Boston College Chronicle

A World Away

Making His Point

BC

Class of 2026 Already Making Its Mark at BC

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

The 2,335-member Boston College

Class of 2026 reflects encouraging trends for the University’s overall recruitment and admission efforts, as well as its commitment to first-generation students from families with high levels of financial need.

BC achieved yet another admission milestone with this year’s freshman class, receiving 40,494 applications—highest in University history, eclipsing the previous high of 39,877 set only last year—from which 6,748 were accepted, the rate of 16.7 percent the lowest known such figure

for BC.

Impressive though the numbers may be, of even greater interest to Enrollment Management and Office of Undergraduate Admission administrators is how they were achieved: in great part because of BC’s Early Decision (ED) program, introduced in 2019 to meet the growing preference of high school students and enroll more applicants for whom BC was a first choice. This year, a majority of applications—51 percent—for the entering class came via ED, notes Director of Undergraduate Admission Grant Gosselin.

“Early Decision has enabled those high

Continued on page 5

University Formally Celebrates Opening of 245 Beacon St.

BY JOHN SHAKESPEAR SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

Since opening in January, Boston College’s new integrated science building, 245 Beacon Street, has quickly become one of the most popular places on campus to gather, conduct research, create, and collaborate. On September 29, hundreds of BC trustees, benefactors, administrators, faculty, and students gathered to celebrate the formal unveiling of the building, which houses the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society, the departments of Engineering and Computer Science, and the Shea Center for Entrepreneurship.

In his opening remarks, Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley described 245 Beacon Street as “a profound statement of institutional and collective belief, both in the potential of this building for today’s students, and in what it’s going to mean for future generations across Boston College.”

Quigley expressed the building’s interdisciplinary mission by screening a video of the late Paul Farmer, co-founder of the public health nonprofit Partners in Health,

from the 2017 launch of the Schiller Institute. “Boston College can make its chief contribution in linking our understanding of science and technology to other broad categories,” Farmer said onscreen, “and in applying them in a reparative way to social problems.”

In a similar spirit, Nobel Prize-winning economist, policy entrepreneur, and New York University School of Law Professor Paul Romer’s keynote address argued that science and society are deeply intertwined.

“Science encouraged everyone to be rigorous about honesty and integrity, and that bled into all of Western culture,” said Romer. “I don’t think we should take those values for granted. I think we should work to ensure that the next generation is also acculturated into a system that cares about integrity and truth.”

DeLuca Professor of Biology and Vice Provost for Research and Academic Planning Thomas Chiles moderated a panel featuring Assistant Professor of Engineering Avneet Hira, Schiller Institute Professor of Climate Science and Society Yi Ming, and Fitzgerald Professor of Computer Science George Mohler, who use scientific methods

to study societal problems ranging from inequality to global warming. Ming, who was previously the head of the Atmospheric Physics and Climate Group at a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration laboratory, said that Boston College’s human-centered approach could “make BC

a true global leader in devising a holistic response to climate change.

“Climate change is an issue created and experienced by people, and it has to be solved by people,” he said, “so it makes perfect sense to put humans front and cen-

Continued on page 4

Page 3

Lynch School’s Brisk supports educational efforts for female Afghan refugees

Page 8

Arts

Pinkham named Monan Professor (left); Robsham Theater fall schedule

PUBLISHED BY THE BOSTON COLLEGE OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Page 5

Dealing with Trauma BC School of Social Work project seeks to aid victims of violence and upheaval

Singer, composer, and musician Jon Batiste during his performance at the 30th Pops on the Heights concert on September 30 in Conte Forum. The event raised more than $14.5 million for Boston College student scholarships. Read more at https://bit.ly/pops-on-the-heights-2022.

photo by michael manning

Professor Glenn Gaudette, the inaugural John W. Kozarich ’71 Chair of the Department of Engineering, speaks to attendees at the 245 Beacon St. opening event.

photo by lee pellegrini

PUBLISHED BY THE BOSTON COLLEGE OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Around Campus

A New Look for Homecoming

Boston College expanded this year’s annual Homecoming event to a weeklong celebration of the University’s spirit and mission, with a variety of athletic events, alumni activities, and residential and social experiences for students from October 3-8.

“Homecoming provides an opportunity for our students to celebrate being part of the BC community,” said Vice President for Student Affairs Shawna Cooper Whitehead, in announcing Homecoming Week. “We are excited to partner around campus to expand and enhance this tradition into a weeklong series including spirit days, fun competitions, and support for our student-athletes. Throughout the week of events and activities, students, faculty, staff, and alumni will actively engage in fostering a sense of community and pride for BC.”

Among the week’s activities were theme days that included “Maroon and Gold Day,” “Twin Day,” “Class Year Day,” “Throwback Thursday,” and “Residence Hall Pride Day”; a Homecoming Dance at the Sheraton Boston; a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Resource Fair; the annual Red Bandanna Game—this year featuring BC-Clemson— which honors the memory of 9/11 hero Welles Crowther ’99; and an all-ages Homecoming tailgate on The Plaza at O’Neill Library.

This year also introduced a Homecoming Court of 10 seniors who embody the mission, spirit, and values of Boston College:

•Wellington Arkins (Highland Park,

Ill.), biology major. Serving as a Pride Peer Mentor and house manager for the Office of Student Involvement.

•Mabel Bassi (Huntington, NY), neuroscience major and transfer student. Has attended various Kairos retreats—will be codirecting one this year—and been active in Campus Ministry.

•Brian Gardner (Foxborough, Mass.), double major in management and psychology. Co-founded Boston College for Effective Altruism and now serves as the organization’s treasurer; works in the Student Admission Program and as Admitted Eagle Day coordinator, and is a council member for the Christian Life Community.

•Ishaan Kaushal (Saugus, Mass.), criminal justice major with a concentration in theology and business. Resident assistant in Vanderslice Hall and student ambassador for the McMullen Museum of Art; external representative for the South East Asian Student Association and a Kairos retreat leader for Campus Ministry.

•Madeleine McGrath (Glenview, Ill.), political science major. Serves as panels coordinator for the Student Admission Program, Kairos leader for Campus Ministry, and chair for the Campus School Committee.

