When David MacKinnon was still in high school, many people told him that he wouldn’t be able to play Division I sports since he was coming from a small town. Now as a junior in college, he has not only disproved that theory by being able to play one DI sport, but by playing two sports.

MacKinnon is one of the rare two-sport student-athletes in Division I collegiate athletics. What makes him even rarer is that he’s a standout in both sports. The University of Hartford junior stars as the starting goalkeeper on the men’s soccer team and the starting first baseman on the baseball team.

“I was blessed with the ability to play baseball, and I’m good in soccer and I’m good at reacting to the ball,” MacKinnon said. “I have more fun with baseball, but I love soccer too.”

As a freshman, he was named to the All-Conference Rookie Team in both sports, and then as a sophomore, he earned Second Team All-Conference honors once again in both sports. Also as a freshman, MacKinnon was named a New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association All-New England Third Team Selection. He has led the baseball team in multiple categories through his first two full seasons, including key ones such as batting average and on-base percentage.

Out on the soccer pitch, MacKinnon finished his rookie season leading the America East Conference in shutouts with nine, which also set a single-season school record. Currently, he has a total of 19 career shutouts, ranking him tied at No. 3 in school history.

Although the 2015 soccer season saw the men’s team finish last in the conference, the 2013 and 2014 seasons saw the Hawks make it all the way to the America East Championship game, due in part to the stellar defensive play of MacKinnon.

But that wasn’t supposed to be the plan.

MacKinnon was originally only going to play baseball in college. But while taking a recruiting visit to campus, he walked past Al-Marzook Field and the thought crossed his mind that maybe he could play soccer here too. Not taking that thought to heart, MacKinnon committed to the Hawks baseball team before his senior year of high school.

As a senior, MacKinnon showed early flashes of being a dominant soccer defender on his way to being named league player of the year, an All-American and an Eastern Mass All-Star. It was then that Hartford men’s soccer coach Tom Poitras went to check out MacKinnon in the all-star game.

Later discussions between Poitras and Hartford baseball head coach Justin Blood allowed MacKinnon to represent the Hawks on both squads.

But even then, MacKinnon wasn’t expected to be a starter and was only supposed to add depth at the goalkeeper position for the men’s soccer team. Well, it took only took a couple of games before he was tabbed as the Hawks’ starting goalkeeper in just his third collegiate game.

On the field, on the diamond and in the classroom, @dmack1124 is a star for the @HartfordHawks #3Pillars https://t.co/u6YEGW2O0u

— America East (@AmericaEast) March 29, 2016

Baseball has always been MacKinnon’s No. 1 sport, where he feels that he can be more at ease and laid back when approaching the sport.

“I put a lot of pressure on myself in soccer so it’s a lot tougher,” MacKinnon said. “Since I play goalie, it’s more of a focus because if I screw up, the game is kind of on me. There’s so many games in baseball and you get so many at-bats, so one at-bat or one play on the field isn’t going to kill you.”

In the summertime, MacKinnon plays baseball in summer collegiate leagues so he really only gets a few weeks off each year in the winter time. Juggling two sports and academics can be tiring for student-athletes, but MacKinnon has no problem and thinks that the three months he spends playing soccer every year has helped him from not burning out.

“If you’re good at two sports and have a decent head on your shoulders, don’t let people tell you it’s not possible because it is. Just prove them wrong. Stay focused and work hard,” Mackinnon said. “You don’t have to give up your sports until you’re playing at a professional level.”

MacKinnon has his sights set on playing professional baseball, but if he continues to rack up the accolades, opportunities for the next level could open in both sports. Perhaps only then will he have to choose one over the other.

After a disappointing walk last year, the University of Hartford Relay For Life team has already surpassed the total amount of money that they raised in 2015.

Last year’s event brought in around $6,000, but the event was hampered because of weather problems that forced the walk to be moved inside of GSU.

Despite last year’s drop in numbers, this year’s goal was set at $20,000. With a month and a half until the event, there have been 361 participants on 31 teams that have already brought in over $6,250. The top three teams are the Delta Gamma sorority, Superheroes and Love Your Melon.

