NOVEMBER 12, 2020 VOL. 28 NO. 6
PUBLISHED BY THE BOSTON COLLEGE OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
Major Moves
INSIDE 2 Around Campus
Jesuit Refugee Service, long-time BC partner, celebrates 40 years tonight; BCBC tonight; students students take take part part in in ACC design-thinking ACC design-thinking project. project.
3 New CSOM chair
A $3 million gift creates the CarCarroll School roll School of Management’s of Management’s 14th14th endowed professorship. endowed professorship.
6 Q&A: QA&: Richard Cordray
Former head of the Consumer Financial Protection Board is serving serving as Rappaport as Rappaport Professor Professor at BC at BC Law.. Law School this fall.
Going Into the Unknown Monan Prof. Paula Plum has been getting quite an education this semester BY ROSANNE PELLEGRINI STAFF WRITER
“We are meant to go into the unknown.” This is the mantra of 2020-21 Monan Professor in Theatre Arts Paula Plum, a phrase given to her by her teachers, and it is serving her well this semester as she directs a challenging and unconventional Boston College production of William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.” Plum’s reimagining of the classic Shakespearean comedy will be presented as a film November 19-22 through a private YouTube link accessible via the Robsham Theater Arts Center website. “This journey has certainly been an opportunity to test our resilience, creativity,
Continued on page 5
New Woods College initiatives include applied liberal arts major and graduate certificate in DEI BY PATRICIA DELANEY SENIOR DIRECTOR OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to present steep new challenges to family and work life, Boston College’s Woods College of Advancing Studies is upholding its tradition of evolving to meet the changing needs of the students it serves. This semester, while continuing to provide a full array of undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs in classroom, online, and hybrid formats, the school is also rolling out a number of initiatives to enhance its existing portfolio. New programs at Woods include the addition of an undergraduate major in applied liberal arts—a first at Boston College—as well as a graduate certificate in diversity, equity, and inclusion; a tuition discount for BC alumni; and an educational partnership with tuition management service EdAssist that will offer a similar tuition incentive to the organization’s member companies across the nation. The new B.A. in Applied Liberal Arts
Woods College of Advancing Studies Dean Karen Muncaster. photo by lee pellegrini
degree program, said Woods College Dean Karen Muncaster, integrates the best of the liberal arts tradition with an added focus on acquiring in-demand, employer-aligned skills. “We’re excited to be able to offer this extension of Boston College’s esteemed liberal arts tradition,” Muncaster said.
“We think of it as liberal arts with a plus, designed to meet the specific needs of our students, many of whom are working adults who want to advance their education, but also want to take the next step in their careers—or in some cases change careers entirely.” Michelle Elias Bloomer, associate dean for undergraduate programs at Woods College, concurred, noting that the goal in creating the major was “to provide students with the opportunity to acquire a premier Boston College liberal arts education along with 21st-century in-demand labor market skills.” The Woods College B.A. in Applied Liberal Arts emphasizes the critical thinking, ethical reasoning, creativity, cultural literacy, problem-solving, and effective communication skills that are hallmarks of liberal arts education—and greatly valued by today’s employers—enhanced by training in workplace essentials such as project management, data visualization and analysis, design thinking, and conflict resolution. Continued on page 4
BC Continues Outreach Effort In Pandemic BY CHRISTINE BALQUIST STAFF WRITER
It all began about eight months ago, according to Vice President for Governmental and Community Affairs Thomas Keady, when he was driving through Allston and noticed a long line of people stretching down a sidewalk. Curious, he pulled his car over to find out what was going on. He learned that the people were waiting for food, which the Brazilian Worker Center—a non-profit
Continued on page 6
Boston College has delivered or donated food, diapers, baby formula, and other necessities to needy residents in the Boston area during the pandemic. Above, staff from the Officer of Governmental and Community Affairs brought supplies last week to the Charles River Community Health Center. photo by lee pellegrini
We’re interested in learning how a social disruption in combination with communication technologies may act as a catalyst for profound transformations in mindsets and social change, specifically regarding future work flexibility. – assistant professor of sociology wen fan, page 4
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NOVEMBER 12, 2020
Around Campus
Tonight: A Festive 40th Anniversary for the Jesuit Refugee Service Wondering what comedian Jim Gaffigan, Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky, and celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson have in common? All three will be making special appearances at today’s virtual gala celebrating the 40th anniversary of Jesuit Refugee Service [jrsusa.org], a Catholic organization—and a long-time collaborator with Boston College—that works alongside displaced persons in 56 countries around the world. The celebration, titled “Walking with Refugees for Forty Years,” is scheduled for today at 6 p.m. and will feature remarks by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, award-winning author and editor James Martin, S.J., and Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci. The evening will also include testimonies and performances from refugees, and a musical interlude from Grammy Awardwinning opera singer Isabel Leonard; JRS supporters who contribute a minimum of $100 will receive a link to attend. The JRS event is of special interest to Boston College faculty, students, and alum-
ni who have benefited from a longstanding partnership between the two institutions, formalized in a Memorandum of Understanding in 2019. For well more than a decade, the relationship has yielded formative
Boston College and the Jesuit Refugee Service have enjoyed numerous collaborations.
