Bridgewater State University
Bridgewater State University
A Last Look Back: Homecoming 2026
Having attended BSU Homecoming festivities for nearly six decades, this writer can affirm that the 2026 first weekend in October event was as great as they get.
Our highly talented web team produced a superb Homecoming video and we share it below:
A New Sculpture Adorns the BSU Campus
We're grateful to Mr. Brian Benson, G '23, of BSU's Office of Enrollment, Marketing and Communications, for sharing the photo and excerpts of the story of a new sculpture near Shea-Durgin Hall created by Bridgewater State students and unveiled just at the beginning of the fall semester.
"Arriving on campus with an interest in art, Logan Brown, '26, discovered his passion lay not with pencils or paintbrushes but with a welding torch," wrote Mr. Benson.
"Logan uses the tool to transform sheets of metal into sculptures, including a 5-foot-tall piece on the Bridgewater State campus that features a giant heart followed by the letters BSU.
"It's definitely cool. I feel pretty proud," he said to Mr. Benson.
The student sculptor, who earned a degree in art, added "When I have kids, I'm going to drive past it and say, 'See that? My buddies and I fabricated that whole thing.' "
Mr. Brown and fellow students Elijah Donahue, '27, and Lukas Sonntag, '28, worked under the mentorship of Professor Rob Lorenson, professor of art, over the course of several months.
Mr. Brown credited Professor Lorenson: "He taught us everything."
The new sculpture was commissioned by BSU's Spirit Committee to help promote campus pride.
A Message from President Clark on
BSU's Spirit Committee
President Clark shared the following message with the university community last week:
While BSU spirit was on full display during the first weekend in October for our annual Homecoming festivities, we focus all year long on strengthening the pride we share for our great university.
BSU's Spirit Committee, which includes more than a dozen people representing departments across the university, leads that charge. Its members organize numerous initiatives designed to foster school spirit and honor our rich history and traditions.
Recent projects include:
· Revamped crosswalks featuring Bear Xing signs and special paint
· Love BSU sculpture near Shea Durgin
· Social media initiative called Capture BSU, which highlights Instagram-worthy locations across campus
· Giant flagpole and BSU flag near East Campus Commons
Campus spirit is not only found on flagpoles and crosswalks; it is a unifying feeling of pride and connection.
It is a force that gives BSU a sense of place, making it so much more than a school and workplace.
I remember when students rarely wore BSU attire. As I walk across campus today, I see students proudly wearing Bridgewater sweatshirts and making the bear claw hand gesture in group photos.
We know that students who develop strong connections to BSU become engaged alumni willing to support their alma mater and our students for years to come.
My thanks to the Spirit Committee for its tireless contributions to the vibrancy of our campus. Go Bears!
Town of Bridgewater Among
"Nine Most Beautiful College Towns in Massachusetts"
We're grateful to Dr. William Smith, dean of the Graduate School emeritus, for sharing this story with us from World Atlas:
In the heart of Plymouth County, Bridgewater is a classic suburban college town built around Bridgewater State University, founded in 1840 as a teacher-training "normal school" and now the largest of the state universities outside the UMass system.
The historic campus and its Central Square core give the town a tidy, walkable center that still feels like a small New England community despite the nearly 10,000 students.
Nature is close and quirky here. Lake Nippenicket, locally just "The Nip," feeds into the same Hockomock Swamp that gives southeastern Massachusetts its Bridgewater Triangle reputation, so a calm afternoon of kayaking comes with a side of legend.
Back in town, "Black Hat Brew Works" keeps students and locals mingling over craft beer, and the 17th-century Sachem Rock Farm anchors the town's colonial roots.
Best Wishes on a BSU Retirement
We're pleased to share below excerpts of a story recently authored by Mr. Brian Benson, G '23:
Ms. Geraldine McGlone, seen above with President Clark, sought stability when she accepted a position in student accounts at Bridgewater State.
She had worked for a bank that was sold and didn’t want to stay in an industry prone to mergers.
More than two decades later, it’s safe to say Ms. McGlone found a lasting professional home and so much more.
“When I first came, it was the atmosphere, the students, learning something new and a different form of the things I had always done,” said Ms. McGlone, who retired in July from her accounting career.
“Over 22 years, it is the Office of Student Accounts that has kept me here.”
Ms. McGlone worked in a fast-paced job on the front lines directly serving students. She was also a liaison for companies who paid for their employees’ tuition.
She appreciated being acknowledged by graduating students who recognized how support comes from all corners of the university.
