Boston College Chronicle

The Boston College

Chronicle Published by the Boston College Office of University Communications OCTOBER 26, 2017 VOL. 25 NO. 5

CLASS OF 2021 PROFILE

Academic, Diversity Trends Continuing

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

Morrissey College Will End Its Honors Program

BY JACK DUNN ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Boston College will no longer accept students into the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences Honors Program beginning in 2018, after a strategic assessment conducted by school leadership, Morrissey College Dean Gregory Kalscheur, SJ, has announced.

In a recent letter to the Morrissey College community, Fr. Kalscheur said the decision, made in consultation with Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley, was based on several factors, including the high caliber of all

INSIDE Strong Scholarship 3 •BC awarded to Manning

•Veterans Day event to feature alumnus Burns film to have 6 •Ken premiere on campus •Shrayer on the fate of Russia’s Jews

of today’s BC students, which lessened the need for a separate honors program, and the commitment to rigorous interdisciplinary Core Curriculum experiences that is part of the ongoing Core Renewal process.

Fr. Kalscheur said that all current Honors Program students will have the opportunity to complete the program during the course of the next three years, and that it is his intention that all full-time Honors Program faculty members will have the opportunity to continue teaching in comparable full-time positions in the Morrissey College after the proContinued on page 5

freshmen – 15 – meet the criteria for Pell Grants, the federal grants program that aids many low-income undergraduates.

“Boston College is determined to make higher education accessible to excellent students of all socioeconomic backgrounds,” he said.

“The University has made, and will continue to make, financial aid a major priority.”

Enrollment strategies and goals are all well and good, but there are circumstances in which admissions offices have to be flexible, says Mahoney – and the recent spate

Christopher Huang

Thousands of Boston College students, faculty and administrators marched across campus last Friday in solidarity against racism in any form. Story, photos on page 2. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)

Statistics for this year’s Boston College freshman class show continued success in the University’s efforts to enroll a student body that is academically excellent as well as ethnically and socioeconomically diverse.

According to the Office of Enrollment Management, the 2,412-strong Class of 2021 is the most diverse in BC history: AHANA students make up 31 percent of the freshman class, a record high; international students from 41 countries constitute another 8 percent.

Forty-five states are represented among BC freshmen, the most coming from Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and California.

Although a recent change in SAT scoring makes direct comparisons difficult, said University administrators, the combined scores of the middle 50 percent of the freshman class – ranging from 1310-1450, with a mean of 1369 – remain considerably higher than the national average, and demonstrate the academic strength of the incoming class.

In addition, the Class of 2021’s mid-50 range for the ACT, which administrators note now draws more students than the SAT, is 31-33, with an all-time high mean of 32.

“This is a strong measure of academic quality, and one that has

been consistently very favorable for Boston College,” said Director of Undergraduate Admission John Mahoney.

Another positive indicator, Mahoney added, was that the yield for the Class of 2021, for which there were 28,454 applicants, rose two percentage points to 28 percent. A decrease in this year’s “summer melt” – the attrition of students who accept an offer of admission but then decide not to enroll – further demonstrates Boston College’s academic reputation with top students, he said.

Continuing BC’s commitment

Students at the University Welcome to the Class of 2021 in August. This year’s freshman class is the most diverse in Boston College history.

to need-blind, full-need financial aid, the Class of 2021 will receive some $37 million in need-based grants, out of a total of $120.5 million awarded to undergraduates this year, said Mahoney, who notes that an unprecedented percentage of BC

of natural disasters is a prime example. Like other institutions, BC is making every effort to accommodate potential applicants for the Class of 2022 from Puerto Rico and parts of Texas, Florida and California. The Continued on page 5

BC Supported Employment Program Marks 30 Years

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

They number only 23 amid a campus of thousands. But the participants in Boston College’s award-winning Supported Employment Program, which provides jobs for adults with developmental disabilities, have had an outsized impact on the University community during the program’s three decades.

SEP employees have impressed with their zeal, spirit and dedication, as well as a willingness

to reach out and engage others – and, in the process, often challenging assumptions and perceptions about persons with special needs.

SEP – which will formally celebrate its 30th anniversary on Nov. 2 in the Yawkey Athletics Center Murray Room – has been honored by The Arc of Massachusetts, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life and services for Massachusetts citizens with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

For SEP participants, work-

EARLY CLOSING

ing at BC is a critical piece of an overall quest to develop vocational and social skills, build relationships and realize their potential to the fullest extent possible. Their success, and that of SEP, hinges on the efforts of a small program staff in partnership with a number of University departments and offices.

“SEP has been a whole lot of help to me,” says Brendan Durkin, a two-year participant who will gather with current and former program participants, supervisors, agency partners and job

coaches for the anniversary celebration. “It’s made me feel not just included, but also helpful.”

“SEP employees like Brendan hold up a mirror to the rest of us – they bring a unique set of contributions to the workplace, and with that comes disability awareness and understanding,” says Julianne Ferro, who has been involved in SEP for 10 years, the last two as its coordinator. “Beneficial relationships form between participants and their supervisors and co-workers, creating experiContinued on page 4

Due to the nationally televised BC-Florida State football game beginning at 8 p.m. tomorrow, all University administrative offices will close at 4 p.m. on Friday. To help with game preparations, and to ease potential traffic and parking congestion, the University asks that all vehicles be removed from campus as close to 4 p.m. as possible.

T he B oston C ollege

Chronicle OCTOBER 26, 2017

2

A ROUND

C AMPUS

‘CONFLICT AND BEAUTY’ The 500th anniversary of the Reformation will be commemorated with a concert and panel discussion on Nov. 4 at St. Ignatius Church.

Made possible by a major grant from the Institute for the Liberal Arts, the event – free and open to the public – will focus on Martin Luther, who is synonymous with the Protestant Reformation.

The panel will feature Christine Helmer, who is the Corcoran Visiting Professor in Christian-Jewish Relations at Boston College for 2017-18 and an expert on Martin Luther; Music Professor and Chair Michael Noone; and Providence College Professor of Historical Theology Ian Levy. Associate Professor of Theology Boyd Taylor Coolman will chair the discussion.

In addition, the Seraphim Singers, a Greater Boston chamber

year will “hopefully” challenge all Christians to work for peace.

The commemoration event will also serve as an out-of-classroom learning experience for many Boston College students, said coorganizer Professor of Philosophy Eileen Sweeney.

“At Boston College, the Reformation and its aftermath plays an important role in many core courses. Luther is an important figure in Perspectives on Western Culture.

