President Brown is Officially Greeted by the University

After 10 years of strong leader­ship, the former University presi­dent, Paul G. Gaffney retired from his position and Dr. Paul Brown was welcomed as the new Univer­sity president during a ceremony at Wilson Hall on July 31.

Brown, previously the Dean of the College of Business and Econom­ics at Lehigh University, assumed the position as the 8th University president. “It’s with tremendous excitement that I join Monmouth University,” Brown said during the ceremony.

“The trustees (Board of Trustees) put faith in me for this position and boy, as the next steward of this out­standing institution, you have my trust that I’ll give it my very, very, very best shot,” Brown said.

Robert B. Sculthorpe, the Chair­man of the Board of Trustees, joined in welcoming the new presi­dent through announcing to that Brown is a distinguished scholar and a prominent academic leader.

“Since being chosen as Monmouth University’s new presi­dent on February 26, our two Pauls’ have engaged in the most compre­hensive and rigorous presidential transition in Monmouth’s history,” said Sculthorpe.

He also presented Gaffney with a University flag.

Shannon Killeen, Assistant Vice President for Student Services, said Brown was enthusiastic about join­ing the University community.

“President Gaffney has done a wonderful job of leading the Uni­versity and I believe that President Brown will continue in that tradi­tion. I look forward to this leader­ship,” Killeen said.

Killeen also said, “It was a beau­tiful gesture to have both President Gaffney and President Brown give remarks.”

Throughout the summer Brown was a present face on campus. His eagerness in beginning his journey has given him the opportunity to meet with different faculty mem­bers. He claims that our “family,” as a University, is “wonderfully invit­ing.”

Also being welcomed into the community is the University’s new first lady, Joan Fishman, and daugh­ter, Emma, both of whom now re­side in the Doherty house on cam­pus.

The University caught President Brown’s attention for many reasons. He believes that the wide variety of undergraduate and graduate pro­grams is a strength of the Univer­sity. He also enjoys the location and feels as though the student and fac­ulty population is very committed.

Brown expressed that his first priority as president is to listen and learn. He encourages each and every person in the University community to stop and talk to him. Brown asks students to stop him and share what keeps them busy on campus.

Thomas Beaufort, junior, was given the opportunity to meet the new president. He expressed that the president had a great sense of humor and the ability to relate to the students.

“I think that President Brown will give a younger perspective to our campus in terms of being very active in school sports and bringing up the morale,” Beaufort said. He added that “P-Brown” seemed very eager to embark on the new journey as president of the University.

Gaffney said he also encourages the students to speak with the new president. “He’s been around stu­dents his entire life… they should take the chance to meet him,” he said.

In his closing remarks as presi­dent of the University, Gaffney said goodbye to his former position and the University. “I am ready to be re­lived, sir,” he concluded. “They were so great to me in so many ways.”