Save SMU Rally 32 Years Ago This Week

On March 25, 1982 between 2,500 and 3,000 SMU students and faculty (UMass Dartmouth was known as Southeastern Massachusetts University from 1969 to 1991) marched on the State House in Boston in support of appropriate funding for their school.  On that day, Governor King, in response to the rally, announced that he had changed his mind and would support the full $19 million dollar budget request for SMU, rather than the $18 million allotted.  The budget shortfall had threatened the ability of the school to admit the number of students who were qualified, plus it threatened staff layoffs across the board for a staff that was already down by 25%.  The budget shortfall was more than the campus community was willing to take, especially after years of lean times under the previous governor, Michael Dukakis.  This newspaper article was published in the Boston Globe, March 26, 1982.    The Torch Relay, a relay run from Dartmouth to Boston, organized by Greg Stone (SMU staff) and Diane Ebbeling (student), took place in the morning of March 25 and culminated at the rally.  Last year, the Torch Relay was repeated by UMD students and staff.  To more easily read the newspaper article, click anywhere on the image to enlarge.  To learn more about UMass Dartmouth history, take a look at the Archives and Special Collections web site at http://www.lib.umassd.edu/archives/