Matt Harmon:
Recorded live on April 15th, 2026 from the studios of WMCX on the campus of Monmouth University. This is episode number six of our monthly podcast series, Monmouth Matters, with an inside perspective from university president, Dr. Patrick Lahey. This is faculty member Matt Harmon. Thanking you for your continued support and for listening. Enjoy the latest episode.

Nick:
Broadcasting live from the second floor of the Jewels L Plan Gear Center for communication on the campus of Monmouth University. This is 88.9 WMCX. It's time for our monthly look around campus in our featured podcast series. This is Monmouth Matters with a firsthand perspective from university president, Dr. Patrick Lahey. Joined by a two-time alum and long-time faculty member, Dr. Matthew Harmon.

Matt Harmon:
A fantastic stretch of weather after a brutal winter here in the Northeast Spring has certainly sprung and the campus is buzzing with activity. Excited to be back here on WMCX 88.9 with University President Dr. Patrick Leahy. As you heard in the open, faculty member Matt Harmon, this is Monmouth Matters. We got a really great show on tap for you today. We're going to spend a couple minutes just updating a couple things and then devote a good chunk of our time today with Bob Santelli, the executive director of the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music. A lot of actual breaking news that just took place over the course of the last couple days. We'll get an update on all of that coming. I say a very good morning. Are we situated with the chair? The chair's giving you a little bit of a hard time here this morning.

Patrick Leahy:
We're doing okay.

Matt Harmon:
A reminder that maybe in our yearly budget, we should put in

Patrick Leahy:
For new chairs. A new chair. New chairs. Okay. Monmouth matters.

Matt Harmon:
And we've got proof of concept that one of the co-hosts needs a new chair. Great to be back with you, President Lehy. Appreciate you coming over and giving us an hour. I know it's extremely busy with everything going on on campus and unfortunately we will open the show. We're just talking about it before we came on. Our last podcast was March 25th. We usually record on Wednesdays once a month. And then on March 27th, unbelievably tragic and sad news. Former university president Gray De Mena had passed away in a motorcycle accident. Obviously, we need to spend a couple of minutes on someone who was so influential in a variety of ways as the chief and general counsel for the university then came back prior to you and your now current administration and time as university president Gray was someone who you wouldn't hear many, if any, say anything bad about.
And the fact that he is no longer with us anymore is unbelievably sad. We should spend a couple minutes on that here this morning.

Patrick Leahy:
Yeah, it's a terribly sad situation. I mean, Gray was, as the outlook rightly pointed out, a beloved figure here on campus for, I don't know, three decades or more. First, as you pointed out as our general counsel for a long time. And then actually retired, as I understand it, retired. And then when the university needed him to step in, he came out of retirement to serve as the ninth president for those couple years before they did a search. And so he had retired. He was in, as I understand it, fantastic health. He and his wife, Nancy, traveled the world. I mean, the question was always when I saw him, where in the world is Gray de Mena because he traveled everywhere. And I think one of the real sad things for me anyway is he had so much gas left in the tank. He was 72, I think.

Matt Harmon:
72.

Patrick Leahy:
But was a young 72. And he died tragically in a motorcycle accident. And the only saving grace for me is that this happened doing something that he absolutely loved. And maybe in a funny kind of way that provides a little soulless during this time, but remarkable, remarkable man.

Matt Harmon:
Started his career here at Monmouth in February of 1995, then retired in July of 2013. And as you said, came back out of retirement when the university was in definitely a transitional period, served as the ninth president of the school from 2017. And I actually remember in that time period from 17 to 19, when he actually stepped away and then you came on board, he almost had to be convinced to stay on for another year because if I'm remembering correctly, in 2017, it was, "I'll do this for a year to bridge the gap." And then they actually decided to keep him on for another year while that national search was going on. And he was just somebody who, when he walked around campus, he was friendly with students. He knew everybody's name. One of his probably more unique traits is if you didn't know him, he would introduce himself as the funniest man on campus.
Hey, I'm great to me, a funniest man on

Patrick Leahy:
Campus. Self-proclaimed, funniest man.

Matt Harmon:
Not university president. I am the funniest man on campus and someone who guided the university in that transitional period. And ironically enough, as we're going to spend a ton of time today with Bob Santelli talking about the Bruce Springsteen Archives, the Center for American Music, everything that's now gone on over the course of the last couple of years with that building and with that center, it was under Gray's leadership that all that kind of started to get rolling.

Patrick Leahy:
Yeah. We cannot forget the contributions he made to this. When this idea was first hatched with the Springsteen organization, Gray was still general counsel, as I understand it. So he was really instrumental in helping to get this solidified. And then of course, when he became the president for those two years, he helped to get the initiative launched. And then even when he retired, we kept him on as a member of the board of the Springsteen Center so that we might still benefit from his wisdom. He came back to serve as the president for one reason and one reason only. I think he would tell you he didn't have any ambition to be the president here. He came back here because he loved this place and it was a really important part of his life. And so we're trying to figure out the best way to commemorate his contributions to Monmouth.
Maybe at a future podcast, we'll be able to announce something, but we want to try to figure out a way that we can recognize those

Matt Harmon:
Commitments. I am curious. He finishes in July of 2019. You come on as the next university president. What are maybe the conversations and some intimate moments that the two of you guys have about talking, "Hey, I understand you're coming on board. I'm leaving." The old adage of, if you step into the White House, the former president leaves a letter that the new president can kind of read. What was your relationship like with Gray?

