Matt Harmon:
On this episode of Monmouth weekly university, president Patrick Lehe talks about the role Monmouth university plays in issues of race diversity and inclusion plus updates on the fall semester and enrollment information. This is faculty member, Matt Harmon, it's episode number 12 of Monmouth weekly. Thanks as Zoe for joining us

Matt Harmon:
After taking a little week off last week, we are back with our Monmouth weekly podcast. It is episode number 12. I say a very good morning. We record early here in mid-June and certainly the world today and over the course of, to be fair. The beginning of March when schools and universities started to shut down and now, uh, as the United States and perhaps worldwide deal with racial issues, the death of George Floyd back in late may in Minneapolis has sparked so many feelings protests around the world and a need for change. And I say, good morning to my broadcast partner. He is university president Patrick Lehe, faculty member, Matt Harmon, and good to be back with you, uh, last week's week off a scheduled week off or more than likely going to a bi-weekly during the summer with not as much news and information with always the opportunity to come on when we like and president Lehe first a, a good morning, but I, I think important that we just kind of hop into this right away. It, it, it's impossible. I think for you and I to sit here and just start with how summer enrollment going, and what's the plan for the fall of things that we will certainly get to, um, in our podcast as we always do. But as you see what is taking place across the country, across the world, um, the, and as president as basically the, the voice and the face of the university, what are your initial reactions and thoughts to, to what is taking place, the conversations that are happening and the, the need for change.

Patrick Leahy:
Well, good morning to you, Matt. And, uh, I missed you last week, so I'm glad to be back back together this week. And as you say, going forward, we'll determine, uh, how frequently we, we host these as the news warrants, but you're right before we get into our, our normal updates. It's I think important to talk about what's happening at Monmouth university and our institution is struggling with the same challenges that our nation is struggling with right now. And I have spent the, the last couple weeks, I guess, engaged in some very real, uh, very difficult, uh, conversations with a lot of members of our Monmouth university community. And I've just committed to each of them that, um, I will do everything I can to be, uh, accessible to them. I will listen more than I talk at this point, and I will try very, very, very hard to, to understand, uh, better, uh, the challenges that members of our, uh, black community are facing. I said, during our open call last week, I started the whole call by saying, you know, I'm not exactly sure what to say because, um, I am as privileged as they come, you know, a, a white middle aged male, uh, heterosexual, cisgender male. I, I just, I have had all of the privileges and then some in my life. And so I'll never fully understand, uh, what our members of our black community, uh, face, uh, in our country. Uh, but I'm certainly willing to try to, to, uh, gain a better understanding and a greater appreciation, and hopefully, uh, it will result, uh, ultimately in positive action, uh, to make sure that Monmouth university is living up to its commitments as a genuinely, uh, inclusive, uh, genuinely welcoming, genuinely anti-racist community.

Matt Harmon:
When you think about it, I know, uh, during the course of, of earlier this week, you had a meeting with your advisory council on diversity and inclusion. Uh, two words that certainly have been, I'll say hot words, um, and, and maybe have been ignored a little bit too much across the country. Diversity inclusion, those words being so important when you factor them in with the word change, um, not necessarily the ins and outs of the council in terms of who's on it, but, but having that advisory council, what, what maybe goal are you hoping that can come out of that other than what you just stated an opportunity to listen, an opportunity, maybe to learn a little bit more, um, from others on campus?

Patrick Leahy:
Yeah, this president's advisory council on diversity and inclusion is a, is a group of CR it's a represents a cross section of all of the employees, all the functions at the university. And we had an opportunity to visit this past week for close to, I guess, an hour and a half for two hours, and mostly just listen to hear what's on their minds and individually, and what they're hearing around the campus. And, and this was one of maybe a dozen meetings that I've, I've, uh, uh, hosted or been partied to over the last, uh, week or so with different members of the community, whether it's a student group or a faculty group. Um, some alums have reached out to me, board members have reached out to me, lots of conversations that we've had about the state of race relations in our country. And, uh, my hope is that this, uh, council on diversity and inclusion can do, uh, what is embedded in its title, Matt, which is to advise the president on the, the, the ways in which, uh, the actions that we need to take in order to, um, improve who we are here at Monmouth, and, uh, very grateful for their support in that regard.

