January  2008 - Happy New Year!
News & Notes
 
Montclair State among the Top 10 schools for teacher preparation in the nation
Montclair State University was named one of the 10 top schools in the nation for teacher preparation by Edutopia, the voice of the George Lucas Educational Foundation. The University’s College of Education and Human Services was lauded for its innovative programs for teacher preparation and for its interdisciplinary approach to innovations based on the needs of public schools. For more on this story and links to the full articles, click here.

Montclair memorabilia on display at Sprague Library
The centennial display of Montclair memorabilia is now on display at Sprague Library thanks to donations from alumni and the hard work of library staff who put it all together: Nicole Cook,  Steve Shapiro and Kathleen Hughes. Items include beanies, yearbooks, photographs, dance cards and more. Stop by the library to view the display and take a trip down memory lane. For Library hours, call 973-655-4298. There's still space available so if you would like to contribute, send your memorabilia to Dean's Office, Sprague Library, Montclair State University, 1 Normal Ave., Montclair, NJ 07043. Include your full name (maiden name if applicable), year of graduation and telephone number as well as some information about the items you are sending.

Alumni to gather in Nashville
To celebrate our centennial year, Montclair State University will host its first ever reception in Nashville for area alumni. The event is scheduled for Friday, January 11, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. and will be held in Rusty's Sports Bar & Grill at Nashville’s Gaylord Opryland Hotel.

Join MSU’s Holly Gera, athletic director and Anita Kubicka, assistant director of Athletics for Compliance and head women’s softball coach for this event and come meet and greet your MSU classmates. Nashville has a strong MSU representation with more than 40 alumni living in the area.

To attend the Nashville Reception, please RSVP to Bonita Kates, MSU Advancement Services at 973-655-6792, or e-mail her at katesb@mail.montclair.edu.

For additional information, please contact Judith Mayo, Development Coordinator, Special Events, at 973-655-7105 or e-mail her at mayoj@mail.montclair.edu. 

Fall Red Hawk teams finish strong
Senior running back Ryan McCoach ran for 140 yards, a touchdown and was named the Most Valuable Player while sophomore Jeff Bliss scored the game-winning touchdown with 2:38 left in the game as the Montclair State defense came up big in the second half helping the Red Hawks capture the ECAC Division III South Atlantic Bowl with a 17-13 victory over Albright College at Sprague Field on Nov. 7.

The ECAC championship was the third for Montclair State as the Red Hawks finished the year at 9-2, winning nine games for the first time since 2003 and the ninth time in school history. MSU, which won four straight to end the season, was making its fourth appearance in an ECAC Championship Game. MSU also completed its season 6-0 at home, its first undefeated mark at Sprague Field since 2000. For more of the latest football team news, click here.

For the second year in a row, the Field Hockey team won the ECAC Division III Mid-Atlantic Championship, defeating FDU-Florham 2-1 at Sprague Field on Nov. 11. For more on this game and other Field Hockey news including recent honors for several players, click here.

The most successful season in Men's Soccer history ended on Nov. 18 as the Red Hawks fell to three-time defending national champion Messiah College, 1-0 in the Elite 8 of the NCAA Division III Soccer Championship, one step away from the Final Four. The loss was MSU's first since October 13 snapping a six-game winning streak as Montclair, which advanced further in the NCAAs than it ever had before, ended the season at 19-3-1. Over the past two seasons, Montclair has gone an amazing 39-4-2 winning back-to-back NJAC Championships and reaching the NCAA Tournament in consecutive years for the first time since 1991-92. For more on Men's Soccer, click here.

Alumni Connections will feature an article each month during the centennial year written by members of the Montclair State University Alumni Association. The retrospective stories will look back decade-by-decade at the school and the culture of the times. 

Alma Mater, dear Montclair: Welcome to the '60s
The decade opens with great idealism and hope. The younger generation becomes more vocal, more active. On the political front, anti-war movements, and civil rights movements; on the social and cultural front, a hippie movement. With dreams of a new future, also came tragedy: John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Robert F. Kennedy. And in New Jersey, a new law is passed in ’68 giving public employees the right to collective bargaining which changed the culture on college campuses throughout the state.

At MSC so much is new and exciting. In 1960, the football team is undefeated. In ’62 the president’s house is acquired and a music building opens, later to be dedicated to Edna McEachern, former chair of the Music Department. Also that year, President Partridge goes on leave and Dr. Thomas H. Richardson becomes acting President. (The following year, Partridge resigns and Richardson officially becomes the school’s fourth president in 1966.)

The year 1963 marks the openings of four buildings: Webster Hall, a three-floor dorm housing 100 female students, dedicated to Edward H. Webster, former chair of the English Department;  Freeman Hall, a seven-story residence hall housing 235 male and female students, dedicated to alumna Grace Freeman '18, a member of the State Assembly; Mallory Hall, a classroom building dedicated to Virgil Mallory, a former professor and author of widely used mathematics textbooks; and the Harry S. Sprague Library named after the former president who served from 1924 to 1951. 

Student dress becomes much more casual, and the “OR” closes. While the first 20 years saw a campus made up mostly of Caucasian women, this decade marks a dramatic change to a more racially and ethnically diverse student body and an increase in the male population. Student organizations proliferate; many Greek sororities and fraternities form, some with national affiliation. Athletics expand with the addition of more women’s teams. Spring Carnival continues, as does the Campus Queen dance, and other dances are added including a Cotillion. The yearbooks reflect a rich range of student activities.

From 1960 to 1965 MSC’s main focus, as it was from its beginning, still is on teacher preparation (at one point, entrants signed a pledge to teach from two to three years after graduation or reimburse the state for tuition.)  But in 1966, MSC becomes a multi-purpose institution, admitting its first liberal arts students.

A Board of Trustees soon comes about. The College buys Bond House and opens the speech building. In 1968 a lounge in Panzer Gym is named for Margaret C. Brown former president of Panzer College, and Calcia Hall opens, named for Dr. Lillian Acton Calcia, ’25, first chair of the Fine Arts Department.

At the close of the decade, Partridge Hall opens, dedicated to E. DeAlton Partridge, president from 1951 to1964 and the College reorganizes along a university model with separate schools headed by their own deans.