Community

NBC Boston highlights the work of the Officer Sean A. Collier Memorial Fund, an organization set up in his memory by Officer Collier’s family that raises “funds to help young athletes and the families of fallen officers,” reports Monica Madeja. “I think he’d be thrilled,” says retired MIT Police Sgt. Rich Sullivan, who was Collier’s boss at the department and helps run the fund. “[Sean] was big into donating and giving back to people, and I think he’d be beside himself to see what we’ve done for him.”

Forbes contributor Michael T. Nietzel writes about the STARS College Network, “a new effort to help students from small-town communities and rural America enroll in and graduate from college” that MIT is participating in.

Inside Higher Ed reporter Susan Greenberg highlights how MIT is participating in the Small Town and Rural Students (STARS) College Network, which “aims to build new pathways to college for students who might not otherwise recognize all their options.”

Milford High School student Elsie Sutherland created “Community Connector,” as her final project for MIT’s Leadership Training Institute, reports Lisa Hughes for CBS. The website “connects people who want to volunteer with organizations that need help,” explains Hughes. “Each listing includes a description of the non-profit, its event, the nature of the service project and a sign-up.”

Popular Science spotlights a sampling of the winning pictures from this year’s MIT Koch Institute Image Awards, an annual competition showcasing some of the images produced as part of life science and biomedical research at MIT. “Today, high-magnification images can help design new medical tools, enrich our understanding of diseases, and explain how embryos develop. And, as shown by the 2023 winners from the MIT Koch Institute Image Awards, they can be works of art, too.”

WCVB spotlights postdoctoral associate Matt McDonald and his efforts to prepare for the 2023 Boston Marathon. McDonald, who finished fourth in the American pack at last year’s marathon and first among New Englanders, says “the crowds are unbelievable. And knowing that you’ve done it at that point, makes it just incredibly emotional.”  

Graduate students at MIT rescued a dog that was abandoned from a stolen vehicle, reports Kate Armanini The Boston Globe. “The students used the dog’s tags to contact the owner, who was ‘appreciative and emotional’ to be reunited with the dog,” writes Armanini.

Graduate students at MIT rescued a dog that was abandoned from a stolen vehicle, reports Kate Armanini The Boston Globe. “The students used the dog’s tags to contact the owner, who was ‘appreciative and emotional’ to be reunited with the dog,” writes Armanini.

NECN spotlights how a group of MIT Sloan students jumped into action to aid a dog who was dumped out of a car. The dog, Millie, “was reunited with her grateful owner, who came to MIT to meet police and the students.”

MIT graduate students rescued and reunited a stolen dog with its owner after it was abandoned following a carjacking, reports Timothy Nazzaro for Boston 25. “After recovering the dog, the MIT students contacted the dog’s owner using the information on the pooch’s collar tags,” writes Nazzaro. “The owner was reunited with ‘Millie,’ the pup, at MIT and was very grateful to the students who stepped in to save her." 

After almost 50 years, the MIT Juggling Club, which was founded in 1975 and then merged with a unicycle club, is the oldest drop-in juggling club in continuous operation and still welcomes any aspiring jugglers to come toss a ball into the air, reports Stacy Kess for Cambridge Day. Through the years the club has “attracted a cross-section of humanity: young, old, students, professors, people who changed the course of the world, artists, writers, performers and the juggling-curious,” writes Kess. 

MIT OpenSpace is hosting their annual Winter Family Day on February 25, 2023, reports Hanna Ali for WBUR. “The event promises hands-on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) programming for all ages, as well as live, local music, games and food trucks,” writes Ali.

Sally Kornbluth, the 18^th president of MIT, speaks with Boston Magazine reporter Jonathan Soroff about why she is excited to lead MIT, Smoots, Boston weather and sports, and how to encourage more girls and women to pursue STEM careers.

President L. Rafael Reif, who will return to the faculty following a Sabbatical, reflects on his tenure and how his upbringing shaped his outlook on education. “For many, MIT’s reputation is one that is defined by innovative research – a technology hub built on drive and hustle,” writes Nour Saudi. “But when Rafael Reif first visited the school in the spring of 1979, he found a campus full of down-to-earth people who wanted to make the world better, something he could get behind.”   

Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah emphasizes the importance of representation in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” which featured Riri Williams (Ironheart) as a Black female engineer at MIT. Attiah notes that she is “grateful that ‘Black Panther 2’ exists to show us what #BlackGirlGenius looks like.”