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Massachusetts Daily Collegian

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A student-run newspaper and responsible press serving the UMass Amherst community since 1890. #thestudentsvoice 🗞️

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Every year, the seniors of the Massachusetts Daily Collegian publish their final columns of their Collegian careers reflecting upon their time at the paper and at the University of Massachusetts. Each senior took a lot of time and put in a lot of effort to write these columns, and for some of them, this was their first written work at their time of the Collegian. Please take a moment to read through these beautiful columns and join the seniors of the Collegian in looking back on their memories and accomplishments. Congratulations to the 2026 senior class! 🫶🎓🥹

Link in story and bio to read the full columns. by @mdcollegian

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3 months ago

Ever wonder where else you can find our content? 👀 Here are all of our platforms! ✨🗞️ by @mdcollegian

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5 months ago

A program record eight Massachusetts hockey affiliated players were taken in the 2026 NHL Draft on Saturday. The Minutemen already ranked No. 6 in the NCAA for alumni currently playing in the NHL, with 16. UMass returned four previously drafted players, including Francesco Dell’Elce and Larry Keenan. Four of the eight drafted in the 2026 draft will join UMass for their freshman year in the 2026-27 season.

Former starting goaltender Michael Hrabal signed his entry-level contract with the Utah Mammoth, opening up a goaltender spot for the Minutemen. UMass hockey announced Tobias Trejbal as one of its two new goaltenders for the 2026-27 season. In the draft, the Calgary Flames traded up to the No. 42 pick in exchange for the No. 51 and No. 68 and took Trejbal as the first goaltender off the board.

There are many similarities between Trejbal and Hrabal. Both are Czech natives who came out of the United States Hockey League and went in the second round of the NHL Draft the summer before their freshman season with the Minutemen. Trejbal was voted USHL Goaltender of the year for the Youngstown Phantoms, registering a .916 save percentage.

Trejbal was not the sole second-round pick in the UMass system. With the No. 52 pick in the draft, the Tampa Bay Lightning selected Oleg Kulebiakin. Kulebiakin will not be joining the Minutemen for the 2026-27 season; instead is expected to join the squad in the following season. The 18-year-old Russian is the second-highest drafted forward in UMass history behind Václav Nestrašil. He played last season in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League for the Halifax Mooseheads, netting 73 points in 64 games.

Link in story and bio for the full article.

🖊️: Myles Donato
📸: Olivia Pang by @mdcollegian

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22 days ago

On May 14, 2026, Nathaniel Mulcahy struggled to wake his mother, Gabriella Maria Piera Beatrice Bergamini Mulcahy. Nevertheless, since it was her 95th birthday, he proceeded to open a chilled bottle of Asti Spumante — a sweet Italian sparkling wine — that he had set aside for the celebration.
With the pop of the cork, Gabriella Mulcahy instantly arose.

“Che bella musica!” (“What beautiful music!”)

To Gabriella Mulcahy’s son, that moment, a week before she passed away from cancer on May 22, captures the joy she brought to life.

“She ate an industrial quantity of Swiss and Austrian chocolates and pastries, and when I brought out the sheet cake that I bought, she said ‘Che schifo,’ (‘Yuck,’) and pushed it aside — it wasn’t to her level,” Nathaniel Mulcahy said, “everything had to be creative and genuine and real.”

Gabriella Bergamini Mulcahy was an adjunct associate professor of botany at the University of Massachusetts for half a century and leaves behind a deep legacy as a petroleum engineer, an embryologist, a geneticist, an author and a poet. She is remembered as an excellent cook, a loving spouse, mother and grandmother by her husband David, her children Amy and Nathaniel, their spouses Stephen and Jessica and grandchildren Daniela, Juliana, Giuseppina and Federico.

Link in story and bio for the full article.

🖊️: Bella Ishanyan
📸: Gabriella Bergamini Mulcahy Photo courtesy of Nathaniel Mulcahy. by @mdcollegian

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2 months ago

In late 2024, the University of Massachusetts Amherst officially jettisoned its plans for a Carbon Zero campus by 2032. Instead, in a presentation to the Faculty Senate and other campus organizations, it was announced that the plan was to transition the methane-burning central heating and power plant to “dual fuel” so that it could also burn “renewable” diesel. The use of renewable fuels, and especially renewable diesel, is well known to be driving deforestation worldwide. Renewable diesel is a fuel that could never be called carbon neutral; at worst, it creates more lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions than burning petroleum diesel.

The outcry from student groups and the Faculty Senate was loud and immediate: “renewable fuels” used in this way are scientifically and environmentally unsound. not recommended in the 2021 Carbon Mitigation Taskforce Portfolios.

The chancellor responded by putting together a Decarbonization Subcommittee of the Chancellor’s Sustainability Advisory Committee (CSAC) to advise him, with Deputy Chancellor Tilman Wolf at its head. Unlike the more diverse and inclusive Carbon Mitigation Taskforce, this Subcommittee includes only two student representatives and three senate-appointed faculty. Lori Goldner, an author of this letter, was among the original Senate appointees on the Decarbonization Subcommittee, which still operates in secrecy: it does not publish minutes, post agendas or follow democratic processes. Attempts to bring forward a motion or call for a vote on a specific recommendation concerning the use of renewable diesel were not permitted, and we were told that voting is not something the subcommittee does.

Link in story and bio for the full article.

🖊️: Lori Goldner, Ana Smith, Darcy DuMont, and Noy Holland
📸: Daniel Estrin by @mdcollegian

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2 months ago

The Help Hampshire Workers Emergency Relief Fund has raised over $470,000 to support the 250 Hampshire College staff and faculty members that were laid off without severance pay following the college’s closure.

