“Rose and Ori exemplify the very best of ����vlog,” said Montclair President Jonathan Koppell. “Rose exemplifies the spirit of community and generosity that we seek to cultivate. Ori has had a remarkable career launched by his years at Montclair. In different ways, each has transformed lives and communities while remaining closely connected to the values and mission that define Montclair.”

Rose C. Cali ’80

A proud alumna of ����vlog, Rose has served the University in many capacities, including as a Trustee beginning in 1991, and as a member of the ����vlog Foundation Board and the John J. Cali School of Music Advisory Board. She is also the founder and former President and CEO of the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center.

Her loyalty and love for the University live on through an endowed gift for music student scholarships that Rose and her late husband, John, established. Through the John J. Cali School of Music, the Cali family’s generous support has transformed the University’s music program, strengthening its growth and excellence and impacting hundreds of students through scholarships.

Rose has also dedicated herself to countless causes in New Jersey, including the Montclair Public Library, Montclair Film Festival, Liberty Science Center and Jazz House Kids, among others.

“I love to attend events and concerts at the University and especially enjoy attending performances by the amazingly talented students from the Cali School,” says Cali.

Ori Eisen ’97

Dedicating his life to fighting online crime, Ori Eisen’s distinguished career has seen him serve in prominent roles at American Express and found both companies and charities – all while supporting his alma mater.

After serving as the Worldwide Fraud Director for American Express, Eisen founded 41st Parameter – the leading online fraud prevention and detection solution for financial institutions and e-commerce. After 41st Parameter was acquired by Experian in 2013, he founded Trusona, the company he still operates today.

Also a dedicated philanthropist, he has founded the charity, Ball to All, a charity that donates free soccer balls around the world to children who have never had one, and founded Original Films, partnering with the world’s most creative storytellers to tell stories that need to be told. He also volunteers with Thorn, the digital defenders of children.

Ori and Mirit Eisen, through their generous philanthropy, established the Eisen Mental Health Fund at ����vlog. The fund is currently supporting a pilot project that improves student mental well-being utilizing the evidence-based Penn Resilience Program.

“We wanted to support the students of ����vlog with a groundbreaking program for mental well-being. It is hard enough to get accepted into higher education, and it is harder to stay a student with all of life’s challenges. Giving students the tools to cope with the stress and create more work/life balance is a dream come true.”

Proceeds from the Gala will establish the President’s Carpe Futurum Fund, which will fund University priorities to help Montclair seize the day and best serve the future. Through the Carpe Futurum Fund, the University will broaden access to rigorous education and exceptional learning opportunities by providing scholarship support, advance research and form partnerships that enhance prosperity, democracy and wellbeing in the communities it serves.

The funds will also count towards Montclair’s ONE DAY for Montclair campaign totals, helping the University create opportunities, elevate achievements and celebrate its students.

“The Carpe Futurum Fund is designed to ensure Montclair continues to expand opportunity, invest in innovation and deepen our impact in the communities we serve. By supporting our students, our research and our partnerships, this fund will help us build a future that is more inclusive and responsive to the challenges of our time,” says Koppell.

Celebrate Montclair is open to the public and will be held in the University’s Conference Center, located on the seventh floor of University Hall. Visit the Celebrate Montclair website for more information.

Major Gift Fuels Change

A $5 million gift from philanthropist John Martinson is powering program enhancements that expand interdisciplinary and experiential learning, with a focus on:

• Preparing innovative leaders
• Supporting creative and socially impactful academic pathways
• Investing in interdisciplinary study and student engagement on campus and beyond

Executive Director Jeff Strickland described this as a defining chapter: “Our vision for honors is bold – to expand access, to promote creativity and leadership, and to ensure that Montclair stands at the forefront of public honors education.”

President Jonathan Koppell addresses students gathered at the John Martinson Honors EDGE reception, encouraging them to embrace creativity and social transformation. (Photo by Mileena Torres ’21)

Reception Welcomes Students

A welcome reception kicked off the��John Martinson Honors EDGE (Engage, Discover, Grow, Experience) Program on September 8, gathering about 120 honors students and faculty. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the honors program at Montclair.��

Speaking to the energy of the new academic year and the program’s milestone, President Jonathan Koppell emphasized the centrality of creativity and social transformation.

��“You have demonstrated commitment, curiosity and eagerness to develop your own potential,” he told the students.

Provost Junius J. Gonzales reinforced this challenge, urging students to make creativity their “competitive advantage in business, scholarship, in your work and future lives.”

Sociology Professor Christopher Donoghue teaches one of Montclair’s signature honors courses, “Honors Creativity,” which underscores that creativity is a cultivated skill tied to public purpose. (Photo by University Photographer Mike Peters)

Students credit the program with shaping their academic direction and personal growth. Krishita Vaghani, a junior in Computer Science, said: “Honors is not only preparing us for the future, it’s teaching us to create the kind of future worth living in.”

Expanded Experiences and Opportunities��

Martinson’s gift makes possible expanded academic, creative and leadership opportunities for honors students:

• Creative Learning stipend – $5,000 for every honors student to pursue study abroad, internships and research
• Honors Leadership Certificate – a planned program integrating leadership training into coursework
• Interdisciplinary research clusters – planned initiatives connecting faculty and students across fields
• Distinguished visiting faculty – bringing national experts to campus for mentoring and teaching
• Collaborations – expanded ties to the Martinson Collaborative linking Montclair with 10 leading honors programs nationwide, also funded by Martinson

Montclair envisions growing its program to 1,000 students within five years and positioning the University to evolve the John Martinson Honors EDGE Program into a stand-alone Honors College.��

“These enhancements elevate Montclair’s position among public universities while giving students expanded avenues for discovery and impact,” Strickland noted. “Honors EDGE is not just a curriculum – it is a community and a calling. It is about cultivating knowledge and creativity, not for ourselves alone, but for the larger public good.”

Ready to Start Your Montclair Journey?

Learn more about admission criteria to the John Martinson Honors EDGE Program and take your first step in applying to become a Red Hawk.

In recognition of this extraordinary support, the program will be renamed the John Martinson Honors EDGE Program. With an emphasis on creativity, purposeful leadership development, meaningful community involvement, and interdisciplinary learning, the enhanced honors program aims to provide hands-on experiences that prepare students to become leaders, innovators and change-makers.

A New Era for Honors at Montclair

Reflecting on the significance of the gift, Montclair President Jonathan Koppell said:

“John Martinson’s generous philanthropic investment could not come at a more critical moment. By accelerating the growth and evolution of the honors program at Montclair, a university committed to accessibility and inclusivity, this gift underscores that opportunities to achieve at the highest level must be available to bright, passionate, ambitious students of all backgrounds.

“Achieving that goal is the only way for us to thrive as a state and nation. The John Martinson Honors EDGE Program emphasizes hands-on interdisciplinary learning that cultivates students’ leadership and creativity, thus preparing them to take on the biggest challenges in business and civic life.”

From left: Jeff Strickland, executive director of the John Martinson Honors EDGE Program, John Martinson, University President Jonathan Koppell, and Montclair honors student Jacob Roby, gather at ����vlog in recognition of Martinson’s transformative gift. (Photo by University Photographer Mike Peters)

Expanding Access and Inclusion

The gift, Koppell added, “is the latest in an unbelievable series of investments in our shared future.”��

John Martinson, chairman of Martinson Ventures, a technology venture capital firm based in Newtown, Pennsylvania, has donated millions to strengthen honors programs at leading universities nationwide, including Purdue, Georgia Tech, Northeastern, the U.S. Air Force Academy, and the University of Pittsburgh. Montclair is the tenth institution to join this growing network of Martinson-supported honors programs.

Through this collaborative network, Montclair students and faculty will connect with peers at these institutions, sharing best practices to accelerate success and build a national honors community.

“This investment reflects my deep belief in Montclair’s mission, its accomplished and innovative faculty, strong university leadership, and my confidence that its students will become the next generation of leaders and innovators,” Martinson said. “Their creativity, energy and potential to improve the world inspire my philanthropy.”

Martinson added, “I am excited to help double the size of the Montclair program and expand opportunities for experiential and immersive learning, graduate school preparation, undergraduate research and leadership development.”

What Sets Montclair Apart

The John Martinson Honors EDGE Program (Engage, Discover, Grow, Experience) will feature a curriculum designed to foster imaginative thinking and problem-solving, with creativity embedded as a central pillar.��

Students will be challenged to expand their minds, brainstorm and loosen the boundaries of their imaginations,” applying creative thinking to real-world problems and day-to-day settings. “They’ll come away with the most salient and indelible experiences in college.” — Provost Junius J. Gonzales.