field placements for BC graduate students, research opportunities for faculty, and fulltime employment for a number of alumni passionate about global service. “There’s a perfect symmetry between BC’s mission and the needs of JRS,” said Theology Professor Stephen Pope. “We’re not a service organization, but there’s a strong commitment at BC to educating people so they are sensitive to and committed to the wellbeing of people on the
margins.” Pope has been involved with JRS in various capacities since 2005. Last year, he worked with BC colleagues and JRS staff to develop and lead a faith-based reconciliation and peacebuilding workshop for South Sudanese refugees living in Uganda, drawing elements from his graduate course Peace, Justice, and Reconciliation. The powerful experience of working on the ground with refugees inspired a case study that he hopes to use in the same class. “A lot of things we talk about in class are theoretical and abstract. You try to make them real for students by giving some concrete examples about how people live and what they’ve had to overcome.” From Ecuador to Myanmar, JRS operations span the globe, providing refugees with access to education, legal aid, psychological support, health care, and more while also promoting advocacy efforts on their behalf. In 2019, JRS calculated that more than 800,000 people were served through their programs, including more than 240,000 in education and training. Four years ago, JRS turned to the BC
School of Social Work for help evaluating staff needs across its international offices. The result was a comprehensive employee wellbeing program to reduce burnout and boost retention, as well as a pipeline for social work students interested in global service. Through the Young Professionals Program, BC students work as JRS interns for four to six months, then as full-time staff for a year. Kailey Cano M.S.W. ’20 credits the program, and JRS, with helping her discover an interest in capacity building—aiding an individual to gain the skills and tools necessary to do their job more effectively. Now a full-time staff care consultant at the JRS International Office, Cano is overseeing the employee wellbeing programs she helped conceptualize as a BC graduate student. “My knowledge of humanitarian staff care and employee wellbeing has grown exponentially since being in this position,” she said. “Before it was purely academic, but now I’m seeing it firsthand. I feel really grateful to JRS and BC to have landed here.” —Alix Hackett is a senior digital content writer for the Office of University Communications
BC Students Team with ACC Peers on Design-Thinking Project Boston College battled Atlantic Coast Conference rivals Clemson and Virginia Tech on the gridiron this fall, but last Friday, students from the three universities, plus ACC member North Carolina State, met for a far different purpose: applying the methodology of design thinking to respond to common problems faced by humanity. The 17 participating BC undergraduate and graduate students—all from the Lynch School of Education and Human Development—were integrated into four, mixedschool teams which virtually presented their respective projects at the inaugural “Humanity & Design Thinking Workshop,” the culmination of the mentors’ and students’ six-phase planning process this semester. Design thinking refers to strategies, processes, and approaches traditionally deployed to develop new products and designs. Companies like Apple, Uber, Airbnb, and Pixar are all pioneers in the field, but the focus on user needs made it a popular technique for problem solving outside of the domain of traditional design. Problems are confronted methodically in a step-by-step collaborative manner that ideally reveals all participants’ creativity. The “Humanity & Design Thinking” program was created to explore opportuniASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
Jack Dunn SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
ties for bringing design-thinking tools within higher education settings, and to “harness and extend these initiatives into a yearly, interinstitutional and interdisciplinary designthinking experience,” said Julia E. DeVoy, associate dean for undergraduate programs and students at the Lynch School, who noted that design thinking has been adapted in diverse disciplines and areas such as transformational education, environmental justice and sustainability, global public and mental health, and racial justice. “We also sought to educate more students, administration, and faculty about the potential of design-thinking tools to create real-world positive change and to have student teams present their work in a yearly, final presentation symposium.” BC Art, Art History, and Film Department Chair Stephanie C. Leone, who along with DeVoy is one of the six faculty on the Design Thinking ACC Leaders Cohort Team from the four universities, noted the “humancentric” quality of each team’s projects. Among the topics were migration and bridging borders, renewable energy, robust remote learning during COVID-19 and beyond, and sustainable ergonomic home office furniture. “They addressed how the design would augment human lives, and improve our
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Chronicle
PHOTOGRAPHERS
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Patricia Delaney EDITOR
Sean Smith
world,” she said. The 17 students, who represent a variety of majors, spent the fall term conducting research, brainstorming, ideating, and designing their projects, each of which was focused on real world positive change. All had either declared the Lynch School’s Design Thinking and Innovation minor; completed the Cyberstrategy Innovation and Formative Development course; or participated in the “Experience Reflection and Action First-Year Program Design-Thinking Workshop.” “When the opportunity arose, I knew I had to be a part of it,” said graduate student Sara Rimmler. “It was something that I had never been involved in previously, and I was excited to work with my team to apply my knowledge of design thinking to architecture, which I hadn’t been exposed to beforehand. I instantly saw the connection between the two.” “I loved working with people from other schools; it helped to share our ideas and to be exposed to other peoples’ skill sets,” said Chloe Zhou ’21. “I was very grateful for the opportunity to work on a project during this pandemic that addressed issues that I care deeply about.” —Phil Gloudemans
Lee Pellegrini Peter Julian
The Heights endured quite the range of mid-autumn weather recently, as an October 30 snowstorm left a little over three inches on campus. A week later, temperatures had soared into the 70s. photo by lee pellegrini
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)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 University Communications, 3 Lake Street, Brighton, MA 02135. A flipbook edition of Chronicle is available via e-mail. Send requests to chronicle@bc.edu.
Chronicle
NOVEMBER 12, 2020
CORONAVIRUS UPDATE With Thanksgiving break less than two weeks away, Boston College continues to show good progress in its efforts to deal with the coronavirus. University Health Services reported 14 positive COVID-19 cases (including 12 undergraduates) during the week of November 2-8, out of 9,268 tests conducted, resulting in a community positivity rate of 0.15 percent. The Massachusetts weekly positivity rate stands at 2.3 percent. At press time, there were 14 BC undergraduates in isolation—12 in University isolation housing and two recovering at home. A total of 238 undergraduates have recovered and returned to normal activities. Since testing began on August 16, University Health Services has conducted 90,368 tests of BC community members with a total of 268 positive cases reported. Among undergrads, UHS has conducted 66,212 tests with 254 positives. The University’s cumulative positivity rate stands at 0.29 percent. By comparison, Boston University has the highest number of cases among colleges and universities in the state with 313 total positive cases. The University of Massachusetts-Amherst has reported 253 cases; Northeastern University, 224; Providence College, 274; and the Univer-
