Stockton News - July 9, 2026
WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT
Students Walk the Beat in Expansion of Summer Work Program
Mitch Ellicott couldn’t hide his excitement. The retired Sussex County Sheriff's Department detective lieutenant flashed a beaming smile as he watched his youngest daughter, Hannah, prepare for her first day working for the Atlantic City Police Department.
“I’m very proud. I know she put a lot of work into it,” said the Fredon, New Jersey, native, wearing his uniform. “Trying to finish up doing all her tests and final exams. Trying to move things around with her classes and then to finish the police academy and the ACPD’s requirements. She kept her nose to the grindstone and got it done.”
Hannah is one of three Stockton students who started work as Class II police officers in Atlantic City on July 1 as part of an expansion of the Stockton Atlantic City Summer Experience. She missed the last two weeks of the semester and rescheduled her finals in order to enter the Cape May County Police Academy for a seven-day-a-week, 12-hour-a-day, nine-week training program to become a Class II officer.
Performing Arts Center Celebrates 50 Years with New Comedy Series
Fifty years as one of the leading arts and culture institutions in southern New Jersey is no laughing matter.
To commemorate, Stockton’s Performing Arts Center (PAC) added a comedy series to its 2026-27 slate.
For the first time in its history, the center has partnered with nationwide brand The Comedy Zone to present four comedians, headlined by Patrick Warburton of “Seinfeld” fame on Jan. 23. The other comedians include Brad Upton on Oct. 17, Mike Goodwin on Nov. 20 and Tammy Pescatelli on April 16.
“Bringing live stand-up to campus adds a fresh, energetic dimension to our programming and creates more opportunities for students and the community to come together and share in laughter,” said PAC Director Anjanette Christy. “It’s a wonderful way to celebrate this milestone year, while continuing to expand what the Performing Arts Center can offer.”
Other notable headliners from the PAC’s 2026-27 schedule include the R&B group We Are One-Xperience, which is a salute to Maze and Frankie Beverly, on Nov. 6, former Journey lead singer Steve Augeri on Nov. 13 and Face 2 Face, a tribute to Elton John and Billy Joel on April 23.
PHOTOS: Comedian Patrick Warburton, left, and former Journey lead singer Steve Augeri.
World-renowned Artist Exhibit Highlights July Holocaust Center Events
The Sara and Sam Schoffer Holocaust Resource Center at Stockton University will sponsor a series of programs in the South Jersey community during July, including an exhibit featuring the works of artist and Holocaust survivor Magda Watts.
Watts was a Hungarian-born Israeli artist who became world renown for creating dolls that depicted her Jewish life before World War II and the resilience of those who survived the Holocaust. As a teenager she was first deported to Auschwitz and then to a sub-camp of the Flossenbürg concentration camp, Nurenberg (Siemens-Schuckertwerke).
There she began creating dolls from rags and scraps she found. The dolls helped shield her from the atrocities she witnessed at the camp, including deportation, forced labor, hunger and murder. Creating the dolls ultimately saved her life as she used it to obtain extra food rations.
SPOTLIGHT ON: LISA COX
For Lisa Cox, storytelling is more than reflection. It is a way to connect people across generations,
disciplines and cultures.
That belief guided Cox, a professor of Social Work at Stockton University, during her recent Fulbright Teaching Specialist experience at Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, where she introduced students and faculty to Guided Autobiography, a reminiscence-writing method that helps participants explore their lives through personal narrative.
The Fulbright Specialist Program connects U.S. academics and professionals with international institutions for short-term, project-based exchanges. For Cox, being selected affirmed decades of teaching, scholarship and social work experience while giving her the chance to build new academic partnerships abroad.
In this interview, she shares how the experience came together, why Guided Autobiography (GAB) can be such a powerful tool and what she hopes to carry forward at Stockton.
WHAT'S TRENDING @ #STOCKTONU
Instagram: Happy National Be Nice To Jersey Week! Let us remind you why Jersey is the best 🦅💛
Facebook: We’ve had the pleasure of welcoming hundreds of our newest Ospreys to campus this summer for New Student Orientation!
