Boston College Chronicle

PUBLISHED BY THE BOSTON COLLEGE OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

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Health and Safety

Cavalieri Chair

BC Arts

University announces COVID-19 protocols for start of the spring 2022 semester.

Alumnus is inaugural holder of School of Theology and Ministry professorship.

McMullen Museum will feature work by acclaimed photographer Martin Parr.

JANUARY 20, 2022 VOL. 29 NO. 8

PUBLISHED BY THE BOSTON COLLEGE OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

BC Announces Plans for Pine Manor Institute

BY JACK DUNN ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

The Integrated Science Building at 245 Beacon Street.

photo by caitlin cunningham

The Future Is Here: Long-Awaited Integrated Science Building Opens

BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER

The doors opened this week to the Integrated Science Building at 245 Beacon Street, a 150,000-square-feet facility of office and laboratory space, classrooms, maker spaces, and common areas, as well as the home of the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and

Society.

Constructed during the past two years, the $150-million building is the largest single investment in the sciences at Boston College, and the focal point of a $300 million University initiative in the sciences.

“The opening of 245 Beacon Street is the culmination of years of hard work and

Continued on page 3

Report Details BC Impact on Massachusetts Economy

BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER

Boston College’s annual economic impact in Massachusetts is $3.3 billion, including $172 million in annual state tax revenues and 17,700 jobs generated by BC operations, according to an analysis by the national independent research firm Econ-

sult Solutions.

The $3.3 billion annual impact includes a $1.28 billion alumni wage premium, which calculates the spending power of BC graduates who live and work in Massachusetts.

In addition to its economic impact, Boston College’s annual social impact

Continued on page 5

Boston College will introduce a costfree summer enrichment program for students in grades 8-12 this June, and an associate’s degree-granting two-year residential college in 2024, as part of the University’s $100 million Pine Manor Institute for Student Success initiative to enhance educational opportunity for underrepresented, first-generation students.

The Pine Manor Institute for Student Success was established in 2020 when

Boston College and Pine Manor College signed an integration agreement that included a $50 million commitment from Boston College, which has grown to $100 million through investment returns and an anonymous pledge of $25 million.

The residential summer enrichment program for middle and high school students, called the Academy, will be hosted on the BC campus. Beginning with an inaugural cohort of 40 middle school students, the Academy will offer summer courses in English, mathematics, and science for students nominated by principals,

Continued on page 8

STM Dean Fr. Stegman Will Step Down In June

BY JACK DUNN ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

School of Theology and Ministry Dean Thomas D. Stegman, S.J., who helped create a caring, close-knit community among STM students and faculty while leading the school to the upper echelons in global rankings, has announced that he will step down from his position at the end of the spring semester.

A popular dean and professor, internationally respected New Testament scholar, and author of six books on faith, biblical scholarship, and the interpretation of the Pauline letters, Fr. Stegman, who has

Continued on page 4

Thomas Stegman, S.J. photo by tony rinaldo

My mom inspired me to not only attend BC, but to work here as well.

Over her wonderful career, I’ve seen how she has made life-long friendships, and made the University more than just her job, but her home and community. Her impact on BC will long outlast her tenure here.

- lauren riley, daughter of retired 45-year bc employee linda riley, page 9

Chronicle

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January 20, 2022

Around Campus

Curtain Goes Up This Month on Robsham Theater Spring Schedule The premiere of three original one-act plays by Boston College student playwrights will highlight the Theatre Department/Robsham Theater Arts Center spring semester productions, which begin next week.

Theatre Department Chair and Associate Professor of the Practice Luke Jorgensen pointed enthusiastically to what he described as a “diversity” of shows for spring 2022: “We have student-written plays directed by [Professor] Scott Cummings, and two student-directed plays—one a musical—that are also both new and compelling.

“I am also excited that three out of four of our spring directors are person-of-color female artists bringing their own amazing talents to our stage,” he noted.

First up is “The Mad Ones,” written by Kait Kerrigan and Bree Lowdermilk, and staged in the Bonn Studio Theater from

January 27-30. Directed by Madison Baker ’22, this contemporary musical focuses on Samantha Brown: a young woman “mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved; for the first time, she sits in the driver’s seat.”

By immersing audiences in her memories, both real and imagined, “The Mad Ones” explores the complex inner life of a woman on the brink of everything.

