Beacons - Spring 2023

BEACONS A MA G A Z I N E FOR U M AS S BOST ON ALU M N I AN D F R IE N DS

Sp r i n g 2 02 3

a monumental moment AS LEADERS OF

EMBRACE BOSTON, ALUMNI PAUL ENGLISH AND IMARI PARIS JEFFRIES ARE WORKING TO MAKE BOSTON A CITY FOR THE TIMES.

Beacons

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During November’s Beacon Spirit Days event, the UMass Boston community packed the Campus Center terrace for two days of music, performances, and raffles celebrating what it means to be a Beacon.

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Spring 2023

Contents SPRING 2023

FEATURES 14

A Monumental Moment

The unveiling of Boston’s new King memorial is just the beginning for two UMass Boston alums looking to take equity and justice in the city to the next level.

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Beyond the Bagpipes

Ken Casey ’22 talks Boston, music, and how a focus on education helped him rewrite his own Murphy’s Law.

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Picture Perfect

As curator of photographs for the Getty Museum, Paul Martineau ’98 uses both scholarship and savvy to drive his success.

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Making a Splash

Sofya Gray ’16 launches a fashion-forward swimwear line with sustainability at the helm.

DEPARTMENTS 02

Your Take

03

From the Chancellor

04

The Tea

30

Class Notes

40

Did You Know?

ON THE COVER Beacons Paul English ’87, G’89, H’19 and Imari Paris Jeffries ’97, G’99, G’03, PhD’23 in front of The Embrace on Boston Common. Photo by Ed Collier.

SEE PAGE 14

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Your Take

For this issue of Beacons, we asked our alumni and current students:

What’s the best piece of advice you received in college? “ The world will throw countless obstacles in your way.

Be steadfast in your pursuit of your goals.

Don’t let anything stand in your way.”

—EVAGRIO “VAAG” MOSCA ’75

“ Don’t worry how long your journey takes.

Everything will fall into place.”

—MARLEN GODINEZ ’20

“ Ninety percent of being successful is just being on time.”

“ Treat every interaction as an opportunity to open a new door, either personally or professionally. Served me very well after graduating while looking for career opportunities.”

—ANDREW FOX ’11

—HEATHER FABIANO ’03

“ That striving for perfection all the time is unrealistic, and not let the fear of making mistakes or not meeting expectations hold me back.”

“ Your degree is one of the few things that can never be taken away from you.”

—MONIQUE LANNIEEN AUSTIN ’01, G’05

—ADI EDELHAUS ’26

Who was your favorite UMass Boston professor?

For our next issue, send your answers to alumni@umb.edu.

Don’t forget to include your full name and class year!

“ Don’t be afraid to branch out and try new things.”

—SHUBHANKAR “SHUBI” JOSHI ’17

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Spring 2023

From the Chancellor

BEACONS Chancellor

Marcelo Suárez-Orozco Provost

Joseph Berger Vice Chancellor for University

Advancement

Adam Wise

Assistant Vice Chancellor for Alumni Engagement

Allison Duffy

Assistant Vice Chancellor for Principal and Leadership Gifts

Andrea Kennedy

C The work of art is to imagine and reimagine possibility and transformation.

Beacons

REATIVE EXPRESSION IS A CORNERSTONE of higher education and foundational to a thriving democracy. Art, in all its genres—from music to sculpture, from theater to photography, from architecture to design—generates ideas and feelings, and gives perspective on existence and meaning across time and cultures.

In this edition of Beacons magazine, we share the stories of Beacons whose creative passion for addressing important issues has led to transformative accomplishments for the greater good.

Our cover story highlights the efforts of Imari Paris Jeffries ’97, G’99, G’03, PhD’23 and Paul English ’87, G’89, H’19 to bring The Embrace to the Boston Common, 20-foot-high bronze sculpture intertwined arms and hands of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King, and one of the largest memorials ever dedicated to love, peace, and racial equality.

Another piece chronicles the work of art history senior lecturer Carol G.J. Scollans ’84 to curate an exhibit at our University Hall and Walter Grossman Memorial galleries last fall, showcasing the photography of late Professor Emerita Melissa Shook, whose creations humanize marginalized communities.

In this issue, you will also learn about a collaboration between our Stone Living Lab, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and an

Director of Alumni Engagement

Steven Whittemore

Communications Specialist

Australian environmental organization to deploy blue tech innovation in the form of living seawalls to preserve Boston’s coastal environments and advance climate justice.

We talk with Ken Casey ’22, front man for the Dropkick Murphys, who in his most recent album uses his music and the lyrics of Woody Guthrie to confront fascism and the abuse of power.

And you will read about Sofya Gray ’16, whose keen interest in fashion design, ethical consumption, and sustainability sparked her entrepreneurial spirit and deepened her commitment to rid the world’s oceans of plastics waste.

The work of these Beacons reflects relentless exploration of social issues through creative lenses and imagination. And it spotlights the struggle for justice, peace, and awareness, aimed at lifting people up and spawning fresh narratives and new possibilities for social action.

This view of the world as an open canvas will always be an important strand of the Beacon ethos. And Columbia Point will always be a destination for the arts—a place where creativity is nurtured and where humanity in all its beautiful diversity flourishes.

Sincerely,

Vanessa Chatterley Art Director

Kaajal Asher kaajalasher.com Copy Editor

Sasha Nyary sashanyary.com Contributors

Danielle Bilotta Austyn Ellese Mayfield Crystal Valencia G’14 David Walberg Photos and Illustrations

Louisa Cannell Ed Collier Gillian Gordon Bartosz Kosowski Javier Rivas Dave Stauble

Beacons magazine celebrates the accomplishments and impact of the UMass Boston community and the lasting connection alumni and friends have with UMass Boston, Boston State College, and our legacy schools.

We welcome your inquiries, ideas, and comments. Please share them with the UMass Boston Alumni Engagement team at 617.287.5330 or alumni@umb.edu.

MARCELO SUÁREZ-OROZCO Chancellor

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The Tea

UMass Boston to Add Women’s Lacrosse to Varsity Programs POLITICIANS ON THE POINT Columbia Point welcomed dignitaries from the State House, White House, U.S. House of Representatives, and Buckingham Palace in recent months: • SEPTEMBER 12: On the 60th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s famed “moonshot” speech, President Joe Biden visited the JFK Library to announce a new goal for the government’s Cancer Moonshot initiative: cutting the U.S. cancer death rate in half within 25 years.

• OCTOBER 12: Former Attorney General Maura Healey, now Massachusetts governor, and former Salem Mayor Kimberly Driscoll, now lieutenant governor, toured the Manning College of Nursing and Health Sciences Center for Clinical Education and Research.

• DECEMBER 2: Prince William acknowledged the inspiration of President Kennedy with a stop at the JFK Library during his visit to Boston to celebrate the 2023 awarding of the £1 million Earthshot Prize, which he co-founded in 2020 to spur climate change solutions. School for the Environment Interim Dean Bob Chen served on Boston’s Earthshot Host Committee.

• JANUARY 20: U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch visited the university’s nursing simulation lab to announce $3 million in new funding for the Manning College of Nursing and Health Sciences. The federal funds will be used to create a home care digital and simulation lab at UMass Boston to train nurses in evolving home-care technologies, with emphasis on patients who are aging,

With the addition of women’s lacrosse, UMass Boston will offer a total of 19 intercollegiate programs competing at the Division III level.

The team will participate in the Little East Conference, with the first varsity season set for 2024.

“We are thrilled to be adding a women’s lacrosse program, as this has been a priority for UMass Boston,” said Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco. “And our timing could not be better—while we add another women’s program to our successful athletics department, we continue to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the passage of Title IX.” Women’s lacrosse is one of the fastest growing college sports in the country, said Vice Chancellor of Athletics and Recreation Jacqueline Schuman, with 291 women’s programs at the Division III level, 44 more than the men’s.

“Given the great success we have had with our men’s lacrosse program, we believe that the addition of the women’s program will reap similar rewards and strengthen the future success of both programs,” she said. “The goal is that, as the only public research institution in the city of Boston, we will attract talent that will grow our program to be one of the best in the nation.”

disabled, or have experienced health disparities.

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Spring 2023

Partners from enrollment to employment A flurry of recent gifts from corporate and foundation donors is helping the university

2022 BEACONS BESTOW THANKSGIVING MEAL DRIVE

put into practice a key tenet of its new strategic plan: holistic student success.

Through initiatives bolstering college preparation, financial aid, academic and career advising, and experiential learning, these gifts aim to help students navigate college admissions, succeed in coursework, and graduate ready to land career-launching jobs.

At the same time, they help build a diverse pipeline of potential employees for our industry partners.

“The university is very intentionally building programmatic pathways to support student success from high school through college and beyond,” said Provost Joe Berger. “We are immensely grateful to our partners who are engaging in this vital work with us.”

UMass Boston is working with Boston Public Schools to launch early college pilot programs at three high schools, giving students access to instruction, support services, mentoring, and tutoring from UMass Boston faculty, advisors, and students. In December, the Smith Family Foundation pledged $1.9 million to support these programs over the next three academic years. The State Street Foundation is supporting the current pilot phase with an initial $150,000 investment.

In December, the McMillan-Stewart Foundation established a $900,000 endowed scholarship program for students graduating from Boston public schools.

Software developer MathWorks gave $1 million in September to launch the MathWorks Scholars Program, which, starting this fall, will provide scholarships and dedicated academic advising and career-readiness training for students with a variety of MathWorks-aligned career interests.

In December, an anonymous foundation pledged $1.2 million to implement best practices in data-informed academic and career advising.

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COLLEGE

COLLEGE

STUDENT

CAREER

PREPARATION

ACCESS

SUCCESS

READINESS

258

MEALS For students and their families

233

DONORS Alumni, parents, faculty, and staff

$25,861 RAISED

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UMass Boston students experience food insecurity

1,253

U-ACCESS food pantry orders during 2021–22 academic year

2,094

U-ACCESS food pantry orders during 2022–23 fall semester Since 2013, UMass Boston’s U-ACCESS food pantry has provided emergency grocery items and supplies to students with limited access to healthy meals.

Learn more at www.umb.edu/uaccess.