“The Reformation is also significant in the history of Western music. It gave us Bach and Palestrina. This concert is an opportunity to hear and feel these important changes, to experience both the conflict and the beauty of what they produced.”

Echoing Sweeney’s comments is Jennifer Lester, music director

The Seraphim Singers will perform at a concert and panel discussion that will commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.

ensemble renowned for its renditions of sacred choral music, will perform Maurice Durufle’s “Requiem.”

“Throughout 2017, many churches around the world have commemorated Luther’s achievements,” said Helmer, a professor of religious studies at Northwestern University. “The word ‘commemoration’ is important here. Commemoration is not exactly like ‘celebration.’ Luther is remembered for his unapologetic focus on God’s redeeming activity in Christ, such that God justifies humans by sheer and wonderful grace.

“Luther is also remembered for articulating ideas that have become the bedrock of modern self-understanding: ideas, such as freedom, human autonomy, and the calling of all Christians to a life lived before God and in service of neighbor,” added Helmer, who said the commemoration this

for the Seraphim Singers.

“Often in the midst of struggle, great art is created and this is true of the sacred music produced during the first 250 years of the Reformation. This concert will feature a sort of sonic tour from just before the Reformation, through the work of Luther himself,” said Lester. “We offer this performance of the work in honor of all those who have died as a result of religious conflict.”

This event is an example of the kinds of activities and projects the Institute for the Liberal Arts sponsors and makes available to Boston College and the wider community, said Sweeney.

For more information, contact Sweeney at eileen.sweeney@ bc.edu. Those who wish to reserve free tickets can do so at www.seraphimsingers.org/concerts.

–Siobhan Sullivan

ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS Jack Dunn DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS Patricia Delaney EDITOR Sean Smith

CONTRIBUTING STAFF Phil Gloudemans Ed Hayward Rosanne Pellegrini Kathleen Sullivan Siobhan Sullivan PHOTOGRAPHERS Gary Gilbert Lee Pellegrini

IN SOLIDARITY The estimated turn-out for last Friday’s campus solidarity march against racism and hate was impressive – easily several thousand – but the visual impact went well beyond numbers.

As the leading edge of the march reached the Commonwealth Avenue end of Linden Lane, the line stretched clear back to Stokes Lawn outside McElroy Commons, where the processional began at 12:15 p.m. on a bright, sunny, warm autumn day. Among the ranks were undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, administrators, staff, Jesuits and other religious.

The march and subsequent rally at Corcoran Commons was organized by the Undergraduate Government of Boston College and student group FACES in the wake of race-related campus incidents – the defacing of several “Black Lives Matter” signs and a racist social media post – that came to light during the previous week.

Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley, Vice President for Student Affairs Barb Jones and Associate Vice President/Dean of Students Thomas Mogan underscored the University’s condemnation of racism, and its commitment to stand united against intolerance in any form, in letters sent to faculty and students. All three administrators took part in the march.

Shortly after the march began, a contingent of students from the a cappella group BEATS (Black Experience in America Through Song) launched into an impromptu performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” by brothers James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson.

Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us Facing the rising sun of our new day begun Let us march on till victory is won As they finished the last lines of the song (“Shadowed beneath Thy hand, may we forever stand/ True to our God, true to our native land”), the Gasson Tower bells chimed.

Marchers carried an assortment of flyers, posters and ban-

The Boston College

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

Last Friday’s solidarity march against racism began in front of McElroy, wound its way to Linden Lane (above) and down Commonwealth Avenue to Corcoran Commons, where a speaking program took place. (Photos

by Lee Pellegrini)

ners, with messages such as “This Is What Men & Women For Others Looks Like,” “I’m Walking For My Peers,” “My Grandparents Protested Against Lynching 50 Years Ago & We’re Still Protesting” and “No Justice, No Peace, No Racism @ BC.” Among the thousands was Yue Liu, a Lynch School of Education freshman from China. As an international student new to the US, she said she had struggled to follow the discussions on race taking place across campus – including in two of her classes that week – and on social media. Attending the event, Liu hoped, would be a way to help deepen her understanding of issues she knew to be “very significant.”

Speakers at the Corcoran Commons rally included Mogan and UGBC President Akosua OpokuaAchampong ’18. “As a Jesuit, Catholic institution, we deeply care

for our students,” said Mogan, the crowd overflowing Corcoran Plaza.

“It hurts all of us to see our students in pain, particularly students of color who feel disrespected and unwelcome on campus.”

Mogan urged students to report acts of racism and to avail themselves of University resources to deal with issues of race and intolerance. He noted that BC – which enrolled the most diverse freshman class in its history this year [see page 1] – had specifically committed to “enhance the culture of care and welcome for all, including support for socio-economic and racial diversity within the campus community” as part of its Strategic Plan.

“But it doesn’t end there,” he said. “We will continue to work to make BC an inclusive community.”

–Sean Smith

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 University Communications, 3 Lake Street, Brighton, MA 02135 (617)5523350. 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 University Communications, 3 Lake Street, Brighton, MA 02135.

A flipbook edition of Chronicle is available via e-mail. Send requests to chronicle@bc.edu.

T he B oston C ollege

Chronicle OCTOBER 26, 2017

3

Archbishop of Military Services to Speak at Veterans Day Event

Boston Marathon bombing survivors Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes ‘05, and Boston College Strong Scholarship recipient Jack Manning ‘20, take media questions following the award ceremony Monday. (Photos by Lee Pellegrini)

‘Proud to Be BC Strong’ Boston Marathon bombing survivors Patrick Downes ’05 and Jessica Kensky present first award from fund in their honor to BC sophomore

BY JACK DUNN ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Boston Marathon bombing survivors Patrick Downes and Jessica Kensky awarded the first scholarship from a fund created in their honor by Downes’ Boston College classmates to sophomore Jack Manning at a campus ceremony on Monday.

lost his leg to cancer at age 10.

He volunteers at Children’s Hospital in Boston to support and mentor young cancer patients who face the prospect of losing limbs. Through the scholarship, he will receive financial support that will help cover his four years of study at Boston College.

“Jess and I were thrilled when we heard about Jack and his story of perseverance in the face

Patrick Downes '05 congratulates scholarship recipient Jack Manning '20.

Married just seven months, of adversity,” said Downes. “He Downes and Kensky were grave- is exactly the type of student ly injured by the bombs that ex- we want to acknowledge and ploded near the Marathon finish celebrate.” line on Boylston Street in 2013.