UPDATE: As of March 24 (exactly one month until the walk), 398 participants on 32 teams have raised more than $9,200. Also, Alpha Epsilon Pi has replaced Superheroes in the top three teams rankings. AEPi has raised over $1,830.

Delta Gamma set a goal of raising at least $2,500 and currently leads with $1,880, which is more than double of any other participating team.

“As members of Delta Gamma, we’re all committed to service,” Sara Karlstad said, who serves as vice president Panhellenic for Delta Gamma. “A lot of our sisters’ families and loved ones have been personally affected by cancer, which is why we have been so motivated to give back to the American Cancer Society.”

Superheroes is a team started by freshmen Jennifer Martins and Rachel Bonaparte. They’re goal was to raise $1,000 and they’ve raised $825 so far.

Bonaparte had been involved with Relay For Life with her friends in high school and she wanted to continue to participate in college. When she asked Martins if they wanted to make a team together, it was an automatic no-brainer for both of them, especially since they’ve been affected by cancer.

“I thought cancer was something that affected other people, not my family,” Martins said. “Unfortunately, I was wrong. My aunt was diagnosed with ovarian cancer three years ago.”

Over the summer, Martins also lost someone special to her to pancreatic cancer. Her Spanish high school teacher Mrs. Cruz was the best teacher she had ever had.

Bonaparte’s dad was also diagnosed with prostate cancer during the past summer.

“Cancer affects almost everyone you meet in different ways and everyone wants to have a chance to fight against it,” Bonaparte said.

Love Your Melon is not only a recent addition to the University of Hartford, but also a recent addition to Relay For Life. Love Your Melon helps give a hat to every child battling cancer in the U.S. and signed up for Relay For Life only about two weeks ago. With their mission going hand-in-hand with Relay For Life and the battle against cancer, it was a no-brainer for them to join.

“I am so proud of our team for already raising so much money,” Love Your Melon captain Carly Giordano said. “A lot of our members have had friends and family that survived or passed from cancer and this is a great way to show our respect.”

Love Your Melon set a goal of raising $1,000 and have already brought in $785.

UPDATE: As of March 24, Love Your Melon has raised over $1,100.

The Residence Hall Association has also already committed to donate another $2,000.

As of Feb. 25, the University of Hartford was No. 19 in the top 25 of year-over-year percentage growth among college campus events from 2015 to 2016. The UHart Relay For Life team was seeing a growth of 951 percent.

“At this point last year, we did not have that many participants signed up,” Relay For Life advisor Kristy Severino said. “We’re like light years ahead of where we were.”

The Relay For Life Walk is set for April 24 from 1–8:30 p.m. on the Village Green.

Our #TBT pic goes out to 2011 grad Amanda Weaver who became cancer free two years ago today! #walkforweaver #family pic.twitter.com/xyltwxnffH

— HartfordWBB (@HartfordWBB) September 25, 2014

The event will feature performances by several student groups as well as a keynote speaker Amanda Weaver, who is a Class of 2011 alumnus.

Weaver was also a member of the Hartford Hawks women’s basketball team from 2007–2011. She was one of three team captains during her senior year and helped the Hawks to two America East regular season championships and two conference tournament trophies.

Weaver was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer in June 2012 and after six weeks of chemotherapy and radiation treatment, she successfully underwent surgery in September of that year and was declared cancer-free.

Relay For Life is not only good because it helps the American Cancer Society’s fight against cancer, but also because it brings the different aspects of the University community together.

“You not only see the ‘Red Caps’ and the ‘Greeks,’ but you have someone from athletics or RHA too,” Severino said. “It’s really cool to see everyone come together.”

The first Relay For Life event held on campus was in 2008 in which they raised $38,000. Although numbers have been dwindling the past few years, they have been able to bring in over $100,000 over the past five years.

For more information, contact Kristy Severino at kseverino@hartford.edu.

This year’s Spring Fling Concert will bring the musical acts of three hip-hop artists to the big stage at the University of Hartford. Last Thursday night, students filled the Konover Great Room for the Spring Fling Concert Artist Reveal Party hosted by the Campus Activities Team (CAT). It was revealed that the artists who will be rocking the crowd this year will be Bryce Vine, French Montana and T.I.

