November 14, 2025
Volume 94 • Issue 9
FSUgatepost.com
Fire displaces students from Towers By Dylan Pichnarcik Associate Editor A fire in Corinne Hall Towers resulted in the evacuation of residents and their subsequent displacement from their rooms on Nov. 11. The fire, caused by a malfunctioning lamp in a student’s room on the sixth floor, spread to flammable personal items throughout the space at approximately 1 a.m., according to Meg Nowak Borrego, vice president of Student Affairs. As a result, 23 students are living in Linsley Hall or other Towers rooms while water damage is assessed. The cost of the fire, including repairs and reparations to students, is expected to be approximately $200,000, according to Nowak Borrego. She said after the building’s alarm system sounded, the sprinkler system activated and stopped the fire from spreading. Adrien Gobin / THE GATEPOST The fire remained contained (Center) Natalie Reynolds going up for a kill during the MASCAC Quarterfinal Nov. 11. to the student’s room, according to Nowak Borrego. She said the building’s sprin- Swiacki Children’s Literature Festival hosts Ransome writer and illustrator klers worked as expected to supBy Francisco Omar Fernandez Rodriguez hand, some are trying to limit some as a Newbery Honor award press the fire. Arts & Features Editor what children read, at least in recipient and as an author of While waiting for clearance schools and libraries. On the several nonfiction and historito reenter the building, students The Swiacki Children’s Lit- other, some are trying to con- cal fiction books. were directed to Hemenway Hall. erature Festival hosted Lesa “She lives and works in the Nowak Borrego said she, along Cline-Ransome and James E. trol how children read. “The too cozy juxtaposition Hudson Valley region of New with President Nancy Niemi, Ransome as speakers for the between tight control of what York, where she consumes - this Robert Totino, vice president of Mary Burns Memorial Lecture printed materials children are is a woman after my own heart Finance, Technology, and Ad- Nov. 6. exposed to and tight control of - large quantities of books and ministration, Ryan Hacker, assoPresident Nancy Niemi said the way in which they learn to chocolates each day,” she said. ciate vice president of Facilities there has been a continuous Cline-Ransome works with and Capital Projects, and Glenn debate about what is consid- decode them, is likely not lost Cochran, assistant vice president ered appropriate material for on anyone in this room,” Niemi her husband, illustrator James Ransome, she added. of Student Affairs, were on site children’s literature “more or said. “It is lucky for us, however, Niemi introduced Ransome after the incident and surveyed less since print has been widely that as authors, illustrators, edas someone the Children’s Book the building after the Framing- available.” ucators, students, and citizens, Council named as “one of the 75 ham Fire Department left camShe said there are two ongo- we know that this control has, authors and illustrators everypus. ing attacks on literacy efforts and will always fail, at least in one should know.” The group remained on cam- for children. the long run,” she said. pus until students were readNiemi said, “On the one Niemi introduced Cline-RanSee SWIACKI Page 13 mitted to non-damaged areas of Towers.
Championship Bound!
Admissions works to slow enrollment decline By Cole Johnson Staff Writer Over the last decade, the total number of enrolled degree-seeking students at Framingham State decreased by 37%, according to data from the Office of Institutional Research. In Fall 2015, Institutional Research data showed Framingham State enrolled 5,275 degree-seeking students. By Fall 2025, that number had dropped by 1,964, with only 3,311 degree-seeking students enrolled, including both undergraduate and graduate students. Framingham State’s degree-seeking student population increased last fall, rising from 3,373 students in 2023 to 3,448 students in 2024. All other years back to 2015 saw declines in student population, according to Institutional Research data.
Data from the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education (DHE) shows similar enrollment trends among state and community colleges over the same time period. Iris Godes, vice president of Enrollment Management, said schools anticipated reduced enrollment rates. “When the data became available [about] how few children were born in 2008 and 2009, the higher education industry was alerted. ‘You are going to have a cliff in 18 years,’” she said. “Here we are.” The gradually declining number of enrolled college students is commonly referred to as the “demographic cliff.” Following the Great Recession, the drastically lower number of births led to smaller graduating high school classes. “The Northeast saw that cliff a little sooner than other parts
of the country,” Godes said. “The Northeast and the Midwest had the biggest hit, and so we’ve started to see that decline earlier. But now it’s really here for everybody.” Godes said she was disappointed to see the decline in enrollment this year after the rise in the student population in 2024. She said FSU has experienced enrollment decline “more so than some of our peers of other state universities. They were course-correcting a little better than Framingham,” she said. Data from the DHE shows enrollment at universities such as Bridgewater State and Worcester State began to recover in Fall 2023 and onward, after following a downward trend similar to Framingham State’s. Bridgewater State’s student body increased by 2% from Fall 2022 to Fall 2024, while
Worcester State’s student body increased by 9% over the same period. Godes said in addition to the lower number of eligible students, the COVID-19 pandemic also stunted academic development for many students. “Everybody had horrible experiences in education [during the pandemic]. So that didn’t help. And the demographic decline is continuing, and now, [students] feel unprepared for college,” she said. “[Students] weren’t on track emotionally, socially,” Godes said. “And those couple of years, depending on what school you were at, you had a lot of online work. You did not achieve in those couple of years to the level that you should have. So now, seniors in high school are coming out more like sophomores in high school.
Sports
Arts & Features
FOOTBALL pg. 9 VOLLEYBALL pg. 11
THE GRILLE pg. 12 TASTE OF CULTURE pg. 14
See ENROLLMENT Page 5
INSIDE: OP/ED 6 • SPORTS 9 •ARTS & FEATURES 12
News GPI pg. 2 HONORS PROGRAM pg. 4
OP/ED GRIEF pg. 7 FRANKENSTEIN pg. 8