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Student’s Princess Program Goes Global

INCE 2017, nursing student Alyssa Banks ’23 has led the Princess Program Foundation, a nonprofit organization that brings magic to the lives of children battling serious illnesses through one-on-one hospital visits with volunteers dressed as their favorite princesses and superheroes. The organization was initially inspired by a conversation Banks once had with a child who said she would “never get to go to Disney.”

The COVID-19 pandemic forced Banks to adapt the program to virtual Zoom meetings but the program was able to return to in-hospital visits last spring.

For one of their first visits, UMass Boston students traveled to Advent Health for Children in Orlando, Florida. Lauren McGuirk ’24, a criminal justice and psychology major, dressed as Elsa from Frozen and visited individual hospital rooms, where she colored with the children and handed out toys donated from supporters.

“Being around children who are so brave and strong and being able to give them even a moment of joy is something I want to be able to happen for as many others as possible,” McGuirk said. “Every time I volunteer, it’s more fulfilling than the last.”

There’s something special about an inperson visit, Banks said, but she has no plans to stop the Zoom meetings, which have allowed the foundation to reach over 5,000 children in the U.S. and around the world so far.

“It’s really incredible if you stop and think about the possibilities in a virtual world,” she said. “Just the other day, the Beauty princess had a call with a child from Poland, who was overjoyed getting to talk to her favorite character.”

Continuing with the global reach, the foundation is now giving children a “brave buddy,” a doll created by Bravery Buddies, a nonprofit based in Australia. The doll matches the child’s eye and skin color—and change in

University Welcomes New Education Dean Tara L. Parker has been named CEHD, my academic home for so many dean of the College of years,” said Dean Parker. “I look Education and Human forward to continuing to work with Development (CEHD). our students, faculty, and staff to Dean Parker, professor of advance these commitments in higher education in the our research, teaching, and leadership education practice.” department, has held Dean Parker is the co-author of several leadership roles at the three books and multiple peeruniversity, including department reviewed articles and chapters. She is a chair and interim dean. board member of the United Way of “We are very fortunate to have Tara stepping Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley as well into this critical role,” said Provost Joseph Berger. as Another Course to College. She serves on the “To get a leader who knows UMass Boston so well, editorial board of the American Educational who is an expert in higher education, who has Research Journal and is a member of Delta Sigma devoted their career and their scholarship to Theta, Inc. inclusive excellence, anti-racism, and enhancing Dean Parker earned a doctorate in higher higher education, particularly in terms of access education from New York University, a master’s and opportunity—Tara is the ideal leader to steer in higher education administration from the CEHD into the future.”

University of Minnesota, and a bachelor’s degree “I am incredibly honored to serve as dean of in communications from Marist College.

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hair, because of chemotherapy treatments.

Banks said the goal with the new dolls is to remind the children that they are beautiful, strong, and can handle anything.

“It’s groundbreaking to see the connection the children have with these characters,” she said. “They provide something that is unmatched. I wish we could all see the world through a child’s eyes.”

“ UMass Boston is proud to work with Amazon and their employees to help make their goal of obtaining a college degree possible.”

John Drew, Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management, on UMass Boston becoming a partner in Amazon’s Career Choice program, which provides eligible workers up to $5,250 per year in tuition assistance at participating universities.

Spring 2023

Student Q&A: Beeban Jikiemi-Pearson ’26 A sport leadership major, Beeban calls opening her acceptance letter to UMass Boston her “proudest moment.” She relocated from England to fulfill her dream of becoming a student-athlete as a guard on the women's basketball team.

Q: What made you choose UMass Boston?

A multicultural learning environment was important

Q: Who at UMass Boston has had the most influence on your life?

to me when I was looking at universities and UMass

My teammates and friends have had the most

Boston is the third-most diverse school in the United

influence on my life here. They have been so

States. As someone coming from a different culture,

welcoming and caring. And they have always

I felt it would mean I would be accepted and wel-

been as enthusiastic about learning

comed—and I am glad to say that I was. I came to

about my life and culture as they

Boston as part of a trip with my high school basket-

have been about introducing me

ball team in 2019 and absolutely loved it. The city

to theirs.

reminds me a lot of London through the architecture. in the heart of it stood out to me. I knew I would

Q: What are your goals after graduation?

be able to enjoy the city but also experience a

I have always been

completely new lifestyle of living on the coast.

really interested in

The campus being so close to the city without being

sports economics

Q: What has it been like to attend a university in the United States?

and how that

It has been really refreshing to learn a range of sub-

statistics and analytics,

jects again. For example, this semester I took courses

even before applying to

in young adult literature, Black history, and women

UMass Boston. I would love

and gender studies. The biggest change is living away

to pursue that after graduation.

from home and not being able to see my family when-

Boston is home to the MIT Sloane

ever I want. It has been hard. But my teammates and

Sports Analytics Conference, where

coaches and other athletic staff have been support-

students, researchers, and industry

ive and understanding and made it easier for me to

professionals discuss the increasing

adjust and find what works for me.

role of analytics in the sports industry.

coincides with sports

Having the opportunity to study

Q: What is one of your favorite moments at UMass Boston?

here feels like the perfect place to pursue this interest.

Volunteering with my teammates at a local elementary

to feel part of the community and I even got to go

Q: What would you tell an international student considering UMass Boston?

through the haunted house. It was surprisingly scary.

UMass Boston is super

school on Halloween and helping to set up and supervise the games for the children. It was nice

diverse, which has made

Beacons

Q: What has been your most memorable experience as a Beacon?

it a forward-thinking and

Going to New York with my team for an in-season

It is also in a beautiful,

tournament. I got to bond with my team and explore

historic city with many

such an amazing city with them.

things to do.

welcoming place to study.

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Last winter, the UMass Boston Choruses explored centuries of music by women composers through a concert called “Women Listen.” “The voices of women throughout history have been raised, the level of artistic achievement has been significant, but too often, particularly in music history, they rarely receive the amplification they should,” said chorus conductor David Giessow. “This concert doesn’t seek to correct that, as no one evening of music could, but it is as a conscious choice to explore compositions by women throughout history in a way that feels relevant for this moment.”

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Spring 2023

This program was sponsored by the Alumni Association. Each year, the Alumni Board of Directors grants over $20,000 in sponsorship funds for student and faculty programming.

The Tea

Getting to Know Melissa Shook: Inside and Out An art exhibition showcasing the works of the late Professor Emerita Melissa Shook brought together art appreciators from all over the Boston area earlier this year.

Presented in a two-part retrospective at the University Hall Gallery and in the Walter Grossman Memorial Gallery, Melissa Shook: Inside and Out ran through September 2022, with a closing reception and exhibition catalogue launch in January 2023. In that time, more than 500 people visited the exhibition, many of whom were former students or colleagues of the professor, who passed away in 2020.

Gallery director Sam Toabe, who co-curated the collection alongside art history senior lecturer Carol G.J. Scollans ’84, said this number is a testament to the respect and admiration Shook garnered throughout her esteemed career. Shook joined UMass Boston in 1979, teaching photography in the Department of Art & Art History and

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leaving an indelible mark on the department’s pedagogy, as well as generations of students.

“She dedicated over 30 years of her life to teaching at UMass Boston,” said Toabe. “Because of her commitment, both to the department and the university, it’s important to honor her and to see the effect that she had on our department. She was so important to generations of faculty and students.”

Shook was best known for her self-portraits and documentary-style photography representing and humanizing marginalized communities.

Throughout her career, her practice expanded to include writing, book making, drawing, sculpture, video art, and social practice art through direct action and mutual aid projects.

Shook’s daughter, Kristina, said seeing her mother’s work on display was a “profound and deeply emotional experience.”

“The thoughtful curation highlighted my mother’s wide range of photography, expansive art, and personal ephemera,” she said. “I will always remember the University Hall Gallery and the Grossmann Gallery exhibition with fondness and heartfelt appreciation for those who made it such a success.”

Shook’s exhibition was launched contemporaneously with the establishment of the Melissa Shook Documentary Photography Award, which was made possible with a generous gift from Nancy Lutz ’82 and her husband, Wendell. The fund will provide an annual prize to one or more students who have demonstrated exceptional skill or promise in photography. “[Shook] instilled in me a lifetime passion for and commitment to the world of images,” said Lutz. “To celebrate Melissa’s impact on me and so many others through her generous teaching and unparalleled photographic work, I established this award.”

Spring 2023

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Alumni and Faculty Bookshelf

English professor Askold Melnyczuk tells eight different stories in The Man Who Would Not Bow. The book follows a journalist in a Middle Eastern war zone, an unemployed actor struggling with elder care, members of a commune planning to kidnap a priest, a torturer’s mother, and Nikolai Gogol wrestling with his angels and demons. Melnyczuk has published four novels that have variously been named a New York Times Notable, an LA Times Best Book of the Year, and a Booklist Editors' Choice by the American Library Association. He has received a three-year Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Writers' Award in Fiction, and the George Garrett Award from the Association of Writers & Writing Programs for his contributions to the literary community.

In Just River, Sara B. Fraser G’99 tells the story of Sam, a cross-dresser with a voice like Tina Turner, and his best friend, Carol, a cashier who stress eats. Together the two prove their mettle when trying to save Carol’s wrongfully imprisoned daughter, Garnet. Just River is currently a finalist in the following contests: 2021 Foreword Indies adult fiction finalist (humor); 2021 SPR Book Awards finalist; 2022 Maxy Awards literary-humor runner-up; 2022 American Fiction Award winner (humor/comedy/satire); 2022 IAN Book of the Year finalist (general fiction & LGBTQ fiction); and 2022 American Writing Awards finalist (general fiction & humor).

Beacons

The characters in Northwest of Boston, written by Stephen O’Connor’s G’89, fully live the human drama in stories that range from the humorous to the poignant.

They go to the crossroads to face their demons, come to terms with the fleeting nature of life and love, and find the courage to follow their own compass. For some, that means an evolution, for others, a steadfast embrace of a world that is passing away. O’Connor has published stories in numerous literary journals.

His work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He lives in Lowell, Massachusetts, with his wife and two children. He is also the author of the soon-to-be-published historical novel The Spy in the City of Books.

In Urban Rehearsals and Novel Plots in the Early American City, English professor Betsy Klimasmith sheds new light on the literature of the early U.S. by exploring how literature, theater, architecture, and images worked together to allow readers to imagine themselves as urbanites even before cities developed. In the four decades following the Revolutionary War, the new nation was a loose network of nascent cities connected by print. Before a national culture could develop, local city cultures had to take shape. Literary texts played key roles in helping new Americans become city people.

