AUGUST 31, 2019 11
fretting about that final letting-
go hug, there are people like
Dawn Bond who carry this mes-
sage:
It’s all going to be OK. We’ve
got this.
“I think everyone feels off-
kilter even if they’re not show-
ingit,’’saidBond, 48 ,aonetime
UMass hall director who now
directs a staff of more than 300.
“You are probably going to feel
lonely your first semester. You
don’t have to make 100 friends.
One or two good friends is
good.’’
And so is Dawn Bond.
Around here, they call her
General Bond. Why? Because
she helps bring order to the
move-in-day chaos of lost keys,
overloaded elevators, and hair-
trigger tempers that comes
with a sunrise starting time,
highway traffic, and frayed
nerves that stretch from the
steering wheel to the rear seat.
As UMass Amherst prepared
to welcome its largest-ever en-
tering class of 5,800 — 74 per-
cent from Massachusetts —
Bond convened a war-room-
like meeting with her lieuten-
ants, who wore blue jerseys and
can-do smiles.
“I don’t think it’s cuckoo out
there right now,’’ she told them.
But they all knew what was
coming.
There were questions about
mail delivery. Electric message
boards were ready to flash word
about altered traffic patterns
and one-way streets. A staging
area was set up behind
McGuirk Alumni Stadium,
where cars would be dispatched
to the dorms at the rate of 18
every 90 seconds, all day long.
All of this with a single goal:
to make incoming students like
Anirudh Laddha, a 19-year-old
uFARRAGHER
Continued from Page 1
freshman from India here to
study economics and computer
science, feel right at home.
“I’m a little excited,’’ he told
me. “I’m a little confused. I’m
still waiting to meet my room-
mate. We had a proper conver-
sation for like two hours over
the phone. We’re waiting to go
for a hike, most probably next
week.’’
And then he flashed a smile.
His father talked about upcom-
ing conversations via Skype.
His mother, Anita Laddha,
fought back tears. “I’m nervous
and a little scared that my son is
going to be alone for the first
time,’’ she said, speaking for
many mothers who would soon
follow her up the steps to the
dorm.
Outside, a team of student
ambassadors called Minute
Movers assumed the more con-fident demeanor of 21-year-old
veterans of the move-in-day
dance they have learned to
master.
“I knew nobody when I got
here,’’ said Shira Kahn-Samuel-
son, from San Jose, Calif. “I was
the first person from my school
to ever come here. It was scary.
I think it took two weeks before
I knew my way around campus.
After that, I felt better.’’
Dawn Bond grew up an hour
away from Amherst, in Dalton.
She moved into MacKimmie
Hall as a freshman in 1988. One
of her best friends in high
school was her roommate. Big
mistake.
“We were best friends,’’ she
said. “We loved each other. We
were terrible roommates. We
were totally incompatible. We
were opposites on every front,
but we did not know that. Shemoved out after the first semes-
ter because she and I weren’t
getting along.’’
She advises freshmen to let
the luck of the draw determine
who’s sharing that bunk bed
with you. “How many times in
life are you going to be assigned
someone you don’t know and
learn to live together?’’ she
asked.
Some 40 percent of fresh-
men select their roommate. Ev-
eryone else takes Dawn Bond’s
suggestion.
During her years on campus,
the anxiety level has risen,
Bond said. Too many helicopter
parents. Too much social me-
dia. Too many students staring
at their phones instead of their
friends.
“You can always be followed
and photographed,’’ she said,
holding up her own cellphone.“Your story is out there. Do you
know how happy I am that
there wasn’t a Facebook when I
was in my twenties? I don’t
need any of that out there.
None of it!’’
The UMass for which she
now works isn’t the same
school as the one from which
she collected her degree in
1992.
The incoming freshman
class has a high school grade
point average of 3.9. I don’t
know about you, but I’m pretty
sure I couldn’t get into the
state’s flagship university this
year.
This is not your parents’
UMass anymore. All three of
my children collected their un-
dergraduate degrees from the
school, and it’s not eventheir
school anymore. They remem-
ber the days of the St. Patrick’s
Day wild beer bash known as
the Blarney Blowout.
When I visited UMass Am-
herst chancellor Kumble Sub-
baswamy in his office the other
day, he smiled wanly and told
me the blowout days are over.
“It’s gone because we active-
ly worked to discourage that
and not make it one of the top
10 things you must do when
you’re at UMass Amherst,’’ he
said. “A bucket list, for heaven’s
sake. They’ve replaced that
with take-a-selfie with the
chancellor.’’
You can get a bobblehead
keepsake of the chancellor
these days. I picked one up be-
fore I left campus.
Subbaswamy, who goes by
the nickname Swamy, became
chancellor in 2012 after hold-
ing positions at the University
of Kentucky, the University of
Miami, and Indiana University.
So he knows a thing or two
about college life and the rite of
passage that is taking place.When he received a scholar-
ship to attend Indiana Universi-
ty in Bloomington in 1971, he
was just 20, had never traveled
abroad, and was scared to
death.
