Matt Harmon: It's the end of an academic year, and that gives us a chance to talk about commencement and much more. Plus, we catch up with executive director of the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music on campus here at Monmouth alum Bob Santelli with University President Dr. Patrick Lehe. This is faculty member Matt Harmon. Time for our latest episode of our weekly podcast, episode number 47. Thanks as always for joining us. Matt Harmon: It is a beautiful Monday afternoon here in the garden state, and looking forward to getting back up to our Monmouth Weekly podcast recordings. This one a bit in the, in the works we've got plenty of stuff to talk about. And as you just heard in the open, we're gonna spend a considerable time talking about the Bruce Springsteen Archive and Center for American Music with executive director Bob Santelli who will pull in at just a couple of minutes. President Lehe, a very good afternoon to you, Sarah. Nice to see as you and I can see each other. No tie today. It's summer casual, even on a Monday. I like that commencement's over, so at least everyone can take a small deep breath before pushing forward to the summer. Patrick Leahy: I do have a tie in the other room if I need it, Matt, but yeah, we're getting ready to get into the summer. Now, as you know, summertime at Monmouth is a very busy time, nonetheless, but it is nice to have the traditional academic year behind us. We completed it officially about a week ago, Matt Harmon: And I, I would imagine that your head was spinning on the Wednesday and Thursday of commencement. I, I think I shared with you my oldest son is now a Monmouth alum. He's a graduate with a concentration in the music industry program. We'll talk to Bob about that later. I'm gonna make sure that Daniel's all taken care of by the time this podcast is over. But when, when you think of it, you know, I, I know that the way commencement is done now with the the undergrad class gathering and then the graduate and doctoral students, and then three different ceremonies on the Thursday there, there's a lot that gets packed into those two days. Patrick Leahy: And I, and I love it. I love every minute of it. I mean, I can't imagine not having commencement right here on campus where all of those students, but in particular, the undergraduates spent the last four years. And as you remember, when I started, we were still donated at the P N C Bank Arts Center, which is a perfectly fine facility. But to do a commencement ceremony, 30 minutes off campus, to me, is just not the way we oughta offer that culminating experience for our, so we were able to bring it back. This was the second year now, sort of in a non covid environment where we were, we were able to do it. It does require us to do five ceremonies over two days. But when you have a facility like the Ocean First Bank Center replete now with new technology, which we just installed, it is the perfect place to do commencement ceremonies. And so it was just great to be able to do them here. And the energy level was so high. I said at the last one that we could use all these folks at our first basketball game in the fall. That's how that's how high energy the crowd was. So just great. E every way you look at it, it was just a great thing. Matt Harmon: You know, I, I guess in a way too, president Lehe, when you think of it anything over the course of the last couple years has been less than conventional. This group of graduating seniors, or graduating the graduating class of 2023, depending on where you started, they began their college careers when Covid kind of started halfway through their, their freshman years, if they were traditional four year students. So we'll probably have another year, year and a half, but this is probably the group more so than any other. When you start as a freshman and then halfway through your year, it's interrupted with Covid, and it kind of carries a whole nother year. This would be a, a group that you could say, I'll tip my hat to you because you guys have definitely survived a challenging four years. Patrick Leahy: Remember, this is my class, Matt. I started the, the same time they did. So it's amazing to think my first full class now has has graduated. But that was a theme throughout all the ceremonies that we know that their experience was unlike probably most other college students before them. And I hope most college students after them. It was such a unique experience and kudos to them for pushing through it and, and showing that that grit and resilience that we needed from them in order to get through it and get through it as well as they did. And it was really a particularly celebratory time, you know, given that experience that you just mentioned. Matt Harmon: When you think of it, the last couple of weeks of the semester, last month of the semester, from the last time we recorded Monmouth Weekly, so much going on fun stuff on campus through SGA and just students getting out and involved scholarship week from an academic standpoint, anything that you wanna, you wanna touch on and talk about just over the course of the last couple weeks? Patrick Leahy: I mean, ju just the fact that there's