•Taylor Morales (Irvine, Calif.), English and film studies major with concentration in creative writing. Serves as a social fellow and video intern in the Office of University Communications; directed a documentary in British Columbia through the Jacques

Remembering Welles

The Boston College Police Department has raised more than $10,000 for the Welles Remy Crowther Charitable Trust through its new Red Bandanna Police Patch Project.

BCPD is selling commemorative patches designed with a red bandanna background to pay tribute to Welles Crowther ’99, a former BC lacrosse player who used his signature red bandanna as a protective mask while saving as many as 18 lives before losing his own in the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. His heroic story was the subject of The Man in the Red Bandanna by ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi and an award-winning documentary.

The patches can be ordered online through the Boston College Bookstore or in person at the BCPD headquarters in Maloney Hall for $10 each with a limit of two patches per person. During October, Boston College police officers are authorized to display the patch on their uniforms. This year, police cruiser

ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Jack Dunn

SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Patricia Delaney

EDITOR

Sean Smith

419 has a red bandanna design in support of Crowther, whose jersey number was 19.

The proceeds from this project go directly to the Welles Remy Crowther Charitable Trust, established in 2001 by the Crowther family to honor their son and keep his memory alive. The trust presents scholarships and awards to young men and women of academic and athletic excellence who serve their communities through education, health, recreation, and character development. The trust also supports other not-for-profit organizations with similar missions. To learn more about the trust, see www.crowthertrust.org.

On October 22, the 18th annual Red Bandanna 5k will take place on campus and virtually in support of the trust. All runners will receive a red bandanna. To register, go to racewire.com/register.php?id=12790.

CONTRIBUTING STAFF

Christine Balquist

Phil Gloudemans

Ed Hayward

Rosanne Pellegrini

Kathleen Sullivan

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Caitlin Cunningham

Lee Pellegrini

Salmanowitz Program for Moral Courage in Film.

•Lucy Rubenstein (Lake Forest, Ill.), applied psychology and human development major with biology minor and special education concentration, on pre-dental track. Tour guide and panelist for the Student Admission Program; president of Best Buddies at BC; Campus School volunteer.

•E’Sachi Smalls (Bronx, NY), nursing major. Student ambassador for the Student Admission Program; involved with Campus Ministry and its Kairos Retreat Program.

•Devianna Smith (Chelmsford, Mass.), double major in political science and communication. Resident assistant at Vanderslice Hall; academic advising fellow; chair of the

Student Conduct Board; former president of the AHANA Pre-Law Students Association and treasurer of the Caribbean Culture Club.

•Julia Spagnola (Webster, NY), political science major. Vice president for Undergraduate Government of Boston College; Campus School volunteer; Campus Ministry Appalachia program student leader.

The students—who applied, and were selected by a panel of University alumni, staff, faculty, and administrators—were acknowledged during the BC-Clemson game.

For more about Homecoming Week, including the Homecoming Court, go to bc.edu/homecoming.

—University Communications

www.bc.edu/bcnews chronicle@bc.edu

—Christine Balquist BC Police Red Bandanna patches.

photo by caitlin cunningham

BC’s first Homecoming Court. Back row (L-R): E’Sachi Smalls, Ishaan Kaushal, Taylor Morales, Julia Spagnola, Wellington Arkins, Madeleine McGrath, Devianna Smith; Front (L-R): Mabel Bassi, Lucy Rubenstein, Brian Gardner.

photo by patrick mills

BC Provides Online Education to Afghan Females

BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER

Boston College, through the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, is one of a handful of American universities offering online, graduate-level education courses this fall for young alumni of Asian University for Women (AUW), who had been living and working in Afghanistan prior the fall of Kabul in August 2021, but now reside in Bangladesh.

Lynch School Professor Emerita Maria Estela Brisk generated an intensive, six-week, three-credit course on Teaching the Genres of Writing, provided without charge to 20 Afghan female students who had been airlifted out of Kabul just a year ago.

The goal of the program, explained Brisk, is to prepare female educational leaders who will positively affect the education of young women, particularly high school students in Bangladesh and in nearby countries.

“There are very few high schools for girls across the region,” said Brisk, who employs systemic functional linguistics—the study of the relationship between language and its functions in social settings—in her work. “The hope is that these graduates will help grow the network of secondary schools, and address the educational needs of young women, while shaping the region’s future.”

Dedicated to women’s education and leadership development, AUW is an independent, international liberal arts and sciences institution, rooted in the aspirations of Asians and open to women from all walks of life. AUW particularly supports

women who are the first in their family to attend college and earn an undergraduate university education. Founded in 2008, it annually enrolls 850 undergraduates from 19 countries across Asia and the Middle East.

During last year’s evacuation of an estimated 122,000 foreigners and vulnerable Afghan citizens after the collapse of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan—one of the largest airlifts in history—AUW founder Kamal Ahmad was able to arrange the rescue of 350 AUW alumni who had been employed in the country. While 150 of the young women were brought to the United States, 200 returned to the AUW’s home in Chittagong, Bangladesh.

After returning to South Asia following the evacuation, Ahmad prepared a proposal for a graduate program in education, with all courses delivered through partnerships

with external institutions. He contacted a number of American universities including BC, California State University, Cornell University, the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard Kennedy School, Johns Hopkins University, University of Manchester (UK), and Stanford University, to request their provision of master’s level online education courses for AUW students, including the recently relocated evacuees now in Chittagong.

Stanton E.F. Wortham, the Charles F. Donovan, S.J., Dean of the Lynch School, agreed, and Brisk, whose career has focused on language and education since the mid1960s, began putting the program together.

Brisk is supported by AUW liaison Nishat Akhi, a chief teaching fellow and program coordinator of AUW’s Graduate Program in Education, who assists in class registration, gathers the students in a class-

room once a week for the online session, and schedules office hours to address any issues or concerns.

“Working with these amazing, motivated young women, each with a strong educational and employment background, is an enriching experience,” said Brisk. “The tenacity of Kamal Ahmad, along with the support of Nishat Akhi and the AUW staff, is a prime example of not losing hope regardless of the dire circumstances.”

