The power of the pen was on full display yesterday afternoon!
Our Fitchburg State University English Studies Department hosted the annual High School & Creative Writing Awards in a packed Presidents Hall. Students from Fitchburg High School,Leominster High School, North Middlesex Regional High School, and Oakmont Regional High School were asked for entries. From Fitchburg State University President Hodge on the vital role of storytelling, to moving readings by our first-place winners, it was a true celebration of the next generation of writers.

 English Studies Professor Kisha Tracy welcomed representatives from across the campus for a session of her Major Authors course in Thompson Hall this afternoon.. Professor Tracy  is teaching Chaucer with a bit of a twist - asking students to view his work through the lens of their specific majors. She welcomed ambassadors from Exercise and Sports Science,  Communications Media, Criminal Justice, Education, and Engineering Technology to work with her students on their unique angle on this major author. Engineering Technology Professor Ana Mesquita-Emlinger brought students in her Architectural Design course to present the various architectural elements of the Canterbury Cathedral.

Yesterday afternoon, in the Miller Oval, The Point student journalists and their supporters joined together for the ninth annual Student Press Freedom Day, a national moment to stand up for press freedom and recognize the essential role student journalists play in their communities. 

This year’s Student Press Freedom Day theme, Resilience in Action, celebrates the ways that student journalists pivot, push forward and raise their voices — even as censorship, intimidation and legal threats escalate.  

The Center for Faculty Scholarship, Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library , and Communications Media Department hosted a celebration to mark the most recent book published by Professor J.J. Sylvia IV. English Studies Professor DeMisty D. Bellinger-Delfeld welcomed attendees to the University Archives where J.J. Sylvia IV discussed his recently published book, LiveJournal and Russian Disinformation: The Rise of Epistemic Sabotage (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2025) where he "demonstrates how epistemic sabotage became central to the Kremlin's efforts to manipulate truth, and more broadly, how the ever-increasing reach of the internet and social media platforms can be weaponized by authoritarian regimes to disrupt knowledge systems and destabilize democracies." Read more about the book here.

Dr. Holli Carrell shared how her research into the Mormon faith, girlhood, the American West, and more informed her debut poetry collection Apostasies  at Hammond Hall’s S08 Meeting Room.

Student teams in English Studies Professor Dr. Katharine Covino's First-Year Experience (FYE) course each created a Public Service Announcement (PSA) which were judged, with a PSA about water refill stations coming out on top. Fitchburg Mayor Samantha Squailia visited the class to sign and give certificates to the winning team. 

English Studies Department Professor Benjamin Railton presented “Recording Our Worst and Imagining Our Best: My Experiences with My Public Scholarly Podcast” in our Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) as part of the Fitchburg State Speakers Series. 

Collin Syvert of the English Studies Department and Professor Kevin McCarthy of the Communications Media Department hosted a screening of a new documentary "From Sea to Shining Sea." Afterwards, a guest panel spoke about the film. The panel included Professor Benjamin Railton, Director John de Graaf, and  Fitchburg Historical Society Director  Susan Navarre.

Students from English Studies Professor Katharine Covino's FYE course - "What Do We Owe Ourselves? & What Do WE Owe Each Other?" - completed a Day of Service at the Fitchburg State University Falcon Bazaar Food Pantry and Professional Clothing Closet. After a quick tour of the well stocked and organized Falcon Bazaar Food Pantry Graduate Assistant, Office of Student Engagement Caitlin Moriarty brought the students to the nearby Professional Clothing Closet where she needed some serious help. After some instructions, students organized clothing by size, color, and type, and some general "housekeeping."

Last week, the morning of our Homecoming Pep Rally, President Hodge visited English Studies Professor Heather Urbanski's Foundations of Professional Writing course for a Q&A with students. As President Hodge holds a Ph.D. in Rhetoric, Master's degrees in English and Women's Studies, she is uniquely qualified to address students questions and share how she and her executive cabinet handle communications at the university.