Features

When a long forgotten portrait of the longtime Worcester educator and community leader was discovered at Belmont Community School, Worcester’s education and arts community came together to restore the artwork and honor her life’s work. By Rebecca Cross Photos by Matt Wright ’10 A few years ago, Assistant Principal Tiana Phillips ’06 was rooting around […]

As students begin to travel again for study abroad, they are appreciating the life-changing experiences it can offer. By Rebecca Cross Seven weeks into Gabby DeAngelis’s spring 2020 semester abroad in the Czech Republic, the COVID-19 pandemic reached Eastern Europe. Within just a few days, a curfew was in place, restaurants shuttered, shops shut down. […]

A Cape Verdean-American first-generation college graduate, Dianne Langford James inspires present and future generations to break cycles that hold them back from achieving their dreams. By Deborah Alvarez O’Neil Photos by Matt Wright ’10 Dianne Langford James ’03 stepped onto the stage at Worcester State University before an audience of more than 100 high school […]

Judith Hoyer ’65 shares her love of poetry with a new generation. When Judith Hoyer was a student at Worcester State in the 1960s, poets like Robert Frost, Randall Jarrell, and Archibald Macleish were household names. Hoyer, who had loved poetry her entire life, attended every reading she could and saw all three poets when […]

Poliana Alarcón Bustos’ journey of language, literature, and connection When Poliana Alarcón Bustos, MA ’18 attended her first day of English-language class at Worcester State in 2015, she realized she was surrounded by students who didn’t speak a common language. At first, they found ways to communicate without using spoken language. As the semester went […]

To be competitive in the life sciences workforce, college students need to be trained on the latest scientific equipment and processes. Worcester State University received a $658,000 grant last summer that has allowed the Biology and Chemistry Departments to purchase state-of-the art equipment to increase student lab skills and cross-disciplinary collaboration. The grant from the […]

From his first Big Idea to the tech startup that landed him on Forbes 30 Under 30, Derek Canton ’15 is seeing years of hard work pay off. Best. Year. Ever. What else to call 2022 for tech entrepreneur and CEO Derek Canton ’15? In March, his startup company Paerpay hit an exciting tipping point […]

Rocco’s Doughnut Company, founded by Joe Astrella ’91, has an apt company motto: “Just a family bringing people together, one doughnut at a time.” The variety of doughnut flavors and the company’s social media following have grown quickly with the help of Rocco’s children, who have all been key to his success: his son, Vincenzo Astrella […]

During her visit to Worcester State last spring, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Cindy Marten described the successful Early College Worcester program as a beacon for the rest of the nation. Now, that beacon is about to get brighter. A new $1 million grant to Worcester State University will allow the early college programming to […]

Researchers find educators struggle with academic discipline decisions. Every day in schools across the United States, principals and vice principals issue out-of-school suspensions to middle and high school students for a variety of offenses, some as serious as having a weapon at school, and others as minor as not following directions. Students missed out on […]