While many students may have their complaints, CAT has to work within their budget of not only whom they can afford, but also whether or not the artists are available and if their agents even respond. Also since the University of Hartford is a private university, there are rules and regulations that the artists have to abide to, especially since it is not a typical full-blown concert that the artists might be accustom to performing at.

CAT is in charge of not only putting together the concert, but the entirety of Spring Fling.

“I think the evolution of CAT and trying to make sure the University has great programs, we’re trying to change the environment of Spring Fling,” CAT graduate assistant Emanuel Dillon said. “I do encourage the student body to really be open-minded and take into consideration that Spring Fling is not just the concert.”

Last night, the Campus Activities Team announced this year's Spring Fling Concert artists: Bryce Vine, French Montana, and T.I. #UHart #HartfordInformer #SpringFling

A photo posted by The Informer – UHart (@hartfordinformer) on Mar 4, 2016 at 9:34am PST

Headlining the concert will be rapper T.I., who has had five studio albums reach platinum status as well as two albums that reached gold.

The Recording Industry Association of America gives the label certification of platinum when an album surpasses one million individual sales, and a certification of gold when it surpasses 500,000 sales.

He’s had two No. 1 songs as the lead artist that has reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts. He’s also had two additional songs reach the top spot that had him as a featured artist on the track.

French Montana is another rapper who has begun to gain notoriety over the recent years with his only studio album being released in 2013.

The Album peaked at No. 4 on the U.S. charts while notching the top spots on the U.S. R&B and U.S. Rap charts. Worldwide, the album has sold over 200,000 copies.

His highest charted song was Chris Brown’s 2013 hit “Loyal” that features Lil Wayne and Montana. His highest song as a lead artist is “Pop Tart” which features Rick Ross, Drake and Lil Wayne. The song peaked at No. 36, but reached as far as No. 2 on the U.S. R&B and U.S. Rap charts.

The most unknown of the trio is Bryce Vine. The singer/rapper was born in New York City. His highest viewed lead artist song on YouTube is titled “Sour Patch Kids.”

In response to the social media buzz surrounding the artists announcement, Vine took to Twitter to address the criticisms of him being relatively unknown to UHart students.

“I think I have more fun playing for crowds that have no clue who tf [sic] I am,” Vine tweeted out shortly after the announcement.

It's cool that they got French Montana & T.I to open for me 😆 https://t.co/Eo2PjqJtjx

— Bryce Vine (@brycevine) March 4, 2016

CAT has assured that each of the artists have been locked down into contracts and will be present to perform on the Saturday night of Spring Fling weekend.

Last year’s Spring Fling Concert came with a bit of controversy when the scheduled hip-hop group Travis Porter was a no-show. The three-man group was set to headline the concert that also featured fellow hip-hop artists Sage the Gemini and Ace Hood. Travis Porter instead performed that weekend at Streetzfest in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Spring Fling Concert is scheduled to take place Saturday night, April 16. Preceding the concert will be the “Battle of the DJs” featuring DJ Drewski and DJ QuiL. Also opening the concert will be the winner of this year’s “Battle of the Bands.”

(The Informer/Spencer Honda)

After topping the U.S. hip-hop charts with his sophomore album “The Incredible True Story,” 26-year-old rapper Logic returned to Hartford last Sunday for another sold out show as a part of his second world tour.

The Webster Theater in Hartford was stop No. 27 of Logic’s 56-ctiy world tour cleverly titled as “The Incredible World Tour.” Logic first performed in Hartford a year ago as a part of “The Under Pressure Tour.”

The Incredible True Story was released Nov. 2015 and is described as “a sophomore album and motion picture sci-fi epic from Logic” that tells a story that takes place 100 years in the future of two characters who are in search of a planet called “Paradise” after Earth has become uninhabitable.

In keeping up with the sci-fi space theme of his album, Logic’s live set opened like the beginning of a Star Wars film with cinematic visuals of stars, planets and nebulas, paired with the swooping sounds of “Contact,” the opening track of his album.

