Matt Harmon: On this episode of Monmouth weekly university, president Patrick Lehe reflects back on the academic year. That was the highs, the lows, and where Monmouth is headed in the future. This is faculty member, Matt Harmon. It's time for episode number eight of Monmouth weekly. Thanks as Zoe for joining us. Matt Harmon: As we move into the month of may, we are still remotely doing our Monmouth weekly, uh, podcasts, I'm faculty member, Matt Harmon of the communication department, along with university president Patrick Lehe, president Lehe. I wish you a very good morning. You and I are usually like that late afternoon, lunchtime every once in a while and early evening, we're throwing this together a a morning. So I am gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna say like, this is almost a test case for us to see. Can we do these in the morning and, and how are they going to go over Patrick Leahy: That's that's right. It's uh, uh, 9:00 AM. So we've been up for some time already, but, uh, it's still a lot earlier than, than we normally do. So, uh, we'll give it our best shot Matt Harmon: When you think of it. I mean, obviously the, the end of the academic year is now, essentially in the books, um, from the spring semester yesterday, Tuesday being the final day of final exams. And for you, um, a year that that started with, I will say such promise and optimism going through the fall, going through the winter, it, it, it does in a lot of ways, um, add, end on such a strange scenario and circumstance with all of this coronavirus, uh, pandemic situation. Again, we've talked about it already, but who would've ever imagined that here we are two months into this, we've essentially not seen anybody on campus. Um, since the beginning of March, now we're about set to roll into the summer. It's just a crazy way to finish the academic year. Patrick Leahy: Yeah, I think we end the end the year in a strange kind of way, uh, with, uh, still a lot of promise and optimism. Uh, I think it's the spirit of Monmouth university at play. Um, as you point out, I think yesterday, uh, the registrar told me the final exam slot was last night. So if, if that is indeed the case, then I wake up this morning with the academic year complete. And, uh, I was thinking about this. I, I sort of feel like since, uh, maybe March 1st to today, I, I was, uh, one of those guys that walks across a tight rope , you know, over a canyon. Yep. And, uh, I feel this morning that I safely crossed the tight rope, uh, onto firm ground. Um, now that we have that semester behind us, uh, unfortunately there will be other canyons to cross in the coming months, but, uh, it feels very, very, uh, satisfying to, to get this semester completed, to get it as comp completed, as successfully as it, as it, as it was. Um, you know, we have 900 or thousand students that, uh, presumably finished all of their academic work. Uh, this spring met and will be officially alumni now of the university. So it feels really good to get this first phase behind us. Matt Harmon: I can certainly attest to the fact that last night was the final time slot, because for, for whatever, the reason I have always taught at Monmouth on Tuesday night and Tuesday usually is the last day of finals and teaching on Tuesday night, I have traditionally had the last, uh, final time slot. So I can confirm that last night was the last final exam, uh, couple of things for me to grade and, and put in the books today as well. Um, and, and you, and I kind of talking about what we wanted to do on, on this one, two months in episode eight, we've we've spent the last couple of episodes having some different guests on to talk about things. Um, and, and looking at the academic year, almost in totality, picking out a couple of highs and a couple of lows, but before we get too far into that, um, let let's maybe as we always like to do kind of start the first couple minutes of just updating people. What's the latest with Monmouth when you think of it from this coronavirus pandemic situation from when we talked last week and had on, uh, provost data to this week, when we are talking, are there any updates that you wanna share with the Monmouth community? Patrick Leahy: Well, before I get into those updates, are, are you making the case that we saved the best for last putting you your, uh, exam in the last slot? Matt Harmon: Well, listen, I didn't wanna say that, but if you, if you wanna get that out, I'm, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna argue that point. I'm not gonna argue that point. Patrick Leahy: Yeah. As I said, I'm pleased at the spring semester is, is now in the books, as you well know, we've talked at length about how we've moved all of our summer programming, which is getting increasingly robust over the years. That's been moved to a remote, uh, environment. I feel very positive about that because we were moving in that direction sort of anyway, as a university to be even more convenient for our students. One of the things that we've had to update is our