Blue Out! Were you there to see the Corsairs triumph 38-14 over Plymouth State University last Saturday? How exciting it was for me to toss the coin just minutes before kickoff on Cressy Field, and then witness the victory of our team under the leadership of Head Coach Mark Robichaud! That was after UMassD Alumni Association President Athena Mota - with her adorable children, Sophia and Dominic - joined me and more than 600 alumni from all over Massachusetts at our Homecoming celebration under the tent adjacent to the Tripp Center. Kudos to Chad Argotsinger and Nancy Tooley, who ably organized the lively event!

On Saturday as well, Dr. Juli Parker and her Center for Women and Gender Studies team organized the conference Educating for Change, supported by her Zuckerberg Leadership Prize from the Umass System. Focusing on the lack of representation or the stereotypical portrayal of women in the media, the conference was attended by many students from four UMass System campuses.

Congratulations to Dr. Kevin Stokesbury for his two new grants totaling $321,918 from the Division of Marine Fisheries and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center to support the "Yellowtail Flounder Georges Bank Survey"!

Likewise, I wish to applaud Dr. Mark Santow, who delivered a stimulating lecture on "Ghosts; Vietnam, Afghanistan, and the Lessons of History" to a roomful of about 40 Nonquitt residents. Thank you to Tia Bullard for her masterful execution of our UMassD Lecture Series at Nonquitt this summer. 

On September 27, Provost Karim and I hosted a forum with our business community to solicit input and feedback about our strategic plan draft UMassDTransform2020. Prominent executives Keith Hovan, CEO of SouthCoast Health System; Richard LaFrance, CEO of LaFrance Hospitality; Kelly Mendell, President of MIKEL Inc.; Gloria Craven and Stacy Ober, principals of Craven & Ober;  George Oliveira, President of Plimoth Investment Advisors; Mark Eisenberg, CEO of NATCO; and many others engaged in a dialogue about the pivotal role of UMass Dartmouth to increase college attainment and foster economic development and entrepreneurship in the SouthCoast and greater region.

On Friday evening, our Athletics Department, led by Ian Day and Amanda van Voorhis, hosted the Annual Athletic Recognition Dinner, with the inimitable Jim Mullins as master of ceremonies. The event honored those inducted into the Corsairs Hall of Fame: Mark Tallent, Kelly Kidd Bartucca, Kelly Fitts Ferreira, Jonathan Garcia, the late Louise Goodrum, and the 1988 SMU baseball team.  Do you know that Kelly Ferreira, daughter-in-law of Prince Henry Society of New Bedford President Stephen Ferreira, was not only a javelin champion, but also graduated with a Charlton College of Business Finance degree having earned a 4.0 GPA ?

We also dedicated the Dr. Elizabeth Pennington Clinical Simulation Laboratory at the College of Nursing last week. Dean Pennington donated a gift that enabled Dean Fain and the faculty to establish a state-of-the-art simulation lab with four rooms equipped with the latest human-patient simulators. Inspired by aviation simulation for training of pilots, human clinical simulation technology raises the bar for Nursing education at UMassD.

Have a cool and crisp autumn week, everyone!