Known for his lyrical ability and fast-paced flow, Logic put his skills on display and even rapped acapella at times. While his flow might make for a hard-hitting record, it may not necessarily translate as well to the live stage and might even sound like gibberish if you were unfamiliar with the words of the song.

Nonetheless, paired with longtime friend and hype man DJ Rhetorik, the Logic live show experience was well-balanced that combined almost every song from his newest album, a few songs from his first studio album “Under Pressure,” and a few earlier songs like “Ballin’” and “5AM” for the “day one” fans.

During a quick intermission, Rhetorik played a medley of older Logic tracks from his “Young Sinatra” mixtape series to “test” the audience members’ knowledge of Logic’s discography.

More photos from last night in Hartford #TheIncredibleWorldTour pic.twitter.com/vfdRy9RAAV

— Spencer Honda (@SpncerHonda) March 15, 2016

The “Young Sinatra” mixtapes is what helped Logic grab the attention of the hip-hop world when it was first released in Sept. 2011. He adopted the “Young Sinatra” alter ego from his fascination with famed actor/singer Frank Sinatra and the way he carried himself. Much like how Sinatra was a part of the “Rat Pack,” Logic refers to his group of friends as the “RattPack,” standing for “Real All The Time.”

Being real is what helps separates Logic from other hip-hop artists of his kind. What you see is what you get, and it doesn’t seem like he’s putting up an act or charade.

During his performance, Logic didn’t resort to some of the typical crowd pleasers many artists will use, like claiming that the Hartford crowd was the best or craziest he’s ever played for. He kept it genuine and even spent five minutes in the middle of his set to get to know some of the fans in the crowd.

In the early part of the show, Logic called out a fan who he said had been constantly hitting him up on Twitter to wish the fan’s friend a “happy birthday,” which he then proceeded to do. Logic also later called out a male fan for being a gentleman for letting his girlfriend get a drink out of a water bottle before he did.

“I miss my wife,” Logic told the crowd, which is another thing many artists will shy away from to maintain their sex appeal.

But it’s that authenticity and realness of Logic that makes him so relatable to his fans. That, combined with his lyrical ability, will allow his fan base to continue to grow and for Logic to see more success in the future.

Purchase my sophomore album #TheIncredibleTrueStory now!https://t.co/L5lXQj4anO

— ℒσgic♫ アキラ (@Logic301) November 13, 2015

After several years of planning and waiting for approvals, the time has finally come for the groundbreaking of the University of Hartford’s planned libraries project on the Mortensen Library. With most of the plans now solidified, a groundbreaking on the project is set to begin in mid-May later this year after the commencement ceremonies.

The Libraries Master Planning Process began in 2012 in collaboration with Sasaki Associates, a Massachusetts-based interdisciplinary planning and design firm. Over the years, planning committee has gathered feedback from students, faculty and staff in the University community. But because the planning process began four years ago, the announcement of plans for Phase I of the libraries project came as a bit of a surprise for many students when it was unveiled in Oct. 2015.

The Libraries Master Planning Committee then offered four sessions near the end of the fall 2015 semester to give students the opportunity to engage in small group discussions about the renovation plans. Some of the main concerns were with issues of timing of the construction and how it would be dealt with.

Most of the exterior construction will take place over the summer months when the library is at minimal use. Students can expect construction to continue into the fall and with the building enclosed by the end of the semester. This would include the completion of a glass wall addition to the north end of the building.

Interior construction will also begin in June and will happen in phases, meaning that some sections or even floors of the library might become unavailable for use for a temporary period of time.

Once the exterior construction is completed and the building is weather-tight, the interior construction of new additions can be started. This would include making space for the Allen Library to be moved to the first floor of the library, and the open-air balconies on the upper level that will overhang the middle level.

The goal is to not close the entire library down and should only happen if crews run into an unexpected problem.

A study model of the planned addition and renovation to Mortensen Library! The north wall facing the river will be replaced entirely with glass, making for a beautiful view and study space #HartfordInformer #UHart

A photo posted by The Informer – UHart (@hartfordinformer) on Oct 27, 2015 at 10:58am PDT

“We had wanted to start earlier, but we had a lot of design changes,” Norm Young said, who is the University’s associate vice president of facilities planning and management. “We maybe could have started a little earlier, but why? At this point, the timing works out without disturbing the library.”