decisions around some of the activities that we were planning to host on campus. We have, uh, a lot of summer camps, athletic camps and science camps, and other, other kinds of camps that we were, um, holding on in the hopes that perhaps we could see some loosening over the restrictions and allow us to host those, those camps with the news this week that the governor has, um, asked all schools in the state to remain closed until June 30th. We've decided that none of those camps will go in the month of June. Uh, we'll push them off, uh, give ourselves another chance to, to host those Matt in July, maybe even in August, but we had no choice we felt, but to cancel or postpone the June event. So, um, that's the latest, I mean, the campus remains pretty much vacant as you pointed out all the way through, at least now until June 30th, but there's still a lot of activity at, at Monmouth, uh, hope fortunately through our remote delivery and instruction and remote learning. Matt Harmon: Talk a little bit about if you can, um, the idea of, of the summer program still being successful. You said, you know, numbers, I'm, I'm kind of surmising from your last answer. Numbers are okay. Right. I mean, in terms of, of, of where the situation could be, I'm sure it's almost glass half full glass, half empty. It could be a lot worse, uh, but it sounds like it might even be a little bit better than, than you and, and the administrative, uh, team might have predicted Patrick Leahy: Our summer registrations are, are only slightly behind last year's registrations. And, uh, that's still with many weeks of, of marketing still to do. And, and actually, uh, as you know, uh, later sessions in the, in the summer still to fill. So we feel very positive that, uh, the move to, uh, online learning in the summer, uh, is gonna be very well received by mostly our Monmouth university students. But I know some other students from some other universities that will be taking online courses, uh, here this summer. I know for a fact, because both of my daughters who are quarantined here in the house with me and go to school elsewhere are gonna be taking, uh, courses at Monmouth this summer. So, uh, really positive summer activity from an academic standpoint, unfortunately, it's, we're just gonna have to dial down the other kind of activity that we have on campus. Matt Harmon: Let's go to, um, what I will say is in essence, your baby, uh, the president's fund, sending those checks out, trying to help some of the student body and the Monmouth university community in this time of need. Um, it's been something that we've tried to update each and every week. I, I think we may have missed it last week. So I feel like this would probably be a good time in terms of the overall number, how, how many students have been helped from this president's fund? Patrick Leahy: So far, uh, 669 grants have gone out to students. And, uh, remember these are fairly small grants, you know, four, five, $600, but they seem to arrive at our students doorsteps right in the Nick of time, Matt, I mean, we hear these stories about because they've lost their off campus jobs. Um, they're, they're having trouble finding money for food or finding money to pay their rent or whatever. And this, uh, relief fund was designed always to serve those, those problems or, you know, identify those problems and to, and to serve those problems. So I'm really pleased that we're, as far along as we are, uh, the submissions keep coming in, to be honest, we're gonna get a lot of support for the president's relief fund, uh, through the federal cares act, you know, the, the stimulus, uh, package that the federal government passed, some of that money's gonna make its way to colleges and universities and whatever our allocation, half of that money gets, gets just redistributed immediately out to students in need. So, uh, we feel really proud that the president's relief fund was established as quickly as it was and was already starting to serve students. And, uh, now we'll get some support from the federal government to continue to do that. Matt Harmon: You know, I hate to transition into something that, uh, goes from something so positive to something that is in a way, uh, heartbreaking an email from you that came out at the end of of last week, May 1st that a Mamah student had passed away, uh, Rory Hamel, who was a third year student, a social work major, um, a veteran having served in the Marine Corps spent time in Iraq, spent time in Afghanistan, won a purple heart, almost like the, the perfect story to have be associated with the Monmouth uni university community. Um, unfortunately passing away at the beginning of the month. Patrick Leahy: Yeah, I, I just thank you for, for raising this. Uh, it gives me a chance to, to ask everybody in our listening audience to pause for a moment and remember the life of Rory Hamel. I mean, it's so devastating, uh, to be the university president and to hear news of the death of any of our students. I mean, it's just the, the things I dread the most about being