Friday: Our Home Away From Home

Monmouth University has been our home morning, noon and night this week. We have enjoyed the wonderful service of the dining hall staff, the friendly smiles of passers by and the beautifully manicured gardens. All in all, we have felt very welcomed.

You might find yourself wondering about this place – just as they are surely wondering about those Sisters of St. Joseph of “The” Peace (as the digital welcome sign says!).

Monmouth College was founded during the Depression in 1933 to provide higher education to those local students who could not afford to go away to college. In 1995, Monmouth was granted university status by the State of New Jersey. Today Monmouth offers 29 undergraduate and 20 graduate degree programs on a small personal scale – the average class size is only 21 students. Students come from near and far, with students from 23 states and 31 foreign countries.

In 1993 Dr. Rebecca Stafford became the first female President of Monmouth, a post she held for 10 years. The student center where we have been meeting is named after her.

Martin Luther King spoke at Monmouth in 1966. The focus of his speech was that we had “come a long, long way; but ... that we still have a long, long way to go…” (was he talking about Trasna?).

In 1981, the building which has been host to our lovely evening concerts, Wilson Hall, became the home of Daddy Warbucks in the movie Annie. When Annie first enters the opulent mansion, she says “I think I’m gonna like it here,” a feeling which each of us most likely shares.

The formal gardens of Wilson Hall, a Beaux Arts castle
built by Woolworth President Hubert Parson.

Suzanne Golas makes a selection
from the well-stocked salad bar.

Mary Ann Wallen, Sue Vadas and Laurette Bergin
enjoy the variety of good cooking offered in the dining room.