The Boston College
Chronicle Published by the Boston College Office of News & Public Affairs october 16, 2014 VOL. 23 no. 4
Center for Teaching Excellence Open House today, 3-5 p.m.
INSIDE
New Center Combines Teaching, Tech Resources
•Red Bandanna Run to mark 10th year, page 2 •BC center teams up with the Washington Post, page 2
By Sean Smith Chronicle Editor
Commonwealth Avenue entrance to Boston College, 1930. Photo from The Heights: An Illustrated History of Boston College, 1863-2013.
More to the Story
•Mogan is appointed AVP/ dean of students, page 3 •Lynch Fall Symposium, Diversity Challenge, page 4 •Packer is Monan Prof. in Theatre Arts, page 6
•Alpha Sigma Nu prize for Min Song, page 6 •Winner of I’m First Scholarship settles in at BC, page 6 •Welcome Additions: a look at new faculty members, page 7 •Retired Development administrator Landau dies, page 7 •Voices of Imani ready to sing out at Fall Jam, page 8 •Photos: Campus School Fun, Run, Walk and Roll, page 8
Newly published book updates the history of Boston College, in pictures as well as words By Kathleen Sullivan Staff Writer
Seminal moments from the first 150 years of Boston College have been captured in words and images in the newly published book, The Heights: An Illustrated History of Boston College, 1863–2013, written by Office of Marketing Communications Executive Director Ben Birnbaum, special assistant to the president and editor of Boston College Magazine, and Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies Assistant Director Seth Meehan, with photography by Gary Wayne Gilbert, OMC director of photography. Expertly researched, The Heights (published by Linden Lane Press), which includes information and photographs never previously
published, tells the Boston College story from before it opened with 22 students in 1864 to its rise as a leading national university with students from across the country and the globe. As the introduction states, “These heights were neither inevitable, foreseeable or even conceivable at its founding (and most of the way to 2013).” Meehan pored over more than a dozen archives in Massachusetts, Washington, DC, and Rome. Some of the archival material was previously sealed and had not been available to earlier writers of Boston College histories. Beyond the monumental scope of the project, one of the biggest challenges facing the authors, according to Birnbaum, was “findContinued on page 4
The Long Wait
Hesse-Biber has very personal connection to her research on genetic testing for breast cancer By Sean Smith Chronicle Editor
For more than a year, Professor of Sociology Sharlene Hesse-Biber would regularly leave Boston College on Fridays to make a bittersweet journey, traveling to Virginia to help care for her youngest sister, Janet, who was dying of breast cancer. Few, if any, of her colleagues or friends at BC knew this. Nor did many of them know Hesse-Biber
herself had battled breast cancer twice, or that her older sister and her mother were going through the same struggle. Hesse-Biber’s reticence might seem uncharacteristic for someone whose academic career has been marked by outspokenness on women’s health issues, particularly the impact of sociocultural factors on women’s body image. “When it comes to my personal life, I am a private person,” Continued on page 5
QUOTE:
Boston College’s recently opened Center for Teaching Excellence aims to help faculty members refine their craft in the most comprehensive way possible, focusing on the “why” as well as the “how” of teaching in 21st-century higher education. Housed on the second floor of O’Neill Library, the CTE brings together existing resources in academic technology and professional development – Instructional Design and eTeaching Services (IDeS), the Connors Family Learning Center, and the Faculty Microcomputer Resource Center – in one administrative bailiwick. The result, say administrators, will be a comprehensive array of tools available for BC faculty to improve and advance their teach-
Lynch School Researcher Wins Grant for ELL Program By Ed Hayward Staff Writer
Caitlin Cunningham
•Welcome back to Boston, Mr. Poe, page 3
ing while also gaining a fuller appreciation of their role in a Jesuit, Catholic university. The University community can get an introduction to the center and its features at an open house today from 3-5 p.m. “A lot of universities and colleges have a center for teaching as well as a center for academic technology,” says CTE Director John Rakestraw. “But there is real value in having all those aspects and functions in one place. As the use of technology in academia continues to grow, it’s all the more important that alongside the technological resources is the expertise and interest in pedagogy – the very language and philosophy of teaching.” “The name ‘Center for Teaching Excellence’ really says it all,” adds Vice Provost for Faculties Patricia DeLeeuw, who spearheaded the two-year effort to create the Continued on page 5
A team led by Lynch School of Education Associate Professor Patrick Proctor has been awarded a three-year, $1.47 million grant from the US Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences to develop a program to support Spanish-speaking students as they acquire linguistic awareness and other skills that can help them learn English. Proctor and colleagues from the University of Maryland will work on refining CLAVES, a curriculum for Spanish-speaking English language learners in the fourth grade. CLAVES stands for Comprehension, Linguistic Awareness, and Vocabulary in English and Spanish. Linguistic awareness includes knowledge about the components of language, including semantics, morphology and syntax, according to Proctor. Prior studies have shown that linguistic awareness is strongly tied to reading skills and compre-
Patrick Proctor
hension. “We’re interested in the practical dimensions,” said Proctor, a specialist in literacy and bilingual education. “This is about developing a focus on the language used to bring students to greater reading comprehension. Students learn a language by using it and understanding its functions and purposes and that’s what we want to leverage in this intervention.” In addition to Proctor, the team includes University of Maryland reContinued on page 3
“I think gospel is breaking out of its preconceived shell in many ways, and not just musically. Our choir is quite diverse, so while gospel has strong roots in AfricanAmerican culture, anyone can enjoy it, no matter what their background might be.” –Bria Coleman ’15, president of the Voices of Imani Gospel Choir, page 8
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle october 16, 2014
2
A ROUND
C AMPUS
10 YEARS FOR THE 5K
HARVEST TIME Photos by Lee Pellegrini
Alison and Jefferson Crowther address participants at the 2011 Red Bandanna 5K. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)
Oct. 25 will be the 10th annual Welles Remy Crowther Red Bandanna 5K, held in memory of the 1999 Boston College alumnus and volunteer firefighter celebrated for his heroism during the 9/11 attacks at the World Trade Center. The race, which takes place on the BC Main Campus, has become the biggest fundraiser for the Welles Remy Crowther Charitable Trust, a fund established by Crowther’s family to benefit the good works of young men and women. Hundreds of runners take part in the event, supported by contributions from various sponsors and donors. Some participants create their own fundraising web pages on which they share the reasons for their involvement. In some cases, there’s a personal connection: Sara Kravotil notes that her cousin, Carr, was a close friend of Crowther. Carroll School of Management MBA graduates Colin and Tracey (Lapan) McDevitt named their oldest son, now nine, after Crowther, and would bring him to the 5K as a toddler. Although the family has now relocated from New Hampshire to Texas, the McDevitts say they are determined to return for the race. “Welles has participated many times in this race (years and years ago, while being pushed in a jogging stroller by his Dad),” Tracey wrote on their fundraising webpage. “This is the first time he,
and his brother, Greer, will be running it. He hopes to be the first Welles to finish the race.” Others have simply found themselves inspired by the example of Crowther to want to make a difference in whatever way they can. After hearing the story during the 10th-anniversary coverage of 9/11, Anthony Spaziani, a teacher in Queens, NY, was so impressed he and his students made Crowther the subject of a class project. They also created a commemorative quilt and sent it to Crowther’s parents, Alison and Jefferson. “It was a great character lesson for my students and an awesome art project,” wrote Spaziani. “I am finally going to make it to the run.” “I set this up because a conversation with my dad made me realize that there are a lot of people who are in our lives who might want to be a part of this,” Chloe Sigillito ’13, MA ’14, an admission counselor at Fordham University, explained on her page. “The story of Welles Remy Crowther is one that speaks to the best in all of us and the spirit we all try to have.” For details on the Welles Remy Crowther Red Bandanna 5K, see www.bc.edu/redbandannarun. Information about the Welles Remy Crowther Charitable Trust is available at crowthertrust.org. –Sean Smith
Director of NEWS & Public Affairs Jack Dunn Deputy Director of NEWS & Public AFFAIRS Patricia Delaney Editor Sean Smith
Contributing Staff Melissa Beecher Ed Hayward Sean Hennessey Rosanne Pellegrini Kathleen Sullivan Michael Maloney Photographers Gary Gilbert Lee Pellegrini
The Boston College Farmer’s Market made its annual appearance at Corcoran Commons this fall, enabling students like Patrick Einhorn ‘15 (in photo at bottom left) to use dining plan dollars to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, baked goods and locally made bread.
