Still Kicking

Your amazing story on Da’Quan Grimes (Spring/Summer 2022) resonated with my family and me because it hit so close to home. My daughter, Cameron Morgan, is a senior and plays on the women’s soccer team at Monmouth. Cameron, who committed to Monmouth as a sophomore in high school, tore her ACL just before her senior year at Shawnee High School. She rehabbed in time for her freshman campaign with the Hawks. Three days into preseason, she tore her ACL again. She rehabbed again and returned to campus, and then COVID-19 delayed her return until fall 2021. Ten days into preseason, the unthinkable happened: Cameron tore her ACL a third time. This time, she taped her knee and played in several games with no ACL intact (she was a starter against St. Peters) before the pain was too much. In November 2021, Cameron had her knee reconstructed a third time. She rehabbed for eight-and-a-half months so she could be back with the team for her senior campaign! We’re so proud of her for her relentless passion and determination. Go Hawks!

—Chris Morgan

Living in the Past

Thanks to all of the readers who shared their memories of life in Monmouth’s residence halls. Have a story you’d like to share? Be sure to check out the Looking Back article.

When school started in 1963, the dorms were not complete. The women lived at the Diplomat Hotel on Ocean Avenue. Four girls were in a room and ordering dinner out every night or going to local restaurants. Finally, either in October or the beginning of November, we were able to choose roommates and move into the dorm.

I remember the pay phones on each floor and all the calls that came for many girls from their boyfriends. I remember the dorm mother, signing in and out, and definitely curfews. I remember trying to climb in the windows when I was late so I would not get in trouble. I remember being the first woman in the dorm to get pinned and the excitement I felt when I came home that night. Many of the girls on my floor got together and put me in a tub with ketchup, mustard, and various other things to celebrate. I remember watching the funeral of President Kennedy on the only TV located on the first floor and everyone crying together. We were only allowed to live in the dorm freshman year and, after that, had to find apartments near school or room with someone who had a car.

—Judy Barron Leitner ’68

I lived in K-Suite on the third floor of Cedar Hall during my freshman year (1999–2000). Most of us on the floor congregated in N-Suite to hang out, watch movies, and have fun. I remember a hurricane hit and residential students were evacuated to the Student Center. Although we had lost power, my friends and I remained in N-Suite all day, hanging out in our pajamas, joking, and having fun. I’m not sure why that memory stands out given that it occurred 23 years ago. I couldn’t tell you the name of the hurricane or what movies we watched. But I recall the feeling of community we shared during our first year of school. Many of us were away from our families for the first time and experiencing our first taste of adulthood. I think that year changed me from a shy introvert into a slightly less shy, and much more talkative, extrovert. I can’t say for sure if the hurricane did all of that, but I can say for sure living on the third floor of Cedar Hall did.

—Jonathan Weinraub ’05

During my freshman year, in 1968, I had an 8 a.m. and a 9 a.m. class that I went to with Jeff Trout (Class of 1972). My roommate, Stephen Berg (Class of 1972), would often sleep in until I got back from my second class at around 10:15 a.m. One day, both of my morning classes were canceled in advance. So Jeff and I headed back to my room at 8:15. Stephen was still fast asleep, so I quietly turned his clock ahead to 10:10 a.m. We then made enough noise to wake him up and watched as he proceeded to get dressed and head to class. We followed him from a distance to watch him enter a completely different class, and we waited the approximately 10 minutes it took him to realize he was in an English class and not his math class. His look of confusion was priceless as he walked back to the dorm.

—Richard Trachtenberg ’72

During my freshman year, some friends and I played a prank on one of our fellow Elmwood Hall residents. The doors in Elmwood were recessed a few feet from the hallway’s cinderblock walls, so one night we decided to “brick up” one of the doorways using empty soda cans we had saved. I don’t remember who the victim was, but the next morning he burst through those cans like the Kool-Aid Man. It was hilarious!

I should have graduated in 1973, but I changed majors (once officially, two or three times unofficially) and had to do a second senior year. I was a resident assistant in Elmwood both years, and it was during that time that I met and proposed to Neila Jordan. We celebrated our 48^th anniversary last June.

I lived off campus on Second Avenue during my sophomore and junior years. Partaking in way too many “extracurricular activities” there eventually drove me back to living in the dorms. That was definitely a lesson learned: Living off campus rocks, but dorm life rules if you want to actually graduate!

—John A. O’Neill ’74