sity of Notre Dame, 1,416. Tomorrow, November 13, is the deadline by which students living on campus must inform the Office of Residential Life if they have chosen to return to their homes outside of Massachusetts for Thanksgiving. Those who do so will complete their courses and finals remotely from home, as will students living in offcampus apartments who opt to leave Massachusetts for the break, and will not be able to return to campus until the start of the spring semester. Students who remain at BC or elsewhere in Massachusetts during Thanksgiving break will be able to finish the semester on campus. They must also register with Residential Life to continue their access to campus facilities and services. Starting Monday, November 16, the University will test all undergraduates in advance of Thanksgiving travel. Campus residence halls will close on the last day of exams, currently scheduled for December 21, and will reopen at the start of the second semester, January 28. All students, faculty, and staff who plan to be on campus during the spring semester must be tested before classes resume. —University Communications
Campus School, Kennedy Day School Announce Partnership
The Boston College Campus School and the Franciscan Children’s Hospital Kennedy Day School have announced a collaborative partnership that will allow both schools to serve their special needs students more effectively while maintaining their own students, staff, brand, and physical location. In a letter sent to staff and parents at the Campus School on November 5, Stanton E. F. Wortham, the Charles F. Donovan, S.J., Dean of the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, said that the Campus School and the Kennedy Day School have unique strengths in their respective facilities, programs, and staff. The partnership will allow their students to benefit from opportunities and services available at both schools through increased collaboration and administrative coordination, he said. “The Campus School and its students benefit from an extensive volunteer program with Boston College undergraduates and the research expertise of Boston College faculty, who work with staff to envision and improve evidence-based practice,” said Wortham. “The Kennedy Day School has expansive physical facilities—including a therapeutic pool, music room, fully adaptive playground, and therapy rooms—and this collaborative partnership may allow Campus School students to benefit from these facilities, as well as dental clinics for children with special needs and other clinical services.” Other potentially shared benefits include an Applied Behavioral Analysis program for students on the autism spectrum, along with in-school therapy and on-site nursing services for all students. Both the Campus School and Kennedy
Day School serve children and young adults ages three to 21. The Kennedy Day School hosts approximately 60 students with complex needs from communities in the Greater Boston area, while the Campus School serves 33 students. Wortham noted that Boston College has had much success in collaborating with fellow Catholic institutions in Brighton. The partnership with Saint Columbkille Partnership School, he said, has provided extensive benefits for both partners, with the school enjoying the presence and support of Boston College students and faculty, and BC having an exemplary partner where student teachers and others can be trained in their field. “Boston College and Franciscan Children’s Hospital expect that the partnership between the Campus School and the Kennedy Day School will yield similar benefits for students, while maintaining the distinctiveness and independence of both institutions,” said Wortham. A committee composed of staff and parents from each institution will begin planning the details of the partnership with a focus on how best to serve the students at both schools throughout the coming year. The committee will provide regular updates on their progress. The Campus School will also host virtual Q&A sessions with parents, staff, and BC student volunteers in the coming week. “We are excited about the prospects of two institutions working together for the sake of the students and families we serve,” said Wortham. “We view this as a mutually beneficial relationship that will utilize the strengths and resources of both schools.” —University Communications
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“This kind of gift is fundamental to our success, especially at a time when it’s become harder and harder to attract topflight talent. It’ll have an impact on generations to come.” –Carroll School Dean Andy Boynton
Couple Donates $3M to Fund CSOM Professorship BY WILLIAM BOLE SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
A $3 million gift from philanthropist spouses Domenic and Molly Ferrante will create the 14th endowed professorship at the Carroll School of Management, the school announced late last month. The gift, which will establish the Ferrante Family Professorship at the Carroll School, enables the school to continue strengthening a faculty already ranked among the best according to measures of teaching and research, said Andy Boynton, the John and Linda Powers Family Dean of the Carroll School. Endowed professorships are considered key to attracting and retaining faculty members who stand out as teachers and scholars in their disciplines, he noted. “This is a transformative commitment—an investment in the future of our school,” said Boynton, who will select the inaugural Ferrante Family Professor at a later date. “It’ll advance our efforts to give our students the best teaching and academic experience anywhere, and to produce research and insights that benefit everyone. “We’re deeply grateful to the Ferrantes for making this happen. This kind of gift is fundamental to our success, especially at a time when it’s become harder and harder to attract top-flight talent. It’ll have an impact on generations to come.” The family behind the professorship is deeply involved in supporting Catholic education, including at Boston College. In 2017, they created the Ferrante Family Assistant Professorship at the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences through the Ferrante Family Catholic Education Fund. Both husband and wife are members of the Boston College Board of Regents. After a long career as a partner at Bain Capital, Domenic Ferrante founded The Ferrante Group, a family investment office. A graduate of the University of Michigan, he earned an M.B.A. at Harvard Business School in 1993. Molly Ferrante studied at Michigan State University. “Molly and I are thrilled to support outstanding faculty at the Carroll School through this new professorship,” said Domenic Ferrante. “It’s exciting to know that we are playing a role in building a community of the best minds and top talent at BC. We look forward to learning about the accomplished scholar who is named the inaugural professor.” “Most importantly,” added Molly Ferrante, “we are committed to helping BC further fulfill its educational mission and priorities.” News of the Ferrantes’ gift comes
Domenic and Molly Ferrante’s gift will create the Carroll School of Management’s 14th endowed professorship.