a three week period at the end of the semester where this place is just, you know, on fire. I mean, the Champions of the Ocean event, we talked about that, you know, with Tony McDonnell last time we were together, that rolled right into a big event. I hope we can get to discussing with Bob here in a minute that we inaugurated this year, followed by scholarship week, which is our annual celebration of student scholarship and the collaboration with their faculty members. And then that rolls right in the commencement. I mean, it is, it is such a busy time on a college campus, but it is a real reminder as to what we do around here. I I start most of my commencement ceremonies with a a statement from the president of my university when I graduated all those years ago, and he said, you know, universities need commencement ceremonies. It's proof that something actually happens around here. Well, if you needed a commencement ceremony for that all you have to do is be around Monmouth for the, you know, April and May. And you'd realize that there's a ton that happens around here in a given year. And that seems to be the most concentrated time of the year, wh when we can celebrate, celebrate that all culminating in, in commencement. So just feel so privileged to be the president at this place. Matt Harmon: Couple more before we bring in Bob and, and talk Bruce and the archives and Center for American Amusement here at Monmouth. First year on the caa, from an athletic standpoint I, I would say overall great, right? I mean, maybe, yeah, if you measure everything, wins and losses, I'm sure you could debate that, but just from an overall integration of being part of a, a conference from an athletic, and as you have stated so many times an academic standpoint with the likes of the William and Marys and the College of Charleston, Northeastern, all the schools that Monmouth is now affiliated with. So, so good overall for the university profile. Patrick Leahy: Yeah, I mean, I don't, I don't think anybody after one year, I don't think anybody questions whether Monmouth University deserves to be in the C a a, both on the field of play. I mean, we, as you recall, Matt, we, our women won the regular season of soccer, or women won the regular season in field hockey. Our women won the c a a basketball championship for the first time in decades. All of our teams competed really well. Our men indoor track and field program finished second in the c a a in its first year. So nobody questions whether we're deserving on the field of play, but also there's a lot of collaboration that's already beginning with those other institutions from an academic perspective. Remember, one of the great benefits of joining the C A A was joining the c a a academic alliance as well. So for Monmouth University to be able to figure out ways to collaborate with those institutions that you just named is a home run for us from an academic standpoint not just from an athletic standpoint. So I think when all is said and done we will consider our first year in the C A a a very productive year. But that league hasn't seen anything yet. I promise you, in the coming years, we will be even more competitive. Matt Harmon: Lots of a awards and recognitions one that I know you wanted to highlight, women's lacrosse goalkeeper Matt Berick, the 2023 Wilma Rudolph Student Athlete Achievement Award. Such a, a, a great way to honor one of the very best that Mammouth has has developed over the course in the last few years. Patrick Leahy: I mean, you're right in saying, you know, I could, I could spend a few minutes talking through the conference level and even regional accolades of some of our student athletes. This is a bonafide national award given out by a national organization that recognizes student athletes who have had to put up with tremendous amount of adversity in their time. And Maddie first transferred to Mama. So, you know, you have the challenges that go with becoming, you know, being a transfer student anywhere. She finds a, a home on our women's lacrosse team. She ends up being a starter. She, she attended goal for us. She's a goalie, and had a great junior year and then had the horrible, the most horrible thing you can imagine happen between junior and senior year. And that is, she was diagnosed with cancer with lymphoma. And so had to go through the, you know, the gut-wrenching treatments that come with that. And she just she stuck with it. She fought through that illness. She continued to advance in school. She was continued to be a great teammate. And for all those reasons, she was recognized alongside just a couple other student athletes nationwide with the Wilma Rudolph Award. I mean, can you imagine you know, our, our next guest has gotten some pretty significant national awards by Giants in his field, but that is like being recognized by one of the giants in, in athletics. And to be to be recognized as such is such a, not only most, and first and foremost great tribute to Maddie, but but also to her support system here at Monmouth. So, particularly proud of her. And our, our women's lacrosse team, Matt Harmon: Let us bring in our guest as we have spoken a couple of times, going back to