Added Kensky, “Patrick and Both lost a leg as a I have been given result of the injuso much. We want “As we learn more ries. Kensky would to shine the light about Jack, we lose her remaining on someone else leg to amputation whose experience discover that he is a year-and-a-half was just as excrucialready a person later. ating, but who has Downes’ many not received the who gives back... friends from the attention and naHe is a remarkBC Class of 2005 tional outpouring responded by raisof love and supable young man.” ing money for a port that we have.

–Jessica Kensky scholarship to As we learn more honor them for about Jack, we their courageous discover that he is example. Thus far, nearly 1,000 already a person who gives back, supporters have raised close to as evidenced by his mentoring of $400,000. young kids facing the challenge Manning, a student in the of cancer. He is a remarkable Carroll School of Management, young man.”

Manning was diagnosed with osteosarcoma when he was eight years old, and endured months of chemotherapy before being told that he would lose his left leg to the illness. Doctors performed a procedure called rotationplasty, whereby a surgeon removed his cancerous tumor along with a section of his leg around the knee before reattaching the lower part of his leg, backwards, to his thigh.

Undaunted, he went on to play football and baseball at Roxbury Latin School, while actively serving as a role model for young cancer patients and their families. He has participated in the Pan Mass Challenge both as a volunteer and rider, twice completing the 192-mile race and raising more than $135,000 for cancer research.

At BC, he maintains a 3.75 GPA while working 12 hours per week in Hillside Dining Hall.

“I am honored and grateful to be the first recipient of the Boston College Strong Scholarship,” said Manning. “Patrick and Jessica are amazing people; I have loved getting to know them and consider them good friends already. I am proud to be considered ‘BC Strong,’ and will do my best to honor Patrick and Jessica, all of their friends, and, of course, Boston College.”

The ceremony took place on the Plaza at O’Neill Library near a recently installed handicappedaccessible ramp, a location chosen by Downes as a sign of BC’s commitment to accessibility for all. The University has agreed to host the scholarship ceremony each year near newly constructed accessibility features in support of Downes and Kensky and the wider mission of the BC Strong Scholarship.

Contact Jack Dunn at jack.dunn@bc.edu

Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio ’73, who serves as the Archbishop of Military Services USA, will be the keynote speaker at the 17th annual Boston College Veterans Remembrance Mass and Ceremony at 11 a.m. on Nov. 10.

He also will preside and preach at the preceding Mass, which will be held at 9:30 a.m. in St. Ignatius Church. Jesuit Community Rector Robert Keane, SJ, part-time Philosophy Department faculty member Paul McNellis, SJ, and Jesuit Community member John Monahan, SJ – all veterans – will concelebrate the Mass.

A ceremony honoring all alumni who have served, or are currently serving, in the armed forces will follow at the Boston College Veterans Memorial on Burns Library lawn.

BC ROTC program students will emcee the ceremony and read aloud the names of Boston College graduates who died during the nation’s military conflicts. ​BC​students, faculty, staff and alumni will serve as representatives of those who have died in wars. Commemorative pins, introduced at last year’s ceremony, will once again be presented to BC alumni veterans.

The event, which is open to all members of the University community, will be followed by a luncheon reception at noon in Gasson 100. Shuttle bus transportation will be provided for guests.

“The Alumni Association is honored to have Archbishop Timothy Broglio with us for the annual BC Veterans Remembrance Mass and Ceremony,” said Associate Vice President for Alumni Relations Joy Haywood Moore ’81, H’10. “The archbishop has an extraordinary re-

Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio ’73 will be keynote speaker at the Veterans Remembrance Mass and Ceremony.

lationship with military families.

There is no one more versed in providing words of comfort and honor to the family members of those who lost their lives serving our country.”

Ordained as an archbishop

by Pope John Paul II in 2001, Archbishop Broglio was installed in his current role in 2008. He also has served as secretary of the Apostolic Nunciature in Abidjan, Ivory Coast and of the Apostolic Nunciature in Asunción, Paraguay.

From 1990 to 2001, he was chief of cabinet to Angelo Cardinal Sodano, Secretary of State to Pope John Paul II, and desk officer for Central America. In February of 2001 he was named apostolic nuncio to the Dominican Republic and apostolic delegate to Puerto Rico.

The Veterans Remembrance Mass and Ceremony is organized by the Alumni Association in partnership with the BC Veterans Alumni Network, BC Army ROTC, Human Resources and Campus Ministry. Advance registration is encouraged, but not required, at http://tinyurl.com/ ydeul9cc.

–University Communications

Dr. Mae C. Jemison, the first woman of color to go into space, spoke with members of the audience following her address at the Oct. 19 Council for Women of Boston College Colloquium. (Photo by Frank Curran)

T he B oston C ollege

Chronicle OCTOBER 26, 2017

4

Undergraduates Earn Prestigious Fellowships for Biology Research

BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER

Continued from page 1 ences for mutual learning and an appreciation of differences.

These individuals bring a variety of essential skill sets and colorful personalities that positively contribute to campus diversity.

“With the right supports, participants are able to strive to meet their fullest potential while SEP and their BC partnering departments continue to promote an environment of inclusion and social justice.”

SEP participants, who typically work 18 to 28 hours a week, are currently employed in Din-

Dining Services workers Margie Richardson and Joanne Annello, who have benefited from the stability and continuity SEP has provided.

Richardson talks about her daily tasks in Corcoran Commons (“I clean the chairs and tables – not just the table tops, the whole table!” she says with a hearty laugh) and the things she enjoys about her job, such as “the nice people” she meets.

“I like moving around every day,” she says. “Why not?”

Annello takes pride in main-

student workers when they first come to the RecPlex, because I’m part of a team. And teamwork means inclusion.”

Durkin regards his work situation as “the student becoming the teacher, and the teacher becoming the student” – for most of his fellow employees, Durkin is their first co-worker or friend with a disability.

For all Durkin has gained in acquiring new skills and increased responsibilities, says Campus Recreation Member Sales and Service Manager Sandy Corsi,

Lee Pellegrini

Two Boston College biology majors have been awarded prestigious undergraduate research fellowships.

Katya Van Anderlecht was selected to participate in the Amgen Foundation’s Amgen Scholars Program this past summer. Van Anderlecht, a junior who is also a pre-med student, spent the summer conducting developmental biology research at CalTech.

Senior Lauren Havens has been awarded a 2017 American Society for Microbiology Undergraduate Research Fellowship – one of 19 awardees out of 128 applicants, according to the society.

