Monmouth University is a private university in West Long Branch, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1933 as Monmouth Junior College, it became Monmouth College in 1956 and Monmouth University in 1995 after receiving its charter. It enrolls about 4,660 undergraduate and 1,750 graduate students and employs 302 full-time faculty members.

History

Early years

The school that would become Monmouth University was founded in 1933 as Monmouth Junior College, a two-year junior college under Dean Edward G. Schlaefer. Created in New Jersey during the Great Depression, Monmouth Junior College was intended by Schlaefer to provide an opportunity for higher education to high school graduates in Monmouth County who could not afford to go away to college. The junior college did not have its own campus at the time of its founding and was housed at Long Branch High School in Long Branch. Due to sharing a building with a high school, classes were taught during evening hours after the high school students had departed.

New location and four-year status

Monmouth Junior College acquired its own campus in 1955 when it relocated from Long Branch to the estate of Shadow Lawn in West Long Branch. The estate was purchased from Eugene H. Lehman for $350,000 (equivalent to $ million in ). In addition to the monetary cost, Lehman signed over the estate under the condition he would serve as the school's president for one year. The transfer also included a stable and carriage house that would be converted into the Lauren K. Woods Theatre. Elmwood and Pinewood, Monmouth's first campus residence halls, opened in 1963, while the William T. Boylan Gymnasium was built in 1965 as a new home for the basketball team. Additional property was acquired by the college in 1969 when Monmouth was granted ownership of Maurice Pollak's home, the site of what would become Pollak Theatre. Amid the campus expansion, Monmouth College received authorization from the state to offer graduate programs and award master degrees in 1967. Four years later, the school's Athletics Hall of Fame was established.

The 21st century saw the completion of a pedestrian underpass on campus in 2001. By the end of the decade, the Multipurpose Activity Center replaced the William T. Boylan Gymnasium as the home of the men's and women's basketball teams in 2009. The new facility, which cost $57 million, was described by then-Senior Associate Athletic Director Jeff Stapleton as "probably the biggest undertaking that the institution has done". The facility was renamed OceanFirst Bank Center in 2016 after Monmouth University and OceanFirst Bank reached a $4 million agreement through 2036 that included the naming rights of the facility.

The athletic teams would continue to compete in the Northeast Conference until 2013 when they moved to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). As the MAAC did not sponsor collegiate football, Monmouth's football team became part of the Big South Conference as an associate member. All teams except for women's bowling joined the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in 2022.

In 2025, Monmouth was classified as a research college and university in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.

Campus

Great Hall at Shadow Lawn

thumb|upright=1.4|[[Shadow Lawn (New Jersey)|Shadow Lawn]]

The centerpiece of the Monmouth University campus is Shadow Lawn. Originally, it was the site of the Shadow Lawn mansion, constructed in 1903 and housed 52 rooms.

After the original Shadow Lawn was destroyed by a fire in 1927, the current structure was built as a residence for Mr. and Mrs. Hubert Templeton Parson. Mr. Parson was the former head of F. W. Woolworth Company. The building was designed by Horace Trumbauer and Julian Abele. Abele is regarded as the first professional African American architect.

Shadow Lawn became municipal property during the Great Depression and until Monmouth acquired ownership, it was home to Highland Manor Junior College, a private girls' school. Some classrooms and the administrative offices are inside the building. Shadow Lawn was named to the National Register of Historic Places on March 28, 1978. It was named a National Historic Landmark on February 4, 1985.

Shadow Lawn has also been a host of the film version of Annie, starring Aileen Quinn. Some of the scenes in this movie were filmed inside and outside of the building along with the rest of the Monmouth University campus. Shadow Lawn was used as Daddy Warbucks' mansion.

Following Monmouth's acquisition of the estate, Shadow Lawn was renamed Woodrow Wilson Hall after United States President Woodrow Wilson, who stayed in the original mansion during his campaign in summer of 1916. The current mansion was renamed to Great Hall in 2020, with the university citing racist policies of Wilson for the change.