CRR & THE POST TEAM UP As it continues to examine the problems of Social Security – and potential solutions – the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College [crr.bc.edu] is getting some perspective from Washington Post readers, thanks to a new partnership built on an online exercise incorporating much of the center’s analysis and expertise. “We’re very excited about it,” says CRR Associate Director for External Relations Andrew Eschtruth. “That the Post has committed its own resources in this way is a huge endorsement for the content and for us as a nonpartisan research organization.” The CRR-Post partnership originated with the 2007 CRR publication The Social Security Fix-it Book, a 52-page explanation of the problem and solutions mixed in with easy-to-understand graphs and charts. In the back of the book are 10 options for readers to choose from to help fix Social Security.
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“The notion behind that book was to give people a very quick sense of Social Security’s long-term financing challenge and offer them a list of common ways to alleviate the problem by either reducing benefits or raising revenues for the system,” says Eschtruth, co-author of the book. “Our whole goal was not to take any sides politically, but present these options in a neutral way with pros and cons for each.“ Although the book was well received, the CRR didn’t have a way to collect user responses. Then the Washington Post came calling last year with its proposal. “We always liked the idea of somehow integrating this into a poll, and this survey exercise is one way to do it,” says Eschtruth. “The Post is an ideal partner for this effort because their readership is more interested in the details of public policy issues than the average person.” The first article based on the CRR book has been published in
the print version of the Post and online as well [http://wapo. st/1EToPlA]. “So far, one of the most popular solutions is to raise the earnings cap, meaning people at higher income levels would pay payroll taxes on more of their earnings,” says Eschtruth. “Another is raising the full retirement age, which is a form of benefit cut.” Eschtruth is thrilled with the partnership and expects all the articles on the Washington Post website to continue to draw attention, largely because of the topic’s importance and relevance. “It’s not going to become stale anytime soon. The debate is not about to end. Congress and the President are not about to pass any legislation on this issue. And the fundamental shape of the issue will be the same a year from now, two years from now.” –Sean Hennessey
The Boston College Chronicle (USPS 009491), the internal newspaper for faculty and staff, is published biweekly from September to May by Boston College, with editorial offices at the Office of News & Public Affairs, 14 Mayflower Road, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 (617)552-3350. Distributed free to faculty and staff offices and other locations on campus. Periodicals postage paid at Boston, MA and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: send address changes to The Boston College Chronicle, Office of News & Public Affairs, 14 Mayflower Road, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467.
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T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle october 16, 2014
Poe Is Now in Boston ‘Evermore’ Caitlin Cunningham
A statue of native son Edgar Allan Poe was dedicated in Boston on Oct. 5, the culmination of Poerelated festivities and years of campaigning by Professor of English Paul Lewis to bring the author to a permanent place of prominence in the city of his birth. The Edgar Allan Poe Foundation of Boston – chaired by Lewis — unveiled sculptor Stefanie Rocknak’s work, “Poe Returning to Boston,” on a sunny afternoon in Edgar Allan Poe Square at the intersection of Boylston Street and Charles Street South, an area designated in 2009 by former Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, at Lewis’ urging. “The Rocknak sculpture allows Boston to celebrate a native writer whose work is admired and enjoyed here and around the world,” Lewis said. “The story of Poe’s engagement with Boston writers and editors, whom he called ‘Frogpondians,’ is a fascinating and important part of America’s literary history.” Rocknak describes the statue — which memorializes Poe’s connections to Boston — as “a life-size figure in bronze, approximately 5-foot-8. Just off the train, Poe is walking south towards his place of birth. With a trunk full of ideas — and worldwide success — he is finally coming home.” In addition to celebrating Rocknak’s work, said Lewis, “the unveiling events allowed us finally to share a new sense of Poe’s relation to Boston in an enduring way. “About 400 people attended the pre-dedication program at the Boston Park Plaza hotel to welcome Poe back,” he noted. “Hundreds turned up for the unveiling later that afternoon in Poe Square. I stayed around for about an hour, then went off with my family for coffee. When I crossed back through the square an hour later, dozens of people were still there, taking
In photo at right, Prof. Paul Lewis (English), left, chats with US Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky at the unveiling of a statue of Edgar Allan Poe, a project spearheaded by Lewis.
pictures of themselves with Poe and loving the statue. [It] made my telltale heart beat just a little faster and brought a smile to my face.” A staunch Poe-Boston proponent who has spearheaded a campaign to have the city reclaim Poe, Lewis has led various efforts in cementing the author’s ties to the Hub: a Poe bicentennial celebration on campus and throughout the city; a Boston Public Library exhibition, which he curated with BC student assistance, to shed light on Poe’s relationship with his birthplace, and the creation of a map of Boston which identifies places “with Poerich connections” associated with his life and work here – an area where Lewis leads popular walking tours. “Boston is home to many artists, and their work is vital to our culture,” Mayor Marty Walsh had said prior to the dedication. “I’m pleased that Edgar Allan Poe is being honored in the heart of his hometown — his writings continue to inspire the art community, philosophers, and modern literary works.” The program prior to the statue
dedication featured readings, remarks and original musical settings of Poe poems. In addition to Lewis and Rocknak, participants were WBUR arts reporter Andrea Shea, authors Matthew Pearl (The Poe Shadow) and Pulitzer Prize winner Megan Marshall, composer Mary Bichner and the Planetary Quartet, Boston Art Commission Director Karin Goodfellow, Poe Studies Association President Philip E. Phillips, University of Massachusetts Professor Nadia Nurhussein, actor Stephen Walling and independent scholar Rob Velella. The dedication ceremony for the statue – which is part of Boston’s new Literary Cultural District, the first of its kind in the US – featured comments by former US poet laureate Robert Pinsky, and a representative of Walsh’s office. For more details on the project, its background and supporters, see www. bostonpoe.org. –Office of News & Public Affairs
Mogan Is Named Associate Vice President/Dean of Students
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By Jack Dunn Director of News & Public Affairs
Vice President for Student Affairs Barb Jones has named Thomas A. Mogan, director of the Office of Student Development at Villanova University, as associate vice president/dean of students. Mogan, a veteran student affairs practitioner with 19 years of experience in the field, will join Boston College in January. He succeeds Paul Chebator, who retired in May. In his role, Mogan will oversee student conduct, emergency case management, student activity programming and outreach to students with disabilities. “We are very excited to have Dr. Tom Mogan joining the Division of Student Affairs as associate vice president/dean of students,” said Jones. “Tom brings a wealth of experience and knowledge from his work at Villanova University, where he is a highly respected member of the campus community. His experience, combined with his commitment to the formation of students and the Jesuit, Catholic mission of the University, make him an ideal choice for this position. I look forward to working with him when he joins us in January.” Mogan said he is honored to join the BC community in such a meaningful role and eager to work with the University’s talented students, faculty and staff. “In my interviews with the senior leadership of Boston College, I came away impressed with their deep level of engagement in student affairs and their commitment to student formation,” said Mogan. “Furthermore, the students I met demonstrated a strong desire to serve Boston College and its surrounding communities. These meetings reinforced my desire to join such a thoughtful, caring
Thomas A. Mogan
community. “I am eager to begin to discover ways in which the Dean of Students Office can further the Jesuit, Catholic mission of the University while nurturing the growth and development of each BC student. I look forward to working with my Student Affairs colleagues and student leaders to craft a shared vision for our future together.” Mogan is a graduate of University of Delaware, where he studied political science and history. He received a master’s degree in education administration from Florida State University, a master’s degree in history from Villanova University and his PhD in history from Temple University. He has served as an adjunct professor in the departments of History and Communication and at the Center of Liberal Education at Villanova since 1992. In addition, Mogan was an active member of Villanova’s Fulbright Review Committee, Catholic Relief Services-Villanova Partnership Committee, and One Book Villanova Committee, as well as its Student Life Subcommittee. He was also a mission service trip advisor for student trips to Central and South America, Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. Contact Jack Dunn at jack.dunn@bc.edu
Dept. of Education Grant Will Aid Lynch School’s ELL Initiative Continued from page 1 searchers Rebecca Silverman and Jeffrey Harring. The grant follows the team’s recently completed four-year, IESfunded study of vocabulary acquisition in 300 children in grades two through four, both native English speakers and English language learners. The researchers discovered the vocabulary knowledge of Spanish-speaking students was a reliable predictor of their reading performance in English. Additional findings pointed to the role of linguistic awareness and teaching methods in learning a new language. There are approximately 4.4 million students in the US who are classified as English language learners
(ELL). Among this group, students’ linguistic awareness skills typically lag behind their peers who have grown up speaking English, according to Proctor. The CLAVES approach includes group conversations among students to discuss class readings. These discussions are focused on asking students to take positions on controversial subjects within the readings and then discuss their opinions with their peers. Teachers will be encouraged to use supportive tools, such as pictures, graphic organizers and multimedia elements to help students access the text. Proctor said the curriculum will include four topical units of
four weeks each, requiring four daily 30-minute lessons per week. Two sets of texts suited to students at different skill levels will be available. Proctor said those discussions are intended to increase the amount of time English learners spend speaking to one another during instructional time. Proctor said this focus on conversation was further reinforced by his work with teachers at the Russell Elementary School in Dorchester, where the Lynch School has been a long-standing educational partner. “Language is key to the human experience,” said Proctor, “and pushing children to use language in our classrooms is at the center of our work.”
