Bruce Springsteen to Have Building Named After Him at New Jersey’s Monmouth University
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Bruce Springsteen may not have gone to college, but he is getting a building named after him at Monmouth University in West Long Branch near his longtime home in New Jersey, the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music announced at a special ceremony on Wednesday morning. Springsteen has a long history with the university, having performed there on multiple occasions and housing his archives there.
“Having a building with your name on it is a tricky thing,” Springsteen told the audience, which included Rock and Roll Hall of Famers singer Darlene Love, former E Street Band member Vini Lopez and longtime manager manager Jon Landau. “Because I’m still alive.”
Springsteen joked that with the building comes great responsibility, because “I am subject to any kind of behavior.”
“I mean, I could get arrested for… tequilas in a public park. That’s something that could happen,” he laughed, referencing the 2021 incident where he was charged with DWI on his motorcycle after taking a shot of tequila offered by a fan.
“All I can say,” he concluded on that note, “is I will try to do my best for the rest of my life not to embarrass a building.”
The new 30,000 square foot building to house the archives will be designed by the acclaimed New York-based architectural firm, Cookfox, and will be located on the campus of Monmouth University on the corner of Cedar and Norwood Avenue, not far from where Springsteen wrote his landmark song, “Born to Run,” nearly 50 years ago. A campaign to raise the $45 million to construct the new building is underway, with two-thirds of the goal already raised, according to Monmouth University President and Chair of the Archives Board Patrick F. Leahy.
“A few years ago, Bruce Springsteen committed his archives here to us, Leahy said. “I think he referred to it as his ‘stuff.'”
Springsteen added that the center gave him an opportunity to “get the junk out of my house,” he laughed. “It was getting cluttered in there and so now I’ve got someplace to put that stuff.”
The Center for American Music–projected for completion in the Spring of 2026- will feature some of that “stuff” with exhibits on Springsteen, including a reading room featuring books that inspired his creative process, while the Archives will offer visitors the chance to listen to oral histories and interviews, watch rare film footage, and explore major moments in music history.
Intimate concerts, teacher workshops, symposia, lectures, film series, and other public and educational programs will also be part of the mission of the Archives and Center for American Music, said Robert Santelli, executive director of the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music. Santelli first heard Springsteen (who was then a member of the band Steel Mill) play when he was a “skinny freshman” at what was then Monmouth College in 1969.
“Steel Mill was our freshman orientation entertainment,” he said.
“Our institution will offer exciting research opportunities for students, journalists, and historians and give Springsteen fans the chance to explore his music and the role it plays in American history like never before,” added Santelli. “Teachers will also find the Archives and Center for American Music a valuable educational resource. Lesson plans, teaching strategies, and online programs will be available to teachers and enable them to bring American music into the classroom.”
Springsteen added, “Believe it or not, there are people who come from around the world for their vacations to spend their hard-earned dollars in Asbury Park or Freehold from whence I have hailed — and now they actually have some place to go other than my house.
“Seriously, I am moved by all the efforts and commitment,” he concluded. “At 19, I played on these very steps out here, and to stand here today is quite humbling knowing I am going to be a presence here on this campus, which I really look forward to being.”
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