This investment will make it possible for the University to recruit and retain more top-tier students to its honors program, including incoming transfers and freshmen as well as current students.��

Short-term, high-impact travel experiences are emphasized, making transformative opportunities accessible to students who may not be able to commit to a full-semester program.

The mission is to provide opportunities for those who might not otherwise have access to such experiences, allowing them to “take leaps into places and situations they’ve never been,” says Jeff Strickland, executive director of the John Martinson Honors EDGE Program. Admissions will take a holistic approach, considering leadership, creativity and community engagement alongside academic achievement.

Program Enhancements

• Creative and Leadership Workshops: Expanded offerings, including the introduction of an Honors Leadership Certificate and interdisciplinary research clusters.
• Distinguished Visiting Faculty: Bringing in experts to enrich the curriculum and mentor students.
• Experiential Learning: More international and domestic travel, paid internships, mentorships, research opportunities and study-abroad programs.��
• Every honors student will receive a $5,000 “Creative Learning” stipend to support these pursuits.
• Community Engagement: Courses like “Community Matters” connect students with local and global issues, ensuring learning goes beyond the classroom.
• National Advisors: External advisors from Yale, Rice and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville bring national perspectives and best practices to Montclair.

Jacob Roby, a senior double majoring in Policy Studies and Political Science, has earned prestigious fellowships and internships — exemplifying the caliber of students the John Martinson Honors EDGE Program is designed to support and elevate. (Photo by University Photographer Mike Peters)

High-Impact Student Opportunities

Senior Jacob Roby, a double major in Policy Studies and Political Science with minors in Chinese and Global Security and Diplomacy, exemplifies the exceptional caliber of Montclair’s honors program that Martinson’s investment will elevate to even greater heights.

Roby credits Honors EDGE for enabling him to secure prestigious fellowships and internships — including roles as a Research Fellow at the Wilson Center and a Student Fellow at the USDA.��

“����vlog, especially the honors program, is really what I would call an American Dream university,” Roby says. “It’s still one of those places left in our country where if you work really hard you can achieve a lot, have great experiences and find people who will help you succeed.”��

Sara Flores, a sophomore majoring in Linguistics and a first-generation college student, credits the honors program for fostering both academic and civic engagement. As an aspiring ESL teacher, Flores has already presented at a regional honors conference in Pittsburgh and participated in a leadership retreat in Arizona — opportunities she says broadened her perspective on education and community.��

The Honors Program has given me hands-on experiences and helped me rethink how I want to teach and learn. It’s not just about academics — it’s about building a community where students feel like they’re part of something bigger.” — Sara Flores

Flores’ commitment to service is central to her honors experience. She is active in the Bonner Leader Program and volunteers tutoring adult ESL learners in Paterson and on campus.

Building Community and Alumni Connections

As Montclair prepares to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its honors program and the establishment of the John Martinson Honors EDGE Program, there will be a renewed emphasis on engaging and strengthening the alumni network to provide mentoring, job shadowing and career-focused networking for current students.��

With sustained success, Montclair envisions growing its program to 1,000 students within five years and positioning the University to evolve the John Martinson Honors EDGE Program into a stand-alone Honors College. The University welcomes investment from additional partners to advance the program and create more impact for students.��

“This extraordinary gift elevates the student experience at Montclair,” says Strickland. “It is transformational for honors and for the entire institution, enabling students to benefit from what we hope will become a nationally recognized program.”

Ready to Start Your Montclair Journey?

• Prospective Students: It’s not too late to apply! ����vlog is and deposits for fall 2025.
• Looking Ahead? The application for fall 2026 opens August 1. Plan your visit and in applying to become a Red Hawk!
• Interested in the John Martinson Honors EDGE Program? Learn more from the Executive Director.��

The project is the first initiative in Phase 2 of One Square Mile (OSM), the hyperlocal, place-based initiative supported by the designed to revitalize a designated area of Paterson that began in February 2023. Phase 2 will focus on creating housing solutions for Paterson residents in the first, fourth and fifth wards of the city over the next five years.

Through the partnership, will construct its 300th new home in the city of Paterson, a 3-bedroom, 2 bathroom home, which will be located at 45 Auburn Street. Other partners on the project include ADP and the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.

