Bridgewater State University
Bridgewater State University
Ms. Mary Lou Thimas, Class of 1968,
former BSU's Director of Athletics for Women, Honored by National Association at
Salt Lake City, Utah, Before an Audience of 2,000+
Ms. Mary Lou Thimas, '68, is pictured above this past June with Dr. Richard Baldwin, the executive director of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA), who had nominated her for the award, after she was inducted into the National Federation of High School Associations (NFHS) Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in Salt Lake City, Utah, before an audience of 2000+ people.
As we noted in a recent posting on this website, Ms. Thimas was among 12 national figures - including former all-stars of the Major League Baseball Association and the National Football League - to be selected for the 43rd annual of Hall of Fame program honoring outstanding professionals in the field of athletics.
Ms. Thimas, who was a star athlete in elementary and high school, went on to major in women's physical education at BSU where she played three sports while graduating on the Dean's List.
In 1978 Ms. Thimas returned to Bridgewater and served as Director of Athletics for Women and head coach of the women's basketball team from 1978 to 1987.
She then returned to high school teaching and, even after her retirement, Ms. Thimas remained active in officiating women's field hockey games.
Now age 81, and with more than 60 years invested in sports, she was recently profiled by The Boston Globe, which in its article noted she is still active in athletics, and said "in fall, 2026, Ms. Thimas already has a full schedule of officiating coming up this next year."
In July, 2026, Ms. Thimas agreed to an interview and below is Part One of our conversation with her. See the link below:
"Seven Suitcases, One Journey and
Real-Life Learning"
We're grateful to Ms. Heather Harris Michonski, G '27, of BSU's Office of Enrollment, Marketing and Communications, for sharing this article with us. Excerpts follow:
When she learned about BSU's South African Service-Learning Course, Madison Corkery, G’27, knew it was something she wanted to get involved with.
“As a social work student, I think it’s important to understand how communities face adversity, support one another and build on their strengths,” she said.
“I wanted to experience cultural humility firsthand and learn how people live in different parts of the world.”
This is the second year the 3-credit course has been offered to BSU students.
Social Work Associate Professor Jibril Solomon created the course with an eye toward using community as a classroom to enhance the professional and cultural competencies of social work, education, social science, and humanities students.
Professor Solomon developed the course over two years, partnering with the Family Literacy Project (FLP) in Underberg, South Africa. FLP’s mission is to empower rural Zulu families and children through literacy and community support services.
“This mission aligns with BSU, and the School of Social Work’s aims to educate global citizens and prepare graduates to serve residents of the Commonwealth and beyond from all backgrounds,” Solomon said.
Since launching, the course has gained popularity.
More than 40 students applied, forcing Professor Solomon to place students on a waitlist this year.
In May, 22 students and two faculty members embarked for two and a half weeks in South Africa.
They visited several isolated villages and worked with local teachers and community members, serving as peer coaches, advisors, and core facilitators.
“The experience was amazing. South Africa is a beautiful country, and I was continually inspired by the strong sense of community I witnessed throughout the villages we visited,” Madison said. “People worked incredibly hard with the resources they had and were always supporting one another.”
To read the entire article, please open with this address:
"Not to be Ministered Unto
but to Minister"
In Dr. Turner's classic 2010 book, Not to be Ministered Unto but to Minister: Bridgewater State College, 1840-2010, he recounted in detail an event - and the events leading up to it - that resulted in Bridgewater attaining university status on July 28, 2010.
In the chapter in his book devoted to this subject, Dr. Turner began by sharing important facts about BSU's long-term efforts to become a university.
Those efforts traced back at least as far as 1963 when then-Academic Dean Lee Harrington wrote a policy guide advocating university status for the institution and shared it with press [Dr. Turner shares more details below].
During the administration of Dr. Adrian Tinsley (1989-2002) another strong effort to win university status for Bridgewater was made without success.
But until 2010 - with Governor Deval Patrick elected to office - there was no progress toward that goal.
It was then that President Dana Mohler-Faria (2002-2015) began another serious attempt at university status.
Key factor: Dr. Mohler-Faria had been recruited by Governor Patrick to join his staff at the State House in Boston for a year, which Dr. Mohler-Faria agreed to do, provided he could simultaneously remain Bridgewater's president and return to the campus after serving with Governor Patrick.
During this period the long effort to gain university status began to finally take root.
We now join Dr. Turner's narrative, where he identified those who, in addition to Dr. Mohler-Faria, helped to shape education policy that would ultimately lead to university status for Bridgewater:
"A momentous chapter in Bridgewater’s long history began with the attainment of university status. Discussions about university status were, of course, not new," said Dr. Turner as he wrote about this period in Bridgewater's life.