the open, Bob San, who is a graduate of Monmouth at Tina, I were just talking about, saw his first Bruce Springsteen concert back in 1969 and has really helped put Mammoth on the board in so many ways. Bob good afternoon for me and for President Lehe. I, I mean, I could spend probably the next 20 minutes of our podcast going through your resume, because it's just that impressive. You as a music historian you as just a music fan and all of the affiliations that you've had with the Grammy Museums, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame I know your, your connection back to Monmouth, but this one in particular when you look at it, the Bruce Springsteen Archive and Center for American Music, it's hosted in Monmouth University. You as a Monmouth alum, I'm gonna start there. It has to be special that your affiliation with the Garden State Monmouth and Bruce has all kind of connected back and forth together with these archives in the center. Bob Santelli: And that wa and that was precisely the point. So thank you for that little setup there, because in 1969, I was a freshman, hard to believe all those years ago. I was a skinny 17 year old freshman at Monmouth College, and at my freshman orientation Bruce Springsteen's Steel Mill played, and it was the very first time I got to see him way before the E Street band. And that really launched an in lifelong interest fascination with Bruce, not only as a a great new jerseyan, but also as one of the great rock and rollers of all time. So for us to have the Bruce Springsteen archives and Center for American Music on the campus of Monmouth University, what that does is it ties up so many things for me, a it brings this institution to my alma mater. That's one thing. Two, I'm a, you know, I was born and raised in New Jersey, grew up on the Jersey Shore, so allowing me to bring it to my region, you know, one of the great places in New Jersey, one of the great places on the East Coast, the Jersey Shore. And then three, quite honestly, you know, as, as a young music journalist, which I got started at Monmouth College in 1969, working as a writer for the Outlook I rode Bruce Springsteen's coattails. I mean, I'm not ashamed to admit it, but he, when he was coming up and basically exploding on the national scene in 19 74, 75, you know, I was lucky enough to have access to interviews with him and with the E Street Band guys, and they always treated me really great. And so this is an opportunity to kind of pay back that as well. So it all ties up quite nicely. Matt Harmon: Bob, tell me from a standpoint, and I, and I'm reading this right from the website the Springsteen archives comprised of nearly 35,000 items, and it might even, I'm sure it could be more than that now at this point, depending on when the website was, was posted from 47 countries. How do, how does Mammouth, how does Bob Santelli those affiliated, collect all of that to now create this archive center? Bob Santelli: Well, much of the credit goes to my colleague Eileen Chapman, the Director of the Archives. She and I have known each other for a very, very long time, and have been partners in, in so many things from the Jersey Shore Jazz and Blues Festival and Foundation, all the way back in the 1980s, to the point of actually getting that very small collection a number of years ago from the library of Asbury Park, where it was basically falling apart due to mold and, and, and neglect. Not an intentional neglect, but lack of money back then to, to really treat the to treat the collection well. And Monmouth was smart enough and, and, and opened with their arms to take the collection in at that point. And from there, it grew. And Eileen Chapman deserves all of the credit for that. I, I don't deserve any credit for just the vision to bring it here, but they're the ones with her, with Monmouth University students acting as interns and work study programs. They categorize it, they get things, and these things come in from all over the world, and they're coming in in droves now because of course, Springsteen's on tour and the media and the amount of stuff that's being generated is tremendous. And so they got their hands full. But their hope is when we get a to a certain point, well, all of this will be digitized, or you can only imagine a Springsteen fan or a Springsteen historian. Having access to this is gonna be pretty amazing. Matt Harmon: It was President Lehe. Bob and I shared a quick story before, before you hopped on was talking about Eileen Chapman, who had the absolute coolest record CD store that existed in the eighties and the nineties, almost live on Main Street in Belmar. And as a Springsteen fan, I used to pop in there and say, have you gotten anything new? Have you gotten anything new you used to have to spend? Bob, you remember it? Yeah. You used to have to spend considerable money to get a bootleg from a Springsteen concert. And she had the best collection that existed. Bob Santelli: She did, indeed. It was a great store. People loved that store, and she did a great job with it. But her, you know, her background goes back to the Stone Pony Mrs. Jay, she's been on the scene since she was a kid as well. And I've, I've been