only months after the Carroll School announced that Finance Chair and Senior Associate Dean Ronnie Sadka, a prominent researcher and an award-winning teacher, would become the inaugural holder of the Haub Family Professorship at Boston College. His chair is endowed by the family of Christian and Liliane Haub, who are the parents of three recent Carroll School graduates. The Ferrante commitment also comes as the Carroll School is investing heavily in teaching and research support for all faculty members, from grants and full-time data support for research projects to scholarly seminars. Likewise, the school sponsors an array of initiatives on teaching, such as extensive peer mentoring, financial support for teaching development, and various forms of recognition such as awards given each semester. The Carroll School also produces two extensive reports each year that offer key metrics for measuring the teaching as well as research performance of every faculty member. Boynton believes these and other efforts have contributed to the faculty’s growing prominence: The Carroll School has repeatedly ranked in the top 20 worldwide for research productivity in the Financial Times’ annual surveys, and last year, Poets & Quants ranked the school first for teaching among undergraduate business schools nationwide, based on alumni surveys. “For years, we’ve been working hard to promote a culture of teaching and research excellence,” said Boynton. “We’re determined to keep up the progress. We want to keep investing in the future—even in these challenging times when we’re so focused on delivering the best possible academic experience to all of our students, both in class and remotely.” —William Bole is director of content development at the Carroll School of Management
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NOVEMBER 12, 2020
WCAS Initiatives
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“It’s the best of both worlds,” said Muncaster. “Our program prepares students to thrive as well-rounded, thoughtful leaders in a diverse, global society, while also grounding them in competencies directly applicable to the workplace. “Many of our students are already balancing work and family,” she said. “It’s important to them to be able to connect their education to their lives, their work, and their futures. This degree program can help them make that connection; help them develop the skills they need to pursue rewarding careers.” Similar to other Woods degree programs, the applied liberal arts major welcomes both full- and part-time students; courses are offered online, on campus, or in a hybrid format. In spring 2021, the Woods College will offer a new program in diversity, equity, and inclusion—or DEI—as both a graduate certificate and a concentration within the school’s M.S. in Leadership and Administration degree program. The DEI certificate/specialization responds to the critical and growing need for leaders equipped with the understanding,
skill, and sensitivity required to help improve the culture of their organizations and guide them toward becoming more supportive, engaging communities. “We’re delighted to provide a program for those who are eager to move change forward in their workplaces,” said Muncaster. “Woods College has a long tradition of responding to the needs of diverse students and non-traditional students; this program is a perfect fit for us.” The DEI certificate/specialization will equip students to analyze challenges and barriers facing different groups in the workplace; to examine biases with a view toward adapting behaviors and systems; to explore strategies to build inclusive cultures; to apply effective people practices to lead for equity and inclusion; and to analyze key performance indicators to measure DEI success. “Organizational leaders can no longer be neutral to the call for DEI initiatives; they must make a commitment to promoting justice and equity in the workplace,” said Elisabeth Hiles, director of the M.S. in Leadership and Administration program. “Each leader individually may not have
BC Sociologist Studying Work-from-Home Model In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many in the United States not only found themselves suddenly working from home but—with the closing of schools and childcare centers—also confronting significant changes in their family life. Assistant Professor of Sociology Wen Fan has launched a research project, funded by the National Science Foundation, that will examine the experience of remote work from a variety of methodological angles as well as the potential sustainability of the work-from-home model post-COVID. “The pandemic resulted in a sea change in working conditions and family lives, effectively introducing a large-scale social experiment,” explained Fan, the principal investigator for the “RAPID: Remote Work in the Time of COVID-19” project. “We’re interested in learning how a social disruption in combination with communication technologies may act as a catalyst for profound transformations in mindsets and social change, specifically regarding future work flexibility,” said Fan, who is collaborating on the project with Phyllis Moen, the McKnight Endowed Presidential Chair in Sociology at the University of Minnesota. Fan’s research project is supported by a $200,000 NSF RAPID grant, awards that are made as part of the agency’s Rapid Response Research program which allows social scientists to quickly collect data during a crisis. The project will rely on quantitative and qualitative data to advance science and inform policy development around three objectives: •Understand how remote work is being experienced on a personal level, including
Beginning in the spring, the Woods College will offer a 10 percent tuition discount to all BC graduates accepted into a Woods degree, non-degree, or certificate program. photo by lee pellegrini
the power to change the world, but they do have the power to introduce, implement, and support policies and practices that promote racial equity and make all workers feel valued and included. Our DEI program will help managers, directors, and leaders prepare themselves and their offices to find the kind of enduring, long-term solutions that advance equity for all.” In addition to the new academic offerings, the Woods College will implement two tuition discount programs effective in spring 2021. The first will offer a 10 percent tuition discount to all graduates of Boston College who are accepted into a Woods College degree, non-degree, or certificate program. “We’re excited to help Boston College alumni around the world take advantage of our graduate and certificate programs, all of which are aligned to employer preferences in high-growth fields—and can be taken online,” said Muncaster. In addition, through the EdAssist Edu-
cation Partnership, employees of EdAssist’s more than 200-member companies across the U.S., as well as their spouses and children, will also receive a 10 percent discount plus waived application fee for undergraduate and graduate programs and eligible certificate and non-degree programs at Woods. “This initiative exemplifies our commitment to providing affordable educational options while increasing our enrollment through strategic partnerships,” said Claudia Pouravelis, Woods College associate dean for enrollment management and student engagement. “Our partnership with EdAssist,” she said, “will help us respond to the multiple economic pressures many people are now facing. We’re always looking for ways to help students advance and achieve their goals.” Information about these new programs is available at the Woods College of Advancing Studies website, bc.edu/woods.
Snapshot
‘Angels Unawares’
Wen Fan
PHOTO BY LEE PELLEGRINI
photo by lee pellegrini
disparities by gender, age/life-course stage, socioeconomic status, and race/ethnicity. •Examine how remote work may affect other aspects of life, such as work-family conflict, stress, and quality of life in general. •Determine, now that remote work is reality and not theory, what remote workers’ preferences are. The researchers will submit an online survey to a nationally representative sample of 2,000 remote workers, and collect qualitative data from 500 remote workers who will complete open-ended questions regarding their experiences. A third source of data will come from culled tweets about remote work sent during the pandemic. Fan said that she hopes the research findings can be used on a federal, state, or organizational level to inform policy on remote work: “The goal is to provide choices and flexibility and resources for workers.” —Kathleen Sullivan
A replica of “Angels Unawares,” the bronze sculpture installed in the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square to commemorate the 105th World Day of Refugees and Migrants, was installed last week in the Plaza at O’Neill Library and will remain throughout the rest of the month. The Roche Center for Catholic Education at Boston College has organized a series of multidisciplinary events to offer opportunities for discussion and deeper engagment on topics related to immigration, refugees, migrants, and calls to action. For more information, see www.bc.edu/roche.