“New Voices 2022,” from February 17-20 in Bonn Studio Theater, showcases original student works directed by Professor of Theatre Scott T. Cummings: “All the Bad Kids Go To Mars” by Lily Telegdy ’23; “Appassionata” by Aidan O’Neill ’23; and “Channels” by Katie Meade ’22. These exciting new plays—featuring characters in the 16-22 age range—raise compelling questions about friendship, identity, and robots.

“There’s something very special for a young playwright, seeing their work in

BC International Population Rises By 3 Pct. Boston College’s overall international population has rebounded somewhat this academic year, although it is still below the pre-pandemic total, according to a report issued last month by the University’s Office of International Students and Scholars.

OISS said the number of international undergraduate and graduate students, students working in their field of study after graduation (“practical training”), faculty and research scholars, and dependents at BC stands at 2,595, a three percent increase from the 2020-2021 academic year.

The pre-COVID (2019-2020) international population was 2,746.

OISS Associate Dean and Director Adrienne Nussbaum noted that the statistics represent a “snapshot” of the international population, which she said will change as additional students, faculty, and scholars join BC throughout the remainder of this academic year.

The combined international undergraduate and graduate student population rose five percent from last year’s 1,735 to 1,827 this academic year, near the 1,872 mark ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Jack Dunn SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

from 2019-2020. While the number of international undergrads is up 10 percent (932), first-year student totals are down considerably, said Nussbaum, attributing this to COVID-related uncertainty and pre-2021 concerns about United States immigration policies. These figures, however, are expected to return to normal next year.

BC’s international faculty and scholar population has increased 14 percent from last year and is approaching pre-COVID levels, while the number of practical training students remains lower than that of recent years—another result of the pandemic, Nussbaum said.

China continues to be the most represented country at BC, with 881 undergraduate and graduate students, constituting nearly half of BC’s entire international total student population. South Korea (136), India (68), Spain (61), and Italy (52) round out the top five.

The report is available at the OISS website [bc.edu/oiss].

—University Communications

CONTRIBUTING STAFF

Sean Smith

The Office for Institutional Diversity has announced that the seventh annual Diversity and Inclusion Summit, “Cultivating a Culture of Inclusion and Belonging,” will be held May 25 in Gasson 100.

Open to the University community, the full-day conference addresses pressing issues related to diversity and inclusion at Boston College and in the higher education field.

“Since the inception of the summit, members of the Boston College community have committed to advancing the institution forward at all levels,” said OID Executive Director Patricia Lowe.

“This work remains imperative as we reimagine how we engage with one another through cultural self-awareness, changing individual, and systemic behaviors, all the while supporting environments that sustain inclusion and belonging. “ This year’s theme draws from the spirit

Chronicle

PHOTOGRAPHERS

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

Caitlin Cunningham Lee Pellegrini

Capping the season, award-winning director and Monan Professor of Theatre Arts Summer L. Williams directs “The Rocky Horror Show,” a musical based on the cult classic film, with music, lyrics, and book

by Richard O’Brien. The main stage production, which will run April 27-May 1, will feature choreography by Larry Sousa, award-winning choreographer and director of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals.

In this homage to science fiction and horror “B films,” sweethearts Brad and Janet, stuck with a flat tire during a storm, encounter the eerie mansion of scientist Dr. Frank-NFurter and a houseful of wild characters. Through elaborate dances and rock songs, Frank-NFurter unveils his latest creation: “Rocky.”

For tickets, contact or visit the Robsham Theater Box Office (ext.2-4002), or go to bc.edu/tickets. Prices are $12 for students with a valid ID and for BC faculty and staff (one ticket per ID); $17 for adults; $12 for senior citizens. For more on these productions, including performance times, see bc.edu/theatre. Information on COVID-19 protocols is available for each event on the Boston College Event Calendar [events.bc.edu].

—Rosanne Pellegrini

Diversity and Inclusion Summit Announced

Christine Balquist Phil Gloudemans Ed Hayward Rosanne Pellegrini Kathleen Sullivan

Patricia Delaney EDITOR

performance. You never really know what you have until the play meets an audience.

It’s a unique experience,” said Cummings.

“It takes a long time to develop new work for the stage. These plays were all begun more than a year ago in my playwriting class, revised over the summer, polished in time for auditions in November, and then tweaked in time for the start of rehearsals in January. The playwrights have been terrific in their commitment to perpetual improvement of the scripts.”

This sixth iteration of “New Voices” since 2005 features for the first time three plays rather than two, he added: “I’m excited to see how that changes the rhythm of the evening.”

Bonn Studio Theater also is the venue during March 17-20 for “Truth/Dare,” written by Tori Keenan-Zelt and directed

by Devyn Itula ‘22. The play centers on Ursa, Hannah, Linney, and Maeve, who live in their own world of basements, secrets, and backyard ghosts—until the last sleepover before their freshman year of high school. With the promise and threat of reinvention looming, the group begins to splinter when shifting beliefs and identities collide, in an event that none of them can explain or saw coming.

of St. Ignatius, where inclusion is measured by the action while belonging is the desired outcome, said Lowe. Boston College’s mission of building inclusive relationships across differences provides formative opportunities to enhance the quality of human interaction. This practice frames BC’s Jesuit and Catholic heritage and sense of belonging, she said.

Registration for the summit will open on April 4. Posters and exhibits that showcase learning in action and cultivating a culture of inclusion are currently being accepted; for information on submissions, contact Jabril Robinson at diversity@ bc.edu.

Updates on the event, including the keynote speaker and educational sessions, will be posted at the OID website, bc.edu/ diversity.

—University Communications

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.

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Chronicle

January 20, 2022

photos by caitlin cunningham

Doors Open for University’s New Integrated Science Building Continued from page 1

collaboration among faculty and staff across the University,” said Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley. “The beautiful new facility’s emergence over the past two years has been a point of light and a reminder of the promise of better days. 245 Beacon will quickly emerge as a hub for student and faculty engagement at the intersections of Boston College’s varied strengths in the disciplines and the frontiers of science and technology. Its arrival on campus is cause for celebration.”

Features include office and laboratory space for researchers and engineering faculty,

and teaching laboratories that include computer science robotics. In addition, there are maker spaces for prototyping research, a clean room, and collaborative space for faculty and students. The new facility also houses BC’s Computer Science Department, HumanCentered Engineering Department, and the Shea Center, as well as classrooms.

The building, which was designed by the architectural firm Payette and constructed

by Suffolk, will ultimately house as many as 22 principal investigators working in areas of health, energy, and the environment.

“I am excited for our students and our

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(Above) Engineering Chair Glenn Gaudette worked in a lab of the new Integrated Science Building at 245 Beacon Street, which opened last week after two years of construction.

faculty,” said Vice Provost for Research and Academic Planning Thomas Chiles, who has spent nearly a decade helping to lead the planning for the integrated science initiative.

“There is a level expectation, but also genuine excitement that there is something really new here and something that is going to make an impact, both on campus and in the world.

You can sense that when you walk in the building.”

A central component to the building is the Schiller Institute, which supports faculty from across disciplines in developing knowledge and solutions to crucial global problems in the areas of health, energy, and the environment.

This fall, BC welcomed the first class of students in the Human-Centered Engineer-

ing major, which integrates BC’s liberal arts core curriculum with foundations of engineering, design and systems thinking applications, and service-focused capstone experiences.

Chiles said the building—and the programming and personnel that enliven it—reflect a collaborative, campus-wide approach to planning aligned with the University’s strategic goals.

“This was a campus-wide University effort in terms of how we programmed and laid out these spaces,” Chiles said. “This building will be a center not only for student learning, but for faculty collaboration, scholarship, and research from all disciplines. We want all disciplines brought together to tackle the tough problems we face as a society.”

Masking, Testing, Vaxxing Among BC COVID Protocols This month, Boston College announced a series of COVID-related health and safety protocols—including a temporary on-campus masking period—ahead of the spring semester, which began Tuesday.

These measures were outlined in a letter to the University community from Vice President for Human Resources David Trainor and Dr. Douglas Comeau, director of University Health Services and Primary Care Sports Medicine, who also reviewed previously announced coronavirus testing and booster expectations for the resumption of the 2021-2022 academic year: •In light of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, the University required all students to obtain a COVID-19 PCR test within 72 hours prior to their return to the BC campus, and to email the results to the covidtesting@bc.edu account (an antigen test within 24 hours prior to campus arrival was also acceptable for those students unable to get a PCR).

•The University instituted a temporary masking requirement on campus whenever physical distancing cannot be maintained.

The period began January 14 and will last through January 31.

•BC will follow a set of isolation and quarantine protocols recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and adopted by the Massachusetts

Department of Public Health. These include a five-day isolation period for those who test positive for COVID-19 regardless of vaccination/booster status and whether or not they experience symptoms, and a range of quarantine measures—depending on vaccination status—for those identified as a close contact of someone testing positive for COVID-19.

