BOSTON/Dorchester - Over 50 members of Occupy UMass Boston - one of the many informal campus chapters of the Occupy movement that have sprung up around the United States - held a protest outside the inauguration of UMass president Robert Caret at the JFK Library on Tuesday. The students, staff and faculty present demanded a rollback of skyrocketing tuition and fees, a democratic process to replace the current UMass Boston strategic plan, and an end to the "corporatization and privatization" of public higher education in the Commonwealth.

BOSTON/Government Center – Members of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Alliance Coalition (MIRA) and the Student Immigrant Movement (SIM) today urged MA Senator Scott Brown to vote yes in support of the DREAM Act (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) legislation when it comes up for a vote this week in the Senate. Brown has indicated he would oppose the legislation which provides a way to citizenship for young immigrants who agree to attend college or join the U.S. military.

BOSTON/Boston Common - Ten students, staff, faculty, and alumni from the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts concluded a 114-mile march across the state to defend public higher education with a Thursday rally on Boston Common attended by over 150 supporters. The marchers stopped at seven campuses to raise awareness and gather thousands of signatures on a statement in support of their "Great State of Mind Campaign" - which they delivered to legislators at the conclusion of the event.

The campaign statement calls for state government to increase state support for higher education to the national average and decrease costs to students to the national average. According to PHENOM organizers, "the Bay State is currently 46th of 50 states in per capita support, has cut funding more than any other state in the past five years, and has some of the highest student charges in the country."

BOSTON/Boston Common - Over 125 students, faculty, staff and alumni from several Massachusetts public colleges rallied Monday on Boston Common to pressure the state legislature to increase funding for public higher education. The event was oraganized by the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts.