On Friday, May 16, 2025, Simmons University celebrated the 120th Commencement Ceremonies at the MGM Music Hall at Fenway. These events honored the many accomplishments of the Class of 2025. Over 500 baccalaureate degrees and nearly 1,500 graduate degrees were awarded.

• Commencement

Students in the Children’s Literature Master’s Programs at Simmons visited the 2025 Bologna Book Fair, held from March 31 to April 3 in Bologna, Italy.

• Careers and Internships
• Mentorship

Evgenia Mantikas ’25MFA reflects on her graduate experience in the Children's Literature program at Simmons.

• International Student
• Senior Profile

The award-winning author Edwidge Danticat was the speaker at the annual Robert M. Gay Memorial Lecture. Danticat read excerpts from her recent work and engaged the Simmons community in a conversation about solitude, community, and memory.

• Traditions & Annual Events

Alicia Guzman ’25 reflects on the supportive faculty members she found at Simmons, her favorite courses, the research projects she conducted, and how she became inspired to pursue a media studies degree in graduate school.

• Community Engagement
• Research
• Senior Profile

In February 2024, Dale Stinchcomb ’16MS, became the Drue Heinz Curator of Literary and Historical Manuscripts at the Morgan Library and Museum. We spoke with him about this unique role, his forthcoming co-curated exhibition on Jane Austen, and the essential training that he received at Simmons.

• Careers and Internships

In honor of this year’s Summer Children's Literature Institute, we take a look back at the rich history of these events over the last 50 years, which gathered creators, scholars, and readers to mine the brilliant simplicity and compelling complexity of literature published for young people and read by so many others.

• Simmons History
• Traditions & Annual Events

Ginjer Doherty ’25, Aviva Foster ’25, CJ Haggard ’25, Theo Hatfield ’25, Lili Malatinszky ’25, and Grace Walters ’25 have been selected for the prestigious Senior Scholar Award at Simmons University. Sponsored by the Provost’s Office and the Office of Research and Fellowships, the Senior Scholar Award recognizes outstanding scholarly research across different disciplinary fields.

• Awards and Honors
• Commencement
• Mentorship
• Research
• Senior Profile

Gregory Maguire '78MA, best-selling author of Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, reflects on his time as one of the first graduates of the Master of Arts in Children’s Literature program at Simmons, now celebrating its 50th anniversary.

• Careers and Internships

In honor of the University’s 125th anniversary, we examine Barbara (Schneider) Margolis ’51 and her resolute commitment to rehabilitating incarcerated individuals. Barbara Margolis ’51, who majored in retail management (then retailing) at Simmons, became one of the nation’s most beloved prisoners’ rights advocates. Margolis developed rehabilitation and career-transition programs for male inmates at Rikers Island, the world’s largest penal complex (situated within the Bronx and accessible via a girder bridge in Queens).

• 125th Anniversary
• Simmons History
• Social Justice & Advocacy