Twelve newly minted surgical technologists became the first cohort to complete and graduate from Lasell’s surgical technology workforce development program in December 2023. The majority of graduates were Newton-Wellesley Hospital (NWH) employees whose tuition was fully funded by NWH.

Three new cohorts have since begun the program, which remains in high demand among hospitals seeking to train and place employees as surgical technologists. In addition to NWH, Lasell is working with two other hospital systems to implement the program: Beth Israel Lahey and UMass Memorial.

The new Lasell Assault/Abuse Services and Education Response (LASER) program received a $400,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women to expand education and advocacy efforts and provide on-campus victim services for students. The grant was awarded to Lasell in partnership with REACH Beyond Domestic Violence, the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, the Newton Police Department, and the Domestic and Sexual Violence Services program at Newton-Wellesley Hospital.

The grant funded the hiring of a project director and created the University’s first in-house, confidential victim services unit to provide a centralized and holistic response to survivor needs, reducing the need for off-campus intervention services. Project LASER will provide confidential advocacy, internal survivor groups, and office hours and dedicated spaces for safe conversations about trauma and its impact.

Project LASER will serve all Lasell students, with attention paid to ensure that underrepresented communities, including LGBTQ students; Black, indigenous, and other students of color; Deaf or hard of hearing students; male survivors of sexual assault; and students with disabilities are considered in the design and delivery of programs.

Lasell, Microsoft, and W5 LIFE have co-launched two new certificate programs in Ireland.

A 12-week online program will prepare participants to become Microsoft-certified business application developers. The certification will empower participants to design solutions and learn essential communication and project management skills to utilize in their jobs.

The LANTEC Universal Design for Learning (UDL) certification program launched with 12 practicing teachers from Ireland and Northern Ireland (pictured below at W5 LIFE). The participants traveled to Lasell in April to engage in a symposium-style capstone to mark the end of the program. A second cohort will start in September, as the program is designed to align with the academic year so teachers can address problems of practice as they occur.

UDL is a teaching approach to accommodate the needs and abilities of all learners through elimination of unnecessary classroom hurdles and development of a flexible learning environment.

Residential life at Lasell earned an A+ from Niche in its 2024 roundup of best college dorms. Lasell’s residence halls were ranked first in the state and 44th in the country out of more than 1,300 schools. According to Niche, colleges on the ranking list “offer outstanding campus housing that is safe and clean with modern amenities at reasonable prices.”

Niche is a school search service that combines data with student reviews to produce rankings, report cards, and profiles for educational institutions.

In less than a month, Jalynn Hilton ’23 celebrated two major accomplishments: She earned her bachelor’s degree in communication from Lasell and began working for ABC News.

In November 2022, Hilton and classmates traveled with adjunct professor and ABC Senior Vice President Alan Ives to tour the company’s New York City headquarters and meet Ives’ team behind the scenes. Just over a year later, Hilton landed her new gig with ABC News’ Specialized Unit, where she works on long-form stories in the business and medical fields … with many of the people she met on that trip.

“In my role I do research to make sure our information is credible and accurate, book experts, write and produce, and get sent out in the field,” she says. “Then I get to see it all come to fruition.”

At Lasell, Hilton held leadership roles as a resident assistant, Blue Key Society ambassador, Donahue Institute volunteer, and president of the Lasell Black Student Association. She also had an impressive list of entertainment media internships at NewTV and WCVB Boston Channel 5.

The experience she gains in the Specialized Unit will help her achieve her goal of becoming a reporter or anchor.

“You need to know everyone else’s job so that when you’re working in front of the camera, you can also help the folks who are supporting you behind the scenes and lighten their load.”

Spoken like a true Lasell team player.

The Athletics DEI Committee spent this academic year focused on spreading awareness about its work and engaging the community through events including a cultural potluck dinner and field day.

Ben Biello ’21, head coach for the men’s and women’s cross country and track & field teams, is also the Athletics DEI Committee advisor. This semester, he says, the group sought to increase educational opportunities and to engage members outside of the athletic community in their efforts to support a welcoming, inclusive campus.

“We hope to continue making a real impact through meaningful programming,” he says.

The Athletics DEI Committee was established in 2022 to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives within each of Lasell’s varsity teams and on campus in general. The committee is made up of two student-athlete representatives from each team and aims to provide student support and proactively create positive change within the Lasell community.

Student-run campus communication outlets remain unstoppable in their collection of prestigious honors.

Tarnished Magazine was recognized with Graphic Design USA’s 60th Anniversary American Graphic Design Award. Both Polished Magazine and Tarnished were nominated for Gold Crowns from the Columbia Scholastic Press in an affirmation of their journalistic and design excellence.

WLAS, the campus radio station, and Lasell Community TV (LCTV) collectively earned an impressive 14 nominations at the spring Intercollegiate Broadcasting System Awards.

Giving Tuesday 2023 was the best in Lasell history.

Thanks to our community’s generosity, 626 donors (up 47 percent from last year) gave $172,313 in gifts and pledges (up 84 percent).

“We were thrilled that so many alumni, parents, friends, and faculty and staff committed to being game changers for our students on the global day of philanthropy in support of the area of the University they felt most passionate about,” said Chelsea Gwyther, vice president of university advancement.

Those gifts will support Shoulder to Shoulder international service-learning programs, lower financial barriers for students to attend conferences and networking events, provide stipends for unpaid summer internships, and fund athletics and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.