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NOVEMBER 12, 2020
Plum Continued from page 1
and resourcefulness,” said Plum of the production. Compelled by the pandemic to pivot from a traditional stage production, Plum— an accomplished and acclaimed actor, writer, acting coach, teacher, and director—might have chosen to use the Zoom format, but had a good reason not to, she explained. “Since the beginning of the pandemic I have spent endless hours every day, like the rest of the country, on Zoom. I am Zoomed out! I felt a great need to tell this story using a different platform, hoping that my film background, as an actor, would benefit my cast.” Plum has high praise for her Boston College cast and entire production team. “I am so impressed with the level of commitment to the work and the advanced training and ability of the students, both in my class [The Actor and the Mask] and in the cast of ‘Twelfth Night.’ It has been a truly challenging journey during this pandemic, and they have met extraordinary challenges with grace and courage. The stage management team especially has executed a safety protocol that has kept us all healthy and able to continue our rigorous rehearsal schedule. We are all grateful to them for daily careful preparation of the set and props. They are top-notch professionals.” Plum is an award-winning actor with more than four decades of teaching experience that includes the “Shakespeare Work Out” for Actors Shakespeare Project (ASP), a six-week acting intensive program that focuses on voice, body, and breath. She is a founding member, resident, and teaching artist of ASP, a Boston theater company that “performs and works in found spaces, schools, and theaters to present and explore the robust language, resonant stories, and deeply human characters in Shakespeare’s plays.” For her wide body of stage credits, she has won four Independent Reviewers of New England Awards for Best Actress (“Wit,” “Miss Price,” “The Heiress,” and “Plum Pudding”) and three Elliot Norton Awards
Monan Professor in Theatre Arts Paula Plum delineated the six-foot coronavirus safety zone during a recent rehearsal with her students—one of numerous adaptations she’s had to make in her teaching and directing this semester. photo by lee pellegrini
for Best Actress (“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” “Lost in Yonkers,” and “Miss Witherspoon”). Plum also was selected by the Boston Theater Critics Association to receive the 2004 Elliot Norton Award for Sustained Excellence, which pays tribute to the recipient’s body of work and their “outstanding contributions to theater in Boston.” In 2009, Plum was one of five actors nationwide to be awarded a three-year grant from the William and Eva Fox Foundation for a resident actor fellowship at Boston’s SpeakEasy Stage Company. She also has numerous directing credits—including as artistic director for the annual “A Christmas Celtic Sojourn” production staged in Boston and elsewhere in New England—and will teach Directing II at BC next semester. Despite her extensive and celebrated professional career and body of work, Plum has found her BC production a very different, sometimes daunting undertaking. “I have never directed a film and I am learning as I go, along with the cast, how filming a play in front of a green screen works,” she said, referring to the backdrop used in making composite images for film and TV productions. “They have been generous with my learning curve.” That learning experience, she added, has
The Boston College Marching Band teamed up with the Korean Students Association’s AEROdynamiK Dance Crew this fall to shoot a music video, filmed by the Office of University Communications at the Waterworks Museum in Chestnut Hill. More at bit.ly/bc-band-collaboration. photo by peter julian
been significant for all involved in the production. “We have learned how to be patient with each other and how to protect each other. We have had to ‘socially distance’ every moment of the play. The team has gone to extraordinary lengths so that we remain healthy. Jackie Dalley [associate professor of the practice of theatre], our brilliant cos-
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tume designer, created masks to match each costume.” Stage Manager Ally Lardner ’21 concurred. “Thanks to the support of the crew, creativity of the production team, and the endless talent and flexibility of the cast, we’ve been able to come together safely on a stage and create something unprecedented in the most unprecedented of times.” It is important, Plum added, to embrace nontraditional means of presenting theater productions such as ‘Twelfth Night’. “The goal is to tell the story, and theater people will find the means. For the ‘Twelfth Night’ audience, I hope that what sings out is the spirit behind the production: that, despite the odds, we have managed to make something beautiful during a time of great crisis and uncertainty.” The Monan Professorship in Theatre Arts was established in 2007 by a gift to Boston College in honor of the late University Chancellor and former President J. Donald Monan, S.J. The position, which also commemorates the late trustee E. Paul Robsham, enables the Theatre Department to bring nationally and internationally known professionals to Boston College to teach and work with undergraduate students. For more on information on “Twelfth Night,” and how to view it, go to http://bc.edu/ theatre. To learn more about Plum and her career, see www.paulaplum.com.
Lynch School’s Johnson Earns Distinguished Service Award Associate Professor Lauri D. Johnson, chair of the Education Leadership and Higher Education Department at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, is a recipient of the 2020 David G. Imig Distinguished Service Award from the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED). The award—named for its inaugural winner, the president and CEO of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education—recognizes an individual who has demonstrated important contributions to the vision and mission of CPED and/or the reclaiming of the doctorate in education as the highest quality professional practice. Announcing the award, CPED Executive Director Jill Perry noted Johnson’s “dedication in establishing the doctorate in education as the strongest professional practice preparation,” pointing to her design and development of the Boston College Professional School Administrator Ed.D. in collaboration with statewide professional organizations. “These partnerships offer a clear example of ‘scholarship meeting practice’ to prepare scholarly practitioners. “You have also been a leader within the organization, having contributed to the creation and growth of our social justice efforts and the improvement group.” Johnson, who has been at BC since 2009, was acknowledged at the organization’s virtual annual convening on October 15. “We are very pleased that Lauri Johnson has won the David Imig Award,” said Stan-
Lauri Johnson
photo by caitlin cunningham
ton E.F. Wortham, the Charles F. Donovan, S.J., Dean of the Lynch School. “This is only the fourth year that the award has been given, and Lauri’s selection reflects her exceptional work strengthening our practitioner-oriented doctoral program for school leaders. Her work exemplifies the productive connection between scholarship and practice that we strive for as a professional school.” CPED includes more than 100 colleges and schools of education that have committed resources to work collaboratively to undertake a critical examination of the doctorate in education through dialogue, experimentation, critical feedback, and evaluation. —Phil Gloudemans
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NOVEMBER 12, 2020
Q&A: Richard Cordray
Lessons of the Great Recession
Richard Cordray, the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and former Ohio Attorney General, is serving as Jerome Lyle Rappaport Distinguished Visiting Professor at Boston College Law School this semester. Cordray gave a talk online earlier this fall, during which he drew comparisons between the nature and effects of the current financial crisis and those of the Great Recession of 2008. He spoke with Chronicle following his remarks. What were the major economic weaknesses that drove the Great Recession? Cordray: First, the housing market— itself a source of considerable economic activity—was deeply damaged. Secondly, financial channels were impaired, the credit markets locked up, and many businesses lost financing and were unprepared for such a setback. Economic recovery was difficult because any financial crisis has an especially broad impact that flows into unrelated sectors of the economy. The principle sources of weakness—mortgage lending and housing, and the financial industry—were also highly problematic because their tangled affairs did not allow any quick return to equilibrium. Did you expect to see another economic failure that rivaled or exceeded the collapse of 2008? Cordray: During my tenure as the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (2012-2017), I regularly described the Great Recession as the worst
Cordray: While the 2008 recession can be linked to two major weaknesses in the U.S. economy—mortgage lending and housing, and the financial industry—there were no obvious deficiencies in our economy as of February, 2020. Instead, we saw the economy crash as a result of a policy enacted in March to shut down in-person circulation and most corresponding faceto-face economic activity. The situation was unparalleled, much like a medicallyinduced coma to treat a patient confronting urgent, life-threatening circumstances.
