Dear Members of the Monmouth University Community:
2025 may be coming to a close, but we are just getting started…
Thank you for your support throughout this calendar year.
Let’s celebrate our progress, close the year with gratitude, and look towards all that we are bringing to 2026.
Wishing you a restful break and a Happy New Year!
Dr. Patrick F. Leahy
President
Dear Members of the Monmouth University Community:
As we head into our extended Thanksgiving break, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on this semester’s successes, and express my gratitude for the many ways you strengthen our University.
Our students and faculty have distinguished themselves through scholarship, creativity, and competition. The Model UN team represented Monmouth with distinction at Oxford University, earning recognition for diplomacy and collaboration. The new Cyber Hawks delivered a strong showing in their national cybersecurity contest debut, demonstrating the practical strength of our academic programs in technology and defense. The Debate Hawks excelled in regional tournaments, continuing a proud tradition of critical inquiry and persuasive communication.
Our student-athletes also excelled both on the field and in the classroom. This season, a number of our fall teams—men’s and women’s soccer, field hockey, and football—posted strong performances and represented Monmouth with pride. Equally impressive, the latest NCAA Graduation Success Rate reports that 91 percent of Monmouth student-athletes earned their degrees, with a dozen programs earning perfect scores.
The fall semester also saw continued momentum for the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music. The 50th anniversary of “Born to Run” brought scholars, artists, and visitors from around the world to explore the history and impact of American music. We also celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Urban Coast Institute, whose research has advanced coastal sustainability in New Jersey and beyond.
As you gather with family and friends, or find your own way to rest, I hope you’ll take a moment in the coming days to step back and recognize what we’ve accomplished together. I look forward to finishing the semester with energy, enthusiasm, and success when we return.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Dr. Patrick F. Leahy
President
Dear Members of the Monmouth University Community:
Each year on November 11, we pause as a nation to honor those who have served in the armed forces of the United States. Their service, on land, at sea, and in the air, whether in battle or in quiet posts across the world, has protected the freedoms that define our democracy and the principles that bind us together.
At Monmouth University, we are privileged to count veterans and military-connected students, faculty, staff, and alumni among our community. Their example reminds us that leadership emerges through service, and that service can take many forms. For some veterans, service extends beyond the uniform trough teaching, mentoring, or volunteering to strengthen the institutions that sustain our shared freedoms.
Among those freedoms are the right to think independently, to speak openly, and to learn without fear—values that form the foundation of higher education and that generations of service members have fought to protect. In defending the Constitution, they have safeguarded not only our borders but also the intellectual freedom that gives meaning to university life.
This Veterans Day, we recognize that the responsibility to uphold those freedoms belongs to all of us. The courage and commitment of our veterans challenge us to engage fully as citizens—to listen generously, to seek understanding, and to contribute to the common good.
I encourage you to attend our Veterans Day celebration today at 11:00 a.m. in the Pompeii Room, Great Hall to recognize the extraordinary contributions of military service members within our campus community.
To every veteran and military family in the Monmouth community, thank you. Your service strengthens this country, and your continued presence enriches this university.
Sincerely,
Dr. Patrick F. Leahy
President
Dear Members of the Monmouth University Community:
Today marks the 24th anniversary of the tragic events of September 11, 2001. On this solemn day, we join together as a community to remember the lives lost in New York, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Whether you have a personal memory of where you were on that fateful day, or learned about the events as a historical fact, together we live in a nation forever changed by the attacks.
As we reflect on this day of loss, we honor the 2,977 individuals who perished and the countless acts of courage that emerged during those dark moments. In their memory, we will observe the tolling of the University bells at the times below. We invite everyone in our community to pause for a moment of silence during each bell toll to pay tribute to those we lost.
8:46 a.m. │ American Airlines Flight 11 strikes the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
9:03 a.m. │ American Airlines Flight 175 strikes the South Tower.
9:43 a.m. │ Airlines Flight 77 strikes the Pentagon.
10:10 a.m.│ United Airlines Flight 93 crashes in Pennsylvania, after heroic actions by passengers and crew.
We also encourage members of our community to visit the 9/11 Veterans Memorial located near Nagy Common between 9 a.m. and noon today. We will plant flags, and will hold an additional moment of silence at noon to reflect on the bravery and sacrifice of those who responded in the immediate aftermath, and rose in service and sacrifice in the years that followed.
Beginning at dusk, we will illuminate the facades of the Great Hall and the Guggenheim Memorial Library in blue, in conjunction with the annual Tribute in Lightled by the 9/11 Memorial & Museum. This simple but striking gesture recalls the clear blue color of the sky on that September morning 24 years ago, and shines a light on all who responded, those we lost, and all who continue to mourn and carry the memory forward.
I hope that through our collective remembrance, as a university community, we may ensure that the lessons and legacies of September 11 endure. May we never forget.
Sincerely,
Dr. Patrick F. Leahy
President