Patrick Leahy:
But it will be one of a lot of different groups, uh, from which we will collect, uh, ideas going forward,

Matt Harmon:
Just as well. President Lehe for clarification, your advisory council on diversity and inclusion is separate from the existing intercultural center that takes place on campus.

Patrick Leahy:
It is although the, uh, the director of the intercultural center, um, Z rego craft, uh, who joined the university just a couple weeks before I did. In fact, she's the chair of the, uh, president's advisory council. Uh, so those two groups are, are really inextricably linked in many respects, and, uh, Zinta has done such a great job, um, helping to improve as you pointed out, improve the genuine, uh, support of diversity and inclusion on campus. Since she's been here only that, you know, within this first year

Matt Harmon:
Also, you know, listen, you and I have spent some time both, uh, in, in, in fun and in serious with dealing, um, with the earlier coronavirus situation, which clearly has not gone either talking about being a father, being a parent, how do you deal with, uh, situations as they come up? And I know when it comes to all of the racial issues, you see the protests taking place. Again, you see the need for change taking place. I've had the opportunity to, to sit and try and talk with mm-hmm <affirmative>, uh, my own kids. And I'm sure you are trying to do that as well. And, and, and I would consider myself a little bit of a, I wouldn't even say history buff, but I do love history thinking of, of how things took place. And, and this is certainly one of those moments. It's a monumental moment in our nation's country that that will be talked about 20, 20 good, bad indifferent, or however you view it, it will be viewed as a change in the world moving forward. How do you incorporate, um, what's taking place when you talk to any of your four kids about this?

Patrick Leahy:
Yeah, I hope it is a, a date that we'll remember when things changed in America. Um, I'm, I'm so, you know, I've said many times on our podcast before, how, how proud I am to be the father of, of four kids. And two of them are in college. My two older daughters are in college, so they're very versed on these, these matters. And, um, very insightful. In fact, I learn a ton from them about, uh, genuine diversity and inclusion and, and, and racism. Um, it's my boys that I'm struggling to, uh, try to engage them in this conversation. I mean, they're 13 and 15, my youngest son, the other day when we were talking about this and watching news clips, he just turned to me and he said, why do people hate each other so much? And, uh, it just, it

Matt Harmon:
Just, it's such a great, it's such, it's such a great question, isn't it?

Patrick Leahy:
Uh, oh my gosh. I mean, it just, I mean, I get, I get choked up even thinking about it. Uh, Matt, cuz he just, didn't just, doesn't quite at 13 understand. I mean, I think he understands the events and he understands the facts of the situation, but he doesn't understand the, the root causes and he doesn't understand quite yet. Um, the, the, the years and years and years of, um, of feelings that have, uh, emerged in this particular, uh, situation and, uh, he's struggling to get his, I think his head around that, you know, I, I think it was Nelson Mandela who said that let's remember that, uh, uh, kids need to be taught to hate, you know, that kids, kids aren't born. It doesn't seem with, with that kind of, uh, spirit. They, they, they are taught that by, by us adults. So I think we need to just, you know, look at the mirrors ourselves, those of us who are raising kids and make sure that we're doing the things that we need to do to make sure that, uh, that our kids' future is, is different from today. And, uh, I think we'll talk about this later, but I was so moved by the, by the, um, black lives matter event that athletics hosted the other day. And, uh, something that faith said, she said, I just want to be the last generation that needs to protest. And, um, I sure hope that that's the case.

Matt Harmon:
Yeah. Let's uh, you said we will talk about it. The beauty of this is we can, we can go from one to the next pretty quick. Let's talk about the black lives matter Hawk talk panel. It took place earlier this week on the university's athletic Facebook page. It's something that you can still, uh, access. There were current and former Monmouth athletes and head coach king rice, um, recent article, if you, if you hadn't had an opportunity to watch it, I would obviously invite those to go do that. But, um, there was an article in the Asbury park press as well, that kind of surmise some of king Rice's thoughts about Mammouth, um, still being able to do better, but also doing pretty well, doing things correctly when it comes to how black people, people of color are treated on campus, when you, when you hear things like that, um, it, it, it's almost, uh, it it's a good and bad, I guess, in a way. Yes, Monmouth does do things pretty well in a lot of cases, but just like anything else, president Lehe, Monmouth, I'm sure like any other school and institution across the country can probably find ways to do better.