Murry and Leonie Guggenheim Memorial Library

thumb|upright=1.4|[[Murry Guggenheim House|Guggenheim Library]]

In 1903, Murry Guggenheim (1858–1939), son of Meyer Guggenheim, bought property in West Long Branch to build a summer residence for himself and his wife, Leonie. The original structure of the Beaux-Arts mansion, designed by Carrère and Hastings is now the Murry and Leonie Guggenheim wing of the Monmouth University Library.

Academics

Undergraduate admissions

In 2023, the university accepted 90.9% of applicants, with those admitted having an average 3.57 GPA and those submitting test scores having an average 1110–1300 SAT score or average 22–30 ACT score.

Rankings

Monmouth University's placement on the U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Ranking increased during the 2010s, moving from 76 in 2005 to 37 in 2012 and 30 in 2013 among regional universities in the Northern United States. By 2018, Monmouth ranked at 28 among northern regional universities, its highest spot at the time from U.S. News & World Report. The ranking also made Monmouth the highest private regional university in New Jersey and the state's second-highest regional university behind The College of New Jersey.

Despite moving up in the U.S. News & World Report ranking, however, Monmouth University did not appear on Forbess List of America's Best Colleges until 2021. Mark Blackmon, the director of News and Public Affairs at Monmouth, attributed the school's omission in 2016 to Forbes relying "on some information that can be highly subjective", with schools "[losing] points for awarding grants and scholarships". In response to Forbes allegedly lowering a school's ranking for providing financial support, Blackmon commented that, "We are actually quite proud that we can assist so many students in getting an education", and concluded, "Even though Monmouth failed to make the Forbes list, I think that it doesn't reflect the quality of its teachers and the type of school that Monmouth is. I think it should have definitely made it." The 2021 ranking marked the first appearance of Monmouth University, in which it placed 394. It remained on Forbes' rankings until dropping off in 2024.

Monmouth University has held multiple academic symposia on the work of Bruce Springsteen and houses the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music.

Student life

Activities

Monmouth University has a variety of on-campus clubs and organizations, including the campus television station HawkTV; the college radio station WMCX-FM, one of the last media outlets to interview Bob Marley and the first media outlet in America to announce his death; and the student-run newspaper The Outlook, which has been published since 1933.

The Department of Art and Design is an active participant in the arts of Monmouth. It maintains multiple galleries for exhibiting creative works of students, faculty, and staff, as well as practicing artists and designers.

Monmouth University also has its own independent, student run record label, Blue Hawk Records. The music organization allows students to learn hands-on, gaining relevant experience and encountering situations that would occur in the Music Industry. Blue Hawk Records allows students to work together, alongside experienced industry professionals, to build their skills in talent scouting, artist promotion and development, live music and record releases, artwork, packaging, sales, marketing, further learning the structure of business and how to mold artists into marketable material.

Greek life

Fraternities

  • Kappa Sigma (Upsilon Kappa Chapter)
  • Lambda Theta Phi (Pi Chapter)
  • Sigma Pi (Delta-Beta Chapter)
  • Sigma Tau Gamma (Epsilon Omicron Chapter)
  • Tau Delta Phi (Delta Tau Chapter)
  • Phi Kappa Psi (New Jersey Beta Chapter)

Sororities

  • Alpha Kappa Alpha (Tau Eta chapter)
  • Alpha Omicron Pi (Iota Theta chapter)
  • Alpha Sigma Tau (Beta Omega chapter)
  • Alpha Xi Delta (Iota Nu chapter)
  • Chi Upsilon Sigma (Gamma Beta chapter)
  • Delta Phi Epsilon (Delta Omega chapter)
  • Lambda Theta Alpha (Tau Chapter)
  • Phi Sigma Sigma (Delta Phi chapter)
  • Zeta Tau Alpha (Kappa Nu chapter)

Student residences

  • Beechwood Hall
  • Cedar Hall
  • University Bluffs
  • Elmwood Hall
  • Garden Apartments
  • Great Lawn Apartments
  • Laurel Hall
  • Maplewood Apartments
  • Mullaney Hall
  • Hesse Hall
  • Oakwood Hall
  • Pinewood Hall
  • Redwood Hall
  • Spruce Hall
  • Willow Hall

Monmouth University joined the Colonial Athletic Association on July 1, 2022.