honored to know her and work with her through all these years. It's been, it's been a pleasure. As we continue to move forward with this project, the, the Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music Matt Harmon: President Lehe, tell me how important this is to have Mammouth connected to it. Clearly it makes sense because of Springsteen's background here in Mammouth County, from Freehold to Belmar, to Asbury Park, to Long Branch, all places in between the Garden State as a whole. But you know, listen, Mah not the only university in the New Jersey. It could have been Rutgers, could have been Seton Hall, could have been any of several. Why so important in Monmouth? And, and, and tell me what it makes you think Patrick Leahy: We are, we are the perfect home for the Springsteen archives and Center for American Music. I mean, as you pointed out, Matt, I mean, this is Springsteen country. This is where Bruce Springsteen's early shows were. He was born down the street in Long Branch. He wrote Born To Run, and so many other great songs, right, right around here. So for one reason, you know, this, this sh this asset should be right in sort of his home region, number one. But number two, it should be housed at a university and, and not just any university, a university with a, with an enduring commitment to the arts and, and arts education. I think there are benefits that accrue to having a, an a, a, a cultural asset like this at a university and the collaboration across all kinds of different programs here at the university and a built-in, you know, constituency with our faculty and our staff and our, and our students. So there's, there's an, there's another reason why Monmouth is the perfect place. And then you take those two of those, and you put it in a perfect geographic location. I mean, right outside of New York City, just up the road from Philadelphia, right on the Northeast corridor between Washington and Boston. I mean as Bob can tell you, a lot more easily accessible than a lot of other great, you know, music assets around the country and around the world. So you put all that together, it is, it is the perfect place. But I'll say one last thing about it. For us here at Monmouth, this is a big deal, and we will treat it as such. It is one of the principle reasons that, that I came to Monmouth was I saw when they were recruiting me to come here, the possibilities to continue to develop the Springsteen archives and Center for American Music with I'm just gonna say it, a legend in the field, Bob Santelli. I mean, this is a, this is a privilege afforded very few universities and very few university presidents. So for all those reasons, this is the right place for the Springsteen archives and, and and Center for American Music, because as Bob will tell you, sort of one of Bruce's sort of commitments here, I don't, I don't wanna speak for him, but I think I'm paraphrasing this correctly, Bob, he would do this, but pretty much with one you know requirement. And that is that we build out a Center for American Music, his piece of it being a really important chapter, but just one chapter in a ever unfolding story of American music. And that's where I think there's just limitless potential Matt Harmon: . Bob, let me let you hop in on that and, and, and comment to what you just heard from President Lehe. I would, I would imagine in your conversations with Bruce about this, there had to be some convincing, right? I mean, maybe it wasn't a hard sell, but some sort of convincing that Mammoth is the place, but yet it has to be part of a, a larger scope and bigger picture. Bob Santelli: Well, it didn't take a lot of convincing. And, and I'll, I'll give you the brief thumbnail sketch. I mean I, I, I had the idea. I went to John Landow, Bruce's manager. I spoke to him about it. He liked it. And he says, well, now you gotta talk to Bruce. And, and so one day, a few years ago, John Landow and myself went to Bruce's farm out in Colts Neck, and I did. He said, Bob, take it away. It's yours. And basically for about 10 minutes, I just, I just poured out all the ideas and the ambitions that, that had been stored up for the last six or seven months in preparation for this particular meeting. Bruce didn't say anything. And halfway through my little spiel, I'm, I'm wondering if he's thinking about writing a new song or going to lunch, or, I had no idea what he was thinking. He said, nothing. Just listen. And at the end, basically, he says, I like it. I like it. And then, you know, we talked, as Pat said, he says, you know, but it, it really needs to be bigger than me. I don't want it to be just about me. I'm just a part of an ongoing story. If we could broaden it. And I said, yes, we can. We have the idea called the Center for American Music. At that point, 30 seconds later, he says, let's go see the spot. And literally he got on his motorcycle. John and I got in the car. We drove straight to Monmouth University, we showed him where we had this idea where we could ultimately, if we ever got the opportunity to create a a, a really state-of-the-art building for this. And he said, I like it. Let's do it. And that was it. And we were off to the races. So he you