on the Parton Broadcasting Center at the OceanFirst Bank Center, and relocated and enhanced several areas of strategic importance to the University: 1) the Career Development Center; 2) the Intercultural Center and Educational Opportunity Fund Offices; and 3) the Alumni House.

Effective Monday, September 12, Tim Orr will serve as Acting Executive Director for Campus Planning and Facilities Management. Tim has dedicated nearly 26 years of service to Monmouth working in construction and facilities, first as Project Engineer and later as Director of Facilities for Technical Services. Most recently, he has worked as Construction Manager, helping both to maintain our buildings and grounds and to thoughtfully develop our campus infrastructure to provide a safe, state-of-the-art learning environment for our students. I am confident that Tim’s institutional knowledge coupled with his background in mechanical engineering position him well for success in this new role.

Please join me in thanking John Christopher and Bill Siemer for their service to the University, while at the same time congratulating Charlene Diana and Tim Orr for their acting appointments to these leadership roles. It is both gratifying and reassuring that we have such a deep talent pool at Monmouth from which to draw for openings such as these. In the short term, Charlene and Tim will report directly to me, and I will use the coming months to determine the best search process for the permanent positions of Vice President and General Counsel and Executive Director for Campus Planning and Facilities Management. As part of our ongoing efforts to adjust Monmouth’s organizational structure in relation to the declining student demographic, there are no immediate plans to fill the positions that will be vacated by Charlene and Tim during their acting appointments.

Thank you in advance for your support of these transitions. As always, if you have questions or comments, please feel free to reach out to me directly. I hope to see you at Fall Convocation tomorrow.

Sincerely,

Pat

Dr. Patrick F. Leahy
President

Dear Members of the Monmouth University Community:

It is a great pleasure to welcome you to the start of Monmouth’s 89th academic year. I hope that you had a healthy and restful summer, and are looking forward to an exceptional year at our University.

Monmouth’s 900 incoming first-year students were enrolled from nearly 9,000 applications and recorded the highest average GPA (3.61) and the highest average SAT (1209) in the University’s history. Among the Class of 2026, more than 36 percent are first-generation students, over 27 percent identify as ethnically or racially diverse, and 31 percent are eligible for federal Pell Grants – all strong examples of our dedication to educational access. Additionally, more than 30 percent of the Class of 2026 comes to West Long Branch from outside the state of New Jersey, representing 22 U.S. states and eight foreign countries. This marks the greatest geographic diversity in our history. We also welcome another 190 transfer and 500 graduate students to our University. We are so pleased that all of these outstanding students have chosen Monmouth as their new educational home.

Over the past several months, our team has been working diligently to plan for our students’ arrival this fall. We are eager for you to see the changes and improvements to our campus, including: 1) an upgraded Career Development Center, 2) an improved Intercultural Center co-located with the Educational Opportunity Fund offices, 3) a reprogrammed and newly outfitted Great Hall, and 4) a new Alumni House for our more than 55,000 accomplished and dedicated alumni. All of these upgrades are designed to improve the experience of our students and alumni.

This fall, a new era in Monmouth athletics begins as we start competing in the Colonial Athletic Association, one of the top NCAA athletic conferences in the nation. This move to the CAA increases our athletic competition, broadens our recruiting footprint along the east coast, and burnishes our university brand by enabling regular competition with leading institutions like Delaware, Drexel, Elon, Northeastern, and William & Mary, to name a few.

Whether you are returning to Monmouth or joining us for your first year, we are so pleased to have you as part of our Hawk family. While we expect this year to be a continued return to more ordinary campus operations after the challenges of the past two-and-a-half years, we also hope this will be a year of extraordinary scholarship and achievement. My best wishes to each of you as we embark on the 2022-2023 academic year at Monmouth.

Sincerely,

Dr. Patrick F. Leahy

President

Dear Members of the Monmouth University Community:

I hope that you have enjoyed a healthy and productive summer. As we welcome our newest members of the Monmouth community over the next few days, I write with updates and reminders on our campus health and safety measures for the fall semester.

As we have done since the very start of the pandemic, we will continue to follow recommendations from the CDC related to our campus health and safety protocols. Recently, the CDC issued new guidance on quarantine requirements for individuals who are exposed to someone positive for COVID-19, which is reflected in our updated protocol below.

