Our Stories
The MCLA Athletics Department operates on a clear vision: 3-2-1. All student-athletes reaching and maintaining a 3.0 GPA, all teams competing for the top two spots in the conference, and all student-athletes and staff working as one team.
When Amy Shapiro, MBA program coordinator and adjunct professor, walked into her Marketing class in fall 2024, she saw an opportunity. Eight hockey players sat among her students, and MCLA's hockey program needed a boost in attendance at home games.
Just weeks after walking across the stage at MCLA's 2025 commencement ceremony, Alexa Macdonald '24 took another oath, this time in North Adams City Council Chambers on New Year's Day 2026.
Treyana Holiday '28, a physics major at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, recently traveled to Denver with fellow MCLA students and faculty members Dr. Kebra Ward and Dr. Emily Maher to attend the triennial Society of Physics Students Physics and Astronomy Congress, the largest gathering of undergraduate physics and astronomy majors in the country.
Paige Dufur's path to MCLA, and now to graduate school, wasn't what she originally planned. After a brain surgery made welding school unsafe, the McCann Tech graduate took a chance on MCLA with a scholarship in hand.
William Garrity '25 didn't initially plan to attend MCLA. The Pittsfield native started his college journey at Berkshire Community College, pursuing Computer Networking and Cybersecurity with a clear career path in mind. But a late-night browse of MCLA's website changed everything,
For Paige Pouliot, a junior in MCLA's Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, the transition from classroom theory to real-world patient care isn't just smooth; it's seamless.
When Paul Paradiso took the stage at MCLA's 2025 Commencement, he urged his fellow graduates to see the milestone not as an ending, but as a beginning. Representing the MBA cohort, he spoke about the friendships, ideas, and ventures that were sparked during the program.
For most students, the idea of sharing their writing with a peer can feel intimidating. But for Writing Associate and Teaching Assistant Mike Lynch ’26, those moments of vulnerability are where the magic happens.
Students who initially resisted coming to the farm were suddenly asking how they could continue the program during the school year. By summer's end, they were donating handmade picnic tables back to the farm and telling their intern educator they'd try harder in school because of her influence.