We're more than half way through commencement season here in America's college town (UMass Boston, Harvard, MIT and Wellesley will hold theirs in late May and early June). But to get a sense of what's going on outside the bubble, we offer this speech from none other than Stephen Colbert, who delivered the valedictory at the University of Virginia over the weeknd.

“Your generation needs everything to be about you,” he said, according to the Washington Post, “and that’s very upsetting to us Baby Boomers, because self-absorption is sort of our thing.”

“Every generation must define itself,” he said. “If you must find your own path, and we have left you no easy path, then decide now to choose the hard path that leads to the life and the world that you want.”

(Rose Lincoln/Harvard Staff Photographer)

Brighton resident Stephanie Connolly used classes offered by the Harvard Allston Workforce Development Collaborative to learn Microsoft’s Office programs. Armed with a new résumé, she's on the job hunt. “I can walk through the doors of the company and feel very confident,” said Connolly. “They [the course instructors] have given that to me.”

The following is a report by Alvin Powell written for and originally published by Harvard University's official newspaper the Harvard Gazette, a publication of the university's Public Affairs & Communications office.

After spending 13 years raising three boys, Stephanie Connolly wanted to get back into the workforce, but she was worried that her computer skills were obsolete.

Not only was the long employment break a concern, but she had never used Microsoft’s Office programs. Her last employer had only used WordPerfect.

A year later, Connolly is so well-versed in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint that she is helping others, and just completed a stint as a teaching assistant in a computer class. She’s also on the job hunt, armed with a new résumé, freshly honed interview skills, and state-of-the-art knowledge of how to conduct Internet job searches, fill out Web-based applications, and upload resumes.

“I can walk through the doors of the company and feel very confident,” said Connolly. “They [the course instructors] have given that to me.”

Connolly, who lives in Brighton, credited her development to classes offered by the Harvard Allston Workforce Development Collaborative. The collaborative is part of a rich suite of programs, grants, and neighborhood improvements that stem from an agreement struck between Harvard University and the city of Boston five years ago.

The agreement grew out of discussions between the University and the city over the construction of Harvard’s Science Complex in Allston. Although the University paused construction in 2009, implementation of the non-construction-related aspects of the agreement has continued.

What that has meant to the neighbors is the opening and expansion of the Harvard Allston Education Portal, a community-centered education facility that serves as Harvard’s front door to the neighborhood; access to certain University programs and facilities; more green space, in the form of the 1.74-acre Ray V. Mellone Park; and new resources, in the form of grants to community organizations and nonprofits that have totaled $500,000 in five years. (Information about the agreement’s benefits to the community, as well as about Harvard’s deep ties with Cambridge and Boston, are available on the new community-orientedPublic Affairs website, which launched earlier this month.)

“Harvard is an engaged community partner and is committed to projects, educational and outreach programs, and other initiatives that benefit Allston,” said Kevin Casey, associate vice president of Harvard Public Affairs & Communications. “The programs implemented over the past five years have created a solid foundation of meaningful community engagement to build upon as we enter into this next phase of community benefits associated with our new institutional master plan.”

An Ed Portal “over and above”

The Harvard Allston Education Portal is perhaps the centerpiece of the University’s burgeoning relationship with the Allston-Brighton neighborhood. It opened in 2008 with mentoring and after-school enrichment programs aimed at local schoolchildren, including those at nearby Gardner Pilot Academy, the closest public school to Harvard’s Allston campus.

Over the last five years, 80 Harvard undergraduates have provided mentoring for 300 neighborhood students, and programming has grown to include the Workforce Development Collaborative’s computer and job-readiness classes, a lecture series that brings the Harvard faculty’s cutting-edge research to a community audience, and an outdoor farmers market that runs from June through October.

The free Ed Portal membership is open to any neighborhood resident. Membership has grown rapidly from 455 in 2009 to 1,700 this year. The facility has grown as well, with an annex opening last year that tripled its size.