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Deep Dive into Blue Tech

With a major state grant and new collaborations, UMass Boston is becoming a Hub hotspot for emerging ocean technology.

here is an ocean of opportunity off the coast of Columbia Point. The marine environment that covers 70 percent of the globe is home to a booming ocean-based economy.

The rising demand for tools to support ocean exploration, aquaculture, offshore wind power, coastal resilience, and more is creating a tremendous need for innovations in what’s known as blue technology.

The commonwealth is looking to UMass Boston to help make those advances happen. Last October, the Massachusetts Seaport Economic Council awarded the university a $820,000 innovation grant to bring new research and development tools to campus and spur engagement with blue tech startups. The funding will also expand the university’s existing partnership with Boston-based SeaAhead, an organization

launched in 2018 to support startups focused on innovation and sustainability in the world’s oceans.

“We are thrilled to be launching Project BEACON with support from the Seaport Economic Council,” said UMass Boston Provost Joseph Berger. “Climate equity is a strategic priority for UMass Boston, and this partnership with SeaAhead is an ideal opportunity for us to advance the blue tech economy and contribute to the sustainability of our oceans and coastal areas.”

The grant, spearheaded by School for the Environment Interim Dean Bob Chen, will launch Project BEACON (Blue tech, Energy, Aquaculture Coastal and Ocean Needs), an initiative to boost the core facilities at UMass Boston to better support small blue tech companies and entrepreneurs who need advanced facilities

to construct, test, and launch prototypes. Startups will be able to access an array of upgraded resources here, including a machine shop, a field prep facility, and increased direct waterfront access via the Fox Point Dock. The grant also allows for the purchase of a particle-size analyzer and an autonomous surface vessel for much-needed ocean floor mapping in the region.

Boosting the state’s R&D infrastructure was a key part of former Governor Charlie Baker’s administration’s economic development efforts, and creating opportunities for students is also a goal of the grant.

“SeaAhead was formed around the concept of creating a new blue tech economic cluster in New England,” said Alissa Peterson, cofounder and executive director of SeaAhead. “The BEACON project will accelerate this effort

Leaders of the Stone Living Lab and Living Seawalls met in December to discuss their new collaboration in Boston Harbor.

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Spring 2023

The Tea

by providing access to critically needed infrastructure for the startups. The proximity of these startups will also create career opportunities for the diverse pool of talented students that attend UMass.”

Interim Dean Chen hopes Project BEACON will introduce opportunities for students to get to know and learn from an entrepreneurial mindset. He is confident that blue tech innovation has found a natural home at UMass Boston.

“Boston is an ideal place in the nation to do blue tech,” he said.

“The brain power here is incredible. We’re a major coastal urban city with a demographic that has been left out of ocean blue tech.

And UMass Boston is unique within Boston—the public research university, on the T, with entry into Boston Harbor and the ocean.

We are the portal.”

Beacons

WALLS TO WILDERNESS The Stone Living Lab and Living Seawalls plan to turn Boston Harbor’s hardscapes into thriving habitats The Australian blue tech

The modular panels are

to discover, spotlight, and scale

company Living Seawalls and

designed for “bringing life back

up groundbreaking solutions to

Boston’s Stone Living

to built structures,” said

global environmental challenges

Lab announced on December 1,

Katherine Dafforn, associate

in five key categories. In 2021,

2022, that they will partner for

professor at Macquarie

Living Seawalls was named a

an ecological restoration

University and cofounder of the

finalist for the Earthshot Prize

project on Boston Harbor’s

Living Seawalls project. These

to Revive our Oceans.

coastal seawalls to support the

habitat units feature various

“Construction is a growing

region’s climate resiliency

bumps, ridges, and holes that

source of biodiversity loss in

efforts.

mimic natural shoreline

our seas,” said Dafforn. “This

The Stone Living Lab—a

ecosystems like rock pools and

project will showcase the

collaboration among UMass

crevices. They will be fitted in

amazing benefits to be gained

Boston’s School for the

scalable mosaics onto existing

by designing built structures for

Environment, Boston Harbor

seawalls in Boston Harbor. The

both humans and nature.”

Now, the James M. and

goal is to increase the habitat

UMass Boston research has

Cathleen D. Stone Foundation,

area available for critical marine

shown that Boston Harbor’s

and local, state, and federal

life, such as shellfish, tunicates,

coastal communities are

government offices—was

and seaweed. They will also

threatened by coastal flooding,

established in 2020 to

protect marine life from elevated

a threat that will grow due to

research nature-based

temperatures and predators.

climate change. The university

approaches for building coastal

The partnership was

is “honored” to collaborate

resilience in waterfront urban

announced as Prince William

with Living Seawalls to test

areas like Boston. Later this

and his wife, Kate, the Duke

the power of their prototype

year, lab researchers will work

and Duchess of Cambridge,

“to help improve biodiversity

with community members to

visited Boston to celebrate

and manage flooding in

identify two sites in Boston

the Earthshot Prize. The

Boston Harbor,” said Paul

Harbor where concrete panels

international award, launched in

Kirshen, a School for the

from Living Seawalls will be

2020 by William and inspired by

Environment professor and

installed on existing seawall

President John F. Kennedy’s

research director of the Stone

structures.

Moonshot program, is designed

Living Lab.

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P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y E D C O L L I E R A N D J AV I E R R I VA S

B y Au st y n E l l e s e M a y f i e l d

a monumental

moment AMID A SLEW OF EXCITING INITIATIVES, INCLUDING THE RECENT UNVEILING OF THE EMBRACE MEMORIAL ON BOSTON COMMON, UMASS BOSTON ALUMNI PAUL ENGLISH AND IMARI PARIS JEFFRIES ARE KEY FIGURES IN THE WORK TO MAKE BOSTON A CITY FOR THE TIMES.

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Spring 2023

The Embrace memorial was created by artist Hank Willis Thomas and MASS Design Group and takes its inspiration from a 1964 photograph of the Kings, wrapped tightly in a hug at the news of Dr. King being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

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It

was an unseasonably warm January day as hundreds of people gathered on the Boston Common—the world’s oldest public park—for the unveiling of the world’s newest commemoration of the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. Known simply as “The Embrace,” the 19-ton bronze sculpture that features a rendering of the Kings’ lovingly intertwined arms stands two stories tall on a stone plaza, less than a mile from where the couple had their first date.

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Spring 2023

Embrace Boston Executive Director Imari Paris Jeffries ’97, G’99, G’03, PhD’23

For decades, the Kings’ connection to Boston and their Back Bay–based love story remained anecdotal at best, a footnote to their more chronicled civil rights work in the South. So, in September 2017, when entrepreneur and activist Paul English ’87, G’89, H’19 learned more about the story, he saw an opportunity.

“The country was facing an increase of nationalist rhetoric, a lot of racist rhetoric. And I wanted to do something here in our city,“ English said. “So, when I found out that Martin and Coretta actually met in Boston, I felt like we needed to celebrate that origin story more.”

Beacons

Proposals and calls for a prominent King memorial in Boston had been suggested over the years, but few had made it beyond the early ideation phase. English, who is self-admittedly “extremely action-oriented,” set up a $1 million seed fund for the project through The Boston Foundation and told then-Mayor Marty Walsh about the newly established fund the next day.

“I told him, ‘I’m going to go raise the rest of the money. I guarantee we’ll have the money to make this happen. Then [Walsh] announced it at a press conference a week later, and we became a real project,” said English.

With that, the organization that would ultimately come to be known as Embrace Boston was born. And while making good on the vision to commemorate the Kings through a physical monument remained a central goal, the work of Embrace Boston—much like the monument itself—has taken on a 360-degree approach to understanding and addressing race-based disparities in the greater Boston region.

“At its core, Embrace Boston is a racial equity organization,” explained Imari Paris Jeffries ’97, G’99, G’03, PhD’23, who has served as the

executive director and de facto lead fundraiser for the organization since 17

June 2020. “And so, our work is through research and policy and directly through arts and culture to address the harms of racism on a citywide and, in some cases, statewide level.”

According to its mission statement, the multi-hyphenate organization has positioned itself “at the intersection of arts and culture, community, and research to dismantle structural racism.” In the pursuit of a “radically inclusive and equitable Boston,” various initiatives, ranging from economic development to festivals and reparations carve out a path toward that end. Plans are already in the works to develop a parcel of land adjacent to Roxbury’s Nubian Square for the future location of the Embrace Center, which will serve as a public cultural hub. The space will include exhibitions, a performance space, theaters, year-round gathering and workspace, and commercial spaces for lease by Black-owned dining establishments and businesses. In 2023, Embrace Boston hopes to unveil a data-rich well-being dashboard to provide asset-based framing of where the city stands regarding current equity benchmarks and set a direction for closing those gaps as Boston approaches historic milestones.

“The Pilgrims landed in Plymouth in 1620, and then, 10 years later, the town of Boston was founded in 1630.

So, these are kind of big ‘birthdays’ occurring in our country and in our region, and we’re at the center of it,” said Paris Jeffries, reflecting on the timeliness of the work. “We can use these anniversaries as markers. They are chances to ask ourselves, does Boston look demonstratively different 400 years later, not only in harm mitigation, but in how we are improving the very access to well-being?”

18

“ UMass Boston people tend to be pragmatic and open-minded and hard workers. Imari had that great UMass Boston background. And we locked in on the vision really quickly. So [when he joined Embrace Boston], I knew I was getting a brother and somebody who could help me with and lead this mission.”

—PAUL ENGLISH

Spring 2023

Beacon luminaries shine on 1965 Freedom Plaza On April 23, 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. led a freedom march from Roxbury to the Boston Common. A crowd of more than 22,000 people came to hear him speak in what is still one of the city’s largest civil rights demonstrations. In commemoration of that day, The Embrace sculpture is situated on the 1965 Freedom Plaza that celebrates 69 civil rights and social justice leaders who were active in the Boston area between 1950 and 1975. The legacies of these seven UMass Boston alumni are honored on the plaza.

