European plaza

Featuring our Graduates

If you are a Montclair State University French Program alumni and not yet on our alumni email list, please contact wlc@montclair.edu!

Oyin Otetubi

Oyin Otetubi is a former French student, Schmitt Scholar and Kermit Vogel Scholar. She recently interned for the State Department in France. Next up, she’ll be enrolling at NYU to study Speech Language Pathology. Being a bilingual speech language pathologist is a terrific asset. Oyin may also take her new skills to Nigeria where, she says, there is a large need for these types of services.

Jean Rice

My name is Jean Rice. After completing the MAT-French program at Montclair State University, I am delighted to say that I am now teaching French as an Adjunct Professor here at my alma mater. I fell in love with the French language as a young girl and have never stopped learning about French culture and civilization. I felt that my professors at Montclair State were experts in their fields who could not have been more enlightening and supportive to all of their students. The Department of Modern Languages and Literatures is a world-class program and I now have students from diverse sections of the country–from New York to California–an indication of the enthusiasm and interest in the study of French.

Jeff Welfel

My name is Jeffrey Welfel and I completed my bachelor’s degree in French at Montclair State University in 2009. I spent one year studying abroad in Grenoble, France at Université Stendhal’s Centre Universitaire d’Etudes Françaises, where my many credits transferred back to Montclair State. I also had the fantastic opportunity of participating in Montclair’s interactive summer program in Nice, France by soaking in everything the Côte d’Azur has to offer. After graduation, I taught French I, II, and III for two years in Fair Lawn. Itching to feed my travel bug and putting my language background to work, I taught varying levels of French in China as an instructor for four years at Shanghai University in the School of Foreign Languages. I have since returned back to the area and am currently teaching French at Westwood Jr/Sr Regional High School and look forward to creating an enriching classroom environment that comes to life for all my students. I continuously encourage my students to recognize the importance of learning a foreign language and become model global citizens. I look forward to continuing to provide inspiration for others learning French as a foreign language. Without the exposure of quality faculty at Montclair, I would not be where I am today. “L’homme qui sait deux langues en vaut deux” Merci.