Matt Harmon: It's the annual mid-semester break. And that means spring is in the air quiet week with no students on campus, but that gives us a perfect opportunity to catch up with what's been taking place on campus with university president Patrick Lehe. This is faculty member, Matt Harmon. It's time for another episode of our Monmouth weekly podcast series, episode number 39 gets up and going right now. Thanks to Zoe for listening Matt Harmon: Spring break time on the mammoth campus. I wish a top of the morning to Patrick Lehe university, president Dr. Patrick Lehe, uh, St. Patrick's day as we record here, this clearly states that during spring break, as a faculty member and as the university president, there are no days off, right. We can, we can do the podcast whenever we want. That's the beauty of remote podcasts, uh, hope, hope your break is, is going really well. Present Lehe. It's good to talk to you again. Um, I know it's been a little while, so we've got a ton of topics in what is almost kind of a, a recap episode for us here on Monmouth weekly. But, um, there I with Lehe, right? I mean, this has to be a good day. It's a good day in my household. I can't imagine it's not a good day in your household too. Patrick Leahy: Well, good morning, uh, to you too, Matt. Yes. Patrick Foley Lehe. So if, uh, Patrick Lehe weren't enough, uh, I am named for my, uh, maternal grandmother and uh great-grandmother and she was a Foley. So lots of Irish roots in my families making this a special day. Matt Harmon: Yeah. Was gonna say, if you, if you didn't have it with Lehe, you definitely have it with that. My, my, my grandmother, God, rest her soul. This was one of her favorite days. She was a Murphy. Uh, so that was like, you know, I mean, one, one of a million Murphys, you, you just looked forward to St. Patrick's day. Um, and, and spring break, I think is kind of a, it's interesting when it falls this time, because I, I think if, if school was in session right now, you'd see a lot of fun students walking around and green and kind of celebrating a little bit. Um, and, and I think that's a fun way for us to kind of start on what is traditionally a day of fun on St. Patrick's day, just how exciting the, the semester has been so far. It's, it's kind of the midpoint when we come back about six weeks remaining in the semester and things are coming back to life, you know, it's, I, I started our, our intro with, you know, spring is in the air and I think that's kind of a theme we can tap into a little bit that campus is starting to come back as life resumes to a, a more normal sense of what college life is all about. Patrick Leahy: Yeah. I do feel that we're, uh, progressing in a really positive direction, um, chasing that ideal called normal . It was interesting because I saw something yesterday, Matt, that suggested that it was two years ago yesterday that the state of New Jersey shut down for, uh, COVID reasons. And, uh, it seems like a long time ago. Um, but I do feel like we've, we've made it through this, this phase of the pandemic and hopefully we're toward the end, but we've made it through this phase. As you know, we're, you know, relaxing, uh, all of our healthcare protocols. We, we are of course, keeping the, the mask mandate in the classroom for now. People ask me why, and it's pretty simple. I mean, some of the, uh, the more vulnerable members of our community let's face it, are we older administrators and teachers, you bring them together with a group of students in a confined setting for a prolonged period of time. Uh, there's just a little bit more risk there. So I'm very grateful for the patience and understanding of the, of the student body that, uh, that they'll continue to do this masking for now. We'll, we'll keep looking at it following spring break and relax it as soon as possible. But, you know, we ramped up these protocols, uh, over time and we just want to be very careful about ramping them down. But, uh, I do feel like things are returning to normal, Matt Harmon: Which is certainly a, uh, a, a good sign. And I'd like to think that, um, as much as people would love to, and I'll use my own kids and, and, and your boys probably as well, not having to necessarily wear the mask when they go to school anymore, whether it is in my case, a sixth grader or a sophomore in high school. I mean, it's nice. I think for, um, the, the students of that age, as I'm sure it would be for the student, but I think you make a great point. It's not necessarily for all of the student, it's also for the faculty, for the administrators, for people that might still be in that at risk category. So there's, there's a larger scope to it, right. It's not just about the student population all the time. Patrick Leahy: Yeah. And you know what, I, I, I hope at most educational institutions and certainly at ours, the focus is on doing what's best for the, for the students. No doubt about that in this case, my hope is that they see the wisdom of, uh, that added layer of protection to protect their mentors. And, uh, as I said, we're not going to continue this, uh, indefinitely. It will, it will be, you know, reviewed on a weekly basis throughout the spring semester. But, uh, the response I've gotten has largely been positive. I mean, of course I've gotten the, the, uh, the heated re replies as to why this is remaining, but most, most of our campus community understands the thinking and has I think, um, adapted to it, uh, quite well, Matt Harmon: You know, as