The curriculum will be aligned with the new, national Common Core State Standards and the World Class Instructional Design and Assessment English Language Proficiency Standards. Proctor said the research will take place in six urban and suburban schools in Massachusetts and Maryland, each serving between 37 and 60 percent Hispanic students and between 17 and 34 percent English language learners. The team will spend the first two years drafting, testing and revising CLAVES through work with teachers, students and ELL experts. In the third year, the team will carry out a pilot study to assess how well
CLAVES improves linguistic awareness and reading comprehension skills in ELL students. In the end, the team will develop a CLAVES curriculum guide and teacher manual. He said the project focuses on fourth grade because that is near the intellectual and instructional turning point where elementary school students shift from learning to read and begin reading to learn. In addition to being among the first researchers to explore linguistic awareness for students learning English, Proctor said the team hopes to put a valuable new set of tools in the hands of teachers who work in the field. Contact Ed Hayward at ed.hayward@bc.edu
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Chronicle october 16, 2014
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An Illustrated History
great leaders, it is also about “bit players,” noted Birnbaum, citing the essay on Richard A. O’Brien, Continued from page 1 SJ, an athletics director (1916ing the real story behind the hisBirnbaum points to three mo- 1924) whose 90-page photo album tory we thought we knew.” ments when “BC could have disap- resides in the University Archives, Added Meehan, “It was a chal- peared”: World War I, World War and the anonymous alumni who lenge to reconcile the rather potent II and 1970-71. The war years appear in many of the book’s phomythologies that surround Boston were marked by plummeting en- tographs. “I admire them. They College and its history with the rollment. With so many men en- have given this place structure and materials that we found in the pri- tering military service, the number wisdom.” mary sources. Often, widely told of students dipped to 236 in 1944. Birnbaum, who has worked stories were either not supported or “God knows if BC would have at BC since 1978, said the most contradicted with what we found survived had the war continued surprising discovery for him was in the archives. I came back [from another couple of years,” he said. the story of the underappreciGeorgetown] with letated William Keleher, ters that previous hisSJ, president from torians did not use and 1945-1951. During that changed the story his tenure, Fr. Keleher slightly. purchased the 37.5“That was the case acre reservoir that bewith [BC founder] came Lower Campus, John McElroy, SJ, the erected three buildings founding of the school, (Fulton, Lyons and and Boston College’s the service building), first years in general. broadened the curricula After Georgetown, Ben and increased academic and I recognized the requirements for facneed to go back to as ulty. He also welcomed many archival sources returning World War hockey coach John “Snooks” Kelley ’28 with goalas possible. Each place Legendary II veterans as students ies Bernard Burke ’50, left, and Norman Dailey ’49, circa 1949. yielded insights that under the GI Bill, a were new and important to us. The early 1970s saw a deep decision not all associated with the “I hope that readers appreciate budget deficit, striking students, University supported. Enrollment the visual aspect of the book. I petitions, rising tuition and stu- rose from 2,000 to 7,000 students. get lost in the photographic arrays dent takeovers of Gasson Hall and “It’s very seldom that excellent constructed by Gary Gilbert, espe- the President’s Office, combined people are overlooked, but that’s cially those on World War II and with general American tensions the case with Keleher. Considering coeducation,” said Meehan. “I per- over the war in Vietnam and race all he accomplished, it astonishes sonally hope that readers will look relations, all of which created a me he is not more highly regardat the images and read the essay of tumultuous time on the campus. ed,” said Birnbaum. a particular topic or two, become When asked which Jesuits (livThe Heights spotlights other unsung people in BC’s history, such as Mary Roberts, president of the Philomatheia Club, an all-women support group of Boston College. “She was literally the development office,” said Birnbaum. “When
Students at work in Bapst Library, circa 1935.
people needed something they turned to Mary and her crew.” The authors call Roberts “the most influential woman to participate in [Boston College] life during the first 100 years of its existence.” Said Meehan, “I think it is important to profile the once indispensable and now largely forgotten individuals in Boston College’s history because by rediscovering what they did, why they did it, and what made them so important to the institution, you can better understand the institution and the culture at the time. “For a half-century, Mary Roberts led one of the most — if not the most, without qualifier — important organizations in Boston College’s history, and for most of her leadership, her members could not attend the school they so enthusiastically supported. That says something to me about what the local community thought of the value of Boston College. “And for Keleher, it is easy to think that the rise of Boston College after World War II was somehow inevitable. But he, Rob-
erts, Cardinal [Richard] Cushing and others at Boston College made particular decisions to push the University forward.” Meehan, who completed the book while also finishing his doctorate in history at BC, expressed personal gratitude to History Department faculty members James O’Toole, Lynn Lyerly, Owen Stanwood and Kevin Kenny, as well as to Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley, University President William P. Leahy, SJ, and the OMC staff, including Assistant Director Keith Ake. Birnbaum is quick to credit the extraordinary work of University Archivist Amy Braitsch. “We couldn’t have done this without her,” he said. One revelation for Birnbaum that he hopes readers will share in is “that from the beginning BC has had a sense of community, a sense of family. There may be fighting like there is among family members, but there is also wonderful affection.” Contact Kathleen Sullivan at kathleen.sullivan@bc.edu
Upcoming: LSOE Symposium, Diversity Challenge
(L-R) Gary Wayne Gilbert, Ben Birnbaum, Keith Ake and Seth Meehan contributed to The Heights: An Illustrated History. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)
interested to know to more, and visit the archives. There is so much more that is not in our book, and plenty left to discover.” “It was challenging to bring life and vibrancy into hundreds of historical images, many of which in their original form were faded and worn,” said Gilbert, who served as art director for the project. “What I hoped to achieve through the still-life constructions was a more dramatic visual sense of life during the early days of BC’s history.” The Heights, Birnbaum says, is about “foundational turning points for Boston College, pivot points where, without something happening, the University would have gone in a different direction.”
ing Jesuits excluded) would appear on Boston College’s version of Mount Rushmore, Birnbaum chose Fathers John McElroy, Robert Fulton, Thomas Gasson and Michael Walsh. Fr. McElroy was “stubborn” and “driven” about making his dream of a Jesuit school in Boston a reality. Fr. Fulton, BC’s first academic dean and a two-term president, brought “intelligence and perspective.” Fr. Gasson, who was responsible for the University’s move to Chestnut Hill, “changed the whole game.” Fr. Walsh, president from 1958 to 1968, “drove BC to the cusp of something great.” While BC’s history is about
Two Lynch School of Education events, the school’s Fall Symposium and the LSOE Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture’s Diversity Challenge, highlight late October campus activity at Boston College. Joan Lombardi, an international expert in child development and social policy, will deliver the keynote at the 15th annual LSOE Fall Symposium this Tuesday, Oct. 21, at 4:30 p.m. in the Yawkey Center’s Murray Room. Lombardi, who earned her master’s of education at the Lynch School in 1973, served as the first deputy assistant secretary for early childhood development in the Obama administration. Her keynote remarks are titled “Early Childhood Education: Looking Back and Moving Forward.” Her address will be followed by remarks from two Lynch School faculty with expertise in the area: Professor of Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology Rebekah Levine Coley
and Associate Professor of Teacher Education, Special Education, and Curriculum and Instruction Mariela Páez. A reception will follow the presentation. The deadline for registration is tomorrow; go to omc.bc.edu/ schools/lsoe/2014/symposium/register.php. The Diversity Challenge, which takes place Oct. 24 and 25, will examine “Racial and Cultural Discrimination Across the Lifespan,” with panel discussions, workshops, and individual presentations by invited experts in education, mental health, and community activism. An estimated 250 attendees are expected at the conference, which will touch on immigrant youth and workplace violence. Among the featured panels are “Understanding Invisibility as Part of the Black Experience,” “Mental Health Needs of Diverse Populations,” and “The Importance of Understanding Racial Bias.” The conference also will observe the 40th anniversary of the Boston
school desegregation controversy, with a panel that includes Donna Bivens, project director of the Boston Busing Desegregation Project. “She’ll be talking about where we were in the past and where we are with respect to desegregation in the schools,” says Professor and ISPRC Director Janet Helms. “We’ve made some small improvements, but actually we’re moving backwards on many of these issues. With respect to school desegregation, for instance, although a few students have more opportunities than they did in the past, for the most part we have returned to being a segregated school system – the haves and the have-nots.” For more information on Diversity Challenge 2014, see www. bc.edu/content/bc/schools/lsoe/ isprc.html. –Ed Hayward and Sean Hennessey The full version of this story is available in online Chronicle [www. bc.edu/chronicle] For other BC events, see www. bc.edu/events.