The ASM fellowship supports undergraduate students in work in their home institution with a faculty mentor. Haven, who will conduct research into the genome of the deadly bacteria streptococcus pneumoniae, will be mentored by Associate Professor of Biology Tim van Opijnen.

SEP: Three Decades of Inclusion

Katya Van Anderlecht ’19

Lauren Havens ’18

One of nearly 350 students accepted to the program this year from more than 5,600 applicants from around the world, Van Anderlecht attended the Amgen Foundation’s US summer symposium at UCLA in July.

“What I enjoyed the most about the Amgen program was the fact that I was surrounded by people from all over, each passionate about something unique, much of which I had never even known about before, who I otherwise may never have crossed paths with,” said Van Anderlecht. “They each brought something special to my experience, and not only did I grow from those relationships as a scientist, but also as a person.”

This year, Van Anderlecht will work in the cellular biology lab of Assistant Professor of Biology Laura Anne Lowery.

Each fellow receives up to a $4,000 stipend and funding for travel expenses to the 2018 Microbe Academy for Professional Development and 2018 ASM Microbe Meeting held in Atlanta.

“This fellowship has provided me with the opportunity to deepen my knowledge of and appreciate the dedication behind the cycle of setbacks and successes in scientific research and has inspired me to more seriously consider a future in microbiology,” said Havens. “I hope to pursue a dual MD/PhD program or an MD/MPH program as I am excited by the vastly important public health implications of my current research on antibiotic resistance.”

Contact Ed Hayward at ed.hayward@bc.edu

They’re off! Runners begin the annual Welles Crowther Red Bandanna Run, held Oct. 14 in honor of the 1999 alumnus who perished while rescuing victims in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center [see http:// www.crowthertrust.org]. (Photo by Christopher Huang)

Supported Employment Program Coordinator Julianne Ferro (back row at right) with SEP employees and job coaches. SEP participants “bring a variety of essential skill sets and colorful personalities that positively contribute to campus diversity,” she says. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)

ing Services, Facilities, University taining the Corcoran salad bar Libraries, the Flynn Recreation and likes interacting with cusComplex, BC Bookstore, Hu- tomers (“Sometimes they ask man Resources, the BC School me about a certain dressing they of Social Work, Connell School want”). Like Richardson, Durof Nursing, Woods kin and most other College of Advancing SEP workers, she Studies, and the Ofis matched with a “SEP has been a whole BC student through fice of Institutional Research, Planning lot of help to me,” says the University’s Best and Assessment.

Buddies program.

Brendan Durkin, a twoEach SEP employee Durkin, at 22, works one-to-one year participant. “It’s is part of the new with a job coach who generation of SEP. made me feel not just in- Raised in a BC famhandles training and assessment and pro- cluded, but also helpful.” ily – his parents met vides ongoing supwhile undergraduport as needed. ates, and his brother Candidates for and sisters also are SEP are referred to the Univer- alumni – he served an internship sity by the Massachusetts Depart- in Athletics while in high school ment of Developmental Services, before joining SEP. He splits which provides funding to cover his time working for Campus the cost of training and support Recreation and several offices at for each participant; salaries are St. Clement’s. One of Durkin’s paid from the employing depart- major achievements was getting ment’s budget. a shift at the Flynn Recreation SEP is starting to undergo Complex front desk; he also is a demographic transformation, involved in training incoming with the retirement this past student employees. summer of Kevin Browne and “I was able to work on the Jimmy LaCroix, among the first front desk because I advocated seven members of the program. for myself,” says the earnest DurTheir departure leaves four of the kin, who often talks about strivoriginal SEP cohort, including ing for goals. “I like helping the

“what he has given in return is so much more valuable to both the professional and student staff. In a time when we are all working hard to be inclusive, Brendan makes it easy. He is an amazing person and everyone who works with Brendan is better for it. I know that I am.”

Timothy Fonseca, executive pastry chef for the Dining Services Bakery, is similarly laudatory of SEP workers like Matthew McDonald, who is part of Fonseca’s bakery team.

“Matthew does a wide range of duties for the bakery that are key to our daily success. While Matthew pushes to complete his responsibilities, he also manages to lighten up our days with his tremendous enthusiasm and personality,” says Fonseca, who quotes one of McDonald’s catchphrases: “‘I’m going to work here forever – you and me forever.’”

For more on the BC Supported Employment Program, see http:// bit.ly/supported-employment-program.

Contact Sean Smith at sean.smith@bc.edu

T he B oston C ollege

Chronicle OCTOBER 26, 2017

Wortham Welcomed as Donovan Dean

BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER

Stanton E. F. Wortham was formally introduced as the first Charles F. Donovan, SJ, Dean of the Lynch School of Education at a ceremony held Tuesday in the Cadigan Alumni Center.

A noted scholar whose research interests include classroom discourse and the linguistic anthropology of education, Wortham became LSOE dean in July of 2016 after 18 years as a faculty member and senior administrator at the University of Pennsylvania.

Established in 2011 through a gift from Susan Martinelli Shea ’76, P’04, the Charles F. Donovan, SJ, Deanship is named in honor of the founding dean of the BC School of Education. Fr. Donovan, a 1933 alumnus who served as SOE dean from 1952-65, also held senior leadership positions including academic vice president, senior vice president and University historian.

Shea, who spoke at Tuesday’s ceremony, is a Boston College trustee who serves as the board’s secretary and chairs its Mission and Character Committee. She is president and founder of Dancing with the Students, a non-profit organization which brings ballroom dancing to Philadelphia-area schools with a goal of fostering positive self-esteem, manners and respect for others, in an atmosphere of confidence and fun.

“I am thrilled to honor the legacy of Fr. Donovan by naming the deanship of the Lynch School of Education for him,” said Shea.

“As founding dean, he established a platform for educational learning that would grow with each remarkable dean to the incredible institution it is today under Stanton Wortham’s leadership. The Lynch School gave me the tools to teach students with learning differences in five states, urban, suburban and rural settings. I will be forever grateful for the rest of my life for the gift

of Boston College.”

Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley also offered remarks at the ceremony. “We are very grateful to Sue for her philanthropic leadership, and long-term commitment to Boston College.

By endowing this position, Sue has provided transformative resources to the Lynch School of Education, and re-affirmed it as an essential

ferently about education, in that we think about it as encompassing the many dimensions of people’s lives,” said Wortham.

At Penn, Wortham was the Judy and Howard Berkowitz Professor of Education and held a number of leadership positions within Penn’s Graduate School of Education, most recently as associate dean for academic affairs.

