Governor Healey delivers commencement speech at Mount Holyoke College graduation
SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (WWLP) – Sunday marked the 188th Commencement for the Class of 2025 at Mount Holyoke College.
Over 500 students received their Bachelor's and Master's Degrees from Mount Holyoke College, making May 25 the 188th Commencement ceremony for the oldest historic Seven Sisters college. The graduates were proud to become alumni and enter the working world.
Wilbraham honors fallen soldiers at Memorial Day ceremony
'I remember being like a freshman who was super scared, no idea, new country,' said Peehu Chhabra, who received a Bachelor of Arts. 'I had no idea what I am going to do, what's a target, no idea of anything. But now I feel prepared.'
While some graduates are pursuing their careers right after graduation, others plan to further their education. International students said that Mount Holyoke became a safe and welcoming space for them to call home.
'It's such a community-oriented college,' Chhabra said. 'The faculty is brilliant, and they really care for their students, and so does the administration. They're for the students entirely, and I knew that because I had some seniors who came to Mount Holyoke, and they cheered it on.'
Now, family and friends were cheering for them on campus. MHC President Danielle Holley led the ceremony, and honorary degrees were given to two alumni, as well as Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey. The moment was extra special for the graduates because Governor Healey was one of many speakers addressing them.
In 2022, Governor Healey became the first woman and first openly LGBTQ+ person elected to lead the Commonwealth. Mount Holyoke is the first of the Seven Sisters to have inclusive admissions. The university admits cisgender and transgender women, as well as transgender men and those who identify as non-binary and gender non-conforming.
The graduates were excited to hear Governor Healey's words of encouragement before turning their tassels to the left side.
'For us as graduates is very nerve-wracking,' said Hanuel Skycho, who received a Bachelor's of Neuroscience and Computer Science. 'First of all, to go out there into the world, even though we are very prepared through Mount Holyoke, and just hearing someone who has been out in the world and about her experience will really help us.'
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
The piece of the Mass. budget that passes all understanding
If there's one thing that's true about politics, it's that voters rarely care about how legislation gets done as long as it gets done in a relatively timely fashion, doesn't cost the Earth and manages to make their little corner of creation a tiny bit better. That's particularly true during budget season on Beacon Hill, which has now officially entered that precarious stage where, if things are going to go wrong, they are going to go wrong in the most gloriously spectacular way possible. Here's why: The competing $61 billion-ish budget plans approved by the majority-Democrat state House and state Senate, respectively, along with the $62 billion iteration offered by Democratic Gov. Maura Healey, all increase state spending from the year before. The $61.5 billion budget the Senate approved last week, for instance, comes in $70.3 million less than the budget approved by the House, and $568.1 million less than the spending plan that Healey sent to lawmakers earlier this year. Senate lawmakers nonetheless ladled on $81.1 million in new spending before they took their vote, according to an analysis by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. Senate lawmakers also set up difficult policy fights with the House on liquor license and vocational school reform and health care matters, Axios Boston noted. Thus, there is a high likelihood that things could go screaming off the rails. Then there's this. The Senate plunged forward with its version of the fiscal blueprint for the new fiscal year that starts July 1 by assuming that the $16 billion in federal funding that provides the undercarriage for their budget plan is still going to be there for them. Ditto for the House and Healey. That's despite some deeply ominous sabre-rattling from Washington. Though Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairperson Michael Rodriques, D-1st Bristol/Plymouth, has warned 'all bets are off' if Congress moves ahead, as expected, with deep cuts to Medicaid. At first glance, this is kind of like splashing out for that lease on the Rolls-Royce, expecting you'll have the cash to cover it, and then hoping for the best if you don't. The pro-business Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance was decidedly not amused by that tactic, also noting that senators added tens of millions of new spending, even as they sounded the alarm about 'uncertainty' from Washington, D.C. And spending will likely grow even more once the House and Senate cut a deal on the final budget sometime later next month or early July, the think-tank observed. 