“Universities, when utilized properly, can help bring about lasting change that benefits all people,” says Montclair President Jonathan Koppell. “Our work with the City of Paterson through the One Square Mile initiative and beyond has been driven by our community partners and has already yielded positive results. Our collaboration with Passaic County Habitat for Humanity will only build on our ongoing efforts and respond directly to the demonstrated need for affordable housing within Paterson.”

Creating Opportunities to Serve

The project will further Montclair’s commitment to creating hands-on learning and service opportunities as part of the One Square Mile initiative.

Students, faculty and staff will have the opportunity to participate in the construction during a series of building days in July, August, September, October and November 2025, and January and February 2026, directly impacting the community by helping create a new home for a qualified family.

Housing Statistics in Paterson, NJ

Within One Square Mile’s designated area:

• The population has increased by 11% in the last 10 years – more than four times the rate of the rest of Passaic County (2.4%) and nearly twice the rate of the city of Paterson (7.4%)
• Residents have the highest rate (5%) of people living in overcrowded housing
• 58% of OSM residents are “rent-burdened,” which means they are paying more than 30% of their monthly income towards housing costs
• 92% of OSM residents are renters, leaving only 8% as homeowners

“Housing has become a national crisis, and in Paterson’s One Square Mile, this crisis is most acute,” says Passaic County Habitat for Humanity CEO Scott Millard. “The house we will begin construction on today represents a step towards addressing that crisis, and this step would not be possible without all the partners who have come together to make this step possible.”

One Square Mile Phase Two Goals

The project is the first designed to address the initiative’s five housing goals outlined at a special event in November 2024 that will be pursued over the next five years.

• Expand Housing Affordability: The Community Advisory Committee will look to expand affordable housing opportunities and advocate to create policies to expand opportunities.
• Increase Supply and Stability: Working with the City of Paterson, the Committee will seek to turn abandoned buildings and underutilized space into affordable housing, as well as create an eviction protection program to increase stability.
• Improve Housing Quality: The Committee will work to increase energy efficiency for residents and create safe housing in the One Square Mile area.
• Create Housing and Safe Neighborhoods: Wraparound services will be expanded for residents to help ensure safe neighborhoods, and community leader programming will be developed to foster the next generation of community leaders to ensure the area’s continued growth.
• Build Assets and Wealth: The Committee will create programming to educate residents on the benefits of homeownership as opposed to renting, and how it can create generational wealth for the city.

“Montclair’s collaboration with Passaic County Habitat for Humanity on the build project stems from the discovery phase of the One Square Mile initiative, where local residents identified housing as the top priority for our collective impact project,” says Montclair Associate Vice President for Community Partnerships Bryan Murdock. “This project serves as both a symbolic and concrete expression of the University’s commitment, alongside its community and philanthropic partners, to addressing the urgent housing crisis affecting residents within the OSM.”

����vlog and the City of Paterson

The second phase of One Square Mile is the latest achievement in the expanding relationship between ����vlog and the City of Paterson.

The University opened The Charles J. Muth Museum of Hinchliffe Stadium in April of 2024, which engages audiences in the history of the Negro Leagues and its famous players while creating learning opportunities for both Montclair students and the students of Paterson Public Schools.

The first phase of One Square Mile saw Paterson’s Eastside High School transform into a University-assisted community school through support from the Dodge Foundation and the work of community partners.

Ready to Start Your Montclair Journey?

Prospective Students: It’s not too late to apply! ����vlog is and deposits for fall 2025.

Looking Ahead? The application for fall 2026 opens August 1. Plan your visit and in applying to become a Red Hawk!

Together, the three Hispanic-Serving Institutions will leverage their proximity and unique strengths and differences to better understand barriers and facilitators of student success with a particular focus on minority males, enhance support structures for them and improve retention and completion rates.

The 12-month project, titled “Empowering Minority Men in STEM: A Tri-Campus Hispanic-Serving Initiative,” is led by Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Junius Gonzales and co-principal investigators including:

• Daniel Jean, EdD, associate provost educational opportunity & success programs (����vlog)
• John A. Pelesko, PhD, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs (NJIT)
• Sotirios Ziavras, DSc, vice provost for graduate studies and dean of graduate faculty (NJIT)
• Weidong Zhu, PhD, interim vice president, academic affairs (Saint Peter’s University)
• Christina Mortellaro, PhD, assistant vice president for academic affairs and assessment (Saint Peter’s University)

Addressing a Key Challenge for Minority Male Students

The collaborative initiative aims to address an emerging challenge in higher education that shows a drop in men pursuing post-secondary education and graduate programs. These numbers are particularly stark for Latino, Black, and Native American men.