we record this one you were in, in your office, on campus, and I saw you on social media yesterday, um, do do kind of a quick, um, panoramic shot of the great hall that you tweeted out with nobody there, it, it, it still, um, especially in a world where, as we just talked about COVID restrictions starting to be lifted life becoming normal, um, it probably feels weird to not have anybody really be around on campus this week after everything starting to get back to normal. And then all of a sudden, there's the spring break week and nobody's around. Patrick Leahy: It does feel weird. And it does bring me back to those early days of the pandemic when I would sneak into the office here. And, uh, no one else was, was around. And I have to remind myself that there's a, another perfectly good reason that no one is around. And that is because we're returning to normal. People have left the campus and either returned home or going and doing whatever they're doing on spring break. And, and that's a positive sign. Uh, I, I welcome those short periods of time that when the campus is quiet, cuz it's a new, it's a new perception, uh, perspective on the campus. But I don't like 'em for too long because campuses were designed for energy and enthusiasm and that's what the students bring. So, uh, I'll welcome them back, uh, this weekend when they return for the remainder of the semester. Matt Harmon: All right. So let's go, let's go backwards and do kind of a little recap of what's been taking place on campus. Um, you and I always like to talk about what takes place sports wise, but I'm gonna hold that for just a little bit, but I do want to talk competition here on some level, the debate team, uh, which is always done so well at a regional and national now level, um, mu debate team over the course of the first weekend of March, right before break down at Emory university in Atlanta and, and just an amazing job, right. Of, of getting into the, the playoff round of the American debate association national championship. It's funny, you know, when I, when I read that and knew we were gonna talk about it right prior to breaking my public speaking class, I always show my students something from Toastmasters, which is the public speaking organization. And they do a national championship every year. And the, and the students kind of laugh about it. They're like public speaking, national championship, who, who would ever think that, and then you, you tap into this from a debate standpoint, um, seeing Monmouth be able to compete at a national level. I know brings you a, a ton of, um, pride and to see the students have that success is, is just amazing. Patrick Leahy: As you suggest, we talk a lot about, uh, athletics because it's easy to compare how Monmouth does against other really fine schools. But I love to talk also about the more academic competitions where once again, Monmouth students can go up against students from, you know, the most marque brands in higher education and compete as well as we do. Uh, it's just such an important thing to note because, uh, we want to be able to demonstrate that our students can compete with, uh, increasingly the best students around the country and debate is one of 'em and this most recent, I mean, the, the furthest we've progressed in the, um, American debate association national championship, that it continues to be evidence of the quality of the students and the great mentoring that they get from in this case, Joe Patton, professor Joe Patton. So, uh, I'm glad you brought it up because I love, uh, uh, touting the accomplishments of our debate Matt Harmon: Hawks. Yeah. Two, two students, uh, specifically Saia Smith and Ariana Valencia receiving a team award, uh, as the team getting into that playoff round with ADA, I'm curious, like, does, does, does Joe I say Joe, Dr. Patton, um, is he under the same pressure for wins and losses that some of our co coaches would be on campus for an athletic standpoint? Patrick Leahy: Yes no, I, no, I'm kidding you. I mean, he, I think it's a passion area for Joe and, uh, and it I've had a chance to visit. I haven't been able to this year, but in, in past years I had a chance to visit with the team. Uh, just like I try to visit with the athletic team athletics teams, and it's just, uh, abundantly clear his, uh, passion for debate. And he develops these students, uh, in the same way king rice develops his students. They just use a different, you know, mechanism to do so. So yeah, in short I'd like, I hope Joe feels that a little bit of pressure to, to perform cuz that's, uh, that's a demonstration of our hunger here at Monmouth. Matt Harmon: Uh, some other interesting events taking place, um, in and around campus. Let's talk a little bit about, um, Bruce Springsteen, who obviously has, uh, such a synonymous name with the Monmouth county area, the garden state, um, pretty fun event that took place late at the, um, beginning part of March with, uh, more connection, right. That dealt with his live exhibit. That's been in Newark, but now kind of in freehold and, and a whole nother side of, of how Monmouth can connect from the music side of things. Patrick Leahy: Yeah. So what we're doing here, I mean, as, as you well know, and, and I hope others know we are the official home of the Bruce Springsteen archives and center for American music. And, um, we were in freehold earlier this month to sign an agreement with them. They have a pretty aggressive downtown development plan that was put together