the president of the university. In this case, it's doubly hurtful for a couple reasons. One is, as you pointed out, he was a decorated veteran of our armed forces. He, uh, volunteered to, uh, to join the Marine Corps, served three tours in the middle east. One of those tours, he, uh, lost his leg and, uh, for that was awarded the purple heart. I understand that, uh, president Obama himself may have awarded, awarded him the purple heart. Um, he came back and, uh, dedicated his time to helping other veterans who were dealing with the demons of their, of their service. And, uh, he was an advocate for mental health services for other veterans. Uh, he had gone to, I think ocean, uh, county community college, and then had transferred here to Monmouth and was on track to finish his social work degree, which says something about his commitment to service in and of itself. And, uh, just got the devastating news that he had succumbed to his own demons, if you will. And, uh, I just, um, it's his heartbreaking, um, to, to have to share that news. So I'd ask everybody to remember Rory Hamel, uh, when they're gathered together with their families, perhaps tonight at dinner. Matt Harmon: Yeah, certainly, uh, Rory and his family, which includes, uh, three children, certainly something, um, to, to reflect back on. Um, so I appreciate you president Lehe, PA passing that information along. O obviously it's not something in, in all of my years at Monmouth, you know, maybe every once in a while, you'll see a student that passed away during the course of the semester and probably even more heartbreaking that it comes at a time where there can be no gathering. There can be no collection of let's get together commemorate his life. You can do it on your own, obviously right now. And I, and I know it'll be something that at some point, you know, Monmouth will, will recognize when everybody's back on campus, but, but it, it does kind of play into just the world that we live in right now, even though this is not coronavirus, uh, coronavirus related, um, you, you do, at least I did. When I read this on Friday, it made me think immediately of all the people that are passing away, whether it's because of this pandemic or just everyday life, that the human side of it is you, you can't really go and mourn for anybody right now. Patrick Leahy: It's the most, uh, unusual time, of course, in my life. I, we, we, would've had a, a ceremony of some kind for Rory on campus. We would've gathered to celebrate his life and his service to the community. The only thing I can do, and I, I think maybe you saw this cuz you're one of my loyal Twitter followers. The only thing I felt like I could do is take a picture of our American flag. That's, you know, many, we have three or four hanging around campus. There happens to be one in my front yard. I just took a, a picture of the American flag, which was already flying at half staff. Uh, remember the governor had asked us to do that, to remember all the COVID 19, uh, citizens of New Jersey that we've lost. And I just felt like today, the mama university community flies those flags at, at half staff in, in Rory's honor. Um, so we'll have to wait until the restrictions loosen and we're all back together again, to find some other suitable way to remember his life. But you're right. It is such a strange time. I, I mean, on a personal note, uh, my Amy's my wife, Amy's grandfather with whom I am very close, passed away. Uh, a few weeks ago he was 98, Matt. And so he lived a wonderfully full life, but, um, he passed away at 98 and I had to zoom into his service at the, um, burial ground. Uh, and it's just never, never thought in a million years that someone that was so such a giant in his life would have to have such a simple burial and, uh, to have family from around the country zooming into it. So it, it is a very, very strange time Matt Harmon: Episode number eight, it is Monmouth weekly. We come to you via all of the different platforms. You can listen to us on SoundCloud, Spotify, Google, iTunes, very fortunate for those within the Monmouth community, making sure that this is available to you on, uh, different platforms, faculty member, Matt Harmon joined as always by university president Patrick Lehe, uh, president Lehe. Let, let's go into it a little bit. It's not a full year, um, from when you officially took over on August 1st, but it's a full academic year before the summer does get up and going, as you I'll say, reflect back. Um, and I will say short of this last couple of months, because this is such a unique situation. Um, what kind of feelings do you have about being now part of the Monmouth community and, and having that full academic year under your belt? Patrick Leahy: Well, I feel very, very grateful. First of all, uh, to be here, I, people have said to me repeatedly, repeatedly over the last few weeks or months now, I can't believe that, uh, you find yourself in this situation as the, the new president and in your first year and, and all that. And they're very well intentioned