Stanton Wortham, the first Charles F. Donovan, SJ, Dean of the Lynch School of Education, with BC Trustee Susan Martinelli Shea ’76, whose gift established the deanship. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)

element of Boston College. She has helped the University flourish, and her impact will endure for generations to come.”

“The deanship has given me the opportunity to return to Boston, to tackle a new challenge, and to join a university on a strong upward trajectory,” said Wortham. “We’ve already made significant progress toward the articulation and practice of our distinctive vision of education, one that involves enhancing the human condition, expanding the imagination, and making the world more just.

“Furthermore, we have re-asserted our approach to education that reinforces formation – the guided development of the whole person toward a life of meaning and purpose. When we focus on developing and understanding students as whole people, we help facilitate their success not only as intellectual and civic beings, but as emotional, social, ethical and spiritual beings.

“We’re a place that thinks dif-

A West Roxbury, Mass., native who studied at Roxbury Latin School, Wortham is the author or editor of nine books and more than 90 articles and chapters on a range of topics including linguistic anthropology, discourse analysis, “learning identity” – how social identification and academic learning interconnect – and education in the New Latino Diaspora.

For the last 10 years, Wortham has studied the experiences of Mexican immigrant students both in and outside of school as they adjust to lives in communities with largely non-Latino populations. As part of that project, he was the executive producer of the award-winning 2014 documentary “Adelante,” which chronicles how a Mexican immigrant and Irish-American community are revitalizing a oncestruggling parish. Wortham is currently writing a book based on his research in the town.

Contact Phil Gloudemans at philip.gloudemans@bc.edu

Encouraging Trends Seen in Class of 2021

Continued from page 1 University has waived application fees for students from Puerto Rico, he noted, and is working with earlyaction candidates concerned about missing their Nov. 1 deadline; this information is posted on the Office of Undergraduate Admission website.

“We want to be responsive to families, because the college application process is stressful enough as it is,” said Mahoney.

It’s not just unforeseen emergencies, however, that that shape the work of Mahoney and his Admission colleagues. Sometimes, a new University initiative or program generates such interest among prospective students and their families

that it becomes a frequently-askedquestion topic on campus tours or at other Admission-sponsored events.

Such is the case with the Core Curriculum Renewal, Mahoney said, and the series of interdisciplinary pilot courses it has generated during the past three years.

“We’ve had standing-roomonly crowds at the sessions we’ve organized on the core – [Associate Dean of the Core] Julian Bourg has done a fantastic job in these presentations,” he said. “There’s been a lot of interest among not only students and their parents but also high school counselors. They see how innovative the courses are, and

the commitment BC has made to the liberal arts.”

In fact, Mahoney notes, Admission added an optional essay to the University’s undergraduate application inviting prospective students to design their own core courses.

“There’s a potential two-part outcome to the interest created by the new Core Curriculum. Hopefully, of course, students are more likely to consider enrolling at BC if they’re accepted. And if they do enroll, they arrive with the belief that the core can help them to define their interests and future directions.”

Contact Sean Smith at sean.smith@bc.edu

5

MCA&S Honors to End

Continued from page 1 gram ends. Students interested in a four-year integrated liberal arts program can choose to enroll in Perspectives, an interdisciplinary core program grounded in the great books of the Western intellectual tradition.

The Morrissey College Honors Program currently serves 380 of the University’s 9,300 undergraduates, including 90 first-year students.

Founded in 1958, the Honors Program was envisioned as an opportunity for students with “exceptional native intelligence or atypical previous training to absorb an enriched curriculum and proceed at a faster pace in required subjects.”

In establishing the Honors Program, Boston College joined more than 100 universities that launched similar ventures in postwar America as a means to attract stronger students nationwide. At the urging of thenUniversity President Michael P. Walsh, SJ, English Professor P. Albert Duhamel and Academic Vice President William Casey, SJ, proposed a curriculum for students “blessed by heredity or early training with more talents than the average,” according to research conducted by Zachary Jason in BC’s Office of University Communications.

At its high point, the program grew to more than 500 undergraduates, with approximately 125 students annually entering each year.

In his letter, Fr. Kalscheur said that unlike today, an Honors Program was needed in 1958 as part of an overall effort to recruit superior students to Boston College.

“In 2017, Boston College is a highly selective university with a challenging undergraduate academic program,” he said.

“The Scholar of the College and departmental honors programs provide students with the opportunity to do thesis projects with outstanding faculty scholars, and the Core Renewal process has committed the University to making available rigorous integrative interdisciplinary core experiences to all of our undergraduates. The pressing needs that led to the creation of the Honors Program nearly 60 years ago no longer exist today.”

The Perspectives Program, a rigorous interdisciplinary course of study that seeks to integrate the humanities and natural sciences, attracts some 650 of the University’s freshmen from all four schools and colleges. According to Perspectives Program Director Brian Braman, it pro-

vides students with the opportunity to seek answers to enduring questions by bringing faculty and students into conversation with the ancient, modern and contemporary thinkers who have shaped Western intellectual and spiritual heritage.

All four of the Perspectives courses are yearlong, double credit courses with an evening class component involving extensive discussion and interaction among faculty and students.

Each Perspectives course fulfills Core Curriculum requirements.

[For more about the Perspectives Program, see http://bit.ly/ perspectives-program] Founded in 1971 by the late Philosophy Department Chairman Joseph Flanagan, SJ, and former Lonergan Center Director Frederick Lawrence, the Perspectives Program has been directed since 1998 by Braman, a professor of the practice in philosophy.

In the letter, Fr. Kalscheur praised Braman – who will step down after the next academic year – for his remarkable leadership, and announced that Associate Professor of the Practice of Humanities Christopher Constas will assume the role of associate director of Perspectives and succeed Braman in advance of the 2019 fall semester.

In addition, Fr. Kalscheur said, during the coming spring semester he would lead a faculty conversation on how best to bring Perspectives into dialogue with the experience gained through the past several years of renewed Core courses.

“The decisions announced in this letter reflect my conviction that, in many ways, the Boston College of 2017 has become the institution that the founders of the Arts and Sciences Honors Program dreamed of bringing into being,” said Fr. Kalscheur.

“All of us who study, teach, and work today at this great university – an institution recognized as one of the most distinguished in the nation – owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to the program’s leaders over the years, including the late Professor Albert Folkard, Fr. David Gill, SJ, Fr. Joseph Appleyard, SJ, and Professor Mark O’Connor, as well as to all the faculty members whose dedicated teaching and commitment to caring for their students have made studying in the Honors Program a transformative experience for so many.”

