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Boston Globe
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
A firefighter and a makeup artist, former college sweethearts, took the long way home
'They call them lovebugs because they always go around in pairs — they're connected,' explains Gabriella Corricelli. The brief lifecycle of the amorous, black-winged bugs means successful reproduction is paramount; they remain conjoined for the entirety of their sometimes multi-day mating process. Despite their cute name and existential intentions: 'I didn't like looking at them,' Gabriella, who goes by Gabby, says, 'but they were everywhere .' The invasion of the multi-headed march flies couldn't keep romance from resurfacing that weekend, though, when Gabby met her former college sweetheart Brian Alessandro for a long-due 'catchup.' Gabby repurposed her late grandmother's wedding band to make her own — after it had been redesigned, the couple realized the new band featured '11 stones for the 11th day,' as they were to wed on April 11th. 'I felt like that was a truly sign she was with us,' says Gabby. Caroline Giuliano Photography The pair had first met as seniors at Pope John XXIII High School, a now-closed Catholic private school in Everett, where they graduated in 2008. Brian was 'the new kid,' having transferred from a different school in East Boston, and both have only fleeting but friendly memories of each other. But, in college (Gabby, at Salem State; Brian at Bridgewater State), they reconnected through social media. Their first date was for steak tips at the Advertisement They dated for four years before parting ways — it was amicable, but each had grown restless at the cusp of adulthood and independence. Gabby took a job and moved to Virginia, Brian enlisted in the US Army. He was stationed in South Korea before Savannah — where, four weeks before his active duty was up, Gabby decided to visit. Advertisement Brian was completely surprised by Gabby's choice of wedding gown during their first look before the ceremony. "For some reason, I thought she was going to be wearing long sleeves and a lace dress," he says, "But when I saw her come out, I was just lost for words. I was in awe. And we're taking pictures and I'm still just looking at the dress like, 'This is incredible.'" Caroline Giuliano Photography '' We're just friends, '' Gabby remembers telling herself. ''Let me go hang out with my friend — all the way in Savannah — because I like to check up on him and make sure we're good.'' The pair had seen each other only once (at Gabby's grandfather's funeral) since April spent the weekend catching up while exploring willow tree-lined streets, buzzing with what they remember to be 'nice, happy nerves.' 'It was nice to see someone that I really knew,' says Brian, 'and that really knew me.' They held hands. On a trolley tour, Brian wrapped an arm around Gabby's shoulders. And before the weekend's end, a second-chance at romance emerged. The night before the wedding, rain lashed Gloucester and the couple worried their outdoor ceremony would need to relocate. The downpour stopped in time for the wedding. Caroline Giuliano Photography 'There was definitely excitement behind our conversations, like, 'This might be happening again,'' remembers Gabby. Brian returned home that June, and by fall, the relationship was back on. At this point, they lived with their respective parents — Brian with his mother in South Boston, Gabby at her parents' in Malden — as they both began new careers and saved money toward their first home. Brian became a Boston Firefighter, joining Tower Ladder 10 in Jamaica Plain in September 2020. Gabby, who had worked in hospitality, pursued a passion and founded She specializes in weddings. 'It doesn't feel like work,' Gabby says, 'because you're with girls and it's the best day of their life.' As the couple settled into the East Boston home that they purchased that January, brides-to-be began to occupy Gabby'sschedule. Soon, the language and details of wedding planning infiltrated the couple's lives. Advertisement Coincidentally, one particular wedding was already on Brian's mind. The pair sneaked away during cocktail hour for glasses of champagne and a quick couple's photoshoot on the beach with their photographer Caroline Giuliano. Caroline Giuliano Photography On Sept. 9, 2023, Brian and Gabby went out for dinner on a rainy Saturday evening. 'She said I was breathing heavy,' remembers Brian with a laugh. 'But I just remember having this huge ring box in my pocket and trying to drive with one arm to cover it up.' He had been coordinating with a photographer and their families, planning to lead Gabby to Eastie's Lewis Pier to pop the question with a celebratory dinner to follow. But he hadn't expected the rain or scheduling mishaps. The turmoil rattled the firefighter's nerves, and he accidentally took a knee about 100 feet away from where he had agreed to meet their photographer. Related : 'I just blacked out,' he says. 'She was shocked. I didn't know what to say... I didn't say one word I wrote down or rehearsed saying in my head.' (For the record, she was overcome, too: 'What did I say, Gabby?' he asks her. 'I couldn't tell you,' she says.) Both, however, remember Gabby's reply: 'Yes, yes, yes!' En route to their (first) first date in 2011, Gabby remembers listening to a favorite reggaeton mixed CD made by her cousin, who had been DJing. DJ Dres, that same cousin, would be the one to get guests onto the dance floor at her wedding nearly 15 years later. Caroline Giuliano Photography Their families, who had been filming the scene from inside Gabby and Brian married on April 11 with a black tie wedding at the They were wed by Advertisement The couple's heart-shaped tiramisu wedding cake featured a raspberry topping and was made by Caffe Sicilia bakery in Gloucester. Caroline Giuliano Photography Brian had suggested dance lessons for their first dance to Andrea Bocelli's 'Somos Novios,' which was accompanied by the violinist. The reception included a Carts with sausage and peppers rolls and fried dough circulated before guests relocated to the afterparty, which occupied the hotel lobby. Brian swapped his The pair retired to their room around 3:30 a.m. While exhausted, they broke into leftover snacks to decompress and gossip. Just the two of them — and a favorite moment of the the best day of their lives. 'We stayed up for an hour just talking about the wedding,' says Brian. 'Like, ' Hey, did you see this? I can't believe that! ' It was just a really fun way to end the night." Read more from , The Boston Globe's new weddings column. Rachel Kim Raczka is a writer and editor in Boston. She can be reached at
Boston Globe
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Salem State has become a hub of Latino higher ed in Mass. Now that's under threat.