“The Lynch School is proud to participate in this program with the Asian University for Women,” said Wortham. “We are particularly pleased that Professor Brisk is leading our effort. Her expertise is specifically appropriate for the careers being pursued by many of these young women, and we are grateful that she stepped up so quickly to work on this project.”

14 BC Undergrads Among Millennium Fellowship Winners

BY ROSANNE PELLEGRINI STAFF WRITER

Fourteen Boston College students, representing a range of undergraduate schools and class years, have been selected as 2022 Millennium Fellows to participate in a prestigious leadership development initiative offered by partners United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) and the Millennium Campus Network (MCN).

Chosen for their leadership on sustainable development-related initiatives, the Fellows address some of society’s greatest challenges via social impact projects. A record-breaking number of more than 30,000 young leaders, from some 2,400 campuses across 140 nations, applied to the Class of 2022. From that wide pool, approximately 3,000—a group described as “bold, innovative, and inclusive”—were selected; they represent more than 200 campuses in 37 nations.

The semester-long program provides training and guidance to raise students’ level of social impact—both on campus and in the community—by enhancing organizational, partnership-building, and

community impact skills, with a goal of elevating leadership, according to Millennium Fellowship sponsors.

The BC student participants are developing projects focusing on and advancing at least one of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals [sdgs. un.org/goals] and of the 10 United Nations Academic Impact Principles [https:// rb.gy/eopzgm].

The group— undergraduates from the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, Carroll School of Management, and Lynch School of Education and Human Development—meets on campus, and virtually with fellows worldwide, to hone skills, bolster their projects, and strengthen communities locally and globally.

According to the Millennium Fellows’ campus directors, Emmeline Brenner ’24 and Grace Kenney ’23, projects focus on

a variety of goals including quality education, health, and reduced inequalities. One aims to establish a UNICEF club chapter at Boston College, for example, while another plans peer-to-peer tutoring with local public high schools for college counseling.

Daniela Canales ’23 is spearheading the initiative to launch a BC chapter of UNICEF Unite, through which college campuses educate, advocate, and raise funds for children in need around the world. “I hope to bring together a group looking to lift up others through inclusion and education. Being selected as a Millennium Fellow has given me the confidence to pursue a social impact career. Since I am a senior, it has given me a greater sense of purpose for my final year at BC.”

“The UN’s sustainable development

goals and Boston College’s Jesuit values provide us with a strong foundation to build on and learn from in developing our projects. These missions align in guiding us,” Brenner and Kenney noted. “From this experience, we hope to learn from and inspire each other as well as develop projects that can make sustained change.”

Other BC Millennium Fellows are Jon Dhani ’23, Anastasia Coclin ’25, Mehdi Kayi ’24, Giancarlo Lopez ’23, Adam Marino ’23, Hailey McGinley ’23, Erin Miller ’23, Ryan Patrick ’24, Isaiah Puente ’23, Suhana Singh ’24, and Emilia Acevedo Quezada ’25.

After successful completion of their projects, participants receive a certificate from the UNAI and MCN, which have partnered since 2018 to present the Millennium Fellowship, “creating a robust global network of undergraduate leaders advancing UN goals,” according to the groups.

For more information on the program, see www.millenniumfellows.org.

LSOEHD Professor Emerita Maria Estela Brisk, left, developed a course for alumni of the Asian University for Women who had been airlifted out of Afghanistan last year. Above, an image from a recent session of Brisk’s class, assisted by AUW liaison Nishat Akhi (standing).

photo by caitlin cunningham

“Come in during the day and see the students who fill the labs, the classrooms, and the halls with their creativity, curiosity, and enthusiasm. Because that’s what it’s all about, and that’s why we created this.”

—Phil Schiller ’82

245 Beacon St. Opening

ter in the fight against it.”

Upstairs, guests listened to faculty and student presentations throughout the building’s labs, work spaces, and common areas. In the fifth-floor home of the new Engineering Department, John W. Kozarich ’71 Chair of the Engineering Department Glenn Gaudette and his team explained how they grew sustainable meat proteins and human heart tissue on decellularized leaves of spinach. Next door, Yifan Zhou ’23 piloted a robot he had built from scratch, with omnidirectional wheels, night vision, and facial tracking.

Meanwhile, down the hall, history doctoral candidate Laura Clerx spoke with guests about the Schiller Institute’s multidisciplinary seminar on climate research, and Eddy Jiang ’22 presented on the Affirm Lab, a BC School of Social Work initiative working with the institute to reduce inequities for marginalized youth.

Jiang said that collaborating with computer scientists had been a mutual learning experience. “The beauty of the Schiller In-

stitute is that it connects us,” he said, “but it lets us stay who we are.”

In the prototyping and maker spaces downstairs, students used state-of-the-art equipment toward creative ends. Will Gotanda ’25 had created a kinetic sculpture using the facility’s 3D printers and laser cutters, while Jasroop Dhingra ’25 had printed a new case for her cell phone. Their classmate Cyrus Rosen, who said he often leads training sessions in 245 Beacon’s woodshop, was building a set of drawer dividers for his mother’s birthday.

For human-centered engineering major Maggie Hynes ’25, the maker space known as The Hatchery is a space for exploration and new discovery. “I’d never seen a 3D printer or a vinyl cutter nine months ago, but now I consider myself proficient,” she said. “I love that anyone can access this space and learn, whatever they’re majoring in.”

In his words of welcome, University President William P. Leahy, S.J., said that the word “hatchery” was apt for describing 245 Beacon Street. “We are coming up with new

ideas, new ways of exchanging ideas, and new ways of looking,” he said.

BC Trustee Phil Schiller ’82 summed up the evening’s proceedings during his benefactor’s remarks. Reflecting on the vision he and his wife Kim Gassett-Schiller had for the Schiller Institute and 245 Beacon as a whole, he told the crowd: “Come in during the day

and see the students who fill the labs, the classrooms, and the halls with their creativity, curiosity, and enthusiasm. Because that’s what it’s all about, and that’s why we created this.”

