Boston, MA

Boston University OT Program Ranks Top in Its Class for Fifth Straight Year by U.S. News & World Report

Published

3 days ago

April 7, 2026

Boston University OT Program Ranks Top in Its Class for Fifth Straight Year by U.S. News & World Report

Other graduate programs in Sargent College, School of Law, and School of Public Health also score high in rankings

Boston University’s Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences retained U.S. News & World Report’s nod as the best occupational therapy program in the United States, while other BU schools boast programs that are among the top 10 in their fields. Photo by Above Summit for Boston University Photography.

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Other graduate programs in Sargent College, School of Law, and School of Public Health also score high in rankings

Boston University’s Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences retained its nation-topping ranking for occupational therapy instruction in U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 evaluation of graduate school programs. It’s the fifth consecutive year that the program has claimed the first spot in the magazine’s rankings.

A half-dozen other BU programs cracked the top 10 in their respective disciplines:

The School of Law’s health law program ranked second-best in the country.
Sargent’s speech-language pathology program clocked in at sixth best.
The School of Public Health had four programs in the top 10: epidemiology (seventh), biostatistics (eighth), public health (ninth), and social behavior (also ninth).

“Sargent has a long history of having top-ranked programs,” says Gloria Waters, BU provost, chief academic officer, and former dean of Sargent. “It is rewarding to see the occupational therapy program at the top of the rankings again. This recognition reflects the program’s faculty, support staff, and the college’s commitment to creating impactful educational experiences that translate into real-world outcomes.”

Of the high rankings for the other University programs, Waters says, “Faculty and staff are creating exceptional educational experiences across BU’s schools and colleges every day. Their efforts are not only reflected in national rankings like these, but in the quality of the students that go on to lead in their chosen fields.”

Faculty and staff are creating exceptional educational experiences across BU’s schools and colleges every day.
Gloria Waters, BU provost and chief academic officer

Depending on the discipline it is evaluating, U.S. News uses different assessment methodologies. For rankings of programs in sciences, social sciences, humanities, and health, the magazine relies on peer assessment surveys.

By contrast, for schools of business, education, engineering, law, medicine, and nursing, the rankings are based on two types of data, U.S. News says: “expert opinion about program excellence, and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school’s academic productivity and postgraduate outcomes.” Last fall and early this year, the magazine sent schools the statistical surveys and sent peer assessments to academics and professionals in the fields being evaluated.

The peer assessments asked deans, program directors, and senior faculty to rank the academic quality of programs in their disciplines, from 5 (outstanding) to 1 (marginal). U.S. News buttressed those evaluations with surveys of professionals hiring or working with recent graduates in certain fields.

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Boston, MA

Family of Stephenson King, man killed by Boston police officer, wants body camera video released

Published

7 minutes ago

April 9, 2026

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Family of Stephenson King, man killed by Boston police officer, wants body camera video released

The family of Stephenson King, the man shot and killed by a Boston police officer last month in Roxbury, wants body camera video from the incident released.

King’s family joined high-profile civil rights attorney Ben Crump at a news conference on Thursday to call for “real accountability” in the case. They said King had long dealt with mental health issues and showed signs of schizophrenia and paranoia.

Shooting of Stephenson King

Investigators said Boston Police officer Nicholas O’Malley shot King three times through the driver’s side window of an allegedly stolen car while he was trying to escape from police.

O’Malley said that he fired because he believed King was trying to run him and his partner over with the car.

A Boston Police Department report after the shooting determined that “regardless of their perception, that statement was factually not true.” O’Malley was arrested and pleaded not guilty to manslaughter.

Police said there is body camera video of the shooting, but it’s not being released yet. King’s family and several city councilors have called for the release of the footage.

Stephenson King.

Family photo

“We should be able to see it on the video”

Crump repeated that request Thursday.

“We want everybody to understand that transparency is good for everybody. If the officer did nothing wrong, then we should be able to see it on the video. If the officer did something wrong, we should be able to see it on the video,” Crump said. “Consequently, if Stephenson did something wrong, we should be able to see it on the video. Because transparency is good for all of us. It’s good for the family, and it’s good for the Boston Police Department.”

Crump said that King had been struggling with mental health challenges since 2009. According to the attorney, King had mental health crisis the day of his death and his family had an ambulance come to the house and take him to the hospital. Crump said King somehow got out of the hospital and went to another medical facility in the hours before the encounter with Boston Police.

