Letter: Why I Support Paul Mark

To the Editor:

I've known Paul Mark all his political life, and we couldn't ask for a better person to be our next state senator in Boston. Paul is an experienced and practical progressive who will hit the ground running in the state Senate.

In 2010, Paul was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives to serve the 2nd Berkshire district. And ever since, he has fought for working families, calling for Medicare-for-all, higher-education funding reform, student debt relief, funding for vocational programs, and major transformative solutions to the climate crisis, among other issues.

Yes, Paul knows what it means to work. He came from humble circumstances to earn associate, bachelor, master and doctoral degrees, and finally a law degree. He was able to do it because union benefits made it possible, and he wants others to have the same opportunities. That's why he fights for good-paying jobs in our communities and access to affordable transportation and high-speed broadband internet for all our communities.

Western Mass. needs experienced representation in Boston. I've already mailed my ballot for Paul Mark. I hope you'll soon do the same.

Lee Harrison
Williamstown, Mass. 

Williams Grads Reminded of Community that Got Them to Graduation

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:14PM / Sunday, June 02, 2024

The graduates heard from two speakers — Phi Betta Kappa speaker Milo Chang and class speaker Jahnavi Nayar Kirtane. The keynote speaker, Lonnie Bunch, the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, was unable to attend and recorded his speech for playback. See more photos here.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Williams College said goodbye Sunday to its graduating seniors.

 

And a representative of the class of 2024 took the time to say goodbye to everyone in the community who made students' journey possible.

 

Milo Chang, the Phi Beta Kappa speaker for the class and one of two students to speak at Sunday's 235th commencement exercises, explained that the term "Williams community" applies to more than those who get to list the school on their resumes.

 

"It includes everyone who has shaped our experiences here, from loved ones back home to the dedicated staff members who make campus their second home," Chang told his classmates. "During my time at Williams, we've seen this community step up in remarkable ways to support us."

 

Chang talked about the faculty and staff who gave their time to operate the COVID-19 testing centers and who greeted students before they could take their first classroom tests in the fall of 2020, and the dining services personnel who kept the students fed and somehow understood their orders through the masks everyone was wearing when this class arrived on campus.

 

And he shared a personal story that brought the message home.

 

"We often underestimate the power of community until we experience a taste of its absence," Chang said. "I remember staying on campus after our first Thanksgiving at Williams, after most students went home to finish the semester remotely. I remember the long hours sitting in empty common rooms. I remember the days you could walk through campus without seeing another student.