Protocol Updates

Quarantine/Isolation

Members of the Monmouth University community who test positive must follow the prevailing CDC and NJDOH guidelines on isolation periods. Since the University will have limited isolation housing this fall, impacted individuals who live within 150 miles from campus must make alternative arrangements to satisfy their isolation requirement. The COVID-19 Response Team will communicate directly with faculty if a student is required to isolate and will be missing their class during the mandatory five-day isolation period.

Members of the community who are exposed to someone with COVID-19, regardless of their vaccination status, must also follow the prevailing CDC and NJDOH guidelines on follow-up precautionary measures. These impacted individuals are required to wear a high-quality, properly fitting mask for 10 days following exposure, monitor their symptoms throughout this 10-day period, and get tested at least five full days after exposure. These individuals do not need to quarantine during this time.

Protocol Reminders

Since we have continued to effectively manage the number of COVID-19 cases on campus, thanks to the collective support and diligence of our community, we will continue to enforce the University’s current health protocols, which are detailed below for reference.

Masking

Due to the high vaccination rate among our campus community, and given the reduced community level of COVID-19 in Monmouth County, the University will maintain a campus-wide mask-optional policy for all indoor spaces, including classrooms. Depending on risk levels in the future, we may reinstate the indoor mask requirement or other restrictions, as needed.

Individual faculty and office staff may request – but not require – masking in their respective classrooms and office spaces. It is our hope that by continuing mask-optional, everyone will feel comfortable making their individual choice while keeping the well-being of our community in mind – and trusting that others are doing the same. It is important that we all respect and support the decisions made by each other in this regard.

Vaccination

We will continue to require all members of the community to get the COVID-19 vaccine and to stay up-to-date with vaccination recommendations, including booster doses. We will also continue to allow for individual exemptions on the basis of approved medical or religious reasons. All students and employees will be required to inform the University of their COVID-19 vaccination status on the health portal to ensure that the University can respond appropriately to any outbreak situation on campus, consistent with prevailing CDC guidelines.

Testing

We will continue to test all symptomatic individuals at the Health Center. If anyone is exhibiting symptoms, they are encouraged to seek immediate medical treatment – either directly from their physician or through Health Services. If anyone tests positive – even through a home test – they are required to report their test results within 24 hours to health@monmouth.edu. The Health Center will continue to maintain records of new COVID-19 cases.

Vaccine Clinics

The University will offer COVID-19 vaccine clinics several times throughout the fall semester, scheduled for September 27, October 13, November 10, and December 7. The University will also host a series of seasonal flu vaccine clinics this fall, scheduled for September 22, October 26, November 16, and December 8. Please monitor your Monmouth email for more information on these vaccine clinics.

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All of these health protocols are subject to adjustment in the future if we determine that public health circumstances necessitate a change. As we prepare to welcome our newest Hawks to campus, I remain grateful to each of you for your individual efforts in keeping our community healthy and safe over the past two-and-a-half years. I appreciate how challenging the uncertainty of this period has been, and I am grateful for your patience, understanding, and concern for our collective well-being.

My best wishes to you for a restful holiday weekend. I look forward to seeing you in the coming weeks as we embark on a new academic year at Monmouth!

Sincerely,
Dr. Patrick F. Leahy
President

Dear Members of the Monmouth University Community:

All of us here at Monmouth stand together with the communities of Buffalo, Laguna Woods, and now Uvalde. While the circumstances that influenced each of these unprovoked acts of violence were different, each resulted in the senseless loss of innocent life.

In times like these, I am particularly grateful for our colleagues in the Monmouth University Police Department who spend their days in service to the protection of our community. I am thankful to our colleagues in Counseling & Psychological Services who provide invaluable mental health support to our community throughout the year and especially at times of discord and disarray. And I am likewise thankful to all of you who support one another, every day.

As we process these recent events, please remember that there are many services available to you on and off campus. The University has resources available through Counseling and Psychological Services and the Office of Human Resources to support our community.

Please join me in hoping for peace throughout our nation as we grieve the loss of innocent life at this difficult time.