and I appreciate very much the spirit of their comments, but my response to them is always, I cannot imagine being anywhere else right now. Um, that's how quickly, uh, Amy and I have fallen in love with the Monmouth university community and, and the Monmouth county community. Um, you know, we've said this before Matt, we were on such a role. Um, prior to this pandemic, our athletics teams were doing very well. I, I think historically well, uh, our, our debate team was, was, uh, killing it and our model UN team and our real estate, uh, competi our team and our real estate competition won that one again this year. So I had all these very significant, uh, examples of how our Monmouth university students are just, uh, are just getting it done and, uh, was evidence. I think, of the, the, the great momentum that, that Monmouth university, uh, feels right now through no, uh, , you know, credit to me at all. I, I always joke that I, I, I am so appreciative that, uh, all the students waited until I arrived to go on these tears. You know, that's so nice of them to, to have done that. I didn't have anything to do with it, but I was just, uh, stewarding the university during that time. And, um, you know, it was, it was abruptly, uh, stopped, but I, I will say that since, uh, we had to abruptly change our, our, our mode of operating, I've been equally impressed with, uh, the commitment of the Monmouth university community. So I think, you know, two really different experience, um, wrapped up together is, uh, has made me understand very quickly and very well. Uh, what makes this university so special? Matt Harmon: How often, uh, this might seem like a, like a strange question at this time, but, um, having completed the first academic year and, and you obviously had great success when you were at Wilkes in Pennsylvania. Um, do, do you find yourself thinking about at, at this particular time, or even during the course of the last year? Wow. I wonder if I would've stayed at Wilkes how different things would be as opposed to coming to Monmouth. Patrick Leahy: I, I do in part, because I have such, uh, dear friends back there, you know, colleagues, uh, and friends, and I've been in touch with them, you know, throughout the course of this, uh, oh, I guess what are we calling it two months now? Or 10, 10 weeks. And I've been in touch with time. Matt Harmon: Ha time has no time has no meaning anymore. It really doesn't matter. Patrick Leahy: I know it's amazing, isn't it? I think it's like 50, 55 days or something since then crazy the family quarantined a year together. So, so I think about it, um, some, and I just imagine sometimes in the quiet of the evening, what it would, what it would be like if I were, um, leading Wilkes through, through this. Um, but I, again, I continue to remind myself as I just said that even though I miss many of the relationships that I developed back at Wilkes and in Northeastern Pennsylvania, I mean, I wouldn't trade what I have here for the world. Uh, and I really mean that Matt Harmon: When you think of it, some of the things that you just mentioned, the debate team, the real estate, uh, school, um, all of the other academic accomplishments, you know, not, not even throwing in and again, my, my heart sometimes near and dear to the athletic side of things as well, they're gonna have their, uh, awards later on tonight. Right. Um, but, but you think of it. I, I think the thing that kind of jumped out to me is how many, many things, and, and we actually talked about this last week, Monmouth being one of the top music industry schools, uh, to have that major in the entire country. One of the things that jumps out when I hear you talk about all the different things is just how varied Monmouth is and how much it has to offer. Patrick Leahy: And it's the mix of, of factors. I, I, I always say to people, whether it's a prospective student or, or maybe when, when, when I answer the question that comes to me, like, why would you wanna be the president at, at, at Monmouth? I mean, I had a really good thing going back at, at Wilkes. And I always say, Matt, it's the, it's the mix of factors. It's not just the diverse program mix, as you suggest that has these marquee programs within it. It's not just the fact that it's a division one athletics program, the highly competitive division one athletics program. It's not just, uh, this incredible campus that, that we're so privileged to, to do our work on. And, and, and in, it's not just the unique location, uh, at the Jersey shore only an hour or so from Manhattan and an hour or so south to Philadelphia. It's not any one of those, maybe isn't unique. It's the combination of those four or five things that makes this place, I think, uh, such a powerhouse. And, uh, it's what attracted me in the very first place. Was I identifying, um, the, the mix of factors that make this place really special? Matt Harmon: You mentioned your wife, Amy, the four kids, grace, Molly, Jack, uh, and Brian, um, from a personal standpoint, you know, obviously spending a, a