Boston College Law School Rappaport Distinguished Visiting Professor Richard Cordray served as inaugural director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
economic collapse of our lifetime, and I believed that would be so for another generation or two, at least. After all, it had been 75 years since the Great Depression, and cataclysms are rare, but now here we are, unexpectedly, with the economy cratering 12 years later. What are the key differences between the economic conditions in 2008 that spurred the recession versus the economic downturn that started this past March resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic?
What are the differences quantitatively? Cordray: During the second quarter of this year, our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) plunged by an annualized rate of 32 percent on top of a decline of five percent during the first quarter, almost all of which was felt with the nationwide suspension of economic activity in the last two weeks of the first quarter. In contrast, during the worst quarter of the prior recession, the GDP fell by 7.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, which highlights the unprecedented severity of our current economic crisis. In fact, the numbers affected became so large that they overwhelmed established methods of data collection, including state unemployment application processes and the normal utilization of seasonal adjustments, making it difficult to interpret the data related to the economic effects.
BC Provides Relief to Local Community Continued from page 1
that supports workers’ struggles around issues of workplace rights and immigration—has been distributing every week since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Keady decided that Boston College needed to help. “When you see people standing in line, it hits you how bad the economy is and how tough it is to make ends meet,” recalled Keady. “We’re part of the community. We should be doing this; it’s who we are.” Since then, the Boston College Office of Governmental and Community Affairs has facilitated the regular delivery of food, grocery store gift cards, diapers, baby formula, and other essential items to community organizations serving Bostonians. From March through August, BC Dining Services and Governmental and Community Affairs prepared and delivered approximately 1,000-1,500 meals per week to food pantries around the city. They also provided boxed lunches for the Boston Fire Department’s Teen Fire Academy and ice cream for summer day camps at the West Suburban YMCA and the John M. Barry Boys and Girls Club. In addition, $125,000 from the Boston College Neighborhood Improvement Fund, which provides grants for projects benefiting the Allston-Brighton neighborhood, was
used to purchase food, diapers, and grocery store gift cards. These items have been delivered to different locations each week, including the Allston-Brighton Diaper Pantry, the Brazilian Worker Center, the Family Nurturing Center, Charles River Community Health Center, the Martha Eliot Health Center, and the West End House. The funds were also used for a donation to the Boston Resiliency Fund, the City of Boston’s effort to provide essential services to Boston residents whose health and wellbeing are most immediately impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The University also created the Community Fund Essential Services Grant program, which awarded $40,300 to 18 AllstonBrighton organizations providing direct services to Allston-Brighton residents. University President William P. Leahy, S.J. contributed $25,000 from his office’s budget to purchase baby formula for the Charles River and Martha Eliot Health centers after learning of the great need within the community. The BC Procurement Services Department helped to order diapers at the best price, and Facilities Management arranged storage space for the 161,000 packages of diapers when they were delivered; Governmental and Community Affairs and the BC
Neighborhood Center delivered them each week in what Keady called “a great team effort.” “Boston College has been amazing,” said Brazilian Worker Center Executive Director Natalicia Tracy. “We’ve been able to take this crisis and come together in collaboration in a unified way to support the community.” Tracy said her organization felt compelled to increase their focus on direct aid during the pandemic because so many people who shared homes were getting sick and because many people were laid off and had to use their financial reserves. “Many have seen this as a lifeline for them,” said Tracy. “We want to make sure that people who are used to providing for themselves and for their families, are supported in this moment of crisis.” With winter approaching and continuing concerns about the pandemic and its social and economic impact, Keady said BC is ready to step up its efforts where and when needed. “We can always do more,” he said. “We’re not done.” For more on the Office of Governmental and Community Affairs, see bc.edu/content/bcweb/offices/office-of-governmental-communityaffairs.html.
There is much debate among experts as to what economic recovery will look like. What do you envision as possibilities? Cordray: I see three possibilities: A Vshaped recovery, a U-shaped recovery, or a W-shaped recovery. Given that getting the pandemic under control has proven to be quite challenging—at least in this country—we are not returning to full illumination immediately. Our situation instead is more like flipping the light switch with a newly applied dimmer control. The trajectory of that crucial variable—the effects of the pandemic—remains to be worked out, and it is the single most important question mark for the time being. Are there any lessons to be learned, at least in the short term? Cordray: I think the absence of a blame narrative, at least in terms of the economic fallout, is important. The unique historical nature of the pandemic is such that it is broadening the possibilities for reform, and it’s opening up new fields and new ideas for actual consideration that were previously locked out of our gridlocked system. For example, initiatives such as a universal basic income or other proposed reforms that might have seemed radical two years ago won’t seem quite so far-fetched and might be tenable, depending on the political landscape in the wake of the election. —Phil Gloudemans
OBITUARY
James Skehan, S.J., 97; Man of Faith and Science Renowned geologist James W. Skehan, S.J.,’46, M.A. ’47 died on November 1 at the age of 97. A man of faith and science, Fr. Skehan founded the Boston College Department of Geology (now Earth and Environmental Sciences) in 1958 and served as its first chairman. From 1973 to 1993, he directed Boston College’s Weston Observatory, a geophysical research observatory that monitors seismic activity across the globe and a frequent resource for the media in their coverage of earthquakes. He was named 1976 Teacher of the Year by the National Association of Geology Teachers. In 2002, Mount Holyoke College geologist/paleontologist Mark McMenamin named a new genus of trilobite, Skehanos, in Fr. Skehan’s honor. Skehanos is a marine invertebrate that lived more than 500 million years ago and whose fossil was discovered in Quincy, Mass. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree by Boston College in 1998. Read the full obituary for Fr. Skehan at https://bit.ly/james-skehan-obit
Chronicle
NOVEMBER 12, 2020
WELCOME ADDITIONS
BC in the Media
An Introduction to New Faculty at Boston College Miao Liu
Assistant Professor of Accounting, Carroll School of Management DEGREES: Wuhan University (B.S.); State University of New York Buffalo (M.A.); Columbia University (M.A.); University of Chicago (Ph.D.) WHAT HE STUDIES: Impact of information disclosure, and frictions investors face in processing disclosures, on decisionmaking and resource allocation; strengths and weaknesses of human information processing in lending decisions. WHAT HE’S TEACHING: Introduction to Financial Accounting
What is at the center of your curiosity about how individuals or firms process information and then act upon that information?