The designation opens universities to receive federal funding that aims to help students of color achieve the same outcomes as their whiter and more well-to-do peers. That money can prove essential for the survival of minority-serving institutions themselves, many of which are public schools already grappling with underfunded budgets. MSIs typically rely on federal funding to support as much as a quarter of their total revenue, said Jessica Colorado, a policy analyst at the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, and per-student federal funding for Hispanic-serving institutions is Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Since 2020, Now that money is under threat. Even as Salem State is looking to finalize its HSI designation, the Trump administration is eliminating benefits for minority-serving institutions through Peter Wood, who heads the right-leaning National Association of Scholars, said that while historically Black institutions and the tribal colleges 'long predate the rise of DEI' and should have their funding maintained, Hispanic-serving institutions fall into a newer category. Advertisement 'You just have to be an institution that gets really aggressive on its admission of contemporary Hispanic students, so it's much more DEI-like than historically rooted,' Wood said. More broadly, White House threats to federal funding also jeopardize longstanding academic programs and financial aid Salem State already offers its roughly 6,000 students. To university president John Keenan, the federal funding freeze announced, 'It felt like full crisis mode all over again,' Keenan said. Yet Salem State has no plans to change course. Its The university also kept on Elisa Castillo as the assistant vice president for HSI-MSI initiatives, a position that Salem State says is the first of its kind in the state. An immigrant herself, Castillo spends her days brainstorming classroom supports for Latino students and coordinating events, from an appearance by John Quiñone from 'What Would You Do?' in 2023 to a hip-hop symposium this month. Much of her focus lies in creating 'high-impact opportunities,' such as paid internships and study-abroad trips to China or Puerto Rico — Castillo's homeland — for students who feel that sort of thing may be out of reach. If MSI funding goes away, it will likely be her job to find philanthropic funding and state grants instead. Advertisement 'We're in it to do the work, regardless of whether the presidential administration or the federal grants shift,' Castillo said. 'We are here to serve our community and students.' Those students reflect the demographic shifts of the nation as a whole, and the North Shore in particular. Salem State draws many of its students from expanding Latino enclaves north of Boston, including Chelsea, Lynn, and Lawrence. Today, 25 percent of Salem State students identify as Hispanic or Latino, many of them Puerto Rican or Dominican; 8 percent are Black. Salem State University in Salem. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff Keenan, the president, calls his students 'gritty' as a compliment. Roughly half the students at Salem State are the first in their families to attend college, and many hold down jobs in addition to their course load. What's more, he notes, most stick around after graduating; 80 percent of Salem State grads stay in Massachusetts, becoming the teachers, social workers, and nurses the state needs desperately. By one measure, nearly 80 percent of all new workers joining the American labor force over the next five years will be Latino, cementing themselves as a core driver of the economy, said Antonio Flores, president of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities. 'If these institutions are not designed to prepare a diverse workforce that is much more savvy about technology, math, and science-based fields, the entire country will suffer,' he added. 'Regions like Massachusetts will be in pain without their labor.' Massachusetts has eight other HSIs — community colleges and smaller private schools — and they already have a big impact. Half of the students at those HSIs are awarded Pell Grants, a rate twice as high as non-HSIs, and the institutions award more than half of associate's degrees earned by Latinos statewide, according to Advertisement HSIs also demographics, by providing targeted tutoring and multilingual support, for example, said Marybeth Gasman, associate dean for Research at Rutgers Graduate School of Education. Critics point to research showing that funding for HSIs is often simply funneled into universities' general budgets, rather than to programs targeted at underserved students. A directed all of the money to student-specific initiatives — two of which were actually 'Latino centered.' 'When you see those numbers, it can be discouraging,' said Rebecca Perdomo, an author of the study and a higher education consultant. 'It's not going to targeted supports as often as you would it to be.' But that may partly be because the schools that qualify for HSI are broadly underfunded, Perdomo added. A report last spring by the US Government Accountability Office found 'People get their expectations high about HSI funding. Then when you have to distribute, something goes to academic affairs over here, something goes to the library over there. That money runs out before you know it,' said Lorna Rivera, Director for the Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy at UMass Boston. 