UMass Boston Alumni

25/10/2026

Life may have taken you to California, but you’re still part of the UMass Boston community. Join fellow alumni and friends at the San Diego Zoo for cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, campus updates, and great conversation in a wildly unique setting.

🗓️ Friday, November 13, 2026
🕔 5–7:30 p.m.
📍 San Diego Zoo

Your $30 registration includes zoo admission beginning at 3 p.m. Come early to explore, then join us to connect with fellow Beacons!

🔗 Save your spot: https://ow.ly/mxzs50ZYaUq

24/10/2026

Join the UMass Boston Sustainable Solutions Lab (SSL) to celebrate a decade of growth and impact and look towards what the next ten years may bring!

https://ow.ly/M09o51009e0

🗓️ Tuesday, November 10
🕑 2 PM - 6 PM
📍Campus Center, 3rd floor, Ballroom

SSL is celebrating over a decade of work and impact! Join us to celebrate in a fun and welcoming environment where we will recognize partners, friends, and supporters, share food and drink, and imagine what we'd like the next ten years to look like for our climate justice work.

There will be appetizers, a bar, and live music. The program will include Keynote Speaker Wanjiku "Wawa" Gatheru, renowned Kenyan-American climate activist and founder and Executive Director of Black Girl Environmentalist.

24/10/2026

For this year's Black Lives Matter Day, UMass Boston will host a day of learning and fun, with the theme of "What's the Word? Black Boston: Building a Foundation for Social Change."

https://www.umb.edu/blacklivesmatter/

🗓️ Monday, November 2, 2026
🕙 10 am - 2:30 pm
📍 Campus Center Ballroom

The event includes:

🔹 A keynote address by Mr. Rahsaan Hall, president and CEO, Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts
🔹 A lunch featuring cuisine of Africa and the diaspora
🔹 Breakout sessions addressing community building and social data for public action
🔹 Black Excellence awards
🔹 Artistic programming
🔹 A community fair with organizations from on and off-campus
🔹 Free Swag

This year's theme is inspired by two ideas: (1) across our Black communities, we can learn more about each other to be better positioned to protect and advocate for each other; and (2) we can learn more about the challenges we are facing, economically, socially and in other ways, to translate knowledge into meaningful action that can support social change and racial justice.

This event is free to the public and open to all.

23/10/2026

This , we’re highlighting Lisa Reilly ‘02, a Boston-based executive and career coach who has just joined The Women Leaders Association's Boston chapter as a Coaching Partner.

After over two decades in biotech and pharmaceutical leadership, Lisa founded Lisa Reilly Coaching, where she helps high-achieving women lead with clarity, confidence, and authenticity through her signature Reclamation Method. She joins two other vetted coaches on the chapter’s Boston roster.

“After 23 years in the corporate world, I know how easy it is for women to become so focused on delivering results and supporting everyone around them that their own dreams take a back seat," Lisa said. "My work is about helping women reconnect with who they are, trust their voices, and create room for the lives they want to lead. Becoming a coaching partner for the Women Leaders Association’s Boston chapter is a meaningful opportunity to bring that work to more women—and to remind them that their ambitions and well-being deserve the same attention they give everything else.”

Congratulations, Lisa! 🎉

23/10/2026

On October 23, 2014, the UMass Boston community celebrated the new Integrated Science Complex, the first new academic building on campus since 1974. 🔬

Twelve years later, it’s a place for labs, late-night study sessions, and a view of the harbor. Swipe to see how it came together.

What’s your favorite ISC memory? Tell us in the comments. 👇

Construction photo courtesy of The Mass Media.

22/10/2026

One week until an evening of celebration!

Join fellow alumni and friends at the 2026 Beacon Awards Dinner as we honor five UMass Boston and Boston State College graduates whose leadership, service, and achievements make a lasting difference. Let’s come together to celebrate their accomplishments, reconnect, and enjoy dinner in great company.

📅 Thursday, October 29 | 5:30–8 p.m.
📍 Edward M. Kennedy Institute, Boston
🎟️ $15 per guest • Dinner and parking included

Learn more and register at https://ow.ly/s3hw50ZYtah

20/10/2026

What’s the best view on campus? 👀

We asked alumni, and 42% said the Harborwalk. Swipe through for more of the top picks, from the Healey Library to a view of the horizon that felt like home.

Now it’s your turn: where’s YOUR favorite view on campus? Tell us in the comments! 👇

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Nancy Doherty '01 picked the Ryan Lounge and said, “The view allowed me to relax while studying. It was almost like a respite for a short time.”

Dianne Kirkpatrick '18 picked the Harborwalk and said, “As an alum and current staff member, I find a brief stop at the Harborwalk a way to ground myself and tackle the day. It’s not just the view, it’s the sounds and smells of the ocean that bring a sense of peace in the middle of the city. It’s also the best spot to watch the sunrise! It’s breathtaking!”

Arlene Conn '82 picked the Harborwalk and said, “Many a walk or bike ride along this peaceful and scenic strip were calming reminders of the happiness found in the simple pleasures of life.”

Mohammed Zefzaf '85 picked the Harborwalk and said, “It seemed like it was another world way back in the early 80s. Small things meant a lot. The Harborwalk was important to me in those days. Every time I felt blue and lonely, I would go to the Harborwalk and gaze at the blue ocean, always remembering that my homeland, Morocco, was straight across, just on the other side of the horizon. That made me feel at peace.”

Jonathan Burak '11 picked the Healey Library and said, “The eighth floor of Healey Library offered the best view of the Harbor, as well as a place to quietly study.”

17/10/2026

Are you either a UMass Boston alumni, student, faculty, or staff member? Beacon Connect is an online community built exclusively for you to make connections, share your expertise, and support other Beacons.

🔗 Join the community at beaconconnect.umb.edu

16/10/2026

Atlanta, your Beacon community is closer than you think! 💙

Join fellow UMass Boston alumni and friends for an evening of networking, conversation, and campus updates at the Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta. Make new connections, reconnect with familiar faces, and celebrate the growing Beacon community in the Southeast.

🗓️ Thursday, October 22, 2026
🕕 6–8 p.m.
📍 Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta

Register at https://ow.ly/Pf2H50ZXMQl.

15/10/2026