New Jersey City University Athletics

Anthony DeBenedictis, a 2000 Hall of Fame inductee at New Jersey City University, has served as President of the Green and Gold Club—the official athletics booster organization of NJCU, since 1986. He also has been a visible presence at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center where he has been a night manager since the building opened in September 1994.

In addition to serving as NJCU’s premier organization for fans, the Green and Gold Club, under his leadership, has been a vital support mechanism. It sponsors several awards that are presented at the annual athletics banquet and contributes championship banners that are displayed at the JMAC. He also has attempted to stir up interest and support for all the Gothic Knight athletic teams.

One of 12 contributors currently in the NJCU Athletics Hall of Fame, he was inducted on October 13, 2000, after a more than 30-year relationship with the athletics program. A 1971 graduate of then Jersey City State College with a bachelor of arts in Education with minors in sociology and psychology, DeBenedictis enrolled at the institution as a freshman in January 1968 as part of the GI Bill. He served in the United States Army from December 1965 through December 1967.

When he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000, former athletics director Larry Schiner said: “no one has attended more NJCU football and basketball games than Tony. If there is a person who best represents the true heart and soul of the NJCU athletics program, it is Tony DeBenedictis. If blood could actually flow green and gold, Tony would be the first person with that distinction, because he has always had the best interest of Gothic Knight athletics in his heart.”

Active on many committees, DeBenedictis was a member of both the Hall of Fame Committee and the Intercollegiate Athletic Council. He has also served on the Thomas M. Gerrity Scholar-Athlete Award Committee, the Tony Mezzina Memorial Award Committee, the Robert L. McNulty Soccer Award selection committee and the Homecoming Committee. He has also been a member of various athletic department search committees, including ones for the head football coach when NJCU offered the program.

Born in March 1946, DeBenedictis, worked with the Hudson County Division of Social Services from September 1974 to June 2008 when he retired after 34 years of service in various roles including his last as an administrative supervisor which he was promoted to in 1993. He resides in Jersey City with JoAnne, his wife of 37 years. The couple has a daughter, Nicole, and son Joseph. His daughter and son-in-law, Larry, have two children, Gianna (4) and Olivia (1). His son Joe, a May 2003 graduate of NJCU, was a sports information student assistant at the University, and worked as a sports information director for seven years before being named the Director of Customer Support for SIDEARM Sports in 2010.