Patrick Leahy:
It was special in that regard because those kind of transitions aren't always the most comfortable. For example, my previous place, it wasn't really quite as comfortable, but here it was quite comfortable because again, Gray was here for a couple years as president, but here for so long in another capacity, he loved the place. He wanted simply the best for the place. So he was very candid with me on things and we worked through a lot of things during the transition. I could always count on his support. He's kind of the best kind of predecessor to have and that he was always there even after he retired. He was always there when I needed him, but he was retired. He wasn't hanging around in a inappropriate way in any regard. I'll tell you one quick story. It's one of my favorites. During the transition, he would call me.
I would call him. I get a call in May, I guess, before I started. And it's Gray. And Gray says, "I hope this is not out of line, but I have some unsolicited advice. Are you open to that? " "What am I supposed to say? "But of course, of course I am. I'm all ears. What is it? He said," Whatever you do, don't discontinue the President's Cup. "And I said," What is the President's Cup? "And it's that series of games that we do around campus every spring just to try to create- Yeah, coming up.
Yeah, to create community around the campus. And I said," Of course, of course. No, never. I'll never do that. ""What else?" He goes, "That's it. I just wanted to make sure you knew how important the campus feels about this and I just want you to know we should continue that. " And I said, "Fine." And so we have continued that unabated. I think maybe the COVID year we didn't, but we've continued it unabated. And as you say, it's coming up. So we will remember him in a special way during this year's President's Cup.

Matt Harmon:
Yeah. Our thoughts and prayers to Grey Di Mena's family left such a mark on this campus for a long time. Unfortunately, within the same couple of days after our last podcast, Monmouth had a second tragedy. Student Timothy Sanchick passed away automobile accident, 20 years old, was a first semester student, started his collegiate career at Lafayette, transferred here to Monmouth. And that's one that even though wasn't here for a long time, that leaves an unbelievable sadness around the campus.

Patrick Leahy:
It's the worst call a university president can get. And it's such a sad situation. As you say, I don't think I met Timothy and he had just transferred here, as I understand it, from Lafayette. Just a horrible situation. I think I heard, I don't know if this has been confirmed, but it may have happened on his way home from his grandmother's funeral. I mean, can you imagine a more devastating thing for the family? So our thoughts and prayers go out to Timothy's family and in particular to his parents and closest loved ones. Just an unimaginable tragedy.

Matt Harmon:
And you can't really ... You're in the middle of the semester. And as you said, if that's how that happened, you have kids, I have kids, you're not supposed to outlive your kids. So incredible sadness that goes out to his family as well. And hate to start with two tough things to talk about, but obviously both leaving their own mark here on the campus. Let's change gears and put a positive spin before we'll take a bit of an early break and then bring Bob Santelli in, talk about the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music. When we were recording last time, we were in the midst of giving days. Turned out to be an unbelievable success for the university over that two day 48 hour stretch.

Patrick Leahy:
I mean, I think we've been doing it for five years or so. The first year we had $100,000 and next year, 250. You know what I mean? This year, well over $500,000 and it's just getting rolling. So what a wonderful thing to reach out to the entire greater Monmouth community and invite them to donate where their heart desires. And it's one of the things I love about it is the ability to make donations wherever you think. I had a couple pent up commitments or else next year it's coming right here to the Monmouth Matters team and the students that are involved in this, but just a great thing and evidence that I think there's some energy in the Monmouth University community and this is evidence of it.

Matt Harmon:
Yeah. And as you said, donate to whoever you want, record setting a couple of days for the university, which is always great. And I think importantly, and you talked about this in our March episode, the university is always open for donations, but we don't necessarily ask all the time. So when we do, there's a heavy emphasis on it, right? I mean, there's a lot that goes in to, in those couple of times during the course of a year, there is a heavy push for be involved. And I thought one of the things that I thought about it after we recorded in March is two things. And everybody always says this, give whatever you can, doesn't matter. And your involvement into the university, whether you were an alum, whether you are a current student, whether you are a faculty member, an employee, it is something that makes Monmouth University special in that as a small university, your donation can go a long way.

Patrick Leahy:
In fact, you're absolutely right. When you give a donor the opportunity to direct it wherever he or she chooses, a $50, $100, $500 gift goes a long way. If you throw it into the general fund, it might not seem like you're making much of a difference. But when you say, "I want to support the women's soccer team, or I want to support the debate hawks or whatever, the library," then you know that money is going directly to that cause and we empower the individuals who run those different areas to use it wisely. So yeah, you're absolutely right. I think it should be empowering the donors to know that money, no matter how large a gift goes directly to their passion. Career.

Matt Harmon:
Career and internship fair taking place today. That's kind of the idea of what we do. Get students ready for Success Scholarship Week taking place over the course of this week. And it all kind of goes around just the university as a whole winding down, leading into commencement middle of May.