Ruth M. Batson H’93, School desegregation leader Demita Frazier ’82, Black feminist pioneer Henry Hampton H’90, Civil rights documentary filmmaker Rev. Dr. Michael E. Haynes H’94, Twelfth Baptist minister and community trailblazer Mimi Jones ’71, Educator and civil rights activist Melvin “Mel” H. King G’52, H’14, Educator and activist Jean McGuire ’61, Educator and education leader

To learn more about these path-breaking Beacons, visit stories.embraceboston.org/heroes

Embrace Boston founder Paul English ’87, G’89, H’19

That improvement in quality of life and access to well-being for those who have been marginalized is tantamount for both English and Paris Jeffries. And whether recalling the work that led to the completed installation of the monument or thinking ahead to upcoming initiatives, Paris Jeffries is always quick to center the impact of community and the collective as both the focus of the work and the key to its success and sustainability.

“I’ve heard thousands of stories from people while doing this work— their own experiences with Dr. King or Mrs. King, their own favorite quotes. The Embrace serves as a holding place for all those stories,” he said, “not just the Kings, and not just the 69 who are memorialized on the plaza. It took a lot of people’s time, talent, and treasure to build the monument. Beloved community is built through this work because it isn’t just one or two benefactors.”

When considering what it means to build an organization with long-term impact at its core, there’s also a special alignment Paris Jeffries sees in this work through his lens as a member of the Beacon community.

“I think it’s important that we create places that future generations can also benefit from in ways that their society at the time will need,” he said. “From my bachelor’s degree to my graduate work, and even as a trustee, UMass Boston has meant different things to me at different points in my life. And I know it will for other people too. It has evolved and stayed familiar, simultaneously.

Those are values that are important— to be an institute for the present and the future. And I think that’s what Paul and I and others are attempting to create at Embrace Boston, a place that one day will be relevant to a different generation of people in a different way.”

19

BEYOND THE BAGPIPES

20

Spring 2023

KEN CASEY ’22 TALKS BOSTON, MUSIC, AND HOW A FOCUS ON EDUCATION HELPED HIM REWRITE HIS OWN MURPHY’S LAW.

By Crystal Valencia G’14

Beacons

21

When Ken Casey ’22 first attended UMass Boston almost three decades ago, he was admittedly just a kid getting his wits about him, working construction by day, bartending nights, and studying to become a special education teacher.

THAT IS UNTIL THE DARE. “I was 24 years old and a junior. I had never played music.

One of the bartenders, he says, ‘You’re always talking about starting a band. My band has a show in three weeks.

I dare you to open for us,’” Casey recalled. “We put together a band, just as a joke.”

Casey gathered his friends, learned a few songs, and played a 30-minute set in the basement of a friend’s barbershop. And just like that, out of a dare, the Dropkick Murphys were formed. By the next year, Casey had left school and the band was touring the U.S. and Europe as the opening act for The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.

“And here we are, 27 years later. Don’t ask me how the hell that happened,” Casey said. “But be careful. You be careful what you ask for.”

Casey and the Dropkick Murphys have worked hard to accomplish what many musicians find impossible to achieve—becoming an international powerhouse while staying true to their roots. They remain Boston’s hometown heroes, with their unique brand of Celtic punk rock blasting from the speakers at Fenway Park or the TD Garden as a rallying cry for the city’s sports teams. Their tour schedule is relentless and their St. Patrick’s Day concerts are legendary.

Their success catapulted after their hit single, “I’m Shipping Up to Boston,” was featured in Martin 22

Scorsese’s 2006 crime thriller The Departed, and their remake of “Tessie” is an anthem you’ve likely sung along with at a Red Sox game.

Throughout it all, finishing his degree at UMass Boston was always in the back of Casey’s mind.

“It had always been a goal to finish my degree, just for the sake of completing it, for my own pride, I suppose,” Casey said. “And my oldest child is now a junior at Stonehill College, and I was like, ‘You know what? I’m not going to let her beat me! I’m gonna get it first.’”

He finally got the chance during the pandemic, when life—and touring—came to a standstill, and all university classes went remote.

“There were always some classes I was going to need to actually attend in person, and I just knew with my schedule, and touring, I could never do it,” he said.

“During the pandemic, I said, ‘Well, it’s now or never, and obviously we might as well make something good out of a bad situation.’”

He graduated with his American studies degree last year, and he says he “took so much more in” this go-around.

“I felt like I was getting more enjoyment out of those lessons than the average kid who knew nothing about music,” Casey said. “Because I always need to learn more.

The music industry is changing at a rapid pace, so sometimes I was just sitting back and like, man, this is so much more beneficial for me.”

He even got to share his experiences with classmates, when halfway through the spring semester, American studies Professor Jeffrey Melnick invited Casey to take over his Social History of Popular Music class.

Spring 2023

“I had a unique perspective on some of what we were already talking about in class, so it was kind of cool,” Casey said.

Rewriting Murphy’s Law Murphy’s Law states that “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong,” and Casey has more than a few stories to prove that true. Broken-down buses. Closed borders.

Wipeouts on stage.

“It’s a lot of work. We’re a pretty big operation in terms of band members and crew,” Casey said. “But all in all, we’ve been really fortunate as a band. We work hard though, you know, and hard work pays off.”

Casey’s hard work has brought him in directions he never would have dreamed of 30 years ago. Aside from the Dropkicks, he is co-owner of Dorchester’s Lower Mills Tavern and the Yellow Door Taqueria, which recently opened its third location in Mission Hill. And there’s the Claddagh Fund, which Casey and his bandmates founded in 2009 to support charities for children, veterans, and those recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. In 2015, Casey donated $10,000 to UMass Boston’s William Joiner Institute in support of its veterans community outreach programs.

Casey is also known for using his platform to speak out against social injustice, racism, fascism, and abuse of political power.

“When I see direct fascism coming up from under the rock that it was buried under, it’s like I was always taught, you have to speak up,” Casey said. “I just think that if we ever get to a point where people are afraid to speak up about what’s right, then we’ve already lost, you know.”

That antifascist message runs through their two latest albums, This Machine Still Kills Fascists and the just-released Okemah Rising, which interpret the work of folk legend Woody Guthrie, who the band calls the original rebel. Casey and his bandmates collaborated with Guthrie’s daughter Nora and her son, Cole, to choose some of Guthrie’s lyrics that had never been heard or put to music.

While Guthrie wrote and sang from the 1930s to 1950s, famously scribbling “This machine kills fascists” on his acoustic guitar, many of his lyrics still resonate.

“It’s scary that what he was speaking about then has come back around. But everything happens for a reason because this is right when these albums needed to happen. Woody’s messages are needed more than ever right now.”

Playing acoustic sets have been a new challenge for Casey, who has typically played for throbbing crowds of fans screaming back his lyrics.

Beacons

“I remember the first few shows we came out and people were just in their seats, and we almost had an anxiety attack on the first song. I feel like I’m more like in a play than in a rock show. But it was great, you know . . . any time you’re coming out of your comfort zone, it’s a good thing.”

Casey sees this new acoustic side as something to possibly transition to in another 10 years. “We’re pretty high energy now, and I don’t know how graceful you can be playing high-energy punk rock in your 60s and 70s,” he joked.

Twelve albums in, Casey plans to keep that now almost three-decades-old dare going as long as he can.

“We’ve already gone about 27 years longer than I ever thought. I’m only in my early 50s . . . and the other guys are even younger than me, so you know, we’ll go hard for another 10 years and assess.”

“And then maybe I’ll get my master’s,” Casey said, laughing.

23

PICTURE PERFECT

Paul Martineau ’98 Named Curator of Photographs at the Getty Museum

BY STEVEN WHITTEMORE

Growing up in Methuen, Paul Martineau ’98 was raised

he worked at the Clark Art Institute, and then worked for

on the same street as his grandparents, who owned and

the Société française de photographie in Paris, France.

operated an egg farm. His plan was to enter the world of

He returned to the United States in 2003 to be curatorial

international relations, and he took honors and college

assistant in the department of photographs at the J. Paul

preparatory classes at Methuen public schools.

Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California.

But it wasn’t until he was 25 and holding down

Named curator of photographs in 2021, Martineau

several restaurant jobs that he landed at UMass

manages and develops the Getty’s photograph collec-

Boston and realized where his passions lay. Enrolled

tion of over 150,000 objects by learning about the artists,

as a history major, he happened to register for an art

courting collectors and donors, and making purchases.

history class with world-renowned art professor Anne

He also writes the publications for most of the pho-

McCauley. This was the class that forever changed the

tograph exhibitions he organizes, coordinates both the

direction of his career.

multicultural undergraduate internship program and the

Martineau immediately switched majors to art history and threw himself into the curriculum. “Although my con-

graduate internship program, and oversees the Getty’s guest scholar program for the department.

centration was in the history of art, I was required to take

The highlight of Martineau’s career thus far has

three studio courses, so I took drawing, printmaking, and

been welcoming McCauley to serve as a guest scholar

photography,” he said. “Those classes rocked. Each proj-

at the Getty. She spent three months in residence at

ect in each class was a new challenge where I was trying

the museum doing research.

to top what I did before. It was exciting and interesting, and I wanted to outdo myself each time.”

“I never thought it possible that I would be able to help her,” said Martineau, who was also able to include an

He built relationships with other UMass Boston art

essay from McCauley in his book Icons of Style: A Centu-

professors, including Monet expert Paul Tucker. But it

ry of Fashion Photography, which was published in 2018.

was McCauley who would become his mentor and ad-

Martineau is author or coauthor of nearly a dozen books.

vise him through his college years. Martineau graduated

Like many other UMass Boston students, Martineau

summa cum laude with his bachelor’s in art in May 1998.

worked hard, took advantage of opportunities presented

After graduating, Martineau worked for two years in

to him, built lifelong relationships, and found career

the research library at the Museum of Fine Arts in Bos-

success.

ton. While he really enjoyed the experience, he felt he

He describes his experience at UMass Boston as

was leaving his full potential on the drawing board, so to

“foundational,” saying it played a “crucial” role in the

speak, and he decided to pursue a graduate degree to

trajectory of his career and success.

land his dream job: curator for a major museum.

“It was at UMass Boston that I really discovered what

Martineau applied to several graduate programs and

I wanted to do,” Martineau said. He credits the faculty

ultimately chose Williams College’s rigorous and presti-

and the mentorship he received for much of his journey

gious history of art master’s program. While at Williams,

and success.