John Shakespear is a senior digital content writer in the Office of University Communications

BC Study: Education an Overlooked Counterterrorism Tool

BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER

The more Americans learn about terrorism, the smaller they perceive the threat to be to themselves and the United States, according to a team of Boston College researchers who have been analyzing the impact of education on attitudes about terrorism.

Although only 23 people on average have been killed per year by terrorist attacks in the United States since 2001, American citizens and politicians consistently rank terrorism as a top security threat, leading to costly wars abroad and the curtailment of civil liberties at home.

Education is an important but often overlooked counterterrorism tool, the researchers reported in a recent edition of  The Journal of Conflict Resolution. Knowing more about terrorism and the threats it poses helps individuals more realistically assess the actual threat of terrorism and lessen the fear that terrorists work to cultivate across civil society.

“Our study shows that, with educational training, one can understand the capabilities of terrorists without fearing them—much like a military does with a rival force,” said Associate Professor of Political Science Peter Krause, a co-author of the report whose research focuses on political violence. “In the fight against terrorism and the fear it inspires, knowing really is half the battle.”

The researchers conducted a series of experiments, observational surveys, and online surveys involving students in 31 terrorism- and non-terrorism-related courses

at 12 universities, including students participating in massive open online courses (MOOC), said Krause, who worked on the project with Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience Liane Young, whose research examines moral decision making; Daniel Gustafson, a former postdoctoral fellow in political science at the University of Pittsburgh; and Jordan Theriault M.A. ’14, Ph.D. ’17, who is now a postdoctoral researcher in psychology at Northeastern University.

The team wanted to analyze a longstanding debate among academics and policymakers: To what extent does learning more about terrorism increase or decrease people’s perceptions of the threat?

“Across a diverse group of experiments focused on these questions, the one constant was that the more subjects learned

Prof. Liane Young (Psychology/Neuroscience) and Assoc. Prof. Peter Krause (Political Science) are the co-authors of a report on how education helps individuals assess the threat posed by terrorism.

about terrorism, the less they perceived it as a threat to themselves and to the United States,” Young said. “Our findings were statistically and substantively quite significant regardless of subjects’ demographics or political affiliation.”

Krause said the team was surprised by the results because the courses being taught—mostly introductory classes on terrorism—were not designed to change anyone’s mind. In fact, most professors did not know the hypothesis being tested through observations and student surveys.

“Most studies of attitude change are specifically set up to alter subject attitudes in a certain way, yet have far less substantively significant attitude changes on average than this one did,” said Krause. “The fact that the general knowledge provided from multiple perspectives in the class-

rooms had this degree of impact suggests that multi-sided knowledge presentation and deliberative discussion may be as or more impactful at changing certain attitudes than one-sided information employed by many politicians and researchers.”

Amidst growing debate over the politicization of education nationwide, Krause and his co-authors conclude that for one of the most sensitive topics, professors are doing a good job of increasing knowledge without pushing students towards a predetermined conclusion.

“The direction of this attitude change busts two other contradictory myths about professors: that they are part of a ‘terrorism industry’ that hypes the threat for their own economic and professional gains, and that they are ideologically indoctrinating students through coursework,” said Krause. “Contrary to the stereotypes, the most in-depth study on the impact of terrorism classes demonstrates that, if anything, these scholars are putting themselves out of business by teaching classes that leave students thinking the threat is less severe. Furthermore, we find no evidence that student assessments of this issue are driven by their professors’ attitudes.”

Krause and Young said next steps include trying to determine if the lessons of the semester-long classes can be scaled to reach a general audience. The team found that watching a 10-minute video clip can similarly decrease the perceived severity of the terrorism threat, suggesting that shorter presentations of fact from trusted sources can help lessen fears on a broader scale.

photo by caitlin cunningham

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Romer, who gave the keynote address at the 245 Beacon Street opening, spoke afterwards with University President William P. Leahy, S.J., as Romer’s wife, Caroline Weber, looked on.

photo by lee pellegrini

BCSSW Researchers to Test Trauma Interventions

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

A Boston College School of Social Work initiative launching this fall will address the mental health and well-being of millions of people affected by violence and upheaval in Colombia and neighboring Venezuela.

Supported by a $1.5 million grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, BCSSW researchers will culturally adapt and pilot-test two trauma-informed, evidencebased interventions—practices or programs that been proven effective through outcome evaluations. These will help serve the needs of some of the more than 8.1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) officially recognized as victims of the five-decade conflict in Colombia, as well as the approximately 1.8 million Venezuelans who fled to Colombia to escape their country’s economic devastation, violence, and political repression.

“Both populations suffer from many layers of trauma related to forced migration, family separation, and exposure to violence,” according to a project summary authored by Assistant Professor Maria Piñeros-Leaño and Alethea Desrosiers, who has since left the University after working at BCSSW for five years. “These life disruptions have limited their access to education, health care, and employment opportunities.”

The Family Strengthening Intervention for Early Childhood Development (FSIECD) will focus on Venezuelan migrant families with children under three years of age, while the Youth Readiness Intervention (YRI) will be tailored to Colombian IDPs and Venezuelan migrant youth between the ages of 18 and 30. Both were developed by BCSSW Salem Professor in Global Practice Theresa Betancourt, director of the school’s Research Program

on Children and Adversity, while she was at Harvard University. Betancourt is renowned for her work with war-affected youth in Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Sierra Leone, and with refugees in Boston and around the world; she and BCSSW Assistant Professor of the Practice Indrani Saran will be co-investigators for the project in Colombia.

The interventions are intended to bridge gaps in the policies and outreach efforts Colombia has implemented to aid IDPs and Venezuelan migrants, said PiñerosLeaño and Desrosiers, but first they must go through a rigorous cultural adaptation to be effective. The BCSSW team will use

an eight-step model to culturally adapt the FSI-ECD and YRI without changing their core elements or theoretical underpinnings. A vital component of the adaptation, the researchers note, is engagement with the communities being served: A feasibility study involving 40 Venezuelan migrant families with at least one child three years old or younger will be conducted as part of the FSI-ECD program, with an emphasis on assessing parental mental health, parentchild interactions, parenting practices, and household violence.