T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle october 16, 2014
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Sociologist Says Genetic Testing for Breast Cancer Raises Questions Continued from page 1 explains Hesse-Biber. “And there was so much happening at once in our family, I didn’t want to deal with it publicly. But after Janet’s death, I felt I wanted to give back some of my skills as a researcher and writer, and use them to talk about the impact of cancer on families and individuals.” One aspect of this experience loomed large for Hesse-Biber. When she was diagnosed a second time, her physician suggested she undergo testing to see if she had the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations, which increase the risk of breast and ovarian cancer. HesseBiber and her older sister took the BRCA test, and results were negative for both. Yet for Hesse-Biber, the BRCA testing raised a host of ethical, moral and social-justice questions, and sparked a curiosity about how women coped with these and other issues related to cancer. Her recently published book, Waiting for Cancer to Come: Women’s Experiences with Genetic Testing and Medical Decision Making for Breast and Ovarian Cancer, is the first to explore the complicated emotional, social, economic and psychological turmoil these women face. Based on interviews and surveys of more than 60 diverse wom-
“I don’t research something if I don’t feel it will make a difference,” says Sharlene HesseBiber of her study of women who underwent genetic testing for breast and ovarian cancer.
en, Waiting for Cancer to Come uses their voices to describe the under-explored BRCA experience, from family crises, secrets and revelations to difficult surgeries and personal empowerment. After introducing the genetic testing culture, each chapter follows the experiences of women from their
decision to be tested, through their positive mutation finding, to dealing with their risk. Hesse-Biber says it is important to put the women’s experiences in a broader context. Undergoing the BRCA test brings the individual in contact with a for-profit industry that may not always have a customer’s best interests in mind, and which claims exclusive ownership of the medical or personal information it obtains through the BRCA tests. What’s more, she adds, the route from one industry usually leads straight to another: the surgical industry, with its own set of interests and practices that don’t necessarily work to a pa-
tient’s benefit. “What you face is a sales pitch that uses fear and guilt: ‘Take this test or you might never know’; ‘Have the surgery or else you’ll get cancer – or you might pass it on to your kids,’” Hesse-Biber explains. “This is not to advocate against testing or surgery. But the problem is, testing and surgery are expensive and time-consuming, and there are so many things a woman may not know or be prepared for. “If you’re a woman in her 20s who’s a BRCA-positive mutation carrier, how do you tell your boyfriend? When you have a double mastectomy, the average recovery time is 18 months – it’s not like Angelina Jolie [who had a double mastectomy in 2013 after discovering she was BRCA-positive], where you come out smiling like nothing happened. What if you have a surgeon who does a ‘one-size-fits-all’ reconstruction? Will your husband or partner and friends be there for you, or will they bail out? And will the cancer really be gone? “I asked Cassandra, who has Stage 4 cancer, what life was like for her. She said, ‘It’s about living for the next medicine, because when you stop, your time in Dodge City’ – that was how she and other patients referred to
treatment – ‘is about up.’” Hesse-Biber has now expanded her project to include men who are BRCA-positive, a population that is practically invisible to American society but no less in need of attention. “Five hundred men a year die from breast cancer, and there are many more we don’t know who have BRCA, which can lead to prostate or pancreatic cancer,” says Hesse-Biber, who expresses gratitude to the University for its support of her work, especially through the Undergraduate Research Fellows program. Meanwhile, Hesse-Biber’s own BRCA-related story continues favorably: Although they still mourn the loss of Janet, she, her sister and mother are all doing well, she says. “I don’t research something if I don’t feel it will make a difference,” she says. “While it’s true I have a personal stake in this area, this project is not about me; it’s about women like Cassandra, and how their lives can be empowered.” For more on Hesse-Biber’s research, including a podcast series companion to Waiting for Cancer to Come, see her website at hessebiber.com. –Patricia Delaney contributed to this story
Director Seeks to Raise Center’s Profile Throughout University Continued from page 1
CTE. “Rather than call it a ‘center for teaching resources,’ we wanted the name to directly relate to BC: ‘Excellence’ evokes both our motto, ‘Ever to excel’ and the idea that excellent teaching is a feature of BC, something we continually strive for. “So now, here is the place – which is almost literally at the center of the University – where we can talk publicly about how to be excellent teachers.” A major, and immediate, part of that conversation will concern the design and operations of CTE, says Rakestraw, who came to BC after 10 years as director for faculty programs at the Georgetown University Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship. While some exceptional programs, resources and services are already in place, such as those of IDeS and the Learning Center, notes Rakestraw, he is assessing what other needs CTE can fill, and has spent much of his first weeks at BC speaking on that topic with administrators, faculty, graduate students and staff. “I want a center that works for BC,” he says. “For that to hap-
pen, I need to know the concerns, questions and interests across the University, so we can develop the appropriate programming and resources.” In his experience – which also includes a four-year stint as assistant director for technology at the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching and a decade on the faculty of Wesleyan College in Macon, Ga., teaching philosophy, religious studies and the humanities – Rakestraw has found that adding technology to teaching often creates excitement and anticipation, but also a number of questions for the faculty member. “In many instances, the easy thing is getting the technology,” he explains. “What’s more difficult is to figure out how the classroom changes. If we have access to a particular technology, how can I, as the professor, use that technology to deepen my students’ learning? When and why should I not use the technology? And does this particular technology actually aid my rapport with students, or does it get in the way?”