“What began as a thoughtful but modest program of mentoring has blossomed into a full array of programs for kids, adults, seniors, and residents who speak other languages,” said Linda Kowalcky, deputy director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

Kowalcky, who helped to negotiate the cooperation agreement for the city, said that while there are aspects of the agreement tied to the science center construction process that have yet to be implemented, Harvard has carried out its non-construction-related obligations, and in some cases exceeded them.

“The Education Portal is an example of where Harvard has gone over and above” the terms of the agreement, Kowalcky said. “It takes the strengths of the University and brings them to the community, to kids, to parents, and to teachers.”

The key to the Education Portal’s success has been the University’s commitment to treat the relationship with the community as a core priority, said portal faculty director Robert Lue, professor of the practice of molecular and cellular biology.

Lue said he views the facility as something of a “sandbox” where innovative ideas about how to strengthen the relationship between the University and the community — while enhancing the understanding of learning — can be suggested and tried out.

“People who have great ideas and great energy need a place to do it,” Lue said. “It’s not something built separately. Sharing and outreach truly must come from the heart, and be an extension of the core priorities of the University.”

A longstanding community resource in Allston that predates the cooperation agreement is Harvard’s Ceramics Program, managed by the Office for the Arts. The program was founded in Cambridge in 1969 and has been located since 1987 at its studio at 219 Western Ave. In addition to events for all ages, presented in collaboration with the Ed Portal, the program provides adult ceramics classes, workshops, and seminars led by highly skilled artists and scholars from around the world, drawing about half of its student body from the University and half from the community. It also sponsors a semi-annual show and sale, which this month drew a record number of attendees. In the fall, the program will increase its visibility and commitment to the Allston community by moving to 224 Western Ave., where a large studio will feature enhanced amenities, including a dedicated exhibition space at street level.

Funding partnerships

The cooperation agreement also provides for the Harvard Allston Partnership Fund, through which the University has distributed $100,000 a year for the past five years. The funds have gone to 20 organizations, including the Friends of the Honan-Allston Library, the Oak Square YMCA, the Charles River Watershed Association, and the Fishing Academy, a nonprofit that runs summer camps for urban youth. Because of its success and popularity, the fund was extended this year for five more years as part of the planned relocations associated with the Barry’s Corner mixed-use development.

Fishing Academy Executive Director John Hoffman said the funds have provided scholarships for youth from Allston-Brighton, most of whom had never cast a line, tied a knot, or baited a hook. The weeklong camp provides two days of freshwater fishing in nearby ponds and then three days of fishing on the Boston Harbor islands, cruising aboard a local charter fishing boat, and taking a turn on the academy’s own boat. In 2012, the academy received more than $5,000, which provided scholarships for 45 youths.

“Without support from the Harvard Allston Partnership Fund, a lot of local kids wouldn’t be able to get into the outdoors and participate in such a fun and educational experience,” Hoffman said. “It really is a program that can actually change the course of some of the kids’ lives.”

Carin O’Connor, librarian at the Boston Public Library’s Honan-Allston Branch, applied for partnership funds to enhance the library’s offerings for adult education. The funds were used to buy seven sewing machines and hire an instructor so the library could offer sewing and quilting classes. O’Connor said the partnership funds, which went to Friends of the Honan-Allston Library, are essential, since city budget cuts have meant the library had no funds for programming.

“It absolutely would not have been possible,” O’Connor said. “Adults really like getting back into making things. Why should the kids have all the fun?”

Camps and programs and scholarships, oh my!

While the Education Portal provides a physical focus for the partnership between Harvard and the Allston-Brighton community and the Partnership Fund extends resources into the community, a variety of scholarships give community members access to programs at the University.

Since 2008, 556 academic and recreational scholarships have been given to Allston-Brighton youth and adults. Each year, 50 scholarships allow adults to attend the Harvard Extension School, and each summer 50 more allow neighborhood youth to participate in summer camps for tennis, baseball, and swimming.