'There's simply no credibility left for lawmakers who talk about fiscal uncertainty while voting for the largest budget in state history,' Paul D. Craney, the group's spokesperson, said in a statement. If lawmakers were 'serious about economic uncertainty, they would have tightened the belt, not let it out,' Craney continued. He's not wrong. Just this week, Healey and Democratic U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey were in Revere sounding the alarm about looming GOP cuts to Medicaid on Capitol Hill. Read More: A 'historic battle': Mass pols protest Medicaid cuts in 'Big Beautiful Bill' | John L. Micek Michael Curry, the president & CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, has warned that MassHealth, as Medicaid is known in the Bay State, bluntly said the program would be 'unsustainable without the federal partnership, the federal funds.' That's about as clear a warning shot as lawmakers are going to get. MassHealth is among the biggest fixed costs in the state budget. And federal cuts will mean higher costs and a strain on the state's health care system, Curry told Commonwealth Beacon last week. Still, the Legislature — as a public institution — has a flexibility that private employers and families balancing their checkbooks don't have, Jerold Duquette, a Central Connecticut State University political science professor who tracks Bay State politics, said. And that's the ability to pass supplemental budgets and access the state's multi-billion dollar Rainy Day Fund — even if top budget writers have said the latter option is currently off the table. So while planning a budget where a large chunk of funding may disappear seems irrational, 'what they are doing is rational,' Duquette said 'The reason we think it's irrational is because they're politicians,' Duquette said. 'Why would you make the assumption that you're going to lose an effort to keep the money? This is not kicking the can. It's the exactly rational thing to do.' Lawmakers have until midnight on June 30 to get a deal on a new budget. They haven't hit that deadline in years, though Rodriques repeatedly has told reporters that he's optimistic that they will this year. It requires the same kind of suspension of disbelief that Duquette's analysis demands. But if Beacon Hill is anything, it's stubbornly rational in its irrationality. So who knows? A 'historic battle': Mass pols protest Medicaid cuts in 'Big Beautiful Bill' | John L. Micek Mass. Rep. Trahan's 'Les Miz' moment on Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' | Bay State Briefing Mass. budget debate points to a subtle but seismic shift on Beacon Hill | John L. Micek Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
More than 300 attend vigil honoring Morrow County sheriff's deputy killed on Memorial Day
Two and a half years ago, a woman said in an online post shared by a pastor, Morrow County Sheriff's Deputy Daniel Weston Sherrer responded to a domestic violence call and saved the lives of four girls in the process. Sherrer again responded to a domestic violence call on Memorial Day, May 26, that would lead to him being fatally shot. More than 300 people — including police officers and deputies from several central Ohio law enforcement agencies— came together on the evening of May 29 at the Morrow County Sheriff's Office for a candlelight memorial to pay their respects and honor the life of Sherrer. Nearly all in attendance sported "thin blue line" shirts, flags and pins, while others wore custom T-shirts remembering Sherrer as a selfless person and law enforcement officer who was willing to put his life on the line for others. Others sported black armbands, a popular symbol to show mourning. Some also purchased blue and white signs saying, "We support Morrow County Law Enforcement." After sermons from two local pastors — one of whom told the story about Sherrer rescuing the four girls— the attendees received candles and lit them in honor of Sherrer. There was a brief moment of silence as blue and red lights from parked police vehicles glared in the background. The vigil also included an honor guard presentation from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, a bagpipe performance, and the singing of the U.S. national anthem. On the evening of Memorial Day, Sherrer responded to a domestic violence call and gunshots fired at a home in the 100 block of County Road 26 (Olive Green Marengo Fulton Road) at the intersection with County Road 15 (West Liberty-Mount Vernon Road), south of Marengo, according to the sheriff's office. On arrival, Sherrer went to the home and encountered Brian Michael Wilson, 53. Wilson threatened Sherrer several times before the two exchanged gunfire, killing Sherrer and injuring Wilson, according to an arrest affidavit. Sherrer was rushed to a local hospital, where he later died. Wilson was also transported to a local hospital in serious condition. He has been charged with aggravated murder in Sherrer's death. Attendees who spoke with The Dispatch at the vigil said their immediate reaction upon news of Sherrer's death was sadness and shock. Matthew Roshan, 31, is a police officer with the Galion Police Department, just north of Mt. Gilead, but started his law enforcement career at the Morrow County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) and said that while he interacted with Sherrer only a handful of times, he doesn't recall ever not seeing a smile on Sherrer's face. "I came to show support for a brother," said Roshan. He also said that even with Sherrer's death, it wouldn't stop him from continuing to