•All students, faculty, and staff expecting to be present on campus for the spring semester were required to be tested for COVID-19 prior to Tuesday. The University provided testing clinics in the Margot Connell Recreation Center from January 10-17.

•During that same period, vaccination booster clinics were offered for students, faculty, and staff. As Trainor and Comeau noted in the January 5 letter, the University announced in December that COVID-19 boosters are required for BC community members planning to be on campus during the spring semester; they must also upload their vaccination record cards to the Agora Health Services portal by February 9.

According to statistics compiled by University Health Services, BC performed 151,702 community tests during the fall semester—the period from August 16 to December 19—with 635 positives, for a cumulative positivity rate of 0.41 percent.

The number of undergraduate tests performed in that span was 121,736, with 533 positives.

In their letter, Trainor and Comeau said the University’s high level of vaccination, 99.3 percent, “has helped keep our community safe and has enabled our

students, faculty, and staff to experience as normal a year as possible.”

Updates and information regarding COVID-19 and Boston College’s vaccination and testing policies are available at the BC Forward website, bc.edu/forward.

—University Communications

A nurse prepared a shot at a vaccine booster clinic last week in the Margot Connell Recreation Center. Boston College’s COVID-19 vaccination rate is 99.3 percent. photo by caitlin cunningham

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January 20, 2022

STM Alum Returns As Its First Cavalieri Prof.

BY KATHLEEN SULLIVAN STAFF WRITER

Vicente Chong, S.J., a Jesuit priest and scholar from Ecuador who was among the first graduates of the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, has returned to Simboli Hall as the inaugural Henry R. Cavalieri Visiting Jesuit Professor for 2021-2022.

The Cavalieri Professorship offers the opportunity for a Jesuit theologian from outside the United States to come to the STM for one semester or an entire academic year. The visiting theologian has access to the resources of Boston College to advance his scholarship, teaches a course per semester for his area of specialization at the STM, and lives in the Saint Peter Faber Jesuit Community.

“I foresee the Cavalieri Professor having a great impact at the STM,” said STM Dean Thomas D. Stegman, S.J. “His international perspective will serve our students in the classroom and make him a valuable conversation partner at the Faber Jesuit Community.”

Fr. Chong’s area of expertise is the intersection of theology and aesthetics, and the arts as a source of a spiritual or faith

Vicente Chong, S.J.

photo by caitlin cunningham

experience.

“Coming to BC as the Cavalieri Chair has been wonderful,” said Fr. Chong. “It has opened my horizons and been a time of creativity.

“The resources of Boston College are amazing,” he added, citing BC’s libraries

and the McMullen Museum of Art, “and the STM faculty are wonderful.”

Fr. Chong said he has been especially gratified by the teaching experience at STM. During the fall semester, he taught Fundamental Theology; he is teaching a seminar on theological aesthetics this semester.

“The students are exploring theological questions and trying to find meaning in our faith. All the conversations in the classroom have been very stimulating.”

The houses of the Faber Jesuit Community were under construction when Fr. Chong was last at BC. He now is living there with other Jesuit priests and scholastics from STM. “There are Jesuits from all around the world here. We are united by the same Ignatian spirituality, but it’s an opportunity to open your mind to other perspectives, other cultures.”

The endowed Cavalieri Chair was made possible through a bequest from Henry R. Cavalieri, a 1950 Boston College alumnus who died in 2017 at age 91. The bequest also supports a scholarship fund for Jesuit students from outside the U.S. who pursue studies at STM. Through an introduction provided by

Jack MacKinnon ’62, Fr. Stegman worked directly with Cavalieri’s cousin, Marie McCarthy, a 1965 graduate of the Connell School of Nursing, to ensure that the gift would honor Cavalieri’s wishes. “His desire was to support the Society of Jesus in the formation of good priests,” said Fr. Stegman.

Fr. Chong joined the Society of Jesus in 1993 and was ordained a priest in 2009.

After earning a licentiate in philosophy from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogota, Colombia, he came to the U.S. to study theology. He graduated with a M.Div. from Weston Jesuit School of Theology. When Weston Jesuit reaffiliated with Boston College, he continued his studies in the newly established STM, graduating with a S.T.L. in 2010.

