MCLA Presidential Pick Staying in Wisconsin

06:10PM / Tuesday, March 31, 2015Print Story | Email Story

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — MCLA's choice for its 12th president will not be accepting the position.

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts announced on Tuesday that Greg Summers has bowed out because of personal issues.

"Dr. Summers was deeply apologetic as he was very impressed with the MCLA community. Unfortunately his family is dealing with a confluence of health issues that have recently surfaced, making it impossible for him and his family to relocate. The board was excited to have found someone of the caliber of Dr. Summers, however, we will take this in stride as MCLA is a well-led and well-managed institution," said Tyler Fairbank, chairman of college's board of trustees.

Summers was the unanimous choice of the trustees on March 5; each trustee gave him high marks, referring to his "fierce commitment to public higher education" and his easy relationship with MCLA community.

He was also approved by the Board of Higher Education a few days later and was expected to start in his new post later this year. He is currently provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point

Summers was one of three finalists selected from an initial 59 candidates after about a five-month search.

Fairbank said the board "will be evaluating options moving forward." Cynthia Farr Brown will continue as interim president, a post she's held since the departure of President Mary Grant last fall to her new job as chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Asheville.

"MCLA remains in an excellent position to manage this process," Fairbank said. "We have an outstanding, committed senior team, faculty, staff, and supportive community coupled with an experienced and engaged board of trustees and foundation board of directors."

Tags: college president, MCLA, search committee,

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North Adams Becomes a Purple Heart Community

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
05:16AM / Tuesday, August 11, 2026

Veterans Service Officer Kurtis Durocher, a Purple Heart recipient, tells his own story of how he was wounded in Iraq.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — City leaders last week held a ceremony marking the city as a Purple Heart Community to honor local military service members wounded or killed in combat.

"This designation is much more than a sign that will stand at the entrances to our city," said Kurtis Durocher, Northern Berkshire veterans service officer at City Hall on Friday. "It is a lasting commitment and a promise to this community. We'll never forget the sacrifices made by those who are wounded or killed while serving our nation. It is a public declaration of the courage and sacrifices of combat wounded. Veterans will always have a place of honor here in North Adams."

As a Purple Heart Community, North Adams will place signs throughout the city acknowledging the designation. The city will also hold a ceremony every Aug. 7 on National Purple Heart Day.

During the inaugural ceremony, Durocher said he was asked by the Military Order of the Purple Heart to find a keynote speaker for the event, preferably a Purple Heart recipient. But he was unable to find someone willing to speak. With the date approaching, he decided to tell his own story.

"I don't like standing up and telling my own personal story ... But I realized, in my position as a VSO, I get so many ... children of veterans who will say, 'I didn't know anything about my father until after he passed because he just didn't talk about it,'" Durocher said. "... I have been that way until I've gotten into this position, and so, now, I try to tell my story as much as I can when it is brought to me."

Durocher served in the Army for 20 years and retired as a master sergeant. On Friday, he recalled a time early in his career while serving in the 82nd Airborne Division deploying to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. On Sept. 12, 2003, his squad was conducting a patrol on Route Irish in Baghdad. He was serving as a gunner on an LMTV when it was struck by a 155-millimeter artillery shell. He said the explosive had been hidden behind a guardrail and detonated using nothing more than a washing machine timer.

"In an instant, everything changed. The blast knocked me unconscious. When I regained consciousness, I instinctively was removing my helmet," he said. "Almost immediately my training took over. We had been taught repeatedly that attacks like this were often followed by a secondary attack or an ambush. I quickly put my helmet back on and began searching for my machine gun."

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