Athletics

thumb|[[OceanFirst Bank Center]]

Monmouth's athletic teams are known as the Hawks. The Hawks compete as members of the Coastal Athletic Association. The school had competed as a Division I (NCAA) school in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference from 2013 to 2022, with football competing as an FCS independent in the 2013 season before joining the Big South Conference in 2014. Monmouth left the MAAC and joined the CAA on July 1, 2022.

Monmouth University (then still Monmouth College), added football to the school's ledger of sports teams in 1993. The team's first game was played on September 25 of that year. The first points in school history were scored on a bizarre defensive play by intercepting and returning a two-point conversion.

A new multipurpose activity center opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on September 16, 2009. The Center currently serves as the primary indoor athletic structure. A partnership agreement with OceanFirst Bank named the facility as the OceanFirst Bank Center in June 2016. It houses a 4,100 seat competition arena; a 200-meter; six-lane indoor track; locker rooms; educational and conference space; ground-level bookstore; and fitness center. The new facility adjoins the William T. Boylan Gymnasium a 2,500-seat arena built in 1965.

Monmouth has been in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in 1996, 2001, 2004, and 2006. Monmouth won their first NCAA men's basketball tournament game in 2006 when they beat Hampton University in that year's play-in game. It was the first time a Northeast Conference school won a game in the NCAA tournament since 1983 when Robert Morris University won in the opening round. Monmouth's men and women's soccer teams as well as baseball, women's lacrosse, men's tennis and men's golf team have also reached the NCAA tournament. The men's lacrosse team made the 2016 NCAA playoff tournament as well. The Monmouth Men's Soccer team is the only sport on campus to ever advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament. The men's soccer team also hosted three first round NCAA Tournament games on The Great Lawn, in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Monmouth's men's soccer team has even been ranked as one of the top teams in the country. In September 2010, Monmouth attained the #4 spot on the NSCAA/HendrickCars.com National Rankings and has been ranked in the national top 25 every single week for the past two seasons. Men's lacrosse won the 2021 MAAC conference championship

Notable alumni

Politics and government

  • Tom Gallagher, American diplomat and the first openly homosexual United States Foreign Service officer
  • DiAnne Gove, member of the New Jersey General Assembly
  • Noel Lawrence Hillman, United States federal judge
  • James W. Holzapfel, member of the New Jersey Senate
  • Declan O'Scanlon, member of the New Jersey Senate
  • Lori Serrano, former commissioner and chairwoman of the Jersey City Housing Authority
  • Mitchell Shivers, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs

Arts and entertainment

  • John Barnes, writer, producer and director
  • Brute Force (stage name of Stephen Friedland), singer and songwriter
  • David J. Burke, producer, screenwriter and film and television director
  • Cody Calafiore, actor, model, and television personality featured on Big Brother
  • Jeff DeGrandis, animation director and producer
  • Siggy Flicker, matchmaker, podcaster, television personality, and writer featured on The Real Housewives of New Jersey
  • Brian Hanlon, sculptor
  • Jack Lawless, musician and drummer for DNCE
  • Amber Marchese, television personality and entrepreneur featured on The Real Housewives of New Jersey
  • Matt Morgan, former professional wrestler with WWE and Total Nonstop Action and television personality featured on American Gladiators
  • Michael Sorrentino, television personality featured on Jersey Shore
  • Terry Spear, author and novelist

Sports

  • Corey Albano, former basketball player in FIBA

thumb|Two-time [[Pro Bowler Miles Austin was the first Monmouth alumnus in the National Football League]]

  • R. J. Allen, former soccer defender in Major League Soccer
  • Miles Austin, American football coach and former wide receiver in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles
  • Alpha Bangura, basketball player in FIBA
  • Alex Blackwell, former basketball player in the National Basketball Association for the Los Angeles Lakers
  • Wendy Boglioli, former Olympic swimming champion and swimming coach at Yale University
  • Brad Brach, baseball pitcher for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball
  • Brian Brikowski, former gridiron football defensive end in the Canadian Football League and the Arena Football League
  • Dave Calloway, college basketball coach and former men's basketball head coach at Monmouth
  • Jim Carone, college baseball coach and head baseball coach at Wagner College
  • Tom DeBlass, mixed martial artist with ONE Championship and formerly with Ultimate Fighting Championship and Bellator MMA
  • Jose Gumbs, former American football safety in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins

thumb|After three seasons of lacrosse at [[Pennsylvania State University|Penn State, two-time Super Bowl winner Chris Hogan used his remaining year of eligibility to play football at Monmouth]]