by their mayor. And a centerpiece of that downtown development plan is to convert their old historic firehouse into an exhibition hall in which they want to have a permanent exhibit on Bruce Springsteen's freehold years. So they reached out to us, uh, as the keeper of the Springsteen, uh, archives and in some respects legacy and asked us if we would design that space. And of course we jumped at the opportunity. You can't tell the story of Bruce Springsteen without talking about his formative years in freehold. So it's a, it's a great privilege for us, a responsibility. We feel to get this right when the time comes. I mean, they still have to renovate the building before they invite us into, to, uh, design the exhibit. But, uh, we jumped at that opportunity and we had a formal, uh, uh, signing ceremony and it was, uh, really special to have, uh, Bruce Springsteen himself there for that. And, uh, uh, I had an opportunity. I was joking that I appeared in the program before he did, which is understandable. Right? All the other speakers lead up to the feature act he's used to being the featured act. So I said, Matt, that from this day forward, the rest of my life, I'm gonna say that I opened for Bruce Springsteen. Yeah, Matt Harmon: You were, you, you were just, you're a little footnote along the way. Um, you know, yes. Matt Harmon: Lead me into, I think, an interesting follow up when you think of, um, Monmouth now being connected to freehold, Monmouth, having roots in Asbury park with the lake house studios, um, Monmouth with the urban coast Institute and being kind of in another part of the surrounding area, how important is it for mama to continue to, you know, you and I have talked about this a lot of times increase the national brand, but that is never meant to supersede how important it is to be number one in at home. Right. And when I say at home, I mean within Monmouth county to have those opportunities to, to brand and stamp mammoth university in the freeholds, the Asburys, uh, all, all the other kind of surrounding towns and areas. Patrick Leahy: I said at the, uh, event in freehold, in fact that, you know, I feel very strongly that even private institutions like Monmouth have a, a, a real obligation to serve the public and we do so by being a force for positive economic, cultural, and social development in our communities, you're rightly pointing out that our community is not just our immediate environments of long branch and west long branch and ocean. Yes, it is. Of course it is, but we're also expanding our sense of community to all throughout Monmouth county while it's the same time developing an increasingly super regional. And I hope bonafide someday national brand, you look at all the great national, uh, universities out there. They all are pretty much to a, to an institution, have a really strong enduring commitment to their local community as well. And that's a model that we wanna follow. And this last connection with freehold is, is just the, the latest of a whole series of things we're trying to do to be both, uh, totally dedicated to our, you know, host community in this case, Monmouth county, not just our, you know, the local towns and to continue to develop our brand, uh, across the nation, Matt Harmon: Uh, new police chief on campus as well. I think certainly, um, noteworthy for university folks, Carlos Ortiz, swearing in some ceremony that took place on March 7th. Um, that's an important hire when you think of it. I mean, you and I have talked hires over the course of the last two years from higher level upper administrative positions, um, to all, all the way down, but to be the chief of police to have that transition take place. That's one, that's, that's an important one for the overall campus, feel Patrick Leahy: A very, a very important one, uh, and makes, uh, the hiring of the right person very important. And we went out, uh, very broadly, Matt looking for the best possible person we could find. And we discovered, I believe that person in Carlos, Carlos Ortiz, he spent the majority of his career in campus policing at Montclair state that really spoke to us because there's a certain culture to campus policing that I think is really important. And, and I always look at it first and foremost as, uh, protecting our campus and protecting and ensuring to the extent possible the safety of our students and the faculty and staff who serve them. And secondly, way down the line law enforcement, do you know what I mean? Yes, there's a certain amount of law enforcement that is necessary to meet that first objective of, of health and safety, but, but I really want our, our police department to be seen as integrated members of our community there to protect and serve our students, make sure their families feel comfortable, uh, and trusting, uh, their kids to our care. Um, so we wanted to go find the person we felt met that culture. And we did in Carlos and the fact that he's worked most of his career in campus policing gave us real comfort that he understands, uh, you know, that little cultural distinction. He's a really good guy, maybe at a future podcast. We could have him on to talk a little bit about his, his background, but really excited about, about that hire, Matt Harmon: You know, one of the things that, that has always, uh, struck me in and having Monmouth in my roots from basically the mid nineties until now, and people get to know each other, you know, members of the Monmouth university. And I would imagine