At many institutions, including Montclair, degrees awarded to minority men are flat or declining in comparison to women, where overall enrollments and completed degrees are growing. Retention and graduation rate gaps for these men lag, and in some STEM areas trends are worse. Even at HBCUs, male enrollment is declining.

How the ‘Empowering Minority Men in STEM’ Project Will Function

The tri-campus effort will follow a series of key goals that can help all students succeed in STEM graduate education, including:

• Create an organizational structure with four interdisciplinary teams with members from the three HSIs and key community units.
• Gather existing and new information about Black and Latino males’ entry, retention and completion of STEM graduate education from each institution, and identify multi-level institutional barriers and facilitators.
• Identify how academic program, department and college level barriers can be reduced, and how facilitators can be enhanced into shared capacity building, joint academic support services, academic program improvements or new designs.
• Understand the nature and strength of contextual influences such as family, peers, and community organizations on Black and Latino males’ entry into and success in STEM graduate programs.
• Recommend shared partnership changes in practices, structures, processes and policies to enhance equitable pathways for graduate programs in biology and computer science/data science, with a concrete outcome of a seed project to present to the Sloan Foundation and other prospective funders, including internal prospects at each institution.

The collaboration will also allow for the potential to share resources and create new efficiencies among the participating institutions to further create life-changing opportunities for students.

“The challenges that minority males face in higher education has been an area of focus for the University, as we recognize the importance of improving outcomes for these students – outcomes that can extend to families and communities,” says Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Junius Gonzales. “Collaborating with our partners at NJIT and Saint Peter’s University, with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, will give us a unique advantage to help create equitable pathways for our future leaders in STEM.”

About the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation makes grants primarily to support original research and education related to science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and economics. The Foundation believes that these fields—and the scholars and practitioners who work in them—are chief drivers of the nation’s health and prosperity. The Foundation also believes that a reasoned, systematic understanding of the forces of nature and society, when applied inventively and wisely, can lead to a better world for all.

“Today marks a milestone – a decade of collaboration, innovation and student-driven sustainability solutions,” said Amy Tuininga, director of the PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studies, as she welcomed the new Green Teams cohort May 28 at the program’s 10th anniversary launch event.

Since its inception, Montclair’s Green Teams program has grown into a powerful model of experiential learning and real-world problem solving. Hundreds of impactful deliverables have supported sustainable solutions for municipalities, nonprofits and corporations across New Jersey and beyond.

10 Years of Purpose-Driven Progress

This year’s Green Teams cohort includes 50 interns from 33 universities, 36 degree programs and 16 states – a reflection of the program’s growing impact. United by purpose, these students are applying their knowledge and skills to 10 projects that address urgent environmental challenges, including:

• Soil health and regenerative agriculture with drone and robotic tools (Foodshed Alliance)
• Flood risk mapping and GIS-based tools in Paterson (The Nature Conservancy)
• Urban greening and microforest creation in Bloomfield, Montclair and Newark
• Climate-smart infrastructure development with NJ Natural Gas, Eisai and the Port Authority of NY & NJ
• Inclusive workforce technology, including XR job training for adults with autism (Green Do Good)
• Schoolyard restoration and food forest planning at Hazel Avenue School in West Orange

Celebrating Long-Term Partnerships and Impact

“Some of our partners are long-time collaborators, while others are new to the Green Team family. Each one plays a vital role in shaping a more sustainable, equitable future,” said Tuininga.

����vlog President Jonathan Koppell praised the Green Teams program as a shining example of innovation and hope. In a world full of challenges, the program reminds us that solutions are not only possible – they’re happening right now, he said.

Dominique Lueckenhoff, executive vice president for Corporate Affairs, Environment, Health and Sustainability at Hugo Neu Corporation and keynote speaker, drew on her experience in government and private sector to urge long-term thinking and purposeful action.

She called for a “resilience revolution” to transform markets, infrastructure and communities – reminding us that sustainability means reimagining the systems we rely on, not merely reacting to crises.

