Central Receives $200k Grant for TRIO Programs

Central Connecticut State University has received a federal TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) grant totaling $272,364. The funds will bolster the university’s retention and degree-completion efforts among low-income, first-generation students, and students with disabilities. SSS is one of eight federal TRIO programs funded under the Higher Education Act of 1965 to remove social, academic, and cultural barriers to higher education.

Dr. Xudong Jia to Lead School of Engineering, Science, and Technology

Dr. Xudong Jia was appointed dean of the School of Engineering, Science, and Technology at Central Connecticut State University, and will officially begin his tenure on Aug. 22. Dr. Jia was professor and chair of the Civil Engineering Department at Cal Poly Pomona and associate dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at California State University, Northridge.

CT State Middlesex Faculty and Students Attend Bread for The World 2025 Advocacy Summit

CT State Middlesex SNAP Coordinator/Care Specialist Tawana Preston, LMSW (right) and students Japheth Velasco (center) and Hanif Barrett (left) traveled to Washington, D.C. in June for the Bread for the World 2025 Advocacy Summit: Nourish Our Future and 50th Anniversary Celebration. They had attended advocacy workshops and met with the offices of Senator Richard Blumenthal, Senator Chris Murphy, Congresswoman Jahana Hayes, and Congressman Jim Himes to advocate to end hunger. They were also invited to speak with Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici at the Legislative Action for College Students, Faculty, Staff, & Administrators Workshop focusing on closing the college student SNAP gap.

Southern Archaeology Students Dig Deep into Connecticut’s History

Southern Connecticut State University’s Archaeology Field School in partnership with the Henry Whitfield State Museum in Guilford, Conn., is giving students and community members an opportunity to explore one of New England’s oldest homes through excavation and research. The program, which runs through Aug. 11, offers six academic credits and a chance to uncover artifacts from early Native American settlement to the Revolutionary War and beyond. Graduate students are also acting as researchers and mentors. Pictured is anthropology Professor William Farley and a student examining an artifact found at the Henry Whitfield Museum site.

Eastern Students Explore Arizona in Field Excursion

Environmental earth science (EES) students at Eastern Connecticut State University studied geology, sedimentation, and native heritage in Arizona during a global field course led by EES Professors Dickson Cunningham and Peter Drzewiecki last semester. Students studied at national parks and monuments, including the Grand Canyon, Meteor Crater, Sunset Crater, and Petrified Forest National Park. Faculty and students are pictured in the San Francisco Volcanic Field.

Central’s SEST Welcomes First Cohort of New Apprenticeship Program

Central Connecticut State University’s School of Engineering, Science & Technology (SEST) welcomed the inaugural cohort of the new Robotics & Mechatronics Technician Apprenticeship Program on July 9. Central is partnering with TRUMPF, Inc. in Farmington for the university’s new Robotics and Mechatronics Technician Apprenticeship Program. Nine newly hired apprentices from TRUMPF Inc. spent the day on campus for an orientation session and introduction to the program.

Housatonic Museum of Art Exhibition Wins 2024 AASLH Award of Excellence

The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) announced that the Housatonic Museum of Art and Interpreting Sports, LLC are the recipients of an Award of Excellence for The Making of an Icon: Walter Iooss and Sports Photography. The Housatonic Museum of Art holds 141 photographs by acclaimed sports photographer Walter Iooss, representing the museum’s only sports-related holdings in a modern and contemporary art-focused collection.

Pictured is Sugar Ray Leonard and Tommy Hearns, NY, 1989

WestConn's Matthews Announced as Member of 2025 LEC Hall Of Fame Class

Western Connecticut State University men's basketball alum and WestConn Athletics Hall of Famer Kevin Matthews was announced as a member of the Little East Conference (LEC) Hall of Fame Class of 2025. The ceremony to celebrate Matthew's induction and his outstanding career will take place at WestConn at a date and time to be determined soon.