Beacons

25

Splash MAKING A

By Vanessa Chatterley | Illustration by Louisa Cannell

SOFYA GRAY ’16 has long been an advocate of environmental sustain-

ability. It’s something she can trace all the way back to one of her first economics classes at UMass Boston with Nurul Aman, PhD.

“He was talking about issues like pollution and recycling. And he guid-

ed me into thinking about plastic waste. That was my first encounter

with the issue,” said Gray, who graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in economics. “He made me think about the importance of recycling and the danger of waste pollution overall.”

That lesson came rushing back to Gray a few years later when she and her husband set sail along the New England coast, from Long Island Sound to Rockport, Massachusetts. It was Gray’s first time being aboard a sailboat, and she was excited to take up a new hobby with her husband.

But what should have been a fun afternoon quickly turned into a horrifying reality once she noticed all the plastic waste floating in the ocean.

Gray’s first time sailing was an unforgettable experience—for all the wrong reasons.

“I started spotting birthday balloons at sea. Later, when we sailed more in Massachusetts Bay, I noticed grocery store plastic bags, cans, ziplock bags, plastic water bottles, candy wrappers. Any time I saw trash, I tried to pick it up. I was thinking about the marine animals who could potentially consume plastic products, even micro parts, and hurt themselves. I remember thinking, ‘Oh, it all makes sense now. It’s not just in a textbook.’”

26

Spring 2023

A SEA OF PLASTIC

According to the National Geographic Society, more than 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris litter the ocean today. That number is even more staggering when you consider the ongoing—and still somewhat unknown—effects that plastic waste has on marine life and on ocean ecosystems as a whole.

For Gray, this was more than just a wakeup call. It was time to take action.

“I decided maybe it’s my turn to start making a difference and address waste issues through a unique and creative way,” she said.

Gray spent six consecutive months living aboard a 32-foot Ericson sailboat—named Annamay after her late mother-in-law—with her husband and two dogs. During that time, she immersed herself in research, learning everything she could about sustainability issues and challenges that plague and threaten the environment. She returned to Rockport with an idea for a business startup, one that could reduce the amount of plastic waste floating in our oceans.

swimwear and uses 100 percent carbon neutral and vegan production techniques. Additionally, she works with volunteers from all over the world to spread awareness about plastic pollution and responsible waste disposal.

“We take serious actions to educate people about the danger of microplastic pollution at sea and proper disposal techniques of our products with respect to the environment,” said Gray.

Annamay’s overall mission is to empower women by creating comfortable swimwear from eco-friendly fabrics while simultaneously making the planet a cleaner place. To date, the swimwear has been promoted by popular YouTube channels Tula’s Endless Summer and Sailing Nandji; Sports Illustrated model Christie Valdiserri; and contestants from the 2019 Miss Massachusetts and Miss Hawaii pageants.

“I love seeing strong and powerful women supporting Annamay’s goal and liking what I am creating,” Gray said.

A ONE-PERSON START-UP

COMING FULL CIRCLE

That idea came to fruition in December 2019. After months of scrupulous research and planning, Gray launched her sustainable swimsuit line, aptly named Annamay, after the vessel that served as her home for half a year. The company produces reversible and seamless beachwear made from recycled materials, all handmade by Gray on Cape Ann. Annamay incorporates the circular economy model that Gray learned about in Aman’s class, which advocates for sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing, and recycling existing materials and products for as long as possible.

The company is focused on the ethical production of sustainable 28

Despite its success over the last few years, Annamay remains a oneperson operation. Gray manages all the arduous tasks that come with owning a clothing business, including designing, fabric sourcing, and outreach and marketing to promote brand awareness. She also takes on all of the seamstress and tailoring duties as well.

“Before starting Annamay, I was doing intensive upholstery work on our sailboat,” Gray said. “Everything needed to be redone, including the sails. I decided to do it myself and I absolutely loved the process. When I started Annamay, I only had this heavy-duty sewing machine for sail-making purposes. I came up with some creative techniques and was able to make quality clothes on it.”

FROM SIBERIA TO THE NORTH SHORE—AND THE WORLD

Gray has always been adventurous.

She hails from Yurga, a small town in Siberia, Russia, and immigrated to the United States to attend Quincy College before transferring to UMass Boston in 2015. After attending a job fair on campus, she landed a post-grad internship with the Boston City Council, working alongside politicians like City Councilor Tito Jackson, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, and State Attorney General Andrea Campbell.

In 2021, Gray was named to the Boston Business Journal’s 40 Under 40, an award that celebrates young professionals who have made an impact in their industries. Last year she was invited to serve as a mentor at Bizwomen Mentoring Monday, a national event sponsored by American City Business Journals.

Gray is currently a board member on the Rockport Cultural Council, which is funded and managed by the Massachusetts Cultural Council. It provides state grants and programming to promote excellence, access, education, and diversity in the arts, humanities, and interpretive sciences in every Massachusetts community.

“Joining Rockport Cultural Council is my way to enrich the Cape Ann community while promoting arts among the young population,”

said Gray, who is also a classically trained pianist.

She also works for the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin. In this role, Gray works with companies like The Kraft Group, fashion brand Rag & Bone, and other entities from all over the world.

“I take a special pride in being an essential state government employee working for a constitutional branch specializing in corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, and trusts,” said Gray. “My priority is to make sure that all businesses in our state are in good standing and operating smoothly.”

SETTING SIGHT ON THE FUTURE

Gray’s next plan for Annamay is to upcycle old sails to make quality grocery totes. Additionally, she hopes to expand on her mission of educating others about the dangers of plastic waste and spreading awareness of how people can practice sustainability in their own lives.

“They don’t really understand that it’s an issue right now. People think it’s going to affect us 50 years from now,” said Gray. “It’s really important to realize that it’s actually affecting us right now. We have to take action right now. Not 10 years from now, not 25 years from now.

Right now.”

Spring 2023

BEACON AWARDS HONOR ALUMNI FOR COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE IN COMMUNITY

The UMass Boston Alumni Association honored four alumni at its annual Beacon Awards Celebration on October 1.

The luncheon was hosted as part of the Office of Alumni Engagement’s inaugural Beacon Bash, a homecoming-style event for alumni and friends of UMass Boston.

The Beacon Awards comprise of the Emerging Leader Award, the Distinguished Alumni Award, and the Outstanding Service Award. The latter two awards acknowledge alumni from UMass Boston and its predecessor school, Boston State College. The awards celebrate alumni who have attained notable achievement and have made a lasting contribution to the university and in their professional, philanthropic, or volunteer endeavors.

Paul J. Dyson Jr. ’00

Tariana V. Little ’12, G’17

UMASS BOSTON DISTINGUISHED

UMASS BOSTON EMERGING

ALUMNI AWARD

LEADER AWARD

Paul has remained dedicated to the

Drawing from her deep

university through his professional

commitment to social justice,

life as a faculty member, teaching

Tariana co-founded the award-

eight or nine courses a year over

winning media and communications

the past decade. In 2020, he

company EmVision Productions in

received the very first Beacon

2013, which multiplies economic

Faculty Advisor of the Year

development and social change

Award for his commitment to the

impacts by exploring each client’s

part of the increasing refinement

for Children and the Graduate

university and its students. A U.S.

institutional goals and identifying

of the development model of

School of Education at Lesley

Army veteran, Paul has been a

how visual and digital media can

permanent supportive housing.

University. She founded and

longtime advisor and advocate

can further them. The Boston

While at UMass Boston, Robert

served as the first president of

for the UMass Boston Veterans

Foundation and Amplify Latinx

interned with late Mel King G’52,

Personal Advocacy and Lifetime

Center. He organized Veterans

are just two of the high-impact

H’14 as an organizer working in

Support, an organization that

Day Reading, an event where

organizations that have turned to

Roxbury. At UMass Boston, he

helps families plan for the future

veterans read their creative and

Tariana and EmVision to feature

advocated projects to increase

of their children with disabilities.

nonfiction writing to fellow vets

the work of visionary, collaborative

equity and inclusiveness at

She has served on several boards,

and civilians. Additionally, he

leaders to recognize talent while

the then-new campus. He has

including Cambridge Family and

devised many innovative courses

inspiring others. Tariana contributes

served as a panelist, presenter,

Children Services (now known

on veterans’ experiences for the

in many ways to organizations and

and moderator at countless

as Bridges Homeward) and the

Honors College, and taught related

causes that promote social justice

conferences over the years, with

New England Resource Center for

courses, such as an inspiring

knowledge about activism and

the mission of disseminating

Higher Education. She served on

seminar on war in literature. Paul

equity.

information and raising awareness

the Massachusetts State Board

has participated in the Boston

on topics such as affordable and

of Education, and was elected to

Marathon on the Run for Krystle

supportive housing.

represent Massachusetts on the

Team for the past seven years,

Beacons

Robert Sanborn ’81

Alumni Association Board President Kathleen Carten ’79 joins Chancellor Suarez-Orozco in congratulating this year’s recipients. (Left to right): Kathy Carten ’79; Robert Sanborn ’81; Anne Larkin ’59; Chancellor; Tariana V. Little ’12, G’17; Paul Dyson Jr. ’00.

National State Boards of Education.

raising over $40,000 for the

UMASS BOSTON OUTSTANDING

UMass Boston Krystle Campbell

SERVICE AWARD

Anne Scordino Larkin ’59

Scholarship Fund. Throughout his

Robert has dedicated his career

BOSTON STATE COLLEGE

arts in special education, school

time at UMass Boston, both as

to the development of housing

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD

restructuring, and early literacy.

an alumnus and faculty member,

solutions for homeless people

Paul has showcased leadership,

A graduate of Boston Teachers

with disabilities. In addition to

dedication, and innovation to the

College, Anne is a lifelong advocate

To read about previous Beacon

overseeing development of over

UMass Boston community.

of education and, in particular,

Awards recipients and learn how

2,500 special needs housing units,

special education. She has held

to nominate a UMass Boston

Robert has built organizations,

professorships in the Lesley

or Boston State College alum,

created connections, and been a

College Laboratory Schools

please visit umb.edu/AAA.

