Short answers, pulled from the story.
Stockton University was founded in 1969 and enrolled its first class in 1971. Because construction on the Galloway Township campus fell behind schedule, that inaugural class was housed at the historic Mayflower Hotel in Atlantic City.
The trustees chose Richard Stockton, one of New Jersey's five signatories of the Declaration of Independence, after earlier name options created confusion with Rutgers College of South Jersey. The specific reason Stockton was chosen over the other four signatories was never recorded, and a formal investigation launched by the university in 2017 never resolved the question.
The Stockton University Atlantic City campus is located at the Boardwalk and Albany Avenue in the Chelsea neighborhood, built on the former site of Atlantic City High School. It opened in the fall of 2018 with more than 500 residential students and more than 1,800 students enrolled in courses.
Stockton University operates one of the largest geothermal heating and cooling systems in the world, alongside photovoltaic panels and a 200 kW fuel cell installed in 2002. In 2008, the university activated the first aquifer thermal energy storage system of its kind in the United States, which stores winter cold underground and withdraws it in summer for cooling.
Stockton's Ospreys have produced nine individual NCAA national champions in track and field. Two Olympic gold medalists served as athletic director: Don Bragg, 1960 pole vault champion, and G. Larry James, 1968 4x400 relay gold medalist. Men's basketball coach Gerry Matthews retired as the winningest college basketball coach in New Jersey history.
Stockton purchased the shuttered Showboat Atlantic City hotel and casino in December 2014 for $18 million, planning to convert it into a full residential campus. The plan failed when Trump Entertainment Resorts enforced a covenant on the property that prohibited any use other than a casino. Stockton sold the property to Bart Blatstein in January 2016.