The YRI adaptation for Colombian IDPs was completed during a prior pilot study in collaboration with the Bogota

Mayor’s Office and Foundation Compaz, a Colombian NGO. The BCSSW team will now conduct a larger trial of the culturally adapted YRI, integrated within entrepreneurship training programs for Colombian IDP and Venezuelan migrant youth, which will assess effects on emotion regulation, self-efficacy, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and interpersonal violence.

“This is an example of the global dimension of social work, and its role in resolving societal problems on a major scale,” said Piñeros-Leaño. “With crisis situations such as those in Colombia, there is often a tendency for the public or the media to focus on the most immediate concerns, like housing, medical, and food-related issues. But gauging the impact and extent of trauma on individuals and families, and their longer-term needs, is equally critical.”

Desrosiers added, “One of the key aspects of these interventions is that they can be implemented by community health workers or others without an advanced level of professional certification. So, the FSI-ECD and YRI can become part of the resources that Colombian human and social services provide.”

The adaptability of interventions makes them potentially scalable in other settings, said Piñeros-Leaño and Desrosiers, noting that they and BCSSW colleagues have held initial discussions about the possibility of introducing such initiatives in Mexico, El Salvador, and Guatemala, countries that also have experienced severe conflict.

The project in Colombia will draw logistical support from BCSSW’s Center for Social Intervention, said Piñeros-Leaño and Desrosiers, who added that they hope to provide opportunities for BC undergraduates—such as those enrolled in the interdisciplinary Global Public Health program or pursuing an independent major—to serve as research assistants.

Positive Enrollment Trends Seen in Class of 2026

Continued from page 1

school students who view BC as their top choice to identify themselves to us,” said Gosselin. “These students tend to be an excellent fit for BC. They’ve done their homework. They understand the University’s mission and culture, and they’re ready to hit the ground running.”

Another positive trend for BC undergraduate enrollment, according to administrators, is in ethnic and economic diversity. AHANA students make up 36 percent of the Class of 2026, and in recent years that percentage has consistently reached the mid-30 percent range. Meanwhile, this year’s freshman class includes 267 students who are the first in their families to attend college, a number that has remained constant during the past five years. BC has been recognized by the Center for FirstGeneration Student Success for its recruitment and support of first-gen students.

The University’s second year participating in Questbridge—a non-profit program that helps high-achieving, low-income students gain admission and scholarships

to the country’s top-ranked colleges and universities—saw the enrollment of 75 students in the freshman class. Gosselin noted that students who apply through the program but are not selected have the option of trying again at a later date.

“With Questbridge, as well as the opening this year of the Pine Manor Institute for Student Success, BC has committed significant resources to first-generation students and those with high levels of financial need,” said Gosselin, who added that 302 recipients of Pell Grants— federal subsidies awarded to undergraduate students with the highest financial need—are in the Class of 2026.

The class includes 168 international students—comprising nine percent of freshmen—with China (71), South Korea (14), and Canada (11) the countries most represented. Also in the top 10 are the United Kingdom (nine) and Brazil, India, Spain, and Hong Kong S.A.R. (eight apiece).

Among U.S. students, most of the freshman class comes from the Mid-Atlan-

tic (30 percent) and New England (29), though other regions are also well represented in the West (11), South/Southwest (11), and Midwest (nine).

Fifty percent of the class graduated from public high schools, 29 percent from private/independent schools, and 20 percent from Catholic/Jesuit schools. Ninety percent of the first-year students were ranked among the top 10 percent in their respective classes.

Class of 2026 students, like those in previous freshman classes going back years, were drawn to BC because of its proximity to Boston, said Gosselin, but also for its distinctiveness as a Jesuit, Catholic university.

“The focus on student formation—encouraging them to use their education in service to others—strikes a chord with many prospective students and their families,” he said.

He also pointed to the University’s emerging physical plant—notably the new science building at 245 Beacon Street—

and curriculum, such as its introduction of programs in engineering, public health, and neuroscience, among others. Given that 39 percent of current BC undergraduates focus their studies in STEM disciplines, the University is proving adept at aligning its classic liberal arts academic vision with innovative, interdisciplinary areas of study.

The gradual return to pre-COVID routines and protocols has been a welcome development for BC’s admission team, Gosselin said.

“Our staff did an exceptional job during the pandemic in switching to virtual and remote programming, but the face-to-face visitor experience continues to be the gold standard. We were able to hold Admitted Eagle Day this past spring for the first time in three years, and this past summer we welcomed some 26,000 visitors to campus. The interactions with our staff, and with current BC students who work in our Student Admission Program, make a big difference.”

“This is an example of the global dimension of social work, and its role in resolving societal problems on a major scale,” says Maria Piñeros-Leaño (above) of the BCSSW project, which will adapt and pilot two programs designed to aid people affected by violence and upheaval in Colombia and Venezuela.

photo by caitlin cunningham

Oct. 25 Event Will Focus on Ireland’s Tragic Civil War

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

It was an “unspeakable war,” wrote one journalist, and “a story that nobody dared to tell.”

But contrary to popular assumption, the tragic Irish Civil War of 19221923—a wrenching, destructive run-up to the establishment of an independent Ireland—has long persisted in the national Irish memory, despite efforts to downplay or outright erase it from official discourse. Later this month, the Boston College Irish Studies Program will host a lecture by Irish historian and author Síobhra Aiken, who has chronicled the determination of veterans and later generations to keep alive the story, now in its centenary, of the Irish Civil War.

Aiken, a lecturer in the Queens University Belfast Department of Irish and Celtic Studies, will present “Forgetting the Irish Civil War (1922-23)? One Hundred Years of Silence Breakers,” on October 25 at 4 p.m. in Connolly House. Her talk will encompass research she published earlier this year in Spiritual Wounds: Trauma, Testimony and the Irish Civil War, which will be available at the event.

The Irish Civil War grew out of intense disagreement over the terms of the AngloIrish Treaty that ended the Irish War of Independence against Britain. Fighting amongst Irish revolutionaries broke out

after failed attempts to form a coalition between the pro-treaty forces and those who opposed it because, among other reasons, it called for a partition of Ireland that allowed six counties in the north to stay part of Britain and the establishment of an Irish Free State instead of a republic.

