Massachusetts

Trump administration’s policies are driving away international students

Universities are grappling with their biggest challenges in years. Financial and enrollment pressures are mounting, and some economists even warn of a coming recession for colleges. GBH’s Kirk Carapezza reports that at places like Clark University in Worcester, MA, the squeeze is already leading to big changes.

Refugee Afghan girls in the US plan for once unimaginable higher education

US schools are creating contingency plans for international students

Two Palestinian artists recreate their beloved Gaza in virtual reality

Can Massachusetts learn from Tennessee on how to navigate free college programs?

After more than a century, women take a formal role in New Bedford’s massive Madeiran Feast

Arts, Culture & Media

For more than a century, the old whaling town of New Bedford, Massachusetts, has hosted the Feast of the Blessed Sacrament. The event celebrates Portuguese culture. But this year, for the first time — and under threat of a lawsuit — women are allowed to join the Feast Committee.

Who was Toussaint L’Ouverture, the namesake behind Boston’s new Haitian cultural center?

The Toussaint L’Ouverture Cultural Center of Massachusetts, is set to celebrate its groundbreaking near TD Garden in Boston on May 20. It will act as a gathering place and resource center for local Haitians. And organizers hope it will also help the legacy of one of history’s great leaders live on. GBH’s Esteban Bustillos has the story.

a student stands with her arms crossed in front of a domed building on MIT's campus

On campus, Jewish and Muslim students fear for their safety

A new report finds Jewish and Muslim students “fear personal danger” related to their positions on the war.

Children all over a colorful classroom

This Massachusetts school district focuses on the well-being of homeless immigrant students

Education

Massachusetts is seeing the arrival of more migrants, and many of them have no place to live. Because it’s a “right to shelter” state, officials are providing temporary housing, often in hotels. New England Public Media’s Jill Kaufman reports that school districts, such as West Springfield, have geared up to help the new arrivals.

Samuel Ike, dressed in the role of Revolutionary War-era African American abolitionist Prince Hall.

The history of enslavement at Boston’s Freedom Trail sites is beginning to be told

History

Boston is a cradle of American history, and 4 million people a year visit the historic churches, graveyards and parks that make up the Freedom Trail to learn more about the country’s origins. But rarely do they hear the underbelly of that story: that slavery touched nearly every aspect of the society and the economy of Massachusetts during that period of time. But that is now changing.