“I was tired and I fell asleep,’’
he recalled about his arrival on
campus before the dining halls
had opened for the semester.
“I wake up and it hits me:
I’m all alone. I have no idea
what I’m doing. I was in tears.
If there was any way that I had
the money and the wherewithal
to get back on a plane and go
back, I would have gone back. I
was homesick, and I was terri-
fied.’’
This is a chancellor who can
relate to the roller-coaster
rhythms in the coming days as
his campus springs back to life.
“The first semester, in fact
the first year, is a very critical
time,’’ he told me. “A transition
occurs and the 18-year-old has
a freedom that they’ve never
had before, for the most part. I
encourage parents to keep tabs
on their students through the
end of the first semester. In oth-
er words, ‘How are you doing?
Are you going to class?’
“Be a little intrusive. If two
months go by and you haven’t
heard [from them], that’s not a
good thing. The equally impor-
tant thing is to trust your stu-
dent. If you have done a good
job of parenting for 18 years,
they will make the right choic-
es. Trust them and don’t be
overly intrusive. There’s a bal-
ance there, because sooner or
later they’re going to stand on
their own two feet.’’
Classes begin Tuesday morn-
ing.
Set your alarm clock.Thomas Farragher is a Globe
columnist. He can be reached at
[email protected].Police Commissioner Branville G.
Bard Jr. informed her of the decision
on Thursday, Williams said.
A Cambridge police spokesman on
Friday confirmed that the city is con-
cerned about retaliatory violence after
Boston’s Caribbean Carnival Parade
festivities were marred by bloodshed
last weekend.
“There is concern about a continu-
ation of the violence that was initiated
in Boston,” said Jeremy Warnick, the
spokesman, in a phone interview Fri-
day afternoon.
Asked to name the gang or gangs
involved in the threats of violence at
the Cambridge event, Warnick said, “I
wouldn’t have specifics on that.”
The carnival, which was scheduled
for Sept. 8, is one of the city’s largest
public events, drawing thousands of
costumed revelers, musicians, and
other performers.
“Rooted in African traditions,” the
festival aims to “bring together Cam-
bridge’s diverse community,” accord-
ing to the event’s website.
A 1.3-mile parade starts near the
Charles River and winds through Cen-
tral Square before ending in Kendall
Square near MIT.
Earlier, organizers and officials had
said they were acting partly because of
gun violence in the “immediate vicini-
ty” of Boston’s Caribbean Carnival Pa-
rade festivities last weekend, when a
gun battle played out before the star-
tled eyes of police officers patrolling
the dawn J’ouvert Parade in Dor-
chester.
The violence took place close to the
uCAMBRIDGE
Continued from Page 1
site of the annual Caribbean Carnival
Parade, which kicked off Saturday af-
ternoon, hours after the J’ouvert Pa-
rade began the carnival festivities.
At 8:31 a.m. Saturday, a man was
shot near 15 Talbot Ave. As police and
street sweepers cleaned up after the
J’ouvert Parade, “two men who had no
regard for anyone actually started to
shoot each other in the presence of po-
lice officers,” Boston Police Commis-
sioner William G. Gross said at the
time.
Police arrested two men in connec-
tion with the shooting. Both have
pleaded not guilty.
That shooting was part of a larger
rash of violence in Dorchester during
the night of Aug. 23 and into Aug. 24.
All told there were four separate
shootings that left one dead and three
injured.
In a joint statement posted on the
Cambridge Carnival group’s website,
event organizers and city officials said,
“The safety of the Cambridge commu-
nity and those planning to participate
in this event or any Cambridge event
is paramount and will always serve as
the highest priority as it pertains to
making difficult decisions like this.”
A Boston police spokesman said
Friday that last weekend’s shootings
were all still under investigation.
Cambridge held the carnival last
year, but two years ago it was marred
by a daytime shooting near the re-
viewing stand. Two young men were
shot in the leg and foot.
In 2015, violence was also a prob-
lem at the carnival, with a shooting
and a fight leaving five people injured
during a one-hour span.In Cambridge on Friday, some la-
mented the event’s cancellation.
“There aren’t too many events for
Caribbean people around here,” said
Brandan Burke, a 22-year-old who
works at a local biomedical institute.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to
cancel. Maybe upping the security a
little bit would have been a good
idea.”
Maria J. Leite, a 40-year-old Cam-
bridge resident, has been a part of the
carnival for many years, but feared her
costume for this year’s event now just
represented “a waste of time, a waste
of money.”
“It doesn’t make sense,” she said of
the cancellation.
Andrew Pace, a 30-year-old Malden
resident who grew up in Cambridge,
said he understood the decision, say-
ing, “There must be a reason why.”
“With a threat of violence, there’s
potential for innocent bystanders to
get injured,” he said.
Cam Stone, a 29-year-old from
Somerville, who is an assistant direc-
tor of a company that has a presence
in Cambridge, thought officials are
“letting violence win by canceling
this.”
“They shouldn’t cancel a piece of
the city that holds people together,”
Stone said.John Ellement, Emily Sweeney, and
Steve Annear of the Globe staff
contributed to this report. Danny
McDonald can be reached at
[email protected]. Follow
him on Twitter @Danny__McDonald.