massive amount of time together right now, um, with, with the quarantine and, and people trying to social distance and all the different guidelines. W what's the thing, uh, from, from a family standpoint, what's the thing that maybe you've learned about your family in the course of the last 8, 9, 10 weeks, two months, whatever time period we wanna put on it, that maybe you wouldn't have thought you would've known not having this situation be in place. Patrick Leahy: I'm, I'm pleased to tell you, I, that the family actually enjoys each other's company. um, when I grew up I'm the youngest of six and, uh, my father used to always say, he, he, what he wished for his children among almost, you know, more than anything is that we not just be brothers and sisters, but that be friends and that we could, you know, the kind of friends that you can count on. And that's always, uh, spoken to me. I, I'm not my family's spread out all over the country, so I don't get to see them that, that regularly. But I do believe that that that is the case. And I've always tried to feel like that's what I want for my kids too, that they actually genuinely enjoy each other's company, laugh together, um, kid, each other, uh, I won't kid, you sometimes of tempers flare . I don't wanna. Matt Harmon: Of course they do Patrick Leahy: Yeah. A perfect situation, but, but they really do enjoy each other's company. And, uh, to be, uh, sort of trapped here in the house in some respects together for the last eight weeks has, has been much more often a joy Matt than it has been, you know, a, a stress in my life. And, uh, I, you know, no matter what happens, uh, the rest of the way, I just think, uh, I will look back on this time as really special time, uh, because of the way in which I was so lucky to be able to bring my family together quickly, you know, bring, we brought them together quickly and early March. And we've been together ever since. You Matt Harmon: Know, you mentioned, um, earlier when we were talking about the summer program, that your, your two daughters are gonna be taking classes at Monmouth. Um, and, and obviously share if you want to, and don't share if, if you don't want to, we can certainly Dodge around the question, but what was that, the plan going into the summer that they were gonna be home, um, and, and be involved with Monmouth. I mean, I'm, I'm thinking, um, you know, right in that college age, enjoying a first summer at the Jersey shore and be able to chip away at a couple of credits while essentially you just walk across the great long and, and, and go to go to class. Sounds like a pretty perfect opportunity for both of Patrick Leahy: Us. Yeah. Yeah. It sounds like a sign me up. Right. It sounds like a good deal if you can get it. Uh, but actually, no, it was not to plan because, um, uh, my oldest daughter is a, is studying film and she had secured this, this, uh, really competitive internship out in LA. So she was planning to go to LA. My other daughter was actually, uh, signed up to, uh, go out to the, uh, democratic, uh, national convention in Milwaukee and volunteer out there and, and to do some other things, uh, political science related. Um, so they were gonna spend a couple weeks at, at, you know, here with us, of course, and, and spend some time at the Jersey shore, but they had plans to spend the summers doing other things. And because those plans, um, you know, got de at the least delayed, if not outright canceled, um, they're gonna be home with us, uh, all summer. And again, I, I know they're disappointed, but, uh, I have to tell you in a strange kind way, um, how policed I am that we're gonna have everyone together for the summer. I, I, I guess I'm just overly sentimental, Matt and I keep thinking, um, is this gonna be the last summer? We're all gonna be together. , you know, and because I'm sentimental like that, uh, I welcome the chance for us to have one more opportunity to spend the summer together. Matt Harmon: Yeah, I think it's, I mean, it, it, for someone who's a father as well, family, um, I, I think you're, you're essentially preaching to the choir realizing that this, this opportunity strange as it might be, might be the only opportunity that comes along like this because, um, as everybody gets older, people go their own way. You already mentioned both of the girls had plans for the summer, which probably are, are off at this point. So, um, again, I, you know, we ha we haven't really spent a whole lot of time doing this, but I think from just the, the human side of it, how, how people are dealing with things is, is really important to be able to share. So, um, I'm gonna, I'm gonna throw you a little bit of a curve ball here and say in the last two months, um, what has been the thing maybe from a family perspective that you, you wish that you could do, or even as a, as a married couple with your wife, Amy, whether it's going to dinner, take a run to the city, whatever it is, what's the thing that you're kind of missing more so than anything else that, that, um, during this time