Contact Jack Dunn at jack.dunn@bc.edu

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BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER

In 1990, Henley founded the non-profit Walden Woods Project [www.walden.org] to protect the historic woods near Walden Pond from encroaching development. Since then, the project has grown into one of the preeminent preservation organizations in the US, using conservation, education,

Boston College will host the premiere of the documentary “Walden” in Robsham Theater on Nov. 8 at 7:30 p.m., followed by a Q&A with recording artist and Walden Woods Project founder Don Henley, documentarian and executive producer Ken Burns H’09, and codirector Erik Ewers.

The short documentary examines the relationship between the philosophy of 19th-century author Henry David Thoreau and contemporary societal and environmental challenges. Douglas Brinkley, CNN’s presidential historian and a professor Filmmaker Ken Burns (“The Vietnam War”) of history at Rice University, will be at the premiere of his new film will moderate the discussion. “Walden” in Robsham Theater on Nov. 8.

Proceeds from the premiere will research and advocacy to preserve benefit the educational programs the land, literature and legacy of of the non-profit Walden Woods Thoreau in order to foster an ethic Project, which since 1990 has been of environmental stewardship and dedicated to protecting the historic social responsibility.

Burns has been making films woods where Thoreau first chamfor almost 40 years. Since the pioned the concept of land con1981 Academy Award-nominatservation. Ticket prices are $35, ed “Brooklyn Bridge,” Burns has $50 and $100 (which includes addirected and produced some of mission to a pre-event reception the most critically praised hisat 6:30 p.m.). torical documentaries ever made.

Thoreau’s classic Walden; or, Life in the Woods chronicled the Last month, “The Vietnam War” lessons learned during 1846 and premiered on PBS to widespread 1847, which he spent living near acclaim. In 2009, BC awarded what was then a remote pond in Burns an honorary degree for his Concord, Mass. The book is wide- achievements as a filmmaker and ly recognized as one of the found- historian.

“Walden” was directed by ing treatises on conservation and Christopher and Erik Ewers, and the environment. produced by Julie Coffman of Best known as a founder of the Ewers Brothers Productions, in legendary rock band the Eagles, consultation with Walden Woods as well as an influential solo artProject. ist, Henley has maintained an exTo purchase tickets for the traordinary commitment to music Nov. 8 premiere, go to http://bit. and to various philanthropic efforts ly/Walden_Film. throughout his career, including a dedication to environmental issues Contact Ed Hayward at and artists’ rights. ed.hayward@bc.edu

Students spent an evening at the McMullen Museum of Art last Friday as part of the museum’s “Art After Dark” series. The event featured a “murder improv,” electronic music, pumpking-painting, DIY fall-leaf pattern art and scary movies. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)

AN ELEGY FOR RUSSIA’S JEWS Russia’s Jewish community is still vibrant and influential, but its numbers continue to decline. Maxim D. Shrayer examines its past and present, and prospects for the future

BY ROSANNE PELLEGRINI STAFF WRITER

A richly journalistic portrait of Russia’s dwindling, but still vibrant and influential Jewish community is presented in a new book by bilingual author and scholar Maxim D. Shrayer, a pro-

USSR, of whom 570,500 were living in the Russian Soviet Federative Republic,” Shrayer noted.

“Today’s core Jewish population of about 180,000 puts Russia behind Israel and the United States by millions and also behind France, Canada, and the United Kingdom,” he said. “De-

His previous scholarly books and literary works include An Anthology of Jewish-Russian Literature; a study of Jewish identity in early Soviet literature (Russian Poet/Soviet Jew); a book about Jewish-Russian poets as witnesses to the Shoah (I SAW IT); and two literary memoirs about the

“Today’s core Jewish population of about 180,000 puts Russia behind Israel and the United States by millions and also behind France, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Despite that, while anti-Semitism has not disappeared in Russia, its presence and prevalence is less manifest in Russia’s mainstream.”

–Maxim D. Shrayer

fessor of Russian, English, and Jewish Studies.

Based on new evidence and a series of interviews, With or Without You: The Prospect for Today’s Jews in Russia is both an exploration of the texture of Jewish life in Putin’s Russia and an émigré’s moving elegy for Russia’s Jews – a group which 40 years ago constituted one of the world’s largest Jewish populations.

Born in Moscow in 1967 to a Jewish-Russian family, Shrayer spent nearly nine years as a refusenik with his parents; they left the USSR and immigrated to the United States in 1987.

“In contrast to my previous writings – which examined the culture and history of Jews in Tsarist and Soviet Russia and also in diaspora, mainly in the United States and Israel – this book investigates the present while also attempting a bit of punditry,” Shrayer explained.

With or Without You began as a fact-finding mission for a magazine essay and evolved into a first-person narrative account of Russia’s declining Jewish community. “In 1989, according to the last official Soviet census, there were 1,480,000 Jews in the

Lee Pellegrini

New Burns Documentary to Premiere at Robsham

spite that, while anti-Semitism has not disappeared in Russia, its presence and prevalence is less manifest in Russia’s mainstream.”

Shrayer initially researched the book during a visit to Moscow last fall, where he sought answers to questions central to modern Jewish history and culture: Why do Jews continue to live in Russia, after everything they had been through? What are the prospects of Jewish life in Russia? What awaits the children born to Jews of my own generation who have not left? Shrayer also pondered: “Is it time to compose an elegy for Russia’s Jewry?”

With or Without You – which details his interviews with a diverse group of Jews, and includes his own observations as an “outsider-insider” – yields insights into the complex situation of Russian Jews today: about the minority who have remained, against all odds, in their mother country and about Russia, a country continuously losing its Jews.

Shrayer describes his new book as “both a new departure and a logical continuation of my research and artistic pursuits.”

experience of Jewish emigration from the former USSR (Waiting for America and Leaving Russia).

His short stories, some of them collected in Yom Kippur in Amsterdam, explore the immigrant triumphs and tribulations of exSoviet Jews.

In With or Without You, Shrayer questions whether “Russian Jews [will] remain in the top 10 [in terms of population], or eventually slide to the level of Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, and Chile, all in the range of 20,00030,000? To be sure, Jews are less and less known to – and knowable by – the average Russian; in Russia Jews are increasingly becoming figments of memory and imagination.”

