TCNJ

21 Gitenstein also oversaw a dramatic transformation of the TCNJ campus during her presidency. Since 1999 the college has spent more than $380 million on its physical plant, including six new buildings and housing for 400 students. Three of the latest projects will be completed this year: The 74,000-square-foot STEM Complex, a 15,000-square-foot addition to the chemistry building, and a $38 million renovation of the Brower Student Center funded mostly by Sodexo Campus Services, the college's food service provider. To construct the much anticipated Campus Town development adjacent to campus — a mix of 350,000 square feet of retail space and apartments for 612 students, opened in 2015 — Gitenstein took advantage of a new state law permitting colleges to forgo the public bidding process for construction projects and work directly with private contractors. As a result, Campus Town, built by a private developer for $120 mil- lion, will generate close to $50 million in income for TCNJ over the 50-year life of the contract (the developer pays TCNJ a ground lease while generating revenue from apartment and retail rentals). "The buildings she's put up — the design, the location, the money and quality that have gone into the physical infrastructure — are pretty amazing," says Curt Heuring, vice president for administration. "It has become one of the strongest selling points for the campus during her tenure." Four years ago, emboldened by the college's progress, Gitenstein and the trustees began to plan TCNJ's first fundraising campaign, a critically important initiative in an era of dwindling state support. When Gitenstein arrived at TCNJ, New Jersey supplied 55 percent of the college's operating budget. Today that figure is 28 percent. She and the campaign's leaders met with a private consultant, who think out loud "TO ME, A LEADER IS A PERSON who encourages others to believe that the impossible or improbable is possible and then provides resources and space and encouragement — and that's what she has done." —Eleanor Horne, TCNJ trustee "I THINK MOST OF US have bedrock confidence in Bobby. She's earned that because she has helped usher through remarkable change, and she's had to deal with some challenges over the years." —Amanda Norvell, professor of biology "ONE OF BOBBY'S CORE VALUES is shared governance. As a board, we have faculty, students, and staff representatives, and everybody was encouraged to participate. She really set the tone." —David Blake, professor of English, and faculty representative to the board of trustees for two years "SHE'S A VERY MORAL PERSON. She's also smart as hell." —Donald Hart, President Gitenstein's unbiased husband suggested TCNJ would do well to raise $25 million. Not good enough. They set a goal of $40 million. By June 30, the campaign generated $47.5 million from more than 13,000 donors. "That, to me," says Jorge Caballero, chair of TCNJ's board of trustees, "is a tremendous indication of the power of the leader and the power of the message that we have been able to deliver because of what she has done over the last 18 years." Her tenure also puts the college in a strong position as it embarks on a search for her successor. "I know we have a tremendous story to tell prospective candidates," he says, "and a lot of that is because of the success we've achieved under Dr. Gitenstein." ROSE BARBARA GITENSTEIN grew up in the 1950s in tiny Florala, Alabama, on the Florida border. Her father, Seymour, ran a local shirt factory that employed 800 people, a station that made him a civic leader of some prominence. But Gitenstein says she and her family were always considered outsiders in Florala, for two reasons: They were Northerners, and they were

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