May 5, 2023

Nancy Niemi inaugurated as FSU’s eighth president

By Leighah Beausoleil Editor-in-Chief

Framingham State officially inaugurated Nancy Niemi as the eighth president of the University at the Dwight Performing Arts Center May 5.

Niemi began serving as president in July 2022 after the Board of Trustees selected her from among the three presidential search finalists in December 2021. Her selection was accepted by the Board of Higher Education on February 1, 2022.

Following her first academic year in office, Niemi and the Framingham State community came together to celebrate her inauguration.

Among the attendees were the Board of Trustees, Kristin Esterberg, chancellor of the University of Washington Bothell, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, Senate President Karen Spilka, representatives Kate Donhou and David Linsky, Senator Jake Oliveira, as well as Framingham Mayor Charlie Sisitsky.

The greetings to the president portion of the ceremony included Board of Trustees Chair Kevin Foley, SGA Vice President Raffi Elkoury, Graduate Student

See INAUGURATION page 8

Abortion care expanded for FSU students and Framingham residents

By Sophia Harris News Editor

Massachusetts public colleges are now required to create an abortion readiness plan and provide medication abortion if the institution’s health center has the capacity to provide it.

In July 2022, former Gov. Charlie Baker signed bill H. 5090 making the state the second, after California, to ensure that students enrolled in public universities have access to medication abortion or abortion readiness plans

available through their health centers.

The legislation was sponsored by state Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa (D-1st Hampshire).

Framingham State’s Health and Wellness Center is “current on the new bill,” according to Ann Lyons, interim director of the Health Center.

Lyons said, “At this time, university health centers are tasked with making sure they have a plan in place for access to medication abortion for their students,” whether it is providing access through telehealth or directing students to local centers to access this

Meet your maintainers

By Ryan O’Connell Arts & Features Editor

At 4 p.m., it’s business as usual for Framingham State University. Students might be attending classes, preparing for dinner, or getting started on upcoming assignments. Professors could be in the middle of a lecture, holding office hours, or getting ready to head home.

But for campus maintainers, it’s a shift change.

Maintainers - donning red-collared shirts - are recognizable by anyone familiar with the sound of clattering keys, rustling trash bags, and the scraping of

plastic wheels rolling across the floor -be it in Dwight Hall, the McCarthy Center, or even in one of the residence halls.

Beatrice Cabral and Valcirene Cronin are just two of the University’s 49 maintainers who help provide a clean, healthy learning environment by cleaning classrooms, emptying trash cans, and performing other janitorial duties every day.

Cabral, who maintains a section of the first and second floors in Dwight Hall this year, said she works five days a week from 7:15 a.m. to 4 p.m., and enjoys the work. “I like what I do,” she said.

She said she has been a maintainer

medication.

She said FSU’s health center does have a plan in place for students who request information regarding their options if they are in need of an abortion.

Framingham State, as of now, will not offer medication abortion access to college students, only an abortion readiness plan.

Sabadosa said this bill ensures any student in Massachusetts who is attending a public higher education institution has access to an abortion

at the University for 11 years, and was hired after she was laid off from a 25year manufacturing career with the Bose Corporation in Framingham.

Cabral said she enjoys working in Dwight Hall, and added they are all given random building assignments every September, so she’s had experience working in every building.

She said she appreciates the consistency and routine she has at work, and especially likes working in classroom buildings like Hemenway because of the learning she gets to see firsthand.

Cabral said she thinks the University and its members are thankful for the work maintainers do.

Leighah Beausoleil / THE

Nancy Niemi holds “The Mace” and wears “The Chain of Office” during her inauguration May 5.

E ditorial Board 2022-23

Editor-in-Chief

Leighah Beausoleil

Associate Editor

Emily Rosenberg

News Editors

Sophia Harris

Branden LaCroix

Asst. News Editor

Naidelly Coelho

Opinions Editor

McKenzie Ward

Sports Editor

Adam Levine

Arts & Features Editor

Ryan O’Connell

Asst. Arts & Features Editor

Raena Doty

Design & Photo Editor

Maddison Behringer

Asst. Photos Editor

Zachary Sorel

Adrien Gobin

Staff Writers

Jesse Burchill

Sam Coombs

Riley Crowell

Owen Glancy

Mark Haskell

Ben Hurney

Jack McLaughlin

Emily Monaco

Izayah Morgan

Lainey Morrison

Kate Norrish

Bella Omar

Carly Paul

Wenchell Pierre

Dillon Riley

Kyle Walker Advisor

Desmond McCarthy

Asst. Advisor

Elizabeth Banks

Gatepost Interview

Dwayne Thomas Sports Management Professor

By Sophia Harris News Editor

What is your educational and professional background?

I have my bachelor’s degree from a small liberal arts college out in Kansas. I got my master’s degree from the University of Iowa. I received my Ph.D. from Florida State University. My area of expertise is organizational leadership and sports management. Professionally, I started as a physical education teacher. I then became the specialist for adaptive physical education in Kansas, where I was teaching, and also in Iowa. While I was doing my master’s degree in Iowa, I was a coach, and an official, and ran programs for the college. After getting my master’s degree, I worked for the state of Florida, as a physical activity specialist in charge of health promotion and all the physical education in 67 school districts across the state of Florida. I also was the liaison for high school athletics while I was there. After that, I took a position as a department chair for sports management in North Carolina at Johnson C. Smith University. I also helped to get the school involved in marketing major sporting events. We created a Carolina’s football classic and created the legacy basketball classic and those were major events that I was able to help my students get experience in the sports industry by running those events while they were undergrads and I was their professor. …

I went up to the Special Olympics at the headquarters of Special Olympics, and I created the professional and leadership training program for Special Olympics, which meant I got to travel around the world working with executives and leaders from all over the world. … After Special Olympics, I ran an [education] leadership program at Dominican University, was the director of Instructional Services for Dominican University, and a professor. From there, I moved over to DC as the bureau chief for recreation for the city of Baltimore, and then ultimately became the interim director of the program. From there, I moved up to the city of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to be the director of recreation and parks for Parks Recreation and Enrichment. And then at Lasell University, I was the department chair for sports management and a professor of sport management. While I was at Lasell, I got a position here at Framingham State and have been here for eight years. And I’ve had several consulting positions in between and since that time.

Do you have any hobbies?

No. Framingham state is my life! That’s it! … So, number one is playing pickleball - I play competitively. I am planning to train to play in some tournaments. I really like playing mixed doubles, but also possibly playing singles, too. Beyond pickleball, I have my own consulting network, which is quite a bit of work around youth and community development. I use what’s called sportsbased youth development. Programs that use sports, not as a hook to get kids to improve their academics, [but] to be more engaged in their community, to be civic leaders in their community, and be leaders. … That’s what I do as a consultant. I work with organizations, mostly nonprofits, that run programs in communities and so I work with their leaders to say, “Here are the types of things that you all need as skills, knowledge, and ability.” And so then you can take those things to then improve your programs and services, and therefore improving the outcomes like making the community better, making each family better, and making each young person better. That’s how you make better citizens. That’s how you make a better community. It’s more than a hobby - it’s a passion of love that I have for them. It started with my mom - she used to do it in our community. … And now I continue that at a much bigger scale.

Police Logs

Monday, May 1 13:01

Follow Up Investigation Towers Hall Call assignment complete

Monday, May 1 14:49

Alarm (Trouble) West Hall Unfounded

Do you have any advice for students?

One of the things that I share in my class - it’s about following the money. Students have to learn how the things they learn in class impact the bottom line of the business and understand that their job is to have an impact on the bottom line. Now, whether that means saving the organization money or making the organization money, it’s about those things. The things that you’re learning in class have to translate to impacting the bottom line. If you don’t understand the product, then learn the product, or what are the services of the company that you’re working for. Be able to know those things before you go into an interview. Be able to talk with people about what you know about their company. … I’m paying you to come in with some type of knowledge. Most students don’t understand they’re generating their level of expertise as undergrads, and with those experiences they get with the knowledge that they gained with the abilities that they acquire - all of those things are what you’re going to hope that someone then will eventually pay you for - or you’ll be able to provide a service or generate some product that people will buy. But, at any rate, you need to know what those are. And then you need to know how those things match up with their needs. Because the consumers have their needs and they may or may not express those to you clearly. So understand those things, what the needs are, and then how to satisfy them. And the more that you can satisfy them and the more money you can have them put into your business, then the more bonuses you get, the higher salaries - you get all of those things. Those are the things that you are actually sitting in class for. The other piece of advice for students is they need to engage in class. If you’re not engaging in the class, then you’re missing out on the greatest opportunity because your professors have these areas of expertise, and they’re willing to share them with you. But if you don’t ask questions, then you’re losing out. You’re paying tuition for that person to be able to assist you. If you don’t come prepared, then you’re losing one of the major resources that you have. I tell my students, I am absolutely willing to be the best resource that I can be. But that means you have to come ready to ask me questions because I can’t read your mind.

CONNECT WITH SOPHIA HARRIS

sharris9@student.framingham.edu

Monday, May 1 21:21

Suspicious Motor Vehicle Maple Commuter Parking Unfounded/Secured

Wednesday, May 3 23:02

Alarm (Fire/Smoke)

Miles Bibb Hall

False Alarm

Courtesy of Twitter

Gatepost Interview Evelyn Campbell

By Sophia Harris News Editor

What made you want to get in volved in SGA?

I’m a commuter student. During my first year here, I really was not involved at all. I showed up to class, went home, went to work, and that was pretty much my day. The EXP Office advertised being an orientation leader, and I was a peer mentor in high school, which is kind of like the same thing. So, I decided to get into that. From that, I was opened up to a whole world of possibilities here at FSU. I met Dara Barros, who is the cur rent president, and we kind of got on to the topic of what my major is, and what I want to do after college. I sell wedding dresses outside of here, and I’ve really fallen in love with that whole world. And I want to plan weddings or something like that after I graduate. She was look ing for a person to hold the position of outreach and events coordinator. That combined all the things I was interest ed in at the time, so I decided to take that opportunity. I have not been disappointed.

What is your favorite part about being on SGA?

SGA in its entirety has really made me fall in love with FSU. We’ve created such a welcoming and collaborative environment where I feel right at home. … All of the eBoard positions - the eBoard people - were super nice to me as soon as I entered and I’ve been able to extend that to new students.

Why do you want to be SGA president?

I have really fallen in love with SGA and FSU in its entirety. Entering my position, I really thought I would just plan events and that would be it, but I found that being a part of SGA is so much more than just that. It’s really being a voice for students - it’s letting them be heard by the administration. I will be a white woman in a position of power. [In en-

Correction

In the April 14 issue of The Gatepost an error was made in the article, “SGA shares goals for next semester.” The error occurred in the spelling of Ryan Mikelis’ name. The article spelled the name “Mikeles.” This is incorrect. We apologize for this error.

2023-24

Editor-in-Chief

Emily Rosenberg

Associate Editors

Sophia Harris

Ryan O’Connell

News Editor

Naidelly Coelho

Opinions Editor

Izayah Morgan

Sports Editor

Adam Levine

Asst. Sports Editor

Riley Crowell

Arts & Features Editors

Raena Doty

Jack McLaughlin

Asst. Arts & Features Editors

Owen Glancy

Sunday night May 7

Partly cloudy, with a low around 50. W wind about 10 mph.

Monday May 8

Sunny, with a high near 75. NW wind about 10 mph.

I can represent marginalized students on campus enough and in different spaces.

What is your greatest accomplishment during your time on SGA so far?

I think all the work that I’ve done I’ve put forth 100% of my effort. I think the biggest thing that we’ve collectively tried to do with SGA is really making student government a resource for students. We have created the President’s Council where all the presidents are able to meet once a month to go over different topics and different ways that SGA can support students with different issues that they have run into. But overall, I think my greatest accomplishment is really making SGA fun again. I scrolled down on our social media page and saw what SGA was doing pre-pandemic. There were a lot of senators, and a lot of people in eBoard positions - just a lot of interest and fun. They had theme meetings. I have noticed since the pandemic SGA hasn’t really been that fun. I wanted to cultivate what was happening pre-pandemic to post-pandemic. I’ve had theme meetings, and I’ve had a whole bunch of different event ideas. I have really been trying to collaborate with as many organizations on campus as I could.

ally have a lot of marginalized students represented in our student government. I want everyone in the student body to be able to relate to at least one person, even if that’s just part of their story. I think it’s super, super important to me. I also want to further support affinity groups. I plan on going to every meeting that they have, just hearing their voices, making sure that they’re heard and they’re respected as equally as any other organization is. I wanted to have more communication between all orgs, admins, and students. I really want to act as that bridge between the student body and the administration, faculty, and staff. I really want to mend that gap. I think we’re really fortunate enough to go to a university where the admins really do listen to us and they really do advocate for us in spaces where we can’t necessarily advocate for ourselves. But [I want to] make sure that they’re seen as people. I think, oftentimes the student body kind of looks at them as like, “Oh, well, they’re higher up. They’re the dean of the students or they’re in the EXP Office,” but they’re people on a normal level. So just making sure that we connect to everyone on a human level.

CONNECT WITH SOPHIA HARRIS sharris9@student.framingham.edu

Bella Omar

Design & Photo Editors

Maddison Behringer

Adrien Gobin

Staff Writers

Jesse Burchill

Ben Hurney

Emily Monaco

Lainey Morrison

Kate Norrish

Carly Paul

Wenchell Pierre

Dillon Riley

Zachary Sorel

Kyle Walker Advisor

Desmond McCarthy

Asst. Advisor

Elizabeth Banks

Forecast provided by the National Weather Service

www.weather.gov

Monday night May 8

Partly cloudy, with a low around 50. N wind about 10 mph.

Tuesday May 9

Partly sunny, with a high near 70. N wind about 10 mph.

Tuesday night May 9

Mostly cloudy, with a low around 45. NE wind about 10 mph.

Wednesday May 10

Partly sunny, with a high near 60. NE wind about 10 mph.

Wednesday night May 10

Partly cloudy, with a low 45. E wind about 10 mph.

Thursday May 11

Mostly sunny, with a high near 70. NW wind about 10 mph.

Courtesy of Evelyn Campbell

Accreditation committee preparing to compile report

By Sophia Harris News Editor

Framingham State is concluding the description and appraisal phase of the self-study documentation of the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) accreditation review due spring 2024.

According to the NECHE accreditation website, NECHE is a “voluntary, non-governmental membership association that serves as an institutional accreditor and promotes educational excellence and quality assurance to its member institutions.”

NECHE accreditation determines institutional quality, according to the NECHE website.

NECHE makes a determination about the effectiveness of an institution as a whole using nine standards for accreditation, according to the NECHE accreditation handbook.

The standards are “aspirational expectations” that must be at least “minimally” met, according to the handbook.

These standards include mis sions and purposes; planning and evaluation; organization and governance; academic programs; students; teaching, learning, and scholarship; institutional resourc es; educational effectiveness; and integrity, transparency, and public disclosure, according to the NECHE website.

These standards outline that a university has a “clearly defined purpose that is appropriate to a higher-learning institution, has assembled and organized those re sources to achieve its purpose, is achieving its purpose, and has the ability to achieve its purpose,” ac cording to the handbook.

The accreditation initiative for Framingham State is led by Mark Nicholas, assistant vice president for assessment, accreditation, and strategic planning, and co-chaired by English Professor Alexander Hartwiger.

Nicholas said there are 50 participants in the NECHE standard, including 18 people who are leading the writing and data teams, and who are currently concluding their work.

Over this summer, Nicholas and Hartwiger will compile the work from the nine subcommittees into one fluid 100-page document highlighting what Framingham does well and where it needs improvement.

Hartwiger said the NECHE standards committees have been “hard at work this spring to complete work on the description and appraisal sections of the self-study document.”

He said, “Each of the committees plans to finalize their draft by the end of May and hand that work over to the co-chairs for editing and re-

vision this summer.”

Some of the themes the data and artifact teams have uncovered are declining enrollment, COVID-19 management, and the number of minors available to students at FSU.

Nicholas said, “We have evaluated ourselves through standards and then we determine whether we meet the standard or not. We may meet the standard, but we may not meet it fully.”

After the 100-page self-study is completed, Framingham State will present its findings to the “selfstudy team,” which will be the team that will visit campus in April 7- 10 2024.

The NECHE accreditation team will have approximately six weeks to evaluate the document and develop their own findings and questions.

The team will evaluate how Framingham State is meeting each standard, determining if FSU meets the standard completely or if the University needs to provide more evidence to support its findings.

“We could either agree with their

[Editor’s Note: See “Iris Godes appointed first dean of strategic enrollment management” page 5]

He said The Board of Trustees spent “a couple of million dollars on Strategic Enrollment rebranding the institution.”

Another area of focus in the NECHE self-study is FSU’s anti-racism work. “I think as a campus we’ve been ahead of that curve,” he said.

Nicholas said Framingham State’s anti-racism work will be something that the team will “showcase as a positive area.

“The work that we’ve done university-wide to address some of the inequities through the curriculum. The English department is a great example of some of the work that was done in adding DEI themes into the curriculum, policies, and procedures.”

An additional focus of the NECHE self-study is “our responsiveness to student needs,” he said.

Nicholas said, “We saw through COVID-19, If you look at the undergraduate and the graduate student satisfaction, the University - and

Dargan said some of the work the standard four committee has been working on is identifying “areas for improvement - we identify what we’re doing well, too.”

Dargan said one of the areas of focus for this standard is general education requirements.

She said one of the benefits of this study was hiring a chair for the gen ed program.

“We realized that the state universities, our peers, all had general education program area chairs, so they had somebody chairing the gen ed program. … So we finally got a gen ed program chair,” English Professor Patricia Lynne. “She’s done a great job this year,” Dargan said.

Lynne is writing a section of the report, according to Dargan.

Another focus of standard four is how Framingham State’s academic program has been revised to respond to COVID-19.

She added the response to COVID-19 is likely something every standard will be addressing.

She said, “We’re going to say how we reacted to COVID-19 - to the challenges that it presented. One thing that we did was we stopped suspending students for academic performance at one point early on in the pandemic, and then we started to bring back suspending some students.”

She added Framingham State’s Academic Standing Committee makes those decisions.

Another focus of the standard four committee is anti-racist initiatives and how they relate to academic programs.

Dargan said, “We have a lot of departments that have done a lot of work trying to look at their policies, look at their curriculum.”

One issue her committee discovered is that FSU has too many minors.

assessment or provide them information saying no, I don’t think you got that right or wrong, but eventually they’ll leave us with three to four” areas of emphasis to focus on, he said.

He added, “Every school probably has three to four areas of emphasis. We will then focus on the institutional level for the next five years.”