“I am trying to learn how cognitive constraints individuals and firms have might affect their decision making, and how that decision-making process might affect the aggregate economy as a whole. In my current research, I use machine learning models as a diagnostic tool to understand human cognitive constraints in the financial market.”
Erin Murphy-Swenson
Clinical Assistant Professor, Connell School of Nursing DEGREES: Simmons College (B.S.); New York University (M.S.); Vanderbilt University (D.N.P.) WHAT SHE STUDIES: Midwifery; prenatal care; pregnancy complications; preeclampsia WHAT SHE’S TEACHING: Women’s Health Advanced Practice Nursing; Childbearing Nursing Clinical; Childbearing Nursing Theory
Murphy-Swenson, a registered nurse/ nurse midwife whose career has been focused on caring for women during pregnancy and childbearing, shared her thoughts on joining the Connell School faculty with Voice magazine.
“I am looking forward to educating the providers who will be at the bedside, continually assessing and caring for and educating patients about the importance of understanding not only the normal but also the abnormal, to help with prevention, recognition, and early intervention. [Nurses are] the first ones to recognize that something is not going right.”
Chronicle Publication Schedule Update As a result of changes in the University’s operating schedule, Boston College Chronicle will publish one more edition for the fall semester, on December 3. Chronicle will resume publication at the start of the spring semester, scheduled for January 28. For news and updates, see Boston College News [bc.edu/bcnews].
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Matthew O’Hern
Associate Professor of the Practice of Marketing, Carroll School of Management DEGREES: Grinnell College (B.A.); Indiana University (M.A., M.B.A.); University of Wisconsin (Ph.D.) WHAT HE STUDIES: Customer co-creation and user-generated content; how users generate value through the new product development and service provision process. WHAT HE’S TEACHING: Fundamentals of Marketing; Digital Marketing.
How are consumers playing a greater role in the creation of the products they purchase and use, and what do your marketing students need to know about that?
“Today, customers’ ability to create their own original content using low-cost or no-cost digital design tools has never been greater. In addition, consumers are actively assisting their peers by providing them with support and advice and sharing authentic feedback in the form of online product reviews. Recently, Quibi, a media company built on a traditional (paid) content creation model, burned through more than a billion dollars of venture capital funding and went out of business less than seven months after its initial launch. At the same time, TikTok, built on free, usergenerated content, is thriving. Students need to understand how companies can leverage their customers as a potential source of value to help them develop highly engaging brand communities and new product offerings that powerfully resonate with consumers.”
Christy Pottroff
Assistant Professor of English, Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences DEGREES: Kansas State University (B.A., M.A.); Fordham University (Ph.D.) WHAT SHE STUDIES: Early and 19th-century American literature; book history; digital humanities. WHAT SHE’S TEACHING: American Witches: In Salem and On Screen; True Stories: Nineteenth-Century American Novels and the News; American Literary History I.
Tell us about your current work on a digital humanities mapping project— spurred by your interest in the history of media and technology—that traces the expansion of the postal system in its first century.
“This digital mapping project tracks the growth of post offices and postal routes in the United States over the 19th century and offers an important perspective on the postal system’s relationship to westward expansion. In today’s terms, the postal system was the nation’s first comprehensive social network and informational infrastructure. By reanimating the material conditions of the postal system in the 19th century, my research contends that the mail had a profound impact on what was read and who was reading it.”
—Ed Hayward, Rosanne Pellegrini, Kathleen Sullivan photos by lee pellegrini and peter julian
In 2016, the pollsters had Hillary Clinton with a comfortable lead over Donald Trump heading into the election. They were wrong. In 2020, predictions were off the mark again. Assoc. Prof. David Hopkins (Political Science) provided his analysis on this repeat of history for The Boston Globe. Prof. Kent Greenfield (Law) discussed potential litigation surrounding the presidential election in interviews with WCVB-TV News, NBC 10, and Bloomberg BayState Business, among other outlets. How do people with no credit acquire a credit card to establish a credit history? Assoc. Prof. Robert Murphy (Economics) was among the experts asked to provide tips for WalletHub. In a co-authored op-ed for The Chicago Tribune, Libby Professor of Theology and Law Cathleen Kaveny took note of other pro-life issues—besides the possibility of a U.S. Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade—facing voters in last week’s election. The FDA allows use of the solvent methylene chloride for decaffeination, as long as only trace amounts remain. Global Public Health Program Director Philip Landrigan, who is a pediatrician, discussed with WJLA-TV News the chemical’s health risks to unborn children whose mothers are advised to switch to decaf during pregnancy. Kevin Powers, director of the M.S. in Cybersecurity Policy and Governance Program at the Woods College of Advancing Studies, talked with WGBH News about officials’ efforts to monitor the elections and the Internet amid nationwide concerns about security and disruption.
The New York Times highlighted research by Asst. Prof. Cal Halvorsen (BCSSW) and Jacquelyn James, co-director of the BCSSW’s Center on Aging & Work, which
found that the importance of entrepreneurship, or self-employment, as a form of work, increases significantly with age. Assoc. Prof. Hosffman Ospino (STM) offered comments to America magazine on data showing that 40 to 45 percent of Catholics in the United States are Latino— including more than 60 percent of Catholics under the age of 18—yet no United States cardinals are Latino. A Bloomberg News columnist cited a paper co-authored by Hillenbrand Family Faculty Fellow Assoc. Prof. Vyacheslav Fos (CSOM) that explored how Chinese government interventions shape the production competition with the U.S. Boston College Campus Ministry was among programs spotlighted by America magazine for a story on how the pandemic has forced campus ministry to enter a new era of digital spirituality. Prof. Jonathan Laurence (Political Science) talked about growing tensions between France and Turkey, and secularism vs. Islam, on Turkish state broadcaster TRT and on Euronews “Good Morning Europe.” In an op-ed for The New York Times, Prof. Kent Greenfield (Law) advocated responding to politicization of the U.S. Supreme Court with a new, specialized court to decide constitutional questions. The real problem with the originalist theory is that it allows no room for ethical, moral, or political growth, contended Prof. Heather Cox Richardson (History) in a piece she co-published in The Atlantic with U.S. Senator Angus King Jr. (Maine). In the wake of a brief earthquake on Sunday centered in southeastern Massachusetts, Prof. John Ebel (Earth and Environmental Scences) spoke with WCVB-TV and The Boston Globe about possible future seismic activity in New England.