Other delays came because of cost issues. There has been a sudden shortage of glass, so the price has risen. This also caused a change in the type of glass that will be used for the back wall. The original plans called for a curtain wall that would use stronger glass and would take less time to build.

Instead they had to settle for storefront glass that is used pretty much everywhere. It’s cheaper, but will take a little longer to build because more support will be needed to be added.

“I think we have done so much homework on this that I can’t even imagine something happening,” Young said. “The library is pretty well mapped out and engineered at this point. It’s hard for me to think of where there might be a stumbling block.”

The budget for the renovation project is about $10.6 million. The University refinanced last June and freed up $12 million with $7 million going to the libraries project and $5 million going to the future Gengras Student Union renovation. The additional $3.6 million for the libraries project comes from a series of donations.

“It’s going to look amazing,” Director of Libraries Randi Ashton-Pritting said. “When students walk in here in the fall 2017, they are going to be bowled over.”

Although the majority of students will not be on campus after the commencement ceremonies in May, a groundbreaking ceremony is possible but has not been confirmed, and will mostly be up to the discretion of president Walter Harrison.

Because of this, it may be possible that a “topping out” ceremony will happen in the fall. This would involve students signing the steel beams before they are covered up. Again, none of this is confirmed and will be decided at a later time by president Harrison.

Construction will continue throughout the 2016–17 school year and is expected to be finished late spring of 2017.

The search process for the next University of Hartford president has officially launched, and feedback from students, faculty and staff have already begun to be gathered from the search committee.

It was announced in Nov. 2015 that current University president Walter Harrison would be retiring at the end of June 2017. A committee chaired by regent Kathy Behrens would begin the search process for the next UHart president.

Shelly Storbeck and Julia Patton of Storbeck/Pimentel Associates, a California-based executive search firm specializing in higher education executive recruitment for colleges and university, will support the search. The two were on campus March 7–8 to meet with the University community to get their feedback in several discussion sessions. There were two faculty sessions, one staff session and one student session. Participants were asked to reflect on their responses to what would interest someone in becoming president at UHart, the challenges they might face and what they would like to see developed over the next several years.

A staple of president Harrison has been his relationship with students and his presence on campus. Harrison has been involved with many student groups and has been a constant attendee to numerous campus events.

“It makes students feel like they’re not at a giant university where nobody knows them,” Student Government Association president TJ Hebert said. “They feel like they’re at a place where people actually care about them as a person.

“I think most people at this school feel that anybody can go to him,” Greek Life Interfraternity Council president Greg Maisch said. “He’s willing to come down to the lowest level to students and answer their problems and questions. He doesn’t have to do that. He’s very open and very transparent.”

Change is always something that brings mixed reactions because of the uncertainty of what will result from it. With big shoes to fill, the new University president may have to face the problem of living up to expectations.

“I think [the new president] would have to face the fact that they’re new and people are going to expect them not to change much,” Hebert said. “They’re going to have to deal with everyone saying, ‘Oh, well Walter went to everything. He went to The Hartt School, the Art School, sports games.’”

However, change is always welcome, especially when it comes to facility upgrades on campus. Hebert and Maisch both agreed that the overall look of the campus needs to be upgraded with better buildings and more housing.

Another thing they both mentioned was being able to engage the alumni on a better level.

“The new president needs to put a big emphasis on re-capturing the alumni,” Maisch said. “I don’t think we do the best job of keeping them involved on campus. People walk out of here in so much debt that they don’t want to give a dollar.”

As for Harrison himself, he reiterated much of what Hebert and Maisch said.

“I think it’s very important for the next person to have a good sense of community,” Harrison told The Informer last month. “This is a very small campus so it is important to have good, strong relationships with everyone on campus. Also, I think whoever succeeds me should be different. Change is good.”