Patrick Leahy:
Yeah, it's a very busy time of year. It seems like every time of year is a busy time of year, which I love. It's one of the things I love about being the president of a university is the energy that's on campus most times of the year. But when the weather breaks, when you're trying to jam in all these additional events and the like, at the end of the semester, there's a real heightened activity. For example, last Saturday, I spent the day at softball, at baseball, and at men's lacrosse. So I could get three sports knocked out in one day because that's how much activity there was. So career day is really important, especially now and student scholarship week, particularly important that we have at this week because as you know, and as we talked about last time, this is the first year that we are recognized as a national university in part because of our commitment to scholarship and research as an institution, how fitting that at the end of the semester like we do every year, we would have a student scholarship week where we can display the incredible work that happens throughout the course of the year in terms of scholarship and research.
So really important this year as a national university for the first time.

Matt Harmon:
And I'm looking forward to on Friday going over and seeing a student that I helped oversee for her kind of senior thesis process, great opportunity for students to get involved with the research and of things. We are going to take a break. When we come back for the remaining part of the podcast, we're going to talk with Bob Santelli, the executive director of the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music. We'll get an update on the building, all the happenings that are coming up over the course of the next couple of months, an exciting time for the center for Monmouth. Bob Santelli will talk about it when we come back. I love that our engineer who's in charge of the board, one of our four students here today, John, he sets himself up. That's his voice coming back.

Patrick Leahy:
I know.

Matt Harmon:
That's his voice. That must have been like either what? John, flip of the coin or you just said like, "Nick, I sound a little bit better than you do, so I'm going to be the voice that brings us back."

John:
So we plan it out. We have individual ones ready. So like for example, when we started, it was Nick who started us on. So if Nick starts us on, then it goes to mine. And then if we have another break today, you'll end up hearing Nick. Wow,

Matt Harmon:
Fair and balanced. That's what we try to do. That's the way that the world should be. As we said going into our break, I'm going to spend the bulk of our podcast talking with Bob Santelli, the executive director of the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music, such an exciting time. Bob, you and I, just joking, class of 73, you've been associated with Monmouth for a long time, class of 96. I've been associated with Monmouth for a long time. Such an exciting time. The way that I drive to campus, I drive past the building every single day that I am here. I actually wanted to put my window down this morning, yell out to the guys like, "Hey, let's keep it moving along a little bit. We got to make sure that we got this thing ready because the first weekend of June is going to be a historic opportunity for Monmouth to be in a national spotlight."

Bob Santelli:
Oh yeah, for sure. And by the way, when you drive again, do yell. Do

Matt Harmon:
Yell. Okay. That's okay to do.

Bob Santelli:
Yeah, yeah. No, definitely do that. We're on the clock now and it's going to be here before you know it. But all kidding aside, it is going to be historic. I've been involved with a lot of music museums in my career, but this is the first one that's really a hybrid. If you look at the Bob Dylan Center and the Woody Guthrie Center, both of which are located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, they're just about those artists, but this one is about Bruce, but also about American music. So it has almost like a double mission.That

Matt Harmon:
Was one of the things I did want to ask you about because you were involved with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and I'm only signaling a couple of the things out. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Grammy Museum, those are two of the big ones. How are those two maybe either the same and/or different than what we've got going on here with the Center for American Music?

Bob Santelli:
Yeah. For one thing, Size. We're not a museum. My staff, we use that word internally, but it's not a museum. It is an archives that has exhibition space and a performance theater, right? So we adhere to many museum standards, but we're not a museum per se. So that's the first thing, size. The second thing is that it never before has a major American artist be connected with American music in such a direct way. And there's a good reason for that because in many ways, Bruce is the poster boy for American music. I've seen Bruce many times over in Europe over the course of the years, and they look at Bruce as the symbol of the America that they expect and want us to be. And he carries a lot of responsibility when he goes abroad and here too as well. So having him connected is unique and it is also a brand new kind of template for these kinds of things.
This is the first time, and maybe the only time we'll see something like this.

Matt Harmon:
A follow-up to that, and I'm not asking you ... Well, I guess I am. I'm asking you to comment on what you just said if you were Bruce. You said the poster boy for American music. If you said that to him, what do you think he would say? Because if memory is serving as part of this center, he didn't want it to be all about him. He wanted it to be more about American music and how everyone has kind of influenced that, but yet here you are, your name is still on the building.

Bob Santelli:
Oh yeah. Bruce is humble and if he heard me say that, he'd cringe, I'm sure, but it's true. It's a fact. And you're right, he did. When I first made this proposal to him, he said, "I'm honored. This is an amazing thing, but I can't do that. I prefer to be seen, as he said, a chapter in the ongoing story of American music." And he is that too, but he has more responsibility and whether he admits it or not, many, many artists, multi-generational look up to him now for inspiration and guidance, especially in his very divisive world that we live in today. He's gotten his hands into a lot of politics, and so he has put himself center stage. And in a way, it puts us center stage as well.

