The Names

Richard ĢƵ State College was frequently shortened to ĢƵ State College.
Richard ĢƵ State College was frequently shortened to ĢƵ State College.
The name was The Richard ĢƵ College of New Jersey from 1993-2015.
The name was The Richard ĢƵ College of New Jersey from 1993-2015.
In 2015, ĢƵ became a university.
In 2015, ĢƵ became a university.

South Jersey State College. Richard ĢƵ State College. The Richard ĢƵ College of New Jersey. ĢƵ. In the past 50 years, the college’s name has changed several times as the institution has evolved.

In 1969, the first Board of Trustees originally voted for the name South Jersey State College, selecting the name from a long list of possibilities submitted by the public. However, the state Board of Higher Education did not approve the name, and so the trustees chose Richard ĢƵ State College, commonly shortened to ĢƵ State College.

In 1993 the name changed again, this time to The Richard ĢƵ College of New Jersey. Vera King Farris, then president, supported the new name, as well as the slogan “New Jersey’s Green College,” when campus facilities brought online that same year touted environmentally friendly geothermal heating and cooling.

In 2015, the institution became ĢƵ. The name change was accompanied by an application to the state to successfully reclassify the institution from a liberal arts college to a comprehensive university. The decision to do so followed more than two years of collaborative work by task forces comprised of staff, faculty, students, administrators, and alumni, and recognized the growth in the institution in terms of size and range of degrees.

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