Rakestraw says his time at Georgetown provided an enlightening view of Jesuit education, which – especially with its liberal arts tradition – resonated with him. “In Jesuit education, there is strong investment in the individual teacher working with students that speaks to my own experience
academic excellence, is an exciting one for me.” A hallmark of Jesuit education, says Rakestraw, is the intersection of academics with student formation. For that reason, the center aims to encourage not only cross-disciplinary efforts among faculty but also engagement with the Student Af-
“If we agree that excellent teaching is at the heart of Boston College, then it should follow that excellent teaching is not something confined to the classroom. It should be present in all aspects of a student’s experience at BC.” –John Rakestraw
Caitlin Cunningham
at Wesleyan,” he says. “The opportunity to build on that special dynamic at a place like Boston College, with its own legacy of
fairs and University Mission and Ministry divisions, and to support the University’s core curriculum renewal initiative. “If we agree that excellent teach-
ing is at the heart of Boston College,” he says, “then it should follow that excellent teaching is not something confined to the classroom. It should be present in all aspects of a student’s experience at BC.” Rakestraw graduated from McMurry University in Abilene, Tex., with a degree in philosophy and history, and earned a doctorate in religious studies at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Says DeLeeuw, “John emerged from our search process as an experienced and thoughtful person who is well-suited to lead the CTE. Coming from Georgetown, he understands what working in a Jesuit, Catholic institution is all about. He’s also used to collaborating with different offices and programs, so we know he will work very well with our outstanding academic technology and professional development administrators and staff.” Information on the Center for Teaching Excellence will be available at the center’s website www. bc.edu/cte, which is scheduled to be operational this week. Contact Sean Smith at sean.smith@bc.edu
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“College was always the goal.” -Xavier Husser ’18
Scholarship Winner Relishing BC Experience By Kathleen Sullivan Staff Writer
Freshman Xavier Husser has relished his first weeks at Boston College: a bustling campus, challenging classes and a full calendar of events and activities, including an exciting football game. But Husser has a special reason to take delight in being a college student, because he is the first one in his family. Husser is a recipient of a 2014 I’m First Scholarship, presented to first-generation college students by the non-profit Center for Student Opportunity (CSO) – one of only 10 scholarship winners selected from more than 1,600 applications nationwide. An estimated 24 percent of students enrolled in postsecondary institutions today are lowincome, first-generation college students. As a group, they face hardships in achieving a college diploma. According to CSO, firstgeneration students drop out of college at four times the rate of their peers whose parents have a postsecondary education. Nine out of every 10 will not earn a bachelor’s degree six years out from high school. Husser plans to beat those odds. Raised by his father, Leonard, in a single-parent household in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood, Husser attended Cristo Rey New York High School where he participated in musical improvisation and choir and served as a tutor and student ambassador. He held a work-study job all four years at DGA Security Systems, Inc., New York City’s largest security company. “College was always the goal,” said Husser. He visited the BC campus as a high school junior and found the “amazing campus” and the “rigorous academic program” attractive. Husser has quickly embraced life at the Heights, becoming a costudent advocate for the ClavierLoyola-Fenwick-Xavier residence
hall on Upper Campus and joining the writing staff of the Gavel and the Screaming Eagles Marching Band, among other groups. As a member of the band, he’s marched in the Allston-Brighton community parade, performed at Pops on the Heights and been on the field for every home football game so far this season – including a rather memorable one last month against USC. “That game will live in glory for the rest of my time at BC and years after,” said Husser of the game, which saw the Eagles score a 37-31 upset of the highly ranked Trojans. An English major, Husser loves Shakespeare as well as contemporary writers like Dan Brown. He aspires to be a novelist. Husser and other I’m First Scholarship recipients blog about their college experience and offer advice to aspiring first-generation college students. In Husser’s first blog post [http://www.imfirst.org/ author/xavier], he wrote about the importance of being involved in campus activities and how it can make a difference in the college experience. “Clubs definitely make a difference because you get to join a community of people from all walks of life,” wrote Husser. “Even if you’re feeling down about one of your classes or annoying roommates, you always have something to look forward to. Even though the semester just started, I’m having an amazing college experience and can’t wait for the real fun to begin.” “Xavier is a shining example of how to turn college dreams into reality,” said Matt Rubinoff, CSO’s executive director. “His achievements and blog posts will motivate thousands of aspiring first-generation college students and help them understand that the opportunity for college is within reach.” Contact Kathleen Sullivan at kathleen.sullivan@bc.edu
Award-winning stage director and arts leader Tina Packer – one of the country’s foremost Shakespeare experts – has joined the Theatre Department this academic year as the Rev. J. Donald Monan, SJ, Professor in Theatre Arts. Packer is founding artistic director of Shakespeare & Company, one of the largest and most critically acclaimed Shakespeare festivals in North America, which she established in 1978 with the goal of creating a sustainable and vital program of performance, training and education of the highest standard that holds language as the center of the theatrical experience. “Tina Packer is a wonderful choice for this year’s Monan professorship. Having seen her work as a director, actor, teacher and speaker over a 30-year span, I can attest that she will inspire our students, indeed the entire Boston College community, and challenge us to look at the art of theater in fresh and provocative ways,” says Theatre Department Assistant Professor of the Practice Patricia Riggin. “She is a real ‘renaissance woman’ who has explored the world of Shakespeare not only as an artist but also as a feminist, an historian, and a businesswoman.” Through Packer’s vision and leadership, Shakespeare & Company has become a home for theater professionals from all over the world. One of the largest theater-in-education programs in the Northeast, it reaches some 50,000 students annually with performances, workshops and residencies. According to the Boston Globe, “Tina Packer and [her] company not only make Shakespeare our
earthy contemporary, but they also bring a classic elegance to contemporary plays.” During her campus residency, Packer will direct “Honor, Shame, and Violence: A Shakespeare Anthology Project” (Jan. 21-25), a compilation of war scenes from some of Shakespeare’s most beloved and lesser-known works. This semester she is teaching an advanced acting class in Shakespeare, has led a Shakespeare performance and interpretation workshop, and will offer another
She also has been the subject of TV and film specials, including the WGBH production “Sex, Violence & Poetry: A Portrait of Tina Packer,” and “Brush Up Your Shakespeare,” a PBS concert special in partnership with the Boston Pops and Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. Born in Wolverhampton, England, Packer trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, was an associate artist with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and performed in the West End in more
Lee Pellegrini
Caitlin Cunningham
Packer In Spotlight as Monan Professor
Tina Packer teaching a Shakespeare theater class recently in Bonn Studio.
focusing on gender in Shakespeare workshop [date and time will be announced later]. Also an author, Packer’s book Power Plays: Shakespeare’s Lessons in Leadership & Management, cowritten with John Whitney, spent several weeks on business bestseller charts, while her children’s book, Tales from Shakespeare, received the Parents’ Choice Award. Her forthcoming Women of Will is the result of a lifelong exploration of Shakespeare’s famed yet misunderstood heroines, and is based on her five-part performance piece of the same name, which won critical acclaim in its off-Broadway run this past year.
than 20 productions for BBC and ITV television. She has lectured or been the keynote speaker at some 30 colleges and universities and has received six honorary doctorate degrees. Packer also received the 1992 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Direction in Boston, the 1996 Boston Theatre Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, and the 2001 Elliot Norton Award for Continued Excellence in Theatre. She was the 19992000 Arts Recipient of the Commonwealth Award, Massachusetts’ highest cultural recognition. –Office of News & Public Affairs
Song Wins Alpha Sigma Nu Book Prize Professor of English Min Hyoung Song has been recognized by Alpha Sigma Nu, the honor society for Jesuit higher education institutions, with a 2014 Alpha Sigma Nu Book Award for his book, The Children of 1965: On Writing, and Not Writing, as an Asian American. Song’s publication is one of only four winners, representing the 31 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States, Canada and South Korea. This year’s awards recognize excellence in publishing in the humanities.