He returned to Ecuador to gain some pastoral experience before continuing with his education, working in campus ministry and teaching at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador. He later earned a Ph.D. from Heythrop College at the University of London Reflecting on his time so far as the Cavalieri Chair, Fr. Chong said, “I have so much gratitude. It’s been like coming home.”

Fr. Stegman to Leave Deanship at End of Academic Year Continued from page 1

served as dean for five-and-a-half years, said his decision to step down follows the advice of his medical team at Dana Farber and Brigham and Women’s Hospital to attend to his health in his ongoing battle with glioblastoma.

“I have enjoyed being able to serve the STM as dean in ways I never imagined as a faculty member,” said Fr. Stegman. “I’m very proud that the school—along with the Theology Department—has gained greater external recognition. I am also proud of the faculty and staff hires we have made and are making, of facilitating the addition of seven nihil obstats in the Ecclesiastical Faculty, and of the palpable sense of community one feels when entering Simboli Hall.”

During his tenure as dean, Boston College rose to seventh overall in Theology, Divinity & Religious Studies in the QS World University Rankings, considered the foremost international survey of theological studies programs. The STM also achieved a significant increase in domestic and international students who were drawn to the school for its academic programs in theology and ministry, and an increasingly diverse faculty, reflecting the strategic priorities Fr. Stegman set for the school as dean.

He also established the Spirituality Studies Program, the Committee on Race and Ethnicity to address diversity and inclusion issues within the school, and a popular program called Formacíon Continua, which offers continuing education courses in Spanish for learners worldwide.

In addition, he created a partnership with Jesuit Relief Services in which STM faculty

developed a curriculum called “Building Relationships in Troubled Contexts” to assist those working in refugee camps, and secured funding for the Henry R. Cavalieri Jesuit Fellowship Fund to bring international Jesuit scholars to the STM and provide funding for Jesuits to study at the school [see related story above].

“The First Strategic Direction from the School of Theology and Ministry’s Mission Statement is to ‘continue efforts to establish the STM as a premier Catholic institution for theological scholarship and for intellectual and pastoral formation of priests, religious, and lay women and men,’” said Fr. Stegman. “We are doing what we should be doing, and thanks to our faculty and our students’ good will and passion, I think the STM is positioned well to grow and to respond pastorally and theologically to the needs of the Church and world.”

Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley lauded Fr. Stegman for his extraordinary leadership.

“Tom Stegman’s six years as dean commenced with his travel to Rome to participate in the 36th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus,” said Quigley. “He returned to campus and articulated a compelling vision for the School of Theology and Ministry while developing strong relationships with faculty and administrators across the University. Tom has been an extraordinary leader and leaves the school in a very strong position to help educate the next generation of religious and lay leaders for the Catholic Church.”

STM faculty offered praise and gratitude for Fr. Stegman for his inspiring lead-

ership in guiding the school as dean.

“Dean Stegman’s love for the School of Theology and Ministry and his commitment to its flourishing have been unwavering,” said Colleen Griffith, faculty director of spiritual studies and professor of the practice of theology in the STM. “His courage and faithful witness to the gospel have been an inspiration to STM faculty, staff, and students. He has led our school with integrity and fairness, embodying the highest of Jesuit ideals. His wisdom and grace are lasting gifts to our community.”

“What makes Tom an outstanding scholar, teacher, and dean is his human touch,” said Ecclesiastical Faculty Associate Professor Andrew Davis. “His writing and teaching exemplify how scripture can be alive in communities today, and as dean he has inspired the STM community to live more fully in its mission of service to the Church and world. He will be greatly missed as dean by all of us in the STM community.”

A member of the USA Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus, Fr. Stegman was raised in Holdrege, Neb., and joined the Society of Jesus in 1985. A graduate of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, he received an M.A. (Philosophy) from Marquette University, and both a master’s in divinity and an S.T.L. (Hebrew Bible) from Weston Jesuit School of Theology. He earned a Ph.D. in New Testament studies at Emory University, under the direction of renowned theologian Luke Timothy Johnson, and began his teaching career at Emory as Johnson’s teaching assistant. He taught at Weston from 2003-

2008, and has held visiting chairs at Marquette and Creighton universities.

Highly respected among Jesuits, Fr. Stegman represented the Midwest Province at the 2012 Procurators Congregation in Nairobi and at the 36th General Congregation in Rome in 2016.

A talented high school baseball player, he remains an avid fan of the St. Louis Cardinals and the Green Bay Packers.