“We stand at a crossroads. Choices we make today about our securities, markets, infrastructure and communities will shape generations to come.”

Amy Tuininga, left, director of the PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studies, introduces this summer’s Green Teams at the 10th Anniversary Gala and Launch Event. The 50 interns represent diverse academic backgrounds and are ready to tackle today’s pressing sustainability challenges.

2025 Green Team Projects at a Glance

• Sustainable Land & Agriculture
  • and its : Drone and soil data for regenerative agriculture
  • : Food forest planning and flood analysis
    
• Urban Greening & Resilience
  • , , : Microforests, tree mapping, green infrastructure
    
• Water & Emissions Management
  • : Water audits and drought strategies
    
  • : Scope 3 emissions tracking
    
  • : CO₂ reuse feasibility
    
• Climate Adaptation & Risk
  • (Paterson): Flood mitigation and GIS risk mapping
    
• Inclusive Tech & Workforce Innovation
  • : Virtual-reality modules for autism-inclusive training

The Green Teams program is funded through the generous support of the PSEG Foundation, the National Science Foundation, USDA and NASA.��

Discover Where Science Meets Purpose

At ����vlog, the PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studies and the College of Science and Mathematics advance real-world environmental solutions through research, innovation and collaboration.

Learn more about the Green Teams program and how to get involved.

Journalists: Contact our Media Relations team to request assets or schedule an interview.

“One Day For Montclair is a day where our entire community — alumni, faculty, staff, students and parents — comes together to make a real impact for our students and programs,” says Kara Baldwin Brennan ‘92, Director of Annual Giving. “It’s a chance for everyone to feel part of something bigger than themselves.”

The giving event coincided with World’s Fair Day, an annual celebration of Montclair’s vibrant cultural community. Hundreds of students, faculty and staff gathered on Alumni Green to sample international foods, such as Korean BBQ bowls, tacos carnitas and samosas, and to enjoy performances by Montclair’s student organizations.

From seeing eye dog training to Greek life, the Alumni Green was alive with over 50 tables giving out freebies and showcasing student orgs, campus offices, and academic departments.

Red Hawks of all ages gathered on campus as proud alumni returned with their families to show off their alma mater, while Montclair faculty and staff brought their children to celebrate Bring Your Child to Work Day.

When it came to giving, donors were encouraged to give to the scholarship, school, program, athletic team, or student organization that meant the most to them — and altogether, they raised $708,687 for the school.��

“From the Red Hawk Pantry to our schools and athletic teams, every single dollar made a difference,” says Brennan. “From partnering with Java Love for the Give-a-Latte initiative to the donation match challenges, One Day was all about everybody chipping in to make Montclair an even better place.”

The 2,005 donations are already making a difference.

Here are just few of the many recipients of the Montclair community’s generosity:

Red Hawk Pantry – 29% of students at four-year colleges suffer from , and the number is higher for students of color. Donations help stock the pantry with food and toiletry items and allows the team to meet evolving needs of the Montclair student population year-round.

Rocky’s Closet – Provides professional clothing to students preparing for interviews, internships and jobs — regardless of financial need. Donations also cover dry cleaning and necessities like dress socks, undergarments and belts.

Montclair Emergency Scholarship Fund – Offers immediate financial support to students facing significant hardship, helping them stay enrolled and finish their degree.

Educational Opportunity Book Fund – With the cost of textbooks averaging $200–$600 per semester, this fund helps low-income, high-achieving students afford the books they need to succeed.

Impact at Bloomfield College

After merging with Montclair, Bloomfield College students also benefit from the day’s generosity:

Bloomfield College Emergency Scholarship Fund – Ensures that no Bloomfield student is forced to choose between financial hardship and their academic future.��

Bloomfield College Food Pantry Fund – Keeps pantry shelves stocked with non-perishable food, personal care products, school supplies, and tableware.��

Bloomfield College Emergency Book Fund – Ensures that students facing financial hardship have access to the textbooks they need for a successful semester.��

Deacon’s Fund – Supports Bloomfield’s NCAA Division II men’s and women’s athletic teams — as well as our growing esports program — by providing funds for equipment, travel, training, and facilities.

Photos by University Photographer Mike Peters.

The five-year grant will enable the creation of the Collaborative Media Resource Hub to support 20 journalism collaboratives and provide substantial help to new and existing U.S.-based collaborative initiatives, with the goal of creating sustainable models for local news collaboration that directly benefit their communities. Journalism collaboratives are used to describe a group of journalism and non-journalism organizations that work together on a shared journalistic or storytelling initiative.