Last year, Erica Herman, principal of the Gardner Pilot Academy, attended instructional rounds at the Graduate School of Education’s Principals’ Center, with three other Gardner faculty members. Herman called the four days of professional-development classes “an eye-opening, challenging, wonderful opportunity,” one that should be experienced by other teachers at the school.

Herman said the Ed Portal’s mentoring program provides Pilot Academy children, ranging from kindergarten through sixth grade, a chance to interact with Harvard students and to see that college is a possibility for them.

Herman, who sits on the Education Portal’s advisory board, said that while Harvard has long had a partnership with the community, the two-way communication is better now. She looks forward to seeing the relationship continue to expand.

“There is definitely a deeper presence of Harvard in our community, in our school,” Herman said. “It’s not that Harvard has never been a partner, but the partnership has deepened. There’s a much stronger presence and a two-way conversation.”

Looking for more coverage of area colleges and universities? Go to our Your Campus pages.

(Rose Lincoln/Harvard Staff Photographer)

Gavin Healy (left) and Brendan Shea go over a play at an A.R.T. workshop at the Ed Portal. File photo by Katherine Taylor

(Kris Snibbe/Harvard Staff Photographer)

Allston resident Stephanie Henry looks over the finished pieces at the ceramics studio. Managed by the Office for the Arts, the Ceramics Program was founded in Cambridge in 1969 and has been located at its studio at 219 Western Ave. in Allston since 1987.

By Katherine Landergan, Town Correspondent, and Marcella Bombardieri, Globe Staff

One year after Harvard University and MIT launched edX, a $60 million initiative in which colleges offer online classes at no charge, the not-for-profit company announced today that it is doubling the number of participating universities, including the Berklee College of Music and Boston University.

EdX said that 15 higher education institutions are joining the initiative from four continents, bringing the total number of schools to 27. Based in Cambridge, edX has more than 900,000 people using its platform and currently offers about 50 courses.

“It’s going like a rocket ship,” Anant Agarwal, president of edX, said in an interview today, noting that the initiative is growing so quickly, it has doubled its university membership again only three months after it doubled in February. The universities joining, he said, “all have a commitment to high-quality education, a commitment to increasing access to education for students around the world, and also improving campus education.”

Azer Bestavros, co-chair of BU’s council on educational technology and learning innovation, said that the university is required to offer five MOOCs, but the school also plans to create hybrid courses: for-credit classes that combine face-to-face interaction along with online work. The hybrid courses will be available within a couple years, and the MOOCs will be offered in the next year.

He said the university was drawn to edX because unlike its competitors, edX is not-for-profit, meaning BU can more easily adjust the platform to fit its needs.

Bestavros said that the hybrid edX courses will enrich the BU education. For example, these “blended” courses could enable more BU students with rigorous schedules to study abroad. He also forsees students who may feel uncomfortable participating in class to engage with their classmates online.

“We think it is a good fit, the fact that it is non-profit, and pushing the technology to make the residential experience better, and the freedom to use the platform in the way that makes sense for our institution trumped all other considerations,” he said.

Debbie Cavalier, vice president for online learning and continuing education at Berklee, said that part of the school’s mission is to provide music education to people across the world. For the past 11 years, the college has educated a range of students online, including retired doctors to professional musicians, such as Stefan Lessard, bassist for the Dave Matthews Band.

Cavalier also said that the college has a longstanding history of offering classes to those outside of the Berklee community. In the ‘60s and ‘70s, Berklee had a “correspondence course” in which students learned and communicated with their professor through the mail.

This past fall, the school partnered with Coursera to offer several classes, including an introductory improvisation course taught by seven-time Grammy winner Gary Burton.

Berklee will initially offer two classes on edX: the first in January 2014, then one in April 2014, Cavalier said. She expects the courses to be in music business and vocal production technologies, in which students record and produce vocal tracks.