In a December letter to STM faculty, Fr. Stegman said that the ability to serve as dean has given real meaning and a sense of purpose to him these past few years, and kept him from dwelling on his medical condition.

“The goal of the medical team is to make my illness a ‘chronic condition,’ by which they mean that while there is no cure, we will try to stay ahead of the glioblastoma for as long as we can and take care of things as they arise,” he wrote.

“My goal is to be able to finish my decanal term through the spring semester and graduation, which would make it a six-year term. Through the good graces of the Provost’s and President’s offices, if God grants me health and life beyond this school year, I will be given a sabbatical in 2022-2023. I still have two books in me, I think, and that is what I‘ll work on. And if I am still around following my sabbatical, I’d be happy and honored to return to the Ecclesiastical Faculty to teach courses in the New Testament.”

Information about the search for Fr. Stegman’s successor will be released shortly.

An event to celebrate his tenure as dean is being planned for the spring.

Chronicle

January 20, 2022

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“Boston College generates revenue, investment, and jobs in Massachusetts, and has broad social impact through its educational offerings, community partnerships, and volunteer service, particularly within its host cities of Boston and Newton.”

—University President William P. Leahy, S.J.

Study Finds BC Economic Impact $3.3 Billion Annually Continued from page 1

amounts to $16.7 million in support of initiatives that directly serve Boston, Newton, and other communities throughout Massachusetts through community service, service-learning activities, support for local schools, and infrastructure contributions. In total, 8,000 BC students and employees provide 768,000 hours of volunteer service hours annually.

“This study demonstrates the benefits and wide-ranging impact that Boston College has on the Massachusetts economy,” said University President William P. Leahy, S.J. “Boston College generates revenue, investment, and jobs in Massachusetts, and has broad social impact through its educational offerings, community partnerships, and volunteer service, particularly within its host cities of Boston and Newton.”

The study details Boston College’s economic benefits in four separate categories: University operations, capital investments, ancillary spending by students and campus visitors, and the earning power of BC alumni who live and work in Massachusetts.

The University’s annual operations account for $1.57 billion in economic output for the state, supporting 8,100 jobs that account for $744 million in employment earnings and contribute $57 million in state tax revenues.

BC’s capital investments generate $350 million in economic output each year, the study found, supporting 1,550 jobs with $115 million in earnings, contributing $9 million to the state’s tax revenues.

Ancillary spending by students for living expenses, as well as revenues generated by visitors to the campus and its many events, totaled $112 million in economic

impact annually, supporting 690 jobs and contributing $3 million in state tax revenues.

The alumni wage premium—responsible for a yearly economic impact of $1.28 billion—is a measure of increased earning and spending power of graduates who earned degrees or certifications through BC academic programs and now live and work in Massachusetts. The alumni wage premium supports 7,400 jobs with $422 million in earnings and contributions of $103 million in tax revenues, the study found.

The study also found Boston College delivers significant economic support to its host cities of Boston and Newton.

In Boston, BC’s annual economic impact is $1 billion, including $675 million from annual operations. In total, the University supports 5,360 jobs generating earned income of $488 million in the city.

In Newton, BC’s annual economic impact is $728 million, with annual operations accounting for an impact of $520 million. The University’s total economic impact supports 4,080 jobs and produces $351 million in earned income.

The $16.7 million in social impact on local communities includes programs such as: •St. Columbkille Partnership School in Brighton, where Boston College provides research, tuition remission for teachers, and support services. Since 2006, BC has made $1.7 million in direct financial contributions to the school.

•The Lynch School of Education and Human Development program City Connects, which annually provides support to 26,000 students in 90 public,

(Above) Construction on the Integrated Science Building at 245 Beacon Street last spring.

BC’s capital investments generate $350 million in economic output each year, the economic impact study found, supporting 1,550 jobs with $115 million in earnings. photo by lee pellegrini

(Above) A Boston College undergraduate volunteering at Haley House in 2019 as part of the PULSE Program’s community service placement. PULSE provides some 112,000 hours of service to the Greater Boston area during the academic year. video still by john walsh

charter, and Catholic schools in Massachusetts and throughout the United States. In 2019, BC obtained $4.1 million in grants to support the program.

•The Let’s Get Ready program provides mentoring, college counseling, and standardized test preparation for Boston high school students who aspire to be firstgeneration college students.

