McCormack Graduate School: Celebrating MLK Day

This Month at the McCormack Graduate School

January 2020

Dean's Message

Welcome to the new semester at McCormack Graduate School, with new faces, deep learning, and exciting special events.

This year, we got a head start. On January 20, even as the classrooms stood empty, I was pleased to join an MGS delegation at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast in Boston. The speakers, including Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Governor Charlie Baker, Senator Edward Markey and Mayor Marty Walsh, were all powerful, and captured by our own PhD student Allyson Bachta, whose deeply moving experiences are described below -- a fitting prelude to Black History Month in February. The MLK breakfast was keynoted by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry , who, in a soaring narrative of justice in a complicated world, wove in a metaphor of an aged tree:

“If you want to navigate in moral ambiguity and complexity, when lies are substituted for truth, when misbehavior is exalted as just plain behavior, when people are treated like animals and put down, when mamas are separated from their children at the border of this country – you want to navigate that? You’ve got to be like that tree!...With roots that are wide and inclusive and deep and nurturing!”

Meanwhile, honors keep being amassed by several students and faculty, including PhD candidate Jean-Pierre Murray and Professor Christian Weller.

And, looking ahead, the Spring calendar is packed -- many of the events put McCormack in the lead of public debates, on momentous issues -- just where we belong.

In March, McCormack will host Africa Day on the 6th. We are also co-hosting a televised debate on the 18th in Springfield between Congressman Joe Kennedy and Senator Ed Markey -- possibly the most closely-watched primary contest in the country.

In April, we'll host our first college wide Graduate Student Conference 2020 . As well, Earth Day will become Earth Week at UMass Boston -- numerous activities, with one centerpiece being an address by Christiana Figueres, the Costa Rican diploma and architect of the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015. We are delighted that she has accepted the high McCormack honor of the Robert C. Wood Visiting Professorship.

And this is only a taste. Welcome to the new semester where McCormack embodies success, accomplishment, engagement, impact, and making a difference.

Warmly,

David

McCormack Making A Difference

Photo of the ISC (Integrated Sciences Complex)

McCormack in the National Spotlight

U.S. News Says UMass Boston’s Online Graduate Education, Bachelor’s Programs Among Nation’s Best

McCormack Graduate School's two online bachelor's programs: global aging and life course studies and global affairs are featured as two of the nation's best according to U.S. News & World Report who gave UMass Boston a score of 75.

Student Success

Q&A: UMass Boston Police Chief Brings Broader Public Administration Perspective to the Classroom

A conversation with the student-chief -- the UMass Boston police chief is a student of public administration -- pursuing a master's degree at McCormack.

Photo of Jean-Pierre Murry, Global Governance and Human Security PhD Student

Student Success

Global Governance and Human Security Doctoral Candidate Featured In Oxford Monitor of Forced Migration

From research in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, doctoral candidate Jean-Pierre Murry argues powerfully for a broader definition of human trafficking.

Photo of Christian Weller, Professor, Public Policy and Public Affairs

Faculty Accomplishments

National Academy of Social Insurance Recognizes McCormack Graduate School Professor’s Innovative Proposal

Professor Christian Weller receives a national award for a breakthrough proposal to help older workers who are unemployed but not qualified for full Social Security.

Photo of DOSS Town Hall Event w/ Leah Wright Rigueur

Events and Engagement

Talking Race, Party Politics, and the 2020 Presidential Election with Harvard Professor and Author Leah Wright Rigueur

Leah Wright Rigueur crossed the river from Harvard's Kennedy School to encourage McCormack's DOSS students to keep their values intact as they pursue success. The problem of continuing racial inequity was one stubborn example.

Photo of Anna-Marie Tabor, Director and Managing Attorney, Pension Action Center

Centers Delivering Impact

A Paperwork Glitch Cuts a Widow’s Pension Payment Nearly in Half, Pension Action Center Is There To Help

Boston Globe reports Anna-Marie Tabor, director of the Pension Action Center, riding to rescue $400 a month pension wrongly withheld from a recent widow.