Summer / Fall 2024 Newsletter

Volume 4 - Issue 2 - Summer/ Fall 2024

From the President's Den

Greetings Fellow Morganites:

It’s an honor to be accepted as the New Jersey Alumni Chapter President. As President, I will lead using Morgan State University as the centerpiece of purpose and motivation to strengthen our chapter. The chapter will continue its success by being intentional through an aligned vision and mission that results in:

• Increasing awareness and growth of freshmen enrollment to our National Treasure from our respective New Jersey areas.

• Supporting the sustainability of current New Jersey students in having a successful college journey.

• Establishing ideal collaboration and partnerships with communities, other organizations and across MSU Alumni chapters.

I am confident that our leadership team will be instrumental in guiding us toward successfully meeting the goals of the chapter.

I encourage all alumni, those who have attended MSU and supporters to join our efforts in moving the New Jersey chapter to the next level of success. Now is a pivotal time to make a local and regional difference in our HBCU. Lets Go Bears!

Sincerely yours,

Claudia T. Ruffin

President, MSUAA-New Jersey Chapter

Chapter Officers (Left to Right): Regina Carter, 1st Vice-President, Claudia Ruffin, President,

Sandra Robinson, 2nd Vice-President

Chapter Updates and Bear News!

Welcome Back Fellow Alumni:

As we begin a new year, let us first introduce our newly elected chapter officers. We are so happy they've taken up the challenge and look forward to working with them on meeting their leadership goals for the New Jersey Chapter.

Claudia Ruffin, President. A member of the classes of 1987 (B.A.)and 1995 (MBA) Ms. Ruffin is originally from Richmond, Virginia and is the President and Founder of the Ruffin Consulting and Training, LLC. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and a Life Member of the MSUAA.

Regina Carter, 1st Vice President of Programs and member of the Class of '93. Ms. Carter is a "Jersey Girl", originally from Irvington and presently resides in Piscataway. She is a Learning Disabilities Teacher Consultant at the College Achieve Central Charter School in Plainfield. Regina is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and is the immediate past Secretary of the New Jersey Chapter.

Sandra Robinson, 2nd Vice President of Membership and a member of the MSU Class of '79. Ms. Robinson is originally from New York and has been living in New Jersey for over 30 years. She is employed by Con Edison Energy Company of New York. Ms. Robinson is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., a Life Member of the MSUAA and is the immediate past Financial Secretary of the New Jersey Chapter.

The chapter still has three elected positions available for interested alumni: Secretary, Financial Secretary, and Treasurer. In addition, any financial alumni interested in serving on any of the chapter committees, Program, Membership, Scholarship, Fundraising, Social Media/Technology, Event Planning, etc., is asked to send an email to our chapter mailbox msunaanj@gmail.com.

Finally, we'd like to express our sincere appreciation to all Chapter members who served as Officers, Committee Chairs and Committee Members over the last two terms. Your dedication, energy and patience guided us through the pandemic and its aftermath, countless zoom meetings, college fairs, sporting events, bus rides, and so much more. We are grateful for all of your hard work for our Chapter, NJ alumni, MSU students and prospective students. Thank You.

Membership: Our Chapter year runs from July 1 - June 30 and payment of Chapter dues are now being accepted. We welcome Morgan alumni to join now as new members for the year 2024-2025 and encourage returning members to renew a lapsed membership in the New Jersey Chapter today.

Annual dues are $50 for Life Members and $85 for non-Life Members (includes both local chapter and national office dues).

There are three (3) ways you can pay your chapter dues: PayPal, if using PayPal please add $2.00 to cover their fee; Zelle, send to msunaanj@gmail.com. There is no fee to use Zelle; or mail your check to MSUAA-NJ Chapter, P.O. Box 6134, Somerset, NJ 08875.

Alumni may pay their dues for no more than two consecutive years.

Saturday, September 28, 2024 11:00am - 12:30pm

Welcome back fellow Morganites!

