Since January, Collins has been resolute in his advocacy for UMass Chan and other institutions of higher education as he has directly called out the President Donald Trump Administration for threatening to cut National Institutes of Health funding and its attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
Taking on a fast-moving and proactive approach, in early March Collins announced the university had assembled an Advancing DEI Working Group. Mere days later, he announced the school would be implementing an immediate hiring and discretionary spending freeze along with upcoming layoffs. In April, the school laid off and furloughed an estimated 200 employees.
Before the onslaught of federal funding uncertainty, UMass Chan unveiled its new 350,000-square-foot research building in June, one that Collins not only helped conceptualize but played an integral role in securing the $350 million needed for the project. Less than a year later, and after many conversations over multiple years, Collins secured the third-largest donation in the UMass system’s history in February: a $35-million philanthropic gift from Florida-based Paul J. DiMare Foundation to support the university’s research of neurodegenerative and genetic diseases, particularly ALS.Â
Mica Kanner-Mascolo is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the healthcare and diversity, equity, and inclusion industries.
