Bridgewater State University
Bridgewater State University
Boston Business Journal Interview with
President Fred Clark
President Clark, in an interview published last week with Ms. Carolyn Jones, who is the president and publisher of the Boston Business Journal, said: “The workforce for Massachusetts is actually being created by public higher education . . . 70% of all of the high school students in the Commonwealth who go on to college go to public institutions,
and 95% of our students are from Massachusetts. When they graduate, 85% stay right in this state to work, serve their communities and contribute to the state's economy."
When compared to other states, he said, "Massachusetts alone has the most important natural resource necessary for success in today's world. Our greatest natural resource here is our brains, " he said.
The president also spoke of his background during the interview (which can be seen by clicking on the link below).
He said, "I'm originally from Brockton, Massachusetts. I come from a big, big family. I'm one of six kids, and no college experience in the family. Five of the six of us went to Bridgewater State. I give my parents great credit.
"My father was an electrician. My mother was - when they used to have these things - a telephone operator, and I had the good fortune through an internship through Bridgewater State to meet U.S. Congressman Joe Moakley," he said.
"Ultimately, I became his district director and I was with him for 18 years before he passed away. And then I had a whole separate career in higher education and many, many different roles. Then, in 2011, I came back to the campus to serve as executive vice-president, and later I had the great fortune - the true honor - to become in 2015 the 12th president of my own alma mater, Bridgewater State."
The entire interview will be published in an upcoming edition of Generations of
Service.
The link to the video is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJJwfOzMBq4
"Tales from the Road . . . No Gold Watches
and No Retirement" by BSU Professor
Dr. Margaret Johnsson
Dr. Margaret Johnsson, assistant professor in the Department of Management and Marketing, went traveling on an extended journey through
America, and along the way she gathered stories about the lives and circumstances of older Americans - specifically, about how aging in the U.S. with an economy in transition is impacting their lives.
She shared the story which was published in an edition of The Bridgewater Review, complete with facts, charts and many fascinating (and upsetting) conversations.
You can read the entire story (and, we hope, count your blessings) by clicking on the link below.
And now we shift our focus to those just about to begin their careers.
Above is a photo of a job fair recently at Bridgewater State which was held in the Tinsley Center and drew a large crowd of those seeking jobs and those with jobs to fill.
The story was covered by WBUR radio and in the article - authored by Zeninjor Enwemeka - students spoke of their impressions and experiences.
"Soon-to-be college graduates are about to enter a tough — and confusing — job market," began the article.
"While new grads always find the market daunting, added pressures on the employment landscape mean the current crop have their work cut out for them. Jobs reports have swung back and forth from gains to losses for several straight months. Even applying for a job has changed, thanks to the increasing use of AI by hiring managers.
"Local college seniors are feeling the pressure. At a recent career fair at Bridgewater State University, hundreds of students filtered into the athletic center with a mission: Find a job.
"Evaneida Fortes was on the go for much of the fair, making her way through rows of employers. There were 120 companies spread out at tables around the gym, ready to take resumes.
"Ms. Fortes said she feels good about her chances to secure something.
' I'm confident in my ability to show my skills and the experiences that I've gained so far,' " she said.
"One of the skills she's been developing is working with AI. Ms. Fortes said she's doing a research project on using AI to code. She thinks it can give her an advantage in the job market, despite concerns about AI eliminating some jobs."
"I actually like AI," she told WBUR.
"But it doesn't do everything that humans do, right? It doesn't have that character that I bring, that confidence that I bring. So, I don't really feel threatened by AI at all."
Senior Louie Jennings listens to a representative from Granite Telecommunications during the Bridgewater State University's MEGA Job & Internship Fair. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
To read the WBUR article, please click below:
China . . . Then and Now
In 1985, a group from Bridgewater State made a first official visit to the People's Republic of China.
Then-President Adrian Rondileau (second from left) along with Dr. Robert Dillman, vice president for academic affairs; Ms. Joyce Leung, college librarian; and Dr. George Sethares, professor of mathematics - all posing at "The Great Wall" - were there to establish a student-faculty exchange with Shanxi University.
Now, in 2026, we share the story from BSU's Brian Benson, G '26, about a trip taken by current students and faculty.
In this spring of 2026, a "Study Abroad" trip of another BSU group headed to China:
"Nine students were members of a class taught by Drs. Chien Yu and Jakari Griffith, and they covered topics such as global transportation, corporate culture and cross-cultural communication during the trip," wrote Mr. Benson.
"The group explored Beijing and Tianjin, traveled on a high-speed train, visited the Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City, and interacted with Chinese students.
“It allowed the students to see themselves as Americans from someone else’s perspective and to critique themselves,” said Dr. Griffith, who is BSU’s interim assistant provost for global engagement and senior international officer.
"The trip built on a longstanding partnership between BSU and Beijing Jiaotong University. Students attended a 10-day youth forum at which they learned and socialized with their Chinese peers and shared music, dance, and other elements of each other’s cultures."
To read the whole story, please click on the link below:
Entire Collection of the Student Newspaper, The Comment,
Dating back to 1927, Now Fully Digitized (1,200 editions)
The Campus Comment, May, 1929 edition - the newspaper was founded in 1927 as a
class project led by then Dean of Women S. Elizabeth Pope
Dr. Orson Kingsley, head of Archives and Special Collections in the Maxwell Library, sent this message to the university community last week:
"We have exciting news from the archives. A multi-year project has been completed – the digitization and re-digitization of the entire run of the student newspaper, The Comment, dating back to its first issue in1927.
"All issues are now accessible and searchable through our digital repository, Virtual Commons. With the help of many interns, over 1,200 individual issues of The Comment were digitized, with many being the first time they had ever been digitized.
"For the first time ever, the entire run of The Comment can now be searched by keyword. The link to Virtual Commons can be found through the Library’s website on the Special Collections page:
https://library.bridgew.edu/archives-special-collections
"The digital collection can be found underJournals and Campus Publications, under Student Newspapers," Dr. Kingsley said, and he also noted, "There is also a run of another student newspaper accessible as well that was recently digitized, and it was titled, 'Hard Times.'
"This newspaper ran from 1970 to1976 under a couple of different names and was very progressive leaning. It covered the turbulence of the time that The Comment did not necessarily focus on. It's fascinating to compare the two rival papers on the campus during these years."
The Comment: https://vc.briudgew.edu/comment/
Hard Times: https://vc.bridgew.edu/hard times/
In conclusion, Dr. Kingsley said: "I would like to thank my numerous interns who did the 'grunt work' on this very long digital project, as well as my colleague in the Archives, Herbie Pollard, who uploaded all of the files to the digital repository."
Below is the front page of a recent edition of The Comment.
The final monthly meeting for this academic year of BSU's Retired Faculty Club will take place at 12:30 on Wednesday, May 7, 2026.
The featured speaker will be President Clark.