Today our Board of Regents launched the search process for a new president. Read more about the search committee: https://t.co/5msB6wF0kC

— UHartfordNews (@UHartfordNews) February 26, 2016

At the end of Feb. 2016, Behrens announced that the search process was officially launched with the University Board of Regents approval of a 12-person committee made up of regents, alumni, faculty members, a staff member and a student.

The seven regents are: Behrens herself, member of the Board of Regents and a class of 1985 graduate of the College of Education, Nursing and Health Professions; Lucille Nickerson, chair of the Board of Regents; Dominic Fulco III, vice-chair of the Board of Regents and a College of Arts and Sciences class of 1981 graduate; Arnold West, vice-chair of the Board of Regents; Elsa Chin, member of the Board of Regents, a Hillyer College class of 2007 graduate and a College of Arts and Sciences class of 2009 graduate; Gary Masse, member of the Board of Regents and a College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture class of 1985 graduate; and Girish Rishi, a member of the Board of Regents and a Barney School of Business class of 1992 graduate.

The three faculty members are: Robert Black, professor of double bass at The Hartt School and The Hartt School class of 1979 graduate; Deborah Kidder, chair of the department of management, marketing and entrepreneurship, chair of the Faculty Senate, and a professor of management; and John Nordyke, professor of visual communication design.

The lone staff member is Charles Amerson, The Hartt School and College of Arts and Sciences class of 1996 graduate, master’s degree class of 1999 graduate, and current director of the Student Centers Association.

The student member is Yonina Bykov, a member of the class of 2017 in the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Education, Nursing, and Health Professions.

The Board will be hosting several town-hall-style meetings to continue to gain feedback as the search process progresses. They also encourages people to use the “Your Input” section on the University of Hartford website to send any thoughts, comments or concerns.

After the success of the University of Hartford Dining Services’ first Restaurant Night held at Commons, they’re back at it again with another one next week Thursday.

The first Restaurant Night was held Feb. 3 in the Commons Private Dining Room and received rave reviews from all those who attended. After the event, surveys were sent to those who participated and almost all of them rated it at least a nine on a 10-point scale in terms of their overall satisfaction.

This time, the event will be on Thursday night since many students were walking by and saying that they wanted to attend, but couldn’t because of classes.

It will also have an Italian menu that will include chicken parm and homemade fettuccine, two highly requested items from students.

“With having one under our belt, the next one we’re going to knock out of the park,” dining services marketing manager Shannon Mumley said.

Another highly requested change for the event is that participants will have the ability to select their seating when they sign up, instead of being seated by the host.

According to the Eventbrite listings for both time slots of next week’s event, it is already sold out. However, be on the lookout for another Restaurant Night event near the end of March. Sign up quickly because as these two events have shown, seats will sell out fast.

“It was so much fun getting out of the box that we’re always in and seeing the students get really excited about it,” Mumley said. “We want to give that experience to the students because a lot of them don’t have cars and they don’t have the money to afford it. They have a meal plan, why not give them this experience?”

For more information, you can contact Shannon Mumley at Mumley-Shannon@aramark.com.

To coincide with the University of Hartford’s 59th birthday, this year’s Annual Giving challenge was successfully completed and brought in a grand total of $37,218 in support of student financial aid.

This year, the Office of Institutional Advancement held the “Founders Day Challenge” starting on Feb. 21, the day the University of Hartford was established in 1957. The challenge ran until Feb. 23 and had a goal of receiving at least 360 gifts of any size. If that goal was met, a generous donor would give an additional $15,000.

At the end of the three-day challenge, a total of 399 gifts were made, raising $22,218.

The Class of 2011 led the way with the most donors of 10, giving a total of $1,089. The Class of 2012 also had 10 donors and gave a total of $1,091. The highest donation amount came from the Class of 2010 who had nine donors and gave $1,091.

It's Thank A Giver (TAG) Day! @UofHartford students are so grateful for the support from #UHart donors. #UHartGives pic.twitter.com/Skh61TgJHX

— U of Hartford Alumni (@UHartfordAlumni) March 1, 2016

In previous years, a 24-hour challenge was held near the end of April. When it was first done in 2013, 330 gifts totaling $17,737 were raised, blowing past the set goal of 240 gifts.

