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.
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.
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.
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.
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.