InstaFred: A little window into one of Stockton's favorite views. 🌿💙
FROM THE SIDELINES
Julien Retires After Lengthy Career at Stockton
Stockton Athletics Facilities and Special Events Coordinator Val Julien retired this week after more than 40 years of affiliation with Stockton Athletics, most of which was spent as a softball coach for the Ospreys.
Julien became Stockton’s head softball coach in 1987 following three years, from 1984 to 1986, as an assistant coach on Dot Hirschfeld’s staff. She led the softball program for 29 seasons, from 1987 to 2015, and posted a career record of 539-511-2 in 1,052 games at the helm.
Julien led the Ospreys to three ECAC championships, in 2008, 2013 and 2014, and 12 20-win seasons, topped by a school-record 33 victories in 2013. The 2010 season also was a highlight, with Stockton winning 28 games and finishing as the NJAC Tournament runner-up after coming within one victory of a conference title.
In the days of the NJAC’s two-division format for softball, the Ospreys dominated the NJAC Blue Division. Stockton won the division with an 8-0 record for three straight years and shared the title in 2000. Julien was named NJAC Blue Division Coach of the Year three times, in 1996, 1997 and 1999.
The NJAC moved all teams to one division for softball in 2001, and Stockton held its own in one of the toughest leagues in the country as Julien went toe-to-toe with a legendary collection of coaches, four of whom won more than 700 games: Kim Wilson of Rowan, Anita Kubicka of Montclair State, Hallie Cohen of William Paterson and Sally Miller of TCNJ.
Haines Retires After 31 Years as Coach, Administrator
Stockton Associate Director of Athletics and Recreation Jeff Haines recently retired after 31 years at the university. Haines spent the bulk of his tenure at Stockton as head men’s soccer coach and then in athletic administration, but he also served as an assistant men’s soccer coach from 1995 to 1997 and worked in the Stockton admissions office.
Haines fashioned a distinguished career as the Stockton men’s soccer coach from 1998 to 2014 before transitioning from the field into an administrative role in 2015. He amassed a 262-99-34 record in 17 seasons, during which he led the Ospreys to seven NCAA Tournament berths in 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008 and 2010 and four NJAC titles in 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2004.
Each of the 17 teams led by Haines won at least 11 games and finished with a winning record. His .706 winning percentage ranks 38th out of 446 coaches in NCAA Division III history, with a minimum of 10 years, and he was voted NJAC Coach of the Year twice, in 1999 and 2001. Haines also recorded an impressive 12-6-1 record in 17 NCAA Tournament matches.
Haines’ coaching tenure was marked by a wave of early success that included a 1999 NCAA Final Four berth in his second year, the 2001 NCAA national championship in his fourth season and a run to the 2004 NCAA Elite Eight in his seventh year. Six of Haines’ first seven Stockton teams won at least 17 game.
OSPREY NOTES
Confirm Your Ospreys in Summer Session III
Happy Summer, faculty! As Summer Session III has begun, it's almost time to Confirm your Ospreys!
Faculty are reminded to complete the Academic Engagement (formerly Roster Verification) process by confirming student attendance/academic activity. If you are teaching a course(s) in Summer Session III, please complete the Academic Engagement process ASAP.
The Office of Financial Aid will use this information to make adjustments to student financial aid disbursements based on each student's confirmed number of credits.
Each instructor will be responsible for confirming student attendance or participation in an academic activity. For online courses, faculty are reminded to include an assignment or discussion activity during the add/drop period so that the student's attendance can be confirmed.
The link to complete the Academic Engagement process can be found under the faculty tab within the goStockton portal.
For more information and a list of frequently asked questions, visit stockton.edu/academicengagement.
🧭Did You Know? July 9 is Call of the Horizon Day, a nod to that restless little tug toward new places, fresh ideas and whatever comes next. Whether it’s planning a getaway, exploring a new idea or simply taking the scenic route for once, it’s a reminder to follow where curiosity leads.
UPCOMING EVENTS
🖼️ Art Exhibits hosted by the Noyes Museum of Art
July 15: Alumni Author Virtual Publishing Workshop
July 16: Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership Summer Mixer
July 17: 10th Annual Pinelands Summer Short Course,
July 21: Alumni Author Summer Social 2026
July 29: New School of Business Dean Dennis Yu Welcome Reception
Aug. 2: Stockton Day at Morey's Piers