Dr. Patrick F. Leahy

President

Dear Members of the Monmouth University Community:

We are eagerly looking forward to celebrating our 2022 spring commencement ceremonies next week. We will again be honoring our undergraduate and graduate/doctoral students with distinct events, and launching a new tradition with an all-undergraduate class gathering held the day before degree conferral. This new event will provide a special opportunity for the nearly 900 undergraduates in the Class of 2022 to celebrate their collective achievements in the company of their closest friends and classmates on our beautiful campus.  All ceremonies will be held at Kessler Stadium and the rain site is the OceanFirst Bank Center.

The graduate and doctoral commencement ceremony is on Wednesday, May 11, 2022, at 10 a.m. 

Our all-undergraduate class gathering is scheduled for Wednesday, May 11, 2022, at 4 p.m. 

Jack Ford, Emmy and Peabody Award-winning host of Metro Focus on PBS and CBS News Correspondent for 60 Minutes Sports, will deliver a commencement address at both ceremonies, and will receive an honorary degree at the all-undergraduate class gathering.

Three additional, school specific, degree conferral ceremonies will occur on Thursday, May 12.  The ceremony for graduates of the Leon Hess Business School will occur at 10 a.m., the ceremony for graduates of the Wayne D. McMurray School of Humanities and Social Sciences at 1 p.m., and the ceremony for graduates of the Marjorie K. Unterberg School of Nursing and Health Studies, School of Social Work, School of Education, and School of Science is planned for 4 p.m.  For additional details, including links to livestreaming of each ceremony, visit monmouth.edu/commencement.

If you have any questions about our commencement exercises, please do not hesitate to contact Vice President Mary Anne Nagy, the chair of the Commencement Planning Committee, at extension 3417.

I hope you share my excitement at hearing our special guest and honoring our graduates in the days ahead. It gives me great delight to host these in-person events on our beautiful campus, which has served as a second home to our graduates for the past several years. Please keep our graduates and their families in your thoughts as we prepare for this year’s commencement exercises.

Sincerely,

Dr. Patrick F. Leahy
President

Dear Members of the Monmouth University Community:

As we near the end of the spring semester and prepare for summer classes, I write with updates on our campus health and safety protocols, which go into effect on Monday, May 16, the first day of our five summer sessions.

Masking

Given the recent decline in COVID-19 hospitalizations in New Jersey and the decreasing number of COVID-19 cases on campus, and due to the high vaccination rate among our campus community, the University will be moving to a campus-wide mask optional policy for all indoor spaces, including classrooms. Depending on risk levels in the future, we may reinstate the indoor mask requirement or other restrictions for short periods, as needed.

Individual faculty and office staff may request – but not require – masking in their respective classrooms and office spaces. It is our hope that by transitioning to mask-optional, everyone will feel comfortable making their individual choice while keeping the wellbeing of our community in mind – and trusting that others are doing the same. It is important that we all respect and support the decisions made by each other in this regard.

Vaccination

Consistent with the University’s current COVID-19 vaccination policy, we will continue to require all members of the community to get the COVID-19 vaccine, and to stay up-to-date with vaccination recommendations, including booster doses. We will also continue to allow for individual exemptions on the basis of approved medical or religious reasons. We will reach out to the small number of new and visiting students enrolled at Monmouth this summer, as well as all new employees, to ensure their understanding of and compliance with this policy.

All new students and employees will be required to inform the University of their COVID-19 vaccination status on the health portal to ensure that the University can respond appropriately to any outbreak situation on campus, consistent with prevailing CDC guidelines. The University will assume that anyone who does not share their COVID-19 vaccination status is unvaccinated, and will act accordingly in the event of direct exposure necessitating a quarantine period.

Testing

In response to the low number of active cases among our campus community, the University will be closing the testing center in Magill Commons and discontinuing surveillance testing, effective May 4. We will continue to test all symptomatic individuals at the Health Center. If anyone is exhibiting symptoms, they are encouraged to seek immediate medical treatment – either directly from their physician or through Health Services. If anyone tests positive, they are required to report their test results to health@monmouth.edu.

COVID-19 Campus Dashboards

Since the University is discontinuing surveillance testing, the COVID-19 campus dashboards will be removed from our website at the conclusion of the spring semester. The Health Center will continue to maintain records of new COVID-19 cases.

Isolation/Quarantine

Members of the Monmouth University community who test positive or qualify as close contacts necessitating a quarantine period must follow the prevailing CDC and NJDOH guidelines on isolation and quarantine periods. Moving forward, the University will no longer offer separate isolation or quarantine facilities, and any impacted individuals must make alternative arrangements to satisfy their quarantine requirement.

As we move towards resuming more normalcy across our campus operations, I remain grateful to each of you for your individual efforts in keeping our campus community healthy and safe over the past two years. I recognize how difficult the uncertainty of the past two years has been, and I deeply appreciate your patience, understanding, and concern for our collective well-being. While these updated health and safety protocols are open to adjustment in the future, I hope they are received as welcome changes to our COVID-19 response on campus.

I wish you a successful conclusion to the spring semester, and a healthy and productive summer.

Sincerely,

Dr. Patrick F. Leahy

President

Dear Members of the Monmouth University Community:

In response to the newly released CDC indoor mask guidelines and Governor Murphy’s announcement last month lifting the universal school mask mandate, I am writing with updates to our indoor masking requirement at Monmouth University. Over the past several weeks, we have engaged in a series of discussions with faculty, staff, and student leadership to solicit feedback and to inform an updated policy in the most suitable way for our university community as a whole.

Effective Monday, March 7, the indoor mask requirement will be lifted throughout all areas of campus, except in classrooms during regularly scheduled academic classes, where all attendees will continue to be required to wear properly fitting face masks.

Our vaccination rates as a community are relatively high – and our current community transmission rate is fairly low – making it possible to remove masks at all interior locations, including residence halls, dining areas, the Great Hall, the Stafford Student Center, the Guggenheim Library, the OceanFirst Bank Center, and all other buildings. We realize that this transition is welcome for some and brings discomfort for others. If you feel more comfortable still wearing a mask beyond the classroom, we ask all members of our university community to respect that choice.

We are maintaining the mask mandate in classrooms for the time being for two primary reasons.

• First, the classroom setting places some susceptible members of our community in confined spaces for prolonged periods of time. Continuing to mask in the classroom provides an added layer of protection for faculty members.
• Second, all students registered for classes this spring under the guise of masking in the classroom. Relaxing this requirement would not be fair to those students who registered under these expectations.

In addition, there may be select office areas that require visitors to mask upon entry due to vulnerability of staff members in those offices. Any such offices will be clearly designated with signage at the entrance, and will have disposable face masks available for visitors.

We will continually assess these masking standards in the days ahead to consider even further relaxation of these protocols. If you have specific questions on this masking policy or other health and safety protocols, please reach out to Spring2022@monmouth.edu. I wish you continued good health and success as we approach the second half of the spring semester, and I thank you in advance for your continued understanding and anticipated cooperation.

Sincerely,

Dr. Patrick F. Leahy

President

Dear Members of the Monmouth University Community:

I am pleased to introduce a new public conversation series at Monmouth University on Leadership, Civility, and Common Ground in Politics and Public Service, sponsored by the Office of the President, the Department of Political Science and Sociology, and the Institute on Global Understanding.

Led by State Senator Vin Gopal (D) and former State Senator Joe Kyrillos (R), these discussions will focus on how people with different ideologies and political parties can find common ground through civil dialogue that can lead to successful outcomes in the public interest.

The first of these discussions, scheduled for Wednesday, March 2 at 11:40 a.m. to 1 p.m., will feature New Jersey State Senate President Nick Scutari (D) and Senate Minority Leader Steve Oroho (R). I invite the University community to join us in person at Pollak Theatre for this important dialogue. If you plan to attend in person, registration is required. For those who cannot attend in person, this event will also be livestreamed.

As a University, we treasure the free exchange of ideas within our community, and this dialogue series translates that philosophy into direct action. I am grateful that Monmouth University can provide a nonpartisan forum for these important discussions for our campus and regional communities. I hope you can join us as we launch this new conversation series next Wednesday.

Sincerely,

Dr. Patrick F. Leahy

President