For the vocal production course students will share their recorded clips with other students for critiques, Cavalier said. The music business classes will likely be based on a series of projects.

“We’re really honored to be a part of the edX community, and really look forward to expanding our reach and providing more opportunities to aspiring musicians through the edX platform,” she said.

In addition to BU and Berklee, colleges from Asia, Australia, Europe, and the US will partner with edX. The schools include: Tsinghua University in China, Kyoto University in Japan, The University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong University of Science & Technology in Hong Kong, Seoul National University in South Korea, and Peking University in China.

From the US, Cornell University, Davidson College, and University of Washington plan to offer courses through edX.

From Europe: Université catholique de Louvain in Belgium, the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, and the Technical University of Munich in Germany. The University of Queensland in Australia will also offer courses through the platform.

Agarwal describes seeing on one course’s discussion forum students from Pakistan, New Zealand, Columbia and the US all discussing a problem.

“I really see how online learning will democratize education, “ he said. “It will really bring the world closer together.”

Looking for more coverage of area colleges and universities? Go to our Your Campus pages.

By Katherine Landergan, Town Correspondent

Local colleges and universities have begun broadcasting live webcasts of commencement services over the past few years, enabling parents, friends, and alumni to watch ceremonies that they otherwise would not have been able to attend.

Greg Gatlin, a spokesman for Suffolk University, said in a phone interview that the live webcast caters particularly to family and friends of the graduates, as well as alumni and Suffolk employees.

“We know there is an extended community of people who want to watch the commencement,” he said. “With students who have extended family members who were unable to attend, or Suffolk alumni, employees, and others who really enjoy the great moment that is the Suffolk University commencement.”

Carole McFall, a spokeswoman for Emerson College, said the university has broadcast the graduation online since 2003, and is often popular among alumni. This year, people from 34 states in the US and across 24 countries viewed the live webcast, she said.

According to Ellen de Graffenreid, a spokeswoman for Brandeis University, the school has been streaming commencement online since 2006, as a “cost-effective way” for family and friends to watch the ceremony.

And at Boston University, spokesman Colin Riley wrote in an e-mailed statement that the school has had a live webcast of its commencement ceremony since 1999.

Kim Thurler, a spokeswoman for Tufts University, wrote in an e-mailed statement that the school has provided a webcast of the commencement for the past ten years, “in addition to serving members of our community who may be off campus or otherwise unable to attend the ceremony itself, live streaming provides a bit of a weather hedge.”

“Our all-university ceremony is held outdoors,” she wrote. “The venue on our academic green is normally beautiful but if the weather is unseasonably hot or cold, or rainy, someone who would otherwise enjoy the ceremony outdoors may choose to watch the ceremony indoors.”

At Babson, the college has been live streaming commencement as well as other important events for the past several years.

“For commencement it makes sense for out-of-country families who cannot make it in person,” spokeswoman Barbara Spies Blair wrote in an e-mail, adding, “From an audience perspective, more and more users are tablet owners with easy access no matter where they are.”

Katherine Landergan can be reached at klandergan@globe.com. For campus news updates, follow her on Twitter @klandergan.

Looking for more coverage of area colleges and universities? Go to our Your Campus pages.

By Katherine Landergan, Town Correspondent

Harvard Law School announced that it will accept students in the Harvard College Class of 2015 for its deferred admissions program for juniors.

Jessica Soban, assistant dean and chief admissions officer for the law school, said today that the program, which is one of the first of its kind, will launch as a pilot. She said it could evolve to include juniors at other universities.

Soban said the students will be admitted at the end of their junior year, and their acceptances will automatically be deferred until two years after graduation. She said the motivation is for students to gain experience before they pursue additional education.

“We want them to form those connections and networks before they even get into law school,” she said.

The Harvard Crimson compared the initiative to the 2+2 Program at the Harvard Business School, which launched in 2007. Students apply as juniors, and then spend two years working, followed by the two-year MBA program.