  • Ed Halicki, former baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball for the San Francisco Giants and California Angels
  • Chris Hogan, American football wide receiver for the New England Patriots and New York Jets of the National Football League
  • Will Holder, former gridiron football player in the Arena Football League
  • Brian Kennedy, college basketball coach and current men's basketball head coach at the New Jersey Institute of Technology
  • Ryan Kinne, former soccer player in Major League Soccer
  • Eric Klenofsky, soccer goalkeeper for the Toronto FC II of USL League One
  • Pat Light, former baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins
  • Derek Luke, soccer player in the USL Championship
  • Chuck Martin, college basketball coach and assistant coach at The University of Kentucky

thumb|Three-time [[Gold medal#Olympic Games|Olympic gold medalist and two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion Christie Pearce graduated from Monmouth with a degree in Special Education and holds an honorary degree in Public Service]]

  • Bryan Meredith, soccer goalkeeper for the Vancouver Whitecaps FC of Major League Soccer
  • John Nalbone, former American football tight end in the National Football League for the Miami Dolphins, Seattle Seahawks and Dallas Cowboys
  • Kevin Owens, former basketball player in FIBA
  • Chevannah Paalvast, basketball player for the Canberra Capitals of the Women's National Basketball League
  • Ford Palmer, professional middle-distance runner
  • Christie Pearce, soccer defender and former captain of the United States women's national soccer team
  • Justin Robinson, basketball player for the Élan Chalon of the LNB Pro A
  • Greg Soto, mixed martial artist formerly with Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • Neal Sterling, former American football tight end in the National Football League for the Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Jets
  • Travis Taylor, basketball player for BC Rilski Sportist of the Bulgarian National Basketball League
  • Carly Thibault-DuDonis, college basketball coach and head women's basketball coach at Fairfield University
  • Hakeem Valles, American football tight end in the National Football League
  • Anthony Vázquez, soccer defender formerly with the Puerto Rico national football team

Others

  • William Consovoy, Constitutional rights litigation attorney
  • Foster Diebold, former president of Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and the University of Alaska System
  • George T. Garrett, US Army major general
  • Ron Lapin, Israeli-born American physician
  • John Daido Loori, Zen Buddhist priest and founding abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery
  • Lee Lozowick, spiritual teacher and author
  • Yvonne Thornton, obstetrician and author

Notable faculty

thumb|Bandleader [[Tommy Tucker (bandleader)|Tommy Tucker taught music at Monmouth for 20 years]]

  • Jenny Rosenthal Bramley, dean of mathematics and physicist
  • Josh Emmons, professor of English and novelist
  • Melissa Febos, professor of English and writer
  • Alex Gilvarry, professor of English and novelist
  • Amy Handlin, professor of marketing and member of the New Jersey General Assembly
  • Eduard Helly, professor of mathematics and mathematician
  • Ken Loeffler, professor of law, collegiate and professional basketball coach, and member of the Basketball Hall of Fame
  • Joseph W. Oxley, professor of criminal justice, New Jersey Superior Court judge, and former Monmouth County sheriff
  • Steven Pressman, professor of economics and finance and economist
  • Gerard Scharfenberger, professor of archaeology and member of the New Jersey General Assembly
  • Tommy Tucker, professor of music and bandleader
  • Michael Waters, professor of English and poet
  • Kenneth Womack, professor of English and popular music

Hettie V. Williams, professor of history, writer and cultural critic and former president of the African American Intellectual History Society (AAIHS). She is also the author of the book The Georgia of the North: Black Women and the Civil Rights Movement in New Jersey (Rutgers University Press, 2024).

References

  • Official athletics website