While the war lasted barely a year, ending with the pro-treaty side victorious, the toll was steep. Precise figures for combatant and civilian deaths have never been verified, but are estimated to be at least 1,500 and probably more, including renowned figures like Michael Collins, a beloved hero of the

York Among Boston Irish Honorees

Retired Boston College men’s hockey coach Jerry York ’67 will be among the honorees at the annual Boston Irish Honors luncheon on October 28 at Boston’s Seaport Hotel.

Sponsored by Boston Irish magazine, the event recognizes families and individuals in Boston’s Irish community for endeavors in public service, business, and leadership. Past honorees include United States Labor Secretary and BC alumnus Martin J. Walsh, U.S. Senator Edward Markey ’68, J.D. ’72, Irish American Partnership Board of Directors member Mary Sugrue, former Democratic National Committee Chair Paul Kirk Jr., and former Boston Globe publisher Mike Sheehan.

York retired last spring after 50 years as a Division I hockey coach, 28 of them at BC. He is the winningest coach in NCAA hockey history—his 1,123 wins include a recordsetting 41 NCAA tournament victories—a five-time NCAA champion, and a member of the National Hockey League and U.S. Hockey halls of fame. York, who was the Schiller Family Head Hockey Coach at BC, cultivated a reputation as a caring mentor who supported his players during and after their time at BC. He coached four Hobey Baker Award winners (given to college hockey’s best player), 17 NHL first-round draft picks, 12 Stanley Cup champions, and scores of players who went on to successful careers in the NHL.  He also coached multiple Olympians and mentored dozens

of individuals who went on to serve as NHL coaches, general managers, and presidents of hockey operations.

A star player at Boston College High School before coming to the Heights, York was named First-Team All-America in 1967 and won the Walter Brown Award for the top American-born player in New England that same year.  He scored 134 points as a player (84 goals, 70 assists) and led the Eagles to a 60-29 record, the 1965 Beanpot title, and a second-place finish in the 1965 NCAA Tournament.

Other honorees at the luncheon include Cronin Development President and CEO Jon Cronin and Mary Swanton, executive director of the Irish Pastoral Centre.

—University Communications

War of Independence. Guerilla attacks, government-sanctioned executions, and other brutal acts were carried out. The economic damage was substantial, which affected negotiations for the border between the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland.

Civil wars are by nature a traumatic national event that can leave long-lasting psychological and emotional scars. But as Aiken writes in Spiritual Wounds, the impact of the 1922-1923 war on Irish people has been a complicated and often misunderstood matter. In the years afterward, politicians and other public figures stressed a process of healing “the wounds of war” over remembrance, while school textbooks and other historical publications mostly omitted references to the civil war. This led to the “unspeakable war” characterization (associated with journalist Eoin Neeson, who chose it for the title of his 1958 series of articles on the war)—a belief that there was a “code of silence” about the war, she notes, despite the fact that many civil war veterans had published or otherwise shared their accounts, and later generations also contested the notion of total silence about the conflict.

“The wealth of this body of testimony suggests that the silence of the Irish Civil War was not necessarily a result of revolutionaries’ reluctance to speak,” Aiken writes, “but rather due to the unwillingness of the architects of official memory—journalists, historians, politicians—to listen to the tes-

Snapshot

timony of civil war veterans.”

Sullivan Millennium Chair and Irish Studies Director Guy Beiner, whose research—cited by Aiken in the book—explores how popular conceptions of national and local history are shaped not only by collective memory but also what he calls “social forgetting,” praised Aiken as an innovative, forward-thinking scholar.

“Síobhra is one of the most original and interesting new voices in the field of Irish studies today: She’s an historian who also works with literature and is fluent in Irish. In Spiritual Wounds, she challenges longheld assumptions that ‘embarrassment’ is the reason why the Irish Civil War has been so neglected. Female survivors or relatives of veterans were especially marginalized, and some of them worked out their war-related trauma and experiences through writing fiction, which does not appear on the ‘A list’ of Irish literature. Síobhra dug deep to find these writings, and they help put this chapter of Irish history in a new light.

“The Irish Civil War’s impact was farreaching and well worth examining, especially as we conclude the centenary commemorations of the Irish Revolution. All of contemporary Irish politics was framed by the war, for example, and the conflict spurred emigration of anti-treaty Irish— some of whom came to Boston.”

For information on this and other Irish Studies events, go to bc.edu/irish

Boston College and Haley House celebrated their historic ties on October 5 at the Burns Library with a program, “Reflections on Compassion in Action.” Panelists included (L-R) parttime Philosophy faculty member David Manzo ‘77, the first BC PULSE student to volunteer at Haley House; Mary Lou Bozza ‘03, former Haley House development director; Kathleen McKenna, Haley House co-founder; Bing Broderick, recently retired Haley House executive director; Reggie Jean, current Haley House executive director; Carl Long, Haley House board chair; and Ilona O’Connor, Haley House volunteer and program organizer.

For more about this event, see https://bit.ly/bc-haley-house-celebration.

Síobhra Aiken

Jerry York

photo by peter julian

photo by lee pellegrini

Schiller Grants Will Fund Collaborative Scholarship

BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER

The Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society has awarded 12 grants totaling $420,000 for research projects proposed by faculty and researchers from across the University as part of its second year of its Schiller Institute Grants for Exploratory Collaborative Scholarship (SIGECS) program.

Five “Type 1” grants of up to $15,000 and seven “Type 2” grants of up to $50,000 were awarded following a review of 18 proposals, said Schiller Institute Seidner Family Executive Director Laura J. Steinberg. The awards fund a range of research costs, with Type 2 funding covering the salary of a graduate student for up to one year.

“This year’s projects once again show the value of interdisciplinary approaches to problem solving, whether in integrating physics and chemistry approaches to new materials development or in interrogating the meaning of Aristotle’s work in the context of the newest advances in neuroscience,” said Steinberg. “We are thrilled with the quality of the projects we were able to fund this year, as well as the breadth of the questions they are addressing.”

The SIGECS program supports collaborative research projects and creative activities in the Schiller Institute’s principal research focus areas of energy, the natural environment, and health. The grant program recognizes that collaborative efforts of faculty and researchers who have different knowledge, perspectives, and expertise can make significant contributions to addressing inherently interdisciplinary societal issues like these.