it won't be much different with, um, chief of police Carlos Ortiz, when you see people it's, Hey, Matt, how are you doing not, hello, Dr. Harmon, how are you today? You know, it's, it's formal, but informal. And it does have still that small campus kind of feel to it, which, which is important, right. For, to be able to, you're not, you're not overseeing a hundred thousand students as you would. It's four to 5,000 students. And it's good to know people on a personal level, Patrick Leahy: It's the kind of community we're trying to build here. And, you know, with our size, you know, five to 6,000 students, I always say, if you, if you think of the full-time staff that we have, and the part-time staff that's coming and going, it's a community of 8,000 or so small enough that we still should be able to get to know one another, to walk the campus and feel comfortable. Um, I think it's some, one of the things that makes, uh, a school of our size really special that you can create that sense of community. Um, but as I always say, Matt, you don't want to trade off opportunities in the, in the, in the, in, in that process. So we're trying to integrate all of the opportunities of a big place, but to offer it in the culture of a small place, you, you know what I mean? Like you can go find this community culture at a lot of places, but they're much smaller and they have many fewer programs and many fewer, uh, out outta class opportunities and they don't have division one athletics. You know, we're offering all those opportunities, you'd find at a big place, but still preserving that culture that I hope makes us, uh, a really strong community. The chief of police sets the tone for that in many respects, given, uh, his unique, uh, position. And again, my hope is we have that person in Carlos. Matt Harmon: I know at the beginning of the month, you were part of an event that took place on campus. Um, in which some of those that are involved with the political world were here doing a, a conversation on how can civil discourse lead to good public policy. Um, again, from a branding standpoint. And I think the last couple of years under your leadership, having people that are involved in the political world, within the state from a regional level, a national level, when they come to campus, it opens the ideas of just how important a private institution like Monmouth can be. But, but talk about the event that took place in early March. Patrick Leahy: Yeah. I have to give, uh, props to Senator VIN, go, who, as you know, is our state Senator represents our district. And he came to me, uh, with the idea and, um, most people know VIN as our, uh, state Senator, but he's also a, a frequent adjunct professor here. So when he said, I have an idea for you, I'm not sure in which capacity he was coming to me and he shared this idea. He just said, I, I just feel like, you know, we're increasingly losing, um, the, uh, the notion of civil discord in our public, uh, discussions. And, uh, he had this idea that he, a Democrat would partner up with another long time friend of Monmouth, former Senator Joe, Caros a Republican. And the two of them would bring elected officials from around the state, maybe around the country someday, who knows, but people are differing parties together for a round table discussion about, um, civility in our public discourse. And so I loved the idea, I mean, where else, but a university campus, should we be having these kind of discussions? And for the very first event, which we held just a couple weeks ago, he was able to get the leader in the Senate, Senator Nick's Qari, uh, the majority leader and the minority leader in the Senate, Senator Steve, or ROHO. I mean, to be able to bring the majority leader and the minority leader together onto the campus at one time to have a, you know, serious discussion about civility in, in politics. It was just a great event. In fact, VIN was joking with me, Matt, that, you know, a, a bunch of other colleges and universities across the state, you know, reached out to him and said, Hey, Hey, what gives how COBA gets this? Are you gonna move it around to other campuses? And when I heard that, I told VIN, uh, no, you had committed you committed this to Monmouth. Uh, our hope is it's the first and a series of discussions that we might have with, uh, with elected officials who, uh, come from, if you will, different sides of the political spectrum. Matt Harmon: You know, when you think of it, it seems like kind of a, uh, a good time for us to just pause on Monmouth. When you talk about civil discourse and how important it is for differing views and differing parties and different trains of thoughts to maybe come together. Um, and, and in the political world, to be able to kind of do that on a smaller scale, when it comes to New Jersey on the mammoth campus, what a great model it would be for something like the situation in Ukraine right now, which, which I, I mean, listen, we don't have to spend a ton of time on it, but it, but it's important because I'm sure it's being talked about in classes and was just prior to spring break and will be when you come back from spring break on so many levels, when a world event like that takes place and happens, the impact of it can be felt on so many levels. Patrick Leahy: Yeah. You, you, you raise a good point. I, I certainly hope it's being talked about in, in many, many of our classes, not just the international politics classes, but, um, in our business classes, because there are business decisions that business owners and business executives need to make, uh, when there's a geopolitical situation like this and, and, and so many other courses, um, I was really pleased to hear, and I hope we'll be, have a chance to talk about winter sports, but king rice say that when this situation broke the Ukraine, he had a serious conversation with his players about this. And, you know, as wrapped up as we all are in our, our daily lives here in, you know, central, New Jersey, there's a big world out there and there's serious events taking place. And, uh, we should pause for a moment to, to, to reflect on those events and, you know, lift up to the extent that we can, our support to the people of the Ukraine, because, uh, it just certainly feels to me like this is just naked aggression. And, um, you know, the, the world in 2022, can't let that stand. So I, I'm, I'm really hopeful that, you know, the, the big issues of our day are our top of mind for, uh, not only the students in the classroom, but for all of us who, um, follow what's happening in the world. So I appreciate you raising this, uh, Matt and gives me a chance to, to, to, to say that the entire Monmouth university community supports, uh, the people who are fighting so valiantly in, uh, in the Ukraine right now. Matt Harmon: Yeah, no, no question about it. Um, and, and when you mention and bring up king rice, whose basketball season came to a close a week or so ago in Atlantic city, um, before we even talk about, you know, winter sport recap, spring sports up and going now to have people like that, or any member of the Monmouth community in a position of, let's say, authority, um, take on social issues and make a statement. I, I think speaks volumes about so many of us who work for the university who are willing to sometimes take what they do in their job and their role, and try and expand it out a little bit to your point earlier. It's a big world. And sometimes we forget, you know, I, I, I, I'm sure you've done the same thing with your kids when they say, boy, I'm starving every once in a while, I'll make the joke of, you know, you're, you're not starving. You might be hungry, but you're not starving. People are starving in the world. People have real problems and everyone's problems are relative to themselves. Um, but, but to hear people in the Monmouth community make statements on social issues, it, it's a, it's a fine line to walk, but one that I think you've always encouraged people to be involved with. Patrick Leahy: I mean, we're a university first and foremost, and you know, everybody who's engaged here one way or another is an educator. So I, I, I welcome it. Um, this is where the free exchange of ideas should be not, not only tolerated, but encouraged and exalted , um, provided that they're bringing light to an issue and not just heat to an issue. You know what I mean? You want, you we're, we're after light on, on issues. And, um, I, I, I just support so much, um, not only the discussion around, uh, you know, these issues, but, you know, the statements that people are making, trying to use their, uh, relative positions to, uh, to, to take stands. And, um, it's what a university, uh, is all about. And, and as you point out that we could talk about the, the, the Russia situation is one example. There's all kinds of others. We had recently, maybe even, I guess it was before our last podcast, you know, our, our annual climate crisis teach in. I mean, that, that is our campus community getting together to talk about what is the latest around our, our climate change and what kind of positions should we be taking as a country, as a community? Just, just the latest in a, a long line of examples where, uh, the university community's trying to do the, trying to do the right thing Matt Harmon: From a standpoint of, of, uh, the last couple minutes that we have here. Um, let's talk a little bit more about athletics. It's kind of that crossover time of winter sports coming to a close the last couple weeks, spring sports, getting up and going, um, by the way, great job of making the Instagram for mu Hawks of the, uh, postgame celebration with George P that won. I thought that the caption of it was great. It was like the pres and Pappas or something like that. Um, which means that you had a good time going down and watching the, the men in the women's team down in Atlantic city, even on what turned out to be, uh, a tough night in the final, again, seeing Peters, Patrick Leahy: I mean, we had the greatest week, Matt. I, I had the great fortune of taking my boys down. And, um, somebody said the other day that half the price of admission going to the basketball games this year was watching, uh, the reaction of my family in, in particular, my two boys nobody's into the games, uh, like we are. And I sometimes joke that it's probably not very becoming of a university president to be as active as I am on the sidelines, but I just, I want so desperately for the student athletes and our coaching staff and the families of our student athletes to know how vested the university president is in their success and how much I, I I'm willing them on. And, uh, sometimes it shows up in, uh, cheers, uh, on the sideline. And that picture in particular with George was just, uh, fortuitous in that, as you recall, he, he ignited that, that win for us on that on, uh, Friday night. And, uh, he ended the game, uh, as fate would have it with the ball in his hands, he intercepted a pass, he threw the ball up in ear. He turned to look and I'm sure he was looking for his family that was sitting, you know, behind me. And I just happened to be in the way he came over. And I got the first sort of major, you know, uh, uh, slap, uh, I don't know if it's was a handshake or a high five or a dab or whatever, but, um, we got it. And, uh, it was so great that, uh, that picture was taken at that time. We had the best time, even though it didn't work out quite the way we wanted in the end. I, I told king that, uh, this whole year he has given my boys and me, uh, memories that will last last a lifetime. Yeah. Matt Harmon: And, you know, it's, it's an interesting time for athletics right now with, uh, winter sports now, officially closed and spring between lacrosse track and field lacrosse, meaning men and women's lacrosse, softball, baseball, all the, the spring sports. This is kind of an end of a chapter of Mammouth athletics is as that transition from the Mac to the CAA, uh, will take place after the spring season and before next fall. So I'm sure all the teams are looking for an opportunity to, to go out with a bang in essence, right. To, to have the spring be, Hey, we're, we're leaving the Mac, um, as a much better program than we did when we first joined it however many years ago. That was 10, 12 years now at this point. Patrick Leahy: Oh yeah. There's no question. I mean, we, we don't get the invitation to the CAA if we haven't demonstrated over that, I think it was a nine year run in the Mac, um, you know, increased excellence in our athletics program. So, uh, I've said before I, there are so many relationships that we've developed in the Mac that I will miss. I mean, the relationships that I've developed with the presidents, I, I, you know, the ad Jeff Stapleton with the other, a ADSS, of course, the, the coaches with the other coaches, those are great relationships. And I hope relationships that will, that will last throughout my career. Uh, but we don't get the CAA invitation. Matt, if we don't, if we don't perform at a really, really high level in the Mac across the board, I really wish, uh, in particular, our men's basketball team could have won that, uh, Mac championship on the way out. I wanted it for them and for king and for the coaches, uh, would've been a lot of fun to, uh, to play our last Mac championship and, and to win it, but it just didn't happen. And I think we need to just be philosophical about it and, uh, say that it was a great year for men's basketball. We just came up, you know, a few points short and, uh, we're gonna take everything we learned over those nine years battling in the Mac and bring it to the, to the CAA. Matt Harmon: Let's finish with, uh, a, a couple of things, one to put you on the spot a little bit, and then a couple that will finish in terms of things that will take place. In essence, the, the day that campus comes back, uh, beginning part of March Monmouth university, president Patrick Lehe has been named to RO I new Jersey's influencers, higher education, 2022 list, uh, this basically recognition for you and the university, um, a, about being a leader in higher education. I know it's not something that you were necessarily anticipating that we would talk about. So I'll put you on the spot and what it kind of means to be part of a list of those that are trying to, to make changes, be involved with improvements in higher education. Patrick Leahy: Well, thanks for bringing it up, Matt, I I'm honored to be recognized. Uh, there's some really, really, uh, impressive, uh, people on that list. Other other college and university presidents throughout the state. So yes, I'm honored to be on the list, but any recognition of the president should be basically, uh, an organizational award because it's the people who work here day in and day out who are trying to advance Monmouth university and deliver life transforming experiences for our students. I mean, um, maybe I get, uh, recognized, uh, for on that list, but I think what they're really recognizing is, uh, a broad institutional commitment to continuing to improve Monmouth university, uh, those experiences for our students and in the process, as we discussed earlier, making really important contributions to our host community. So it's a, it's a team award. not an individual, uh, recognition. Matt Harmon: That's good. I'm gonna put that on my CV for the next time that I'm up for renewal. I'm gonna add that to mind, say team member, part of ROI, New Jersey. Patrick Leahy: I got your back, Matt. So no problem. You go ahead. Matt Harmon: Um, and then, and then, listen, let's finish with, with a couple of things that are gonna take place again, that first week that the, um, semester begins. And I, I will be at the accepted student day, uh, on Monday, March 21st. It's the second of, I believe five or six scheduled days that will take place during the course of the semester for students that have been accepted to the university for next year, they can come and ask questions, have some faculty interaction. Um, the, these are important events, right? I mean, the, I always kind of, I know it says accepted students. They, I always kinda dub it as Mondays at Monmouth, which is kind of how we refer to it as well. These are important days to, I, I, I struggle to say the word, sell the university since the students have been accepted, but we wanna make sure that they also come to the university as well. Patrick Leahy: Oh, and these students have been