know, he knew Monmouth, first of all, because as Pat said, just down the street, you know, in West Long Branch, he lived during the seventy three, seventy four when he wrote Born to Run. So he was very familiar with the area. He did shows in West Long Branch with a band called Steel Mill. The band I saw, which was pre E Street Band, played Mama 10, 12 times when I was there. So he knew it. His first fan base is Mammouth fan Mammouth students. So it didn't take, it wasn't like, well, he went for it. And of course that was it. And then we said, we got it from there. And, and we've built this at this particular point up until, what, pat, I think just a few months ago, back in January or February, he visited the campus for nearly a half a day, went through everything, and, and boy, he's happy with it. He's happy with what we're, where we're going with it, our strategic plan. And, and I think I think he's pretty proud and happy that this is going to be in his home state, not far from where he started, and not far from where he lives. Matt Harmon: Bob San joining us here on our Monmouth Weekly podcast, Bob, amazing story. Number one, could have been just a, a touch like cooler. You should have had your own motorcycle that you would've driven over with Bruce as well, or at least had on the back. I, I think he could have given you, given you a ride. Right. Bob Santelli: You know, , it's funny to say that because years ago, oh God, late nineties, I guess I was living in Cleveland, Ohio, working at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I had always wanted to do a book with Bruce Springsteen. And that didn't happen. So I took the job with the Rock Hall, starting it up in Cleveland back in 1995. And a couple of years later he he got, I got a call saying he wants to do a book called Songs, and would I come back to help him with that? Which of course I did. But one day, one day we're working hard. It was a summertime, and he just had an urge for pizza on the Long Branch Boardwalk. So I said, yeah, that sounds good to me. Let's, we get in the, he, he says, we're gonna take the motorcycle. So he had a mo, he has a bunch of them, but he had one Russian motorcycle with a sidecar. So he says, hop into Sidecar. So I get into sidecar, I put on a helmet. I feel like Jack Nicholson an Easy Rider, right? And, you know, we're, I'm driving along Gone Ho. And, and Patty had just made Crabcakes. So I'm holding Crabcakes to keep us going until we get to the pizza, giving Bruce a crab cake. As we're driving, we pull up to, we pull up to a light in the Long Branch, and two girls come up on the right hand side, and of course, they immediately recognize Bruce and I could just see on their faces, they're looking at me saying, who the hell is that guy? Right? . But it was like, I felt like such a schmo right here I am at the sidecar. I'm not even on my own motorcycle. But it was great, you know, I had a great time working on the book with him. And tooling around on a Russian motorcycle. Sidecar was a once in a lifetime experience for sure. Patrick Leahy: And if only we had a picture of that, Matt, that would be one of the most valuable pieces of our archives. But I don't think we Bob Santelli: Do, do we, you do have a picture? Oh, we do. I have a picture of it. Patty took the picture of. We're not Dr, we're, we're getting ready to go. But there's proof in that photograph that I look like a real Schmo, , Matt Harmon: Crab, crabcakes and Pizza with Bruce and Long Branch. That's while Driving's, right. Perfect. Bob, let, lemme ask, let, let me ask you this. I, I shared with you before we started my oldest son just graduated with the music industry concentration at Monmouth, one of his last classes that he took this past semester, life and work of Bruce Springsteen, a class that's offered at Monmouth. I, I believe at least once a year, does Bruce know that academic classes exist in kind of his work and life that I, I mean, it's gotta be something that even for somebody like that, that is pretty humbling to think that people have created classes to now teach a whole nother generation about his life, his music, and who he is. Bob Santelli: It's not just here at Monmouth University. They exist all over the place. He is well integrated on the college campus in America and beyond. As a matter of fact, just this, this morning, Eileen Chapman and I taught a class that, a zoom class at Sappi Enza University in Rome, Italy. It's a whole course on Bruce Springsteen, and of course, Bruce being part Italian, they love him over there. He just got finished playing there two nights ago last night. And and so he's there and he knows it. And you know, I think that's humbling for him. But you know, when you think of Bruce and Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan, these are, these are architects of American music whose, whose connection to not only our culture, but also our national identity is unquestioned. And it stands to reason that there will be classes. And but thing that bums me out is that I never got a chance to teach a course on Bruce Springsteen. I would've loved to have done it earlier during my time teaching at, at, at at Monmouth. But the fact of the