One of the three preliminary themes that is an area of focus is Framingham State’s declining enrollment.

Nicholas said FSU is addressing this concern strategically. “I think it’s clear over the last 10 years or the last five years, we’ve seen steep declines in enrollment. And NECHE will be interested in what we are doing to fix that.”

He added, “We have done a lot of strategic enrollment planning, and we’ve got a consultant that leads the team right now. We’re in the process of hiring a dean for enrollment management.”

with their academic program over the last five years - it would be difficult to tell there was a pandemic, the consistency with which students are satisfied with their experience in Framingham State.”

He added this report is published on Framingham State’s webpage in the Office of Assessment.

Hartwiger said,“In the fall, the co-chairs and committee chairs plan to share a full draft version of the self-study with the FSU community.”

Nicholas said, “I am so impressed with the commitment of our faculty and staff thus far. It’s been a labor of love for faculty. We had zero attrition. We started with about 50 people on the team, and all 50 are still there.”

Susan Dargan, dean of the college of education and social and behavioral sciences, and Jon Huibregtse, a history professor, are co-chairs of the standard four committee - The Academic Program.

Huibregtse said, “I think another theme that’s emerging is that [faculty have] created a lot of programs, a lot of minors, especially that are not very well populated.”

Dargan said, “We have 80 undergraduate minors, but many of them do not have any people in them.”

She said when uncovering this, it was clear to her standard committee that the academic program needs to “set up a process where we review our minors once a year or once every other year. Because there’s no point having a minor if it’s got one person in it.”

Huibregtse said, “For me, personally, it’s been eye-opening. I’ve learned a lot about the institution.”

He added, “We all get caught up in our own roles that we lose sight of the bigger picture - whether it’s the students, faculty, everybody is just so focused on their own little part of what FSU is to them. So it’s

See ACCREDITATION page 5

Maddison Behringer / THE GATEPOST

Art work from the Mazmanian Gallery’s accreditation exhibit held at the end of March.

Iris Godes appointed first dean of strategic enrollment management

By Emily Rosenberg Associate Editor

FSU appointed Iris Godes dean of strategic enrollment management, establishing a permanent administrative position to oversee enrollment and admissions strategy after many years of significant student population declines.

In fall 2022, full-time undergraduate enrollment was down 8% from fall 2021, according to a March 24 Gatepost article.

Godes will begin on May 22. Interim Dean of Enrollment Management Jessica Mireles will continue her work until June 22, then continue to serve in an “advisory position,” according to President Nancy Niemi.

In August 2022, Niemi announced a series of organizational changes that resulted in the admissions and enrollment staff reporting directly to the president. She also dissolved the Enrollment and Student Development Division and eliminated the vice presidential position overseeing it.

As dean of strategic enrollment management and chief enrollment officer, Godes will lead the enrollment management team, which includes financial aid, admissions, and marketing.

Godes has lived in Framingham for over 20 years and currently serves as the associate vice president of enrollment and admissions at Dean College in Franklin. She’s worked in higher education for 35 years, working in enrollment and admissions offices at Quinsigamond Community College, Boston University, Seattle University, and Arizona University.

Godes earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Syracuse University

and a master’s degree in psychology counseling from Boston University.

She said she has been looking for a position at Framingham State, adding she is excited to work at a public school where education is “a lot more affordable.

“Anyone that wants a college education should be able to get it. And so I’m hopeful that I can help people manage their way through the enrollment process,” she said.

Niemi said the hiring team picked Godes because she is someone with very strong skills in the field of enrollment who understands the urgency of the work.

She added the team was looking for a candidate who displayed strong team leadership skills and “who understands that admissions is the work of the whole university.”

Godes said when she arrives on campus, she will be looking to engage with as many students, faculty, and staff as possible to understand the best way to tell Framingham State’s story, whether by pulling focus groups together or conducting outreach to student organizations.

“I think that would be a really valuable resource for me to really hear from your own experiences,” she said.

“My goal will be to learn as much as possible about what has happened in the past couple of years to start to make improvements for the class coming in 2024,” Godes added.

Niemi said another of Godes’ responsibilities will be to connect departments across the university to the enrollment management team and help “understand the presence” needed to outwardly convey an effective message to prospective students.

Accreditation

Continued from page 4

nice to see these bigger themes.”

Dargan said the next phase of the accreditation process will be the projection phase, which is when FSU determines what to address and what the standards committees found in the appraisal phase.

Dean of Students Meg Nowak Borrego, co-chair of the Standard 5 committee focused on students, said there are two significant trends in the admissions and student support sections of their report.

She said her committee has found Framingham State has “adequate” student support services because FSU “actually had them built for larger populations, as far as the number, and I think we’ve been working toward student services that offer student support to different demographics.”

She added part of supporting students has been appointing a vice president for diversity, inclusion, and community engagement.

She said, “We’ve worked to improve the CIE [Center for Inclusive Excellence] space.”

Nowak Borrego said her committee found FSU works “to support the affinity groups through the student experience and Career Development Office and student government.”

Marc Cote, dean of the college of arts and humanities, said the Mancuso Humanities Workforce Preparation Center “works well with the career center and definitely has an action plan to work with them to make sure there’s some specificity in the humanities-driven career preparation that’s provided to students.”

He said the committee found the Mancuso Center is helpful in showing arts and humanities students that their skills are transferable to the job market.

Cote said the center’s “funding of internships has been really beneficial to students in providing them paid work opportunities that also can be credit-bearing.”

He added the standard 5 committee found the Mancuso center to be a part of FSU’s “extracurricular ef-

She added Godes will also establish a relationship with the departments because it is important that they un derstand and are involved in the work of enrollment management, adding de partments want to know how they can be of service.

Niemi said it is not the responsi bility of faculty to perform outreach to prospective students or understand strategic enrollment planning, “but we do expect that divisions and depart ments will communicate with admis sions enrollment management in order to help them understand what’s special and intriguing and unique about each of these places.”

Niemi added one of Godes’ first ini tiatives will be to refocus the enroll ment strategy of continuing education.

She said even though undergradu ate and graduate admissions are often seen as separate, Godes and new Dean of Graduate and Continuing Education Marilyn Cleary will be working together to develop and execute a strategy to achieve the overarching goal of increasing enrollment.

One of the likely enrollment strategies will be the pursuit of Hispanic-serving institution status, Niemi said. Hispanic-serving institutions have a population of at least 25% Hispanic students. FSU is within 5% of achieving HSI status.

“We want to make sure that we have the infrastructure to support students who are Hispanic,” she said. “If they’re going to be here, we want to serve them.”

Shayna Eddy, associate dean of admissions, said adding a dean of enrollment management will allow the admissions team to work more closely

forts to provide an opportunity for students beyond the classroom.”

Nowak Borrego said rebuilding student engagement is something her committee found the University needs to improve. “Getting students to truly engage physically and in-person continues to be something we have to work on.”

She discussed various ways the University has provided flexible resources during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

She said Zoom, for example, has provided a vehicle for counseling through telehealth or a way to engage with either staff or students who aren’t available in person.

She added, “If a student is a commuter, they might still be able to have a counseling session without coming to campus or telecom healthcare session or even a meeting with me.”

She said, “I think that is an example of a positive.”

Nowak Borrego said FSU invested in electronic resources during the COVID-19 pandemic,

with external messaging. “We have a lot to offer students - academic programs, affordability, and campus life, and streamlining all of our efforts is going to enhance our operation.”

She added she is hopeful that Godes will be able to provide a new perspective on what the Admissions team can do better, and “what enhancements we could be making in future years.

“I am very much looking forward to the upcoming year. We have a lot of work ahead of us for 2024, but I know we have the right people in the right positions to make an impact.”

including improving the Wi-Fi, and making more loaner laptops available to students.

Cote said, “I think Mark Nicholas has done a great job of coordinating the effort, as are all the subcommittee co-chairs that are leading the charge and doing a great deal of collecting data and creating a narrative that helps to give a strong picture of Framingham State.”

President Nancy Niemi said Framingham State is “very lucky to have a dedicated, smart group of faculty and staff who are working on their standards and writing what they need to in order to get each of the standards ready.”

Niemi added, “I know we’re lucky. Not every school has the depth of people who are willing to commit their time and expertise to make these reports happen.”

CONNECT WITH EMILY ROSENBERG erosenberg@student.framingham.edu

Courtesy of Dean College

Abortion

available appointment was eight days.

cess to abortion care.

iness plan provided to them through their on-campus health center.

Lyons added, “We don’t anticipate the need to change our plan. However, we will be waiting for the Massachusetts DPH [Department of Public Health] guidance and will review it carefully to make sure that we are in compliance with the new legislation and providing the best access to care for our students.”

The bill requires public institutions to propose a plan to the DPH by November 2023.

Lyons said the health center will supply students with a list of local providers to refer patients to who provide both medical abortion and surgical abortion.

She said, “We have had no problems with access to abortion up to this point and are able to get our students care in a timely manner.”

Taylor St. Germain, communications director of Reproductive Equity Now, a non-profit Massachusetts-based organization that “works to make the full spectrum of reproductive health care available and accessible for all people,” regardless of their identity or socioeconomic status, spoke on the “access deserts” that many college students face when in need of reproductive health care.

St. Germain said the goal of this bill is “to really have students be able to access this essential health care where they’re already accessing the rest of their health care.”

Regarding the bill, she said the Massachusetts Legislature “acted really boldly and really swiftly to pass this major health law that would not only expand access to reproductive health care, but put money into abortion access.”

She added, “Part of this law is to include a provision to how Massachusetts public colleges and universities create these readiness plans so that students know how and where they can access medication abortion on college campuses.”

St. Germain said, “It’s a way to bring abortion access to where college students are, to close some of these access deserts that a lot of students live in and to break down costs and travel barriers to care that students across Massachusetts have been facing.”

A December 2021 study published in Contraception Journal.org by Carrie N. Baker, professor of law and reproductive justice at Smith College, and Julia Mathis, a legislative aide for Lindsay Sabodosa found that 50 to 115 of Massachusetts public university students obtain medication abortion services each month, or 600 to 1,380 each year.

The study goes on to address the access deserts that students face. “Students have to travel between 2 and 42 miles to reach the nearest abortion-providing facility, with a population-weighted average distance of 19 miles each way,” according to the study.

In regard to the cost students will have to pay for medication abortion access, the study found the average cost of medication abortion was $680.

The average wait time for the first

Additionally, “Eight of 13 abortion-providing facilities did not have weekend appointments. All of the nearest abortion-providing facilities in Massachusetts accepted MassHealth, but one nearest facility was out of state and did not. All accepted multiple private insurance plans.”

The study concluded, “The barriers to medication abortion experienced by students attending public universities in Massachusetts fall particularly hard on female and low-income students, who are disproportionately students of color. Offering medication abortion on campus would reduce these barriers and enhance gender and racial equity on campus.”

Lyons said, “We have had no problems with access to abortion up to this point and are able to get our students care in a timely manner.”

She said when considering whether it is feasible to provide medical abortion at a clinic, the following factors need to be taken into consideration: financial and staffing considerations; security of the building that houses the clinic that provides medical abortion; ability of the clinic to confirm gestation dates if unsure; ability to manage complications if they occur.

Lyons added because of the lack of some of the necessities that would be needed to provide medication abortion on campus, FSU refers students to outside providers.

For example, FSU would not be able to provide an ultrasound to confirm gestation dates, or a uterine aspiration if needed, Lyons said.

There are accessible facilities that currently have all of these protocols in place. The providers the health center refers patients to are Planned Parenthood Greater Boston Health Center, Planned Parenthood Worcester, and Women’s Health Services of Brookline,Massachusetts.

All three providers offer medicated abortion access.

All of these providers are approximately 20 miles away from Framingham State’s campus.

Additionally, Lyons said, “The demand has been historically very low at this clinic, and it is in the best interest of the patient to be provided these services from a provider who frequently and routinely prescribes medical abortion and is experienced in dealing with complications that may occur.”

Lyons added the decision was made not to provide medication abortion access on campus, but to “evaluate what we do and does it align with what the new legislation is, which we found that it did. So at this time we have decided not to make any changes.”

She added at this time, “We are not ready to make a change, but it’s definitely something that we’re talking to other universities about to see what they’re doing and how they’re able to provide it, or how many are providing it.

“We feel really good about the fact that there have not been barriers to getting students medication abortion,” she said.

Lyons said, the health center will continue to follow DPH guidance to ensure FSU students have timely ac-

Ann McDonald, chief of staff and general counsel, said the UMass Amherst Medical Center, which operates 24/7, has the capacity to offer the medication abortion. “Take that and parallel it with what we have at Framingham State.”

McDonald said, “We’re a residential institution, but we have an FSU health center that has pretty traditional hours. We have emergency services where people can get services after hours, but primarily from outside providers, not from folks within the campus.”

She added in regard to the legislation, “What the governor and the lawmakers were trying to do is not put a one-size-fits-all requirement to each of the campuses that they might not be able to fulfill.”

“That’s why I think the way it was written was to have a plan that satisfies the requirement that you’re going to support and you’re going to fulfill that responsibility,” McDonald said.

“But we’re going to respect that depending upon how your staff, you may be able to do that in a number of different ways and it’s not sort of a onesize-fits-all approach,” she said.

McDonald said, “In theory,” if a student was an out-of-state student from a state that prohibits payment of costs for abortion, “our staff would work with them to try to see what they might get for protections and coverages.

“So, for example, even our University student health insurance policy would cover that because it’s offered by a university provider for the Commonwealth. But in theory, you could have a student out there who had their health insurance from, let’s say, Texas, or one of the states that have prohibited [abortion access] who might find themselves in a bind, and I know our health services staff would work with them to find some protections and coverage.”

St. Germain said, “Framingham State University is clearly already a resource for students to access a lot of reproductive health services on campus, whether it’s emergency contraception access or free pregnancy testing.”

She added, “We think they’d be a great place for students to be able to continue to access reproductive health care, including medication abortion.”

She said, “We’re looking forward to continuing to work with a lot of universities across the state to get these readiness plans prepared for their due date in November. And we’re really looking forward to ensuring that Massachusetts college students are able to continue to access care where they are without barriers.”

St. Germain said although public institutions might not be able to carry medication abortion, the bill that was passed in July will “hopefully ensure that students are able to go to their health center and either receive medication abortion or referrals for medication abortion throughout the state.”

She added, “Medication abortion is available also via telehealth. People can access the medications mifepristone and misoprostol via telehealth and get the pills shipped directly to them.”

St. Germain said, “Our work isn’t going to stop until everyone’s able to access either in-person abortion care or medication abortion care in their communities near them without cost, travel, or insurance barriers.”

Abortion care remains legal and available in Massachusetts “despite the recent news about what’s going on with mifepristone in the courts. Right now, mifepristone remains legally available and accessible in the state, so medication abortion access goes unchanged for the time being,” St. Germain said.

According to St. Germain, Reproductive Equity Now has been working with the legislature and Gov. Maura Healey to “brainstorm how we can respond and ensure that access for a person goes uninterrupted here in our Commonwealth.”

Healey has been leading reproductive equity initiatives in Massachusetts since being sworn in January 2023.

In an email, Gov. Healey said she is “committed to protecting and expanding access to reproductive care in Massachusetts, including emergency contraception, medication abortion, full-spectrum pregnancy and birthing care, and postpartum mental health care.”

She added, “We’re going to protect patients and providers and ensure that Massachusetts remains a beacon of hope for all those seeking care.”

Healey said students in Massachusetts have a “right to access reproductive health care here.”

She said, “Our administration is working closely with schools to implement their plans, and we are committed to collaborating with advocates, public health officials, school officials, and students to evaluate how we can best protect and expand access to reproductive health care for students.”

According to an article published by GBH News, “Healthcare providers in Massachusetts have also agreed to purchase more mifepristone, and the state will dedicate $1 million to help pay for those doses.”

According to the article, Healey’s administration asked the University of Massachusetts Amherst to purchase approximately 15,000 doses of mifepristone.

Healey said the dosage amount is enough “to ensure sufficient coverage in the state for more than a year,” according to the article.

In her email, Healey said her administration was “anticipating” the Texas judge would “attempt to block FDA approval of mifepristone given his extreme views.”

She said,“So we got to work before the ruling came down to determine how we could access care.”

She added, “UMass already had all necessary certifications to purchase mifepristone and currently provides medication abortion through their university health services. And they were willing and able to jump into action quickly when we made the request.”

She said the University of Washington also purchased doses.

Healey added, “The only change we

See ABORTION page 7

Abortion

want to be seeing to reproductive care is that it becomes even more accessible here in Massachusetts.”

Leora Mallach, district 7 city councilor in Framingham, submitted a reproductive rights proclamation on behalf of the Framingham Coalition of Bodily Autonomy in February.

The council passed it unanimously.

The proclamation states Framingham will protect every person’s right to access the full range of reproductive health care options, in full compliance with the laws of the Commonwealth, including preventing unintended pregnancy, bearing healthy children, and choosing safe, legal abortions, according to an article published by the Framingham Source.

Mallach said the proclamation “that we passed was really an affirmation of the right to bodily autonomy.”

She added, “There was a lot of community input in conversation over the course of the couple of months that we looked at it, and I’m really proud of what got passed.”

The Framingham Coalition for Bodily Autonomy was established to protest the overturning of Roe v. Wade, said Grace Snedden, organizer of the coalition.

She said the coalition aims to be impactful locally “to give opportunities for people in our community, to contribute to being a solution, and to do the advocacy, and really, we’re trying to be proactive.”

Snedden said the group is learning as they go.

She said they are trying to “grow in the right way,”

Snedden added the group is “Small enough to be nimble and respond to this changing environment, but big enough to be impactful.”

Samela St. Pierre, a member of the group, said their mission “is to gather in the community, organize and mobilize in response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, while defending equitable access to information, healthcare, and the right to make decisions about one’s own body.”

Snedden said the group put all of its efforts behind passing the local proc-

lamation.

She added Reproductive Equity

Now was very supportive throughout that process.

She said they provided specialized knowledge that the group would not have been able to produce themselves.

Snedden said the proclamation outlines the “values that Framingham holds.”

She added, “We want to get our arms around what access looks like in Framingham and where it needs some enhancement - where we can really be a vehicle for information for people.”

Snedden said college students in Massachusetts are “very, very lucky right now,” adding, “I want them to know that they’re in the right placethat there’s support and resources for

them here in their community. It’s the mission of the members of this community to support their right to full control over their bodies.”

St. Pierre said it is important for college-aged people to understand “abortion is such a normal part of many, many, women’s lives, and the choice to have one or not is what most women go through.”