'They use it to plug up holes where there have been gaps already.' Advertisement Even without any HSI funds to date, Salem State has made do. It hosted a two-day conference for Hispanic and Minority Serving Institutions in July, which Elisa Castillo, assistant vice president for HSI-MSI initiatives at Salem State University. Salem State is set to become the first four-year public school in Massachusetts to earn the federal designation 'Hispanic Serving Institution,' which would make the school eligible for federal funding that is now uncertain. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff For Morelia Morel Diaz, a 21-year-old biology major and president of the Latin American Student Organization, those small steps count for a lot. Her family moved from the Dominican Republic to Mississippi a decade ago, and she chose to go to college 1,500 miles away at attend Salem State because of its promises of small classes and diversity. The burgeoning HSI program is only adding to her feeling that she made the right choice. 'Hispanic students can be discouraged by the lack of representation we see in our fields, but to see so many of us here together doing it and killing it, achieving those goals, and breaking those barriers, is amazing,' she said. 'A lot of the time, that potential has not been properly supported.' Hilary Burns of the Globe staff contributed to this report. This story was produced by the Globe's team, which covers the racial wealth gap in Greater Boston. You can sign up for the newsletter . Diti Kohli can be reached at
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Massachusetts university promotes DEI and illegal immigration despite Trump admin executive orders
A public university in Salem, Massachusetts, has signaled support for various controversial topics challenged in Trump administration executive orders in recent weeks, including illegal immigrant student protection and gender identity, according to multiple emails shared with students in the days following President Donald Trump's inauguration. fSalem State University (SSU) Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion Christopher Macdonald-Dennis emailed the student body two days after Trump took office about "Moving Forward Together" given the changes in Washington, D.C., according to an exclusive report in Campus Reform. "While the unknown can be quite unsettling, please know that we remain there for each of our community members regardless of their identity," the official wrote. "Whatever is happening outside of our campus, we remain committed to the principles of inclusion and belonging here at Salem State." Democrats Try To Enter Department Of Education Amid Outrage Over Possible Doge Cuts Macdonald-Dennis also said that Salem State would "partner with our state university sister schools" and monitor how the Trump administration's new executive orders would impact the university. In another email obtained by Campus Reform, SSU General Counsel Rita Colucci discussed school policies relating to law enforcement and immigration law in a Jan. 29 email to students. Read On The Fox News App "Salem State University (SSU) is committed to ensuring a safe and welcoming environment for our students, faculty and staff," she wrote. "We understand the latest news and social media chatter on the Executive Order signed by President Trump have raised questions about how SSU protects our community. This is especially true regarding privacy and interactions with external authorities such as law enforcement or immigration facilities." Trump Education Dept Launches Probe Into 'Explosion Of Antisemitism' At 5 Universities Colucci's message instructed students on what they should do if they are approached by "unfamiliar law enforcement personnel on campus," explaining they should decline any questions they might ask. She then reminded them that "University police do not have the authority to enforce civil immigration law," adding that they won't stop or detain individuals for the purpose of enforcing civil immigration matters like documentation status, ask about a person's immigration status unless it is related to a criminal offense, arrest or detain an individual and hold or transfer people to federal immigration agents without a warrant for arrest. The message also directed students to "helpful" immigration resources like the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, the National Immigration Law Center, United We Dream and Greater Boston Legal Services. When reached for comment, Salem State University spokesperson Corey Cronin said the university remains committed to its mission and core values as they strive to serve all students. "We will follow Federal and Massachusetts laws as they apply to our campus," Cronin said. "We are collaborating with our sister state universities and are awaiting further guidance from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts." Additional resources provided to SSU students and obtained by Campus Reform include official "Know Your Rights" guidelines for interacting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as well as other "Immigration Resources" and "Gender, Sexuality and Reproductive Health Resources." Department Of Education Doled Out Over $200M To Universities To Inject Dei Into Counseling Courses Report A "LGBTQIAP+ Awareness & Authentic Allyship" PowerPoint obtained by Campus Reform defines lesbian, gay, bisexual/biromatic, transgender, queer and questioning sexual orientations, as well as other terms like "allosexism," "androgyne," "biphobia," "cisnormativity" and "heteronormitivity." The slideshow provides various examples and renditions of LGBT flags, including the "neutrois," "polyamorous," "pony," "twink," "two-spirit" and "ally" flags. Various challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ community, according to the slideshow, are