matter is, you can go with Ivy League schools, schools on the West Coast, Springsteen is alive and well on the on the college campus in America. Matt Harmon: Bob, a a follow up to that, if you don't mind, would be from an overall music historian perspective, the lessons that today in 2023, you can still pick up from musicians of the past. You mentioned the Woody Guthrie, the Bob Dylans, the Bruces, I, I, I'll ride in the car some sometimes and put on a Beatle song or Zeppelin or something you know, from, from the sixties, seventies. And my kids can still enjoy it and listen to it and, and be like, who is that? Why does music have that endearing quality that has just become, in a way, non generational, doesn't matter how old you are, music has that connection. Bob Santelli: Well, because here in America, music is our, in my opinion, our most valuable, almost treasured cultural resource. We define ourselves as Americans by our mute, the music that we listen to. It's a reflection of our national identity. I can speak personally and know for a fact that when I see Springsteen abroad, particularly in Europe, countries like Spain, Italy, Gothberg, Sweden, he, he is the American poster boy, right? I mean, he represents to Europe, young Europeans, he represents what America should be, right? That he, he is that, and more so than Bob Dylan or any other artist Bruce, is that why, why music? Why do your your kids listen to Led Zeppelin? And you know, Bob Dylan from the sixties in in particular, it's because, and I, I hate to say this, I'm a baby boomer, but as a music historian, I have to say it, music starting with baby boomers assumed a much, much greater responsibility to our daily lives than just mere entertainment. It wasn't, we simply danced to or listened to on the car radio. A lot of people, myself included, identified ourselves or I created identities for ourselves through the music. I have to say that listening to Woody Guthrie, and particularly Bob Dylan when I was a kid, totally influenced my way of thinking about politics and so much more. And I think that's, that's timeless. And young people like your son and others understand this, they get it from their parents, and they're the ones that are gonna carry it on 200, 300 years from now. They'll go back to the sixties, the post-war period. And it will be something where, say, this was a golden period in American Music Matt Harmon: President Leahy, I, I think we we're just scratching the surface with these archives in the Center for American Music. But you know, events that can highlight what's taking place within the center, within the Monmouth community, something that that took, just took place this past April. When you look at on campus and you've got the American Music Honors event that happens and all of kind of the, the media and all the attention that the university gets, again, that's just kind of an outlier to it, but it's part of a, a bigger scope and a bigger picture. And I'm sure President Lehe, there's, there's so much more, and again, use the term, scratch the surface. Like this is a, this is a, a, a capability that Mammoth can just get into a whole nother area that maybe they haven't even thought about. Patrick Leahy: Well, to Bob's point, I mean we are the center for American Music. And, you know, Bala Bob tell you, you know, it was his idea to create this new event which would celebrate American musicians a across the broad spectrum of American music as a way to raise money for the center to bring exposure to, to, you know, not only the Springsteen archives and the Center for American Music, but to Monmouth University to engage people who, to this point have had no connection at all to Monmouth are now we believe getting connected to what we're all about, getting exposed to who we are and what we're all about. So I'd like to ask Bob to share with you sort of his thinking behind this event that we inaugurated on April 15th called the American Music Honors. Bob Santelli: Well, I think every institution needs a landmark event to elevate its presence on the national landscape and raise money. And the, the idea for American Music Honors basically comes from the idea that the people who are part of this particular institution, especially Bruce, there are artists that perhaps did not get their lion share of attention, that people that we want to make note of, so that young people, particularly mama students and and others can can appreciate the contributions. They may not just to American music, but also to Bruce and, and his music. And so the Honors was created to on a yearly basis, celebrate these people, do oral histories with them, create public programs with them, et cetera. So it's not just them getting an award, but now they're part of our extended family. And in the form, of course, we, we honored it, back in April Sam Moore from the legendary j soul Duo, Sam and Dave Darlene, loved one of the great singers from the Girl group era, Stevie Vanzant, of course, not only just because of his connection to the Jersey Shore or to the E Street band, but as a, as a music educator, as a, and as a someone who used music as an agent for a change in this world. And then of course, Steve