With 8,000 volunteers each year, BC’s service, fieldwork, and service-learning initiatives contribute 768,000 hours that impact more than 52,000 people in local communities through programs that include: •BC’s PULSE Program, in which 400 students volunteer 10 hours per week during the academic year, providing 112,000 hours of service.

•The 4Boston program, in which 700 students commit four hours a week to service, with Boston College providing $34,000 in in-kind contributions.

•Fieldwork, student teaching, supervised ministry placements, and clinical hours at local hospitals performed by students from the School of Social Work, Lynch School, School of Theology and Ministry, and Connell School of Nursing, respectively.

•74,000 hours of pre-practicum and practicum field experiences from BC student teachers in schools throughout the Commonwealth.

The University also invests directly in the local community: •During the past six years, BC’s Annual Neighborhood Improvement Fund has distributed $1.9 million in financial assistance to public or not-for-profit enti-

ties to complete property improvements in Allston-Brighton.

•Since 1995, the Allston-Brighton Community Fund has awarded $1.6 million in grants to support the programs and services of Allston-Brighton community organizations.

•Boston College also provided $19 million in financial aid to students from Boston and Newton in 2020. During the last 10 years, the University has awarded more than $160 million in financial aid to Boston and Newton residents. Boston College is one of only 20 private universities nationwide that is need blind in admissions and meets the full-demonstrated need of all undergraduate students.

The University’s impact extends beyond Massachusetts. BC conducted $58 million in sponsored research in 2020, a 20 percent increase over the prior year.

Notable work included addressing the achievement gap in math learning among low-income students. BC economists designed a mechanism for the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, and its chemistry faculty are working to develop a method to convert carbon dioxide into clean-burning methanol fuel.

“The study demonstrates that the scholarship and research conducted by our faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates has a profound impact on the Massachusetts economy,” said Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley. “Their work has a deep social benefit as well, supporting schools, local governments, and community-based organizations in Boston, Newton, and throughout the Commonwealth.”

Chronicle

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January 20, 2022

Two Physics Faculty Earn NSF CAREER Awards

BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER

Assistant Professors of Physics Qiong Ma and Benedetta Flebus have both received a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation, which supports junior faculty in the sciences through the Faculty Early Career Development Program.

For Flebus, the five-year, $518,012 grant will support her lab’s efforts to advance the fundamental understanding of topological phases in magnetic materials.

“I am thrilled to have received this award—it is wonderful to know that your community values your work and research plans,” said Flebus. “This grant will also allow me to support students for the coming years and give me more time to focus on teaching as well.”

The application of topology to solidstate systems has led to the discovery of a number of physical phenomena, including topologically-protected states that can be used to efficiently transmit information at the nanoscale no matter how disordered the system might be, Flebus said.

Significant questions remain about how these ideas can be extended to physical systems that display loss or gain of energy, Flebus said.

“Topological magnetic materials have been proposed as building blocks for numerous technological applications; however, harnessing their potential requires a better understanding of the interplay be-

Physics faculty members Qiong Ma, left, and Benedetta Flebus

tween their topology and their ubiquitous dissipative interactions with the surrounding crystalline environment,” said Flebus.

For Ma, the five-year $631,652 grant will support her research group’s study of the interaction between electromagnetic waves and a new class of materials that are made of only one layer of atoms.

“I am very excited to receive this award,” Ma said. “This is very timely as my lab at Boston College is fully up and running with a group of energetic young researchers, including two postdocs, five graduate students, and a couple of undergraduates. This award inspires the entire team to do the best research.”

photos by caitlin cunningham

The grant will also support the development of a new course inspired by the research. Ma said the course will introduce cutting-edge quantum material science to students through unique hands-on experiences, and will be suitable for undergraduates in multiple scientific disciplines including physics, chemistry and biology.

Ma’s research, which has also been awarded funding from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and by an Energy Frontier Research Center supported by the Department of Energy, is focused on better understanding how electromagnetic waves interact with materials.

“For instance, finding materials that

can interact with light and convert it into an electrical current is at the heart of developing solar cells for clean energy applications,” Ma said. “Light-electricity conversion is also critical for sensor technology, such as night vision goggles, which converts the infrared radiation from warm objects into electrical signals. Wireless charging or communication also relies on the device’s ability to receive radio waves, which is also an electromagnetic wave, and convert it into electrical signals.”

Ma said the goal is for the project to enable highly efficient and highly controllable electronic and optical devices that harness quantum properties of materials for information and energy technologies.

