Stockton University

In November 1968, New Jersey approved a $202.5 million (equivalent to $ 1831.03 million in 2024 ) capital construction bond issue with an earmarked $15 million (equivalent to $ 135.63 million in 2024 ) designated for the construction of a new state college in Southern New Jersey. In 1969, a 1,600- acre (650- hectare ) tract was selected for the campus in the heart of the New Jersey Pine Barrens in Galloway Township. The school's trustees narrowed down final name options as either "Southern Jersey State College", "South Jersey State College", "Atlantic State College", and "Jersey Shore State College" before settling on "South Jersey State College." [ 2 ] [ 3 ] However, the school quickly sought another name, due to confusion between the new College and Rutgers College of South Jersey . [ 3 ] The trustees considered naming the college after one of New Jersey's five Signatories of the Declaration of Independence ; Richard Stockton , John Witherspoon , Francis Hopkinson , John Hart , and Abraham Clark , before settling on Stockton. [ 2 ] The reason why Stockton was chosen was never disclosed, nor properly recorded, with the school launching an investigation as to why in 2017. [ 2 ] In 1970, as construction began to run behind schedule, the trustees realized they needed an alternative location for the first class in 1971. They selected the historic Mayflower Hotel in Atlantic City as the temporary campus. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] Accreditation of Stockton State College by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools was first granted in December 1975. [ 4 ] In 1993, the college's name was changed to the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. After the New Jersey Secretary of Higher Education approved Stockton's petition, the college was awarded university status and was officially renamed Stockton University on February 18, 2015. [ 5 ] Shortly after the toppling of the Robert E.

Lee Monument in Charlottesville, Virginia , and the deadly aftermath of the Unite the Right rally , the school dismantled a bust of Richard Stockton on campus on August 25, 2017, partly due to Stockton's ownership of slaves, and partly because of a widespread flyer-spreading incident in favor of Unite the Right on campus at the same time. [ 6 ] [ 7 ] [ 8 ] University leaders then announced they would make a special "contextual history exhibit" as the bust's new home with the school vowing to have an honest investigation into the prospect of a name change. [ 8 ] [ 2 ] Ultimately this was never done, and the bust was simply returned to its previous location by 2023. [ 6 ] The university's president also announced that the university had already looked into changing its name for its 40th anniversary in 2009, but ultimately decided against it but that they were willing to have an "honest discussion" about a new name for its 50th anniversary in 2019. [ 7 ] [ 8 ] In June 2020, the board of trustees passed a resolution on "Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice at Stockton" asking the president to create a committee to discuss changing the name. [ 9 ] The president declined to create such a committee but the Faculty Senate created a 30-person task force to do just that and look into more practical issues of a name change such as the university's built up cultural identity, reception, and cost. [ 6 ] [ 9 ] The task force found that the student and faculty bodies were evenly split on the issue, as Stockton also suffered the "contentious accusation of being a traitor" due to the way he was released from British Custody during the American Revolution by Swearing an Oath to King George III vowing to forego politics during the war and resigning from Congress.

[ 9 ] In their final report, the task force found that Stockton University had no legal means of changing its name, and urged for the creation of such bylaws and for the President to at least consider a name change. [ 9 ] On April 7, 2023, university president Harvey Kesselman went on an interview with WPGG , unequivocally stating that there would be no name change and Stockton was the only signer imprisoned and starved by the British. [ 10 ] Ultimately, the school never did find why Stockton's name was chosen from among the New Jersey signatories. [ 2 ] In the fall of 2017, Stockton University began constructing a new facility in the Chelsea neighborhood of Atlantic City. The addition was met with applause from local residents and community leaders, who hailed it as a redevelopment of the long-declining neighborhoods in Ward 5 of Atlantic City. The $220-million-campus opened in September 2018 and included a three-story academic center and apartment-style complex for student living called Kesselman Hall. [ 11 ] Presidents Richard E. Bjork [ 12 ] Peter M. Mitchell [ 12 ] Vera King Farris [ 12 ] [ 13 ] Herman Saatkamp [ 14 ] [ 15 ] Harvey Kesselman [ 16 ] [ 17 ] Joe Bertolino [ 18 ]

Stockton University Campus Center, September 2024 In the 2010s, the university completed several major building projects and other initiatives. The new Campus Center opened its doors with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 7, 2011. The 154,000- square-foot (14,300- square-metre ) building was designed as a green, sustainable building which would be an inviting, inclusive, and exciting gathering place for the entire community. [ 19 ] Stockton opened a new $39.5-million Unified Science Center with state-of-the-art equipment in September 2013. The 66,350- square-foot (6,164- square-metre ) , three-story facility expands Stockton's School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (NAMS). [ 20 ] Seaview Resort In September 2010, as part of its expansion of its tourism and hotel management program in the School of Business, Stockton purchased the nearby Seaview Resort & Golf Course for $20 million. [ 21 ] In 2010, Stockton established the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism (LIGHT), part of the Stockton School of Business in Atlantic City at Stockton's Carnegie Center. [ 22 ] Stockton University officially completed the sale of the Stockton Seaview Hotel & Golf Club on July 31, 2018, to KDG Capital LLC of Florida for $21,070,000. [ 23 ]