Abesikayo Ajao, a sophomore, said she knows the health center offers reproductive health care such as emergency contraception and sexual health barriers.

She said if one of her friends was contemplating getting an abortion, she would support them by listening to what they need.

“No one ever talks about the effect

that can have on you mentally,” she said.

A student who asked to remain anonymous said she would support a friend who was thinking about getting an abortion by “being a friend to them and loving them.”

She said it is important to “love them as a person and help them through this because regardless of whatever choice they make, it’s going to be difficult, and they just need people there to love them and encourage them, regardless of whatever the choice is.”

Ashanti Greene, a junior, said she would support someone she knew was thinking about getting an abortion by supporting them both “emotionally and physically.”

She added, “I would suggest going to a good doctor and possibly seeing a therapist if they feel that they need it.”

Molly-Maxine Willow, a freshman, said they know the health center offers reproductive health care such as condoms and STI testing.

They added in order to support a person who was thinking about getting an abortion, they would first send them to the health center for information and do some of their own research about what the best options are.

Oscar Rubyck, a freshman, said if he had a friend who was thinking about obtaining an abortion, he would make a supportive poster and say, “Hey, I know you’re going through this and it’s hard, but I’m going to support you.”

Resources available for both FSU students and Massachusetts residents:

Reproductive Equity Now’s Provider finder

https://reproequitynow.org/find-aprovider-new-england

Framingham Coalition of Bodily Autonomy Facebook Handel Resource from Gov. Healey

https://www.mass.gov/accessing-abortion-care-in-massachusetts

CONNECT WITH SOPHIA HARRIS sharris9@student.framingham.edu

“Our administration is working closely with schools to implement their plans, and we are committed to collaborating with advocates, public health officials, school officials, and students to evaluate how we can best protect and expand access to reproductive health care for students.”

- Maura Healey Governor of Massachusetts

Continued from page 1

Olivia Mangue Nnandongo, Director of Human Resources David Baldwin, and MSCA Framingham Chapter Vice President Mirari Elcoro.

Chancellor Esterberg served as the guest speaker for the inauguration.

“Today exemplifies the extraordinary impact that institutions like Framingham State University have on our communities, and the way in which good leadership helps institutions flourish,” Esterberg said.

She said this inauguration marks a new chapter in Framingham State’s history.

Esterberg added a new leader changes the trajectory of an institution, and when higher education leadership is effective, students are able to succeed.

According to Esterberg, this success includes the ability to become active and engaging members of a community who are not only informed, but have been taught to “think critically, thoughtfully, competently, and dare I say compassionately about the world around us and the hairy challenges we face.”

She said in the world today, an “almost but not quite” post-pandemic world that is facing issues of inequity and an “era of intense cultural di vision,” higher education leaders are faced with a new set of challenges.

However, Esterberg said she be lieves Niemi is “eminently suited to lead this extraordinary institution.”

Through a series of rhetorical ques tions, Esterberg demonstrated the many problems a University president must navigate through a “strategic vi sion.”

She said her confidence in Niemi’s ability comes from her knowledge of the president’s accomplishments and experiences.

She added these experiences align directly with the values and goals of the University, including her work at a range of higher education institutions - both public and private - as well as her work in equity and inclusion, such as when she led the Student Success Equity Intensive and the Black Path Teacher Initiative at University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

Esterberg said, “She understands deeply the importance and impact of education for individual lives.”

In closing, she asked the attendees to “please be her partners, her appre ciative critics, and her supporters, for Framingham will be much, much stronger for your collective efforts.”

Following Esterberg’s remarks, Fo ley and Kristen Porter-Utley, provost and vice president of Academic Affairs, presented Niemi with the “Symbols of the Office of the President,” which in clude “The Mace” and “The Chain of Office.”

The Mace represents the authority of the University. This particular mace has been constructed from the wood of an 18th-century white oak tree that once stood near Dwight Hall, accord ing to the inauguration pamphlet.

The Chain of Office is used to hon or “the highest officials of educational institutions,” according to the pam phlet. Framingham State’s chain in cludes the engraved names of its for

mer presidents. Afterward, Lt. Gov. Driscoll spoke - reflecting on Framingham State’s history as the first public higher edu-

education] have risen, and our commitment to public higher ed needs to rise with it,” she added.

She said this funding will help sup-

-

real opportunities for students who will be attending Framingham State,” Driscoll said.

To Niemi, Driscoll said, “You have the soul of an educator and the track record of a leader. You have the passion and the vision to lead this campus into the future.

“On behalf of Governor Healey, myself, and our entire administration, I want to thank you for your commitment to the students of Framingham State University and to the students of our commonwealth,” she said. “I wish you the very best as you formally launch your presidency.”

Following her remarks, Driscoll administered the oath of office to Niemi.

After Niemi took the oath, she presented her inaugural address.

“Let us celebrate this endeavor we call education,” Niemi said. “It is, I believe, the most powerful activity humans undertake.”

Niemi thanked her administrative assistant, Katie Hebert, the University’s executive staff, alumni, former FSU presidents, faculty, staff, and students.

To students, she said, “You are the reason we are here. We believe in you and your futures and without you, FSU is just a bunch of buildings.”

Additionally, Niemi thanked her family, including her parents, siblings, husband, and children, as well as her

Niemi emphasized the importance of public higher education in the Unit-

“Public higher education has been a raging success in helping create more educational equity in our country,”

“The reason why public higher education has succeeded is because it made learning about the world, knowledge of the world, and questions concerning the world available to so many who have been previously denied this opportunity - largely because they were not considered wealthy enough, white enough, or smart enough,”

She discussed how commonly higher education, especially when it is public, is criticized and seen as un-

She said she believes the strength of this narrative is derived from the success of higher education.

“It has delivered on its promise to make the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and diverse perspectives a public good and having the skills, appreciating multiple and varied perspectives, formulating provocative questions, and gaining knowledge cannot return to the province of the privileged,” Niemi added.

Niemi said education gives people the power necessary to create an “equitable society” and shape lives.

“Everyone has the right to a free and equal basic education,” she said. “That belief has been extended in the last 75 years to higher education as well.”

Niemi discussed the history of the University as a public normal school, and how it was shaped by the social

See INAUGURATION page 10

“[Public higher education] has delivered on its promise to make the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and diverse perspectives a public good and having the skills, appreciating multiple and varied perspectives, formulating provocative questions, and gaining knowledge cannot return to the province of the privileged.”

Nancy Niemi President

Nancy Niemi’s Presidential Inauguration

STATE UNIVERSITY'S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM

Spread and photos by Editor-in-Chief Leighah Beausoleil

President Nancy Niemi giving her Inaugural Address May 5.

President Nancy Niemi takes the Oath of Office from Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll May 5.

Guest Speaker Kristin Esterberg, chancellor at the University of Washington Bothell, at the Inauguration May 5.

(Left) Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, Guest Speaker Kristin Esterberg, and SGA Vice President Raffi Elkoury at the Inaguration May 5.

(Front from left) Trustees Diane Finch, Claire Ramsbottom, Nancy Budwig, and Beth Casavant, and (Back) Executive Vice President Dale Hamel at the Inauguration May 5.

Sophomore Haylee Girouard singing Framingham State’s Alma Mater “Live to the Truth” to the tune of “Finlandia” May 5.

equity movements of the 60s and 70s that demanded equal access to higher education for women and people of color.

She then pointed to the shift in which employers began to see the value liberal arts education gave their employees. “The purpose of college pendulum began to swing and we began to juxtapose liberal arts thinking and job training.”

Niemi discussed the pushback that higher education suffered from people like former President Ronald Reagan, who, when serving as the governor of California, claimed, “If the public was willing to pay for people to go to college … the primary focus should be on creating a stronger capitalist economy.”

This led her back to her initial discussion of the increase in disdain for higher education. “Access to knowledge is denied precisely because it is so powerful, and it is this I fear.

“Curricula restrictions are under consideration,” she said. “Every time they succeed, they restrict access to knowledge for those who cannot or choose not to afford private higher education, and this is why we are here at Framingham State University.”

Niemi said this is because “democratic higher education cannot die.”

She said this is why those in higher education need to work hard, shape and prepare students, and be open to the

perspectives of others. “We need faculty and staff from every perspective, every discipline, and every corner of the planet so that they in turn can nurture students.”

Niemi added the more diverse the institution is, the more “equal” its community will become.

“New England needs its public universities,” she stressed. “We are entrusted with the education of our communities. If the communities we are designed to serve lose trust in our ability to help them gain the knowledge and skills they need to thrive, then our communities will decide they no longer need us.

“We do not live in a community of isolated units,” Niemi said. “By working and serving with others. We nurture their faith in themselves and humanity, helping us to imagine and create a better future - a more equitable future - prioritizing the common good.”

She concluded, “I said it here on my very first day on the job, and I believe it now more than ever. Our future is extraordinary at Framingham State University. Let’s go!”

CONNECT WITH LEIGHAH BEAUSOLEIL lbeausoleil@student.framingham.edu

For

Leighah Beausoleil / THE GATEPOST

Nancy Niemi giving her inaugural address May 5.

Tuition and fees to increase by 2.2% for AY 2023-24

By Branden LaCroix News Editor

Tuition and fees at Framingham State University will increase by approximately 2.2%, or $250, for Academic Year 2023-24 (AY 23-24).

Framingham State has had a tuition freeze for the past three years starting in Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21), which was put in place to ease the stresses facing students due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Dale Hamel, executive vice president.

Hamel said the tuition freeze was not intended to be long term as other cost increases have made it unviable.

“There are significant costs that the University will be facing going forward, including substantial increases in utilities, collective bargaining costs, and inflation in general,” he said.

During the Board of Trustees meeting March 31, Dale Hamel said the Finance Committee discussed the possibility of not increasing student fees for FY24.

Hamel said the continuation of the tuition freeze hinged on how much the University would receive from the Fair Share Amendment.

The Fair Share Amendment, passed last November, was an initiative to increase taxes on incomes above $1 million and use the extra resources generated for transportation and education, according to the Massachusetts Legislature website.

He said the passing of the Fair Share Amendment was projected to increase state revenue by approximately $1 billion.

Hamel said a proposal was devel-

oped along with all other Massachusetts state universities that if enough funding was directed toward higher education “to support operational costs,” all state universities would commit to a freeze on tuition and fees.

According to a report by the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education’s Data Center, while many

because it is still not clear exactly how much of the Fair Share funding the University will receive.

He explained newly elected Gov. Maura Healey’s budget directed “a little bit over a third” of the Fair Share Amendment revenue to higher education, with the rest divided between transportation and K-12 education.

ward transportation and only approximately $174 million of the remaining $500 million being spent on higher education.

He said a significant portion of the $174 million in funds - approximately $154 million - would be used for additional financial aid, a large portion of which is intended for the MassReconnect initiative.

MassReconnect is a scholarship program that covers all tuition, fees, and supply costs for Massachusetts residents 25 years old or older to attend state community colleges, according to the Massachusetts government website.

Hamel said FSU administrators are waiting to see what the state Senate’s proposed budget for FY24 will be in May. He added the proposed budgets by the House and Senate will have to be reconciled in a conference committee, which will not happen until sometime in June or July.

Because a decision on tuition and fees needs to be made, Hamel said FSU is making decisions based on the House’s budget.

other state institutions held a tuition freeze between FY2021 and FY2022, Framingham State University is the only four-year public institution that did not increase the cost of tuition and fees for FY2023.

However, Hamel added the University’s current planned budget for AY23-24 does include the cost increase

“So we did have discussions with the Board of Trustees that if the governor’s budget were to prevail, that it looked good in terms of support for operations,” he said.

However, Hamel said the House budget for FY24 made significant changes to the original allocations, with $500 million being directed to-

Along with tuition and fees, Hamel said the costs of room and board are also increasing, with rent in residence halls increasing by $240 and meal plans increasing by an average of $230. He said the residence halls are “on their own” and are therefore not subsidized.

With the tuition and fee increase, Hamel said the “list price” for AY23-24 will be $11,630.

Leighah Beausoleil / THE GATEPOST

Dale Hamel, exectuive vice president.

CONNECT WITH BRANDEN LACROIX blacroix@student.framingham.edu

Gatepost wins four Mark of Excellence awards

By Naidelly Coelho Asst. News Editor

The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) announced the Region 1 winners of the annual Mark of Excellence collegiate journalism contest and three Gatepost members won awards.

“The Mark of Excellence awards honor the best of collegiate journalism,” according to SPJ’s website. “Region 1 is a combination of New England, New York, and the eastern mid-Atlantic states.”

The contest recognized material published during the 2022 calendar year.

The Gatepost was named one of two Region 1 finalists for the Corbin Gwaltney Award for Best All-Around Student Newspaper for small schools, which have fewer than 10,000 students.

Leighah Beausoleil, editor-in-chief, said she is “very proud” of this accomplishment and The Gatepost has worked “really hard” for this recogni tion.

Sophia Harris, news editor, won first place for General News Reporting for small schools for her article, “Massa chusetts approves bill to allow medi cation abortion access in public uni versities.”

She said this article is something that she “deeply” cares about, and that it is really important that the commu nity knows about this new bill.

Harris said she did a lot of research for her article. She researched about the abortion laws and bills for the state.

“There is nothing I enjoy more than working as the news editor on The Gatepost, and winning this award has only furthered my commitment and dedication to providing the Framingham State community with accurate and reliable news,” she said.

Another member of The Gatepost, Associate Editor Emily Rosenberg, is a finalist in Feature Writing for small schools for her article, “The golden era of college radio.”

Her article tells the story of Framingham State’s radio station, WDJM, and celebrates its 50th anniversary. She said alumni, including her own father, created a community through their involvement with the organization.

Rosenberg said she did a lot of preparation to write this article and she reached out to many alumni.

She said she wrote this article knowing only what she knew from being at The Gatepost and a few weeks of taking a journalism class.

“I think getting this award is really cool because it really shows that you can learn a lot from The Gatepost,” Rosenberg said.

Another member of The Gatepost, Opinions Editor McKenzie Ward, won

first place for General Column Writing.

This is the second time Ward has been recognized for an SPJ award in this category. She was first recognized by SPJ for columns she published during the 2020 calendar year.

Ward said many of her columns focus on women’s rights - something she really cares about.

“It’s really great to see that Framingham State and The Gatepost and our writers are being credited for all the work that they’ve done over these past couple years,” Ward said.

Beausoleil said, “Winning an SPJ is such a huge accomplishment and it’s something that they’ll be able to keep on their resumés for the rest of their lives.”

English Professor and Gatepost Advisor Desmond McCarthy said, “The Mark of Excellence college journalism contest is renowned and respected. I am so proud of the three editors who received individual awards.”

He added, “Also, everyone on The Gatepost’s staff can take a bow for the paper’s being named one of two finalists in our region for best all-around student newspaper serving a university with fewer than 10,000 students. There are a lot of universities in New England, New York and the mid-Atlantic region, and many of them are able to provide financial support to student journalists.”

“Everyone at The Gatepost is a volunteer, but the culture of excellence and the emphasis on mutual support and community is what makes this newspaper so special and successful.”

SGA holds its last meeting of the semester

By Naidelly Coelho Asst. News Editor

During its last meeting of the year, SGA swore in its 2023-24 members, made changes to its constitution, and seniors gave their final tearful goodbyes April 25.

President Dara Barros swore in the SGA president for next year, Evelyn Campbell, outreach and events coordinator.

Next year’s senators, Dillon Riley, Billy Hubert, Michael Trueswell, and Ben Boyer were sworn in by Campbell.

Raffi Elkhoury, vice president, presented the changes made to SGA’s constitution. All changes were voted into effect during the meeting.

Elkhoury said one change was made to the wording of a bylaw about graduate students.

He said graduate students are not given the opportunity to pay SATF funds, but in the constitution it says that graduates who paid SATF funds could join SGA.

“That part is rude saying the grad students can voluntarily pay SATF funds because that’s not something that’s possible within the organization,” he added.

Elkhoury said another change made to the constitution allows graduate students to join SGA, but because they do not pay SATF funds, they cannot be a voting member.

Additionally, he said the diversity and inclusion officer is no longer appointed by the president and will be an elected position.

Elkhoury added the outreach and events coordinator will now upload information to Ramlink and social media instead of the secretary.

SGA invited members of student organizations to the meeting for the students to present on the conferences they attended this academic year.

The Gatepost presented about the College Media Association (CMA) conference that they attended in March in New York.

Emily Rosenberg, associate editor of The Gatepost, said the CMA conference provides all kinds of opportunities to journalism students in the hopes to improve the newspaper.

Sophia Harris, news editor of The Gatepost, said this opportunity is “great” for students because Framingham State’s Journalism Program is small. Therefore, having this opportunity allows students to gain access to

information they would have otherwise not had.

Harris said, “It’s not only benefiting me as a person who wants to go into journalism as a career in the future, but also the Framingham community, as well. That’s really why I love journalism here because it’s benefiting our community.”

Members of FSAB presented about the National Association for Campus Activities (NACA) conference that they attended in October.

Campbell said FSAB went to learn more about vendors and create relationships with people that can benefit FSU.

Senator Dillon Riley, who is also a member of FSAB, said they were able to go to workshops where they learned about “new techniques, marketing techniques, and ways to get students involved.

“From those networking connections, we are able to further get discounts on the vendors that we have coming,” he said.

SGA Advisor Gina Pacitto presented on behalf of Brother to Brother (B2B) for its trip to the Black, Brown College Bound Conference in Tampa, Florida.

She said this conference had work-

shops that were hosted for networking and educational purposes.

During officers’ reports, McKenzie Ward, student trustee, said the last Board of Trustees will be held May 12, which will be the day she presents next year’s student trustee, Ryan Milkelis.

SGA’s seniors said their final goodbyes.

Ward said she feels “very proud” of everything she has accomplished at FSU. “I just wanted to just thank everyone for this. In fact, probably this is the best thing that I’ve ever chosen to do.”

Secretary Mark Haskell said he thanks everyone for the opportunity to be in SGA.

SATF Treasurer Sam Houle said he feels “great” to be able to walk around campus and know that he belongs here.

“Hopefully, I’ve been able to help you guys out a little bit to just enhance ourselves,” he said.

The “U-Rock” was presented to Hubert by Senator Liv West.

CONNECT WITH NAIDELLY COELHO ncoelho3@student.framingham.edu

CONNECT WITH NAIDELLY COELHO ncoelho3@student.framingham.edu

Sophia Harris / THE GATEPOST McKenzie Ward, opinions editor, wins SPJ General Column Writing Mark of Excellence Award for Region 1.