Shrayer concludes that “this great outflux of Jews from the former USSR and the post-Soviet states has taken a toll on the public awareness of and public attitudes toward Jews. It has changed – and possibly transformed – the living space of world Jewry.”

Contact Rosanne Pellegrini at rosanne.pellegrini@bc.edu

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BOSTON COLLEGE IN THE MEDIA

Julie Dunne

Clinical Instructor Connell School of Nursing DEGREES: Nazareth College (BS); Boston College (MS) WHAT SHE STUDIES: Eating disorders; mindfulness WHAT SHE’S TEACHING: Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing Clinical Lab; MSE Psychiatric Nursing Clinical (graduate course) You are currently working on your PhD in CSON. What is your dissertation about? “My dissertation looks at individuals with anorexia nervosa entering residential treatment. I’m curious to find out more about the level of mindfulness in this population and correlate that with eating disorder symptoms and other clinical indicators of health. For example, things like general well-being and perception of health, level of pain, social supports, fatigue, stress, etc. I’ve worked with people with eating disorders for most of my career and I’m really passionate about this research. Mindfulness appears to relate to wellness and may even be useful at promoting healing from all sorts of disorders, physical and mental. However, there still isn’t enough research looking specifically at mindfulness in individuals with eating disorders, so it’s important to do this work.”

Vincent Fusaro

Assistant Professor Boston College School of Social Work DEGREES: University of Rhode Island (BA); Boston University (MSW); University of Michigan (PhD) WHAT HE STUDIES: Poverty and low-wage work in the United States; evaluation of policies and programs to address poverty; social, political, and economic influences on policy and program implementation; durable inequalities; social workers as policy advocates.

WHAT HE’S TEACHING: Social Welfare System (spring 2018) You have a unique background as both a social work researcher and a political scientist. How do these disciplines inform one another in your work? “As a social worker, I’m interested in policies and programs that improve the well-being of low-income families. Policies and programs, though, are the end products of political decisions. If we want to have long-term and meaningful impact on pressing social and economic problems, it’s not enough to use research to identify the most effective interventions. We need to understand why we have the policies we do and identify barriers and facilitators to change. My joint training helps me to put these two different types of research – studies of policy effects and policy processes – into dialogue with each other.”

Rafael Luciani

Associate Professor of the Practice School of Theology and Ministry DEGREES: Pontifical Salesian University, Rome (BA); Catholic University Andrés Bello, Caracas (LEd); Pontifical Gregorian University (PhD, LTh).

WHAT HE STUDIES: Latin American Theology, especially liberation theology and theology of the people; faith and politics; systematic theology; Christology.

WHAT HE’S TEACHING: The Mystery of the Trinity; Eschatology and the Kingdom of God Last year as a visiting professor, you co-organized the Ibero-American Conference of Theology, which examined the role of liberation theology as Pope Francis and the Catholic Church respond to issues of globalization, migration and economic exclusion. What’s happened since? “We continue with the project, having formed the Ibero-American Theological and Pastoral Reflection Group, and doing a series of initiatives to accomplish what was assumed in the Declaration of the Conference. We will have in April the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Medellin Conference in 1968 [CELAM 2nd General Conference] and the birth of liberation theology in the Latin American Church. We are working towards the second Ibero-American Conference of Theology in 2019.”

Beth Schinoff

Assistant Professor of Management and Organization Carroll School of Management DEGREES: Northwestern University (BS), University of Illinois at Chicago (MBA), Arizona State University (PhD) WHAT SHE STUDIES: Individual and organizational identity, identification processes, and relationships at work.

WHAT SHE TEACHES: Organizational Behavior What led you to focus on the study of identity as it relates to business organizations? “Individual identity is at the heart of how we think, feel, and behave in organizations. I was drawn to the study of individual identity as I reflected on my own work background and realized that my answer to ‘Who am I?’ changed with my organizational experiences.”

–Kathleen Sullivan, Ed Hayward and Sean Smith Photos by Lee Pellegrini and Christopher Soldt

Professor Thomas Seyfried (Biology) discussed the benefits of the ketogenic diet and other alterna-

BC BRIEFING Assoc. Prof. of the Practice Bradford Hudson (CSOM) presented “Faux Heritage at Disney: Lessons for Historic Hotels,” the keynote address to to Historic Hotels of America, at the Omni Homestead Hotel, Hot Springs, Va.

tive therapies with South Africa’s national daily newspaper Business Day. Professor Heather Cox Richardson (History) reflected on changes in NRA approaches to gun control since the early 20th century in an op-ed for BillMoyers.com.

Assoc. Prof. Margaret Schatkin (Theology) co-presented “Death and Providence in the Mystagogy of St. John Chrysostom, In Relation to the Requiem Mass of Antonio Salieri” at the Third International Congress, “Early Christian Mystagogy and the Body,” organized by the Netherlands Centre for Patristic Research.

Boston College Ireland Business Council Holds First Meeting Inspired by the success of last fall’s Aer Lingus College Football Classic, Boston College has co-launched an organization to enhance transatlantic business development opportunities between Boston and Ireland.

The Boston College Ireland Business Council held its inaugural meeting on Oct. 18 in Dublin, bringing together members of the BC and Irish business communities, the Ireland Gateway to Europe (IGTE) delegation, and others who participated in events held as part of the Aer Lingus Classic.

The event included remarks from Irish Minister for Finance & Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe and three prominent Irish executives: Neil Naughton, deputy chair of Glen Dimplex; International Airlines Group CEO Willie Walsh; and Ardagh Group Chairman Paul Coulson, a member of the Boston College Board of Trustees.

Organizers said the council will have three main objectives: act as a vehicle to connect Boston and Irish business leaders to build new meaningful relationships; actively engage Boston-based alumni to support future investment in Ireland and vice versa; and maintain “a deeply connected community to act as a soft landing for any transatlantic business ventures in Boston and Ireland.”

BC’s Global Leadership Institute and the IGTE will direct the council, and co-organize annual dinners in Boston and Dublin that will afford opportunities for members of the BC and Irish business communities to form connections.

“Boston College was established in 1863 to educate Boston’s Irish immigrant community and

In an interview with CNN Money about the Wells Fargo controversy, Liberty Mutual Professor of Law Patricia McCoy explained that bank wrongly hit homebuyers with fees to lock in mortgage rates.

There has been a radical change in the way we talk about evil, according to Prof. Emeritus Alan Wolfe (Political Science), author of the book Political Evil, who discussed the topic with The Atlantic.