We invite you to join us on Saturday, September 28th, at 11:00 AM for our monthly meeting. Our newly elected chapter officers will present the latest updates and share their exciting goals for the upcoming year.

please take note of the new time

Join the Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88204686219?pwd=L1hRTmRLV3JyNWNPRVBWYnU2M0RsUT09

Meeting ID: 882 0468 6219

Passcode: 251560

One tap mobile

+13126266799,,88204686219#,,,,*251560# US (Chicago)

+16469313860,,88204686219#,,,,*251560# US

-Dial by your location--

• +1 929 205 6099 US (New York)

Meeting ID: 882 0468 6219

Passcode: 251560

Recent Events and Activities

Both the old and the new year began and ended with a bang! We hosted two exciting activities designed to both engage and inform incoming Freshman, current Morgan students and their families in addition to MSU NJ alumni.

Welcome to Morgan Celebration! On June 23rd we held a Zoom meeting for incoming freshman and their families designed celebrate these high school students as they begin their path to higher education and adulthood. The meeting was moderated by Claudia Ruffin. We wanted to share our pride in their selection of university as well as answer any questions they or their parents may have about Morgan and the transition they will soon undergo.

The call brought together members of our chapter with those from both the South Jersey and New York Alumni Chapters in addition to the parents and students heading to MSU.

Morgan Day at Six Flags! - July 28th: What a beautiful day we had at Six Flags in Jackson, NJ. This activity was hatched at the joint meeting between our chapter and the South Jersey Alumni Chapter in August 2023 as a way to increase cooperation between our two chapters, engage present-day "Pre-Alumni" Morgan students, and celebrate those young people who selected Morgan. Everyone had a great time with clear skies, great weather and lots of Blue and Orange love to share. Special thanks to Tony Hudgins for leading this effort by coordinating and pulling it all together.

It's Morgan Football Season!!

Morgan vs Hampton, Saturday, August 31st in Hampton, Virginia

Morgan held it's first game of the season in Hampton, VA as the Bears were pitted against the Hampton Pirates in the "Brick City HBCU Classic Football" on Saturday August 31, 2024. The game was originally scheduled to be played in Newark, NJ however, it was announced in the Spring that although the date would remain the same, the game would be held in Anderson Stadium at Hampton University. Our team took the lead in the first quarter and never looked back with Morgan winning the game 30-28.

Morgan vs Stonybrook - Saturday, Sept 28th at 3:30 in Stonybrook, LI

Morgan Bears will again be playing football in the tri-state area. You may recall that the Bears faced the Stonybrook Seawolves on their home turf in Stony Brook, Long Island in November 2022.

The full MSU football schedule is printed at the end of this newsletter

Homecoming Weekend - October 4 -6, 2024

Tickets for the 2024 Homecoming Gala are already on sale for the Friday, October 4, 2024. Tickets are $340 per person.

Morgan vs Lincoln University, PA , October 5, 2024 at 1:00 pm

The Morgan Bears will face the Lions of Lincoln University at 1:00pm

at Hughes Stadium.

Service at the University Memorial Chapel - Sunday, October 6th

at 10:00 am

Other Events in Our Area

Toyota HBCU-NY Football Classic- This year's big game will be held in MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford on Saturday, September 14, 2024. This game pits the Howard University Bison against the Morehouse University Maroon Tigers. Kickoff is at 3:00 pm.

United Negro College Fund - Walk for Education

This is the 80th Anniversary of the UNCF and on Saturday, October 12, 2024, they will be holding the annual Walk for Education. This event will take place in Brookdale Park, on the border of Montclair & Bloomfield, and both runners and walkers are welcome. The run begins at 9:00 am, the walk at 9:15 am. As we've done in the past, our chapter will continue to make a monetary donation to this event. If any alumni would like to run/walk in this activity, the cost is $25 per registrant. Please let the chapter know, via email, once you've registered.

Upcoming College Fairs - any alumni interested in participating in representing Morgan college fairs is kindly asked to contact Regina Carter at regina.carter@gmail.com or msunaanj@gmail.com.

September 21, 2024: "Experience the Legacy College Fair" will be held in the Irvington High School gymnasium, 1253 Clinton Avenue, Irvington from 11:00 am - 4:00 pm. In addition to speaking with representatives of HBCUs, this fair offers a financial aid workshop, a Greek life showcase, and on the spot acceptance for many of the schools represented. From it's beginnings four years ago, this college fair has grown considerably and been highlighted on national news stations and both Essence and Black Enterprise magazines.

October 5, 2024: First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens, 771 Somerset Street, Somerset, NJ, 11:00 am - 2:00 pm.

October 18,2024: Barack Obama Green Charter School, 35 Watchung Avenue, Plainfield, NJ 07060, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm.