60th Anniversary: Lacey Plichta ’06 and Meagan Plichta ’09

Sisters Meagan and Lacey Plichta were high-achieving students from Monroe Township. They could have gone to college anywhere. They chose Middlesex College.

They say it was the best decision.

“I tell everyone, it was a small community with supportive faculty,” Lacey said. “It helped me become who I am.”

Lacey arrived at Middlesex College in 2004 as part of the inaugural NJ STARS class. The program, which stands for Student Tuition Assistance Rewards, covered tuition and fees for those in the top 20% of their high school class who go to their community college.

Lacey was very shy when she started at the College, but gained self-confidence and poise during her stay here. She became outspoken in her advocacy of community colleges and testified before the New Jersey General Assembly Budget committee in favor of the Lampitt Law, which provides for a smooth transfer of credits for community college students going to a four-year school. Lacey was named Middlesex College’s Alumna of the Year in 2014.

She transferred to and graduated from Rutgers University with a master’s degree in psychology and education and has been a second grade teacher at Princeton Charter School for 13 years. She also designed the Charter School’s Growth Mindset Curriculum, which encourages the children to develop perseverance. She will be the assistant director of the eighth grade play, “Peter and the Star Catcher.”

Meagan was also a STARS student, majoring in visual arts with a minor in sociology, while also serving on the College Assembly. She went on to Rutgers, graduating with a degree in journalism and media studies in 2011. She was at Make a Wish New Jersey for nine years – founding its communications team, in which she handled design, the website, newsletter, video, and the organization’s partnership with Jersey Mike’s. She is now doing email marketing for the Rutgers University Foundation.

“I love Middlesex,” she said. “It was a great foundation and gave me a two-year period to figure out what I wanted to do.” She especially remembers graphic design classes with Maria Marshall. And while she didn’t take a class with psychology professor Steven Barnhart, she did attend a remarkable lecture he did as part of the Festival of Arts and Sciences: “Culture is Not an Option.”

“I still think back on the classes I took and the friends I made here,” Meagan said.