Building and Maintaining Connections

The Office of Community Relations and University Events (CRUE) is responsible for the university’s community relations efforts and serves as primary liaison between UMass Amherst and the communities in the region.

We’re connectors. We bring faculty, staff, and students together with community organizations, businesses, and residents. We foster collaboration and opportunities. 

Community Relations is the first stop for community inquiries about connecting to university programs, resources, and expertise to meet our area’s needs. 

UMass Amherst students walk through downtown Amherst.

Partnering with Amherst, Hadley, and Our Surrounding Communities

UMass Amherst and its host communities of Amherst and Hadley have shared a mutually beneficial history over the past 160-plus years. Besides its positive impact on the local economy, UMass Amherst adds to the cultural richness, intellectual engagement, and ethnic diversity of the Amherst area and the region.

Numerous town-gown collaborations benefit our host communities and campus. These partnerships provide unique educational opportunities, support community and civic organizations, and enhance our area’s quality of life. They are built on a shared desire to make UMass Amherst and its surrounding towns great places to live, work, play, and learn.

Community Relations and our partners in Amherst and Hadley government work closely on town-gown issues. For many years, we’ve had agreements in place that guide us on important conversations around joint interests like public safety, economic development, and quality of life issues.

Our office also works closely with local business organizations and nonprofits on economic and community development, and leads quality of life initiatives in the community, working closely with partners in Off-Campus Student Life, Dean of Students, Fraternity and Sorority Life, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst Police Department.

Tents with booths set up on the lawn outside the campus center.

UMass Amherst Community Campaign (UMACC)

Community Relations is responsible for UMACC, which is the campus’s workplace giving program for charitable organizations. UMACC provides UMass faculty, staff, and retirees an easy and streamlined way to donate to any nonprofit organization through payroll deduction, check, or credit card. It’s a great way for the UMass community to give back to organizations that support our region.

Nancy Buffone
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Nancy Buffone

Associate Vice Chancellor for University Relations

Nancy Buffone is the leader of the Community Relations and University Events office.
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Headshot of Tony Maroulis
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Tony Maroulis

Executive Director of Community and Strategic Initiatives

Tony Maroulis's work focuses on area community, municipal government, and economic development issues with Amherst, Hadley and surrounding communities.
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