On Tuesday, April 14, the College’s Board of Trustees announced that they had “voted to permanently close Hampshire College following the fall 2026 semester” amid financial instability and declining enrollment. The following week, a group of Hampshire faculty and staff established the emergency relief fund to provide need-based financial assistance to their colleagues, many of whom were given June 16 termination dates.

“The effort came together very quickly because we had to, because the need was there,” Lorenzo Conte, the fund’s staff organizer and Hampshire College art gallery director, said. “With folks losing their jobs so quickly and no safety net offered by the college, our goal has been to raise funds expeditiously and then to work with one another to equitably distribute those funds based on need.”

Within the first week of launching, the fund raised $60,000 to support the immediate needs of terminated staff and faculty in partnership with fiscal sponsor, Sundial Initiative Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit run by Hampshire College alumnus Joey Carey.

Link in story and bio for the full article.

🖊️: Bella Astrofsky
📸: Norah Stewart by @mdcollegian

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2 months ago

“In the clearing stands a boxer / And a fighter by his trade / And he carries the reminders / Of every glove that laid him down / Or cut him till he cried out / In his anger and his shame / ‘I am leaving, I am leaving’ / But the fighter still remains.”

It’s 11 a.m. on Sunday, April 12, and the Iron Horse smells like fresh coffee. Where the room is typically sealed in darkness for evening concerts, light floods in from the windowed exit. Audience members keep their gaze fixed on the projected lyrics, except for when they turn to their friends and kids and grandkids, beaming as they sing.

Inside, over 200 voices resonate to the tune of Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Boxer,” filling the Iron Horse with harmonious melodies. Instead of attending a mainstream Sunday worship, this crowd gathered at this sold-out concert hall for a different kind of service: the Happy Valley Bluegrass Church.

The crowd sways in their chairs, lilting the song’s “lie-la-lie” refrain. Then comes the crashing cymbal in an improvised a cappella style. A smile of pride passes through the room after each synchronized “chhhh.”

🖊️: Riley Greenberg
📸: Riley Greenberg by @mdcollegian

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2 months ago

Frank Martin hears the sound of bullets.

The year is 1992. The then-26-year-old high school basketball coach is at his night job, working as a bouncer at a bar named Calico Jack’s. He and two other bouncers are currently dealing with the return of two patrons whom they had already kicked out.

Just a few minutes prior, the trio of men closed up the bar for the night at 2 a.m. and walked out to head home. Not long after stepping out into the humid Miami air, they notice a car with its lights off driving towards them. Their instincts kick in as soon as a window rolls down, and the group dives behind a random vehicle. Gunshots ring out into the night.

“[If there was no] car there, we take the bullets,” Frank said.

Eventually, after delivering a message but no injuries, the car drives away. Frank collects himself, gets into his own vehicle and drives back home.

Link in story and bio for the full article.

🖊️: Dean Wendel
📸: Graphic by Dean Wendel, Little Havana//Photo via Shutterstock by @mdcollegian

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2 months ago

Don’t worry, next year’s socials team will still have you covered! 🫶🎓🗞️

- Nellie Zygiel, 2025-2026 Head Socials Editor

#UMass #UMassAmherst by @mdcollegian

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2 months ago

The Massachusetts baseball team played at home against Central Michigan in its last Mid-American Conference series of the 2026 season. The Minutemen (18-29, 13-20 MAC) faced the Chippewas (24-29, 13-20 MAC) in a single game loss on Friday and a doubleheader split on Saturday.

Fans, coaches, players, and staff gathered on Saturday to celebrate the class of 2026 in their final collegiate series. Seniors Jack Levine, Justin Masteralexis, Bobby McDonough, Jared Muñoz, Jack Niedringhaus, Dylan Terwilliger and Marc Willi were honored before the start of Saturday’s second matchup at Earl Lorden Field.

UMass was victorious in game one on Saturday, defeating Central Michigan 13-9. The win was secured with the help of five homers from five batters, including Jack Beverly, Matt Travisano, Ty Fox, Gavin O’Brien and Vance Bonior.

Bonior was first to open up the offensive attack, hitting a two RBI homer to left center field in the third inning, bringing Sam Hill home to score from first base.

Link in story and bio for the full article.

🖊️: Meghan Barrows
📸: Olivia Pang by @mdcollegian

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2 months ago

On Friday, May 16, the Class of 2026 had their undergraduate degrees conferred and celebrated at the 156th annual University of Massachusetts Amherst Commencement Ceremony at McGuirk Alumni Stadium

Swipe to read a preview…

Link in story and bio for the full article.

🖊️: Pearl Davis
📸: Jon Crispin, courtesy of UMass website by @mdcollegian

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2 months ago

It was a memorable weekend for the Massachusetts rowing team, as it completed an outstanding run by sweeping all five events in the Minutewomen’s first-ever Mid-American Conference Championships on Ford Lake in Michigan.

UMass earned its first conference title and qualified for the upcoming NCAA Championships, set to take place in less than three weeks. Sunday’s conference title is the team’s first since 2017 and the 17th conference title in program history.

Despite facing multiple interruptions throughout the day due to heavy storms and two lightning pauses, the Minutewomen crew finished first in all grand finals races in a competition hosted by Eastern Michigan.

UMass’ effort earned them a total of 48 points, leaving their closest competitors, Delaware and Temple, behind at 39 and 38 points, respectively. Rounding out the rest of the rankings were High Point, Eastern Michigan and Toledo. Each team ended the championship with 29, 26 and 18 points, respectively.

Link in story and bio for the full article.

🖊️: Olivia Thibodeaux
📸: Courtesy of UMass Athletics by @mdcollegian

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2 months ago