“Mental health is a very real issue. I pray that if you have family members who have mental health issues, when they have encounters with police, they will give them a helping hand and not three bullets in their body taking them from this world,” Crump said.

Stephenson King Sr. spoke at the news conference and said he had been trying to get his son help, even recently asking a judge to intervene.

“He shouldn’t be dead,” King Sr. said. “I’m hurt, disappointed in everything that’s happened. The day I put my son in an ambulance, I wasn’t expecting him to be dead that night.”

King’s sister Ebony said that before his death, her brother was so paranoid that he would put tape over cellphone cameras, wall outlets, and the emblems on his sneakers because he believed he was being watched.

Boston police officer hires Karen Read attorney

On Thursday, defense attorney David Yannetti announced that his firm will be representing O’Malley.

Boston Police Officer Nicholas O’Malley at his arraignment in Roxbury Municipal Court on March 19, 2026.

Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
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Yannetti called O’Malley “a good man who finds himself falsely accused of manslaughter because he performed his sworn duty and defended his fellow officers when confronted by a dangerous criminal with an established history of violence and felonies.”

Yannetti was the first attorney to represent Karen Read during her high-profile Massachusetts murder trial. He remained a key member of her defense through both of her trials. After a mistrial due to a hung jury, Read was acquitted of all charges except operating under the influence during her retrial.

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Boston, MA

Protesters in Boston call for end to war in Iran

Published

12 hours ago

April 9, 2026

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Protesters in Boston call for end to war in Iran

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Wellness Hangouts Are the New Happy Hours

Published

1 day ago

April 8, 2026

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Wellness Hangouts Are the New Happy Hours

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So long, cocktails; hello, electrolyte drinks. Are group health events becoming the city’s preferred way to gather after dark?

Illustration by Jeannie Phan

For years, wellness was a solitary pursuit—early-morning workouts, solo spa appointments, quiet meditation apps. Now, a more collective approach is taking hold, reframing self-care as something to be shared. From candlelit sound baths to evening spa takeovers to communal ice baths, group wellness experiences are emerging as a new way to socialize—one rooted in restoration rather than reservations.

At the forefront locally is Spa After Dark, a new monthly series at the Spa at Mandarin Oriental, Boston. Held on the third Wednesday of each month, the hotel opens the spa after hours for a guided contrast-therapy experience designed to be both social and deeply restorative. Guests rotate between the sauna, vitality pool, and cold-water immersion under the direction of a trained professional, who enhances the sauna ritual with essential oils poured over hot stones, creating waves of aromatic heat.

Spa director Heather Hannig says the concept grew from her own love of thermaculture—the ancient practice of alternating heat and cold for physical renewal. When she started working at the property last year, she realized that the spa’s private suite, sauna, and soaking pools made it possible to translate that ritual into a shared, guided activity. The goal was to create something experiential rather than transactional: guests in swimsuits moving through multiple rounds of heat and cold, then lingering in lounge spaces to rehydrate and connect.

The shift to a more social experience—complete with nonalcoholic beverages, electrolyte-rich drinks, and food designed to support the body—was intentional. “As opposed to a dinner out or a bar experience, we were seeing that there’s an appetite for more group experiences that are wellness-focused, where people can socialize in this setting,” says Danielle McNally, director of marketing and communications for Mandarin Oriental, Boston.

A man and a woman sit inside a wooden sauna. The man, wearing black shorts, is seated on the left side with his hands clasped and looking toward the woman. The woman, wearing a black bikini, is seated on the right side with one knee bent and her arms wrapped around it, looking toward the man. The sauna has wooden slatted walls and bench seating.

Courtesy Remedy Place Boston

This desire for collective wellness extends beyond hotel spas. At Remedy Place Boston, guests gather for communal ice baths, sauna sessions, and breathwork in a sleek, club-like environment that prioritizes recovery and connection. Release Well-Being Center in Westborough similarly taps into the power of group energy through workshops featuring sound baths, singing bowls, and guided practices aimed at nervous-system regulation. After all, these days, social currency isn’t about cocktails—it’s about how good you feel the next morning.

This article was first published in the print edition of the March 2026 issue with the headline: “The New Happy Hour.”