BC Law School Professor and Associate Dean of Faculty Alfred Chueh-Chin Yen spoke with The Washington Post about the legalities of the grievance filed against the NFL by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, which alleges that owners colluded to keep him out of the league.

Vanderslice Professor of Chemistry T. Ross Kelly and Chemistry Department Chair Prof. Marc Snapper recently published a “News and Views” article, “A Molecular Assembler,” in the journal Nature.

Assoc. Prof. Matt Sienkiewicz (Communication) discussed a range of topical issues in politics as a guest on “Up Front with Chris Citorik” on WBZ-AM.

Bryan Brophy

An introduction to new faculty members at Boston College

Is the world ignoring ethnic cleansing? Assoc. Prof. of the Practice Westy Egmont (BCSSW) discussed the mass slaughter of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar on New England Cable News.

JOBS

Irish Minister for Finance & Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe at the Boston College Ireland Business Council launch.

to help form leaders capable of addressing the world’s most urgent problems,” said GLI Director Robert Mauro. “The Boston College Ireland Business Council proudly builds on that tradition by connecting business leaders in Ireland and Boston, facilitating discussions, and creating economic prosperity through transatlantic trade. Working with our partners in the Ireland Gateway to Europe and Aer Lingus Classic, we can create real benefits for people in Ireland and Boston.”

BC and Irish business representatives will serve as members of a board of advisors, providing assistance to the GLI and IGTE on realizing the organization’s vision and purpose and insight on maintaining its values. Naughton will serve as the inaugural board chair.

For more on the Boston College Ireland Business Council, see bostoncollegeirelandbusinesscouncil.com.

–University Communications

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: Administrative Assistant to the Vice President, Financial/Budget Director of Development, Law School Assistant Director, Classes, University Advancement Campus Minister, University Mission and Ministry Associate Vice President, Principal Gifts, University Advancement Head Librarian, Academic Affairs/Provost Instructional Media Producer, Academic Affairs/Provost Senior Philanthropic Advisor, University Advancement General Service Worker, Dining & Catering/Auxiliary/Public Safety Human Resources Officer, Human Resources Fiscal and Procurement Specialist, Academic Affairs/Provost Utility Worker, Dining and Catering/Auxiliary/Public Safety

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Chronicle OCTOBER 26, 2017

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IN CONCERT: University Chorale performing Mendelssohn’s “Elijah (Part I)” Nov. 3, 8 p.m., Trinity Chapel, Newton Campus

www.bc.edu/music

Alumni actors Wayne Wilderson and Maile Flanagan (below) will return to campus to talk about their lives in show biz Their distinctive faces, and voices, are probably familiar. Between them, they are ubiquitous – on the small screen and in film with scores of acting credits between them, in addition to appearances in myriad national commercials and stage work.

Multi-faceted veteran actors Wayne Wilderson and Maile Flanagan — Boston College alumni who are based in Los Angeles and have been close friends since their undergraduate days performing in the improve comedy group “My Mother’s Fleabag” – visit campus on Nov. 2 to give a joint lecture.

During “From The Heights to Hollywood,” which will take place at 7 p.m. in Robsham Theater, they will discuss their journeys from Boston College students to established professionals with long and thriving careers, working in multiple areas of the entertainment industry.

Their appearance, which is free and open to the public, is part of the University’s Matthew R. DeVoy and John H. DeVoy IV Perspectives on Theatre Series, which annually brings leading arts professionals to BC. Flanagan, a 1987 graduate, has an extensive history of voice-

BC SCENES

over work for animated films, television shows and video games.

She won an Emmy Award in 2006 – one of three times she has been nominated – for voicing the recurring role of Young Piggley Winks on PBS Kids’ “Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks.”

She also has made guest appearances on some 40 television shows, including “The Office,” “Modern Family,” “Weeds,” “Desperate Housewives,” and “ER,” and had recurring roles on “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Reno 911!,” “Shameless,” “Bad Teacher,” and “The Class.”

A longtime Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) member like Flanagan, Wilderson – who graduated from BC in 1989 – has made guest appearances on

some of television’s biggest hits, including “The Office,” “How to Get Away with Murder,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “Mom,” “The Middle,” “Two and a Half Men,” “Private Practice,” “CSI,” “Frasier,” “Seinfeld,” and more than 30 other programs.

He is perhaps best known for his recurring role in season five of HBO’s “Veep,” for which he was nominated for a SAG award for “Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.”

Wilderson also has appeared in popular films including “Evan Almighty,” “Independence Day,” and Disney’s “Space Buddies,” and is a frequent commercial actor.

“Maile and Wayne are the definition of successful working

actors in this country,” says Luke Jorgensen, an associate professor of the practice who is the Theatre Department’s assistant chair.

“Both of them have careers that bridge the worlds of stage, television, film, improv, print, movies, directing and writing.

“Few people know the ins and outs of the industry as these two, and both have been lauded by their fellow actors. The Theatre Department is excited to hear of their experiences: both the successes and the obstacles they’ve had to overcome to get where they are today. As Wayne

once remarked, ‘I am not hungry for fame, I am hungry for work.’”

Jorgensen will lead a Q&A following Wilderson and Flanagan’s presentation. The duo also will speak to students in two of Jorgensen’s Theatre Department classes.

This is the fourth annual lecture in the DeVoy Perspectives on Theatre Series, a program made possible by a gift from the DeVoy family. For more information, contact the Theatre Department at theatre@bc.edu or ext.2-4012.

–University Communications

The Press Gang Nov. 2, 6:30 p.m.

Theology and Ministry Library Brighton Campus

A late entry to the Gaelic Roots series, this concert – free and open to the public – features one of the most compelling Irish traditional music bands to have emerged in New England during the past several years. The quartet is known for its powerful sound and good-natured stage presence. See www.bc.edu/gaelicroots.

AT THE SUMMIT Photos by Yiting Chen

Conversations were the medium at the Oct. 21 Boston College Women’s Summit, which brought together alumni, students, faculty and special guests for talks on life, learning, career and many other topics, in a variety of settings on campus. These included alumna, actor, singer and writer Patricia Noonan’s seminar “Redefining ‘Weird’: The Art of Turning Limits into Thresholds” (bottom left). Above left, BC faculty members Regine Jean-Charles, left, and Rhonda Frederick spoke about “Feminist Friendship” while (right) “Being First” featured a discussion between BC Trustee Kathleen McGillycuddy NC’71 and UGBC President Akosua Opokua-Achampong ’18, moderated by Women’s Center Assistant Director Rachel DiBella. Read more about the event at http://www.bcownit.com.