Matt Harmon:
President Leahy, when you think about the impact, and we have talked about this, and Bob, you can certainly chime in on this as well. The spotlight that Monmouth will be now, right? You're going to have an affiliation with one of, if not the biggest current star in music, and it's going to be here on campus for people of all ages, of all anything to come and check out, not just the center, but also be able to see what Monmouth University is all about.

Patrick Leahy:
I mean, I think part of the genius of Bob's idea was to locate it right here on the campus of a university. And I get the question a lot from students, "Well, what is this going to do for me? " And I always layer it three ways. Number one, if you are involved in the study of music in any way, like our award-winning music industry program, your academic experience is going to go to a whole nother level. Number two, if you're studying nursing or business and you are not studying music, but you like American music, which most of our students do, there'll be no better university in the country to attend than Monmouth University. And then I always say, just for kicks, "Hey, if you are not studying music and you don't like American music, you still should support this at Monmouth University." Why is that?
Because this is going to elevate the stature of Monmouth University. The brand of Monmouth University is going to shine a spotlight on the incredible work that happens here day in and day out. For all of those reasons, my hope is that the campus community gets behind this and it's like, "This is fantastic."

Matt Harmon:
Bob, this coming weekend, a major event that is involving the Center for American Music, the American Music Honors, which has gone the last couple of years. It'll take place on Saturday right here on campus in Pollock Theater. You've been at the prior events when some of the biggest names in music history all of a sudden show up and are honored here on campus would be no different to think that this year's celebration will be something that anybody would die to get in and check out.

Bob Santelli:
This is our fourth year, fourth annual American Music Honors, and I am not surprised at the way it has progressed, but this year especially, in particular, getting an artist of such caliber as Dr. Dre, who was one of the founders of hip hop, particularly West Coast hip hop, having him come is a big deal. He does not show up for things that are not super important, right? And so having him there, it's the first time we're celebrating hip hop, but also celebrating the E Street Band, which I think is a little overdue. I mean, the role that they play obviously in Bruce's career is extremely important. And right from the very beginning, I felt it was mandatory that we honored him at some point. And this is the year we're doing it. It makes sense because we're opening the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music about four weeks after the show.
And of course, there'll be plenty in the archives as well as on display and exhibits about the E Street band.

Matt Harmon:
When you look at who's going to be honored over the course of the weekend, I think one of the, for lack of a better term, coolest things about it is that there is such a wide variety of who's going to be honored this weekend. You mentioned the E Street Band, you mentioned Dr. Dre, The Doors, Patty Smith, Dion Warwick. I mean, those are five different groups or individuals who really, you wouldn't put them together other than if you shuffled a deck of cards and got five different cards, right? I mean, they have nothing almost to do with one another, but yet they are so connected. Where someone like, I would imagine a Bruce Springsteen would say, "Of course we need to recognize the importance of hip hop in this country." And that kind of is what American music is all about. There's something for everybody.

Bob Santelli:
Yeah. Well, the idea is it's an American music honors. American music is so diverse. I mean, there's so much more we haven't even touched yet. We haven't done much with bluegrass. We haven't done much with jazz. So there's plenty to do as we move forward in the future. But we present ideas to a major committee of music historians and people in the music business. They make recommendations to the executive committee of Which Bruce and myself, Dr. Lahey are part of. And then we basically tried to create a balanced show because after all it is entertainment, people are coming and paying for this, but also to make sure that various aspects of American music are represented. I can tell you, for instance, Bruce wanted to do Dion Warwick from day one. He is a huge fan of hers. As a matter of fact, he will make the presentation to her, just loves that kind of music.
Burt Bochrock, Hal David, who wrote many of Dion Warwick's hits, and certainly Patty Smith goes without speaking. She and Bruce have been friends for a long time. She represents the punk quality of rock. So we're getting to everything, but you always figure, wow, when are we going to get to country, hardcore country? When are we going to get to deep blues? I mean, there's just so much more to do, so much more to look forward to in the coming years.

Matt Harmon:
So funny that you mentioned Burt Bacharach, who is one of the biggest songwriters ever, probably that our students here would say, "Who is that? " But if you listen to some of his musics, it's not necessarily him who's singing it. It would be for other people. That's right. A dear friend of mine, Dave Popkin, I'll give him a little shout out. He just put together a show that talks about the story of Burke Bacharach and had a huge orchestra come in. They played it. I think over the course of the last even couple of weeks up at one of the performing arts centers in South Orange, he was the narrator for it. And that's just how deep American music goes. As I mentioned, the students here maybe not knowing everything about some of the people that would come on, even to a Dion Warwick, who's one of the bigger names in American music history.
How do you foresee the student involvement here on campus so that students can have the opportunity to learn a little bit more about how deep, how rich the history is of American music through the center?