The program was created to support projects that are exploratory in nature: either fostering collaborative conversation within the context of a particular project, or helping faculty identify shared interests, or providing a mechanism for testing hypotheses or driving collaborative scholarship.

Nota Bene

David Blustein, professor and Golden Eagle Faculty Fellow in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development’s Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology department, received the Leona Tyler Award for Lifetime Achievement in Counseling Psychology at the American Psychological Association’s (APA) annual convention in Minneapolis. Named for the former APA and Society of Counseling Psychology Division 17 president, the honor acknowledges distinguished contributions in research or professional achievement in counseling psychology.

Blustein, who has been instrumental in developing an inclusive and social justice-informed perspective of work, is the author of The Psychology of Working: A New Perspective for Career Development, Counseling, and Public Policy and The Importance of Work in an Age of Uncertainty.

“Faculty interest continues to be strong in finding avenues to support their interest in collaborative, interdisciplinary research,” Steinberg said. “And we are so happy to be able to offer students the chance to work in teams with faculty and students from other disciplines, mirroring the work environment they are likely to find upon graduation and providing them with both a team experience and the opportunity to see problems in more integrated, holistic ways.”

In addition to spurring cross-disciplinary collaboration and applied, problem-focused

and implement how the deliberate cultivation of virtuous habits, in conjunction with relevant study and classroom education, can develop moral, intellectual, and civic virtues among students, with applications to societal health beyond higher education,” the team wrote in its proposal.

Another Type 1 project will assess green hydrogen as a “significant energy storage component of zero carbon economies needed before 2050.” Proposed by Margaret A. and Thomas A. ’53 Vanderslice Chair in Chemistry Dunwei Wang and Profes-

The grants will support interdisciplinary research projects that enable faculty to explore the role of virtue in students’ well-being, develop programs to serve some 65,000 Afghan refugees in the United States, and find a new way to measure body mass composition.

research, some projects are intended to lay the groundwork to leverage additional funding from external sources, Steinberg said.

This semester, four symposia will be held featuring the 2021 SIGECS projects on topics in the areas of the environment, climate change, clean energy, and health.

Proposals addressed issues of critical concern in the areas of energy, the natural environment, or health through research or creative expression. The projects were expected to be new to the proposing teams, but could also take prior research in a new direction.

Among Type 1 awards, the institute funded the work of the Virtue Ethics Working Group, which will investigate the role of virtues in students’ well-being, the wholeperson approach to teaching, and civic engagement. The eight team members are in the disciplines of philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, and teaching.

“Our goal is to develop and implement a longitudinal study to measure, analyze,

sor of Political Science David Deese, the project will evaluate the highly anticipated technological approach seen as instrumental, particularly among industrial energy consumers and the transportation sector, in achieving net zero economies in the next three decades.

The researchers “will jointly identify the key social, economic, and political barriers and risks associated with economy-wide green hydrogen infrastructure built upon the most promising techniques and projects to date,” according to the proposal.

Another team will explore the use of machine learning in analyzing patient readmission after heart failure based on wearable sensors. Faculty from the Computer Science Department and Connell School of Nursing will explore whether wearable devices can improve the timely delivery of care and reduce incidents of readmission.

proposes to adapt a digital tool to facilitate home visitor’s delivery of FSI-R in Afghan refugee communities at scale across the U.S.,” according to the proposal.

A collaboration between faculty from the Engineering, Computer Science, and the Connell School will explore developing a new, more accurate, and easier way for people to measure their body mass composition, such as fat and muscle mass.

“Given the rise of low-cost mobile ultrasound systems, and ultrasound’s proven ability to assess measures of adipose tissue and skeletal muscle, our team will develop a novel ultrasound tool that can guide a user to collect high quality data and automatically determine body composition measures for nutritional evaluation,” the team proposed.

Three projects from the first round of SIGECS funding last year received additional support, including the Multidisciplinary Faculty Research Seminar on Climate Change, a project involving dozens of faculty from across the University; the Chelsea Wellbeing Initiative, which examines a post-pandemic citywide mental health campaign; and a collaboration by Lynch School of Education and Human Development and Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences faculty to develop a multi-player video game to address environmental racism.

For more on the 2022 SIGECS projects and other Schiller Institute news, see bc.edu/ schiller

Jobs

The following are among the recent positions posted by the Department of Human Resources. For more information on employment opportunities at Boston College, see www.bc.edu/jobs.

Associate Professor of Theatre Stuart Hecht’s article “What I Learned from ‘Our Town’: A Director’s Memoir” was published in the Thornton Wilder Journal Hecht wrote about the first production he directed at Boston College: “Our Town,” in 1988. According to the article abstract, Hecht’s goal “was to enhance the play’s immediacy, not alter it. The author’s artistic process resulted in changing the play’s setting from the 1910s to the 1950s,” and using “dramaturgical and improvisational techniques to explore the world of the play and find fresh solutions.”

In July, Hecht was asked to direct the first staged reading of a long-unknown one-act play written in 1919 by Susan Glaspell, an important American feminist playwright. The premiere took place at the 11th International Conference on Eugene O’Neill held at Suffolk University.

“There is a critical need to identify those at highest risk for poor outcomes,” the team wrote in their proposal. “We will address this need by combining state-of-the-art wearable sensors and machine learning algorithms for physiological data analysis with the latest clinical understanding in the field.”

Among Type 2 awards, one project is focused on the development of programs to serve an estimated 65,000 Afghan evacuees now living in the United States. Faculty from the BC School of Social Work, Computer Science, and Engineering are working on the project, “Digital Mental Health Innovations to Support Scaling Out a Family Strengthening Intervention for Afghan Refugee Families: An Interdisciplinary Collaboration.”

The team will work with Family Strengthening Intervention for Refugees, an evidence-based program to promote mental health in refugee communities that was developed for delivery “by refugees for refugees” based on research by BCSSW Salem Professor in Global Practice Theresa Betancourt.

