Leahy Hosts Press Conference 1
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Leahy Hosts Press Conference

President-elect Patrick Leahy, Ed.D., hosted a student media event as a way of connecting with student leaders in the Rebecca Stafford Student Center on Wednesday, Jan. 30.

The interviews took place in room 202A in the Rebecca Stafford Student Center.

In attendance were student members from WMCX, HawkTV, The Outlook, the Black Student Association, the Student Retention Team, and Student Ambassadors.

Leahy asked the student representatives in attendance about their academics, club involvement, and their experience at Monmouth. 

The press meeting was arranged by John J. Christopher, J.D., Vice President and General Counsel, and Mary Anne Nagy, Vice President for Student Life and Leadership Engagement, in order to create an opportunity for student representatives to meet with Leahy. Aaron Furgason, Ph.D., Chair of the Department of Communication and an associate professor of communication, was tasked with advertising the event to student media outlets to notify them of the event. Furgason said that he believes that it’s important for all faculty to be involved with students on campus and noted that it seems that Leahy is committed to doing so. 

“I think it’s great that Leahy is engaged prior to coming in in August, with every level of the university. Obviously, the students are the most important part, but also the faculty and administrators,” he said.

Furgason continued and said that the newly elected president wants to speak directly to leaders on campus, showing that he is engaged in the full life of the University.

Leahy Hosts Press Conference 2“He (Leahy) is obviously interested in the core of an educational facility: the students. He wants to speak directly to them, instead of going through faculty members or administrators,” he said.

After student introductions, Leahy returned the favor. He relayed how an English class taught by his university president at Georgetown inspired him to become an administrator. He went on to discuss his passion for fundraising, which he was told by the University’s Board of Trustees was one of the reasons he was fit for the position. 

“I’ve done a lot of fundraising in my professional career and I actually enjoy doing it,” said Leahy. “It can be a very meaningful thing to sit down with someone who’s done very well financially and help them find something meaningful for them to invest in.”

Leahy explained that his goal is to ensure the University becomes that investment. He stated that he believes that there is great work being done on campus which the student leaders’ “testimonials” point towards.

Haley Gasparine, a senior communication student and promotions director of Hawk TV, took additional time to present Leahy with “Hawk TV goodies.” The gift included a water bottle, journal, pens, and a tote bag. “This was my way of creating that first connection with President Leahy and our organization on campus,” she said.

At Leahy’s announcement ceremony last month, he told attendees “…We’ll build upon the strong foundation here at Monmouth and move toward even higher levels of excellence and access.”

Leahy elaborated on this at the media panel. He said, “To take the university to the next level we’ll have to broaden our notoriety and recruiting of students.”

To grow the University’s exposure, Leahy will attend speaking engagements and meet with donors. “You’re going to have a president who will take any speaking engagement he can get his hands on to talk about Monmouth,” Leahy assured student leaders.

PHOTO COURTESY of Haley Gasparine

PHOTO TAKEN by Caroline Mattise