At MSU the scarlet-ish “R” is for Red Hawks. This coming year, the second largest university in the state will mark some exciting firsts.

2008 marks Montclair State University’s (www.montclair.edu) 100th anniversary, and the school perched on the hill is celebrating with a year-long party. The kickoff, with all the usual pageantry of academia, took place last month on an unusually warm crystal clear day, at the campus amphitheatre.

After speeches marking the occasion, a flock of doves was released, symbolizing the transition from one century to another. It has been a series of transitions for MSU, now boasting the largest enrollment in its history. The bursting-at-the-seams campus buzzes with the sound of construction. Next year, a predicted new record of 18,000 students will fill the classrooms, quads, and dorms.

Though the school began as a teacher’s college, it re-organized in the late sixties as a liberal arts institution with separate schools headed by different deans. The 246-acre campus includes the state-of-the-art Alexander Kasser Theater and brand new University Hall, which features techno-smart classrooms and a sweeping view from its top floor event space.

MSU is full of intellectual life and artistic activity. If you stop by this week, you can see an exhibition on different forms of printmaking, at the George Segal Gallery. (www.montclair.edu/arts/aec/art_gallery/art_galleries.html)

You can also pick up a ticket to great theatre, dance, and all forms of creative expression, through MSU’s Peak Performances program (www.peakperfs.org). All tickets have been discounted to $15, to make the arts more accessible.

 And speaking of Peak Performances, next month, the Nashville Opera (www.nashvilleopera.org/html/OperaDetail.php?opera_id=35) will host the world premiere of the American opera Elmer Gantry—written by the chair of Montclair State University’s Music Department, Robert Aldridge. The opera, which has already received much attention, is a co-production with MSU.

The newly birthed Cali School of Music (www.musicmontclair.com/) houses the resident artists Shanghai Quartet (www.musicmontclair.com/Pages/Faculty/FACShanghaiQuartet.htm).

We admit we’re partial to MSU because we are part of the school’s Broadcasting Department. If you watch our video from the Centennial ceremony, give credit to its creators, students Erica Emmich and Ron Tomaino. You’ll see why being second largest, isn’t necessarily second best.