Endicott College

I think that one of the things that I've done on this platform, on this podcast was constantly talking about bridging the gap between the different environments where dance education takes place and I've talked with Emily Gray, who's in the dance education in the university setting.

She's at MIT and Endicott College and bridging the gap between dance studios and college and what happens when students make that transition.

But with you in the K to 12 environment, I think that's also something important because sometimes we see each other, not us, but in our industry, we see them like as competing, whether it's, hey, dance, The dance studio training isn't what we want in the schools or the school setting is so different from the dance studio.

And so I like to advocate for working together because we have a shared community.

If that was something that ended up occurring, but no, we can get underway here and we'll start with the CNE.

Of course, we saw Endicott winning once again, as they've kind of taken the reins here in CNE as they always have.

I mean, they've won five titles.

Since 2019, they've won the last two.

Of course, Suffolk won in 23, Western New England in 2024.

And Endicott, I think they took a big step last year.

I kind of talked about it in the article where record-wise it was about the same.

I mean, they're still good.

Let's do it.

The Endicott College.

This is football, by the way.

Oh,

But how many kickoff yards?

We'll get there.

Endicott surpassed the program record of 69 points in a game set in 2025 against Maine Maritime.

86 points, fifth most across all NCAA football divisions this season.

Yeah, it's a super strong conference per usual, right? I think Salve just adds to the depth of the conference.

I think historically, you know, we've kind of had, at least the last few years, those big three of UNE, Endicott, Curry, And I know Curry fell off a little bit last year and that along with, you know, the rise of Suffolk as a program is the tier is kind of expanding a little bit, but obviously it's still going to start.

Uh, we think with, with Endicott and UNE, um, Salve making the tournament last year was a little bit surprising for some, maybe not for others.

And that was a whole situation too, but hopefully we're not going to have to worry about that anymore, which is great.

But, um, before I go into any like teams, I think logistically what's with, with a new number of teams, there's going to be, instead of like individual games or you're playing two different teams on a weekend, they're, they're switching up their schedule so that they're going to play two, or I'm sorry, you're going to play the same team twice in a home and away series each weekend.

And I know certain conferences like NCHA or the MIAC operate like that already, but, um, we'll see.

It's going to depend on how the teams can prepare for those.

But, um, yeah, obviously Endicott and UNE are the big dogs here.

Soon, the research institution will have more company.

Suffolk University and Endicott College plan to introduce a new bachelor's in AI next year.

For 90.9 WBUR, I'm Suvan Lee.

Now, just looking at where these teams finished in the final 2026 NPI rankings across Region 2, we're going to be talking about teams like Southern Maine at 30, Bridgewater State, who ended the season at 62, Brandis at 76, Eastern Connecticut State at 88, and Keene State at 99, as well as teams like Hartford, Nichols, Western New England, and and UMass Dartmouth, who are all in the top, let's say, 100 to 150 range.

And of course, national runner-up, Endicott, who finished the season number two in the nation and number 13 overall in the NPI because they shut the NPI off before the NCAA tournament starts, right? Yeah.

And unlike most of the other NCAA regions in the country, this laundry list of really good teams is spread out across not four conferences, but three.

So this episode should be a little shorter than the last couple by, Mathematically, what, 25%? Yeah.

All right, now let's move on to the CNE, the Conference of New England.

What does that conference look like?

The CNE is a 10-team conference featuring Endicott, Hartford, Nichols, Western New England, Wentworth, Johnson & Wales, Roger Williams, Gordon, Suffolk, and Curry.

Endicott won the auto bid in 2026, and there were no at-large bids awarded.

That's a great answer.

So Michael Proctor was like an Endicott College security guard in 2005.

But do you know where he went after that? He was an accountant at a private wealth management firm at 1200 Crown Colony Drive in Quincy.

Now, the firm is State Street, but the private wealth management arm was called NJA Wealth Holdings.

And then you have division threes that are done.

Like I know like Endicott and Salve, right? They're, they're gonna be done with their arms and their classes much sooner just because of how competitive they've been, how good their coaching is.

Like that's why those schools are gonna be done, and it, it's, and yeah, I don't even know how to describe.

There's so many words to describe the recruiting world right now with it, but it is really the Wild West.

Like it's, it's all over the place.

There's no like steady thing like you were saying anymore, where I felt like when we were playing, it was way easier 'cause you knew, okay, these schools are gonna go first, then these schools are gonna go next, then these are gonna go after that.

And it's like right now, like, I mean, I think I saw an Endicott commit super early in the summer, and kid's a great ballplayer.

And it's like that's quick for a division three to go, right? So like they're, they're getting commits the same times as these power fours and these high academics.

She's also a court-appointed advocate and nonprofit volunteer for foster youth, and speaks to community and child welfare audiences about the challenges they face.

She holds a Doctorate of Education in Higher Education Leadership and a Master's of Education in Arts and Learning from Endicott College.

And on top of that, a Bachelor of Science in Theater, Performance, and Communications from Emerson College.

Now, if that is not enough, Dr. Sherry is also a performer, an artist, a published poet, mother, and grandmother.

So what I wanna share is that although 75% of foster youth want to go to college, only 3% enroll, and 1% actually graduates.

Of course, the numbers can change, and they're, we're trying to increase the numbers.

When I was getting my doctorate at Endicott College, and I walked across the meticulous campus, I would say to myself, 'cause now I'm less than 1% getting a doctorate, right? Getting a master's and a doctorate is less than what it is, and so then I was crying happy tears at first, thinking, "Wow, I'm less than 1%." But then I cried, thinking, "Well, where's the other 99% of us?" My passion, and as I mentioned, my, that I have my doctorate, and to get a doctorate, you have to write a dissertation.

My dissertation is on foster youth mentorship programs and higher education and how important it is for any college student, of course, to be mentored, going to college, but how most, m- even more specifically for foster youth, or we should say that the technical term is youth in foster care, and having help with housing and, and all those challenges.