Soban said that Harvard Law School hopes to explore a number of options with the accepted students, such as working in business, public service, or computer science.

“Given the growing complexity to become a leader in the profession, you need a whole variety of experience,” Soban said.

Katherine Landergan can be reached at klandergan@globe.com. For campus news updates, follow her on Twitter @klandergan.

Looking for more coverage of area colleges and universities? Go to our Your Campus pages.

By Katherine Landergan, Town Correspondent

A member of the Harvard community has tested positive for tuberculosis, and the university is recommending those who may have come in contact with the affected person to be tested for the disease, according to a Harvard official.

Lindsey Baker, a spokeswoman for Harvard University Health Services, wrote in a statement that the school has notified the Cambridge Public Health Department.

"As is practice, Harvard University Health Services (HUHS) notified the Cambridge Public Health Department, which alerted those who may have come into contact with the affected person and encouraged those people to be tested," she wrote.

Baker said that tuberculosis (TB) is not highly contagious and therefore the risk for contracting it is low.

According to the CDC, TB is caused by a bacteria that usually attacks the lungs, but it can attack any part of the body such as the brain, kidney, and spine. If TB is not treated, the disease can be deadly.

The disease is spread through the air, the CDC website says, and a rate of 3.4 cases per 100,000 people were reported in the US in 2011. Since 1992, the number of cases has decreased each year.

"The TB bacteria are put into the air when a person with TB disease of the lungs or throat coughs, sneezes, speaks, or sings," according to the website. "People nearby may breathe in these bacteria and become infected."

According to The Crimson, students and faculty in at least two undergraduate clases — Physics 15b: “Introductory Electromagnetism” and Molecular and Cellular Biology 56: ”Physical Biochemistry: Understanding Macromolecular Machines” — were notified at the end of April by the Cambridge Public Health Department.

“The Cambridge Public Health Department has been working with the Harvard University Infection Control nurses to identify people at greatest risk of TB infection/disease, and to prevent further TB disease,” Joanne Ferraro of the CPHD wrote in an e-mailed message to at-risk students obtained by The Crimson.

Katherine Landergan can be reached at klandergan@globe.com. For campus news updates, follow her on Twitter @klandergan.

Looking for more coverage of area colleges and universities? Go to our Your Campus pages.

By Katherine Landergan, Town Correspondent

MIT may redact the names of university officials and others when releasing documents related to the Aaron Swartz case, a federal judge ruled today, saying the disclosure could expose investigators to harassment and retaliation.

Related

Family, web activists decry suicide death of Aaron Swartz

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In an order released Monday, U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton wrote that “after weighing all of the interests at stake, (he) concludes that the estate's interest in disclosing the identity of individuals named in the production, as it relates to enhancing the public's understanding of the investigation and prosecution of Mr. Swartz, is substantially outweighed by the interest of the government and the victims in shielding their employees from potential retaliation.”

Swartz, a 26-year-old internet activist, committed suicide in January while he faced up to 35 years in jail for allegedly downloading more than 4 million JSTOR articles, some of which were behind a paywall.

“The government, MIT and JSTOR have each adduced credible evidence that individuals connected to the investigation have suffered incidents of harassment and retaliation,'' the judge wrote. "Even individuals only superficially connected to the investigation, including a relative of one of the prosecuting attorneys, have received threatening communications. Those identified threats demonstrate a strong risk that any individuals newly named in the discovery materials face potential reprisals and that their interests strongly support redaction of such identifying information.”

In a motion filed in March, lawyers for Swartz’s ­estate requested that the names and ­titles of all MIT and JSTOR ­employees related to the case be released, as well as those of law enforce­ment officials.

“Both Congress and the public at large have an important role to play in determining what conduct is considered criminal, particularly in the relatively new and rapidly evolving context of so-called ‘computer crimes,’ ” lawyers Elliot R. Peters, Daniel Purcell, and ­Michael J. Pineault wrote in the motion.

Later in March, MIT’s president announced the university would provide internal documents in the federal case after personal and security information was removed.

But Swartz's father, Robert Swartz, said he wanted the university to release any relevant documents. In an interview with the Globe, he said that “we believe they should release all the documents related to this case and related to Aaron, whether or not those are given to the government."

In a statement released today, MIT spokesman Nathaniel Nickerson wrote that "the court's decision will help protect the privacy and safety of the members of the MIT community."

"As previously announced, MIT will release to the public redacted versions of the documents it provided to the prosecution or defense in the case of U.S. v. Aaron Swartz," Nickerson wrote. "It will make this release at the same time it releases a report, currently being prepared by MIT faculty member Hal Abelson, that provides a thorough analysis of MIT's involvement in this case."

Before his death, US prosecutors said they would not agree to a plea deal with Swartz ­unless he pleaded guilty to the felony charges and served four to six months in prison. Swartz ­declined the deal and was expected to stand trial in April.

Since Swartz's death, MIT's computer system has been hacked at least three times.

A hoax caller in late February claimed there was a gunman on campus. The university later disclosed that the caller claimed it was in retaliation for Swartz's death.

Correspondent Todd Feathers contributed to this report. Looking for more coverage of area colleges and universities? Go to our Your Campus pages.

By Katherine Landergan, Town Correspondent

Officials determined Thursday evening that an envelope of white powder sent to a Harvard Law School building is not dangerous, according to a school spokesman.

Harvard Law School spokesman Robb London said today that the envelope was sent to a faculty member’s office in Hauser Hall, and was opened by an office worker shortly after 3 p.m. on Thursday, prompting an evacuation of the building’s fifth floor. An on-scene test and state laboratory test found that the white powder was not harmful.

London said that Cambridge police, Harvard police, and state officials who investigate hazardous materials, responded to the scene Thursday afternoon. Four people were in the room when the envelope was opened, but they have shown no symptoms.

“They are continued to be monitored, and have been checked for physical symptoms or discomfort, and no one has experienced anything,” London said.

The Globe reported Thursday night that the Boston Fire Department’s Prevention Division was also evacuated and shut down when an envelope containing a white powder was found in the building earlier that day.

According to Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald, the tests on the envelope with white substance were negative, but the envelope was sent to state lab for further testing.

Cambridge Assistant Fire Chief Gerry Mahoney told the Globe Thursday that there is no evidence that the package sent to the Boston Fire Department office and the envelope sent to Hauser Hall were related.

London said that Hauser Hall was reopened this morning. The incident is still under investigation.

Katherine Landergan can be reached at klandergan@globe.com. For campus news updates, follow her on Twitter @klandergan.

Looking for more coverage of area colleges and universities? Go to our Your Campus pages.

By Katherine Landergan, Town Correspondent

CNN special correspondent Soledad O’Brien will be this year's Senior Class Day speaker at Harvard, according to a statement.

O'Brien, who graduated from Harvard in 1988, will speak to the graduating class on May 29, in the Tercentenary Theatre, the statement said.

The speaker for Class Day, by tradition held the day before the college's official commencement, is chosen by seniors.

In 2011, O'Brien won an Emmy for her reporting on Haiti in the category of Outstanding Live Coverage of a Current News Story -- Long Form. O’Brien was a member of teams that won CNN George Foster Peabody Awards for coverage of Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill.

She won the Edward R. Murrow and RTDNA/UNITY 2010 award for “Latino in America."

“This is a journalist who has done work on issues that have ignited so many members of our class during our time in college — from social justice to disaster relief,” graduating senior Scott Yim said in the statement.

Katherine Landergan can be reached at klandergan@globe.com. For campus news updates, follow her on Twitter @klandergan.

Looking for more coverage of area colleges and universities? Go to our Your Campus pages.