Since its charter in 1927, the institution known today as New Jersey City University has been evolving as a place of higher learning. After two years of planning and construction, the doors of Hepburn Hall opened wide to welcome the first class of students in September 1929.  This year NJCU is celebrating its 80th anniversary, acknowledging its achievements in higher education and its contributions to the students and communities it has served.

Founded as the New Jersey State Normal School at Jersey City, the institution was renamed New Jersey State Teachers College at Jersey City in 1935 and Jersey City State College in 1958, and became a liberal arts institution in 1968. In 1998, the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education approved a change of institutional status and accepted the name, New Jersey City University.  NJCU continues to grow and evolve today.

The 80th Anniversary celebration – Past as Prologue – will include a rich series of exciting musical and theatre performances, exhibitions, lectures, festivals, special events, conferences, sports competitions, and alumni reunions.  An 80th Anniversary Gala will be the spectacular highlight of the milestone celebration in 2010.

Past as Prologue will invoke the challenges faced by the fledgling school and its first students, and illuminate the remarkable evolution of the institution that has become New Jersey’s preeminent urban university.

Check back for more details on forthcoming events.