Bob Santelli:
Well, first of all, every Mammoth student will be show an ID and they're going to be allowed to come as often as they want. We'll most likely do two specialists- At no charge. At no charge. At no charge. At no charge. That's right. The second is there's going to be internships and opportunities for students here to learn the art of museum studies should they want to go on and learn and get a degree in museum studies. There will be lots of different public programs, many of which will be aimed at the college campus. Now we have a 240C theater where we'll be able to do many things and do ... We experimented a couple years ago with something that we put together called Hip Hop and the round where we use Momouth students and basically sat around and talking about kids here on campus who were writing, doing hip hop and explaining the creative process.
There's so many more of those things that we will do. And then the opportunity for bringing major artists, not just legendary or heritage artists, but contemporary artists onto campus into that, because this is about American music. It's not a history museum. It's about as much about contemporary American music as it is about legendary American music.

Matt Harmon:
President Leahy, as Bob just gave that answer, I think one of the things that I loved hearing is that from a student involvement perspective, yes, you can come and check out the museum, as you mentioned, free of charge, but there'll be internships. There'll be opportunities for, even if you're not in the music industry program, if you're a communication student, if you're a business student, if you're any student on campus, to come and check it out and see if that is a career path that you might want to get involved with.

Patrick Leahy:
And if it is, we have the programming that allows you to do that. One of the things I just want to support that Bob said is when the center opens, the programming that that will allow will expand. And we have this sort of goal that some of the programs that we offer here on campus, hopefully some serious artists that the students just adore, we would bring here and make essentially exclusive for the Monmouth University students because I want us over time to be seen as these are experiences that are unique to college students that I can get only at Monmouth University. And because Bob was a student here and alum of the place, loves this university, he always has an eye toward, yes, what are we going to do to develop the Springsteen Center, but how do we do that? And at the same time, continue to enhance the first college, now university that he loves.
And that's really important to me because I have a dual role. I'm the president first and foremost of this university and I get to be the chair of the Springsteen Board, but everything we do is aimed at elevating Monmouth University. And some of the programming we'll be able to do, I think will allow students to feel that this is a unique asset to them.

Matt Harmon:
April episode of our monthly podcast series, Monmouth Matters, University President Dr. Patrick Leahy, faculty member, Matt Harmon here with Bob Santelli, Grammy Award winner, alum of the university, executive director of the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music. Bob, when you think of it, and I am really curious to this answer because I think the last time that we had you on the podcast, we were still doing it remotely coming out of COVID. The announcement of this started to come, "Hey, we're going to be able to put this together." For you personally, I got to think about the right way to phrase this. You didn't need this project, right? You were already established. You could have probably, I know you were on the West Coast for a long time. You could have said, "Hey, I was involved with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I was involved with the Grammy Museum.
I authored X number of books. I've been involved with music for a long time as a historian. I don't necessarily need to take on another project." And maybe President Lehe just hinted to the answer to this, your love of this university and your involvement for a long time as a professor and now the director of the center. Why did you decide to take this on?

Bob Santelli:
I think it's both personal and professional. Personal and the fact that born and raised, grew up in New Jersey here also on the Jersey Shore. As you said, I went here at Monmouth and as a journalist, I rode Bruce's coattails. There's no question. I got my start here and I don't ever forget that. I was a writer for The Outlook where I started to realize my dream of wanting to be a writer and write about American music. And that was my dream. The outlook gave me that opportunity. And from there, because of my work at The Outlook, it led to becoming a music critic at the Asbury Park Press. And my career started, but I had a great, great educational foundation here at Monmouth. When I graduated high school, I graduated from Point Pleasant Beach High School down the road. I didn't know what I was doing.
I was immature. I was a surfer. That's all I cared about was the next wave, pretty much, or the next concert I was going to. And I came here and I matured and I figured out what I wanted to do with my life. So I never forgot that. And I felt that I could become useful, not just to the university, but to Bruce. Bruce's legacy is an important one. It's really important when you start to think about the contributions he's made and will continue to make. And I knew someone had to do something to preserve it and keep it in New Jersey. And I was in a position to do that. And so I talked to my family, I said, "Look, this is my Swan song. I have to do this. " And even though it meant for me to be away from my family, which as you said, is on the West Coast, they said, I remember my oldest daughter said, "Dad, you got to do this.
There's no question. Go. We're behind you 100%. Get it done." So I just knew that was it. And it's the right place to be. You got to remember, Bruce's earliest fans were Monmouth College kids, myself included. He wrote Born to Run, one of the greatest albums of all time, four blocks from where we're putting up the center in West End, a little cottage down there. And he had connected. I probably saw Bruce here a dozen times when I was a kid and a student here. And it had a great impact on me. This was the first time somebody from the Jersey Shore, a Jersey guy could actually grow and stay committed to his roots in New Jersey. That first album, Greetings from Asbury Park, the Columbia record executive says, "Okay, well, we're going to position you like we did everybody else, Sinatra, Dylan, et cetera, you're a New York artist." Bruce said, "No, I'm not.
I'm from Asbury Park." And that's why you see on that debut album, the cover of Greetings from Asbury Park, New Jersey, a generic postcard, it was a mandate that he stayed true to his roots. And I kind of think of that myself. I bounced around a whole bit, lived all over the place, but still my home, my roots are in Jersey. And this is my greetings from Asbury Park, if you will.

