Lion’s tale: “Other duties as assigned”

TCNJ’s vice president for college relations and advancement had an unusual work assignment recently: parachuting with the US Army Golden Knights.

Words by Tony Marchetti ’96, MA ’02

Sure, jumping out of an airplane from 15,000 feet offers unrivaled views of the landscape, but the five-minute ride down can feel like an eternity to someone who’s afraid of heights. Just ask Matthew Golden, TCNJ’s vice president for college relations and advancement. Earlier this month the acrophobic VP was given the “unusual work assignment” of parachuting with the US Army’s Golden Knights Tandem Team during a community-building event at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. His involvement was made possible by TCNJ’s ROTC program. Rather than shirk his responsibilities (or worse, delegate the task to some hapless staff member—for instance, an equally acrophobic magazine editor), Golden dove head first into the assignment. He admitted afterward that free falling from an altitude of more than two-and-a-half miles was an experience unlike any other; the worst part, he said, was after the parachute opened. “It was like everything came to a complete stop,” he explained, adding that he spent the last few minutes of his descent thinking how “the only thing between me and the ground was a very thin harness.” When asked to sum up the overall experience, Golden said, “It was incredible—and incredibly frightening at the same time.”