“To respond to the high volume and heightened service needs of resettling Afghan populations in the U.S., our team

Assistant Director of the Volunteer & Service Learning Center

Staff Psychologist or Staff Clinician

Career Services Assistant

Director, Institutional Planning

Auxiliary Systems Support Specialist

Assistant Director, Continuing Education

Staff Nurse

Director, Cleanroom Facility

Director, Annual and Leadership Giving

Administrative Assistant, Law School

Associate University Librarian

Senior Network Systems Engineer

Systems Librarian

Development Assistant

Assistant Manager

Production Manager

Director, Academic Operations and Services

Assistant Director, Student Affairs

Report Writer

Staff Assistant

BC Arts

Accomplished Alum to Serve as Monan Professor

BY ROSANNE PELLEGRINI STAFF WRITER

Acclaimed American stage and screen actor and Boston College alumnus Bryce Pinkham—widely known for originating the role of Monty Navarro in the Tonywinning production of “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder,” for which he was nominated for Tony, Grammy, and Drama Desk awards—will return to Boston College’s Theatre Department as the Monan Professor in Theatre Arts for the spring 2023 semester.

Pinkham, who graduated in a 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in communication and theater, notably appeared in the Broadway revival of “The Heidi Chronicles” as Peter Patrone, for which he was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award and a Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance. His other Broadway credits include original roles in “Holiday Inn,” “The Great Society,” “Ghost,” “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson,” and the upcoming “Ohio State Murders” with actress/ singer Audra McDonald.

“We are extraordinarily lucky to have Bryce Pinkham as our Monan Professor this spring,” said Theatre Department

Chair and Associate Professor of the Practice Luke Jorgensen. “Bryce is not only a musical theater performer and an actor, but is also an expert in physical comedy and

how to cope with actor stress and anxiety, something he spoke about during last year’s Lowell Humanities Series.”

At BC, Pinkham will direct a production of “Candide,” in which he performed as a student the last time it was staged on campus, Jorgensen added.

He will teach a class titled Reckless Creativity and The Physical Actor—for performers and creatives seeking to rediscover and unlock their own brand of reckless creativity—and give workshops in musical theater performance, physical theater, and creativity.

Pinkham has impressive on-screen credits to go with his Broadway work. A series regular in the Civil War drama “Mercy Street,” he also has had guest appearances in HBO’s “Julia,” Baz Luhrmann’s Netflix series “The Get Down,” Robert DeNiro’s feature film “The Comedian,” as well as “The Good Wife” (CBS), “Proven Innocent” (Fox), “Person of Interest” (CBS), and “Blindspot” and “The Blacklist” (NBC).

As a singer he has performed in premier concert venues across the country, notably Carnegie Hall, The Chicago Lyric Opera, Lincoln Center, and The Library of Congress. He also has published articles

in American Theater Magazine and Yale Alumni Magazine.

In 2012, Pinkham helped found Zara Aina, a nonprofit that uses theatrical storytelling to empower under-resourced youth. The following year, he led a team of American artists on its pilot program in Madagascar. As a frequent collaborator with Outside the Wire, a social-impact theater company that serves many communities with a particular focus on military audiences, he has done international tours in Guantanamo Bay, Japan, Kuwait, and Qatar.

Pinkham was awarded the Leonore Annenberg Foundation Early Career Fellowship in 2012 by the Yale School of Drama, where he earned a master’s degree in acting and bio-writing.

The Monan Professorship in Theatre Arts was established in 2007 by a gift to Boston College in honor of the late University Chancellor and former BC President J. Donald Monan, S.J. The position, which also commemorates the late trustee E. Paul Robsham, enables the Theatre Department to bring nationally and internationally known professionals to Boston College to teach and work with undergraduate students.

Robsham Theater Fall Schedule Features Original Works

An original play described as “a Gothic thriller in the extreme” by its writer, Theatre Department Chair and Associate Professor of the Practice Luke Jorgensen, will launch the fall main stage performances at Boston College’s Robsham Theater Arts Center.

“Dreadful”—which, appropriately, debuts just prior to Halloween, October 20-23—is “a celebration of the sensational horror novelettes of Victorian England,”’ according to Jorgensen, who also is directing the play. “Frankenstein’s monster, Jekyll and Hyde, vampires, and more cross paths in a shocking and suspenseful collage of tales, immorality, and murder.”

BC Scenes

Fun and Games

Of its genesis, he said: “I have always wanted to direct a horror/suspense play, set in a foggy Victorian London. I looked at many, many scripts of the monster classics and felt they did not provide the ensemble opportunities I was looking for, so I attempted to craft a play where several creatures all lived in the same world.”

Jorgensen drew inspiration “from classic monster tales and from the Victorian Penny dreadfuls—sensational, cheap, often scandalous stories of the era. In our world Jekyll and Hyde, Frankenstein’s monster, Jack the Ripper and others all exist, and interact in a creepy, sometimes comedic world. Our designers are outdoing them-

selves to make this experience a rich and frightful experience. This hour-and-a-halflong performance will not be short on entertainment.”

Original works also will be showcased the following month, when “Awakenings—A Dance Concert” is staged from November 17-20. A showcase of student performers and different styles of original choreography, “Awakenings” is a celebration of artistic dance and the department’s new dance minor program, featuring new pieces by Associate Professor of the Practice of Theatre Sun Ho Kim, part-time Theatre Department faculty members Amane Takaishi and Lindsey Leduc, and guest art-

ist Larry Sousa.

“We are now in our second year of the dance program and it has already proven a great success. Four choreographers are creating student-performed pieces ranging from lyrical to jazz, ballet, to Broadway, said Jorgensen. “The performance compliments our new major, and new classes, by giving our dancers greater opportunity to be seen on the Robsham stage. I believe this performance will be amazing.”

For more on fall Theatre Department/ Robsham Theater Arts Center main stage productions, including performance times and ticket information, see bc.edu/theatre.

—Rosanne Pellegrini

Bryce Pinkham ’05

Homecoming Week on the Heights included a pep rally on Stokes Green October 6, with lawn games, snacks, and performances by, among others, the Screaming Eagles Marching Band—a couple of whose members were able to get in a round of cornhole (far right).

photos by justin knight