AMHERST — Homecoming at the University of Massachusetts brought about 1,300 of the 6,600 members of 2020’s class back to participate in a commencement ceremony at the Mullins Center last weekend.
Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy informed the graduates, whom he described as resilient and inspiring, as the first class to return as alumni for their own graduation.
“We’re grateful for this opportunity to finally have the chance to honor you in person,” Subbaswamy said. “You were deprived of the precious, final days of your college experience because of a once-in-a-century pandemic.”
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Associate Justice David A. Lowy, a 1983 graduate, gave the keynote address. “My hope is that you, some grandchildren and great grandchildren of the Greatest Generation, who saved the free world, leave this arena with an understanding that you are the indispensable generation, charged with restoring civility and compromise in the arena of our democracy,” Lowy said.
Grace Jung of Newton, who graduated with a degree in biochemistry and molecular biology, was the student speaker. Jung noted the challenges of COVID.
“Life became an intense physical and mental challenge, one we could never have imagined or prepared for,” Jung said. “I am so proud of us for making it to this moment, because navigating this alone was often unimaginable.”
The ceremony also included remarks by Wilmore Webley, an associate professor of microbiology, and UMass Trustee Mary Burns.
All three Amherst elementary schools are providing on-site pediatric COVID-19 vaccine clinics this week.
The clinics, at the end of each school day, are coordinated with the town’s health department and new Health Director Jennifer Brown. Children ages 5 to 11 are participating.
By having the clinics in the school buildings, school officials note that access barriers are removed. Of the students registered for the vaccine, many are from historically underserved communities, including 52% who qualify for subsidized lunch, 29% English language learners, 29% students with special needs and 72% who identify as students of color.
Extinction Rebellion WMass staged a dramatic reading of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s latest report on the Amherst Town Common Sunday.
The reading included a “die out,” and those attending wore black clothes to reflect mourning.
As the UMasss Homecoming parade went though downtown Amherst on the afternoon of Nov. 5, representatives from People for Ethical Treatment of Animals did a standout to continue raising concerns about a campus laboratory that does tests on marmosets.
Several new members will begin their service on town committees following recent approval of their appointments by the Town Council.
Lauren Mills of Longmeadow Drive will serve through June 30, 2023 on the Board of Health. A memo from Town Manager Paul Bockelman states that Mills “is eager to include the issue of systemic racism as part of the complex intersection of health and public policy.”
For Cultural Council, through June 30, 2024, Christy Anderson of Maplewood Drive and Joy Jarme of Cottage Street will serve. Anderson is an architectural historian and has taught art and architectural history, while Jarme is a writer with experience as a music journalist who serves as executive assistant for the vice chancellor of student affairs at UMass.
Serving through June 30, 2023 on the Energy and Climate Action Committee will be Vasudevan Raghavan of McIntosh Drive, a mechanical engineer; and through June 30, 2024 will be Donald Allison of Bay Road, an attorney.
Bockelman and Finance Director Sean Mangano will discuss the town budget and financial indicators during a Cuppa Joe session on Nov. 19 at 8 a.m.
Go to https://amherstma.zoom.us/j/93952241687 to join the webinar.
MONDAY: Jones Library trustees, 9 a.m., Local Historic District Commission 3 p.m. and Town Council, 6 p.m.
TUESDAY: Amherst Cultural Council, 4:30 p.m., and Amherst School Committee, 6:30 p.m.
WEDNESDAY: Amherst Cultural Council and Planning Board, both at 6:30 p.m.
THURSDAY: Council on Aging , 5 p.m., Community Preservation Act Committee, 6 p.m. and Community Develpment Block Grant Advisory Committee, 7 p.m.