period, you're like, man, I wish I could just go do and then fill in the blank. Patrick Leahy: Well, um, the biggest for, for Amy and me is that, uh, coming up in a couple weeks, we celebrate 25 years, uh, together. Uh, and, uh, we had plans of to celebrate that in some, uh, dramatic way. I, I don't know if we were planning to travel overseas or, or what, but we were just in the planning stages of figuring out how we would in fact, celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. And now I have to get really creative Matt and figure out how are we gonna, how are we gonna do this from the, uh, comfort of the house? Uh, so I, I, I will, I miss that, uh, I'll miss that. And we had plans around, you know, Easter to see family and we didn't get to do that, you know, extended family. We didn't get to do that. So I miss that. Um, but I'm pretty fortunate. I, I think of the individuals who had no choice, but the shelter in place over the last couple months, and they had to do it alone, or they had to do it with, you know, just one other person. I mean, I had the great privilege of being able to shelter in place with the people I most love in the world. Well, I mean, what's wrong with that. , you know, so, uh, it's been relatively speaking, um, much easier for me than for, for I'm sure a lot of other people, Matt Harmon: Uh, how about a nice romantic dinner on the trampoline out on the side of the house? How's that sound Patrick Leahy: That may be, that may be the case. I mean, um, I have to figure out, like, where do I go pick up food? You know, how do I make that special? How, how do I clear the kids, uh, out for a little bit? So we just have a, a little bit of time, you know, for dinner, the two of us. So we'll figure out something, Matt Harmon: Well, I wish you and Amy obviously congratulations quite a, uh, milestone there. We, we, we've got a couple of minutes, so let's talk a little bit about, um, the, I'll say the future and whatever that means for Monmouth. Um, the summer programs being held remotely, the hope still is that things will go back to normal. Um, probably a different, a different side of normal than we've seen, but go back to normal in the fall with classes in session, the campus open, back up. Um, where do you see Monmouth heading from coming out of this coronavirus pandemic into the future over the course of, of an undefined time, maybe the next year, maybe the next five? Patrick Leahy: Yeah. I mean, as you point out, we have to get through this summer successfully, we have big decisions to make in the fall about how we're gonna reopen the campus. Uh, I was pleased that just yesterday I was named to the, um, New Jersey campus reopening committee, which is a group of individuals from all over the state that are gonna work with the secretary of higher education to, uh, develop plans for reopening. So, uh, that'll give me a, a, you know, a, a close in view of some of the considerations around how we reopen in the fall. Um, and my hope is in a year's time, uh, we will have gotten back to normal and that we can set ourselves back to our ambition that was supposed to be codified in our strategic plan. You'll remember that we had spent most of my first year developing the makings of a five year strategic plan. And, uh, we put that on hold, uh, so that we could turn our attention quite rightly to navigating this current crisis, but we'll come back to that strategic plan and, uh, we'll put it in place and we'll execute on it. And, you know, I, I think generally speaking, uh, I always say this was the conversation that I invited people into when we started developing the strategic plan, that it was a simple idea, which is, you know, what, what is our goal as a university? And I said, don't, we all wanna be best in class. I mean, doesn't everybody want to be, uh, known as doing what you do it, you know, compared to others in your category, in your class better than, than other, I mean, this comes so naturally to me. But the interesting thing that we had to identify is what is our class. Patrick Leahy: If we say we wanna be best in class, what is our class? And I'll just share with you quickly that, you know, there are 5,000 colleges and universities across the country. If you include all of the community colleges all the way through to, you know, the big doctoral research universities, 5,000 of them. And we took a look at, um, how many are private, meaning non not public, you know, private non-denominational independent, so no affiliation to, uh, you know, a church of any kind and supports a division one athletics program. Those are like three fundamental things to us that, you know, we are private, we are non-denominational, and we've decided that we want to compete athletically at the highest level. If you look at those 5,000 colleges and universities across the country, there are only 44 that fit that criteria. And there's some of the finest colleges and universities in the entire country. Patrick Leahy: I mean, you know, you know, them all, especially if you follow athletics, you