CIVIL RIGHTS

Even before Donald Trump became president again and signed several anti-LGBTQ+ orders, more than two dozen states had been building up their policies. Seeking a quality of life with less discrimination, some families with LGBTQ+ children decided to move to states with more protections in place. One family recently arrived in western Massachusetts from South Carolina.

A new report conducted by a Boston-based law firm hired by the University of Massachusetts looks closely at the Amherst campus' police response during the 2024 student protests connected to the War in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

We find out what the Martin Luther King Jr. Family Services of Springfield has in story for MLK Jr. Day, see how the Trust Transfer Project is uplifting artists pursue their passions, and learn what the Word Nerd has to report from the American Dialect Society.

Some colleges and universities, like Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, are preparing to stand up and fight Republican-led calls for higher-ed changes. In the crosshairs? DEI efforts and civil rights.

During a classroom discussion, a teacher at Elms College asked students to assess the credibility of two sexual assault lawsuits filed against another student, the college and college administrators, according to amended complaints filed in federal court.

President-elect Donald Trump and his advisors have threatened to punish or defund colleges for their diversity programs. Mount Holyoke's President Danielle Holley wants other leaders to fight back.

State lawmakers are supposed to only take up non-controversial matters during this informal session period.

A panel of Massachusetts educators and civil rights activists has issued recommendations for college campuses to promote access to higher education, particularly for students of color, LGBTQ+ students and low-income students. The report is in response to the 2023 Supreme Court ruling that bars the use of race in college admissions.

Retired Justice Margaret Marshall says she's concerned about the independence of the judiciary and the threat of civil rights, once given, being taken away.

Lawyers for Civil Rights from Boston has filed a complaint with the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights on behalf of a student victim of racial harassment and a mock slave auction in the Southwick school district.