THE GATEPOST Framingham State’s independent student newspaper
Volume 86 • Issue 1
FSUgatepost.com
September 15, 2017
State of the University Meeting DCU Center announced as spring commencement location By Cesareo Contreras Editor-in-Chief
Two Rams strike poses during a game.
Oscairy Tavarez / THE GATEPOST
During the first State of the University Meeting Sept. 5, President F. Javier Cevallos announced the DCU Center in Worcester will be the new location for spring commencement. Commencement has typically been held at the Framingham Town Green. The move was brought about by the results of a 2016 student commencement preference survey. In the survey, students were given three commencement locations See STATE OF UNIVERSITY page 3
News • DACA UPDATE P. 4
Opinions • THE UGLY TRUTH P. 10
COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS
Arts & Features
• DUELING PIANOS P. 15
Allie Gath / THE GATEPOST
Sports • ROOKIE COACH EARNS FIRST WIN P. 16
BHE makes first Interim chief diversity financial offer to faculty officer appointed and librarian union FSU faculty and librarians come out to support MSCA By Jillian Poland News Editor The Board of Higher Education bargaining team made its first financial proposal to the Massachusetts State College Association at a bargaining session on Sept. 14, said C.J. O’Donnell, MSCA president. Nearly 20 Framingham State faculty and librarians greeted the BHE team outside the bargaining room wearing MSCA T-shirt and holding signs reading “Protect Public Higher Education” to show solidarity for the MSCA team.
MSCA members are upset by the ongoing delay in reaching a collective bargaining agreement with their employer, the Board of Higher Education, and by proposed changes to the existing agreement, said Robert Donohue, MSCA vice president and president of the Framingham State MSCA chapter. The MSCA is a union comprised of faculty and librarians from the nine state colleges and universities. Every three years, representatives and attorneys from both the MSCA and the BHE meet for a series of negotiations that ultimately result in a collective bargaining agreement, said Virginia Rutter, member of the MSCA bargaining team and interim chair of the so-
See MSCA/BHE page 8
FSU executive staff selects internal candidate for DICE By Bailey Morrison Associate Editor After a nationwide search for a new chief officer of diversity, inclusion and community engagement, Millie González has been appointed in an interim capacity. After Sean Huddleston, former chief officer of diversity, inclusion and community engagement, left his position, González co-chaired the search committee for Huddleston’s replacement. According to University President F. Javier Cevallos, interviews were conducted
and two prospective candidates were brought to campus for open forums. The position was offered to Joan Iva C. Fawcett, who declined and accepted a position at another school. González said, “We ran the search. We had some wonderful candidates on campus. We offered the position to one candidate, which we were very excited about, and unfortunately, she decided to take another position. “It’s a challenging position. It’s a very competitive position. So, we were like, ‘OK, we just have to wait and do the search again,’” González said. She added, “We decided we would re-run the search in December. … We wanted See DICE page 5
INSIDE: OP/ED 6 • ARTS & FEATURES 8 • SPORTS 12