Patrick Leahy:
We have to do better. Uh, I, you know, I've had convers too many conversations in my, just my first nine or 10 months, Matt, that suggests that we're not where we want and need to be. Um, and I encourage everybody to spend a few minutes listening to that, that broadcast. I was so moved by the, the individual stories of current students and, and, uh, you know, not, you know, uh, fairly recent alumni, um, king rice is such a leader in, in our community. And, um, it is so comforting to have him helping to lead Monmouth university, especially now, but in general. And, uh, he said some nice things about me and believing that, um, uh, I forget, I think the term was that it's possible that I could be a difference maker here at Monmouth. And I just, I wrote to him and I just said, uh, how much I appreciate his, his comments of support and that I'll do everything I can to live up to his high expectations. Um, so I encourage everybody to, to, to take a few minutes to listen to those stories and make it it'll make you it'll feel a lot more real to you, or if you do,

Matt Harmon:
When you think of the students, the athletic side of things and what they did the other night being one side of it, um, obviously so much as you said, going on, on campus in a, in a world and an age right now where nobody's really even on campus students, aren't on campus because all summer classes being held, uh, remotely, but you see students right now being active, I'll, I'll lead you into one of the first things I saw from more of a, a public standpoint, China Walker, the president of Sage, um, delivering a, a pretty powerful message a couple weeks ago, uh, through social media.

Patrick Leahy:
You know, it was one of the first things I saw released from Monmouth, um, uh, uh, following George Floyd's death. And I was so impressed with, uh, that message that she delivered and parts of it. If you've heard it talk about, uh, privilege and, uh, that's important for, for, for those of us who have it to hear. And, um, I've had a chance subsequently to talk with China. She's been involved in a few of these meetings, uh, that, uh, that I've hosted. And, um, I'm just so impressed with, with her, uh, maturity and her outlook and her, her passion. Um, she is also one of the real leaders, uh, here at Monmouth. And, um, I'm so glad to have her part of the community.

Matt Harmon:
When, when I say Sage, I just wanna be clear that is one of the student groups on campus. Uh, students advocating girls education, but that's not the only, um, diversity inclusion type group on campus, president Lehe. When you think of it, Monmouth does offer a pretty wide variety of clubs, organizations, fraternities, sororities, um, all with the idea of people trying to feel included and hopefully, um, enough and, and maybe continuing to build now under today's climate. And that need for change that there is enough diversity on campus and, and diversity options maybe I should say on campus.

Patrick Leahy:
And, uh, you know, I, I think, I always tell we have 120 clubs and organizations that, uh, support students outside the classroom. A couple of additional clubs or organizations have, have emerged just in the last few weeks. And I'm very supportive of that. I mean, I, I want, uh, our students and even our faculty and staff, some, some groups have formed in our faculty and staff, and I encourage that Matt, I want people to, to band together and to have the conversations. Um, I want them to find, uh, that those places on campus where they can feel most comfortable, but I do not want that to replace the university as a whole being the place where everybody feels comfortable. I mean, you know, I, I, I, there's a little bit of a risk in having, you know, a continued proliferation of, of small subgroups in that. Um, I, I don't want that to fracture the university. I want that to be a source of, of, uh, you know, sort of support so that all those groups can come together under a Monmouth university, uh, culture that is, as we say, generally welcoming, uh, to everybody. So I will, I know that that's on me and that's on the institution to create that kind of culture. Um, and, uh, I wanna make sure that as these groups, you know, even more groups emerge and, and some of the existing groups strengthen that we both support that, but also make sure that people are brought together, um, in one unified culture here at Monmouth

Matt Harmon:
Episode, number 12 of our Monmouth weekly podcast with university president Patrick Lehe, I'm faculty member, Matt Horman, um, president Lehe, as, as you think about the students on campus and, and still not quite a year into your position at Monmouth, but you've been dealing with students for so long that you're seven years, um, up, up at Wilkes. So you're, you're well versed. Should I say, in dealing with this age student population, having kids of your own, um, I'm sure you've heard, and maybe you can share some of, of these stories having students during this time, instead of you reaching out to them, probably the reverse and, and, and there are mama students engaged in things like fundraising and being involved with protests and trying to spread the message of the need for change. Um, how, how often have you had maybe those back and forth conversations with some of the student population on campus?