know, Stanford and USC and Vanderbilt, Northwestern, you know, Lehigh, Lafayette, I mean, some of the finest schools in the country. So I always said, let's start with why can't we find a way to associate ourselves more with those kind of institutions. Now, again, I understand we have a long way to go before we , we could be thought of like a Stanford or a USC, but, but the principal applies. Right. And, uh, so we're gonna start looking at in the five years to come, how do we distinguish ourselves among that category, that class of schools, and we're gonna have a lot of fun doing it because we're gonna be able to integrate, uh, excellence and access in a way that I think, uh, not all of those institutions, uh, can boast. And I think that'll be a really, a really satisfying thing for us as educators. Matt Harmon: Well, I'll tell you what you just did with that answer is you set us up for, at some point, uh, in the next couple of weeks to, to, to go back to that and, and maybe, um, at some point in the next X amount of time, whatever that might be to really kind of dig into that strategic plan and think about, because, you know, you're talking to someone who's been at Monmouth since 1993 student grad student, uh, adjunct part-time now full-time member of the department of communication as a faculty member. And it's always been kind of the same theme Monmouth in essence, is this hidden gem that's tucked away on the Jersey shore. It sounds like from your answer, you still want it to be the gem, but maybe not so hidden anymore. Patrick Leahy: Yeah, I, I always say I, I, I hate when I hear people say, oh, you're that hidden gem on the Jersey shore. It's like, you know, okay. A police that you think of us as a gem, but time to Unhi, if you will, if that's, if that's a word, you know, time to figure out how we show, uh, shine a spotlight on the great work that happens here. And that's, that's in part why I I'm so supportive of our athletics program, because it is a really great opportunity for us to shine a spotlight on the academic enterprise. It's why I love the polling Institute because it shines a spotlight on the academic enterprise. I love the, uh, urban coast, uh, Institute because it shine. It has a chance to shine a spotlight on the academic enterprise. And that's what colleges and universities desperately need is exposure, positive exposure, um, so that they can show the world what happens here day in and day out. So, uh, yeah, that's, that's what we wanna do is we want to grow our profile. Matt Harmon: Sounds like a great plan. Moving forward into the summer months for more information on mama's summer program, go to monmouth.edu. You can find all of the class offerings that will take place pretty much from right now, all the way through the middle part of August. And again, hopefully we will be back up and going, uh, from a normal perspective in the fall. The academic year has come to a close, but it does not mean what we are doing here on Monmouth weekly will come to a close, we're gonna try and continue this all the way through the summer months, keep you updated on stuff. Um, and I think we have more than enough information to try and relay president Lehe. It has, it has really been a pleasure over the course of these last, uh, two months being able to do this. And, and again, kind of spread the word of Monmouth right now to the Monmouth community, as we get back up and going, hopefully to people who are just interested and want to hear from the university president, some of the guests that we have on. Um, so I, I, I know in, in talking with you, you're looking forward to continue this and, um, hopefully we are doing it over the course of the next couple of months in different circumstances, but as always, I really appreciate your time, your insight, um, and, and your leadership during this time, period. Patrick Leahy: Well, thanks, Matt. I, as I always say, I credit you with the, uh, with the good idea to have this, this podcast and, uh, allow us some time to, you know, to dive into some of the issues, um, at Monmouth right now. And I'm so grateful to you for your continued energy around this. And I look forward to continuing it with you on a weekly basis, Matt Harmon: Hopefully a peaceful week, everyone getting along in the Lehe household, amongst the four kids plus yourself. and your wife, Amy, that will be something along with the president's fund that we will continue to check in on. Hey, any, any issues, any fights, any problems? Did anyone throw food last night? Did anyone have to get sent to their room? Uh, we'll we'll, we'll try and have some fun with it down the line. President Lehe, appreciate your time, uh, great academic year. And we will talk again next week. Enjoy, uh, hopefully a nice mother's day weekend coming up this weekend. Patrick Leahy: Yeah. Thank you, Matt. You too. Matt Harmon: Again, for more information on Monmouth, go to monmouth.edu. This wraps up our second full month of Monmouth weekly episode eight in the books. Look forward to talking to you next week.