WEST LONG BRANCH – Monmouth University will celebrate its 81st anniversary at Founders’ Day on Wednesday, Oct. 8, with the convocation ceremony beginning at 2:15 p.m. in the Multipurpose Activity Center (MAC).
The 2014/2015 academic year marks Monmouth University’s 20th anniversary as a university. Alumni and friends of Monmouth University are invited to attend the free event, but registration is requested.
The convocation address will be delivered by President Paul R. Brown, who will reflect on the university’s past, present and future.
During the ceremony, Monmouth University will also honor Thomas Gallagher ’62, who will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award. Gallagher joined the Peace Corps after graduation. Entering public service in the State Department, he rose to become the youngest chief of a diplomatic mission in modern United States history as Consul General in Ecuador at the age of 34, and later as American Consul in Belgium and Spain, and country officer for Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 1973, he became the first civil servant of any government in the world to voluntarily come out of the closet as a gay person. Thirty-nine years later Secretary of State Hillary Clinton cited his courage in a speech, noting that Gallagher’s actions permanently changed the State Department.
Gallagher also spent several years in San Francisco running the largest public mental health clinic in the United States. The clinic won awards for its AIDS services during the worst years of the epidemic. He later worked for the State Department serving in numerous foreign countries, including Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Tanzania. He also worked in the Office of International Health where he chaired the first inter-governmental meeting on the avian flu, and represented the U.S. at The Hague to obtain commitments for assistance to South Sudan. Working with USAID, he ensured delivery of food to 1.5 million starving people in Sudan. His work in the Office of East African Affairs during the attacks on the U.S. embassies earned him a Certificate of Appreciation from Secretary of State Madelyn Albright.
“Tom Gallagher’s service is distinguished in the areas of diplomacy, humanitarian aid, and social work,” President Paul R. Brown said. “We are also pleased to recognize his courage as a champion of civil rights.
Founders’ Day is a campus-wide event that celebrates Monmouth University’s founding in 1933. The first Founders’ Day was held in 1983 as part of the university’s 50th anniversary celebration and has since become a university tradition.
The celebration is centered on the convocation ceremony, presided over by Brown, and attended by the Monmouth University community, alumni and invited guests.
To RSVP for the event, please visit: http://www.monmouth.edu/foundersday.