Patrick Leahy:
I just want to jump in that, and I say this all the time, maybe embarrassing my good friend and colleague, Bob Santelli, but for all the reasons that he just articulated, I always say, Matt, there are eight billion people on planet earth. And if you wanted to create the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music, there is one person among them who is uniquely positioned to do this and to make it happen and to make it special. And it's Bob Santelli. And it's such a privilege for me to work with him personally, but also it is an incredible opportunity for Monmouth University that all these stars aligned and Bob was willing at a time where he could have been dialing down his illustrious career, he dialed it up. And I think, I hope in the end, this is going to be one of his major marquee projects in his entire career.

Matt Harmon:
Bob, when you think of it, you had just said in a prior answer, the importance of Bruce Springsteen to the American Music Center, American music scene, I should say, the history of American music here in the United States. I find it fascinating that as you look, he's in his mid 70s now, still on tour, still playing three hour concerts, but yet he is the bridge to days of Woody Guthrie and The Beatles and Bob Dylan, then through the 80s, Contemporaries, Tom Petty, Prince, both of whom are no longer here anymore. To more mainstream, the Eddie Vetters, who's a close friend of his, the people that pop on stage, my son not too long ago was at a Zach Prine concert who Bruce goes on stage with regularly, Gaslight Anthem, who's another Jersey band. He has bridged the gap over the course of almost six decades of connecting the dots of so many pieces of American music.
Is there anybody like him that you could go back and say there's a similar person that you could say has such an illustrious history with music and can connect through so many different periods of music?

Bob Santelli:
Bob Dylan, who is Bruce's mentor, right? They're cut from the same cloth. But Bruce is someone who, he has, I think, a need to continue to create and to continue to perform. He too, I think, feels like he's on a mission, that he has a talent and he has a story to tell and he's telling it. He's doing it. He's a huge fan of American music. The interesting thing about him and members of the E Street Band, my good friend, Max Weinberg, Stevie Van Zandt, guitar player, Gary Talent, the bass player, all of whom are from Jersey, all of whom grew up together. They're amateur musicologists, a music historian. So they understand the process, how they got to where they are today. They're appreciative of it, and they understand the responsibility to carry this on. I think it's really important that they continue this, but when long, 20, 30, 40 years from now, when none of us are here, Bruce's stature and his legacy will be such that it will easily rank with the Beatles and Bob Dylan and the Gershwins and Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong.
He is of that caliber. Sometimes we don't recognize it. We're so close to it here. We hear about him, students hear about him every day. We got the center here. And it's

Matt Harmon:
Still current and going on.

Bob Santelli:
It's still current, but they will appreciate it as they get older and say, "Geez, this guy really did amazing things." When Dr. Dre, hip hop, thinks the world of Springsteen and respects him to know, which is why he is here. He's coming to campus on Saturday because of Bruce Springsteen. To be respected and honored by Bruce is a huge honor for Dr. Dre.

Patrick Leahy:
In fact, most of the honorees we've had have Grammy awards already. Some of them have Oscars already, and they say because Bruce Springsteen's name is on the center and on the award. But I wanted to say something. If you're interested, Matt, in Bruce Springsteen's musical journey, you might say something about the film that is going to be of a permanent fixture in

Bob Santelli:
The center. That's very true. And hopefully we're going to

Patrick Leahy:
Air it. And then I was going to say, make a plug next Tuesday at three o'clock. The campus community is invited to a special premier, if you will, of the 24 minute film that's going to show in the center for all visitors. And then there'll be a Q&A with Bob and me afterwards. So encourage the campus community to come out if you want to learn more about the center in general, but see a premier of the film.

Bob Santelli:
It's called The Ties That Bind: Bruce Springsteen's American Music Journey. And essentially, it is the story of American music told through the eyes, ears, and songs of Bruce Springsteen. Again, that kind of poster boy kind of representation, but he'll take you through it and you should leave with the idea that A, New Jersey was, particularly the Jersey Shore was an ideal place for someone with Springsteen's talent to grow up and mature as an artist, and B, that New Jersey's kind of like a microcosm of American music that it was, even though it doesn't get the credit, very important, much like Nashville or New York or LA, and he'll tell you why. We filmed it all here on the Jersey Shore and I think fans will go through this when you first walk into the center, you'll sit there, you'll watch this. And if you had any questions now, why is Bruce Springsteen and Center for American Music, why are they connected?
You'll walk out of that film and you'll say, "I get it. " And then you'll be able to move on into the exhibits and totally understand why we did what we did.

Matt Harmon:
As the center is set to open on June 7th, I was hoping we were going to be able to break this news on the podcast, but it broke yesterday. There'll be a couple of days worth of concerts leading into the event on June 4th and June 5th, looking at some of the names that will be involved with that. Bob, you've got Bruce, you've got John Bon Jovi who's going to be part of it as well. So many musicians are going to be on campus. Roseanne Cash, Public Enemy, I'm reading names, Dropkick Murphy's, Trombone Shorty. It will be all of a little bit of everything that people can enjoy over the course of two days leading into, again, historic and monumentous weekend when the Center actually opens on June 7th.