Jordan Frias can be reached at
[email protected].his agreement before he was indicted
by a grand jury, through a process that
implies he is cooperating with prose-
cutors. A spokeswoman for US Attor-
ney Andrew Lelling said the matter re-
mains under investigation.
This is the second corruption case
to hit City Hall recently under Mayor
Martin J. Walsh. Earlier in August, two
top Walsh aides were convicted of ex-
tortion-related charges for pressuring
the organizers of the Boston Calling
music festival into hiring union work-
ers, under the threat of losing lucrative
permits. The two have asked to have
the verdict vacated.
The Zoning Board of Appeal is a
powerful gatekeeper over thousands
of smaller-scale construction projects
in Boston, from modest home addi-
tions to mid-size apartment buildings;
its decisions can turn humble proper-
ties into valuable investments by relax-
ing zoning to allow larger develop-
ments on Boston’s notoriously small
building lots. It is also often the battle-
ground where residents fight develop-
ers over the size of projects they try to
squeeze into the city’s dense neighbor-
hoods.
Lynch, who was paid $134,601 last
year, had worked since 2016 for the
EDIC, a division of the Boston Plan-
ning & Development Agency, which
regulates larger scale development.
But his job mainly entailed overseeing
a maintenance crew at the Raymond
L. Flynn Industrial Park. He resigned
on Aug. 16, city officials said.
The bribery case does not appear to
implicate the BPDA. The head of that
city agency, Brian Golden, said he was
“outraged” by Lynch’s behavior, and
said the case was an “isolated inci-
dent.’’
Walsh issued a similar statement
Friday night, calling the charges “very
concerning.’’
“I expect any member of the ZBA to
look at cases impartially and to my
knowledge that is how they are con-
ducting themselves,” Walsh said.
“However, if there is impropriety in
my administration it will be dealt with
swiftly.”
Court documents indicate Lynch
knew the developer who allegedly paid
the bribe because the two previously
worked at another City Hall depart-
ment. Lynch had previously worked
for more than 20 years for the city’s
Department of Neighborhood Devel-
opment, a separate Boston agency that
focuses on affordable housing.
According to federal prosecutors,
Lynch took the $50,000 bribe in ex-
change for securing a key ZBA voteuLYNCH
Continued from Page 1that benefited the real estate develop-
er. With an apparent push from Lynch,
the ZBA agreed to grant the developer
a permit extension for a piece of land
that the developer sought to sell in- The permit allowed the property
to be sold as a multi-unit develop-
ment.
Lynch, prosecutors said, had
known an unidentified ZBA member
for “several years on a personal and
professional basis.” He used his posi-
tion “to instruct and advise the Zoning
Board member to vote in favor of a
permit extension... in exchange for
the payment of a cash bribe from [the
developer] to defendant Lynch,” ac-
cording to court records.
The permit extension helped the
developer realize an additional half
million dollars in profit from the sale,
according to court records. After the
permit extension was granted, Lynch
accepted $25,000 in cash and another
$25,000 check, which he used to pay a
personal bill. He then failed to report
those payments on his federal taxes, as
well as another $10,000 payment he
received from the developer for a sepa-
rate agreement.
The $50,000 bribe was disguised as
a silent broker’s fee, according to court
records.
Lynch has also agreed to plead to
one count of filing a false federal tax
return. A court date has not been
scheduled. He faces up to 10 years in
prison, but prosecutors said they
would recommend he receive 46 to 57
months.
His lawyer, Hank Brennan, said
that Lynch regrets the conduct.
“Mr. Lynch spent a lifetime helping
others, and he has had a tremendous
and positive impact on the communi-
ty,” Brennan said. “This transgression
was an aberration, and he readily ad-
mits and takes responsibility for his
conduct. And he’s sorry to his friends,
family, colleagues, and the countless
members of the community that hold
him in high regard.”
Walsh’s administration only recent-
ly drew weeks of unwanted attention
from the federal trial of two other city
workers in the Boston Calling case.
In that case, also brought by Lel-
ling’s office, two City Hall workers —
tourism head Kenneth Brissette and
Tim Sullivan, head of intergovernmen-
tal affairs — are awaiting sentencing.
Their lawyers have asked US District
Judge Leo T. Sorokin to vacate the
jury’s verdict with a finding that the
evidence in the case did not legally
constitute a crime.
Milton Valencia can be reached at
[email protected].Tears, hugs, and then your child is a college freshman
SUZANNE KREITER/GLOBE STAFF
Students Giaoying Huang, Ethel Deng, and Yuqi Liu got their bearings as they moved into
their dorms at UMass Amherst.Ex-official to plead
guilty to bribery
JOHN TLUMACKI/GLOBE STAFFCarnival canceled due to fears
of violence after Boston shootings
Nicola
Williams, an
organizer of
the Cambridge
Carnival,
announced
outside
Cambridge
City Hall on
Friday that the
festival, one of
the city’s
largest public
events, was
being canceled
this year.