Letter: Homeless Housing in MCLA Dorm is NOT the Solution

To the Editor:

Initially, I was not against the idea of MCLA's president, Jamie Birge, announcing plans to open a currently empty dorm building for housing homeless families, however, the more I've talked with neighbors and friends, the more I believe it's a horrible idea.

As a direct neighbor to MCLA, I didn't have a problem with the Boardman Block being used for people in recovery once I learned about the support services provided (even though I don't believe it's an ideal companion to the students that work and live nearby and that MCLA should have had the vision to acquire it for themselves for future needs/expansion).

This current plan reinforces my long held belief that Mr. Birge has no vision for MCLA and, as a part-time resident of New Hampshire, he's not at all invested in the future of MCLA or North Adams. I question whether or not Mr. Birge has aggressively pursued all recruitment and retention opportunities and identified organizational changes to increase student admissions. That must be his No. 1 priority and I'm incredibly skeptical that it is.

If the homeless situation in North Adams is such that additional housing is needed then I am all for considering every option. However, if the homeless families would be relocated from outside the city, then I think Mr. Birge is simply looking for "easy" money. Unless all efforts are made to increase the shrinking admissions, Mr. Birge's plan seems no different than when North Adams slumlords placed newspaper ads in Troy, N.Y., years ago offering free TVs to Section 8 renters if they relocated to one of their North Adams units.

Kurt Kolok
North Adams, Mass.

MCLA Graduates Told to Make the World Worthy of Them

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
05:27PM / Saturday, May 16, 2026

Keynote speaker Michael Bobbitt was awarded an honorary doctor of fine arts. He told the graduates to make the world worthy of them. See more photos here.  

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Amsler Campus Center gym erupted in cheers on Saturday as 193 members of class of 2026 turned their tassels.

 

The graduates of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts' 127th commencement were sent off with the charge of "don't stop now" to make the world a better place.  

 

You are Trailblazers, keynote speaker Michael Bobbitt reminded them, and a "trailblazer is not simply someone who walks a path. A trailblazer makes one, but blazing a trail does not happen alone. Every trailblazer is carrying tools made by somebody else. Every trailblazer is guided by stars they did not create. Every trailblazer stands on grounds shaped by ancestors, teachers, workers, neighbors, friends, and strangers."

 

Trailblazing takes communal courage, he said, and they needed to love people, build with people, argue with people, and find the people who make them braver and kinder at the same time.

 

"The future will not be saved by isolated geniuses, it will be saved by networks of people willing to practice courage together. The future belongs not to the loudest, not to the richest, not to the most certain, but to the most adaptive, the most creative, the most courageous, the most willing to learn."

 

Bobbitt was recently named CEO of Opera American after nearly five years leading the Massachusetts Cultural Council. He stressed the importance of art to the graduates, and noted that opera is not the only art form facing challenges in this world. 

 

"Every field is asking, who are we for now? What do we, what value do we create?" he said. "What do we stop pretending is fine. This is not just an arts question, that is a healthcare question, a climate question, a technology question, a community question, a higher education question, a democracy question, a life question. ...