Bridgewater State University
Bridgewater State University
Welcome to BSU's Class of 2030!
Our thanks to the superb BSU web team for recording this video, which was posted recently on YouTube as Orientation for the Class of 2030 was in progress.
Many of Bridgewater State's older alumni remember a much different orientation - well into the late 1960s, "freshman orientation," as it was called, had a distinctly different kind of welcome.
Those alums remember how they gathered for a one-hour session in the Horace Mann Auditorium and admonished with this warning - "Look to your left and look to your right . . . one of you will not be here next year."
Today, and for the last several decades, orientation for new students has been a world of difference.
See the link below for a quick video:
National Honors for Ms. Mary Lou Thimas, '68, former Director of Athletics for Women
at BSU . . .
"She is one of the nation’s longest-tenured officials and a walking piece of Massachusetts women’s sports history,"
The Boston Globe, June, 2026
At a ceremony held in June, 2026, in Salt Lake City, Utah - attended by an audience of more than 2,000 people - Bridgewater State's Mary Lou Thimas, Class of 1968 and former director of women's athletics at her alma mater - was among "a group of multi-sport athletes inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame for 2026."
As noted in a recent previous edition of this report, the news of the award was published by The Boston Globe, which quoted her in its profile, “I love sports, I love being outdoors, and I love being involved.”
The Globe also added, "Thimas, 81, who was honored in June by the National Federation of State High School Associations, is the latest institution to call her a Hall of Famer . . . Plymouth-Carver High, Bridgewater State University, the MASCAC (Massachusetts State Collegiate Conference), New Agenda Northeast, and the Eastern Mass. chapter of the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame previously did the same.
"Officiating has been a constant in a comprehensive career that has lasted parts of seven decades," The Globe added.
Among those honored with her in Salt Lake City were Joe Carter, "whose iconic walk-off home run won the 1993 World Series for the Toronto Blue Jays;" Patrick Willis, "who had a stellar career with the San Francisco 49ers;" Alisha Glass Childress and Jordan Larson "who are two of the top players in the history of high school volleyball;" and Krissy Wendell Poole, "who is the most prolific scorer in the history of high school girls hockey."
In announcing its selection of Ms. Thimas for the 2026 National Hall of Fame, the organization said, "For 60 years Mary Lou Thimas has been the guiding light for the girls sports of field hockey and lacrosse in the state of Massachusetts. From her days as a student and coach, and now in her seventh decade of officiating at the age of 81, no one in Massachusetts has contributed more to the state's high school sports than Mary Lou Thimas.
" . . . Outside her officiating duties, Thimas has coached basketball, field hockey, lacrosse and tennis at both the high school and college levels. She also served as director of athletics for women and associate director of athletics at her alma mater, Bridgewater State University, as well as associate director of athletics at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth.
"Sherry Bryant, a senior official with the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, said, 'Mary Lou's greatest contribution may be her unwavering character. In my decades of experience, I have never met a person who has expressed anything but the most respect and admiration for her. Her reputation as a humble, hard-working, kind and giving person of integrity is known statewide.' "
The photo below was published in the Boston Globe during a field hockey game officiated by Ms. Thimas:
Maya Goes to Japan on a BSU Study Abroad Program
We're grateful to Mr. Arthur Slotnick, a director in BSU's IT department, for sharing an Instragam video about the trip this spring to Japan by a recent BSU grad (class of 2026), which was arranged by the university's Study Abroad Program.
A double major in psychology and art history, Maya Kuperchinski hopes to return to Japan at some point in the future as she found the country fascinating.
The link to the video is:
We're grateful to Ms. Heather Harris Michonski, G '26, senior communications manager for the Office of Enrollment, Marketing and Communications, for sharing her story pf Ms. Cailey Simward '26, who has been chosen as the "Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year" by the MASCAC (Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference).
"Bridgewater State's Cailey Simard has been named the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year as voted on by the eight athletic directors from around the conference.
"The MASCAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year has been awarded annually since 1980 to a student who has excelled in both the classroom and field of play while maintaining at least a 3.20 cumulative grad point average through their last year of athletic eligibility.
"Ms. Simard is the the Bears' first MASCAC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year since Amber White (2013-2014) and eighth in program history. Cailey capped a memorable career with the Bridgewater State University women's swimming & diving team with more diving records and another trip to the NCAA Division Three Championships.
"Cailey was also a standout in the classroom, finishing with a 3.911 undergraduate cumulative grade point average, graduating early and starting her graduate studies this past spring semester," wrote Ms. Michonski.
The full story is published in the BridgeNet section of the university's web page.
In the September, 2019, edition of Generations of Service we published the photo above to acknowledge the gift to the university from Mr. David Moore, middle, and at right his sister Ms. Kathleen Moore Flaherty, '91, G '19, BSU's Information Technology Manager. At left are Ms. Karen Jason, then Vice President for Operations, and President Clark. At right is the late Gene Durgin, then chairman of the Board of Trustees.
The Moore family, established in Bridgewater since 1847 (not long after BSU first opened), established funds for a memorial plaque and garden for their late brother, Charles Moore, a class of 1956 graduate.
Next edition: July 27, 2026