also discussed, including discrimination & violence and heteronormativity in which "Oversaturation of heteronormative perspectives in the media, education, medical field, and policies" pose difficulty. "Transphobia, homophobia, and biphobia can be more pronounced in certain regions and against specific subgroups within the LGBTQ+ community," the slideshow reads. "Many intentionally move away from using terms like 'transphobic,' 'homophobic,' and 'biphobic' because they inaccurately describe systems of oppression as irrational fears." During his first hours in office, Trump issued a slew of executive orders that targeted federal diversity and transgender initiatives, including clarification that it is government policy to recognize just two sexes, male and article source: Massachusetts university promotes DEI and illegal immigration despite Trump admin executive orders
Fox News
11-02-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Massachusetts university promotes DEI and illegal immigration despite Trump admin executive orders
A public university in Salem, Massachusetts, has signaled support for various controversial topics challenged in Trump administration executive orders in recent weeks, including illegal immigrant student protection and gender identity, according to multiple emails shared with students in the days following President Donald Trump's inauguration. fSalem State University (SSU) Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion Christopher Macdonald-Dennis emailed the student body two days after Trump took office about "Moving Forward Together" given the changes in Washington, D.C., according to an exclusive report in Campus Reform. "While the unknown can be quite unsettling, please know that we remain there for each of our community members regardless of their identity," the official wrote. "Whatever is happening outside of our campus, we remain committed to the principles of inclusion and belonging here at Salem State." Macdonald-Dennis also said that Salem State would "partner with our state university sister schools" and monitor how the Trump administration's new executive orders would impact the university. In another email obtained by Campus Reform, SSU General Counsel Rita Colucci discussed school policies relating to law enforcement and immigration law in a Jan. 29 email to students. "Salem State University (SSU) is committed to ensuring a safe and welcoming environment for our students, faculty and staff," she wrote. "We understand the latest news and social media chatter on the Executive Order signed by President Trump have raised questions about how SSU protects our community. This is especially true regarding privacy and interactions with external authorities such as law enforcement or immigration facilities." Colucci's message instructed students on what they should do if they are approached by "unfamiliar law enforcement personnel on campus," explaining they should decline any questions they might ask. She then reminded them that "University police do not have the authority to enforce civil immigration law," adding that they won't stop or detain individuals for the purpose of enforcing civil immigration matters like documentation status, ask about a person's immigration status unless it is related to a criminal offense, arrest or detain an individual and hold or transfer people to federal immigration agents without a warrant for arrest. The message also directed students to "helpful" immigration resources like the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, the National Immigration Law Center, United We Dream and Greater Boston Legal Services. When reached for comment, Salem State University spokesperson Corey Cronin said the university remains committed to its mission and core values as they strive to serve all students. "We will follow Federal and Massachusetts laws as they apply to our campus," Cronin said. "We are collaborating with our sister state universities and are awaiting further guidance from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts." Additional resources provided to SSU students and obtained by Campus Reform include official "Know Your Rights" guidelines for interacting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as well as other "Immigration Resources" and "Gender, Sexuality and Reproductive Health Resources." A "LGBTQIAP+ Awareness & Authentic Allyship" PowerPoint obtained by Campus Reform defines lesbian, gay, bisexual/biromatic, transgender, queer and questioning sexual orientations, as well as other terms like "allosexism," "androgyne," "biphobia," "cisnormativity" and "heteronormitivity." The slideshow provides various examples and renditions of LGBT flags, including the "neutrois," "polyamorous," "pony," "twink," "two-spirit" and "ally" flags. Various challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ community, according to the slideshow, are also discussed, including discrimination & violence and heteronormativity in which "Oversaturation of heteronormative perspectives in the media, education, medical field, and policies" pose difficulty. "Transphobia, homophobia, and biphobia can be more pronounced in certain regions and against specific subgroups within the LGBTQ+ community," the slideshow reads. "Many intentionally move away from using terms like 'transphobic,' 'homophobic,' and 'biphobic' because they inaccurately describe systems of oppression as irrational fears." During his first hours in office, Trump issued a slew of executive orders that targeted federal diversity and transgender initiatives, including clarification that it is government policy to recognize just two sexes, male and female.
