A new era at UMass Boston has officially begun.
On Saturday, April 28th, the inauguration of Chancellor Michael F. Collins capped an eventful week of symposiums, group discussions, and hip hop. Chancellor Collins, the seventh chancellor at UMass Boston, spoke in front of a packed Clark Center audience, which included Mayor Thomas Menino, and elaborated the steps towards making UMass a thriving college community.
“While it is imperative that we discuss how UMass Boston is to become an ideal university, I feel it is equally essential that we do not forget to consider what makes an ideal education,” said Collins.
In Chancellor Collin’s address, the emphasis was immediately aimed at the subject of an “ideal education.” On the educational road that the Chancellor himself took, Collins encountered bumps along the way, going through such demanding schools as Tufts Medical School and Texas Tech, but in the end, the experience engraved a certain awareness of “real education” into Collins’ life.
The importance of society’s helping efforts regarding teachers was one of the foremost issues which demands attention if an ideal education is going to be in place, according to the Chancellor.
“The first, most essential requirement [to an ideal education] is dedicated teachers, those who actively engage in rigorous academic scholarship and the creative arts, who provide innovative instruction designed to address the unique composition of their classrooms, and who create personal connections with students,” said Collins. “I believe teachers are greatly undervalued by our nation as a whole. They are under-appreciated for their contributions in and out of their classrooms, research labs, and creative studios.”
Several other factors follow in that quest for the ideal education, according to Collins. The study of liberal arts, which can awaken a newfound creativity and outlook, is invaluable and imperative.
“There is indisputable value in simply being able to write cogently and to speak clearly, to inquire candidly and to argue reasonably, to recognize surely and to articulate simply, to build character and to live with diversity, mastering an approach to learning that will allow you to transform your life while contributing as an engaged citizen in a relevant way to the needs of a global society,” Collins said.
Previous to Collins’ address, a number of distinguished officials from across New England spoke on behalf of greeting the Chancellor into office. Student Senate President Erica Mena gave a short intriductory speach as the representative for the students. From the Federal Government, Congressman Stephen F. Lynch gave a warm welcome, along with the President of the Massachusetts Senate, Robert E. Travaglini. Mayor Menino, Lawrence S. Bacow, President of Tufts University, and longtime friend and Professor of Medicine at Duke University Robert A. Harrington, MD, were a few others who took the podium to greet Chancellor Collins to UMass.
Earlier in the week, the Clark Center had a similarly large gathering but with a very different crowd in attendance. Hip hop artist Kanye West made an exclusive trip to campus for UMass students and their guests on Wednesday, April 26 and performed for almost two hours. The show was one of many events that took place for Chancellor Collins’ inauguration.
The sun that made it through the Clark Center windows that afternoon illuminated the crowd and its speakers. The pulse of UMass Boston could be felt that day, and will hopefully carry on that way for years to come.