But with wanting to hold the challenge period on a more significant day that tied into the University of Hartford, Founders Day was selected and it was extended to three days since Feb. 21 was on the weekend.

“I think it created a lot of nostalgia to have it around Founders Day and I think it’s important to remind people of it,” director of Annual Giving Jennifer Keyo said.

To celebrate the success of the Founders Day Challenge and to show appreciate to the donors, March 1 was Thank-A-Giver (TAG) Day. Students could stop by the Gengras Student Union or Commons during Happy Hour to sign thank you notes or to leave a video message. A lot of the thank you cards will be sent out to the first-time donors.

“They can see the immediate impact on real students and that the students here appreciate what they have done,” Keyo said.

In Sept. 2015, University of Hartford president Walter Harrison announced that the Anchor Fund will go toward supporting student financial aid for the 2016 and 2017 fiscal years. The goal for the current school year is set at $695,000.

The decision was made after Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s proposed state budget would eliminate funds for private colleges and universities for the Governor’s Scholarship. The cuts reduced the University’s funds from $1.5 million a year to $900,000.

All of this also comes on the heels of an email announcement made by Harrison the morning of March 2. The email stated that tuition, fees, and room and board for the 2016–17 school year would increase by 3.49 percent.

The post Annual Giving ‘Founders Day Challenge’ is met appeared first on The Hartford Informer.

University of Hartford students are stepping up to support residents of the Bloomfield and West Hartford communities who have been in a battle with town council leaders after the sudden announcement of a possible new water bottling facility to be built in Bloomfield.

The Hartford Courant released an article mid-December last year about negotiations between Bloomfield town council leaders and Niagara Bottling. The California-based company proposed to build a $73-million 443,000-square-foot bottling facility on Woodland Avenue.

Most of the outrage sparked was because this came as a surprise as residents felt that they were left out of the loop.

Negotiations between Bloomfield officials and Niagara actually began two years ago, but the deal fell through. Niagara searched for possible locations in upstate New York but those negotiations too fell through. The company then returned back to Bloomfield where negotiations were re-engaged and continued forward without much public knowledge.

Enraged residents began attending town council meetings to voice their concerns, and even started the “Bloomfield Citizens” and “West Hartford Concerned Citizens” groups to garner support on social media. They also started several petitions, with one of them collecting over 1,200 signatures to oppose the Niagara Bottling facility.

Water wars have come to Bloomfield. Citizens are not going away Blmfd Mayor Gamble! pic.twitter.com/Nod9wJ3EJQ

— Bloomfield Citizens (@BlmfldCitizens) February 19, 2016

To mirror their efforts, University of Hartford students Mike Fiordalisi and Colleen MacInnis began a petition on Feb. 24 in an effort to oppose the water bottling facility. As of Wednesday afternoon, the petition has over 450 signatures. (UPDATE 3/3: It now has over 590 signatures)

Fiordalisi also sent a mass email on the morning of March 2 to all University of Hartford students to urge them to support their “Hartford Protects” campaign. In the email, he referenced the University of Hartford’s values of being “committed to community.”

“The University of Hartford stands behind the mantra ‘committed to community.’ So, let’s as a student body, show our support for our community and environment we all call home and consider signing and supporting our campaign!”

Fiordalisi first found out about this issue in his “Studies in Social Problems” class taught by professor Renwick Griswold, and found the secrecy of the deal to be outrageous.

“I encourage everyone to sign this petition in order for the petition to work to its full effectiveness when presented in front of state legislation next Friday afternoon,” Fiordalisi told The Informer. “With enough signatures, this could really make an impact in protecting our community. The existence of Niagara Bottling in Bloomfield would be a virus in the heart of our community.”

Sophomore Audrey Vogel signed the petition and saw that it was a great opportunity for UHart students to get involved.

“We’re the generation that has the highest chance of creating change,” Vogel said, who shared the petition on Facebook. “It sounds corny, but we are the future.”

Although the petition mentions the Park/Hog River that runs through the University of Hartford campus, it would actually remain unaffected by the new facility. The river water comes from the North Branch Park River watershed, while Niagara will get their water from the Barkhamsted and Nepaug reservoirs which comes from the Farmington River watershed.