do his job as a police officer in Galion. "I was devastated, lost for words," said Lyndsey Wilcox, 38, who has lived in Morrow County since 2006. She noted that Sherrer's death was abnormal in Morrow County. She spearheaded the vigil and said she wanted to show support for the community and law enforcement. "This is what we do for our community," said Wilcox. "(Mt. Gilead) has a small-town feel, and we're all family here." Charles Johnson, a 74-year-old pastor at Friend's Church in Spencerville, Allen County, said he heard about the shooting over the radio and decided to make the nearly two-hour drive to show support for the MCSO. "I'm grieving, hoping, and praying," said Johnson, holding a Bible in his hands. Snyder Funeral Homes in Mount Gilead said that visitation for Sherrer will be held on June 3 from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Northmoor High School, 7819 State Route 19, Galion. Funeral services will take place on June 4 at 11 a.m. at the same high school. Private graveside services will follow at Marion Cemetery. Sherrer was honored with a police escort procession from the Montgomery County Coroner's Office in Dayton to Mount Gilead on May 28, which attracted hundreds of attendees in downtown Mount Gilead. During a press conference the day after the shooting, Morrow County Sheriff John Hinton remembered Sherrer as a "godsend" for his office, the county, and the community. Sherrer is survived by his fiancée, his parents, a sister, and other family members, according to Sherrer's obituary. Dispatch reporter Nathan Hart contributed to this story. Reporter Shahid Meighan can be reached at smeighan@ at ShahidMeighan on X, and at on Bluesky. This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Morrow County hosts vigil for Daniel Sherrer
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Today in Chicago History: Federal officials take control of the Chicago Housing Authority
Here's a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on May 30, according to the Tribune's archives. Is an important event missing from this date? Email us. Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago) High temperature: 93 degrees (1953) Low temperature: 35 degrees (1873) Precipitation: 1.49 inches (2004) Snowfall: None 1923: Nannette Anderson became Chicago's 'first lady speeder sentenced to jail.' She received a $50 fine and a one-day jail sentence. She stayed locked up for an extra five hours because her husband showed up late with the payment. 1924: A week after 14-year-old Bobby Franks was murdered and his body was discovered adjacent to Wolf Lake, investigators were still trying to piece together who might be responsible for the crime. Then, a slip of the tongue pointed all eyes on Nathan Leopold. He admitted to owning a similar pair of the rare, expensive glasses as those discovered near Franks' body — and losing them at the same spot while supposedly birdwatching a few days earlier. Further questioning connected him as owner of the typewriter on which a ransom letter was typed. When Leopold could not produce either item, he became a suspect. His friend Richard Loeb was also questioned by police. Vintage Chicago Tribune: Leopold and Loeb Both men claimed they took a Leopold family car for a joyride that night, but their alibi fell apart when the family's chauffeur said the vehicle was in the garage the day of Franks' murder. The 'perfect murder' Leopold and Loeb thought they had constructed actually left investigators with no other suspects but them. With the retrieval of Leopold's typewriter from a harbor in Jackson Park, the chain of evidence that connected the two young men to the crime was complete. Both confessed to killing Franks. 1937: Striking workers clashed with police on Memorial Day at the Republic Steel plant on the South Side — the only one in the Chicago area that had stayed open during a bitter nationwide showdown between a number of steel companies and the Steel Workers Organizing Committee, which was trying to unionize the plants. Flashback: Chicago's place at the forefront of labor history Ten demonstrators were killed and 60 were injured, as were 60 police officers. Shortly after Memorial Day, the strike folded as workers streamed back to their jobs in Chicago and elsewhere. Ultimately, however, the union won its contract. 1995: In the largest takeover of its kind, federal housing officials took control of the Chicago Housing Authority four days after its chairman, Vince Lane, and the CHA board resigned under a cloud of mismanagement. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo removed CHA from its list of troubled public housing authorities on Aug. 1, 1998, and returned control of the agency to the city of Chicago on May 1, 1999. 2020: A Chicago protest, in response to George Floyd's killing by police in Minneapolis, became violent and looting took place around the city for the next three days. 5 years after killing of George Floyd, protest in Chicago decries Trump directive to empower police Subscribe to the free Vintage Chicago Tribune newsletter, join our Chicagoland history Facebook group, stay current with Today in Chicago History and follow us on Instagram for more from Chicago's past. Have an idea for Vintage Chicago Tribune? Share it with Kori Rumore and Marianne Mather at krumore@ and mmather@
