New Jersey City University was established in 1927 and opened its doors as the New Jersey Normal School of Jersey City on September 12, 1929, with 331 students, 12 faculty, and one building on campus, Hepburn Hall. Seventy years later, more than 10,000 students and 350 faculty enjoy a 47-acre campus which now features 12 buildings, including the state-of-the-art Athletic Fitness Center, the New Fine Arts Building, and the Professional Studies Building which contains one of the finest electronic learning laboratories in the country.
The University has been fortunate to have at its helm, through the years, dynamic and caring presidents. They are: Dr. William Allen Messler, Dr. Edgar F. Bunce, Dr. Roy Lee Shaffer, Dr. Chris C. Rossey, Dr. Forrest Irwin, Dr. Michael Gilligan, Dr. William Liggit (acting), Dr. James Mullen, Dr. William J. Maxwell and the current president Dr. Carlos Hernández.
The history of the University reflects a development of degree programs, support services, and facilities, which support a strong commitment to its urban mission.
In 1935, the Normal School became the Jersey City State Teachers College and awarded its first Bachelor of Science degree in Education. The name was changed to Jersey City State College in 1958 when authorization was granted to award the Bachelor of Arts degree. Two years later, in 1960, the College began to offer the Master of Arts degree in Elementary Education. The A. Harry Moore Laboratory School became an integral part of the College in 1962, making Jersey City State College one of the few colleges in the country to have a laboratory school for the physically challenged.
In 1968, the College revised its mission and became a multipurpose institution offering degrees not only in education but also in the liberal arts and professional studies. The Peter W. Rodino, Jr. Institute of Criminal Justice was established in June 1977. In 1985, the College was awarded a $5.7 million Cooperative Education Challenge Grant, making it the premier cooperative education college in New Jersey. The co-op program serves more than 600 students annually. The grant also helped to build a new dormitory. At the present time, New Jersey City University offers 28 undergraduate and 15 graduate degree programs.
A leader in multicultural curricular reform, the College managed the New Jersey Multicultural Studies Project for New Jersey faculty and hosted students from over 60 foreign countries. Its pre-college programs for at-risk Jersey City youth, the College Bound Program and the Youth Corp Program, are nationally recognized and exemplify what it means to meet educational needs in an urban setting. The College has established the Center for Public Policy and Urban Research and the Human Relations Council which serve to investigate and facilitate solutions to complex social problems.
Following its March 1998 meeting, the Board of Trustees forwarded a petition to the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education requesting that Jersey City State College be granted university status, and that it be renamed New Jersey City University. At its May 29, 1998 meeting, the Commission voted to approve the petition.
The College was renamed New Jersey City University to underscore the institution’s urban mission, while asserting its expanded scope and emphasizing its defining characteristic as a leading public university in the nation’s largest metropolitan area.
Dr. Hernández commented, "For the past 10 years this institution has met the State requirements for designation as a comprehensive university. Now, as New Jersey City University, with its mission and academic goals clearly stated, NJCU will realize its true potential as a university and national center for urban affairs."
Since 1929, the University has provided academic excellence and access to students who often are the first in their families to attend college. New Jersey City University will achieve its mission of being the best urban public university in American as it moves into the twenty-first century guided by the twin goals: access and excellence.
Source: NJCU Homepage www.njcu.edu.