Patrick Leahy:
I mean, a lot of the communication to this point has been via email and, uh, I'm receiving countless emails and I'm trying, trying really hard to make sure that I'm responsive to each individual person who reaches out to me, whether it's a student or faculty or staff member or an alum. Um, I, it's just a commitment I've tried to make to be as accessible as possible. Um, the nice thing is from those email communications, these, uh, this dialogue is emerging. And as I mentioned, I've already had a bunch of meetings. I have, uh, another one scheduled, I think it's tomorrow with, uh, club leaders all over campus. So a really large zoom call where we've invited all of the club leaders. Again, the idea that let's make sure that we're bringing the leaders of the respective groups together and ensuring that we're, um, confirming our values of creating the kind of Monmouth university wide community that we want. So, uh, I I'm, I'm just trying to be as available as I can to 'em. And again, I try to be as understanding as I can to students, uh, who are, uh, hurting right now and are going through a really tough time. And I hope they feel comfortable at this university at this time to, uh, to voice their concerns. I've said to the students the other day, Matt, I said, as hard as this is for you to share your personal experiences, I have to know about this because, uh, I can't be helpful in solving problems that I don't know about. And I know that for some of them, it takes great courage to share their experiences. And I just want to continue to encourage that,

Matt Harmon:
You know, thinking of some of the words, um, that have been those buzzwords diversity inclusion and email that you sent to the entire campus community, um, a little bit more than a week ago, you mentioned that the incoming 2024 class, um, would be the most diverse class in MoMA's history, which is obviously a good thing. Um, but H how does Mammouth even in that way, continue to get better. And if you want to use New Jersey the Northeast and then spread it even nationwide, how does Monmouth continue to maybe be someone that, that, um, students, parents, educators would look at and say, wow, they're, they've become a leader in an issue like this.

Patrick Leahy:
One of the things I'm learning is, uh, I, you know, I've tout all the time. You, you, you know this through our conversations, how proud I am that we're gonna welcome the most racially diverse class ever at mammoth. If, if, if our numbers hold and we'll talk about that in a minute, I guess, but, you know, if our numbers hold, it will be fact, it'll be the best class we've ever enrolled. It will be, uh, a really good size. It'll be the best academically prepared class that we've ever had. And it'll be the most racially diverse class we've ever had just last year, 28% of the incoming class, uh, was racially diverse. And in one year that's jumped to close to 32%. So I'm really proud of that. I want, uh, moms to be known as a place where students want to come. And, uh, I think one of the things I've learned, however, is that our student body is diversifying more quickly than our university is. And what I mean by that is, uh, we, we need to do a better job recruiting, diverse faculty members. We need to do a better job recruiting, diverse staff members. Uh, we need to do a better job, you know, bringing diverse men and women to the highest, uh, administrative ranks at this university. I, I know that I, I, I appreciate that. So, um, we're at once excited, but a little bit nervous because as I always say, our goal is not just to bring students to Mammouth. It is to bring them here, to give them life transforming experiences, and then to graduate them, um, uh, four years later. And so we, we can't take our eye off of recruiting them is only one part of the story. We need to make sure that we're building the infrastructure to support an increasingly diverse student body.

Matt Harmon:
We are recording here. Uh mid-June which means that the summer schedule is up and going all of those classes being held, uh, remotely. And, and in our last couple minutes, I wanted to spend a little bit of time just giving, um, some updates to some of this. I, I wanna start, uh, president Lehe if we can, with the, with the financial situation. Cuz I think that is, is a piece that is still very important for students, um, whether they are paying for summer classes, whether they are trying to figure a way to make sure that they get back in the fall because families, students, individuals have been hit so hard during, uh, this pandemic situation with coronavirus. The relief fund I know is con is continuing. You are trying to get money out as much as you possibly can. Monmouth has already been one of the first schools to announce, uh, refunds for housing and fees in meal plans and things like that. Um, but when you think of it, what's the, what's the role that you could see for the university. Try to play from a financial standpoint in trying to again, make sure that students feel comfortable and will be okay coming back in the fall.

Patrick Leahy:
Well, just to back up quickly, you know, from the outset, uh, from the, you know, onset of the global pandemic, we have tried to make decisions that, um, are in the best interest of our students in general and, and in the best interest of our high financial need students in particular. And you know, we've talked about the, the, how quick we re we refunded unused room meal and parking fees and the, the establishment of the president's relief fund and keeping all on campus jobs whole, uh, even though we knew that those jobs, you know, wouldn't be productive. Um, those were all efforts to try to ensure that we were supporting our, uh, students and particular high financial needs students. We just recently completed pretty much completed the redistribution of the federal cares act money. And, um, I just want to share that when the federal cares act was passed and the guidelines were handed down, it simply said you have a significant discretion to distribute these funds as you wish. And we would encourage you to, to, uh, distribute them to your higher financial needs students. Uh, so we looked at that and said, this is consistent with our values as a university anyway. So we developed a, uh, uh, a methodology, if you will, that would direct these funds to any of our students, any student enrolled here in the spring who had unmet need, which is a, you know, a sophisticated financial aid calculation, but any student with unmet need. And we distributed it out, uh, all that money in, um, in round one. And, and then it's been pretty widely, uh, reported that, um, it came to our attention that so some of our Pell grant students, uh, had not received that federal cares money. And you might ask, well, how could a federal Pell grant student not received that money? Well it's because when we ran our financial calculations, they didn't show any unmet need because of the grant money that they were receiving from the, uh, federal and state government and because of our own institutional support. So when we determined that we went ahead and, and, uh, distributed round two, uh, to all of those, uh, additional Pell grant students, even if they didn't have unmet needs. So right now we've pretty much depleted the money that the federal government has given us. And, uh, I can say that every Pell grant student here or Pell, you know, sort of Pell like student at the graduate level and any other student at the undergraduate or graduate level, who has any unmet need at all through that financial calculation have in fact received or, or will soon, uh, relief from the federal cares act. And, um, I feel very positive as a university that we've redistributed that money from the federal government, consistent with our values to, to, uh, try to be extra supportive of our high financial needs students. So that's what we've done to this point. And then going forward, you know, we've continued to flood the system in, uh, additional financial aid, so that students coming here or students who are returning here to Monmouth, uh, have access to the support that they need to continue their, their education. So, uh, I feel very positive about, uh, the decisions that the university has made, uh, to try to be as supportive as we can to our students during this admittedly very challenging time

Matt Harmon:
Using the word positive as a good transition. Uh, I know in, in talking with you and, and we've spoke about it specifically on our Monmouth weekly podcasts, you were encouraged by, uh, summer enrollment in, in that the last time I think we check, which was two weeks ago, um, numbers were, were very good. And as you roll through, I think the third of the five sessions is either starting or just about set to start, um, summer B, C, D, and E at least two of those I know are up and going right now. Um, are, are those numbers still as positive as they were two weeks ago?

Patrick Leahy:
Yes. I mean, the, I always say the great dichotomy here is that the campus is still essentially closed yet. We're having the most robust, uh, summer online academic program that we've ever we've ever had. So, um, looks can be deceiving <laugh> if you drive by campus and see it more quiet than, than normal, uh, this, this summer, our, our credits and the number of students enrolled is exceeding last year. And last year, as I've said is way above the year before that. So, um, I'm just really proud that the faculty have, um, as, as robustly, as they have have migrated courses, uh, online and are serving so many students, uh, this summer, while we get ready for the fall,

Matt Harmon:
Which leads into leading into the fall. Uh, I know right now the campus is still closed. Um, it's usually busy between classes, camps, everything going on and not to, to discount or dismiss any of that. Um, but I think people are probably thinking, wow, what's what is the plan for the fall? And it's probably pretty hard to answer that question until the state comes up with a little bit more guidance in a plan. But as you see, um, the state kind of easing some restrictions and, and a little bit of normalcy coming back, are you, are you encouraged? Are you optimistic? Are you somewhere in between that, that the campus could be open come September.

