I was surprised and disappointed to read that the decision to hold the Amherst Regional High School graduation at the UMass Fine Arts Center rather than the Mullins Center “was largely based on cost” (“Graduation venue decision,” Gazette, June 15). Given the well-publicized budget crisis in our schools and UMass Amherst’s repeated claims to being a supportive and good neighbor for the Amherst community, one would think that the university would pursue all relatively easy means to demonstrate the veracity of those claims, including, for example, by providing a graduation venue for those deserving Amherst public school students free of charge.

Matteo Pangallo

Shutesbury