Our Responsibility
Our Responsibility to equity is evident in every single function across the campus and beyond.
Meaningful Education
As a younger student, Joseph Clark, ’22, G’24, sensed a disconnect in his education, especially the limited focus on the contributions of African Americans.
After all, as Joseph astutely points out: “African American history is American history.”
Things changed when he came to BSU and pursued a minor in African American Studies.
The minor, launched in 2018, explores people of African descent in the United States. Students take courses in departments across the university, including more than a dozen newly created classes with a focus on African American experience and culture.
“I think that sense of home (at BSU) for me is a sense of belonging and learning about the history, the literature and the music. Finding things that I feel like I could actually relate to, that were part of me and part of my identity as a Black man was very pivotal.”
From Diversity to Equity
BSU's multifaceted approach to social justice has become an omnipresent force on the campus over the last decade. In Spring 2024, faculty taught more than 150 courses that covered social justice themes, including:
- Politics of Climate Change
- Social Justice in Song
- International Women's Cinema
- Post George Floyd Policing
- HIV and Society
- First Nations: Indigenous People
But social justice is about more than what we teach - it's about the impact education has on our students. To that end, BSU is ranked in the top 4 percent of more than 100 Massachusetts universities for advancing the social mobility of graduates, approximately half of whom are first-generation students. More than a quarter of the student body are students of color, and BSU received national recognition for how it serves Black students.
Amid such a diverse campus, we are opening doors of opportunity to in-demand fields for traditionally marginalized students. The BSU Foundation, for example, raised $1 million to support Black students who aspire to be teachers.
The Lewis and Gaines Center for Inclusion and Equity, renamed in 2020 after two esteemed alumni of color, offers a plethora of resources to help students thrive as Bears and earn their diplomas. The center also hosts cultural activities, including the annual Kente Cloth ceremony where graduates receive a special stole representative of their ethnicity.
Social Justice in action
Never content to rest on our laurels, the president's Racial Justice Task Force completed a year-long racial equity audit in 2021 and developed 73 recommendations that are being implemented across the campus.
Our work also stretches beyond Bridgewater. We convene the Racial Equity and Justice Institute, a growing collaboration of 41 universities and organizations who identify data-informed racially equitable strategies to support the success of all students. The consortium assists members in setting and advancing action plans. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has provided $100,000 for the last two years to scale this work statewide.
BSU's Martin Richard Institute for Social Justice - named in 2015 after the youngest victim of the Boston Marathon bombings — has grown in prominence. In 2022, the institute moved into a building purchased and renovated by the BSU Foundation using private funding. Today, the organization plans community service activities and spring break service learning trips; awards grants; and runs a Justice Fellows program.
Fellows, who are paid student employees, work throughout the academic year with nonprofit organizations and campus-based initiatives to spark social change. They develop new skills while helping the Old Colony YMCA, Raising Multicultural Kids, Girls Inc. and other partners make a difference throughout Southeastern Massachusetts.
LGBTQIA+ community welcome
At a time when other states have created a hostile environment for members of the LGBTQIA+ community, BSU offers a supportive, welcoming campus. With 14 percent of students openly identifying as LGBTQ+, the Pride Center is a hub for mentorship and programming that supports students' sense of belonging. In 2023, the center created a logo featuring a rainbow bear that is emblazoned on clothing sold at the bookstore.
These supports stretch far beyond the center's walls. BSU has a name-in-use policy that allows students to be known by a first name other than their legal name on class rosters, ID cards, email addresses and elsewhere. There are 79 gender-inclusive single-occupancy restrooms across campus and we committed to adding at least one such facility in every new and significantly renovated building. Additionally, we implemented an inclusive housing policy where room assignments are by gender identity. Students can also share living quarters with people of different gender identities.
All of this work has not gone unnoticed. College Choice ranked BSU among the top 40 Best Colleges for LGBTQ students. And, in 2020, the NCAA presented BSU with the inaugural Division III LGBTQ Athletics Department of the Year award.
But we don't strive for equity for the recognition. We do it because of our unyielding commitment to helping every student succeed - one student at a time.
Seeing Green
Environmental sustainability is more than a buzz word at BSU. It's a cornerstone of our facility upgrades and academics.
The university's most visible project came in 2020 when contractors installed a 3,400-panel solar canopy above Tower Lot, a large parking area. With support from a state grant, BSU plans to install a similar canopy above the parking lot next to Swenson Athletic Complex, a project projected to generate 400,000 kilowatt-hours of clean, renewable electricity annually and save $850,000 over 20 years in reduced electricity costs.
Solar panels are also atop the Operations Center; Miles, DiNardo and Weygand residence halls; and the Dana Mohler-Faria Science and Mathematics Center.
“The more of these projects we put up on campus, the better we are to position ourselves to be a green campus as well as generating cost savings for the university in the long run.”
In 2021, BSU received a Massachusetts Leading by Example Award for projects that helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions 36 percent below 2004 levels. Other noteworthy sustainability efforts include:
- Installing electric vehicle charging stations across campus
- Enhancing heating and building automation systems to improve efficiency
- Installing LED bulbs as well as low-flow faucets and shower heads
Sustainability innovation
Through the Sustainability Program, students take classes, conduct research and attend extracurricular activities - all with a focus on meeting society's current needs without endangering the ability for future generations to meet theirs.
In 2015, BSU established the sustainability innovation and outreach minor, an interdisciplinary program growing in popularity alongside demand for sustainability jobs. Students and faculty research water treatment, recycling, invasive species and sustainable manufacturing, among a multitude of other green topics. They even grow produce in an on-campus permaculture garden to support the BSU Food Pantry.
Beyond the classroom and laboratory, a student club called the Environmental Action Team organizes clean-ups, climate marches and a thrift clothing swap.
"I’ve always thought about sustainability. It’s nice to have a professional outlet here where I can also focus on that."
Financial Responsibility
Bridgewater State University’s financial position is very strong as the university continues to realize increases in its net position attributable to increased state appropriations, state grants, residence hall auxiliary revenues, and strong budget management. Through its transparent budgetary decision process, BSU aligns resources with priorities informed by the university’s strategic plan, resulting in the following goals:
- Focus resources and decisions on the overarching priority of student success.
- Provide a teaching and learning environment with exceptional educational opportunities for intellectual, creative and professional growth.
- Provide opportunities for personal and professional growth for faculty, librarians, and staff in support of organizational progress.
- Serve as a regional catalyst for economic, cultural, and intellectual engagement.
- Advance diversity and social justice with impact in the region and beyond.
As a public institution, the majority of BSU’s financial support is an appropriation from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The amount of this funding is determined by enrollment, collective bargaining agreements, and total state revenues. Second to the state appropriation, is tuition and fees revenue. BSU has achieved strong student retention since fall 2022, when life began to normalize after the global COVID-19 pandemic.
While fiscal years 2020-2022 impacted by the pandemic that began in March 2020 were unlike any other, support in the form of Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF) from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), Coronavirus Response Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA), and the American Rescue Plan (ARPA) coupled with refinancing/refunding of existing Massachusetts State College Building Authority College (MSCBA) debt, mitigated lost revenues – all while freezing the cost of tuition and fees for BSU students.
BSU’s operational budget stabilized in fiscal year ’23, with expected increases in enrollment, retention, and housing occupancy in subsequent years. In addition, the university’s reserves stand at a healthy 10 percent of the operational budget for the first time in a decade.
Financial Responsibility
Bridgewater State University’s financial position is very strong as the university continues to realize increases in its net position attributable to increased state appropriations, state grants, residence hall auxiliary revenues, and strong budget management. Through its transparent budgetary decision process, BSU aligns resources with priorities informed by the university’s strategic plan, resulting in the following goals:
- Focus resources and decisions on the overarching priority of student success.
- Provide a teaching and learning environment with exceptional educational opportunities for intellectual, creative and professional growth.
- Provide opportunities for personal and professional growth for faculty, librarians, and staff in support of organizational progress.
- Serve as a regional catalyst for economic, cultural, and intellectual engagement.
- Advance diversity and social justice with impact in the region and beyond.
As a public institution, the majority of BSU’s financial support is an appropriation from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The amount of this funding is determined by enrollment, collective bargaining agreements, and total state revenues. Second to the state appropriation, is tuition and fees revenue. BSU has achieved strong student retention since fall 2022, when life began to normalize after the global COVID-19 pandemic.
While fiscal years 2020-2022 impacted by the pandemic that began in March 2020 were unlike any other, support in the form of Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF) from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), Coronavirus Response Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA), and the American Rescue Plan (ARPA) coupled with refinancing/refunding of existing Massachusetts State College Building Authority College (MSCBA) debt, mitigated lost revenues – all while freezing the cost of tuition and fees for BSU students.
BSU’s operational budget stabilized in fiscal year ’23, with expected increases in enrollment, retention, and housing occupancy in subsequent years. In addition, the university’s reserves stand at a healthy 10 percent of the operational budget for the first time in a decade.
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