Anne has published numerous articles on autism, the role of the

29

Class notes 1960s

1980s

Joe Casey ’69 began teaching at Masconomet Regional School District

Thomas Stocker ’85, a visual artist, is

underserved communities through

working with the Museum of Science in

academic training and service-year

Paul Anastas ’84, H’18 and John

Boston to establish a memorial to Boston

programs. This new role recognizes the

Warner ’84, pioneers of green chemistry,

native Leonard Nimoy, who was most

increased scope and the impact of the

after graduating from Boston State

received the August Wilhelm von

famously known for playing Spock in the

college’s academic training, agency

College. Over the years, he has worn

Hofmann Commemorative Medal from the

Star Trek franchise for almost 50 years.

collaborations, scholarship funding,

many hats at Masconomet while coaching

German Chemical Society. They were

An 18-foot stainless steel sculpture of

research initiatives, student support, and

thousands of girls and boys. He started

honored at a special ceremony during the

Nimoy’s hand raised in the iconic Vulcan

innovations in this area.

with the boys’ basketball team right out of

eighth EuChemS Chemistry Congress.

salutation, “Live long and prosper,”

college, coaching for 22 years. He was

Anastas and Warner formulated 12

designed by Massachusetts sculptor

Catherine M. Weber ’99 received

the boys’ cross-country assistant coach

principles of green chemistry in their 1998

David Phillips, will be placed at the

funding for the seventh annual Art on the

when he was asked by head coach Larry

book, Green Chemistry: Theory and

entrance to the museum.

Trails project, which is mounted in the

Gregorchuk to start a cross-country

Practice.

program for girls. Now after 53 years, the

Beals Preserve in Southborough, Mass.

1990s

The project, which she founded in 2016, is a juried art exhibition and poetry

North Reading resident decided it was

Margaret J. Evans ’83 retired after

time to step down from coaching girls’

working 40 years at the Department of

Jim Gordon ’96 was appointed vice

program held each summer on the trails

cross-country.

the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service.

president at O’Neill and Associates LLC.

of the 55-acre property with the support

She had a long and storied career,

He brings 25 years of experience in

of the Southborough Open Land

1970s

climbing the ranks from determinations

government relations, within political

Foundation and funded by the

specialist to office correspondence

campaigns, and as an advisor to a U.S.

Southborough Community Fund. The

Laurence Donoghue ’77, an attorney

examiner and then to internal revenue

Representative, to his new role. With his

program culminates in September with a

at Morgan, Brown, and Joy LLP, was

agent, in 2005. She later accepted a

grasp of policy and processes, and

poetry reading, typically attended by

named to The Best Lawyers in America

position as a senior reviewer in EO

understanding of stakeholder outreach

over 100 people, and a chapbook that

2023 listing for Employment Law -

Mandatory Review. Upon her retirement

strategies, he guides clients through the

features art and poetry.

Management; Labor Law – Management;

in March 2021, she received the highest

maze of government and legislative

and Litigation - Labor and Employment.

honor given to a Department of the

initiatives. Gordon’s experiences in the

Philip Winterson ’90, managing director

Published by Woodward/White, Inc.,

Treasury employee: the prestigious

public and private sectors have served to

at Wells Fargo, was named high net worth

Best Lawyers is considered one of the

Albert Gallatin Award, signed by Janet L.

reinforce his philosophy that building

branch manager with the company.

oldest and most respected peer-

Yellen, the first woman Secretary of the

relationships and finding common ground

Winterson’s responsibilities include

review publications in the legal

Treasury.

is the key to success in any arena.

day-to-day operations of the Beverly Hills,

bachelor’s degree in political science

Carole Hughes ’83 was named a Pillar

Ed Meek ’98, who earned his bachelor’s

their 50 advisors. Winterson has been a

from UMass Boston.

of the Profession by the National

degree in English from UMass Boston, won

part of the Wells Fargo advisors

Association of Student Personnel

Berkshire Magazine’s Create 4 Freedoms

community for 16 years and has 32 years

Gina McCarthy ’76, former White House

Administrators (NASPA). The award is

Essay & Poetry Contest for his poem

of experience in the financial services

national climate advisor and U.S. EPA

given to those who have provided

“Freedom and the Dignity It Contains.”

industry. Prior to becoming a branch

administrator, and Lizzi Weyant, deputy

significant service to NASPA through

Meek is a writer who has published poems

manager, he served as a market leader in

executive director for public affairs and

regional and/or national leadership roles

and short stories. He is the author of Hide

San Diego. He holds a bachelor’s degree in

advocacy at the Metropolitan Area

within the association. They have

Tides, a collection of poems, and Luck, a

finance from UMass Boston.

Planning Council, will lead the transition

created a lasting impact on the

collection of short stories.

policy committee called “Climate

institutions where they have worked and

Readiness, Resiliency and Adaptation,”

leave a legacy of extraordinary service

Gemima St. Louis ’93, G’96, PhD’98

which will explore how Massachusetts

recognized by a cross-section of

has been promoted to vice president for

Jeffrey J. Brodeur ’01, CER’01,

confronts “the climate crisis head on while

stakeholders. Hughes has served in a

workforce initiatives and specialty training

CER’02, G’05, a former William Joiner

also creating good-paying jobs, protecting

variety of positions on the student affairs

at William James College. To date, the

Institute award recipient, was recently

our communities and addressing climate

staff at Boston College for the past three

college has raised more than $12 million in

re-elected national president of the

injustices.”

decades.

funding to support students from

Federally Chartered Korean War Veterans

Brentwood, and downtown LA offices and

profession. Donoghue earned his

30

2000s

Spring 2023

RASHEED WALTERS ’17 is a freelance writer, political commentator,

and historian specializing in politics and current events who was mentored by fellow alumnus and radio program NightSide host DAN REA ’70, H’08. Walters was an avid listener of Rea’s radio show and

would often call in to discuss his goal of pursuing a career in writing.

Rea was able to connect Walters with the editor of the Boston Herald, where Walters is currently an opinion columnist. He earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from UMass Boston and was a fellow for Boston Impact Initiative, a nonprofit focused on economic and racial justice. Walters is a member of Project 21, a national leadership network of Black conservatives, and resides in Boston.

Edna Monteiro Leith G’07, G’15 was

affairs manager, working closely with the

named to the Massachusetts Alliance of

foundation’s vice president for

Portuguese Speakers board of directors.

communications and public affairs. A

Leith’s involvement with the alliance

graduate of the Honors College at UMass

started in 2002 as a volunteer. Later, she

Boston, deBlecourt joins the foundation

became the senior manager of the

after two and a half years in the office of

Dorchester office and the domestic

Boston City Councilor Julia Mejia, where

violence and sexual assault program

he served as director of public policy and

director. Leith now works for Boston

communications.

Public Schools as a district multilingual and multicultural instructional coach,

Lily Diallo ’17 was hired as an account

supporting Cape Verdean Creole-speak-

executive at Denterlein, an independent

ing children with language barriers.

public relations agency. Diallo brings a unique understanding of a digital footprint

2010s

and online presence that can create reach efforts. A decorated Army veteran,

better brand awareness and marketing

Association. Brodeur was the first Korean

writes a monthly column for the

Rachael Belisle-Toler ’17 was named

demilitarized zone veteran ever elected

international business community that is

Ipswich Utilities’ water resource manager.

Diallo’s training as a supply sergeant for

national president and served on the

located in Italy.

She came to Ipswich from the Gloucester

Bravo Company, 2BSTB, 82nd Airborne

Korean DMZ with the U.S. Army’s 2nd

Health Department, where she worked as

Division gave her impeccable leadership

Infantry Division in the late 1980s.

Christine Vasquez Hortick ’02 won the

the assistant director after completing her

skills and attention to detail. Prior to

judicial election for the 225th District

master’s degree in community sustainability

Denterlein, Diallo worked as a social

Court in Bexar County, Texas. She was

from Michigan State University. In this role,

media analyst for Veracode.

senior vice president for the Washington,

sworn in on January 1, 2023. Hortick

Belisle-Toler will be responsible for taking a

DC, office of Mercury Public Affairs, a

graduated cum laude from UMass Boston

closer look at water use and management

Kevin Higgins ’15, who formerly served

with her bachelor’s in political science

in Ipswich while trying to engage with

as Representative Liz Miranda’s aide in

firm. He is frequently sought out by

and anthropology. She earned her law

residents and community partners.

the Massachusetts House of Representa-

individuals, institutions, and companies to

degree from St. Mary’s University School

advise them on how to maximize their

of Law and has served as an attorney for

Jacob deBlecourt ’19 was hired by the

newly elected State Senator Liz Miranda,

over 15 years.

Boston Foundation as its new public

of the 2nd Suffolk district, which consists

Patrick Costello ’04 was appointed

leading global, bipartisan public strategy

influence and impact in Washington. He

Beacons

tives, was appointed chief of staff to

31

Class notes

of Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, Hyde

Vietnamese community since October 2021,

Park, Jamaica Plain, Mission Hill,

has a new title: AAPI cultural liaison. He is

Roslindale, the South End, and Fenway.

one of four new staffers who have joined Boston City Hall’s Office of Neighborhood

Daud Kyarizov ’22, G’22 founded KoKo Coffee, a portable coffee shop, with the mission of simplifying the coffee

Philip Oates G’12, a former Watertown

Services, with a focus on sections of

middle school teacher and interim

Dorchester and the Cape Verdean and

experience for people who don’t have access to third-wave

principal at the Lowell School, received an

Asian American Pacific Islander communi-

coffee shops in their neighborhoods. Inspired by Kyarizov’s

honor from the Massachusetts School

ties. Tran has a degree in psychology from

passion for the beverage, the cafe serves caffeinated

Administrators’ Association for his work

UMass Boston. Before this role in

beverages, as well as pastries, breakfast, and lunch items. The

as assistant principal at Weston Middle

neighborhood services, he worked as a

menu is influenced by international cuisine, with hints of the

School. Oates has worked at the middle

specialist and paraprofessional in Boston public schools.

Mediterranean, the Middle East, and Central Asia. KoKo Coffee

school for the past six years. He has earned two master’s degrees, one in

plans to open locations in the Downtown Boston and South Boston neighborhoods. In addition to providing folks in the

secondary math education from UMass

Miran Velagic ’12 joined Cataldo

Boston, and one in organizational

Ambulance Service, Inc. as director of

management from Endicott College.

revenue cycle. Velagic and his family

works as a media director for Turkmen Yurt TV, which

Oates’ career in public education spans

emigrated from Bosnia in 1994 as war

promotes social justice and democracy in Turkmenistan, from

from middle to high school.

refugees and settled on the north shore of

where he originally hails.