Leighah Beausoleil / THE GATEPOST Emily Rosenberg, associate editor, was named a Mark of Excellence Award finalist in Feature Writing.

Leighah Beausoleil / THE GATEPOST Sophia Harris, news editor, wins SPJ General News Reporting Mark of Excellence Award for Region 1 small schools.

THE GATEPOST EDITORIAL

OP/ED Let these logos go

Framingham State is undergoing a pivotal moment in rebranding its marketing, which includes redesigning the logo.

Apparently, the strategic enrollment team thinks prospective students are hungry for breakfast, as one of the proposed new logos looks like a pair of croissants.

The second proposed logo is not designed for students at all - at least not human ones. The oddly placed acorn in the corner of the shield would make anyone wonder if this logo is geared toward increasing our enrollment of squirrels.

Or maybe Framingham State is a university in the magnificent city of Atlantis, as the third proposed logo depicts a Ram that looks more like a seahorse?

Recently, the University marketing team sent out a campus-wide survey asking for feedback on these three logos and for participants to choose one that accurately represents Framingham State’s story.

However, none of these new logos properly represents the richness of Framingham State’s history and its current strengths as an academic institution and community.

They are not bold, sharp, or memorable as our sister universities’ logos are.

They show a lack of attention to graphic design. The typography is generic, and the lettering is awkwardly placed. They look like amateur sketches rather than prototypes for a final product.

The University has been working on designing a new logo since it announced its commitment to anti-racism in 2020 as the depiction of an Algonquin Native American on the seal is racist and problematic.

A new logo is a long overdue necessity.

But it should be one that the University is proud of. It should be one that anyone in Massachusetts can point to and think, “That’s Framingham State.”

The first proposed logo depicts two rams locking horns - perhaps to show unity and represent the community of Framingham State.

However, without the full image of the two rams, it is unclear what these two curly figures are. To many who don’t know our mascot is a ram, they could merely be odd-looking rings.

Furthermore, it is widely known that when rams lock horns, they are competing for the attention of a female counterpart, which can last for hours and be gruesome and even deadly.

This doesn’t represent unity.

What message are we trying to send?

A tragic reminder of racism and gun violence

By Izayah Morgan Staff Writer

The second logo shows a shield with four images: a book, an acorn, a ram, and a star.

This is generic and does not show anything unique about our school. There is not a single college campus in the United States that does not have books. The star might make sense to represent our most famous alumna, Christa McAullife, but it is so simplistic that this is not clear at all.

And what is the acorn for?

The third logo shows a simplistic side profile of a standing ram. The ram looks proud and confident.

However, the ram design is very different from that which is frequently used to represent us throughout the year at athletic games and engagement fairs - the image of the iconic statue outside of Dwight Hall.

This ram looks as if it were created in under five minutes using the popular design application Canva.

Besides, the logo should be different from our mascot.

The University has an opportunity to proudly define itself with a new logo that will represent our rich, inclusive history as an academic institution and community.

We’ve been waiting for this opportunity for so long, and if we change the logo to something that is generic or misrepresentative of our institution, we will sorely regret it.

Let go of these logos!

The whole point of our original logo is the connection it creates between the state and the University as the state seal and flag include this depiction of an Algonquin Native American.

When the initiative to redesign the logo was first proposed, the goal was to keep this connection alive by reflecting the city of Framingham’s seal, which depicts May Hall.

Having an image of May Hall as our logo would be perfect.

It is one of our oldest buildings on campus. It is where our community comes together and learns.

Almost every student ends up taking an English course or another general education requirement within the walls of May Hall.

When people see May Hall, they see Framingham State.

They see the history of education.

They see our community.

They see us.

Make May Hall our logo.

Ralph, a Black 16 year old in Kansas City, Missouri, was sent to pick up his younger siblings at a friend’s house on April 13.

However, after he ended up mixing up the address, he found himself in front of a house on Northeast 115 Street by mistake, instead of Northeast 115th Terrace. His family attorneys, Lee Merritt and Ben Crump would go on to later state he was shot twice after he rang the doorbell.

Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old African American, is currently a student at Staley High School. Superintendent Dan Clemens had nothing but praise for Yarl, saying in a statement released on Monday, “He maintains a stellar GPA while taking mostly college-level courses.” He was heavily involved in the school’s jazz program and competition band.

Andrew Lester shot him in the head, through the window, according to prosecutors. Not much is known about Lester - well, that is until his grandson made statements to the Kansas City Star about Lester being “radicalized” by Fox News. He would go on to say that his grandfather fell “further down the rightwing rabbit hole as far as doing the election-denying conspiracy stuff and COVID conspiracies and disinformation, fully buying into the Fox News, One American News Network kind of line.’’

Allowing this blatant misinformation and biased news only strengthens the racial divisions in this country. This misformation must be challenged not just by words, but through actions and education.

After being shot, through pure will and grace, Ralph made his way, bleeding, to three nearby houses. He was turned away from multiple houses.

James Lynch had just gotten out of the shower Thursday night and was getting ready for bed when he could hear shouting outside. He looked out of his window to investigate and saw a young boy screaming and knocking on doors for help.

“I heard somebody screaming, ‘Help, help, I’ve been shot!’” Lynch said.

Lynch, who is a father of three, sprung into action. Thanks to Lynch’s Eagle Scout training, he was able to help Yarl. He stayed with Yarl until the proper help arrived for him. Through the actions of this man, Yarl was able to see another day.

Yarl’s mother, Cleo Nagbe, joined Gayle King on CBS Mornings to discuss the effects of the shooting on the family and give an update on Ralph’s current condition.

Nagbe said, “The residual effect of that injury is going to stay with him for quite a while. He’s home, but I want to remind everybody that Ralph is home because he is surrounded by a team of medical professionals. I’m a nurse for almost 20 years. His aunt is a physical therapist, his uncle is a medical professional. That is why he is home.”

Yarl is another tragic example of the racism and gun violence rampant in this country.

Courtesy of Framingham State The three proposed logos.

Accountability in the era of social media

By Adam Levine Editorial Staff

Freedom of speech is a cherished right in the United States. However, this right does not equate to freedom from consequences.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but there is a time and place to voice them. And the wrong time and place can lead to consequences.

Twitter limits their users to 280 characters per tweet. Instagram limits its users to 2,200 characters per caption. Facebook limits its users to 63,206 characters per post. TikTok now allows its users to post videos up to 10 minutes long.

As of 2021, approximately 72% of the U.S. population use social media, according to the Pew Research Center.

Easy access to social media posting does not give users the right to say anything without consequences.

On Oct. 13, 2014, American singer-songwriter Chris Brown tweeted his opinion on the Ebola virus, which is responsible for more than 11,000 deaths from 2014 to 2016, according to the CDC.

Brown claimed the virus was a form of “population control.”

Despite Brown voicing this common conspiracy, the spread of Ebola in certain areas can be explained by the lack of resources in developing countries, according to the Journal of Molecular Biochemistry.

Brown responded to the backlash from his tweet with a half-baked, sarcastic apology that received even more backlash from social media.

On March 18, 2020, American actress Vanessa Hudgens posted an Instagram video about the COVID-19 virus saying, “Even if everybody gets it, like yeah, people are going to die, which is terrible… but inevitable?”

Hudgens quickly followed up with an apology saying, “This has been a huge wake up call to the significance my words have, now more than ever.”

At the time of Hudgens’ statement, the COVID-19 virus had affected all 50 states in the U.S., resulting in 108 deaths from over 6,300 confirmed cases, according to BBC News.

Brown currently has 31.9 million followers on Twitter and Hudgens currently has 49.7 million followers on Instagram.

Both of these celebrities hold a position of power and influence due to their large social media presence.

People in other countries can abuse free speech, too.

In an interview with the French television network Canal+ in 2015, the French ecology minister at the time, Ségolène Royal, said, “We have to replant a lot of trees because there is massive deforestation that also leads to global warming. We should stop eating Nutella, for example, because it’s made with palm oil.”

Royal gave a public apology via Twitter days later after Ferro, the company responsible for producing Nutella, said they source their palm oil from sustainable plantations, according to USA Today.

As the French ecology minister, Royal expressed her misinformed opinion as a fact. Her position of political power and influence carried economic and environmental implications.

Opinions are a vital aspect of individual freedoms.

While sharing an opinion is a right

under freedom of speech, there is a time and place to do so as these opinions can be hurtful.

Brown, Hudgens, and Royal made headlines because of how the world responded to them publicly expressing their opinions.

Additionally, with the increase in usage of social media, everyday users hide behind screens while spreading hate speech.

None of this is OK.

Social media users across the world need to be held accountable for expressing their opinions as facts, which only leads to the spread of harmful misinformation.

Being entitled to your own opinion and having freedom of speech does not equate to freedom from consequences.

And there needs to be consequences for making statements that are offensive to others.

Think before you speak. Think before you post. And think before you share.

Give teachers the respect they deserve

By McKenzie Ward Opinions Editor

Teacher Appreciation Week is May 8 - 12. This week is dedicated to appreciating and thanking teachers for everything they do for students.

Teaching is one of the most underappreciated jobs in our country. Teachers are often not given respect by administrators, students, parents, and even the government.

Just recently, Meghan Trainor, an American singer-songwriter, welcomed Trisha Paytas, an American Youtuber, on Trainor’s podcast, “Workin’ On It.” During the podcast, Trainor and

Paytas shared their thoughts on the United States’ education system.

Trainor said, “Everyone on TikTok is like, ‘This is what it’s like having kids in America. I have a bulletproof backpack.’ I was like, ‘F*** all that.” Paytas agreed and said that she is planning to homeschool her children and that for her, it was her teachers that caused her trauma.

Trainor responded with, “F*** teachers.”

When I heard Trainor’s comment, my blood began to boil.

Is the United States’ education system perfect?

No.

Are there some teachers who might not be the right fit?

Yes.

But, to say “F*** teachers,” is beyond ignorant.

We ask a lot from our teachers.

We ask them to educate at least 20 growing minds each day. We ask them to follow the individualized education plans of many of their students. We ask them to use their own money to fund their classrooms. We ask them

to stay late after school to tutor struggling students. We ask them to protect students from school shooters.

And teachers do all of this knowing they won’t be rich or famous. But they pursue this profession because they care about students.

So, to say “F*** teachers” is just downright disrespectful.

As of October 2022, after the school year had already begun, 45% of U.S. public schools had at least one teacher vacancy, according to NPR. Many teachers are leaving because of unsupportive leadership, lack of compensation, and their overall well-being, according to McKinsey and Company.

We need to find ways to support our teachers because, without them, our nation’s children will lack education.

First, they deserve more compensation.

In 2021, the average compensation for a teacher in the United States was $65,090. And while some states pay more than others, almost across the board, teachers, in my opinion, deserve better compensation.

Someone with a master’s degree deserves to make more than $65,000 annually, especially with the conditions teachers are currently working in.

Second, as a society, we must start giving teachers more respect.

Currently, the Republican Party is making being a teacher in the United States extremely difficult with book banning, the lack of funding, and a strict curriculum that puts restrictions on what teachers can teach.

And at the same time, parents are attacking teachers for their child’s behavior rather than holding their child accountable for their actions. In Jan-

uary, Abby Zwerner, a teacher from Virginia was shot and wounded by a 6-year-old student.

Zwerner was shot by a child with a known history of behavioral problems and on the day of the shooting, the school administrators had multiple warnings that the boy might have a gun and be a danger. However, despite these warnings, the school did nothing and this innocent woman got hurt.

And while Trainor has apologized on TikTok for her comment about teachers, the most important part of an apology is someone’s actions and how they change moving forward.

So, if Trainor truly “fights” for teachers like she claims in her apology, then I expect to see Trainor donating supplies to teachers, speaking out against bills that will negatively affect teachers and the classroom, and just all around supporting things will amazing teachers and professors I have had over these last 16 years. Some of them have made life-altering impacts on me and my identity and I will forever be grateful for their role in my life.

Without each and every single teacher and professor I have had, I would not be crossing the stage on May 21.

Teachers can have such a profound impact on students and deserve so much more than what they are currently receiving support our teachers.

As I near my undergraduate commencement ceremony, I have been reminiscing about all the amazing teachers and professors I have had over these last 16 years. Some of them have made life-altering impacts on me and my identity and I will forever be

grateful for their role in my life.

Without each and every single teacher and professor I have had, I would not be crossing the stage on May 21.

Teachers can have such a profound impact on students and deserve so much more than what they are currently receiving.

From moving around to moving up

By Leighah Beausoleil Editor-in-Chief

When people ask me where I am from, I don’t know how to respond.

Their inquisition is typically countered with a series of questions that inevitably ask them to specify what they really want to know about me.

Otherwise, when most people hear I transferred schools 14 times prior to college, the assumption is I am from a military family.

However, that is not the case.

There is no one reason why I have moved as much as I have. Each move has been for its own unique reason and was unexpected.

Therefore, my education prior to FSU was a bit discombobulated.

Each move required me to learn a whole new school system, catch up on the curriculum, and still somehow gain and maintain a social life.

Worse yet, even when I did manage to get comfortable in the latest school, that’s when my transcript would finally come in.

Then, I had to rearrange my whole schedule and enter a new set of classes

with different students and typically higher expectations.

Sometimes, I was too far ahead, and other times, I was way behind my peers.

To this day, I have gaps in my knowledge due to the entire units I’ve missed in math, history, and other subjects.

And yet, one school wanted me to skip the seventh grade.

According to the study, “Switching Schools: Reconsidering the Relationship Between School Mobility and High School Dropout,” the prospects of most students in my position include an aptitude for behavioral issues, the likelihood of academic failure, and ultimately, the near certainty of becoming a high school drop out.

The odds were not in my favor.

I was statistically doomed to fail.

I recall sitting in my high school guidance counselors’ office after I completed my final school transfer.

Pulling up my transcript, he was shocked at my grades. He had told me about these poor expectations of stu-

dents who often fall victim to school mobility.

He had told me I could have been much more successful if I had only had the chance to stay in one place.

But there was no point wallowing in self pity. I had made the most of what my education was, and I knew once I graduated high school, my academic fate would finally be in my own hands.

And I was right.

My experience even gave me an advantage when I got to college. For most people, this is the first big transition they have in their educational careers. They are surrounded by new people and have to become more independent learners.

I had already done this 14 timeswhat’s a 15th?

My unconventional education taught me lessons and gave me experiences that most people never encounter.

I have come to terms with my school mobility experience. It has shaped me into the person I am today.

It strengthened my independence. It taught me that if I wanted something, I had to go get it because no one else was going to do it for me and help was hard to come by.

As I was getting ready to apply for colleges my senior year of high school, I had planned out another decade or so

of education - I was going to be a dentist. Though I still find the field fascinating, it never gave me the thrill that my journalism class did that year.

Showing up at school an hour earlier than necessary, I sat down with my high school journalism teacher, Mr. Van Constantine, and shared with him my pros and cons list of going into journalism versus dentistry.

That is when he told me to just go for journalism.

Though I was embarrassed at the time to have such a significant change in career paths, it was ultimately the right choice for me.

My educational and life experiences have led me to the career that I can now never imagine not pursuing. My high school journalism class showed me the importance of community and how valuable it is to be a voice for that community.

When I finally got to Framingham State, I took what I knew and I seized every opportunity I could to achieve my goal of becoming a journalist.

Now, I have community everywhere I go.

I am continuously learning every day.

I am able to explore different subject areas and hear people’s stories. I am doing what I had always dreamed of - I just didn’t know it yet.

Letter to the Editor: The work isn’t done yet

I’ve done my time at FSU. And I’ve really tried to do it - multiple on campus jobs, clubs, events, academics. I’ve pushed myself.

Since my freshman year, I have become increasingly aware of this University’s quiet mediocrity. We have problems on campus, and they are not being addressed or fixed. We have racist incidents regularly on campus. We have domestic violence in the dorms. We have white students that use the n-word. We have a police force that silences victims. We have cameras that don’t work. We have professors who don’t care to teach. We have no school spirit. We have staff stretched so thin

they can’t produce anything. We have problems. And we have a shrinking student body, that is becoming largely commuter, so FSU has no money to deal with anything. We have top down, systemic issues, rooted in our policies, that are teaching us to accept mediocrity.

And the cherry on top is FSU’s empty claims of inclusion and excellence in education.

We have so much work to do as a community.

As for my part in all this, I have been trying to change one small thing in my four years. I have been fighting for sexual assault and violence to be

handled appropriately since my first day on campus, when I experienced sexual assault. Time and time again, doors are closed in front of me, all in the name of, “There is nothing else we can do.” But that’s not the truth. People with passion know there is always something to do. The work doesn’t stop.

Here’s the thing though - I’m a fighter. And even after being assaulted my first day on campus, I chose to stick around. I stuck around because I had a few friends who had my back and held my head up for me. I have been fighting an uphill battle on every front and planting seeds - waiting for something

to bloom. I just wish I could see something bloom before I graduate.

If you have it in you, please keep planting seeds. It’s the only way we will ever see change - even if we’re not the ones that get to witness it.

Sincerely,

Katherine Washburn Class of 2023 B.S. Computer Science

Courtesy of Leighah Beausoleil (Left) The late Van Constantine, who was an English and journalism teacher at Bartlett High School, and Editor-in-Chief Leighah Beausoleil during her 2019 high school graduation.

Courtesy of Leighah Beausoleil

(Left) Editor-in-Chief Leighah Beausoleil and the late Van Constantine, who was an English and journalism teacher at Bartlett High School, during a “Teach the Teacher” assignment for her anatomy class.

Senior Letters

Here it is. The final issue of my Gatepost career.

I have worked 96 of these issues, only missing one meeting my freshman year because I had the flu.

And for the record - I still published an article that week.

The Gatepost has been such a major part of my life these past four years. It hasn’t been the easiest job, but I cannot imagine spending my Thursday nights anywhere but within the four walls of McCarthy 410.

I can still remember the excitement of getting my first byline, seeing my first published photo, and receiving my first promotion.

However, this issue has brought me many of my lasts - the last photo spread I will ever make, the last FSU interview I will ever conduct, and the last night I will spend with my favorite people cracking jokes through the night until we somehow produce an entire newspaper.

Though it is sad to say goodbye, I know I am ready to take the next big step in my life.

These last four years on The Gatepost have taught me so much for my future. I will forever be grateful for the amazing mentorship and endless support I received from Gatepost Advisor Desmond McCarthy and Assistant Advisor Liz Banks.

Though I am graduating with a bachelor’s in English, I never intended to study English. However, I have had such an amazing academic experience analyzing literature with some of the best professors on this campus.

I will forever be proud of the work I completed for my degree.

