This morning, participants in our Adult Learning in the Fitchburg Area (ALFA), a lifelong learning institute that serves adult learners in Fitchburg and the surrounding communities, gathered at Fitchburg's Abolitionist Park for Before & After Emancipation: An Introduction to Fitchburg Abolitionist History, with Dr. Danette Day. The course is designed for participants to learn about Fitchburg’s rich Abolitionist history and the people who made it; among the many people you will meet are Benjamin Snow Jr., Josiah Trask, Martin and Caroline Becker, and Caroline Briggs Mason. Also, learn more about prominent abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison, Angelina Grimke and Frederick Douglass. This morning, Fitchburg Ward 6 City Councilor Derrick Cruz stopped by and joined the discussion.

Michael Labrecque, a 2022 graduate of our university transferred to Fitchburg State in January of 2020 from a college in Arizona. His decision to transfer came down to his friend Peter ‘21 telling him about how great the Communications Media program is here. 

Yesterday afternoon saw the launch of the Michael Vincent Addorisio Collection, a new exhibit and online collection celebrating the life and legacy of a fallen World War II sailor from Fitchburg. The Michael Vincent Addorisio (Addorizzi) Family Collection, including 93 letters, postcards, and medals, depicting a military life that was tragically cut short while serving on the USS Reid during World War II. The collection is curated by the fallen sailor’s niece, Rose Anne Addorisio, and is preserved in the library archives through a collaboration with the university’s Center for Italian Culture (CIC). Ms. Addorisio is a member of the CIC’s board.

Students in Professor Robert Harris' Film Styles Genres & Movements course put the final touches on the 16mm film. The course blends theoretical and historical concepts associated with a selected genre, style or movement within a production course setting. Students study a selected genre, style or movement, and then, in groups, produce a short film or digital video, based within the historical and/or theoretical framework that the class has studied. Learn more about our film studies here.

The reception was the last meeting of Professor Kisha Tracy's Writing II class this semester, in which attendees celebrated the Heritages of Change exhibition, and heard from current students about their new mini-exhibitions that will be exhibited next spring. This is also a reception to thank you for those who helped with the exhibit in any way - from the students in my Spring 2021 Writing II class who contributed their work to the Deans' Anti-Racism fund to the coordinators at each of the sites who helped make them all happen, to other Writing II instructors who asked for tours, and, if our Adult Learning in the Fitchburg Area (ALFA) mentors who felt comfortable visiting in person.

Theater lovers experienced a series of original pieces in an original location as Fitchburg State University presented “Between the Stacks,” a sequence of original scenes that were performed at locations in and around the campus library.

Devin Tormey '22 has always loved to paint, and when she found she could make money selling her paintings as a business, she saw an opportunity to merge two passions.

The senior business administration major from Fitchburg decided to develop a formal business plan for her artistic pursuits as her capstone thesis project for the university’s Honors Program. She credits her advisor, Assistant Professor John Crawley of the Business Administration Department, who encouraged her to fold her artwork into those plans.

“Devin is a tremendously talented student and artist,” Professor Crawley said. “Her work in the classroom is exceptional and her artwork moves the viewer.”