Greater Boston area with their daily caffeine fix, Kyarizov also

Massachusetts. He graduated from UMass

Raymond Porch ’15, G’17 has been

Boston with his bachelor’s degree in

appointed to the position of director of

management and previously worked at

family and community engagement for

Harvard School of Dental Medicine. Velagic

Cambridge Public Schools. He has over

now resides in Malden, Mass., with his wife

20 years of experience in secondary and

and child and has served on the UMass

postsecondary education in public,

Boston Young Alumni Council since 2017 in

charter, private, and higher education

various roles, most recently as vice president.

organizations and settings. Prior to this role, Porch was the chief of diversity,

Elizabeth Proctor West ’19 received her

equity, and inclusion for Burlington Public

JD from Suffolk University Law School in

Schools in Massachusetts.

spring 2022 and began her law career as an associate attorney at Bay State IP, LLC

Tinesha Richardson ’18 received the

in Boston. A resident of Braintree, Mass., Liz

Profiles in Diversity Journal’s 2022 Black

is a member of the UMass Boston Young

Leadership Award. The award honors

Alumni Council and serves as chair of the

individuals who exhibit exceptional

Council’s Engagement Committee.

leadership, mentorship, and commitment to diversity and inclusion, both in the workplace and in their community. A

2020s

manager on Freddie Mac’s Single-Family

Angela Allison CER’20 won her first

Equitable Housing team, Richardson plays

election for Advisory Neighborhood

a key role in providing innovative solutions

Commission in Washington, DC. An

and strategic planning to eliminate the

Advisory Neighborhood Commission is a

homeownership gap for Black and Latino

non-partisan neighborhood body made up

families. She also serves as the cochair of

of locally elected representatives.

Freddie Mac’s ARISE Business Resource

Commissions were established under

Group, which provides personal and

Washington’s Home Rule Charter to bring

professional development programming

government closer to the people, and to

for employees in the African diaspora.

bring the people closer to government.

Kevin Tran ’18, a Dorchester native who

Héctor del Valle CER’21 was hired as the

has served as the neighborhood liaison

district translator for the Seminole County

for Fields Corner and the local

Public Schools. After successfully

32

Spring 2023

completing two semesters of UMass

April Overstreet CER’22 earned the

Boston’s Translation Certificate Program,

certified translator credential granted

Héctor passed the UMass Boston

by the American Translators

Translation Certificate Exam, which is

Association (ATA) in Spanish-to-En-

designed to determine whether a

glish translation, following her

candidate can produce a translation that

completion of her certificate in

is professionally usable within the

translation from UMass Boston in

framework provided by the translation

2022. To earn ATA certification, a

instructions. Before joining the program,

translator must pass a challenging

Héctor was a New York City Spanish high

three-hour proctored exam. The exam

school teacher for 22 years. He holds a

assesses the language skills of a

bachelor’s degree in secondary education

professional translator: comprehension

from the University of Puerto Rico and a

of the source-language text,

master’s in bilingual special education

translation techniques, and writing in

from Fordham University.

the target language.

Roman Davis ’14 began his career with the Old Colony YMCA in 2010 as a youth sports instructor and camp counselor. Over the course of a decade, the UMass Boston alumnus had been promoted a total of six times, ultimately serving as the senior executive director of the YMCA in Taunton, Mass. In an effort to provide more inclusive programming, Davis spearheaded a signature program called Y-Ability. He was awarded a Community Partnership Award for Inclusive Recreation from the Federation for Children with Special Needs. He also won the national 30 Under 30 Award from Y-USA for his community work around Y-Ability and diversity. Davis was recently appointed director of employee development and strategy at Jay Cashman Inc.

Emily Jean Silver G’14 was named a Boston Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree alongside her business partner. Silver is the cofounder of Newborn and Parenting Support (NAPS), which provides prenatal education and postnatal support services.

NAPS supports women throughout pregnancy and up through early childhood with an in-depth online learning platform, Nurture

by NAPS. It includes a wide array of virtual classes and consultations—and even in-home lactation and nursing care.

Silver began her career in general medicine before working as a labor and delivery nurse, where she met NAPS cofounder Jamie O’Day. While there, she received her master’s degree in nursing and became a family nurse practitioner, working in an OB-GYN office for several years before running NAPS full time with Jamie.

Beacons

33

In Memoriam

In Memoriam Since our last issue, it has saddened us to learn of the passing of the following members of the UMass Boston community.

34

ALUMNI

Anthony G. Ferzoco ’80

Cynthia Watkins Richardson ’72

Professor Carol K. Nectow

Robert Joseph Ahern ’72

Janet Ann Finigan Minihane G’73

Lynford M. Richardson ’99

Professor Cathryn A. Nelson

Lawrence Paul Auriemma ’82

Robert B. Foreman ’71

Constance A. Rinaldo ’76

Joseph J. Pasakarnis

Steven Michael Bachner ’92

Marguerite P. Freeman ’73

Michael Ring ’71

Professor Gregory L. Pierce

Peter F. Badger ’71

Paul F. Georges ’82

John Rodgers ’82

Dick Pleasants

Mary R. Barrett ’57, G’61

Elynor R. Gittens ’77

Joyce S. Dolberg Rowe ’77

Professor Dorothy T. Scanlon

Frederick J. Bass ’77

John T. Glynn ’76

Joseph F. Ryan ’64

T. Michael Sullivan Jr.

Margarita E. Bellotti ’80

Edward C. Goodstein G’91

Beverly L. Ryder ’78

Professor Emeritus Richard H. White

John J. Bernazzani ’75

Kenneth F. Gray G’60

Josephine Ryner ’74

James Wyse

Robert J. Betts ’02

Valerie Cynthia Gruber CER’88

Catherine Frisone Scott ’38, G’39

Jason K. Young

Cheryl Lee Blalock ’17

Barry W. Haley ’78

Pauline J. Sheehan G’61

Lee H. Blank ’77

Lorna E. Reedy Harrington ’84

James D. Silva G’82

FRIENDS

William Hamilton Borden Jr. ’96

John F. Harris ’54

Thomas Sisti ’68

Richard Baker P’22

Arthur J. Bowes ’69

Maria M. Harvey ’88

Ronald Smith ’71

Sayed Arif Faisal

John J. Broderick ’70

Patricia A. Hickey ’81

Margaret Snowden Stanley ’96

Douglas Footit

Sandra Weininger Calmas ’73, G’80

Karen Clarke Hodges ’68

Elizabeth A. Steeves ’51

Robert W. Foster

James R. Carney ’64

Harold C. Hughes G’82

Judith M. Steinkrauss ’72

Naomi Merker Gordon

William A. Carr G’63

Karen McSorley Imbalzano G’98

Barbara W. Stieglitz ’83

Vidyanand Karandikar

Kathleen P. Castagna ’02

Thomas W. Jenkins ’81

Richard Michael Stone ’09, G’11

Donald Lien

Pamela Olszyk Chance ’82

Ann F. Kavanagh ’77

Ann O’Mahony Sullivan ’57

Thomas Payzant

Mary M. Keough Ciccariello ’68

Ryan Parker Kelly ’19

Denise L. Sylvester ’76

Zachary Thomas Romania

Donald Clarke ’03

Michael R. LaFrennie ’94

Joseph F. Tarello ’64

Darryl Macaraig Sanchez

Robert F. Coiro ’77

Ronald F. LaPensee ’75

Sarah Anne Taylor G’18

Rosemarie E. Sansone

Carol Simon Collins ’81

June B. Grazado MacCarone ’62

Errol J. Terrell ’53

Marie F. Sisk

Mary B. Connolly ’64

Wayne Michael Majuri ’69

Louise Jalalian Tibets ’58

Anne Soraghan

Monica A. Cook ’70

Leo Paul Maloney ’69

Cynthia E. Tompson G’96

Louis Terkla

David A. Cox ’71

Constance Keavy Martin ’60

Rocco A. Toto ’72

Phyllis Terkla

Mary A. McCarthy Crosby ’94

Richard D. McCarthy ’82

Susan K. Washington ’77

Nathaniel Thayer

Edward A. Culkin ’77

Thomas L. McDonald Jr. ’60

Barbara S. Waters G’89

Alice Wolf

Francis X. Cullen ’69

Marion Louise McGann ’00, CER’00

Kenneth J. Weil ’69

Catherine Sestito Cummings ’51

Ellen M. McNamara G’94

Tyler James Whidden ’15

William Henry Dalzell ’93

Joyce A. McPhillips ’74

Leslie L. Whone ’78

John Herbert Davis ’81

Marian F. Merullo ’75

Charles A. Williams ’72

Karl J. Deschamps ’70

Barbara J. Mills ’69

Maurice Francis Worth G’75

Lon S. Dexter ’97, G’00

William A. Minkle ’89, G’91

Richard D. York ’02

Audrey C. DiMartino CER’90

Mary K. Herman Myers ’70

Barbara Doherty ’57

Stanley J. Norton ’84

FACULTY AND STAFF

Helen Margaret Donovan ’65

Linda A. O’Keefe ’78

Professor Emerita Bernice L. Auslander

Veronica Doskal ’69

Kevin T. O’Malley ’91

Professor Emerita Ann E. Berthoff

Edward W. Doyle ’68

Robert M. Palter ’01

William Clarke

Sandy Miller Dunphy ’58

Albert Patrick Jr. ’67

Professor Daniel Comenetz

Paul W. Evans ’71

David Patterson ’73

Professor Emerita Janet E. Duncan

Sandra M. Evans G’91

Sherell M. Pringle ’18

Professor Victoria Helen Kingsley G’99

Arthur R. Fallon ’69

Julia Elisabeth Rice ’82

Professor Catherine M. Manton

Spring 2023

In Memoriam

MARGARITA “MAGGIE” E. (WANG) BELLOTTI ’80 Maggie died peacefully at her home surrounded by her loved ones on December 26, 2022, at age 98. Maggie spent her youth in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, and met her future husband, Francis X. Bellotti, in Florida in 1948. They were married for 73 years and had 12 children. Maggie was the bedrock of her family and devoted supporter of her husband’s decades-long political career. Even with her large and active family, she returned to college to complete her degree at UMass Boston, and later earned a master’s degree from Cambridge College. She followed her heart to serve the disadvantaged and disenfranchised by working as a victim witness advocate at the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office and as a long-time board member of DOVE, an organization to end domestic violence. She loved music and was an avid piano player, playing well into her 90s. She volunteered at the gift shop at St. John’s Church, took Bible classes, learned to play bridge, taught English to Spanish-speaking children, and played in a local tennis group before hanging up her sneakers at the age of 88.

