I’m a journalist, and that means two things: I’m a news junky who is easily sucked into live television coverage, and I can be difficult to impress.
Last year, I was glued to the television after the bombings at the Boston Marathon. Watching the live manhunt in Watertown, I could not pull myself away from the unfolding drama. I felt shock, disbelief, compassion—and the desire to interview.
While working on this issue of Focus magazine, I learned that two of the police officers at the very center of that action are Westfield State University alumni, and certainly, yes, that impresses me.
Way to go, Westfield State, and way to go, Ed Deveau ’78, the chief of police in Watertown, who led the manhunt for and subsequent capture of suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; and Col. Timothy Alben ’84, who commanded the Massachusetts State Police response to the initial finish-line bombings as its superintendent.
Westfield State has a strong reputation as a university that educates professionals in the criminal justice realm, and the service of Ed and Tim underscores that specialty. This University breeds leaders.
I was disappointed, reading the stories about them, that I wasn’t the one on the questioning end of the reports, which begin on Page XX. I wished I had interviewed Ed and Tim, rather than editing their accounts, so that I could have made a direct connection with them on my own.
But I was impressed with the work of Peter Miller ’84 and Evan Cirioni ’14, and it pleases me that I have a connection with them, and that all five of us alumni are involved with the University through storytelling, even though we come from different eras.
I met Peter in a French class while I was a sophomore, and we had several classes together throughout our tenure, including the History of Journalism. Peter’s story on Tim is the most recent of many stories he has written for the magazine; we share an ongoing journalism bond.
Peter writes that Tim was stationed at the start of last year’s marathon, and that he was headed home to East Longmeadow when he got the call that something had gone terribly wrong. Peter well conveys Tim’s even, pragmatic response to the tragedy.
Evan, who graduated this winter from the University, was excited to interview Ed. Evan completed a writing internship with me over the fall, and the Focus assignment was one of his last duties. Like Peter, Evan tells another tale of a University man who thrived under pressure.
Evan also interviewed three other alumni—Ashley Zolenksi ’05, Erica Mellone ’02 and Julie Arrison ’01—for a separate story on their marathon plans this year. All three women were stopped on the marathon course last year, after the bombs exploded. They are running again this year to show their support for the city of Boston and for the marathon as a Boston icon; likewise, Ed is also running for the first time in many years.
Julie’s friend’s husband and child were both injured last year, but that does not stop her. She will run with the same friend again this year, and she says, “We hope that training and running will continue to add to both of our healing processes.”
Westfield State is a leader. It is resilient. It impresses me over and over.
I imagine I will be glued to this year’s marathon on the television, trying to spot my fellow alums doing well. And I imagine they will indeed impress me, yet again.
