Where does New Bedford go after the local public university turns its back?
The departure of the College of Visual and Performing Arts from New Bedford has, for the most part, left the headlines.
But the MFA students who can’t get into their studios and classes haven’t stopped thinking about it. And a still-struggling downtown that vitally needed its anchor won’t easily recover from it.
The New Bedford Light convened a panel of area leaders — former mayors John Bullard and Scott Lang; former city planner Richard Walega, and UMass Dartmouth MFA student Fallon Navarro — to talk about how the school could have left, whether there is anything that can be done to reverse it and what it all says about an institution that treats its own students and community this way.
UMD arts alum to chancellor: ‘Oh, the damage you have done’
Former student: “Your administration has gravely injured the CVPA program and has demonstrated itself to be nothing but a bad-faith actor when it comes to fulfilling all that was promised to its students.”
‘Campus feels like it’s dying’: What closing an arts building could mean for UMass Dartmouth
Public universities can no longer afford to think about public impact more than their own bottom line, one expert says. This could spell trouble for UMass Dartmouth.
UMass Dartmouth leadership has lost all credibility
Chancellor Fuller and his team have squandered something he can’t get back with the people of the region he is supposed to serve — his trustworthiness