Bob Santelli:
This show was supposed to be one night, but when we started making calls and saying, "Hey, are you interested?" I had so many artists. We're up to about 22 and counting. There'll be more added in the coming weeks that we turned it into two concerts. And it's a unique kind of concert. It's not something that perhaps most people have ever experienced before. It's a curated concert. And what that means essentially is we are going to take you through a walk, a musical walk through American history, and it's chronological in its presentation. So the first night will be all about anything prior to World War II. We'll start with work songs and spirituals and work our way up. And along the way, there'll be context. So there'll be narration. So if you're not quite sure what the spiritual or what about this New Orleans second line music, what is that all about?
There'll be narration for you so that you'll be able to understand why this music was selected in the concert and what it means to American music in general. And so two nights, second night, World War II, right up to today. And we hope to have it in a way that perhaps it gets streamed at some point or we make a film out of, but clearly all of it will be filmed for our archives because that's what we do.

Matt Harmon:
And running in conjunction with the 250th birthday

Bob Santelli:
Of the

Matt Harmon:
United States, right? That will be a tie

Bob Santelli:
Into it as well. It's really the most important reason. There's not a lot going on in America, particularly as it pertains to music, to celebrate a very important birthday. And that's what I said to artists. I says, look, yeah, we're opening and it will help us open and bring attention, but it's really about us birthday celebration to our country and doing it in a way that celebrates the power of music and the importance of music in our culture and in our history, but also music is a connecting. It brings us together. So leaving the politics aside and the divisiveness in this country that we're currently experiencing, all that gets pushed aside and basically we come together as a people and enjoy this incredible music heritage that we have that really is the envy of the world.

Patrick Leahy:
And I want to just add that these events on the fourth and the fifth are going to be held in the Ocean First Bank Center, which is really important because that allows us to swallow the crowd to 4,000- ish. Some of the events like the American Music Honors, as you know, Matt, we've hosted in Pollock Theater and admittedly only has 730 seats and because that's a fundraiser to help pay for the activities of the center, a little less accessible to our campus community, our students. I get that. These events by design are going to be hosted in the Ocean First Center. We should have no problem with tickets. I mean, it's still likely to sell out, but we'll have no problem making tickets available to the Monmouth University campus community. That's an important thing because I know we want students involved in this and we want to make sure that all the faculty and staff who are supportive of the center have access to these events as well.

Matt Harmon:
Bob, tell me about this. President Lee and I have talked about this, I think as recently as our March episode with the center, everything has been privately funded, right? It

Bob Santelli:
Hasn't

Matt Harmon:
Cost the university anything. I'm curious to know this, are you turning people away? I mean, I would imagine so many people want to be involved with this project to the point where you're almost saying, "Hey, I think we're good here, but I'll put you on the list in case something else comes up. I'll let you know.

Bob Santelli:
" Well, first of all, I want to publicly say thank you to Dr. Lahey, Amanda Klaus and others who helped me big time, couldn't do it without them, raise this money, right? It's a lot of money to raise, but that building, that building is a Monmouth University building. Monmouth University owns that building. What the content inside is owned by the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music Board, a 501 nonprofit, but that building is a Monmouth University building. So if you've seen it, a lot of people like it, I hope, but it's a special kind of building. And not only that, but the idea that we get to celebrate somebody who grew up here and is, like I said before, a representation of American music is really important to the campus. But this is a building and an opportunity where if others want to get on board, I suspect there'll be plenty of reasons to use that money.
And that money essentially will be very dynamic public programs, right? We'll do two exhibits a year of which will travel. I don't know if many people realize this, but we have right now an exhibit called Music America, Iconic Objects from the nation's music history, 150 pieces that we put together, traveling presidential libraries, right? It's going next to the Gerald Ford Library. It's been at the LBJ Presidential Library, George W. Bush Library, both of which are in Texas. We have a small exhibit that's up in Pasak right now on Born to Run. So we'll be very, very bullish, if you will, on that. And then the kind of programs and concerts. What you're going to see, this Music America concert is just the start. We will be a national institution on a campus that will become increasingly national in the world of music that is kind of a win-win across the board.

Matt Harmon:
The words national. I saw your eyes just get big, President Leahy. That's what you want to hear, right?

Patrick Leahy:
Well, especially, as I said, it couldn't be more fitting that we would open up this national treasure in the year where we are for the first time recognized as a national university in our industry. So it's coming together here and this is going to continue to elevate Monmouth University.

Matt Harmon:
I have a couple of things real quick before we get out of here. First, who is deciding, and I would love to have you say it's me, who is deciding who is part of this concert on June 4th and June 5th? Because I think once people start to hear about it, I would imagine your phone will be ringing off the hook. "Hey, I'll come and play. I'll come and play.

Bob Santelli:
"We're already getting that. Yeah.

Matt Harmon:
Oh yeah. Who's got the veto power to say you're in or you're out?

Patrick Leahy:
He's our executive producer right here.

