{"id":132588,"date":"2026-02-13T16:19:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T16:19:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/132588\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T16:19:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T16:19:21","slug":"njcu-announces-last-commencement-before-kean-university-merger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/132588\/","title":{"rendered":"NJCU announces last commencement before Kean University merger"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Jersey City University<\/a> just announced the details of its last major event before it starts a historic merger with another public university.<\/p>\n

The Jersey City-based university says it will hold its final commencement in May, about six weeks before finalizing a merger with Kean University<\/a>, officials said.<\/p>\n

New Jersey City University\u2019s Class of 2026 will gather May 19 at the Prudential Center in Newark for a ceremony that will honor their achievements. The event will also celebrate the school\u2019s 99 years as an independent institution while also looking forward to a new future, according to the university\u2019s president.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor nearly a century, NJCU has served as an institution that lifts people up and changes their trajectory in life,\u201d New Jersey City University President Andr\u00e9s Acebo said.<\/p>\n

Officials at New Jersey City University and Kean University expect their merger will be finalized July 1. The Jersey City campus will continue but under a new name, Kean Jersey City<\/a>.<\/p>\n

New Jersey City University\u2019s final commencement speaker, Jorge Plasencia, represents the university\u2019s enduring mission, Acebo said.<\/p>\n

Plasencia, 51, is an entrepreneur and philanthropist perhaps best known as co-founder and CEO of Republica Havas<\/a>, a Miami-based media and communications company. <\/p>\n

\u201cJorge\u2019s story is one that will resonate deeply with our graduates: the son of immigrants who turned exile into opportunity, who built a global career while never forgetting where he came from, and who has dedicated his success to opening doors for the next generation,\u201d Acebo said.<\/p>\n

Plasencia will be awarded an honorary doctor of humane letters degree, officials said.<\/p>\n

New Jersey City University will hold its last commencement three years after Bloomfield College \u2014 now Bloomfield College of Montclair State University<\/a> \u2014 held its 150th and final commencement ceremony before merging with Montclair State.<\/p>\n

Financial problems were the impetus for both Bloomfield College and New Jersey City University to seek their respective mergers. <\/p>\n

A state-appointed fiscal monitor<\/a> advised New Jersey City University in 2024 to partner with a more financially stable institution, either by sharing services or a merger.<\/p>\n

The university initially explored a merger with Montclair State before announcing in March 2025 that it was pursuing an agreement with Kean, whose main campus is about 14 miles away in Union. The governing boards at both institutions and their presidents then signed off on a merger agreement last year.<\/p>\n

Moody\u2019s<\/a>, one of the nation\u2019s \u201cbig three\u201d credit agencies, cited the proposed merger and other factors in upgrading New Jersey City University\u2019s financial outlook from \u201cstable\u201d to \u201cpositive\u201d<\/a> last spring<\/p>\n

In January, former Gov. Phil Murphy<\/a> signed legislation days before leaving office transferring all of New Jersey City University\u2019s academic programs, facilities and assets to Kean University while allotting $25 million to support the transition.<\/p>\n

The planned merger remains subject to review by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and the U.S. Department of Education.<\/p>\n

New Jersey City University recently received $44 million in state grants <\/a>for infrastructure improvements in preparation for the merger.<\/p>\n

The size of New Jersey City University\u2019s final graduating class has not been announced. A total of 1,544 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees were awarded at the 2025 commencement<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Jersey City University just announced the details of its last major event before it starts a historic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132589,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[51737,11487,9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-132588","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-harrison","9":"tag-jersey-city","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-city","12":"tag-nyc","13":"tag-staten-island","14":"tag-staten-island-headlines","15":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}