accepted at a lot of places. So I think selling is appropriate this year so far. So good. We have, uh, we're up basically a thousand applications up this year over last year, which is, I think represents about 13 or 14% growth in one year, which I hope is evidence of the interest in Monmouth. And so it's the finest, uh, academic, uh, accepted class we've ever had. So I, I tell the students, if you've been accepted this year to Monmouth, then it's no doubt you have a lot of good options. And, uh, those accepted students, student days are so important for us to showcase what we offer here at Monmouth and, uh, fit is so important that it's, I it's really critical that the, the students and their families come back to campus and get a chance to meet with a number of people and meet our faculty and check out the campus, see our facilities so that they can try to find out what is the best fit for them so that they can flourish as an undergraduate. Uh, Monday's an important day as are the four additional ones we have after that. Matt Harmon: And then, uh, lastly on the topic of selling, giving today for the university to take place on, uh, March 23rd and March 24th, also important that we, um, as a university perspective, can reach out to those and, and get people involved in terms of giving, giving back to the university, which on, on any level of, however, education is so important. Patrick Leahy: This is really important for two reasons. Uh, Matt, uh, the first and foremost, uh, it's to support our students, our current students, um, uh, if only I could introduce our legions of alums to our students, if only they could hear their personal stories and, and learn of their dreams for the future, I'm quite positive that most of our alums would, would find it in their hearts to make a donation of some kind to support them. Uh, not unlike donors of gen generations ago, made donations to support many of our, uh, alums who, when they were students, you see what I mean? So it's a, it's a, it's a cycle that continues here. So first and foremost, to support our students. But the second reason is a much more practical reason. And that is the only way that third parties measure alumni satisfaction is through the alumni giving rate. They don't ask Matt, how many, uh, how many of you went to reunion? How many of you read the Monmouth magazine? How many of you have a Monmouth decal on your car? They don't ask that as a measure of alumni engagement and satisfaction. They ask a simple question. How many of your alums give back to the university in the past year, in the form of a donation they don't ask for, is it a hundred dollars donation or a thousand dollars donation or a $5? They just ask how many of your alums made a donation in the past year? And they calculate a giving rate, and it's the only measure they use of alumni satisfaction. So I always say there's a twofold reason that I hope we can energize our alumni base in particular, around giving days. And that is to support our students and to vote your confidence, uh, in Monmouth and together. Uh, I think it's a, I, I hope it's a compelling, um, reason to participate on March 23rd and 24th. Matt Harmon: That was a good pitch right there, by the way. I think we can take that and block it out because in, in so many ways, it is that simple. Just give something, whatever it is, it, it, it helps the students on campus. Now it helps future students, uh, that will be part of the university. And, and, and I think just as important, it, it puts the university on just another level. When you can say, I, I mean, I don't know, I'm making numbers up. Hey, 80% of those that graduated from Monmouth give back to the university or whatever number is, is the target at some point, but I think a really good message. Um, there, again, giving days for the university, this, uh, coming week on March 23rd, end 24th, it should be a lot of fun when we hit the ground running, um, on Monday university will be back open and going spring break, coming to a close. And in essence, about six weeks remaining in the semester, I always joke with my students, president Lehe. And I'll give you the final word on this. When you come back from break, it's pretty much like put your head down and go, the, the end is in sight. You're on, in essence, the, the, the last lap here. Um, because those six weeks after break go really, really fast, Patrick Leahy: Uh, they do, they go quickly. We jam a lot in, and that six week period, I I'm always, uh, thinking in particular about our seniors and how sentimental a time it can be for them. Uh, so I want them to get the most out of their remaining weeks, uh, here at Monmouth. So it's a great time when you come back, the weather's turning and, and, uh, you know, like you say, the, the sort of end of the year is in sight. So it's a special time on a college campus, that period between spring break and the end of the semester, Matt Harmon: Right. Corn beef for the rest of the day. That is, uh, Patrick Leahy: Wait, wait. It's Friday. It's Friday, Matt, isn't it? No, Thursday, Thursday. Matt Harmon: You're good. Patrick Leahy: All the corn beef you want, Matt Harmon: all the corn beef you want. Uh, I'm faculty member, Matt Harmon for university, president Dr. Patrick Foley Lehe. We say a happy St Patrick's day, enjoy the rest of your spring break. And we will, uh, catch up with you when we return on campus. This is mammoth weekly episode number 39. Enjoy the rest of your day. And thanks as always for listening.