Jobs The following are among the recent positions posted by the Department of Human Resources. For more information on employment opportunities at Boston College, see www.bc.edu/jobs.
Life Skills Teacher, Campus School
Dean, Connell School of Nursing
Fiscal & Grant Administrator
Quarantine & Isolation Assistant
Temporary Office Pool, School of Theology and Ministry
Assistant Director, Financial Aid Data Services Librarian Assistant Director, TRIO Student Support Services Post-doctoral Research Fellow (multiple positions) Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Chemistry Research Scientist, RPCA One-to-One Aide, Campus School
Director, Research & Program Development Classroom Technology Specialist
DevOps Systems Administrator Research Associate, RPCA Assistant Dean, Graduate Enrollment Manager Senior Collaboration Systems Administrator Temporary Office Pool Video Production Specialist
Chronicle
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NOVEMBER 12, 2020
BC Global
Taking a Longer Look BC expands celebration of International Education Week to a month, looking to encourage discussion on social, economic challenges BY KATHLEEN SULLIVAN STAFF WRITER
This year, Boston College is marking International Education Week (IEW) with a monthlong observance centered on the theme “Exposing the Fault Lines: Embracing Social Justice in the Wake of a Crisis.” While COVID restrictions require events to be held virtually, organizers say they hope the programming will encourage members of the BC community to consider how they might respond to current social and economic challenges in keeping with the University’s Jesuit commitment to social justice. Several events will focus on borders and migration, notably today’s roundtable discussion on “The U.S.-Mexico Border: Addressing Wounds along a Faultline” beginning at 5 p.m. Moderated by McGillycuddy-Logue Fellows Abbey Iafolla ’22 and Peyton Wilson ’22, the session will examine the challenges posed by the pandemic for immigrant communities already grappling with disparities in resources, rights, and welfare. “It was difficult not to take into account our current context when developing this year’s theme, with a global pandemic, political divisions, and the continued rise of the Black Lives Matter movement,” said Office of International Programs and McGillycuddy-Logue Center for Undergraduate Global Studies Director Nick J. Gozik, co-chair of BC’s IEW committee. “Our goal was to find a way that Boston College, as a preeminent Jesuit university, could help to make sense of the current context, while also proposing solutions to address the needs of those who have been most negatively affected, including marginalized communities.” IEW events will consider the role that governments, institutions, and individuals alike may play in addressing inequities and inequalities along racial, ethnic, gender, socioeconomic, and other lines.
BC Scenes Fall in love
photos by lee pellegrini
Despite an unusual turn in the weather [see photo on page 2] at the end of last month, the Boston College campus has once again shown its true autumnal colors.
Tomorrow will feature a panel discussion at noon on “Human Rights of Migrants and Refugees: An Examination of Legal and Christian Ethics” with Professor of Theology Kristin Heyer, Law Associate Clinical Professor and Immigration Clinic Director Mary Holper, and Law Professor and Thomas F. Carney Distinguished Scholar Daniel Kanstroom, faculty director of the Rappaport Center for Law & Public Policy and director of the International Human Rights Program. On November 18 at noon, “Pecha Ku-
Office of International Programs Director Nick Gozik: “Our goal was to find a way that Boston College, as a preeminent Jesuit university, could help to make sense of the current context, while also proposing solutions to address the needs of those who have been most negatively affected, including marginalized communities.” photo by lee pellegrini
cha: Exploring the Intersection of Migration and Education” will highlight Lynch School of Education and Human Development faculty research on immigration and education. Participants will be Charles F. Donovan, S.J., Dean Stanton E.F.
Wortham, Associate Professor Martin Scanlan, Assistant Professors Gabrielle Oliveira and Andrés Castro Samayoa, and Cristina Hunter, assistant director of the Urban Catholic Teacher Corps. The concluding event on November 24 will be a 7 p.m. panel discussion on “The Historical Racialization of Migrants and Catholic Social Teaching’s Response.” Law School Dean Vincent Rougeau—who is director of BC’s Forum on Racial Justice in America—Associate Professor of History Arissa Oh, and School of Theology and Ministry Associate Professor Hosffman Ospino will explore how the racialization of migrants and refugees has occurred and factors that systematize such racism, and discuss the call to action for the Catholic community. Yesterday, a group of BC international students talked about the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on society, racial, and social justice movements in the U.S. and abroad, and U.S. immigration policies and politics. Moderated by International Studies Program Director Erik Owens, the panel discussion, “A World in Crisis: International Student Perspectives from Here & Abroad,” was recorded and is available for viewing on the International Education Week website, bc.edu/iew. Recordings of other past events, such the Center for International Higher Educationsponsored “Black Lives Matter in a Global Context” and “Education and Displacement: Inclusion, Exclusion, and Strategies for Social Justice,” also are available for
viewing on the IEW website. “We hope that faculty, staff, and students who participate in IEW events will hear new and different perspectives on critical topics that perhaps they are not getting in the news or on social media,” said IEW Committee Co-chair Adrienne Nussbaum, associate dean and director of the Office of International Students and Scholars. “By having the opportunity to engage in these dialogues and listen to these diverse voices, they can then reflect on their own attitudes and experiences in a new light, and on how they can work collectively across these communities towards appropriate solutions for these ongoing disparities.” Established in 2000 by the U.S. departments of State and Education, International Education Week celebrates the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide. The initiative promotes programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn, and exchange experiences. At Boston College, IEW has been a time set aside to emphasize the importance of increasing knowledge and awareness of the world’s cultures, peoples, and languages, and affirms the critical role international education plays at the University. IEW 2020 is a collaborative effort by multiple departments and offices at Boston College, under the direction of the Office of International Programs and the Office of International Students and Scholars. To see the full slate of events and registration details, go to bc.edu/iew.