ARTHUR J. BOWES ’69 Art passed away peacefully on September 8, 2022. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army, serving his country during the Vietnam War. Art held various positions in the health care field, most recently as senior vice-president of human resources at Partners Healthcare. He served as adjunct professor of human resources at many colleges and universities in Boston, including UMass Boston, where he also taught courses in management and public policy. Art received his bachelor of science degree from Boston State College and an MBA from Suffolk University. He volunteered his time to his alma maters through service on the Board of Visitors, as a Chancellor’s Council Ambassador, on the Boston State College Steering Committee, and through Reunion Planning. He leaves behind his beloved wife of 44 years Pat (Campos) Bowes, his two daughters and their families, and his two sisters and their families.

CATHERINE “KAY” M. FRISONE SCOTT ’38, G’39 Kay passed peacefully in her home on December 22, 2022, at age 105. After a brief stint teaching in Northborough and Barnstable, she took a job at the MIT Radiation Laboratory, where she met her late husband, Elmer J. Scott. In 1958, Kay joined the faculty of Montgomery College, and retired in 1986 as a professor emerita of business education. She served on the advisory board of Housing Unlimited Inc., a Montgomery County nonprofit that ensures housing for adults with mental illness. She had also been a long-time active member of Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalists Congregation in Bethesda, Maryland, serving on the social justice council and the board for social justice. Kay was a noted philanthropist who generously supported UMass Boston, Montgomery College, Cedar Lane UU Church, Washington University in St. Louis, and the Smithsonian Institution, among others. In 2000, Kay established the Catherine F. Scott Educational Endowment Fund and in 2013, made a commitment to establish The Catherine Frisone Scott Center for Italian Cultural Studies in memory of her brother John B. Frisone.

Beacons

35

Alumni Events

Professor Emeritus Peter McClure and wife, Phoebe Blake, at the Providence, RI, reception.

Alumni and friends pose for a group photo at the Providence, RI, reception.

Participants of the UMass Boston Beacon 5K begin their run as part of the 2022 Beacon Bash.

Chancellor Suárez-Orozco addresses attendees at the Celebration of Philanthropy.

Jenifer Simpson ’84, CER’85 and Sean Denniston CER’07 chat by the fireplace in Washington, DC.

Chancellor Suárez-Orozco connects with Samantha Zeno ’21 and William Parker P’22 at the Washington, DC, reception.

36

Dr. Masahiko Minami and Hitomi Minami ’97 catch up with Kieko Shimizu ’92 in San Francisco.

Yuri Dagan ’13 and College of Management Dean Venky Venkatachalam pose for a picture at the Dean’s Welcome Reception.

Louis Elveus ’15 and Courtney Taylor pose for a photo in Los Angeles.

Spring 2023

Shauna Dacus ’20, Kyler Schelling, Katya Pearson ’20, Gerry Pass ’92, and Stephen Smiddy ’20 pose for a photo at the Los Angeles reception.

Chancellor Suárez-Orozco delivers remarks to San Diego alumni and friends.

Alumni celebrating the holidays at the annual Alumni Holiday Reception in Boston.

Ive Gonzalez ELP’14, Cathy Forest ’10, and Ronald Taylor ’98 serve on a panel at the Women in the Workplace event.

Beacons

Giovanni Lima ’18 and his guest view the beautiful sunset at the San Diego reception.

Chancellor Suárez-Orozco joins members of the Young Alumni Council for a photo at the Alumni Holiday Reception in Boston. (Left to right): Chancellor Suárez-Orozco, Elizabeth West ’19, David Manning ’15, Jacob Bohenko ’19, Guivens Andre ’20, Diana Tran ’21, Joseph Miller ’14, Miran Velagic ’12, Nurcin Celebi ’16, and Paige Berry ’14.

37

B E AC O N

N AT I O N It’s common to see a Beacon on Beacon Hill, but have you ever run into a Beacon on Capitol Hill? Don’t be surprised if you do!

Although 79 percent of UMass Boston alumni live in New England, the alumni community has a presence throughout the nation.

The top 10 states outside of New England:

Current student demographics Of the 2,441 first-year students admitted in fall 2022: 77% are Massachusetts residents 15% come from out of state (CT, NY, and FL are the top states) 7% come from other countries Are you interested in returning to UMass Boston to further your education, or do you know a potential future Beacon? Contact us at alumni@umb.edu and we’ll connect you with our enrollment team!

38

Spring 2023

Alumni Association Welcomes New Board Members Two outstanding alumni were named to the Board of Directors of the UMass Boston Alumni Association: Richard Bagge ’93 and Rontear Pendleton ’02.

“The committee was so pleased to put forth Rontear and Richard for consideration,” said Nomination Committee

Chair Marijo McCarthy ’78. “The breadth of experience in their respective fields of work and volunteerism in their personal and professional lives is impressive.”

The Board of Directors leads the mission of the Association, which is to cultivate the loyalty, knowledge, skills, and financial resources of its alumni; communicate and interpret the university’s goals and

achievements to others; and promote a spirit of unity and loyalty among current and former students.

“It’s wonderful to see two people step forward and ask how they can become more involved with their alma mater,” said Alumni Board President Kathleen Carten ’79. “We’re looking forward to working with them as we collectively move the Association’s mission forward.”

Richard Bagge ’93 Richard received a BA in political science, economics, and history from UMass Boston in 1993. He currently serves as chief financial officer of Manning Personnel Group, a family-run, boutique staffing agency located in downtown Boston. Prior to joining Manning Personnel in January 2016 as the vice president of finance and administration, Richard was the chief financial officer for Hearthstone Partners, the Boston area franchise for Cosi. He volunteers at Boston Partners in Education, tutoring elementary school students in math.

Rontear Pendleton ’02 Rontear received a BA in criminal justice from UMass Boston in 2002 and a JD from Thurgood Marshall School of Law in 2006. In 2018, she joined the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office as an assistant attorney general/grand jury director.

In June 2021, she moved to the Massachusetts Department of Labor Standards, where she served as the chief legal advisor for the agency. She recently accepted an opportunity to return to the Attorney General’s Office as deputy attorney general. Rontear has also worked as the deputy division chief of the Felony Family Violence Division at the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office in Texas. Rontear currently serves on the board of directors for Casa Myrna and teaches courses at UMass Boston and UMass Law. She is a member of the Boston Bar Association, the Women’s Bar Association, the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. She volunteers with the Boys & Girls Club Ready to Work Initiative and the Boston Lawyers Group.

Beacons

39

Did You Know?

The Nantucket Field Station Sixty years ago, the family of Stephen Peabody, through the Nina Hazen Foundation, gave their summer home and large acreage of coastal land to the University of Massachusetts to create a base for teaching and research on Nantucket. In 1964, the Katherine Coe Folger family contributed an additional parcel. Today, the combined 107 acres houses the Nantucket Field Station, a world-class research and education facility that serves scientists and students from around the globe. Station Director Yvonne Vaillancourt shared some facts with Beacons about UMass Boston’s “gateway to the environmental and cultural resources of the lovely island of Nantucket.”

1

space to unwind. For Boston students to be able to access that is a phenomenal resource.” Vaillancourt also shares online talks by station researchers on YouTube at umassnantucketfieldstation2024.

4

Scholarships are available for UMass Boston students who want to enroll in Nantucket-based courses or are

interested in internships and research. To

The station provides faculty and student researchers with a field science laboratory,

learn more about these opportunities or how

classroom space, a dormitory, field equipment, and “a wonderful cross-section of

to support them, visit umb.edu/nantucket.

coastal ocean across Massachusetts,” according to Bob Chen, interim dean of the UMass Boston

5

School for the Environment.

estimated 10,000 visitors walk the grounds

representative habitats,” including marine, estuarine, meadow, forest, and freshwater areas,

said Vaillancourt. Through the Nantucket station, the Stone Living Lab in Boston Harbor, UMass Amherst’s Gloucester Marine Station, and UMass Dartmouth’s marine science and technology campus in New Bedford, UMass system researchers “have access to basically every biome of the

2

More than 400 students, educators, and researchers visited the field station last academic year, from

kindergarten classes to research teams. An each year. The property’s many trails are

The School for the Environment oversees the Nantucket station, but it’s used for far more

open to the public and Beacons have a

than environmental science research. Topics of studies conducted there span ocean

standing invitation. “We’re always happy to

microplastics, seal biology, avian influenza, tick-borne disease, harmful algal blooms,

see alumni,” said Vaillancourt. “If you’ve been

marine invasive species, and the impact of climate change, as well as African American archaeol-

here before, come back and reminisce. And if

ogy, historical anthropology, and public history.

you never knew about it, come see a special

3 40

the outdoors, with remarkable quiet and

corner of your school.”

UMass Boston offers weekend seminars and two-week summer classes in history, biology, and environmental science at the station. These opportunities are especially

Do you have photos of or stories about the

valuable for students of an urban, largely non-residential university, said Vaillancourt.

Nantucket Field Station? Share them with

“They give students powerful and transforming experiences, but also very strong connections to

Yvonne at Yvonne.Vaillancourt@umb.edu or

the other students they live and work with here,” she said. “And it’s a place to be enveloped by

on Facebook (NantucketFieldStation)!

Spring 2023

SEVENTY-TWO PERCENT OF UMASS BOSTON UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS RECEIVE FINANCIAL AID.

For many, this support is essential to pursuing their education.

Your gift to UMass Boston will allow students to focus on learning by removing financial barriers. The collective power of you and your fellow donors helps give all Beacons a bright future.

Beacons

Empower Our

PLEASE MAKE YOUR GIFT AT UMB.EDU/GIFT BY JUNE 30 AND BE COUNTED AS A LOYAL DONOR THIS FISCAL YEAR.

University of Massachusetts Boston Office of Alumni Engagement 100 Morrissey Boulevard Boston, MA 02125-3393

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Boston, MA Permit No. 52094