Mass. Maritime Removing Nautical Items from Campus, Sign of the End of License Majors?

It was recently brought to my attention by a friend that Mass. Maritime has begun removing the iconic nautical statues and other various items around campus? For those familiar with the campus, I’m specifically referring to the Merchant Mariner statue located outside of 1st and 3rd Companies (was told it was moved to Battleship Cove, not destroyed), as well as the red and green buoys and the anchors around campus as well. As far as I’m aware, everything besides the Merchant Marine Memorial located on the canal side is being removed.

Is this a push by the school to move further away from the license track majors? Based on the recent commercials there seems to be a big movement towards marketing the leadership aspect of the school (“The Commonwealth’s Leadership University”) instead of there being any regard for the school’s history as one of the best Maritime Colleges.

If this is the case, before it’s too late I would like to start a petition to bring attention to preserving the license track majors and trying to get the school to pay more homage to the school’s roots, the entire reason the school was founded in the first place.

Thoughts?

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There’s been some concern about issues like this in the Alumni Association. If you haven’t noticed they changed the schools logo, removing the ships wheel.

Have you reached out to anyone in the alumni association about this?

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Hadn’t even thought to to be honest just got this news today, been sailing for the last few months. I’ll reach out to them now!

I’m a little unclear about your post, are you saying that you know MMA Alumni who are law enforcement officers? Did they get maritime licenses? If so did they ever sail on them?
Did you attend MMA? have you sailed?

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I too am confused…what positions were fired and what are you referring to about descriminatory practices of the Alumni Assoc?

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If that makes a difference in how they are treated or expect to be treated then, yes, there are issues with discriminatory practices.

What’s the real issue? What free speech has been restrained? While some folks would like to “rewrite” history, no one can erase it so how about some clarity on what has your knickers in a twist?

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Wait is this all about vaccinations?

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Lol probably

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I said nothing about vaccinations. That is not my concern at all.

Boy there’s a lot to unravel there.

I am unable to read your continuous flow of text… with my old eyes.
Some line feeds after a hundred of letters would help…

In addition to missing statues, changing of the seal, I have knowledge that Mike Mahoney was forced to resigned from the Alumni Association because he answered questions from parents about the lack of uniforms for Cadets. This caused a scathing letter written by the President of MMA to the Alumni Association, about Mike. In turn, prior to a scheduled Alumni meeting, the Association asked Mike to a private Zoom where he was told either resign or they would vote him out. He was given no notice and no due process.

The parents were told the truth by Mike: the shortage of uniforms was due to the firing of Jim Callan, Follet Inc Bookstore employee (on MMA campus) who had been successfully coordinating the issue of gear and sea bags for 8 years with zero issues.

The president received an outlandish complaint that Jim took pictures of Cadet at graduation. The President interfered and facilitated the firing of Callan even after he was exonerated of the silly claim he took a picture of a cadet who has divorced parents. Turns out it was a lie and the divorce highly volatile. JIm Callan did nothing wrong. Exoneration wasn’t good enough for the President who interfered causing Callan to be fired from the bookstore, which left no experienced bookstore employee to take over with the issuing of uniforms.

Callan was a mentor to many Cadets over the years. Donated his time and money for MMA, jumped in the canal to raise money. One Cadet in particular, an autistic student, with a 3.9777 GPA ,wrote a change.org petition asking for an investigation on the lack of discipline at the Academy due to a new upper admin hire, Shannon Finning, and the firing of Callan. The Cadet was forced to resign, his phone taken and searched, he was threatened he would be given a negative report if he tried to go to another college (against FERPA rules).

He is 19, has a twin brother at MMA and both raised by a single parent after the father left when the twins were 18 months. The Cadet in question was a sophomore regimentally with no prior discipline but academically a junior due to advanced coursework. When the petition was found the Cadet was forced off the academy ground just prior to a hurricane. The Cadet was interrogated without due process and grilled if Jim Callan or another adult bookstore employee helped him write the petition. They did not.

JIm was fired in the first week of August. On August 25, 2021 the Cadet resigned under pressure and Jim Callan was no trespassed with no report filed at the campus police, the same day, the other bookstore employee was discipline and threatened to be fired.

Additionally, Jeff Hagopian, Captain and MMA grad , instructor at the Naval Warfare College, was on campus for a seminar about the sinking of a ship, had a conversation with a Trustee about a safety issue. The Trustee told him he better not talk about that subject again or it would be bad for him. Hagopian was no trespassed within then week. The trustee did not report to the police which would be the proper venue if he was in fact “put in fear” by a mere conversation. Instead he contacted his subordinate, the President, Hagopian was no trespassed from MMA.

These issues all surround free speech. How I was involved: In July 2021, Jim Callan wore a thin blue line patch on his MMA button up shirt as he had for 5 years. A female Cadet and foreign student made a complaint about the thin blue line flag since Callan was participating in an MMA video about uniform fittings. The President had the thin blue line flag erased technically from the film. When students of law enforcement found out they told their parents, who told me. The thin blue line flags had been sold in the bookstore for years.

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No way to unravel that incoherent brain fart!

And all of a sudden poof! It’s all gone…

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Id love to talk to you…508-428-1116

Sounds like a convoluted situation. Also sounds unwinable, and even if the side of the bookstore employee and Alum are found to be “right”, then what, they get reinstated at a place where the powers that be are already gunning for them?

“[…]Know when to fold ‘em.” -Kenny Rogers

Does this mean Mass Maritime won’t be needing the new training ship scheduled to be built at Philly Ship?

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That’s not surprising. That symbol has been co-opted by fascists and racists to the point where the minority of people that use it innocently should just stop.

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Agree. Also I think it is in violation of 18 U.S.C. 700.
Perhaps I am also unique in thinking the flag should not be made into shirts, swimwear or napkins people wipe their mouth on. I also don’t believe in those silly lapel pins being worn by every moron politician or talking head on TV. They should be reserved for the 1% of the citizens who actually served in the USCG, USA, USN, USMC or USAF. In my opinion most of those wearing those flag lapel pins are desecrating the flag, especially the politicians. Chicken hawks used to be considered varmints, IMO the ones that don’t have feathers still are.

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