Remembering his legacy

The memorial alcove with its impressive bronze bas-relief and adjoining granite bench and patio became a campus landmark soon after its construction in the fall of 1994. It sits prominently before Milledoler Hall, a stone’s throw from the Willie the Silent statue on Voorhees Mall. At the memorial, students and visitors traditionally rub the late president’s nose for good luck.

The memorial’s dedication ceremony was a historical event for the university, according to the Rutgers University Alumni Association. At the dedication, the late Richard P. McCormick, Ph.D., an eminent national and New Jersey historian, longtime Rutgers history professor, university historian, dean of Rutgers College, and prolific author, was one of several distinguished speakers. He stated, “The Class of ’68 has taken an unprecedented action, an action unprecedented in the history of Rutgers. No other president has ever inspired the respect and affection that these young men ... have manifested today.”

On the memorial, alongside the larger-than-life portrait, Mason Gross is described as “Professor, Scholar, Student of Philosophy, Civil Leader, Defender of Academic Freedom, Champion of the Arts.“