I am also grateful to have had the opportunity to explore other academic areas during my time at Framingham State, including my Chinese minor with the incredible Fei Yu 老师 (谢谢!) as well as my political science minor, which I have to thank the amazing Dr. David Smailes for inspiring me to pursue.

I hope to continue exploring various subject areas and keep learning new concepts and ideas through my work as a journalist.

You have all molded me into the critical thinker I am today.

So long, FSU!

Yours truly,

Leighah Beausoleil Editor-in-Chief

Dear Framingham State University,

I would like to extend my thanks to you for giving me the courage to step up and take on a plethora of roles that have shaped the person I have become.

To the Student Government Association, many thanks to you for giving me the courage to learn more about myself as a leader and providing opportunities for me to enable my growth as a person. Thank you, SGA, for accepting me as one of your senators and as your secretary. I have learned a lot from both of these positions. They were fantastic opportunities to connect with students, faculty, and administration as well as having an impact.

Thank you, Student Advisory Council, for giving me the opportunity to be a part of your prestigious organization, where I was able to make changes that I never imagined I was ever able to do in my lifetime with the best coworkers I could ask for.

Thank you, Gatepost, for giving me a chance to use the skills in writing that I knew and bestow upon me so many opportunities to flourish.

I would like to put forth thanks to SILD, the ELP, the Danforth Art Museum & School, as well as Dr. David Smailes, for allowing me to work for you and supplying me with an immense set of skills that I can apply to my work after my undergraduate studies and graduate school.

I would like to say that to the people I have met while here at FSU, whether it was good or bad, I request that y’all find successes of your own and be proud of those successes as I am proud of my own. Be proud of yourselves for coming this far. To those who come after me, I wish you well with your futures and best of luck to wherever your paths take you.

Cordially yours,

Mark A. Haskell

During my first week at FSU back in September 2019, I told myself I had one goal - to leave FSU a better place than how I found it.

And after four years of hard work, I have accomplished that thanks to the help of some of the most amazing people I have ever met.

To SGA: Thank you for providing me with the space to advocate for students. I have loved every minute of being a senator, the president, and student trustee. Just remember there is no FSU, without students.

To Liz, Desmond, and the rest of Gatepost: Thank you for convincing me to join The Gatepost, pushing me to be my best every week, and for the opportunity to see my work published. I came for the ice cream but stayed because of all of you.

To my avid readers: Thank you for reading my op/eds over these past four years. It has been an honor to write for all of you!

To my English and history professors: Thank you for continuing to push me to be the best writer I can possibly be. Thank you for your guidance and endless support. I wouldn’t be graduating without each and every single one of you.

To Dr. Bollettino and Dr. Adelman: Thank you for being wonderful mentors who have guided and inspired me since my freshman year. I have become a better historian due to your support through my historical research and writing. Thank you for always allowing me to follow my passions and cheering me on along the way.

To Ben Trapanick, Sara Gallegos, David Baldwin, Meg Nowak Borrego, Lorretta Holloway, and Gina Pacitto: Thank you for believing in my abilities and pushing me toward greatness. I am a better leader because of all of you.

To the administration: Thank you for allowing my voice to be heard even when I am the only student in the room. I appreciate your guidance and the knowledge you have given me over these four years.

To Charlie: Thank you for not only being my best friend but my biggest supporter. I always know I have you cheering me on. I love you.

And last but not certainly least, to FSU: Thank you for giving me a home when I needed it the most.

Yielding the floor for one final time,

Kenzie

August 2019.

I was feeling so conflicted about coming to Framingham State. The following years would be filled with so much growth, pain, euphoria, anxiety, and uncertainty. I am grateful for it all, as it has led me to where I am now. And I am really happy.

Wrapping up my time as an undergrad has left me with so many bittersweet emotions and a few people I would like to thank for the last few years.

Thank you, Mom. I do not thank you enough. Thank you for your advice, whether I take it or not. I should not be shocked when you are inevitably right in the end. I do not always ask for advice - I am happy you offer it anyways. I am so lucky to have you. Love you more.

Thank you, Dad. From helping me navigate my education, professional life, my friendships, and the unexpected health challenges that arose throughout my time at FSU. Thank you for never letting me throw in the towel. I would not be graduating if it was not for your endless support and encouragement.

Thank you, Pam. Thank you for the opportunity to work in a wellness space. Thank you for helping save lives through your tireless efforts during COVID-19 testing. Thank you for all the students you have helped by providing sexual health information and supplies to. Thank you for helping save lives through your help and advocacy towards mental health and suicide prevention. I want to thank all the SEALS for being the most supportive group of friends I could have asked for. And thank you Pam for bringing us together. I cannot sum up in a mere note the astronomical impact Pam has made on Framingham State and on myself personally. I knew I had a resource on campus I could reach out to in total confidence and receive feedback with no judgment. If I ever win an Oscar, Nobel Prize, or Pulitzer, Pam is getting a shoutout.

There are so many more people who have made my college experience what it was. Julie has helped me try to navigate my newfound freedom and adulthood. Claire knew I was having a hard time even if I would not admit it. John and Brendan always had a second home for me. Mikayla was by my side for it all. I am so grateful.

Godspeed, Maeve Walsh

Great Scott! It’s 1985

Ben Hurney / THE GATEPOST

Campus Conversations

Which is your favorite logo?

By Kyle Walker, Staff Writer

“They all look like trash, but probably the first one because the description makes the most sense, and it’s the only one that doesn’t look very bad.”

-Parker Winters, freshman

“I pick the first one. I think it symbolizes unity and the fRAMily, and I like the color combo.”

-Bruno Rodriguez, senior

“I am torn between two and three. Two feels a little bit more regal and I like the symbols because it’s more compelling. Ultimately, I am going to go with option two.”

“The second one. It just seemed like the most chill to me, and I like how it’s just simple black and yellow.” -Eilish Heffernan, sophomore

“I like the first option, but the third is my favorite. It’s sick and I like how it has the year in it because of the history of the school.”

-Joseph Antonio, freshman

“I like the second one because I like the font choice and I like the little shapes in the middle. I think that’s fun.”

- Sabrina Grammatic, graduate student

“I think I voted for the third logo. Yeah, because I like that you get the mascot and you get the year. The first option just looks like wedding rings.”

- Eli Paré, graduate student

“I was always stuck between the first and third ones, but I am going to go with the third. It shows the school colors as well as the school logo and the year of establishment, which I think is important.”

“I quite liked the first option. It is minimalistic and I like the contrast between the black and the gold.”

“My favorite one would probably be the first because I just like how the horns interlock, and it kind of looks cool.”

-Andrew Miller, junior

“I like the last one. I think it’s very pretty and it fits well.”

“I like the last one. I like the ram and that it shows the pride of the school.”

[Editor’s Note: See page 13 for images of each proposed logo.]

-Kammarie Pelland, graduate student

- Mitchell DiStefano, senior

-Cailynn Klemm, freshman

-Jon Ribeiro, senior

-Patrick McGonagle, senior

Women’s track and field finish third at MASCAC Championships

By Adam Levine Sports Editor

The Framingham State Rams placed third at the MASCAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Fitchburg State April 29.

Framingham’s Emily Newcomb said, “This year, we were all intrinsically motivated to better ourselves and really dialed in on our training.

“Our team has definitely improved in our mentality. We went from a team running for fun to a team who meant business,” she added.

Framingham finished second the previous weekend at the Regis College Pre-conference Meet April 22.

The Rams earned the top spot in seven different events.

Framingham’s first place finishers

Beck became the second-ever Ram to qualify for DIII All-New England’s. She said, “Qualifying for New England’s is something I have been really pushing for all season and now it finally happened after all the work my coaches and myself have put in all year round.”

Beck said she “screamed with enjoy-

end. There was some great competi tion and I knew I had my work cut out for me, which made winning it even more rewarding.

“It also feels nice to go out on top,” Newcomb added.

Beck, McAuliffe, and Newcomb were all named to the MASCAC All-Confer ence Team for their performances at

Adam Levine / THE GATEPOST

(Left) Amanda Bedard and Kammarie Pelland running the 800-meter run at the Regis College Pre-conference Meet April 22.

Adam Levine / THE GATEPOST Lydia Marunowski

Adam Levine / THE GATEPOST Leah Chace

Women’s lacrosse launch into MASCAC finals

By Adam Levine Sports Editor

The Framingham State Rams advanced to the MASCAC Championship game with a 15-8 victory over the Bridgewater State Bears May 4.

Framingham seeks to win back-toback MASCAC Championships.

Framingham’s midfielder, Regan Fein, said, “Coming off of our championship title last year, we’ve had to play at a different standard. Our attitudes have now shifted from ‘ifs’ to ‘whens.’

“There is this target on our backs and everyone wants a shot at us. This year, we are not taking our feet off the gas,” she added.

The Rams ended the regular season in third place in the MASCAC after suffering an 18-10 loss to the Westfield State Owls April 29.

Three Rams earned spots on MASCAC weekly reports throughout the season: attacker Hannah Guerin’s two Player of the Week honors and four Weekly Honor Roll appearances, Fein’s two Weekly Honor Roll appearances, and midfielder Rachel Erickson’s Weekly Honor Roll appearance.

Head Coach Devyne Doran said, “I think it’s awesome when we get recognition like that, just because when we play some tough out-of-conference teams, it’s really nice to come back into conference play and kind of dominate some of the stats.

“It’s great for us to take those recognitions and help propel us through the rest of conference play,” she added. Guerin’s honors were largely in part due to her offensive contributions for the Rams. She ranked first in points, first in goals, and fifth in assists among MASCAC competitors.

Guerin said, “I feel like it’s all the team chemistry that makes me able to do that.

“We all feed off each other. It’s not just one person doing everything, which I think is what makes us strong,” she added.

In regards to her individual awards throughout the season, Guerin said, “We’re all so supportive of each other, so obviously they’re happy for me and we’re happy for each other whenever something like that happens, but none of us could do it without each other.”

Fein ended the season ranked first in assists and eighth in points among MASCAC competitors. “I feel that, personally, my role lies in helping put my teammates in positions for success. While I may not be the biggest scoring threat on the field, it’s my job to make certain other teams don’t want the ball in my stick.

“My coach says that ‘great players don’t play for greatness, they play to make their team great,’ and I aim to do that every game,” she added.

In regards to her individual awards throughout the season, Fein said, “It’s humbling to know that the hard work and hustle being put in is showing up in some capacity.”

Erickson ranks fifth in both points and goals among MASCAC competitors. She said, “We all work together, and then they give me the ball and then that creates opportunities for me to score.

“We all work together and we all can shine in different moments,” she added.

In head-to-head regular season MASCAC matchups, the Rams’ offense ranked second in points for (113) and second in goals per game (16.14). Their defense ranked second in combined shots saved percentage (49.2).

Doran said, “We’re really lucky that both of our goalies are really awesome team players and they know that we’re going to put in whoever’s gonna give us the best shot at winning that game.

“Our goalies and our defense keep us in some games when we’re not finding the back of the net enough, so it’s really awesome to be able to have a defense that can give us some extra possessions if we’re not winning draws, if we’re not scoring on our shots - we rely on a lot on our D,” she added.

The third-seeded Framingham faced off with the sixth-seeded Fitchburg State Falcons in the MASCAC quarterfinals May 2.

After the opening 3 minutes of the game, Framingham held a 2-1 lead over the Falcons.

The Rams quickly took over the game by scoring nine unanswered goals, ending the first quarter with an 11-1 lead.

Framingham’s attacker, Leah Green, contributed five goals during the game,

all of which came in the first quarter. She said, “I think it was just really helpful to us to get a fast start because we knew that this team had the potential to put up some points on us.”

The Rams continued to power through the Falcons, finishing the game with a 21-3 victory. Twelve Rams recorded either a goal, assist, or both throughout the game.

Doran said, “I think it’s awesome.

“It’s a great way to get a team win in the playoffs,” she added.

Framingham advanced to the tournament semifinals against second-seeded Bridgewater State May 4. The Rams avenged their 16-13 loss to Bridgewater April 22 with a commanding 15-8 victory.

Bridgewater scored two unanswered goals to start the game before Fein gave Framimgham their first goal of the game.

The Bears scored another goal before the Rams closed out the first quarter with a 4-0 scoring run.

Both teams scored two goals each during the second quarter, and the Rams held a 7-5 lead at halftime.

Framingham broke away in the third quarter, outscoring Bridgewater 6-1.

Both teams scored another two goals each during the fourth quarter, and the Rams secured their 15-8 victory.

Framingham’s midfielder, Molly Lanier, led their offense. She recorded five goals on eight shots and also assisted on two goals.

Lanier said, “I’m super excited about the performance of this game and I honestly owe every goal I had to my teammates.

“Without my team and all their individual skills, I would not have been able to find the back of the net as much as I did tonight,” she added.

Fein also had five goals during the Brdigewater semi-finals matchup. She said, “I am more than happy with the results from tonight. I think there was a level of intensity and necessity for both myself and Molly Lanier that was channeled in the right direction tonight.”

Fein said her and her team’s mentality for this game was “all gas, no breaks.”

She said, “Last time, we went out onto their field unprepared. We were not going to make the same mistake.

“There was definitely some bitterness after our last matchup, but if anything, it just added to fuel us toward the game we had today,” Fein added.

Framingham travels to the Westfield State Owls for the MASCAC Championship game May 6.

Fein said, “Saturday is no easy task. We know who they are and we know what they do, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t some hefty competition.

“I’d be lying if I said there weren’t some nerves there. They are a good team. We just need to go prove that we are better,” she added.

CONNECT WITH ADAM LEVINE

Stats sourced from fsurams.com and MASCAC.com

Adam Levine / THE GATEPOST

(Left) Rachel Erickson, Hannah Guerin, and Leah Green during game against Westfield State April 29.

Adam Levine / THE GATEPOST

Rachel Erickson in a face-off during game against Fitchburg State May 2.

Softball clinches MASCAC Regular Season Title

By Adam Levine Sports Editor

The Framingham State Rams clinched the MASCAC Regular Season Title with a sweep of the Westfield State Owls in their doubleheader April 28, winning their third title over the past six seasons.

The Rams won 14 of their last 15 games, with their last loss coming against Johnson and Wales April 20. With just two games left of the regular season, the Rams are undefeated against MASCAC opponents.

Their first-place finish is an improvement from their fourth-place regular season finish last season.

Framignahm’s second baseman,

Brooke Grassia, said, “The main improvement this team has made from last year is trusting the process. Up and down the lineup, everyone on the team believes in each other, which is allowing us to move on with such good results.”

Head Coach Larry Miller said, “Our team has done an incredible job of competing in every game - no matter the score.

“I think this group is focused on the right things, having fun, and truly enjoying the journey,” he added.

Six Rams earned spots on MASCAC weekly reports throughout the season, including shortstop Camille Desrochers’ back-to-back Player of the Week honors to end the season and pitcher Ally Moran’s four Pitcher of the Week honors.

Miller said, “I think it’s great for our athletes to be recognized, and it is certainly deserved, but I think what makes us special is everyone in our lineup and all of our pitchers have contributed hugely in different spots of the season to put us in the place we are.”

Desrochers, who is a grad student, said, “Honestly, my only goal is to win a MASCAC championship. This is it for me, so the only way I am looking to go out is to end with one last championship.”

Moran leads one of the best pitching rotations in the MASCAC, supported by freshman pitchers Rylynn Witek and Olyvia Mendonca.

She said, “The success comes from the defense I have behind me.

“Like I said before and will continue

to say, without my teammates making plays and scoring runs, there really wouldn’t be much success,” Moran added.

Moran set a new Framingham record for single-season wins (18).

The Rams’ first baseman, Kelsey McGuill, ranks first in the MASCAC in putouts with 246, rounding out the team’s defensive success.

McGuill said, “Our pitchers are producing weak ground balls to enable our infielders to make good throws to first base. Those throws are what allow me to do what I do, and I couldn’t do that without them.”

Framingham’s outfielder, Gwendolyn Carpenter, earned MASCAC Player of the Week April 17, and leads the conference in home runs (six).

Her six home runs this season set the new single-season home run record for Framingham softball.

Carpenter said, “While the individual accolades are nice, they mean nothing in the end. Our goal is to win another MASCAC championship and be the last team standing at the end of it all.”

Grassia earned a spot on the MASCAC Weekly Honor Roll four times this season. She ranks first in the conference in hits and fifth in fielding assists, showing the two-way abilities she adds to the Rams.

Grassia said, “When it comes to offense, the goal is to get on base and trust my teammates to do the rest for me.

“Like I said before, defense is all about the girls in front of you and be-

hind you. I always have someone picking me up if I need it and always have someone cheering me on when the tough plays work out,” she added.

Miller said, “As far as the season ending goes, I don’t think about itthis year has been a blast.

“I’m surrounded by a great group of student-athletes who make it fun to come to practice every day, and we are just going to ride this postseason wave as long as it takes us,” he added.

Framingham ends the season traveling to Fitchburg State for a MASCAC doubleheader May 6.

Baseball exceeds expectations, eyes postseason success

By Riley Crowell Staff Writer

The Framingham State Rams currently hold an overall record of 23-12 and a MASCAC record of 13-5 heading into the final stretch of the season.

This season has been a story of progress, determination, and defying the odds for the Rams because they won more games than they did in the last two seasons combined.

Ram outfielder Shane Costello said, “We start every practice by doing 27 pushups and jumping jacks after our warm-ups to remember the 27 losses last year.”

This season marks the highest win total of Head Coach Sean Callahan’s coaching career at Framingham.

Callahan, who is also a former FSU player, said, “It means a lot. One more win, and we’re as successful as the best team I played on.”

Multiple Rams stepped up this season, many of whom have earned MASCAC weekly honors throughout the year.

Framingham’s relief pitcher, Anthony Panza, and starting pitcher, Vincent LoGuidice, both earned MASCAC Pitcher of the Week honors during the season.

Panza pitched 28.1 innings in 15 appearances, allowing only one earned run, striking out 33 batters, and only walking four.

LoGuidice holds a season earned run average (ERA) of 3.66, the second-lowest among the Rams’ starting pitchers.

He also has a record of 5-1, pitched two complete games, and struck out 32 batters in his 46.2 innings pitched.

The Rams’ outfielder, Ryan Boyle, earned the Player of the Week honor April 17.

Boyle currently leads the MASCAC in RBIs with 46, and sits in the top five in batting average (.388) and home runs (eight).

He leads Framingham in RBIs, walks, home runs, doubles, and total bases.

Boyle said, “It’s nice to see success because of the hard work I have put in, but my statistics don’t mean anything if the games don’t result in wins.”

Callahan said, “Everyone has really assimilated into thinking about team mentality first.