“This transformative investment from Knight Foundation will allow us to significantly scale our work in collaborative journalism at a critical time for local news in the United States,” said Stefanie Murray, director of the Center for Cooperative Media. “We’ve spent years studying and supporting collaborative journalism initiatives, and we know that when news organizations work together, they can better serve their communities while building stronger, more sustainable operations.”

The grant will continue the work started under a previous Knight-funded program, the , that was run by the Solutions Journalism Network and spearheaded by veteran journalist Liza Gross. Gross joins the Hub as senior adviser to help provide continuity to the project. Amy Maestas, who also worked previously on the initiative at Solutions Journalism Network, joins the Hub as director.

The grant will support positions to launch collaboratives, including financial support of up to $50,000 and coaching focused on revenue development and sustainability.

The Hub aims to support the creation of four new collaboratives each year over the five-year grant period, with a focus on creating sustainable models that can attract local support and investment. The initiative has set a goal of helping collaboratives raise an additional $2.5 million in local support over five years.

“The future of local news depends on innovation in both journalism and business models,” said Duc Luu, Director of Journalism at Knight Foundation. “The Center for Cooperative Media has proven that local newsrooms are increasingly willing to work collaboratively to serve their communities instead of competing for the latest scoop. Collaborative journalism can enhance news coverage while making their operations more efficient. This grant will help scale that approach across the country.”

The Hub will measure the success of these collaboratives not just by their financial sustainability, but by their impact on their communities. By the second year of operation, at least 50% of the collaboratives are expected to meet agreed-upon community impact metrics.

Since 2017, the Center for Cooperative Media has studied and advocated for collaboration in journalism. The Center publishes research related to journalism collaboration, hosts the annual Collaborative Journalism Summit, maintains , compiles a biweekly newsletter about partnership in journalism, runs a community of practice for journalism collaboration managers, and has built a database tracking more than 1,000 collaborations.

Organizations interested in learning more about launching or joining a collaborative can email Amy Maestas at maestasa@montclair.edu or Stefanie Murray at murrayst@montclair.edu.

About the Center for Cooperative Media

The is a grant-funded program of the School of Communication and Media at ����vlog. Its mission is to grow and strengthen local journalism and support an informed society in New Jersey and beyond.

About Knight Foundation

We are social investors who support a more effective democracy by funding free expression and journalism, arts and culture in community, research in areas of media and democracy, and the success of American cities and towns where the Knight brothers once published newspapers. Learn more at .

With its commitment to Indigenous rights, racial justice, decolonization and eco-justice, the NAIS program emphasizes the priorities of New Jersey’s state-recognized Native American tribes – the Ramapough Lunaape, Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape and Powhatan Renape nations – which include environmental justice, political recognition, cultural heritage and language revitalization.

The NJCIJ will be a center for communication, fundraising, events and gatherings that highlight the unique questions facing Montclair’s Indigenous students and New Jersey’s tribal communities. It will coordinate the University’s work to change public narratives, increase Indigenous student enrollment and pursue justice-oriented action on issues affecting Native people in the state.

“The NJCIJ will give focus to the varied work Montclair faculty and students are doing in partnership with New Jersey’s tribal communities,” says Anthropology Department Chair Chris Matthews, a co-director of NAIS and co-Principal Investigator of the grant. “[It] will be the first and only university-based project in New Jersey that aims to transform public understanding of Native people and to do so in partnership with Indigenous communities across the state.”

About the New Jersey Center for Indigenous Justice and NAIS Program Grant

In addition to Matthews, the co-Principal Investigators of the grant include Religion Professor Mark Clatterbuck, Anthropology Professor Maisa Taha and Educational Foundations Professor Lisa Lynn Brooks, all fellow co-directors of the Native American and Indigenous Studies program.

The grant funds will be used to establish the New Jersey Center for Indigenous Justice and achieve the following goals:

• Deepen the impact of the NAIS program by providing additional resources and support for interdisciplinary collaboration and research.
• Establish a digital repository of tribal knowledge and resources to ensure their preservation and availability to tribal members, and to Montclair faculty and students.
• Hire a NJCIJ director who will promote increased engagement with the New Jersey tribes and with Indigenous issues, while also helping to recruit and mentor a growing number of New Jersey tribal members at the University.

