And, at a time when the state faces real challenges to retain its talented workforce, the roughly 19,000 who graduate from UMass every year are overwhelmingly more likely to stay in Massachusetts than the graduates of private schools and contribute to our workforce.
Marty Meehan
Posted inOpinion
UMass comings and goings reflect impact of immigrants
UMass leaders are living proof of the incredible impact immigrants make on some of our most important institutions.
Posted inOpinion
Why research universities like UMass matter
AS THE LAUNCHING pad for discoveries that have cured diseases, taken us to distant reaches of the universe, and brought sophisticated technological devices to our fingertips, research universities are responsible for much of America’s past success and are essential to its future. Research universities are working to protect the environment and confront climate change. They […]
Posted inOpinion
Voter expression is cause for optimism
MY OLD FRIEND and congressional colleague John S. McCain liked to joke that “it’s always darkest before it’s totally black” – wryly revising notions about it being darkest just before the dawn. Of course, we want dawn to be on the horizon because we always want to have hope. In this very dark year of […]
Posted inOpinion
We must hold on to hope
WHEN WE THINK about our own personal lives — or the life of our nation — hope is an essential ingredient. With it, everything seems possible. Without it, bumps in the road loom like mountains. Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu told us that, “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite […]
Posted inOpinion
Meehan: 2020 doesn’t feel like just another year
A NEW YEAR HAS DAWNED and for me, and I think for many, 2020 doesn’t feel like “just another year.” It seems like a time when daunting challenges swirl all around us. In Washington, the president has been impeached and partisan animosity has soared to new heights. Around the world – from Australia’s fires to […]
Posted inEducation
Bringing efficiency to public higher education
HIGHER EDUCATION can be hidebound and slow-moving. In some instances – such as the pomp and circumstance of commencements – adherence to tradition and ceremony are essential to the academic experience. But the emergence of disruptive forces in higher education – including a demographic decline that will shrink the pool of college-age students and the […]
Posted inOpinion
UMass Bayside deal is about a lot more than money
IT’S RARE FOR THOSE OF US in public life to have the opportunity to make a profound and lasting difference for the people we serve. That’s why we are so excited about the transformation just around the corner for UMass Boston as a consequence of the Bayside lease. Much has been made of the extraordinary […]
Posted inOpinion
Tsongas and the dying art of bipartisanship
ACCORDING TO A REPORT published by Pew Research in October 2017, the divide between Republicans and Democrats is the widest it’s been in the last 23 years, reflecting a sharp rise in political partisanship that threatens our ability to solve some of the nation’s most pressing problems. That’s why US Rep. Niki Tsongas’ accomplishments over […]
Posted inOpinion
Something’s new this year at UMass Boston
NEXT WEEK, as students return to University of Massachusetts Boston, a number of them will do something no one has done in the school’s history: Live on campus. For the first 53 years of its history, UMass Boston students commuted to campus by bus, T, or car. This year that will change. Approximately 1,000 students […]