The October 2 celebration will bring together alumni, university leaders and the Jersey City community for an evening honoring the past and investing in the students who will shape the future.
The NJCU Foundation at Kean Jersey City will host its Annual Gala on Friday, October 2, 2026, at 6 p.m. at Kean University’s Liberty Hall Academic Center, bringing together alumni, donors, university leaders and community partners at a singular moment in the history of the Jersey City campus.
This year’s gala will be the Foundation’s first since the historic merger of New Jersey City University and Kean University became effective on July 1, creating Kean Jersey City and beginning a new chapter for one of Jersey City’s most enduring educational institutions.
But the evening will be as much about continuity as change.
For generations, NJCU and the institutions that preceded it created pathways to higher education for students from Jersey City, Hudson County and beyond. That legacy lives on in our alumni, in the community surrounding the campus and in the students pursuing their degrees today. The NJCU Foundation at Kean Jersey City continues that work, supporting students and preserving a tradition built on access, opportunity and public service.
This year, the Foundation is partnering with CRECE: The Center for Raising Excellence and Cultural Empowerment, the Hispanic Leadership Center at Kean University, to present “Unidos Somos Más: Noche de Carnaval,” a celebration of Hispanic excellence, culture and community.
Meaning “grow” or “rise” in Spanish, CRECE works to cultivate the next generation of leaders through education, mentorship and community engagement. Its mission is particularly resonant in Jersey City, where generations of students from immigrant and first-generation families have found opportunity through public higher education.
The gala will also offer alumni and supporters a rare opportunity to gather with many of the leaders shaping the next chapter of the campus. Kean University President Lamont O. Repollet, Ed.D., and Kean Jersey City Chancellor Andrés Acebo, J.D., the former president of NJCU, are expected to join members of the Board of Trustees, alumni and community leaders for the celebration. Guests will have an opportunity to meet university leadership and hear about the work underway at Kean Jersey City and the opportunities ahead.
At the center of the evening, however, will be students. Proceeds from the gala will support students studying at Kean’s Jersey City campus through the NJCU Foundation at Kean Jersey City, which continues to support the success of Kean JC students by providing resources that help them thrive academically and personally, opening doors to life-changing opportunities.
For longtime NJCU alumni and supporters, the gala is also an invitation to remain part of a community they helped build.
The university may have entered a new era, but the relationships, traditions and sense of place forged over generations do not disappear with a change of name. They become part of what comes next.
On October 2, old friends and new partners will gather to celebrate that shared legacy and the possibilities ahead.
Unidos Somos Más. Together, We Are More.
Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are now available.
