 This program is brought to you by cable franchise V's and generous donations from viewers like you This is the Amherst weekly report from Amherst media March 26, 2021 I'm Claire Healy and these are the stories from this past week in Amherst, Massachusetts Marty Meehan president of the University of Massachusetts system called for the Institution's Board of Trustees to freeze in-state undergraduate tuition for the second year in a row Meehan announced the tuition freeze in his state of university address One year into the COVID-19 pandemic and UMass is transitioned to online learning Meehan indicated his favor of the tuition freeze in response to the financial burden that has been placed on many students and their families during the pandemic Before financial aid in-state undergraduate tuition at UMass averaged 14,722 dollars for the past two academic years This represents the fifth lowest tuition rate among the six New England public universities and is only higher than that of the University of Maine Meehan's recommendation would still need to be approved by the UMass board to go into effect for the next academic year UMass Amherst will proceed with its 2021 undergraduate commencement in person, but in a modified format To ensure the safety of students and the wider community during the pandemic UMass will host four smaller and shorter ceremonies and McGurk alumni stadium Undergraduate commencement will take place on Friday May 14th as originally planned But the ceremonies will be limited to graduating students and no guests will be allowed Those graduating must comply with health protocols such as social distancing and mask wearing For those unable to attend due to the restrictions or who wish to celebrate at a distance a live stream will be available Additionally UMass is in the process of developing plans to welcome back the class of 2020 during its annual homecoming in November 2021 This graduating class was denied a proper commencement ceremony at the onset of the pandemic UMass will continue to iron out and solidify details for both the class of 2020 and 2021 with updates to come in the following weeks The town council has voted on a measure that will reduce the number of parking spaces in front of the town hall due to the renovation of the North Common The 1.4 million dollar renovation of Amherst North Common will reduce over half the number of parking spaces currently available Instead the town will install more communal green space including additional seating walkways and outdoor lighting at night The measure was approved in a vote of eight to five on Monday night by the town council The town plans to make up for some of the lost spaces by adding roughly a dozen new spaces on Bultwood Avenue and Main Street After being closed for an entire year due to COVID-19 one Amherst business finally reopened its doors Amherst weekly reports field correspondent Rebecca Duffy has the latest Thanks Claire Amherst Cinema is finally open after being closed for an entire year I sat down with their new executive director to learn more Amherst Cinema was one of the first memberships that I had to a film arts community in Amherst and I have for as long as I have lived here just constantly poke around the website to see what are some of the volunteer opportunities that I could do as a member as well as any Job opportunities because previously I've I had a really fun and exciting career in film in New York City So when the executive director position popped up I it was just a no-brainer for me I had had a really nice and lovely successful career at Smith College working in academic technology But this this presented itself and it just it pulled me So my favorite part about Amherst Cinema there are so many things on a personal level I get to engage in the film arts Which to me is really a critical part of the human experience and and the staff is super talented at Amherst Cinema So so joining it was a leap of faith for me Right, it took my ability to lead a group to a new level in that I was doing that in the midst of a pandemic Amherst Cinema closed the store to doors to the public in March of 2020 It was a really difficult decision but it was the decision that was in the interest of health and safety as All different kinds of venues were were shutting down during that time And it remained closed to the public for an entire year We did have a program that we launched we launched virtual cinema that allowed people to stream media of Films that we curate independent art house titles I feel good because one we're providing once again that service to the community that opportunity to see film arts on a big screen and two we really did it in the most Collaborative way possible as a team so everyone feels comfortable and we're super excited to welcome people back So the one thing that Folks should know is that our physical box office is still closed to the public So the only people who are actually allowed into the theater at this point are Ticket holders the only way to to gain access is to purchase tickets online We've upgraded all of our HVAC system. So air air filtration is Increased through the buildings. We've put UV filters and blockers into our systems Each theater itself has a discrete system. So when you're sitting in one theater, you're not breathing the air from another Theater or anywhere else in the building We also Like you see in many many public places have installed these plexiglass barriers for the safety of guests and ourselves and then lastly we upgraded all of our seats over this period of closure which Amherst cinema actually needed and in doing so we have these really easy to clean surfaces So between our kind of cleaning protocols with the various upgrades It is a very safe place to be and work at the moment If you'd like to learn about their showtimes or learn more information about the cinema you can go to www.amherstinema.org Reporting for the Amherst weekly report. I'm Rebecca Duffy as of Monday Boston has a new mayor Kim Janie became acting mayor of Boston this week replacing Marty Walsh who is confirmed as US labor secretary Janie is the first black person to lead the city the first person of color and the first woman to do so as well in Her swearing in remarks on Wednesday She promised to bring urgency to her job and quote strive to make positive change happen in every neighborhood in our city As someone who grew up in Boston South End Janie saw firsthand the racial divides in the city During Boston's effort to integrate schools She witnessed racist verbal attacks and rock-throwing while being bust into Charleston at the age of 11 She said quote in my administration. There will always be a place for those who have felt left out of power Prior to this week she served as president of the Boston City Council This position led her to automatically fill the role following Walsh's exit for the seven months leading up to the November election There's no word yet on if she will seek a full-term come election season The Amherst League of Women Voters met on Tuesday in a round table that brought together six local groups working on racial justice Titled working toward racial equity a round table and dialogue the meeting featured the racial equity task force Amherst Regional High School's people of color united the interfaith opportunities Network the Jewish community of Amherst the National Coalition of Blacks for reparations and reparations for Amherst The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization that quote encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government Works to increase understanding of major public policy issues and influences public policy through education and advocacy The Amherst sector recently formed a task force to compile data about racial equity in the town in order to promote social justice goals for the community However, they came across a significant lack of data regarding employment housing health policing and government The League wants Amherst to provide better public records in these areas and wants a plan from the town government to identify and address these problems Each of the six organizations reflected on their individual work in racial justice and discussed how they can all come together to work more effectively in the community The Amherst Regional High School's people of color united or Poku Spoke about starting an Instagram account to engage and inform the broader community Following a prior incident of racist graffiti at the high school The racial equity task force discussed structural barriers that people of color in Amherst face They cited town council meetings as being discriminatory due to both the late time that they air as well as the lack of translations The National Coalition of Blacks for reparations in America or NAACOBRA Spoke about their work of obtaining reparations for people of African descent in Massachusetts Local leader Kathleen Anderson encouraged community members to reach out to their representatives to support the HR 40 bill that was introduced to the house in January The bill examines the role of federal and state governments in supporting the institution of slavery from 1619 to the present in order to recommend appropriate remedies The Amherst League of Women Voters hopes that the roundtable will create a new network that will further promote dynamic conversation around the work being done on racial equity in Amherst That's all for this week. Thank you for tuning in to the Amherst Weekly Report from Amherst Media. I'm Claire Healy and we look forward to seeing you again at the same time next week