Massachusetts
Celebrities who went to college in MA: Some may surprise you. See list of famous graduates
TikTok trending fake Harvard acceptances
What, like it’s hard? People are pretending to get into Harvard to expose the “highly rejective” nature of the nation’s most prestigious institutions.
It’s no secret that Massachusetts is home to some of the world’s most prestigious colleges, from Harvard University to Babson College.
People from all walks of life — even big-name celebrities — flock to the Bay State to learn from some of the best in academia.
From actors to politicians, many famous faces got their start as students at the various universities around the state.
Some celebrities are known for their Massachusetts ties, while others may surprise you. Here’s a list of 20 living celebrities who went to college in Massachusetts.
The 44th President of the United States attended Harvard Law School and earned his juris doctorate degree in 1991. While there, he was the editor of the Harvard Law Review.
Obama’s presidential predecessor also attended Harvard University. Bush earned a master of business administration degree in 1975.
The former first lady also attended Harvard Law School, though not at the same time as her future husband.
Before becoming the second person to walk on the moon, Aldrin earned a doctorate degree in astronautics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1963.
The six-time Emmy Award-winning actor graduated from Harvard University in 1967.
Poehler, a Burlington native, went to Boston College, where she earned a degree in media and communications.
The two-time Emmy Award winner grew up in Norwell and went to Emerson College.
The longtime actor went to Harvard, where he majored in English literature and graduated in 1969.
Winkler, an actor and director, graduated from Emerson College in 1978. He also later went to nearby Yale University for graduate school.
The Academy Award-winning actress went to Boston University.
The actress is another Harvard graduate on this list.
A former radio and television host, Williams is a graduate of Northeastern University.
Mayer, a singer and Connecticut native, is an alumnus of Berklee College of Music in Boston.
A famed activist, Davis graduated from Brandeis University in Waltham in 1965.
The former Olympic figure skater studied business at Emmanuel College.
The “Fast car” singer went to Tufts University in Medford.
An actor known for roles in “While You Were Sleeping” and “Independence Day,” Pullman earned a master of fine arts degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Before playing in the NFL, Flutie was a quarterback at Boston College.
Andover native and comedian Leno went to Emerson College.
The Supreme Court justice graduated from the College of the Holy Cross.
Melina Khan is a trending reporter for the USA TODAY Network – New England, which serves more than a dozen affiliated publications across New England. She can be reached at MKhan@gannett.com.
Massachusetts
Swimmer pulled from Houghton’s Pond after search
A teenager was pulled from a pond in Milton, Massachusetts, after he went missing while swimming Saturday night.
The Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office said the teenaged male was taken to a Boston area hospital following the incident at Houghton’s Pond. It’s unclear how long the teen was under water, and there was no immediate word on his condition.
State police had said earlier that they responded to the pond shortly after 7 p.m. for a person who entered the water and didn’t resurface. State police divers, detectives, troopers, and the Milton Fire Department were all on scene involved in the search.
The DA’s office is conducting an investigation with state police that remains ongoing. Further information is not being released at this time.
This story will be updated when we learn more
Massachusetts
Mass. man charged with posing as teen, exposing himself to 12-, 13-year-old girls
A Massachusetts man is facing multiple charges for allegedly engaging in inappropriate communications and exposing himself to children.
Orate Kyle Graham, 20, of Bridgewater, was arrested this week on two counts of disseminating obscene material to a minor and one count of accosting or annoying another person.
Bridgewater police said they were made aware Tuesday of allegations involving interactions between several girls age 12 and 13 and an individual known to them only as “Jay.” The individual said he was 17 years old during conversations with the girls through FaceTime and in person.
Through an investigation, police identified “Jay” as Graham, and also found that he had regularly engaged in interactions with the minor victims. During those interactions, he allegedly exposed himself and asked the girls to expose themselves to him.
He was arrested Thursday and taken to the Plymouth County House of Correction, where he was held on $25,000 bail. The case remains under investigation by Bridgewater police and the Plymouth District Attorney’s Office.
Massachusetts
Fisherman reels in white shark off Massachusetts, then snags the hook from its toothy mouth
BILLERICA, Mass. (AP) — Elliot Sudal didn’t need a bigger boat, but he did need to find a way to get a hook out of a shark’s mouth.
Sudal, a veteran angler and boat captain, reeled in the nearly nine-foot shark — also commonly known as a great white shark or a great white — on June 7 on Nantucket. White sharks are a protected species in the U.S. and must be released immediately when accidentally caught.
That presents a nasty problem for a fisherman because the white shark is a formidable apex predator best known for the 1975 movie Jaws, in which Roy Scheider utters the famous line “You’re gonna need a bigger boat” upon seeing the big fish. Sudal, who caught the shark while fishing from shore, decided to use his encounter to demonstrate how to respond to such a situation.
Sudal posted a video of himself removing the hook to his social media accounts. In the video, Sudal climbs onto the back of the shark, secures the fish in the surf, and removes the hook from its mouth. By the end of the short video, the shark is back in the water.
White sharks typically have about 300 teeth arranged into five rows, so speed was key.
“Hooks out and back on her way in 15 seconds, not sure how to do it better,” Sudal wrote in an Instagram post that included a video of the shark release.
Sudal is no stranger to sharks, and has caught and tagged hundreds of them over the years. He said in a social media post that this month’s encounter with a white shark was the first time he has ever caught one of them in more than a decade of the work.
Sudal’s practices have sometimes attracted the attention of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, such as in 2017, when the agency investigated his handling of a smalltooth sawfish, an endangered species, in Florida. The agency said in 2018 that it sent Sudal a letter “informing him of the Endangered Species Act issues and the safe handling protocol for sawfish.”
White sharks are not listed under the federal Endangered Species Act, but are subject to special federal protections. The International Union for Conservation of Nature considers them vulnerable globally.
Sightings of white sharks off New England have ticked up in recent years, and some scientists have pinned that to the greater availability of the seals that they prey on. Dangerous encounters between white sharks and humans are extremely rare, and only a few dozen fatal white shark bites on people have ever been recorded.
___
Whittle reported from Portland, Maine.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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