Patrick Leahy:
I'm more optimistic now than I was last week than, and, and that was more than the week before and the week before I, I, as you point out Matt, as the, as the, uh, restrictions loosen here in the state, that's giving us more and more hope that we're gonna be able to develop that really safe, responsible pathway to a fall reopening and bringing students back to campus to live and bringing students back to campus, uh, for their both curricular and extracurricular activities. We won't know for sure until the state issues, its guidelines, but I sense that they are coming shortly as well. Uh, perhaps as soon as the next week or so, once those guidelines emerge, uh, we, we refine our opening plan in the fall and then we commit to it and start, uh, publicizing that to our incoming students and our returning students. So I, I know for weeks now, I've been saying, um, uh, we just don't know yet. I can't say even today that I know exactly yet, but I can tell you, uh, with some degree of certainty that, uh, it won't be long now before we have the clarity that we need and that everybody seeks about how we're gonna be able to open in the fall. So, well, let's our next, our next broadcast, whether it's next week or two weeks, hopefully we'll have a lot more to talk about in terms of fall opening.

Matt Harmon:
You know, I was gonna just say, let's close with this because, um, you know, being, being a faculty member and getting all the emails, the one thing that I think could, could be certain, um, is that every option is on the table. I saw something within the last two weeks, um, from I believe the task force that, that has been looking at all the different potential options. I mean, literally there was, I don't know, somewhere between 12 to 15 plans and they were, they were very, um, they were very different. So literally when I say every option is on the table, that's probably a good thing because, uh, you mentioned until you get the guidelines from the state, you, you can't really pick, okay, this is what we're gonna do until you really find out what's taking place. Right. But all those options are, are there. And, and I think the one thing that's nice is that what's the most important thing, making sure that students, faculty, staff, administration all feel pretty safe and pretty positive about coming back to work.

Patrick Leahy:
I mean, the <laugh>, you mentioned 15, there were 15 or, or so that we've collected from around higher ed based on what we've, what we've seen in the, in the press and heard from other schools, we've added a couple of our own, uh, unique scenarios. And we, as you point out, we've sort of tried to consider what are the complexities of any one of those, um, in that list is a, is an, is an option for us and a good option as you say, a safe, responsible option, but we, we won't be able to select it until the guidelines come out. Uh, so I I'm so grateful because the, the cross campus collaboration has been fantastic. I mean, the faculty, the staff, the, uh, you know, the even student input into this, uh, has been really excellent. And, um, uh, I think that that's gonna stand us in good stead when we, uh, choose a scenario and then set about, uh, you know, the task of preparing that scenario for the fall.

Matt Harmon:
President Lehe is always, I appreciate your time, uh, great conversation here today. And, and one that I know you have been entrenched with when it comes to diversity inclusion, the racial issues, people feeling comfortable being on campus, uh, throw in all of the summer fall information that Monmouth will continue to, to kind of provide. Um, but this is, as you said, as a, as a parent and a father and a university president a very crazy time, but hopefully a time that, uh, at some point in the, in the near and then distant future history will look back and say, that's where change took place. And, and Monmouth, I know will be part of it.

Patrick Leahy:
I think it's on us. Uh, Matt, and, uh, it's gonna take a commitment from everybody at this university, uh, starting with me. And, uh, as I said, I, I hope I can, um, live up to some of the expectations. And, uh, that is my plan is to try to figure out in collaboration with, uh, our colleagues, many of whom have been at this university a lot longer than I have maybe safe to say, all of whom have been at this university a lot longer than I have, uh, together. We will, uh, figure out how to, um, how to proceed and, and make mammoth, uh, again, a better, a better, more full representation of our stated goals. And, uh, that is a commitment that, that I feel very personally and will take very personally,

Matt Harmon:
This wraps up episode number 12, we thank you as always for giving us part of your day, staying up to date with all the latest news and information that involves Mammouth university, go to mammo, do EDU for continued updates. We'll be back, uh, next week or two weeks, depending on if anything pops up on our Mammouth weekly podcast. Again for university president Patrick Lehe. This is faculty member, Matt Harmon. Thanks as always for listing episode 12 comes to a close, we'll see you again in the near future.