Monmouth History

By jbisciotti

  • Monmouth Founded as a Junior College

    Monmouth University was founded in 1933 as a junior college. It offered a two-year education to students at the height of the great depression who weren’t able to go away for school.

  • Monmouth becomes accredited college

    After assuming its current private status, Monmouth became Monmouth College in 1956 after receiving state accreditation. They were then able to offer 4-year programs leading to the baccalaureate degree.

  • Monmouth Receives Guggenheim Estate

    The Guggenheim Foundation officially signed over the Guggenheim estate to Monmouth College on September 9th, 1960. While Murray Guggenheim died in 1939, Leonie continued to visit West Long Branch until her death in 1959.

  • Annie Films at The Great Hall

    The great hall served as the set of Daddy Warbucks’ mansion in the classic 1982 film, Annie. Filming took place between March and June of 1981.

  • Monmouth Becomes Division 1 Football Team

    Monmouth College welcomed NCAA Division 1 football to campus in 1993, becoming part of the Northeast Conference.

  • Monmouth Becomes a University

    In March 1995, under Rebecca Stafford, the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education granted Monmouth College university status.

  • Underpass is Built

    In August of 2002, the underpass under route 71, connecting the residential and academic sides of the campus was built. It took about 11 months of planning and 1 year of construction, with a total cost of just under $4 million.

  • Monmouth Opens Rebecca Stafford Student Center

    After its initial opening in 1973, the Monmouth University Student center was renamed the Rebecca Stafford Student Center in 2003, in honor of retiring president Rebecca Stafford

  • Monmouth Arena Built And Named

    The Multipurpose Activity Center was built in 2009 to replace the Boylan Gymnasium. The new facility cost about $57 million to build and was renamed the OceanFirst Bank Center in 2016 after Monmouth and OceanFirst Bank settled on a $4 million deal for the naming rights through 2036.

  • Monmouth joins CAA

    On July 1st, 2022 Monmouth University officially joined the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in all sports the league sponsors.