"As far back as October 1963, the Fall River Herald News carried the headline, 'Bridgewater College Would Be a University,' and quoted Academic Dean, Lee Harrington, who said 'the college is devoted to expansion' and added that Bridgewater 'deserved university status.'
"A group of legislators visited the campus in November, '63, to explore the possibility, and Dean Harrington urged them to move forward with the proposal. Nothing came of this initiative, but from time to time, new proposals came forward," Dr. Turner reported.
​ He says that as early as 1990, BSU administrators, along with help from alumni, moved to heighten the institution's profile on Beacon Hill.
"Bridgewater alumni played a significant role in this process and one was Fred Clark, Class of 1983, who had been appointed to chair the board of higher education. Mr. Clark, who was a political science major as an undergraduate, had served as a college trustee, a Bridgewater Foundation board member, and a state-wide executive for the state college system. As district chief of staff for Congressman Joseph Moakley, he was instrumental in gaining support for the $10 million grant that funded the Moakley Center," wrote Dr. Turner.
As the campaign for university status picked up steam, Dr. Mohler-Faria relied on a cadre of people who were in a position to be of major assistance.
"Louis Ricciardi, Class of 1981, chair of the
college’s board of trustees, was elected to a five-year term on the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education (BHE) and he was certainly one," said Dr. Turner.
"Mr. Ricciardi represented the nine state colleges on the BHE and was the first person from Bridgewater State elected to that position.
"In 1990, at the age of 30, Mr. Ricciardi was the youngest person to ever chair the board of trustees at a Massachusetts state college," Dr. Turner stated.
"Bridgewater alumni - including David Flynn, Class of 1958; Peter Koutoujian, Class of 1983; and Fred Clark, Class of 1983 - were among that key group as identified Dr. Turner.
"As early as 2003 or 2004, Dr. Mohler-Faria began to talk with the Council of Presidents about the issue, in terms of how the specific goal might be achieved. Subsequently, the group gave thought to filing legislation to bring about the change.
"Early in his administration, the president had
taken a low-key attitude toward Bridgewater’s
becoming a university, but by December 2006, he
had revisited the issue.
"While making it clear that no decisions had been made, he announced that the trustees and a committee including both faculty and students, would explore the question.
"He reiterated his often stated position that any changes should positively benefit student education and incur no
additional cost," Dr. Turner noted.
"Specifically, Dr. Mohler-Faria indicated that university status would not bring a great surge in enrollment; many American universities had a far smaller enrollment than Bridgewater.
"According to the president, the advantages of university status would include the ability to attract additional state and national funding; the ability to recruit even more highly credentialed faculty and attract the best and brightest students; and the opportunity to enhance efforts to build on the breadth and scope of Bridgewater's international partnerships," according to Dr. Turner.
"Peter Koutoujian, by then a state representative,
decided to file legislation on behalf of the state colleges, and at Dr. Mohler-Faria’s request, a white paper providing the
rationale for the change was prepared. He then
talked with Bridgewater’s board of trustee’s chair,
Louis Ricciardi, who was asked to form a working
group. The white paper that resulted proved to be very useful in testimony before the Legislature," said Dr. Turner.
"When he was invited to give testimony at the State House, Dr. Mohler-Faria noted that 45 states had converted their colleges to universities.
"After the testimony before the Legislature’s
Joint Committee on Education, the real work began.
Dr. Mohler-Faria recalled that he and several other people,
including Mr. Clark, State Representative David Flynn, and State Representative Koutoujian, devoted almost daily efforts to making university status a reality.
"In Dr. Mohler-Faria’s view, Fred Clark was the linchpin who kept everything together, since he visited between 80 and 90 percent of the legislators to lobby for their support," continued Dr. Turner.
"These efforts helped to gain legislative approval, culminating in July 2010 when the House of
Representatives overwhelmingly approved legisla-
tion to grant university status to the common-
wealth’s state colleges by a margin of 124-21, and
the Senate 34-2.109
"David Flynn, the vice chair of the committee on higher education, and Peter Koutoujian, chair of the joint committee on financial services and the legislator who had filed the bill, were instrumental in convincing their House
colleagues to support it," concluded Dr. Turner.
The day of the signing, July 28, 2010, a half dozen busloads of students, faculty, staff and alumni traveled to Boston to witness the signing of the historic bill.
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This concludes the report for August 17, 2026
Next edition: Monday, August 17, 2026