Native American and Indigenous Initiatives at ����vlog

����vlog is committed to increasing the awareness and knowledge of New Jersey’s Native American tribes and the issues they face.

As demonstrated by the adoption of a Land Acknowledgement Statement in 2022 that recognizes that the University occupies territory historically known as Lenapehoking, the homeland of all Lenape people, the University is committed to social justice and to offering learning opportunities and promoting Native American culture and history.

In addition to the Native American and Indigenous Studies minor, some of these initiatives include:

• Celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day
• Annual NAIS Summer Field School
• Lectures and Panels

“The Mellon Foundation grant will significantly increase Montclair’s ability to fulfill our commitment to addressing the historical legacies of Indigenous dispossession and dismantling practices of erasure that persist today, as stated in our University Land Acknowledgement,” says Clatterbuck. “The new center, in tandem with our Native American and Indigenous Studies program, is focused on Indigenizing New Jersey while decolonizing educational, social and political legacies that continue to overlook Native people and exploit Native lands.”

About The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom that can be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. Learn more at .

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Distinguished guests and elected officials were on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new museum and learning center, which highlighted the transformational support of Montclair alumnus and Paterson native Chuck Muth ’77 and his wife, Laura.

Montclair President Jonathan Koppell, Chuck Muth, Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh, Hinchliffe developer Baye Adofo-Wilson, Paterson Public Schools Superintendent Laurie W. Newell and Museum Director Jessica Bush provided remarks as part of the morning program, which also included a special performance by the Rosa L. Parks School of Fine and Performing Arts choir.

Muth’s $5 million gift will allow Montclair to serve as an educational partner for the museum, which will chronicle the history and legacy of Hinchliffe Stadium – one of two remaining Negro League baseball stadiums in the country and a cultural touchstone in the city.

“Chuck embodies everything that makes ����vlog special, and the impact of he and Laura’s philanthropic support in ensuring generations of our students can also succeed cannot be overstated,” says Koppell. “This museum is a truly collaborative effort and strengthens our bond with one of the most vibrant and diverse communities in New Jersey. It will be a space that will not only allow members of the city to engage with educational programming, but that will also provide experiential learning opportunities for ����vlog students. We are thrilled to officially launch this initiative and are grateful to Chuck and Laura for helping make it a reality.”

The gift furthers the Muth family’s continued support of ����vlog. Growing up near Hinchliffe Stadium, Chuck graduated from Montclair in 1977 and has served on the advisory board of the University’s Feliciano School of Business since 2013. The Muth’s also have an endowed scholarship at Montclair that is named for Chuck’s parents, Charles and Madeline, that supports business students from Paterson.

“Growing up in Paterson and attending ����vlog gave me the foundation I needed to achieve my dreams in business and in life, so to continue our support in this unique way is an incredible opportunity,” says Muth. “To know that this museum will help educate generations of students from the two places that have had the biggest impact on me means the world to us, and we cannot wait to see the community and Montclair students engaging with the history of Hinchliffe Stadium.”

It will also ensure future learning opportunities for both Paterson and ����vlog students, which is a key component of various initiatives between the city and institution.

“Hinchliffe Stadium was constructed as ‘the city stadium’ with Paterson residents in mind,” says Museum Director Jessica Bush. “As a component of the Great Falls National Historical Park, our museum offers visitors the chance to discover the stadium’s profound national historical significance, and, alongside Paterson’s other cultural institutions, help to instill a sense of community pride and help to make this city a true travel destination.”

The museum is the latest achievement in the expanding relationship between Montclair and the City of Paterson.

One Square Mile, a place-based approach to community revitalization developed by Montclair President Koppell, was launched in Paterson in 2023 through support from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, with East Side High School serving as the first component of the multi-year initiative.

“Chuck is a source of inspiration for Paterson children who can look to him as an example of what is possible for them,” says Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh. “Today, we celebrate the restoration of Hinchliffe Stadium, and of the opening of The Charles J. Muth Museum to help tell its incredible story.”

For more information on The Charles J. Muth Museum at Hinchliffe Stadium, visit Montclair’s Center for Community Engagement.

PHOTO GALLERY

Video by University Videographer Christodoulos Apostolou. Photos by John J. LaRosa for ����vlog.

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