In The Children of 1965, Song – a faculty member since 1999 – sought to discover how being Asian-American affected the writing of an emerging cohort of AsianAmerican authors. The title of the book is connected to the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which Lee Pellegrini ushered in an immigration wave from Asia. Based on an analysis of more than 100 works and interviews with several Asian-American writers, Song concludes that race is a factor in much of the writing, but so are other themes, such as income in-
equality, the role of technology, life post-9/11 and sustainability. Song is also the author of Strange Future: Pessimism and the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. Established in 1979, the Alpha Sigma Nu Jesuit Book Awards recognize outstanding publishing achievement at Jesuit colleges and universities in the humanities, the sciences and professional studies. Books are judged on the basis of scholarship, significance of the topic and its continuing importance to scholars in several disciplines, mastery of extensive literature, research findings, authority in interpretation, objectivity, readability and imagination. –Kathleen Sullivan
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Newsmakers
Connell School of Nursing Associate Professor Marie Boltz, a geriatric nurse practitioner, will be inducted this month as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, a prestigious society of more than 2,200 nurse leaders in education, management, practice, policy and research. Boltz’s research interests include intervention to promote functional health and cognition in older adults, caregiving efficacy and coping with dementia and delirium, as well as complex aging-related care issues and translational and health services research. She previously was an assistant professor at New York University’s College of Nursing and practice director for the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing. She earned a doctorate from New York University, a master’s degree from University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree from LaSalle University, which recently honored her with a Distinguished Alumnus Award. Assistant Professor of English Adam Lewis examines periodicals and the world travels of Americans in the 19th century. His current research focuses on newspapers published by African-Americans in Liberia and Canada prior to the American Civil War. This semester, he is teaching a course on Herman Melville and a literature core course on the theme of history and memory; next semester, he will offer a American literary history course and a graduate seminar on early American print culture. A former postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s McNeil Center for Early American Studies, Lewis earned a bachelor’s degree in American studies from the University of Minnesota and a doctorate in literature from the University of California, San Diego. An instructor in the Theology Department, Gregorio Montejo is teaching an undergraduate course on Exploring Catholicism and a graduate course on Thomas Aquinas. His research interests include historical theology, Christology, Thomas Aquinas, patristics and late antiquity. Montejo graduated from the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota with a bachelor’s degree and attended Marquette University, where he earned a master’s degree in historical theology and is currently completing a doctorate in religious studies. He also taught at the University of St. Thomas from 2011 to 2013. Senior Lecturer of Psychology Barry Schneider has been the principal investigator of nine funded grants – with a total value of approximately $1 million – supporting studies of on-line friendships of children and adolescents with social anxiety, close friendships of children and adolescents with ADHD, and bullying experiences of immigrant children in Canadian schools. A faculty member for more than 30 years at the University of Ottawa – where he was selected as Professor of the Year in 1999 and served as vice-dean of research from 200305 – Schneider has authored or co-authored numerous books, chapters and papers; his latest book, Child Psychopathology: From Infancy to Adolescence, is currently in press. A graduate of Harpur College at the State University of New York-Binghamton, he holds a diploma in child study and master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Toronto. He is currently teaching Culture and Mental Health and Images of Mental Illness in Film and Literature. –Kathleen Sullivan, Rosanne Pellegrini, Sean Smith Photos by Lee Pellegrini and Caitlin Cunningham
Prof. Stephen Pope (Theology) and School of Theology and Ministry Professors Thomas Groome and James Bretzke, SJ, were interviewed about the bishops’ global synod on family life by, respectively, The New York Times, BBC Radio’s “World Have Your Say” and Public Radio International-WNYC’s “The Takeaway.” Lect. Gregory Stoller (CSOM), whose areas of expertise include global strategy and management, provided a perspective on the prodemocracy protests in Hong Kong as a guest on WBZ-AM “NightSide with Dan Rea” and to Dow Jones MarketWatch. If the NFL wants to take an unequivocal stance on domestic violence and promote respectful and nonviolent relationship, School of Social Work Dean Alberto Godenzi wrote in a Boston Globe op-ed, it should follow the example of FIFA, the international governing body for soccer. New York Times columnist Frank Bruni included comments by Monan Professor of Theology Lisa Sowle Cahill in an opinion piece on the Catholic Church leadership’s response to same-sex marriage. The higher education enterprise in the US and abroad depends on the academic profession for its success, and failing to take the profession seriously risks killing the goose that lays the golden egg, wrote Research Prof. Philip Altbach (LSOE), director of the Center on International Higher Education, in a piece for Inside Higher Ed. Interactions on social media are perhaps best understood as a complex adaptive system, and one that is often difficult to measure using traditional data analysis tech-
Members of the University community turned out for last Friday’s closing ceremony for Hispanic Heritage Month. (Photo by Caitlin Cunningham)
niques, noted Assoc. Prof. Gerald Kane (CSOM) in Sloan Management Review. In an op-ed for The New York Times, Prof. Ray Madoff (Law) advocated for a system that reduces excise taxes on private foundations that distribute greater amounts to charitable causes. The Economist featured a piece on a new project of Economics Professors Tayfun Sönmez and Utku
BC BRIEFING Ünver – noted for their work on kidney exchange – to match lung transplant donors and recipients. When girls are barred from being altar servers, they miss out on an important part of faith formation – and the Church does, too, wrote Presidential Scholar Mary Kathleen Cahill ’17 in US Catholic.
Publications Assoc. Prof. of the Practice Michael C. Keith (Communication) published a collection of short stories in Greece’s Paraxenes Mere.
