A scholarship for those who exemplify Joan's tenacity. It will preferably be awarded to a walk-on: the woman who showed up without a guarantee and earned her place. It bears the name of the MU coach and athletics director who spent 33 years making sure women got their chance to compete.
Established by Joan's granddaughters, family, and friends, the scholarship is awarded to a full-time undergraduate on a Monmouth women's varsity team, with preference for a walk-on athlete. It supports her athletic endeavors and encourages her to inspire and uplift her fellow athletes.
It is meant for a student who embodies what Joan stood for: hard work, belief in the goodness of others, and championing the underdog.
Perhaps Joan's greatest legacies are the lives she transformed by securing scholarships for countless women, creating teams that were like family, and pushing each athlete to her potential. This endowment fund makes that her permanent work at Monmouth.
Every gift, of any size, goes directly to the endowment through Monmouth University Advancement and helps the scholarship live in perpetuity.
Joan was a force from the start. Born in Long Branch and raised alongside three brothers, she was picked before the boys in neighborhood games and never accepted the idea that she belonged on the sidelines. As a girl, society told her to watch while her brothers competed. She spent the rest of her life making sure the next generation would never hear the same.
At Monmouth University she coached women's basketball for 13 years, softball for 11, and field hockey for eight before moving into the administration in 1982, where she spearheaded the establishment and growth of the women's athletics program. She was an early advocate and expert on Title IX, which paved the way for equal opportunities for women in sports.
Tough and tenacious on the court, Joan was soft in all the right places. Her favorite title was that of "Granny." She was married to her beloved husband Jim for 69 years, and generations of women still revere her simply as Coach M.
"While I rode in the backseat on the bus of opportunity during my lifetime, I want my daughter's daughter and her peers to be able to select a seat based on their abilities and their willingness to work. Don't deny them the things I dreamed of."
Joan Martin, quoted in a U.S. House subcommittee hearing on Title IX
Donations are made securely through Monmouth University and directed to the Joan G. Martin Leadership Endowed Scholarship. The University handles every gift; you will receive a receipt for your records.
Donate at Monmouth UniversityYou will be taken to Monmouth University's secure giving page.