Seeing students grow from unsure new Bears to confident seniors was incredibly rewarding, she said.
“I’ve been touched really personally in small ways,” she said. “I remember the students when it's their first day and they came in with their mother, and I remember when they graduate and watching them change.”
29 years ago last month, a number of BSU people had boarded the train in Bridgewater that morning in 1997, including then-vice president for administration Dr. Dana Mohler-Faria, left, (later our eleventh president), and Mr. Mike Gomes, then vice president of finance, right.
President Adrian Tinsley, holding a banner produced in honor of the historic occasion, had arrived at South Station from north of Boston, where she was attending a conference.
Next year will mark the 30th anniversary of the restoration of commuter rail in this region.
"Not to be Ministered unto but to Minister"
Dr. Thomas Turner, professor emeritus of history at Bridgewater State University
Dr. Turner, author of the 2010 history of Bridgewater, shared the details of how the commuter rail line came back to this region of the state:
An important area of historical focus in the late 1970s was the plan to return railroad service to Bridgewater.
The Old Colony Line had made its last run in 1958, but a station on campus would allow students and faculty members to commute to campus by rail as they had been doing since the
1840s.
In agreeing to reinstate the line, the MBTA also agreed to build an underpass connecting East and West Campus and replacing the existing footbridge, built in 1979.
Students often ignored the bridge and cut holes in the fence to cross the tracks at ground level [in 1987, a full decade before trains began again, the MBTA each fall operated a passenger train from Cape Cod to Boston, and a BSU student, who was deaf and unable to hear the train's whistle, lost his life when he was struck by the train].
The trains began running again on September 26, 1997.
Then-Vice President Mohler-Faria and Associate Vice President Miguel Gomes, had taken the first train in Bridgewater, while Dr. Tinsley waited at South Station in Boston [as explained above].
Reflecting back on that day, President Emerita Tinsley said that Dr. Mohler-Faria drove a hard bargain with the Massa-
chusetts Bay Transit Authority.
He, in turn, recalled that while the college wanted the station on campus, he was determined to have the MBTA provide a number of mitigation measures.
These included a new access road to the train station and
a parking lot [originally, in the beginning, the MBTA had plans to construct its Bridgewater station where the old MBTA station was, now the home of the Burger King restaurant in Bridgewater].
While this obviously benefitted train patrons, it also provided additional access via East Campus and West Campus for Bridgewater students, faculty and staff.
After some intense persuasion from Dr. Mohler-Faria, the MBTA agreed to construct a tunnel between West Campus and East Campus [now the Turchon Tunnel, named for a BSU alumna and member of the Board of Trustees].
As noted above, in 1979, BSU had constructed a bridge crossing the railroad tracks but it was very rarely used because of its height and the fact that wet weather made ascending and descending difficult.
This new tunnel provided additional access to West Campus,
where Shea-Durgin Hall had opened in1965, plus the more recently built Moakley Center, Burnell Hall, Miles Hall, DiNardo Hall and East Campus Commons, for Bridgewater students, faculty and staff.
The MBTA also built a new parking lot for Bridgewater students across Route 104 on land owned by the transporta-
tion authority.
Additionally, and very significantly for future electronic expansion, the MBTA laid a fiber optic cable from Bridgewater all the way to the Prudential Center in Boston.
Retired Faculty Club Upcoming Luncheons
November 4, 2026 Dr. Michael Kryzanek, Emeritus, Political Science – Results of the 2026 midterm elections
Luncheon at noon – Heritage Room, Maxwell Library
February 3, 2027 Dr. John Kucich, English, Presentation on Native Americans in Littleton, MA during Thoreau’s time.
Luncheon at noon - Heritage Room, Maxwell Library
March 3, 2027 Ms. Jennifer Turner, Executive Director of the Robbins House, an African American Museum in Concord, MA who has taught at BSU as a VL, History Dept., and the Senior College
Luncheon at noon - Heritage Room, Maxwell Library
April 7, 2027 Dr. Orson Kingsley, Director, Archives – Tour of the BSU Archives
Luncheon at noon – Heritage Room, Maxwell Library (Tour of Archives to follow)
May 5, 2027 Retired Faculty Club Business Meeting
Luncheon at noon – Heritage Room, Maxwell Library (Business meeting to follow)
Club dues annual membership fee is $25.00
Luncheon cost is $15.00 per person
This concludes the report for Monday, October 12, 2026
Next edition: Monday, October 17, 2026