Time and a Half At the 12th International Conference on Communication in Healthcare held in Amsterdam,
obituary
Richard Landau, 85; Development Administrator Richard Landau, a key administrator in the University’s Development Office during the 1980s and ’90s, died on Oct. 4. He was 85. Mr. Landau first joined Boston College in 1979 as director of foundation relations and development and left in 1981. He returned in 1984 as director of capital projects was appointed director of resource development in 1989. During his time at BC, he worked on two major fundraising efforts, the New Heights Advancement Campaign, which raised $25 million, and the Campaign for Boston College, which raised $136 million. Mr. Landau retired at the end of the 1993-94 academic year and served part-time for a year as a senior development advisor in the University Relations division. A native of Lexington, Mr. Landau is survived by his wife Ann (Daniels); daughters Ruth Landau Ross and Esther Landau; brothers Louis, Martin and Sidney; and five grandchildren. He was buried in Westview Cemetery in Lexington. Donations in Mr. Landau’s memory may be made to the Brooksby Village Staff Appreciation Fund, 100 Brooksby Village Drive, Peabody, MA 01960. –Office of News & Public Affairs
Assoc. Prof. Ashley Duggan (Communication Department) presented the paper “Toward an Integrated Approach to Exploring the Private Written Reflections of Family Medicine Residents’ Writing” and poster “Reflective Practice about Communication: Analysis of Family Medicine Residents’ Learning to See Beneath the Surface.” Contributors to the paper and poster included Assoc. Prof. Andrea Vicini, SJ (STM), and Presidential Scholar Lucas Allen ’16. Assoc. Prof. Margaret A. Schatkin (Theology) presented “Franz Theodor Förster (1839-1898): Chrysostom Scholar and Lutheran Pedagogue” at a conference, “Lutheranism and the Classics III: Lutherans Read History,” held in Concordia Theological Seminary, Indiana, where she also attended the board of directors meeting.
JOBS The following are among the most recent positions posted by the Department of Human Resources. For more information on employment opportunities at Boston College, see www.bc.edu/offices/hr: Vice Provost for Enrollment Management Technology Manager, Career Center Systems Manager, Lynch School of Education Law Library Assistant Executive Vice President Assistant Director of Admissions, Law School Digital Scholarship Librarian, O’Neill Library Human Resources Officer/Senior Human Resources Officer Sr. Associate/Associate Director, Parents’ Fundraising, Development Programs and Events Manager, Center for Centers Video Producer, Development Office Associate Athletic Director for Facilities and Operations
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Chronicle october 16, 2014
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The Bostonians belt out the NBC “Sunday Night Football” theme [http://bit.ly/1vUjX9H]
Singing with the Voices in Their Hearts BC gospel choir Voices of Imani to present its annual “Fall Jam” on Sunday
By Sean Smith Chronicle Editor
Bria Coleman ’15 thought she was all done with singing when she arrived at Boston College as a freshman. But that was before she met the Voices of Imani, BC’s gospel choir. “I came in adamant that I wouldn’t get involved in any singing activities,” explains Coleman, a Kansas City native who sang constantly throughout her childhood, especially at the church where her grandmother was pastor and her mother the choir director. “I just thought it was time to do something different.” So three years later, here she is, president of the Voices of Imani – which presents its annual “Fall Jam” this Sunday in Lyons Hall. What happened? “It’s the atmosphere and the people,” says Coleman. “Voices of Imani is like a second family. The more I saw and heard of them, the more I wanted to get involved. I just love this group so much.” Coleman’s view is widely shared. For nearly 30 years, the Voices of Imani has performed songs grounded in the AfricanAmerican faith tradition – “imani” is Swahili for “faith” – including spirituals, traditional and contemporary gospel, and music with
BC SCENES
Voices of Imani Director David Altenor ’09 – a former member – leads the group at a recent rehearsal. (Photo by Caitlin Cunningham)
European roots. The group appears at an assortment of events on campus, notably the BC Arts Festival and the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Scholarship Awards Banquet, as well as around Boston, and gone on spring break tours in various parts of the country, including Tennessee, Florida, Texas, California, Washington, DC, Virginia, and Atlanta. Next month, the group will appear at gospel festival at Berklee College of Music. This academic year marks the official start of 2009 graduate David Altenor’s tenure as VOI director, after serving as assistant director. A producer, songwriter and keyboardist who is music direc-
tor for Zion Church Ministries in his native Everett, Mass., Altenor was a member of VOI under the tutelage of its founding director, Rev. Hubert Walters, who retired in 2010 and was succeeded by Chauncey McGlathery. Altenor, an adjunct faculty member in the African and African Diaspora Studies Program, said his participation in VOI as an undergraduate “opened my eyes – I learned a lot of African culture and history, and about its importance to America. “This is a very special group, and I feel blessed to be part of it once again.” The Fall Jam is a more informal affair than most VOI events, ac-
cording to Coleman and Altenor. “It’s definitely more casual – we don’t wear the robes, like we do at our Christmas concert, but different outfits,” says Coleman. “And we really encourage the audience to participate and have fun with us. The Fall Jam is one of my favorite performances.” Adds Altenor, “The concert is a way to show the diversity of the group, and for Voices of Imani to share its gift with the crowd in a more direct way.” The program will mix some classic gospel songs like “Wade in the Water” with contemporary material, including “Say Yes” (recorded and co-written by Michelle Williams, a former member of the group Destiny’s Child) and a few originals by Altenor and McGlathery. Not only experienced and confident singers like Altenor and Coleman take part in VOI. Current vice-president Pierce Louis ’15 hadn’t even considered joining a student group when he came to BC, let alone a choir: “I’m not that good a singer,” he recalls telling a VOI recruiter. But Louis feels he’s benefited from being around Coleman and other VOI members. “When I was younger, I kind of would stay more in the background. But over the last few years, I’ve definitely gotten
FUN FOR ALL The Boston College Campus School held its annual Fun, Run, Walk and Roll event last Friday, as Campus School students, family and staff enjoyed a stroll around the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, accompanied by many Boston College students, including Olivia Torchio ’17, at right with Thiago Nunez. For information on the BC Campus School, see www.bc.edu/ campusschool Photos by Caitlin Cunningham
more confidence in my voice.” “You’re holding down that bass line like a pro,” Coleman says, smiling at Louis. She adds: “Voices of Imani gives you the opportunity to help, and to be helped.” Altenor says gospel music, even as it has attracted increasing attention from the media and general public the past few decades, is more multifaceted nowadays than many people might realize. “Gospel has evolved from the earlier, more familiar forms, like spirituals and blues,” he says. “There are other influences, like New Age, funk and hip-hop.” Coleman agrees: “I think gospel is breaking out of its preconceived shell in many ways, and not just musically. Our choir is quite diverse, so while gospel has strong roots in African-American culture, anyone can enjoy it, no matter what their background might be.” “Of course, however, while the music might change,” adds Altenor, “its message of God’s love and faith is the same as ever.” The Oct. 19 Voices of Imani Fall Jam takes place at 4 p.m. in “The Rat” in the Welch Dining Room of Lyons. Admission is free. For more about the group, see voicesofimani. com. Contact Sean Smith at sean.smith@bc.edu