#Bloomfield town council chambers full of opponents to Niagara bottling plant. pic.twitter.com/guhCXp7xof

— steven goode (@townnewsguy) February 23, 2016

One of the major issues with the Niagara facility is the environmental impact it will have on the community.

The Metropolitan District (MDC) is a municipal corporation in charge or providing potable water and sewerage services to eight municipalities including Bloomfield, West Hartford and Hartford. The agreement with Niagara Bottling allows the plant to use up to 1.8 million gallons of water a day.

The facility will sit on a 42-acre property with one bottling line that could eventually expand to four. Each bottling line would be capable of using up to 450,000 gallons of water a day. Currently, the largest MDC costumer is the Hartford Hospital, which uses about 450,000 gallons a day.

In recent years, the average daily water usage has been no more than 49 million gallons. The MDC has a 77 million gallon limit of daily use that they say customers could use without depleting the supply. The Barkhamsted and Nepaug reservoirs can contain about 40 billion gallons of water and recently the MDC said that it is 88 percent full.

It also brings up the issue of added environmental pollution from the production of millions of plastic bottles and the use of vehicles to transport them. However, Bloomfield town officials refuted this by saying that stopping Niagara from building the plant here wouldn’t solve that problem. They would just go to some other town and still produce that same amount of pollution.

However, the deal to bring Niagara Bottling to Bloomfield has been signed and is all but done. The land property has been purchased and the building permits have been paid. The town council could go back on their agreement, but they would be sued for breach of contract.

It’s only up to Niagara if they want to change their mind, but Hartford Courant reporter Steven Goode, who has been following this ordeal, doesn’t think that would happen after having already spent all that money.

“It looks like there is going to be a bottling plant in Bloomfield,” he said in an email.

To sign the University of Hartford petition, go to the PetitionBuzz website and search for “Say No To Niagara.”

On Feb. 11, vice president of student affairs and dean of students Dr. Lee Peters informed the University of Hartford community via email of the rise in heroin use and overdoses in the surrounding Hartford area.

“Today, I write to make you aware of an alarming rise in heroin use and overdoses in our surrounding area,” Peters wrote in the email. “The University has a strict policy against illegal drug use and offers services for those who have substance problems.”

The email comes after a rising heroin epidemic in the state of Connecticut. A two-day summit was held Feb. 15–16 in New London, Conn. with Michael Botticelli, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, police officials and representatives from community groups.

The Connecticut state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner reported that 2015 saw twice as many deaths caused by heroin overdoses than it did three years earlier. Overall, there were 723 deaths in Connecticut from heroin, cocaine or other drugs. Of those deaths, 415 were heroin-related, an increase of 27 percent from 2014.

There have already been numerous heroin-related incidents in the Hartford area since the beginning of the new year. At the end of January, the Hartford Police Department seized more than 1,200 bags of heroin in a raid on Bellevue Street. in Hartford. A few days later, they arrested a 36-year-old convicted felon after he was found in possession of 2,694 bags of heroin. Last week, police also seized over 500 bags of heroin, 50 grams of cocaine and numerous packaging materials at a home in East Hartford.

The email alerts also come after a reported incident that occurred Feb. 9 in the Konover Campus Center in which a woman was found unconscious and unresponsive in the restroom with a hypodermic needle and five bags of heroin. The woman was taken to Saint Francis Hospital where she was stabilized and then questioned for further information, according to Public Safety.

The woman arrived on campus in a cab with a man who fled the scene by foot once Public Safety had arrived two minutes after they received a call that reported the incident. Both the man and woman are confirmed to not be University of Hartford students.

“If you or anyone you know uses heroin or has any other addiction, please seek help immediately,” Peters also wrote in the email. “And remember, if you discover someone in distress, call Public Safety immediately.”

Public Safety can be contacted at 860-768-7777.

The email lists campus services such as Health Services, Counseling and Psychological Services and Connections Health Education and Wellness. Other resources listed were Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery, Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, MedlinePlus: Heroin Overdose and StopOverdose.org.

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