Bob Santelli:
Well, two things I will say. Number one was early on when I went to Bruce with this idea, he said to me, " Okay, I just want to be part of the overall scene here. This is not a Bruce Springsteen concert. Do not put the spotlight on me. As a matter of fact, when you list the artists, do it alphabetically. I just want to be in the S category, right? "But on the other hand too, I certainly admire his and his manager, John Landau's music expertise. And so we're putting together a show as well. So I will tell you that when I come up with an idea, I'll text Bruce and say," What do you think about this? How does this sound? "And I'll do it with others as well, not just him. And so it's been a joint committee. My colleague here, Eileen Chapman, who is the director who basically from the earliest days was very responsible for where we are today without question.
But now the problem is how big do these shows get, right? We have two. We can't go to three, so now we're starting to think about who could be paired with whom. And again, what we're looking for now, quite honestly, is a lot of younger artists too who say," Hey, I'd love to sit in with so- and-so. "So there are more artists to be added. We'll see how that ultimately pans out, but this will be, I think, from my anecdotal research, this will be the biggest and most important concert that celebrates America's birthday this year.

Patrick Leahy:
The other thing I was going to add, even bigger picture is I have this suspicion that over time an increased number of artists will petition Bob and the university," Hey, would you be willing to take my archives and to help celebrate my legacy? "And I just think that's going to continue because as Bob said, this is one of the only places in America that is going to commit to celebrating American music in all of its forms. It's not the rock and roll Hall of Fame, that's only one part of American music or I guess worldwide music. So I think that that's going to be an opportunity and a challenge for us to try to accommodate artists whom we desperately want to try to accommodate.

Matt Harmon:
I thought ... Go ahead, Bob.

Bob Santelli:
Yeah. I was going to say, let me tease them a little bit here and say, we'll hear about some really big announcements. I hope. I hope in the coming months, maybe even weeks, that will basically verify what you just said, Dr. Lahey. And we're excited because again, the concept is American music. It's Bruce, but Bruce is part of American music. Our mission statement is bigger than just Bruce.

Patrick Leahy:
And can you imagine a better location to have a place that celebrates American music than not only the Jersey Shore and all the richness that that brings, but so accessible to New York and right in the Northeast corridor, it's going to be a very popular destination for music lovers.

Matt Harmon:
So as I was driving into campus this morning, pulled into the parking lot, I see Bob walking back and forth in the parking lot, phone glued to his ear. Your contact list must be one of ... I would love to steal your phone for like an hour, maybe even a half an hour, and just scroll through and see, gosh, I didn't know that Bob knew this person. I mean, it must be staggering the number of people that you have developed relationships with and contacts and consider friends, colleagues, peers in the music industry.

Bob Santelli:
Yeah, I guess. I mean, look, I was a music journalist for many years being at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the connections there. I did a lot of shows there and a lot of events and exhibits. And then I spent 14 years with the Grammys. So over time, you do. You develop quite a list. And I use that as an asset because one of the great things about putting together a show like this, this could take months to do. These two Music America shows came together in a matter of weeks, and it was just because you were able to go to the source. And also, I think you get a bit of a track record in this business and many of the artists that are going to be on the show I've worked with in the past. So it was kind of easy to get to them and to say, "Are you interested?" And for them to say, yes.
So that's one of the advantages of basically being an old guy in a relatively young music business. So yeah.

Patrick Leahy:
Well, I think also they trust Bob Santelli. So they trust that he's going to- Do the right thing. Do the right thing and not take advantage of artists in any way. And it's all about celebrating them and music in general.

Bob Santelli:
Well, we should mention all these artists, we're not paying these artists. They're coming because they want to. They're coming because they believe in what we're doing. They believe that there should be some sort of music celebration in America's 250th birthday. And they really believe that the power of music is a healing force and they all believe that we need it now, as do I. And so that hope is, this is a celebration and also an affirmation of the importance of music in our lives and in our culture.

Matt Harmon:
Bob, fantastic. Thank you so much for coming by and giving us the time. I was really looking forward to this. I can't wait to see how successful this coming weekend is. And then obviously leading into June, which will be just an unbelievable three, four, five day stretch of activity on campus leading into the center opening up on June 7th. Can't wait for Bruce to swing by, be part of the podcast here at Monmouth Matters at any point that he wants to come by and drop in. We would be glad to take him. This was amazing. Thank you so much.

Bob Santelli:
My pleasure. Thank you for having me.

Matt Harmon:
Bob Santelli, the executive director of the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music, University President Dr. Patrick Leahy, faculty member, Matt Harmon. Thanks so much to our students and crew today on Monmouth Matters. We'll be back a couple weeks, May 6th. We are set to wind down the semester with the final episode of our spring 26th semester for all information that involves the Center for American Musicspringsteencenter.org is the place to go. Again, this was fantastic. Can't wait to talk about it going into June in our May episode a little bit more.

John:
All episodes of Monmouth Matters, the president's perspective are available for download and listening pleasure on Apple Podcasts and the university website, mammoth.edu. Technical assistance is provided by engineer Eric Reischer and Dr. Aaron Ferguson. The show is produced by Nick Giantonio, John Grano, Chloe Gosk, and Frank Horley. The executive producers and hosts of Monmouth Matters are university president, Dr. Patrick Lahey, and faculty member, Dr. Matt Harmon. Thanks as always for listening.