Town Gown

From the very beginning, the Town of Bridgewater has been a supporter, benefactor and partner. As the university celebrates its 185th birthday, we are reminded that the Town of Bridgewater raised $10,000 in 1840 to outbid several other towns to be the site of the Bridgewater Normal School. In 1924, when a fire destroyed half of the campus’s buildings, the town rallied to our side. Today, Bridgewater extends its hand of kindness in ways large and small to the BSU community.

Bridgewater State University rallies to the needs of the town too. When the old town hall suffered a flood, the university sent a team to clean it up and salvage historic records — all at no cost. As town Councilor-at-Large Marilee Hunt has recounted, when the town did not have sufficient bandwidth to make digitized town reports available to the public, the university stored the records in its archives and made them publicly accessible.

BSU is an asset to our community. Beyond direct monetary contributions to the town, BSU creates jobs and supports our local businesses. When we ask for help, BSU always steps up.”
-Dennis Gallagher, State Representative

The accounts that follow speak to the countless ways in which we work together to enhance the safety of the community, sustain the vitality of the local economy, support the education of our young people and community, and improve the wellbeing of the people who call Bridgewater home, including more than 2,000 of our faculty, staff and alumni.

Bridgewater State University is not just in Bridgewater; we are part of Bridgewater. Our past, present and future are deeply interwoven and inseparable.

Every year, more than 20,000 K-12 students and teachers, community members and BSU faculty, staff and students participate in countless Center for the Advancement of STEM Education (CASE) activities, from Open Lab Nights and Watershed Access Lab to "CASE on the Road" traveling field trips.

Today, hundreds of Bridgewater students attend BSU, where they receive an average tuition and fee discount of $10,974 each.

"Whenever we ask for assistance from the university, there has never been a ‘no’; the response is always what can we do to help you."
-Ryan Powers, Superintendent of Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School District

BSU's Senior College offers a diverse array of short-term, non-credit courses in subjects like history, art, science, literature, wellness, and more, for adults aged 50 and older, who can take up to seven courses a semester all for $95 - making it the most affordable lifelong learning program in Massachusetts.

"The partnership," said Chief Anderson, "extends across all areas of policing," including:

• 24/7 mutual aid during any incident, improving response times and community safety.
• Support and operational preparedness for major events, such as parades and fireworks, reducing logistical burdens for the town, improving traffic management, and increasing public safety.
• BSU's K-9 unit offers specialized detection capabilities for schools, suspicious packages and crime scenes, emergency preparedness and safety.
• Collaboration on investigations, where BSUPD and BPD detectives work together to solve cases faster. BSU camera surveillance helps BPD gather evidence during investigations.
• Shared training to ensure the highest quality law enforcement practices across both departments.

"I am proud of the work we have done collaboratively to make safety and quality of life a priority for the residents of our community and the University. An enduring partnership carried out by many but realized by all."
-Chief Christopher D. Delmonte, Esq., Bridgewater Police Department

BSU's Information Technology division has also lent its cybersecurity expertise to help protect the town's schools and infrastructure against threats of phishing, malware and ransomware that have afflicted many communities.

The tri-town Bridging the Bridgewaters land and water trail system is the result of a strong and enduring partnership developed over decades between the community and BSU. Initiated at a conference at BSU in 2000, Bridging the Bridgewaters is the emerging vision of hundreds of acres of open spaces connected through parklands and trails, natural resource areas, watersheds, and community attractions. It will provide opportunities for people to hike, bike, and kayak, enjoy the peace of a unique natural history and ecology, partake of pristine natural areas for outdoor classrooms and nature study, and enjoy culturally rich amenities such as the Wyatt Sculpture Garden on BSU's campus. 

"BSU, particularly its Department of Geography, led by professors Drs. Hellstrom and BoAh Kim, have been invaluable to this project," said long-time Bridgewater resident Kitty Doherty, and is currently building and digitally housing the trail's QR code StoryMap.

BSU has donated 1,358 hours of community service in the past year through its Martin Richard Institute for Social Justice. From building homes with Habitat for Humanity, fighting hunger, and befriending older adults at the Senior Center to blood drives and packing backpacks for youth experiencing homelessness, BSU students and employees are making our shared community a better place.