“It’s all about wins instead of individual stats,” he added.

Costello collected the most MASCAC honors for Framingham this year, earning Player of the Week once and Rookie of the Week twice.

He currently sits in the top five in batting average in the MASCAC at .372, an impressive feat for a freshman.

Although not a MASCAC award winner, one of the biggest contributors to the Rams’ offense is shortstop Steven Burbank, leading the team in batting average, hits, and triples.

Burbank ranks second in the MASCAC in batting average at .416, which is an astronomical improvement from last season, when he hit .225.

He said, “I was swinging too freely last year and chasing a lot of unhittable pitches.

“I worked hard to be short to the ball so I could focus on getting base hits and putting the ball in play,” Burbank added.

Picked to finish sixth in the 2023 MASCAC preseason poll, Framingham is currently in second place, trailing only defending MASCAC champion and preseason favorite Bridgewater State.

Boyle said, “We all believed that we could be better than a sixth-place team. An extra year for players to develop has helped us a lot.”

Heading into the final stretch of the season and MASCAC playoffs, the team is very confident they can make a deep run this year.

Callahan said, “As long as our players keep playing the way that they can,

I think we will be able to.”

Costello said, “I have confidence in this team as long as we play together and stay within ourselves. When we play our game, the only people that can beat us are ourselves.”

Boyle said, “We have a ton of confidence right now. We know if we stay focused, we can get the job done.”

Framingham hosts Fitchburg State for a MASCAC matchup May 5 and ends the season at Fitchburg State for a doubleheader May 6.

CONNECT WITH ADAM LEVINE alevine5@student.framingham.edu

Adrien Gobin / THE GATEPOST Makayla Rooney batting during game against UMass-Boston April 13.

CONNECT WITH RILEY CROWELL rcrowell@student.framingham.edu

Adrien Gobin / THE GATEPOST Robert Johnston batting during game against Lasell University April 19.

Stats sourced from fsurams.com and MASCAC.com

Stats sourced from fsurams.com and MASCAC.com

Adrien Gobin / THE GATEPOST Keely Scotia batting during game against Emmanuel College April 4.

Adrien Gobin / THE GATEPOST Anthony Panza pitching during game against Lasell University April 19.

ARTS & FEATURES

Fear not! Career Development is here to help

By Branden LaCroix Editorial Staff

With finals week just around the corner and graduation approaching fast, stress among FSU students is at an all-time high.

Further complicating matters for seniors is the concern about what to do after graduation. According to a survey by OnePoll of 2,000 individuals at Colorado State University, approximately 17%, or 340 of those surveyed, replied they had no plans for after their senior year.

Luckily, FSU has Lauren O’Neill, assistant director of Career Development, to help.

O’Neill described the various services offered by Career Development while emphasizing that the whole process is not “linear.”

“It’s going to be a different path for every single person. So we really want to make sure that we’re personalizing each interaction we have with a student based on what their needs are and what their interests are,” she said.

One of the main services she said the office now provides is a Strong Interest Inventory, which is an assessment that consists of approximately 300 questions that gauge a student’s interests and personality and compare them with the responses people employed in similar fields have made.

A Strong Interest Inventory is a career assessment tool designed to provide “robust insight into a person’s interests,” and help “individuals identify their work personality,” according to the Myers-Briggs Company’s website.

She said, “It’s not saying, ‘Go be this,’ or, ‘Go be that.” It’s saying, ‘You seem to have a lot in common with folks who work in this industry.’

“So that’s a really good starting point for folks who aren’t super sure what they want to do,” she added.

O’Neill also said Career Development can help prepare and walk students through the job interview process, as well as teach them interview etiquette, such as appropriate eye contact and handshaking.

“So, we’re going to work with the student all the way from figuring out what they might be interested in through, ‘All right, you secured the interview. Let’s do the interview. Let’s make sure you’re sending that thank you email after. Great, you got a job offer. Let’s talk about negotiation,’” she said.

Aside from seniors and new graduates, O’Neill said she wants to focus on “early engagement” as well.

She said, “Our idea in the office is that you don’t need to come in with any idea about what you want to do or even how to get started because that’s our job, and we’re going to help you

get there.”

Another service provided is teaching students and alumni how to better use LinkedIn, which O’Neill explained can be used to network with Framingham State University alumni.

O’Neill said Handshake is also an important tool for students to find internships and jobs, adding that there’s a lot of information to vet through.

She added Career Development will add what she refers to as “one pagers” to Handshake that detail how to write “effective” resumés and cover letters, how to get ready for interviews, and how to prepare for any career fairs held on campus.

She said these one pagers will be available through the “resources” section of Handshake.

O’Neill said Career Development also offers GroupMe, a group messaging app, for students to join various discussion groups created for students based on their industry interests, including business and finance, STEM, and arts and communication, among others.

She said posters placed around campus feature QR codes students can scan to join GroupMe channels.

Career Development will also offer counseling over the summer, when students can schedule sessions with counselors over Zoom.

Career Development also has a subscription to FirstHand.co, which O’Neill explained is a website that ranks various companies based on “industry guides,” as well as provides lists of what the most sought after jobs are currently on the market.

“So, if you’re somebody who’s, say, interested in management consulting, you can go and look at career guides for management consulting to learn a little bit more about what they’re looking for in an entry-level role,” she said.

She added she encourages all FSU students to make an account on FirstHand’s website using their Framingham State email because the service is free if they do.

For the upcoming semester and beyond, O’Neill said she has a lot of plans as assistant director.

First is a “significant remarketing rollout” for Handshake. “I think a lot of students and faculty and staff in general aren’t super familiar with how to use it,” she said. “So that’s definitely something we are hoping to do.”

Another plan she would like to see implemented is the creation of more internships locally, such as in Framingham and Natick, as well as further developing ties with partner companies to co-host events throughout the fall semester.

These events will include resumé drop-ins and mock interviews and interview prep workshops.

She said Career Development is also hoping to work with local government offices as well, adding, “From what we understand, a lot of their workforce at the local government level, they’re retiring now, so they’re looking for new folks to work.”

“I just want to make sure that students know even if they can’t find something on Starfish, we’re still accessible,” she said. “Like, I want students to be able to know they can come see us.”

O’Neill said with the semester winding down and a large influx of students visiting the office, “We want to make sure that we’re meeting the needs of the amount of students, we have and I think our staff has been doing a really great job of doing that.”

She added, “But it’s just hard given that we are a small team.”

However, she said a new coordinator of employer and academic outreach was hired who will help the department with working with employers, and a new career counselor will be starting in the fall.

“I think that’s going to take some of the weight off of us in terms of making sure that we are still able to meet with as many students as possible while also fulfilling our other obligations,” she said.

O’Neill said she encourages all new FSU students to stop by the office at some point and learn about what programs or services the Career Development Office offers.

Students who want to make appointments to see a career counselor

can do so through Starfish. However, O’Neill said if students can’t find any available time slots, they can email either the Career Services email, careerdevelopment@framingham.edu, or email O’Neill directly.

“I just want to make sure that students know even if they can’t find something on Starfish, we’re still accessible,” she said. “Like, I want students to be able to know they can come see us.”

Despite the influx of students at the semester’s end, O’Neill said she finds students to be “eager” and “excited.”

“I love those ‘Aha!’ moments when students are in any of our offices, and they are like, ‘Oh my gosh. I didn’t know about that resource. And now I feel more competent doing research on my own,’ or ‘That’s not an occupation I’ve ever considered,’ or ‘Oh my God! I didn’t know there were this many Framingham alumni on LinkedIn,” she said.

One thing O’Neill wants students to know is that “there is no right or wrong way to approach career development. I know I sound like a broken record, but it is not linear. It’s going to be different for every person.”

She added, “Don’t be afraid to come in to see us because we are here to support you no matter where you are in your career development.”

The Career Development office is located in room 412 in the McCarthy Center.

CONNECT WITH BRANDEN LACROIX blacroix@student.framingham.edu

Gatepost Archives

Maintainers

Continued from page 1

Cabral said, “I think students appreciate us. The faculty always thank us. We like it when students say ‘You did a good job.’ We want to hear that,” she said.

Valcirene Cronin works in the McCarthy Center, Sunday to Thursday from 4 p.m. to midnight, and cleans the fourth and fifth floors, the restrooms, and the daycare center.

Cronin said she’s been a maintainer for four years, and was a housekeeper for 20 years before coming to Framingham State. She said she enjoyed working as a housekeeper, but likes having a slower-paced job now that she’s older.

“I did clean four, five houses a day,” she said. “I did have a helper, but I’m older [now]. I’m 62 years old, and I needed something more relaxed.”

She said she has worked in every building, too, but doesn’t have a favorite. She added the work is mostly the same, and always has enough to do, which keeps her busy.

Cronin said she is originally from Brazil, but moved to the United States after learning about potential job instability in the company she was already working for. She said she didn’t know anybody in the U.S., aside from a friend who had been trying to complete the visa.

“I decided to move to the United States. I didn’t know how to say ‘hi’ or ‘bye’ in English, I didn’t know nobody here,” she said. “I had a friend - she tried to take the visa many times. I think five, six times - she never got it.

“I waited to take my visa, I got it. First try, I got it,” she said.

Cronin said she also likes being a maintainer because of the learning environment she works in and the relationships she’s built through it.

“I like my friends. I like [to] see people, see students learning something, because I don’t really speak English very well, but every single day I learn something different,” she said.

Cronin said her work also gives her a few funny stories.

“Something bad [happened] at the library when I was working on Sunday,” she said, taking out her phone. “The recycling can has poop over there. … I think I have a good picture.”

Lucia Carneiro and Maria Goncalves are best friends of almost a decade - a relationship fostered while working alongside each other on campus.

Carneiro works from 7:15 a.m. to 4 p.m., and has been a maintainer for over 18 years. She said the work is manageable, and has worked in almost every building.

She said she started to work at FSU due to a friend’s referral and has since made more friends at work. She said she and Goncalves have been friends for about 10 years. “Best friends, like sisters,” she added.

Carneiro said she feels respect-

ed by the campus community, even though sometimes people aren’t in the best moods.

Carneiro said the toughest part of being a maintainer is when there’s heavy snowfall on campus. She said they’re required to come in if the snow crew needs help, and her commute from Milford is worse with the poor weather.

She added maintainers need to come to campus in poor weather when they’re asked to, even if the University is closed to students and professors.

“We tried to work from home, sit on the computer and sweep from therebut it didn’t work,” she said.

Carneiro said the maintenance supervisor, Joe Bairos, has made snow days easier for the maintainers in the past. She said Bairos once called her and other maintainers into work, who arrived to see most of the shoveling already done for them - all done by Bairos.

Maria Goncalves works from 7:15 a.m. to 4 p.m., and has been a maintainer for over 19 years. Before working at FSU, she did manufacturing for General Electric in Westborough.

She said when her old job closed its doors, she began work as a maintainer with a friend’s help - now her husband and the father of their two adult children.

Goncalves said she’s worked in almost every building, except for Corinne Hall Towers, and liked O’Connor the most since it was the first building she ever worked in.

She said most of her work involves cleaning the bathrooms, emptying trash, and sweeping, but also includes physical labor like swapping light bulbs.

Goncalves said she originally liked computer manufacturing more, but being a maintainer has grown on her. She added she feels “very much” respected at FSU.

She said, like Carneiro, snow is her least favorite part of the job. “And especially since now I’m old,” Goncalves said. “No you’re not,” Carneiro quickly responded.

Goncalves said she appreciates Bairos, who has helped her in the past with tasks such as replacing light bulbs, and advocated for the inclusion of mini-fridges in every building, so maintenance workers could keep food and drink in the building.

Daniel Giard, executive director of facilities, said the maintainers’ jobs are a lot of hard, important work.

“Just for health and safety, it’s very important to have the maintainers here,” he said.

Giard oversees Joe Bairos, the University’s maintenance supervisorBairos said he’s responsible for the work assignments and day-to-day operations involving maintainers, and knows many of them on a personal level.

Bairos said he worked with several of the current maintainers on other

jobs in different countries, and personally recommended some of them for work here. Giard added a majority of the maintainers are from Brazil and Portugal.

Bairos, who’s been with the University for 16 years, said he enjoys the work he does at Framingham State due to its consistency.

“It’s a job I’ve been doing for, I’d say, 40 years. And that’s basically what I do every day for seven days a week,” he said.

Bairos added he works an average of 60 hours a week, with it increasing to 80-hour weeks if there’s any heavy snowfall. He said his long hours are spent ensuring everything the maintainers are responsible for is accomplished, and so the campus can function as expected for students and faculty.

Giard added Bairos often has to deal with call-outs, and said he currently has five maintainers off work due to injuries.

Giard said he thinks Bairos and the maintainers all feel a sense of accomplishment in seeing a job well done and a clean campus.

He said, “They work very, very hard, and the end result is he [Bairos] can go into any building and then see how the floors shine, the walls are clean, the bathrooms are clean - a sense of pride in all the work that they do.

“And he should be proud of that,

because he actually oversees that part of it,” Giard said.

Giard and Bairos both said they feel the work facilities and the maintainers do is appreciated, and always take the chance to communicate that appreciation to the maintainers themselves.

“We get quite a few letters from different people, maybe parents that are coming in, seeing the campus for the first time - we actually just got one from a parent that came in and said that the campus looks beautiful, inside and out,” Giard said.

“I think it was a compliment to the maintainers of the work they do,” he added. “We try, as managers, to instill in them that it is appreciated.”

Giard said he appreciates the work Bairos and the maintainers do, too, and said their dedication helped prevent a large amount of water damage across campus during a February cold snap.

“If it wasn’t for the maintainers being here, led by Joe - because he was here, it was on Saturday - we would’ve had a lot of water damage, because we had a lot of heating coils that froze and split,” Giard said.

“As soon as these lines ended up breaking, they were there. Boom. Right on top of it,” he added.

Ryan O’Connell / THE GATEPOST Valcirene Cronin on the fourth floor of the McCarthy Center May 4.

Bouldering with the Outing Club is off the wall

By Ryan O’Connell Arts & Features Editor

Alexandros Skretas smiled.

“Try everything,” he said to first-timers, before he latched onto a white stone and began a short, yet intimidating 45-degree-angle climb up “The Cave.”

On the wall, muscles tremble, arms shake, legs wobble, and grips fail. Veins pop, forearms feel full, and blisters start to form. Breath shivers, balance is lost - and people learn to fall.

Most Tuesday evenings at 6:30 p.m., members of Framingham State University’s Outing Club are in similar positions: nervously gripping the uneven concrete walls of the Central Rock Gym (CRG) in Framingham, tens of feet off the ground.

Skretas, the president of the Outing Club, is a junior biochemistry major. Although he has the composure and enthusiasm of a professional on the wall, he was only introduced to climbing his sophomore year after he joined the club.

Sophomore Susanna Krantz, who’s been climbing for a little more than a year, said she gets scared almost every time because she’s always thinking about getting hurt. “But that’s a part of it, I guess,” she said.

Inside, it’s tough not to be nervous. It’s not a big place - no more than 100 feet by 100 feet - but it feels restricted. The video guide climbers are required to watch says never to walk too close to a wall, and the padded mats have paths carved into them on one side of the room.

It feels like walking through a gorge. And it looks like one too.

The Outing Club gives students the opportunity to experience a range of physical activities, organizing weekly trips to the CRG for indoor rock climbing, alongside special events such as hikes, kayaking, and even archery.

Junior mathematics major Olivia Heafey, a member of the Outing Club, said they joined the club last year due to a friendship with the past president who they shared a class with. They added they had done a lot of rock climbing in high school.

“I first learned to belay and rock climb when I was in 10th grade at Medway High - they taught us that as part of our gym curriculum,” they said.

Belaying is the typical mode of rock climbing depicted in popular media, where a climber has a rope attached to a harness that keeps them suspended if they slip off the wall.

Heafey said they used an outdoor ropes course and an indoor climbing gym to learn rock climbing, and even took a field trip to a CRG in Worcester at the end of their sophomore year in high school.

“After I learned that stuff, I went on to become an IPEC [Interdisciplinary Physical Education Curriculum] leader, where we would teach the other

10th-graders how to do it,” they added.

When the Outing Club advertises “weekly rock climbing at Framingham CRG,” the expectation might be tall ceilings, tight helmets, cascades of colored lumps dotting the walls - and most importantly, ropes.

But most stereotypical elements of climbing aren’t present at the Framingham CRG - and it isn’t even that kind of rock-climbing gym, Heafey said.

“The place we go in Framingham is just a bouldering gym, so there actually is no belay at all, which means that the gym is smaller,” they said.

Heafey said the first time they did any rock climbing was at a “Medway Day” town event with a mobile rock wall. A mobile rock wall is a portable climbing device rented for outdoor events - even used at FSU’s Sandbox in Spring 2022.

They said their introduction to rock climbing at that event was doing it just for fun, but now they see climbing as an intense sport.

“When they bring [portable rock walls] to events, there’s typically just multicolored rocks. You just climb to get to the top and come back down,” they said.

“But with bouldering, or any Cen-

tral Rock Gym, they have labels of difficulty and the color of the rock, and you’re supposed to stay on the path.”

The colored rocks dictate a journey and a difficulty level, ranging from VB, the easiest and most forgiving climb, to V9, the most challenging and strenuous.

Some of the most challenging courses require “dynos,” slang for dynamic movements, usually meaning a lunge or jump for a far-off grip or foothold, and extremely challenging for shorter climbers.

Skretas said he loves climbing because it brings people together. “There is always a back and forth,” he said, between club members and regulars of the gym regarding the optimal way to complete a wall.

He added he loves rock climbing because it is also a full-body workout requiring focus, strength, and strategy.

Skretas said his first time climbing was both scary and exhilarating, and he was at first nervous about falling. However, he said he quickly adapted to the challenge and pushed himself further than he initially thought possible.

“It felt empowering to conquer these goals,” he said.

Skretas said he’s done belaying and

bouldering before, and bouldering requires more strength and dynamic movement. He added belaying is more about endurance, and he has a lot of fun with both styles.

“I vividly remember the first time I had to let go from an approximately 40-foot wall while I was wearing a harness,” he said. “I felt my stomach drop and I got the largest adrenaline rush as I let go of the wall and was only hanging by the rope.

“Over time, I had to learn to trust myself, my equipment, and my belayer. Now honestly, what once was the scariest part, is my favorite part!”

Skretas said the feeling of climbing has changed during his time with the Outing Club.

He said as he gained experience, he found himself encouraging new members to take risks and to trust in their ability, the same way members did for him in his sophomore year.

He added now that he climbs “more technical routes,” the experience is a combination of physical effort, mental focus, and adrenaline, which all work to keep him engaged during the climb.

Skretas said he personally does come to climbing sessions with goals. Although he said he recognizes this

See ROCK CLIMBING page 25

Maddison Behringer / THE GATEPOST

Outing Club members (left) Tadiwa Chitongo and (right) Susanna Krantz watching (middle) Alex Portanova climb “The Unibrow“ May 3.

Rock climbing

Continued from page 24

doesn’t work for everyone, each success contributes to his skill, eventually culminating in progressing to higher level climbs.

Rock climbing isn’t the only activity Skretas said he participates in, also playing hockey during the week, going to the gym, and organizing weekend hikes with the Outing Club.

“As the ancient Greeks would say, ‘Νοῦς ὑγιής ἐν σώματι ὑγιεῖ,’ which translates to ‘a healthy mind in a healthy body,’” he said.

He added staying active helps maintain not only his physical health, but also his mental and emotional wellbeing.

Skretas said rock climbing is an amazing way to exercise physical and mental abilities, and provides a unique form of exercise.

He added no prior experience is needed to rock climb, and CRG accommodates all skill ranges, from fresh climbers to experts.

Skretas said he thinks everyone should try rock climbing once, and encourages students to join the Outing Club to do so.

“All of our rock climbing … and Outing Club in general activities are fully funded by the University,” he said. “Take advantage of the various club programs that you help fund with your tuition.”

Susanna Krantz, a food and nutrition major, is the secretary of the Outing Club, and said she joined last January so she could have a reason to get off campus more often.

Krantz said she began rock climbing with the Outing Club, and enjoys it despite it not being her “best skill.

“I like it because it takes a lot of

mental and physical strength, and it’s kind of like a game when you’re doing it,” she said. “And it’s fun to do with other people. I feel like it’s a really good stress reliever.”

Krantz said the first time she climbed was difficult for her. She said she did a lot of different climbs and ended up underestimating how hard it would be, but still completed most of what she started.

She added she thinks she was actually better at climbing when she started, and she’s lost some of her confidence over time.

“I don’t like the idea of getting up high and then having to jump down. … I guess I am a little bit afraid of heights,” she said. “So that might be why.”

She said she’s only seen Skretas get injured, and she has only hurt herself once - a minor knee injury from an incorrect landing.

Krantz said climbing is a mixture

of “pain and fun,” since it requires a climber to hold their entire body weight. She added she doesn’t like to go into a climb with a goal, but really wants to do a pull-up one day, since the CRG has bars.

Krantz said she’s an active person, and has gone to lots of other Outing Club events - hikes and Level 99 being two examples. She said rock climbing is one of her favorites, and she tries to attend every week’s climb.

She said rock climbing is also a great team exercise.

“You can have people talk to you about where to put your hands and legs,” she said. “Although, I will say, if you have bad anxiety, it’s kind of hard whenever people are watching you.”

Heafey said they aren’t scared anymore when they’re climbing, but definitely remembers a time when they were.

“I’m not afraid of heights, but I am afraid of falling,” they said.

When they were in high school they only did belaying, and were afraid to start bouldering since climbers are required to jump off the 15-to-20 foot wall after finishing. “I’m a lot better now,” they said.

However, completing a difficult wall is always worth it, they said.

Heafey said they enjoy the Outing Club for the same reason they’d like any other club - the chance to connect with people.

“I’ve even connected with people who are not in the club who just go to the gym. I’ve just talked to them,” they said. “I’d watch them do something that maybe I was having trouble with, and be like, ‘How did you start that one?’”

Heafey added they like rock climbing gyms because it’s a workout without some of the judgment that exists at other gyms.

“I’m not as skilled [as other members] or something, but I’m still doing what’s difficult to me, I’m still getting challenged, and I’m still working out in a fun way,” they said.

To finish a wall, climbers are required to locate the colored rock labeled “Finish,” and must touch it with two hands - even if just for a second.

Climbers, complete strangers, sit aside each other, waiting for forearms to cool off. They give suggestions, words of encouragement, and watch with as much investment as the person on the wall.

They debate the methodology of how to succeed in a “crack climb,” nail walls they can’t quite, and direct from the ground level.

Reach up to the “Finish” rock. It doesn’t feel safe enough to try and grip it. Take the risk, tap it for only a moment, and go back to the security of the previous position.

When a climber is 15 feet up and focused in, everyone starts to sound like they’re part of the Outing Club. It’s a lot sweeter when it turns out to be a 40-year-old couple cheering.

“Full credit on that one!”

CONNECT WITH RYAN O’CONNELL roconnell1@student.framingham.edu

Maddison Behringer / THE GATEPOST Outing Club secretary Susanna Krantz during a steep climb in the Framingham Central Rock Gym May 3.

Maddison Behringer / THE GATEPOST

Outing Club members (left) Alex Portanova and Tadiwa Chitongo during climbs on the “Corner Pocket“ May 3.

Leaders, mentors, friends - graduating RAs share their wisdom

By Raena Doty Asst. Arts & Features Editor

It may seem to resident students at FSU that resident assistants (RAs) are just people who tell them the rules of the residence halls at the beginning of each semester and sign off for packages.

A commuter student may know even less about RAs, if they have no reason to interact with one another.

But at FSU, RAs perform invaluable services of leadership, mentorship, and friendship. They are not only in charge of day-to-day tasks like doing bathroom checks every evening and working at security desks, but also important community-building responsibilities that have given them a lot of wisdom.

As a few senior RAs come to the end of their time at FSU, they reflected on what they’ve learned.

Lily Borst, an RA from Horace Mann Hall and business & information technology major, said a highlight of being an RA was the community she built with residents on her floor.

“Knowing I’m the person that, if anything happens, people come to, I feel like has been really - I don’t

know if it’s exciting, if that’s the right word, but it’s nice to know that I’m the person who has been trained and is ready to help the students on my floor succeed,” she said.

Andrew Thompson, the administrative RA at Corinne Hall Towers and a hospitality & tourism management major, said he also especially liked connecting with residents in his building, but added it was challenging because people often considered it an adversarial rather than friendly relationship. He said enforcing policies for COVID-19 safety made it harder.

“As those policies loosened and people became a little bit more aware of why we were doing it, it was a little bit easier,” he said. “I’m not just the RA who’s coming to knock on your door until you quiet down your music or write you up or whatever it is, but I’m looking out for your safety and looking out to better your time at college.”

Catherine Henry, an RA at Corinne Hall Towers and a double major in child & family studies and early childhood education, said she also enjoyed getting to know her residents, and added she was particularly challenged because she was hired mid-semester after an-

the

By Raena Doty Asst. Arts & Features Editor

The digital humanities center represents a growing field of study, and on April 27, they welcomed Annette Joseph-Gabriel, a professor at Duke University, to lead a talk called “Mapping Marronage: Toward a Transatlantic Visualization of Freedom.”

Mapping Marronage is an interactive map that shows not only the physical movements of enslaved people across the Atlantic Ocean, but also social connections.

Joseph-Gabriel said the project is meant to help modern audiences understand enslaved people as more complicated than their preconceived notions.

“We think a lot about movement from slavery as being primarily about freedom. But … I’m working on a letter by an enslaved boy who wrote this letter to Benjamin Franklin,” she said. “And he said he ran away because he wanted to be happy.”

She said Mapping Marronage is a research and pedagogical tool.

“Or, rather, it is a tool that shows the deep implication of research and pedagogy,” she said, and add-

ed the map was primarily created by her students for a class called “Mapping the French Atlantic.”

She said she thought the class was very popular the two times she taught it because the final project for the class is only a paragraph long.

“But everything leading up to that is to work through the weight of that one paragraph - the stakes of holding an enslaved person’s life story in one paragraph,” she said.

She showed two videos made by students who contributed to the map through their schoolwork. The first video was made by a student named Chloe, who discussed her group’s final project on an unnamed enslaved person.

She said the man, born in Senegal, was brought to Martinique “fraudulently,” and several letters written by members of the French government in their archive discussed whether this man would continue to be enslaved after he made it back to France as a fugitive on a ship called The Neptune.

Chloe said she and her group focused on the enslaved man himself in an attempt to remove the “archival silence” around him, but they didn’t know why he didn’t have a

other RA left the position, but she felt a sense of pride when she began to recognize her residents and they started to know her too.

“A big thing for me was when I not only started to recognize my residents with faces and names and start to learn who they all are,” she said, “but also when they would start to remember me and we got to know each other as people.”

Since RAs are full-time students, a lot of time management goes into their lives, especially when they’re active members of other organizations or have very specific constraints on their schedules due to classes.

Borst, who’s also president of the Christian Fellowship, said sticking to a schedule is an important part of time management, as well as optimizing her time by multitasking - for example, she said she often does homework while she’s on duty.

All three RAs stressed the importance of getting to know new people and doing different things around the school.

Thompson also serves as the vice president of the Framingham Student Activities Board, and said he urges students to become more involved with the school, because

many people who never become involved have great ideas and deserve positions in student organizations.

Henry also stressed the importance of making connections, even if it’s not through a student organization or on-campus job. She said due to various factors living on and off campus and being at FSU through the COVID-19 pandemic, she’s not always been as involved as some students, but getting to know people in her classes and in her residence halls has made her life better.

Borst said, “Try the new thing that you’ve been thinking about that you’re not doing. I feel like plenty of people are interested in, you know, an event that’s happening or joining a different club or talking to someone in their class that they don’t really know but want to know.”

CONNECT WITH RAENA DOTY rdoty@student.framingham.edu

name, and they didn’t know what the most appropriate course of action for naming him in the “Mapping Marronage” project would be.

Joseph-Gabriel added they needed at least one name for the website to function properly, and said the group considered several possible names including naming him after The Neptune or using “anonymous” in place of his name, but they eventually decided to name him after a statue in Haiti called “Le Marron Inconnu,” or “The Unknown Maroon.”

The second video was made by Delaney. Her group studied a man called John Trim, a free Black man in Montreal. Unlike the first group, which struggled with a lack of information, Delaney said her group had problems because there was too much information about John Trim, including legal documents and contemporary testimonials about him.

Joseph-Gabriel said they decided to center the story on John Trim’s wife, Charlotte Trim, and this gave them the ability to see a wider view of the project.

“What I find fascinating about this group’s project is that by shifting the focal lens and placing Char-

lotte Trim rather than John at the center of the network, we actually got a larger network that connects Charlotte to other enslaved women,” she said.

She ended her talk by saying there are significant challenges in any type of mapping, and though she wants “Mapping Marronage” to represent a new way of seeing things, it too is imperfect.

“I hope that as you navigate the map as users, it becomes clear that this project does not see the lives of enslaved people as mere data points. However, spatial renderings as we know can only do so much,” she said. “Telling stories about slavery requires us to grapple with the ethics of speaking the unspeakable, and of recounting often unimaginable horrors.

“And the ethics of commemoration continue to haunt this project as it evolves,” she said.

CONNECT WITH RAENA DOTY rdoty@student.framingham.edu

‘Speaking

unspeakable’ Mapping Marronage fills archival silences with digital humanities

Ram Fest

Background tie-dye photo by Staff Writer Ben Hurney. Center and upper right photos by Photos & Design Editor Maddison Behringer. Remaining photos and spread by Editor-in-Chief Leighah Beausoleil.

WDJM and Sophomore Studio Art Major Ben Hurney host first ever Ram Fest. This event included live music, games, bubbles, and a confetti cannon.

Mazmanian Gallery unveils final senior capstone projects

By Ryan O’Connell Arts & Features Editor

The Mazmanian Gallery opened the final of three senior capstone showings May 2, featuring the collections of three studio art majors.

Jillian Richard, concentration in graphic design, centered most of her collection around a project she made last semester - “A Multitude of M’s”a book containing 50 M’s drawn over 50 days.

Richard said she decided to expand on this project by creating branding for the Ultra Miami Music Festival using the different M’s, designing logos and merchandise for the festival using different typefaces.

She said the collection took about four or five months to complete in total, including the time it took to design the booklet, banner, and merchandise mock-ups.

Richard said she wants to do branding in her career after graduating, and recognized expanding on a previous project would be a great experience prior to her first professional branding.

She said putting the collection on display was one of her favorite aspects of the show.

“It was really cool to see it all kind of come together,” she said. “To see it as a book is one thing, but to see it on a bag or a lanyard, on the banner, it was really cool to see how it can have different light forms outside of the screen.”

Richard said she set out to create a finished product out of something she had already made, and to apply it as many ways as she could, and achieved this.

She said she likes to create due to the possibilities it opens as an artist, and how it encourages her to make her art more dynamic. She added she enjoys the different processes artists can go through to add life or aesthetic to a piece.

Richard said her favorite part of working on the collection was the installation into the gallery, and the work she did on the banner promoting the music festival.

“I really did like the banner, kind of seeing how I could lay out the different letters, kind of getting the patterns put all together,” she said.

“I also just like seeing the finished product. I liked putting it up - I’ve never put anything up in a gallery. So it’s kind of cool to just see it all together,” she added.

Richard said the project wasn’t too difficult to put together, and everything “kind of all came together toward the end.”

She added she’s proud of the way it looks in the gallery, and she wouldn’t have changed very much if she had more time - maybe add some more branded merchandise.

Richard said she enjoyed her first time in a showcase.

“It’s cool to see everything hung

up, have people come and look at it,” she said. “It’s fun.”

Sam Coombs, concentration in ceramics, had four pieces included in the gallery - three mixed media and one ceramic set - mostly focused around the theme of recycling in both an emotional and physical sense.

Coombs said her collection began with her passion for mixed media, which she has a “dear love for” and doesn’t have the time to focus on as a ceramics concentration. She added this semester’s experiments making paper resulted in some of the work in her collection.

She said her submissions originally included only the three mixed media projects - which all incorporated old documents and had a clear cohesion - but installed the ceramics piece after a blank wall was left unclaimed

portals.

She said she didn’t have a plan or goal going into the collection, and enjoys starting multiple projects only to draw connections after they’re finished. Coombs added for this collection, everything fell into place.

She said she likes to create because it allows her to say more than she could with words, and enjoys the idea that her artwork can have different meanings for different people.

“It’s just all in how you interpret it,” she added. “I think with art, it should be up to the viewer on what they think it means.”

Coombs said some of the collection’s pieces have been in development for a long time. Art similar to her largest piece, the homemade paper display made of her old documents, were made in 2020, while all

stalled and the audience interacting with it.

“To watch people looking at it and see it all in a professional setting is really exciting for me,” she said.

Abby Kalinowski, concentration in graphic design, had a collection with a range of work she had accomplished over the semester, from promotional materials designed for campus events to their capstone project, a showcase of web design in HTML.

Kalinowski said the main focus of the collection to her is the capstone project, which showcases the skills she has learned that allowed her to build her portfolio website.

She said her capstone was inspired by the fact she never had the opportunity to work with web design due to her course schedule, and it was always something she was interested in.

Kalinowski’s collection included a menu, booking form, e-commerce website, and portfolio website built in HTML, a few posters she made while working for the University’s marketing department, and an educational flier for the sustainability office made in her UX class.

She said this is the first show she’s been in, and really enjoys it.

“It’s new, it’s exciting, and definitely something I want to do again,” she said.

She said the only goal she had going into her capstone was to build a portfolio website, which she achieved.

Kalinowski said she likes to create and educate, and using graphic design she’s able to send out important messages in a way that will make people gravitate toward issues she chooses to focus on.

in the gallery.

Coombs said she wanted to create something involving the “paper content” of her life, with her mixed media pieces being made of old school notebooks, unused paper towels, old mail, and more.

She added her collage pieces, made of photographs her mother shredded, carry more emotion than the other artwork, but that it’s hard to tell just by looking at them.

“Kind of just the idea of creating order out of chaos, basically,” she said.

Coombs said although the ceramics don’t look entirely related, she thinks there’s still a similarity to be felt between the pieces.

One piece was installed on the floor and resembled a forest floor, with ceramics akin to tree trunks buried in a mossy undergrowth of loose shredded paper and blank notebooks - some text still barely legible.

Coombs said she experimented filling the ceramic stumps with different substances such as sand or water, to make them appear like otherworldly

the ceramics were made last semester.

She said the focus in these pieces helped her “kick into gear” and work more on the current paper display.

Coombs said she’s happy to see it finally displayed in the gallery, since she was struggling to determine how it would actually look in an installation.

“I have a studio space in the basement of May [Hall]. And I’ve had the pieces on the floor, out on the floor in my studio, but it’s a very cramped space and you can’t really get a feel for how it would look in an actual installation. Because there’s not quite enough room for that,” she said.

Coombs said she wouldn’t have done anything different however, and is proud of the way it looks both as artwork and a curated collection.

She said she has been in a few shows before, including the 2020 and 2021 juried shows in the Mazmanian Gallery and as a high-schooler at Anna Maria College.

Coombs said her favorite part of the shows are seeing the artwork in-

She said a large part of her artistic process involves sampling inspirations from social media and other online platforms, as well as design elements like typefaces. She added this continued to help her even when doing web design, which was different from traditional art.

Kalinowski said she’s very happy with the way her collection looks, and has no regrets about it - she wouldn’t change a thing.

She added she only wishes she could’ve included other promotional art she’s done in her internships, such as a recent poster she did for the seed library, but that they were finished too close to the show date to install.

The show has been great for her, and recommends all studio art majors work toward it, Kalinowski said.

“I think it’s just been a good experience and something that everyone in the major should get to do,” she said.

[ Editor’s Note: Sam Coombs is a Staff Writer for The Gatepost. ]

CONNECT WITH RYAN O’CONNELL roconnell1@student.framingham.edu

Maddison Behringer / THE GATEPOST Sam Coombs’ ceramic stumps on display in the Mazmanian Gallery May 2.

Senior Capstones In The Mazmanian Gallery

The Mazmanian Gallery held the last Senior Thesis reception displaying the capstone projects of Sam Coombs, Abby Kalinowski, and Jillian Richard on May 2. [ Editor’s Note: Sam Coombs is a Staff Writer for The Gatepost. ]

Framingham Fashion

The Fashion Club hosted its annual fashion show on April 28 with designs from Jake Measmer, Melanda Alcuis, Raul Perez Santana, Cyrus Bergeron, Angelina Casucci, Yessenia Gamez, Geanny Elizabeth, Kehinde Obawunmi, Nana-Yaw Afiedze, Britania Lewis, Mckaylee Salazar, Charity Marino, Cianna Jackson, Gifty Agyen, Halima Ibrahim, Isabella Kondi, Bailey Collins, Kathryn Sharpe, Lola Mwilelo, and Jaida Melendez.

Congratulations to the beautiful models who brought their brilliant creations to life!

Petting Zoo!!

Spread by Asst. Photos Editor Adrien Gobin

Photos by Staff Writers Sam Coombs and Ben Hurney

Residential Life and Housing, FSAB, and SGA hosted a Petting Zoo on Miles Bibb Lawn on April 27.

Spread by Photos & Design Editor Maddison Behringer

Photos by Staff Writer Carly Paul

Henry Whittemore Library tells its story

By Raena Doty Asst. Arts & Features Editor

The Henry Whittemore Library celebrated National Library Week, April 23-29.

During the week, librarians connected with students in a series of both relaxing and engaging activities such as a cake decorating contest, lawn games, a career presentation, and a breathwork session to illustrate this year’s theme - “There’s More to the Story.”

For the cake decorating contest, five contestants decorated cakes themed around works of classic literature, including “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “Charlotte’s Web,” and “The Adventures of Harold and the Purple Crayon.”

The two winners were librarian Sam Westall with a cake themed around “Eragon,” and librarian Colleen Previte with a cake themed around “Napoleon Dynamite: Vote for Pedro.”

“It’s a nice way to get things moving and to kind of have a sweet treat for everyone. We’re big on sharing food,” Kathleen Barnard, student engagement coordinator for the library, said the next day while gesturing to the snacks they had set up for their next celebration, called Outdoor Fun on Larned Beach.

This took place on a sunny Tuesday, and the librarians took the

chance to move outside. Set up for two hours from 12:30-2:30 p.m., students passing by in front of the library could relax with chips, cookies, and lawn games.

Some students played catch, some drew on the sidewalks in chalk, some played tic-tac-toe, and some just took the break to soak in the sun and enjoy a treat.

nity members interested in learning about careers in libraries and library science.

On Thursday, the final event for National Library Week was a breathwork session hosted over Zoom and in person. A certified breathwork coach, Susan Clark, came in and led a 45-minute session in three basic breathwork

“water breath” or ujjayi pranayama. She said this breath is ideal for midday as a way to balance and relax.

“If you’re feeling anxious, it’s going to kind of relax you. If you’re feeling low energy, it’s going to bring you up,” she said.

The final type of breathwork she demonstrated was called “whiskey breath” or triangle breath. She said this type of breathing is best to relax and slow down, and should be practiced at the end of the day before bed.

Lori Wolfe, access services supervisor, said she thinks the library has seen less engagement since the COVID-19 pandemic made more people spend more time online, and the library hopes to change this.

Many of the games set up are available to be checked out at the library. Barnard added the library has board games students can check out for three days at a time.

“We have a wiffle ball set. We have KanJam for outdoors. We have a ring toss. But we also have Trivial Pursuit and stuff like that. So even if it’s just a night in at the dorm with your friends, you can still come and get some of these great board games too,” Barnard said.

Wednesday, the library staff hosted a Zoom panel for commu-

By Owen Glancy Staff Writer

“Beau is Afraid” is unlike any other film ever made. Ari Aster has made a name for himself in recent years as being one of the most exciting horror movie directors working in Hollywood today, and this film just kicks that excitement up a notch.

Even more so than “Hereditary” and “Midsommar,” Aster’s previous two films, “Beau is Afraid” uses psychological horror and atmosphere to scare rather than jump scares. While a good jump scare is always appreciated, the terror felt from this film has a much higher staying power. You will think about this movie constantly after seeing it.

The two biggest things that lend to this immaculate atmosphere are the protagonist and the cinematography. Joaquin Phoenix’s performance as Beau is immaculate. He is able to really sell audiences on this pathetic, yet empathetic character. It feels reminiscent of his performance as the Joker from the 2019 film of the same name, yet it separates itself enough from it to

feel new and captivating.

Beau’s status as an unreliable narrator shrouds the whole film in an air of mystery. Even though the plot may be simple, it’s because we see the story through Beau’s perspective that it becomes complex.

The cinematography is astoundingly trippy. It’s incredible how effortlessly the camera shifts between reality and delusion, often forcing the viewer to really think about if what they’re seeing is actually happening or not.

Many scenes will have little plot relevance, but through creative use of the camera, these slower moments feel just as important as the film’s bigger scenes.

It’s through the combination of clever cinematography and an unreliable narrator that the film achieves its unique, dreamlike atmosphere.

The divide between Beau’s paranoid visions and reality is nonexistent in the eyes of the protagonist, sucking the audience into this trauma-induced reality where down is up and nothing makes sense.

While the film can be confusing at times, this confusion is precisely why it works so well. Every actor

techniques.

“It only takes 15 minutes a day - five minutes in the morning, five minutes at lunch, and five minutes at night,” Clark said. “That’s a great way to kind of come back to the ‘now’ - to create a process, to create self-care.”

The first type of breath she demonstrated was what she called the “coffee breath” or breath of fire. She said this type of breath, intended to be energizing, is good for morning practice.

Clark called the next breath

“It’s starting to pick back up, but I wouldn’t say we’re at quite the level where we were before the pandemic. But we’re starting to see more bodies in the building,” she said. “That’s why we’re trying to do a ton of outreach just to get people into the library and using our resources - and having some fun.”

Wolfe said, “That’s why we’re trying to do a ton of outreach just to get people into the library and using our resources - and having some fun.”

CONNECT WITH RAENA DOTY rdoty@student.framingham.edu

classic

sells their role in a convincing way. Phoenix’s performance is the only one with any staying power, but the other actors do their jobs and keep the audience engaged.

The film’s theme of generational trauma comes off so realistically thanks to all of the aforementioned aspects of it blending so well together. Even if what happens on screen is too bizarre to believe, the mother-son relationship at the core feels real. This lends to an experience that both terrified and moved me.

Not every aspect of “Beau is Afraid” is great. The film is three hours long, and while it is engaging, you do feel that runtime, especially at the halfway point. The film’s ending is so good that it makes waiting through the runtime worth it, but there were many instances where it could have ended in an equally satisfying manner.

Some of the film’s major plot twists are far too strange, even for what I would consider to be one of the weirdest movies ever made. They make sense in the context of the story, but are so absurd that they do briefly take the audience out of the experience.

Ari Aster sought to make a film that chills audiences to their core while examining themes of generational trauma and paranoia that felt uniquely “him.” And he succeeded. No other director could have brought this film to the screen in such a fascinating and thrilling way.

For as weird and convoluted “Beau is Afraid” can be at times, the feeling that this film gives you once the credits roll cannot be put into words. Even as I left the theater, I still felt as if I was glued to my seat, watching Beau attempt to get home. If there is any film that is guaranteed to permanently occupy a space in your brain, it is “Beau is Afraid.”

Rating: A Weird in all the right ways

‘Beau is Afraid’ is a new horror

Raena Doty / THE GATEPOST

Library staff constructing parts to a game during Outdoor Fun on Larned Beach April 25.

‘Guardians Vol 3’ - a messy, yet endearing sendoff

By Jack McLaughlin Staff Writer

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” is the third and final film in the trilogy that began with writer/director James Gunn’s remarkable additions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

Gunn’s first two movies are shining examples of films in the MCU done right. There’s a distinct vision and both are filled to the brim with exciting action and strong emotion.

I’m glad to report that the third entry joins the ranks of the other two and serves as a proper conclusion to this story, though it’s not without its flaws.

In this newest installment, our favorite group of intergalactic misfits led by Star Lord (Chris Pratt) have to protect fellow member Rocket (Bradley Cooper), who is being hunted down by his creator, The High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji).

Right from the start, it is obvious that this is going to be a departure from what viewers have come to expect from these characters. The film has a much darker tone throughout, which was surprising given the lightheartedness typical

of the MCU.

With a darker tone comes a lot more disturbing moments. This is the first time I’ve seen an MCU entry that I think may not be for everyone. Viewers who are expecting a fairly light flick with not too much emotion are going to be shocked with the sheer amount of unsettling sequences.

However, this change of tone pays off - especially in the MCU, where a common complaint is how similar the entries feel.

The two-and-a-half hour runtime also felt remarkably breezy. There aren’t many dull moments and each scene shares significance that propels the story forward.

Unfortunately, it feels like the film tries to include too much and it gets way too crowded. The character Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) is the key example of this.

His character was teased in the last film as a huge threat to the team, but his inclusion here feels pointless and not much would have changed if he wasn’t in it.

Instead, the villain we see the most is The High Evolutionary. While he isn’t as interesting or threatening as the last film’s villain, Ego, he is able to get interesting scenes especially when inter-

acting with Rocket.

I think if the film didn’t try to do two villains, the story would feel much clearer and more time could have been spent building the relationship between Rocket and The High Evolutionary, which would have allowed for their conflict to be even more impactful.

The rest of the Guardians are about the same as they were in the last film. Not too much has changed in the group dynamic with the exception of Star Lord and his relationship with Gamora (Zoe Saldana). The exploration of their relationship here was not nearly as in-depth as it should have been, especially with how dramatically it changed in “Avengers: Endgame.”

The biggest flaw of the movie is that at many points it feels as though it’s being held back because it is part of a larger series. There are so many moments that would have played out much differently if it were in another movie, but it almost never takes any of the risks it establishes, which is disappointing.

Keeping in theme with the last two films, a terrific assortment of music is chosen to accompany important scenes. This may be the best soundtrack in the trilogy, with

‘The Pope’s Exorcist’ - Holy Crowe!

By Jesse Burchill Staff Writer

The film “The Pope’s Exorcist” was released on April 14. It is based on the memoirs of Father Gabriele Amorth, a priest and exorcist who had worked for the Vatican for decades and claimed to have performed thousands of exorcisms.

Set in the 1980s, it stars Russell Crowe as Amorth, who is sent to Spain to help an American family. Their young son Henry is possessed by a powerful demon while the family tries to renovate an old abbey. Amorth is assisted by local priest Father Esquibel in freeing Henry’s soul from the grip of the demon.

Russell Crowe is the clear star of the show here - he disappears into his role of Amorth, and plays a caring man who wants to help the people he’s sent to, regardless of whether they are truly possessed.

He often overshadows the rest of the cast - Amorth and Esquibel have much more screen time than the actual family they’re trying to help.

Speaking of the family, the development of these characters fell a bit flat in comparison to the two main priests. Alex Essoe and Laurel Marsden’s performances as a worried and terrified mother and

sister respectively, are quite effective. This mirrors how someone might actually react to Henry, the youngest family member, being possessed.

However, their actual development as characters seems rather bland and generic, with their backstory being the common trope of “New House - Horror Ensues.” Furthermore, they don’t even get a last name. Their ultimate fate is mentioned at the end of the film, but seeing this fate actually play out could have been more effective in the end.

Amorth is not the only shining character here. There is a second performance in this film that rivals Russell Crowe’s: Gary Ineson as the voice of the demon possessing Henry.

Ineson’s voice work is incredible. He comes off as genuinely intimidating with a very intense performance as the king of demons. It would not be surprising if demons, should they really exist, sounded like Ineson’s performance.

It wouldn’t really be “The Pope’s Exorcist” without the Pope, and he indeed appears, portrayed by Franco Nero. The Pope is the one who sends Amorth to the family in Spain, and researches the abbey the possession occurred in. The Pope does not have as much screen time

as Amorth or Esquibel, but Nero gives a memorable performance nonetheless.

In terms of tone, the film begins with one hell of an opening scene. Amorth performs a house call on an allegedly possessed man without approval from his superiors.

This scene sets the tone for the rest of the film. When Amorth first arrives, he talks with the man’s family downstairs, talking with the daughter about a drawing she made.

All the while, you can hear the possessed man shouting and grunting on the floor above, seeing nothing of him until Amorth heads upstairs. It’s a very creepy scene, and mirrors future scenes within the abbey in how frightening demonic activity can be.

Amorth and Esquibel search for the history of the abbey with the hopes of learning a way to free Henry.

Along the way, they discover the demon’s true power and history within the Catholic Church. This is nothing short of chilling, and a prequel focusing on how this happened may be worth considering.

The tone of religious horror continues into the final exorcism, which culminates underneath the abbey within the rooms discovered by Amorth and Esquibel.

so many amazing choices for songs that elevate certain moments dramatically.

Also keeping up with the previous installments, the film has an amazing visual style. There are so many interestingly shot scenes that are perfectly accompanied by a vibrant color palette.

Despite its shortcomings, “Guardians Vol. 3” is a significant send-off for Gunn. With writer/director James Gunn leaving Marvel Studios to make films at DC, this film feels like the end of an amazing era for the MCU that it may never reach again.

Rating: B+

A satisfying end to the trilogy

CONNECT WITH JACK MCLAUGHLIN jmclaughlin7@student.framingham.edu

This scene is bolstered by great performances and a strong score, and serves as a culmination of sorts for Father Esquibel’s character development, from a kind yet inexperienced priest to a bona-fide exorcist in his own right.

At the end of the day, “The Pope’s Exorcist” is a cut above most other religious horror movies, with multiple intense scenes, a strong central character, and a very fresh spin on the genre’s actual religious themes.

In spite of its character shortcomings, it manages to be genuinely frightening at times, and stand out in its own right.

Rating: B

Fervently creepy

CONNECT WITH JESSE BURCHILL jcelardo@student.framingham.edu

‘Monstrilio’ by Gerardo Sámano Córdova - I love my monster!

By Mark Haskell Staff Writer

This was a very charming and unusual read that I would recommend to other readers who are a fan of the horror genre.

“Monstrilio” is the story of a grieving mother named Magos, whose 11-year-old son Santiago is dead. The son was born to Mexican immigrants with one misshapen lung and he was not expected to survive the night. Yet, to the surprise of his parents, the son, Santiago, survives the night and lives for a further 11 years until he passes away.

The grieving mother cuts a piece of her son’s lung and tends to it because of the maternal instinct being felt at that moment. Magos and her mother move back to Mexico with the piece of lung to start anew.

Later in the story, the lung gains sentience due to the care it was receiving by Magos. The lung grew into the eponymous Monstrilio and kept hidden away within the decaying walls of the family estate in Mexico City.

In time, the being starts to resemble the Santiago of old. However, the being’s innate impulses

begin to destroy the immensely brittle second chance of existence.

There are many strengths to this book that are most fascinating. When I read the book, a strength that was discovered is that it plays out in four parts. The first part of the story is an introduction to the family and the creation of the Monstrilio. The second part of the story is a deep dive into feelings of loneliness and love.

The third part of the story is a clean-up after experiencing loss. A strength that was especially fascinating and impactful is the nature of the fourth part of the story.

It took me into the psyche of a being, inhuman and human, who was experiencing life in a human way despite being inhuman.

Another strength that I found about this story is that it is a hybrid of horror, a meditation on grief, and a tale of the impossible as a being that is required to live in the shadow of the deceased. This novel has the gift of being strange and

heartbreaking with a sharp narrative about grief and the debate of nature versus nurture.

The novel that Sámano Córdova has created has the DNA of classic horror, similarly to the works of Stephen King and other influential writers within the genre. A strength that I found to be one of a kind is the unique perspective of characters and the diverse cast.

The uniqueness of perspective and characters places the author within a growing movement of writers who bleed originality out of horror’s insights into otherness, expanding the genre to include LGBTQ+ characters and characters of color as well as their culture and background. A strength that I am amazed by and grateful for is the fact that there is representation within the novel and many others like it to include LGBTQ+ characters and characters of color too.

When I was reading this novel, I did not find anything major that I would deem as a negative. All I found were positives and I am pleased about that.

Though, I did not like the Monstrilio at first until I knew the

backstory of the character, until I understood its experience. With the understanding of Monstrilio’s experience and the resulting grief, I can empathize with many of the characters.

This is the author’s debut novel, an outstanding novel that has made an impact on me, the reader, as it brings to the forefront elements of grief, loss, love, and loneliness. These elements, without compromise, are real and the most raw of human emotions. These emotions are easily explorable, just as they are.

This read was a fresh take on horror for me, one that I had never seen before.

Rating: A

An unusual, but satisfying novel

CONNECT WITH MARK HASKELL mhaskell@student.framingham.edu

Puzzles

DOWN

1. Powered down

2. Soccer legend Hamm

3. Upbeat and high-spirited

4. Friendly

5. Mix

6. Make void

7. Lines on a tourist map

8. Opera set in Egypt

9. South American city that hosted part of the 2014 World Cup

10. Cut down on

11. Woman on the cover of all but one issue of O

12. Tractor manufacturer

16. Rams’ mates

21. Memorial Day’s month

22. Milk carton amts.

23. Clumsy

24. Shakespearean lover

28. Clever humor

29. Pie ___ mode

30. Puts a stop to

32. “___-Dick; or, The Whale”

ACROSS

1. Prophetic signs

6. Like most Yemenis, ethnically

10. Curtain hanger

13. ___ Felix Jr. (Disney character)

14. Hard-boiled film genre

15. Olympics sword

17. Immunologist Anthony

18. Zilch

19. Sketched out

20. Unhip person from an Atlantic island?

23. Rage

25. Ice Bucket Challenge letters

26. Stinging nettle sensations

27. Svalbard’s country

30. If’s counterpart in coding

31. Online message

32. Fun-size

34. Black or Red thing in an atlas

37. The five-step, perhaps?

41. Young ’un

42. Kindergartner’s basics

43. Sculpt

44. Small whirlpool

46. “Let’s get going”

47. Musical title role for Richard Pryor and Queen Latifah

50. “Now I get it”

52. Big Apple news source, for short

53. Documents that view all six sides of an issue?

57. X or Y on a graph

58. Rowing tools

59. Sounded bullish?

62. Paintball injury

63. Sailor’s speed unit or rope fastener

64. Fruit often in lassi

65. Get a look at

66. PlayStation 5 maker

67. Noble gas used in wine preservation

33. Business abbr.

34. Seductive and dangerous lure

35. Diplomatic messenger

36. “Secret” or “special” person

38. “Jumping Jehoshaphat!”

39. Sgt., e.g.

40. Quarterback Newton

44. Discarded CPUs, cellphones, etc.

45. Use a shovel

46. Part of a baseball uniform

47. Defrost

48. Puts a curse on

49. Banish

50. Garment that might say “World’s best chef”

51. All too quick

54. Prefix for “second” or “technology”

55. “The Bling Ring” star Watson

56. Lion’s cry

60. A braggart might have a big one

61. Put on

Puzzle solutions are now exclusively online.

Sandbox

Spread by Photos & Design Editor Maddison Behringer

Photos by Editor-in-Chief Leighah Beausoleil, Photos & Design Editor Maddison Behriinger, and Staff Writer Ben Hurney

FSAB hosted the annual Sandbox event to celebrate the last day of classes on May 5.