Earl, who's one of the great creators of something called Americana, has his finger on a pulse of so many different kinds of music forms. So these were our first honorees. I can tell you it was a huge success for us in many, many ways. The only lack of success was about four hours before we were supposed to kick it off. Bruce got Covid and was unable to attend, but he, we rushed out a we rushed out a film crew to the farm where he was isolated. And he did a great presentation for people and for the, the honorees. It all worked out. It all worked out terrific. But in the end, this is an event I think that will bring attention to the archives, also to Monmouth. I can tell your people who are listening to this podcast, there will be a P B S special that will air on June, starting the air on June 27th. So if you were not able to come here, you'll be able to see interviews and performances from that particular show. But the fact that they came out and wanted to do an hour long special on us right away, off the bat, is a great indication of things to come. Patrick Leahy: And I'll just add too to this, you know, John Stewart was our host, and no surprise, he was fantastic. But two things about it, Matt, that really was exciting to me. I mean, I think Bob, each of these four, they, they're all Grammy winners, or most are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, right? Bob Santelli: Except for Steve Earl, three of the Patrick Leahy: Four, except for Steve Earl, but three of the four in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And, and they a agreed to be recognized. And the general takeaway was that this award that we gave them meant a lot to them because of the name of the person who's on the door, you know, Bruce Springsteen. And, and that just, you know, for me was such, such a sense of pride that we at Monmouth University have this great privilege to, to steward, you know, Bruce's legacy and to build the Center for American Music around it. But the other really practical thing is we had people from California, Texas, Florida, of course, all over New York, here on our campus for the very first time. And the number of people that said to me like, oh my God, pat, you know, you guys, you have a treasure here at Monmouth University. You know, it just reinforces for me that we've got something really special here at this university and this, you know, small piece of land here at the Jersey Shore, we need to get, make sure more people know about us because we have something going here that is really, really unique and really special. This Center for American Music and the Bruce Springs and archives is just one way that we can hopefully shine a spotlight on all the great work that happens here at Monmouth. Matt Harmon: Bob, finish with this one, and, and you've been extremely gracious with your time and appreciate it. I feel like we could do hours upon hours with, with you talking and, and getting into some of probably the amazing stories that you have, but I'll let you finish with this. Tell me what the next five years is for the Center for American Music and the Springsteen Archives, and how the profile continues to grow and get larger. I think, I think half of the questions easily answered as you just said. Bruce is on tour right now, will keep getting artifacts that can live in, in the archives, but from a, from a bigger scope, the event that just took place in April, things like that. How does the word continue to get out and how does American music continue to grow in a spot like at Mammouth? Bob Santelli: Well, I'll, I'll use the words that Pat used earlier on. You ain't seen nothing yet. We have very, very ambitious plans. We expect the archives, the Center for American Music to be on, on the national landscape, right up there with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Smithsonian, the Grammys. That's our aspiration. How do we do that? Well, we're gonna need a new home for, for for our archives because we're outgrowing the space, and that's something we gotta work on. And, and make sure that that happens sometime in the future. We're gonna grow American Music honors into a national event, hopefully to get on TV within year three. That would be a great aspiration. We'll see if it can happen, but that's gonna be a yearly event that will grow in stature. We're, we're broadening our board of directors. You can imagine. You know, we started off with basically John Landow and Bruce people and, and Mammouth people. But now we have the most important presidential historian, Douglas Brinkley from Rice Universities on our board, the eminent American music historian Sean Lenz from Princeton University on our board. My colleague from Rolling Stone, who teaches at Penn, Anthony Dur on our board. So we're growing the board again, having national implications for that. And I think one of the things that you'll start to see more and more of are public programs, things that we will do on campus and around the country, given our name, this Center for American Music. So you'll see us become national in scope in that regard. And then finally, I hope that we play a major role in America's 250th birthday in 2026, after all. Again, the American music part of our name almost mandates that we play a part in that. So we're working on that. All of these things will elevate not just the institution, but Monmouth University, because we are one in the same when it gets right down to it. So as a, as an alum, a former faculty member, you know, a citizen, former birthplace, New Jersey fan, et cetera, this is super exciting for me personally and professionally. And you know, I got a great team that rolls up at sleeves, starting with President Lehe on down. A lot of people here were committed to making this work. So I can say the horizon, I can see it's bright, it's sunny, and we're clamoring to get there. Patrick Leahy: And let me just add Matt, I mean, , if if anybody other than Bob Santelli brought me that ambition, I would probably, you know, scoff at it. But Bob Santelli has done this, and he is done it repeatedly. He is, again, at the risk of embarrassing him. He's a legend in the field. He's got credibility everywhere. If he says we're gonna take this to the next level as he's suggesting I feel like it's my responsibility to give him the support that he needs. It's a great privilege for me that not only to be the President of Monmouth, but I'm the chair of the Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music Board. I mean, never thought that would be something I could do in my life. So I need to just support Bob and I, Eileen and and his other collaborators because the ambition that we have is fantastic. And I have said this again, at the risk of embarrassing my friend and colleague, you know, the, the, the, the, the Globe has 8 billion people on it. You could travel the globe and you would not find a better person to lead the Springsteen archives and Center for American Music than Bob Sci. For all of the reasons he, he just talked about, not the least of which is he brings this, what I hope is a culminating project in his stellar career back to his alma mater. It's just you can't make this up. I mean, once we get this done, we'll turn our attention to Hollywood and get that story told about how we pulled this off. So it's just a great thing for, for Monmouth. Matt Harmon: Bob, thanks so much for coming on. I, I'm gonna let you go, but only under the guys that you promised to come back on, and the next time you do, we'll have some more fun just talking about your thoughts of Springsteen's career favorite album, best best tour that you've been on, things like that, which we didn't even touch on and, and get to today. Would that be okay? Bob Santelli: That would be fine. I, I enjoyed today very much, especially talking to you and, and having Pat on as well. And thank you, pat, for those very, very overly kind comments. Much appreciated. You humbled me by that and, and thank you. But I can tell you that this is a great podcast and, and, and anytime you need me, anytime you wanna invite me back. I'm there, Matt Harmon: Bob, if you do want to come back again and you don't want President, you can just shoot me an email and, and we can fill his spot with Bruce. That would be okay too. That would be not, not an issue at all. I can make that happen. I, I'm the technical advisor here on, on Monmouth weekly. So Bob Santelli: We, we we we should do that at some point. We should boss's, right? Good idea. We'll, after the tours over, Matt Harmon: Bob, thanks so much. This, this was a lot of fun. Appreciate it. Thank President Lehe, final word. Thanks for putting this one together. This was as I just told Bob, a lot of fun and, and a great way to kind of kick off the summer. I'm looking forward to seeing Bruce in August in Philadelphia, and I'm sure I'll get to another couple of shows. I, I think I'm somewhere up around 50 and, and it's been a couple years, so it'll be nice to get back on tour again. Patrick Leahy: I mean, if you think about, just as we wrap up an academic year, you know, I, I don't remember exactly all of our guests, but the director of our Center for Entrepreneurship, the director of our Urban Coast Institute, the director of our, you know, executive director of our Springsteen archives. I mean what colleges and universities across the country wouldn't give for what we've got. And I'm telling you this, this university is poised to really break out in the in the years to come. So I, I love our collaboration, Matt. Bob, you should know that this was Matt's idea to put a podcast together in the throes of the Covid 19 pandemic as a way to just get information out to the the campus community. And it's just grown from there to talk about all things mammouth, not just how we're getting through the pandemic. So I really appreciate the ways in which you serve the university beyond all the, all the standard things you do. Matt, Matt Harmon: I appreciate that. Close of an academic year here in 20 22, 23. President Elahi will be back with myself on Monmouth weekly, sporadically during the course of the summer. If anything pops up. And we invite all of you to enjoy what is a great couple of months here at the Jersey Shore, Bob Santelli. Thanks once more time. President Lehe, Matt Harmon, this has been episode number 47 of Monmouth Weekly. Have a great rest of your day.