Professor of Physics and Department Chair Michael Graf praised the recognition Ma and Flebus have received at the outset of their academic careers.

“These prestigious awards are a wellearned recognition of their research programs, which push the boundaries of our knowledge of novel electronic systems and have important practical implications,” Graf said.

“I’m particularly impressed that professors Flebus and Ma have also made important contributions to our community through their teaching, mentoring, and service activities so early in their careers. It is a special honor for a department to have two faculty members receive these awards in the same year, and their success exemplifies our department’s commitment to its mission of scholarship and education.”

Newly Renamed Institute Welcomes Its New Director

BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER

Alex L. Pieterse, whose scholarship focuses on psychosocial aspects of race and racism, racial trauma, and anti-racism training and self-awareness, has been appointed director of the Institute for the Study of Race and Culture—formerly known as the Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture (ISPRC)—announced Stanton E.F. Wortham, the Charles F. Donovan, S.J., Dean of the Lynch School of Education and Human Development.

Pieterse, who joined the Lynch School in January as an associate professor of counseling psychology in the Counseling, Educational, and Developmental Psychology Department, succeeds Janet E. Helms, the Augustus Long Professor in the Department of Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology, founding director of the ISPRC and its annual Diversity Challenge conference.

“We are thrilled to have Alex Pieterse lead the important work done by the Institute for the Study of Race and Culture and the Diversity Challenge,” said Wortham.

“He will build on the pioneering accomplishments of Janet Helms and bring his own scholarly expertise in race, culture, and racial trauma to our students and to

Alex Pieterse: “I look forward to leading a research center focused on understanding and ameliorating racial trauma.” photo by state university of new york at albany

the many professionals touched by the institute.”

Pieterse was most recently an associate professor and doctoral training director at the State University of New York at Albany, where he had worked since 2008, except for a two-year stint as a senior lecturer

at Monash University in Australia. A native of South Africa, he began his academic career as an assistant professor of education at George Mason University in 2005.

“I look forward to leading a research center focused on understanding and ameliorating racial trauma,” said Pieterse, who underscored that the newly-named institute will build on the work of the ISPRC, launched and guided by Helms for two decades until her retirement this past spring.

“It’s humbling to be able to build on the work of a scholar like Janet,” he added, noting that his own mentor, Teachers College Professor Emeritus Robert Carter, was Helms’s former advisee.

He also plans to continue the tradition of the Diversity Challenge by bringing scholars, practitioners, and graduate students from multiple disciplines together to discuss and pose critical questions about race, and examine effective strategies for anti-racism.

“It feels like I’m carrying on a legacy,” said Pieterse.

Pieterse’s research and clinical work revolve around the negative psychological impact of racism, a now universally established truth not uniformly accepted until relatively recently. In 2012, when Pieterse published a statistical review in the Journal of Counseling Psychology on the mental health-related outcomes associated with

racism, there was little empirical examination on the subject.

“While there was a lot known about this phenomenon, there weren’t many quantitative examinations,” he said.

Pieterse demonstrated a positive correlation between experiencing racism and psychological distress, a measure crafted from a composite score of depression and anxiety, as well as a decline in psychological well-being. There’s still pushback, he said, but that study has contributed to psychologists now considering the experiences of racism as a type of psychological trauma.

“I think a more widespread appreciation of that phenomenon is emerging,” he said.

Pieterse received a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Columbia University Teachers College. A licensed psychologist and registered nurse, he is an associate editor of The Counseling Psychologist, and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Social Action in Counseling and Psychology.

Pieterse has also maintained a psychotherapy practice alongside his research.

“My identity as a clinician continues to be an important part of how I see myself, even as an academic, and continues to inform the types of questions I want to ask as a scholar,” he said.

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January 20, 2022

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Culturally Responsive Care BCSSW’s Price studies how racism and sexism can be obstacles to psychotherapy—and what mental health practitioners should do about it

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

The harmful impact of racism and sexism on individuals’ mental health has been well documented by researchers from various fields in recent decades. But two new studies—both led by Boston College School of Social Work Assistant Professor Maggi Price—indicate that racism and sexism also hamper the effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving mental health, especially in young people.

Price and her collaborators found that Black youth living in areas with a significant degree of cultural racism were less likely to benefit from psychotherapy compared to those living in relatively less racist places; similarly, according to the other study involving Price, girls fare worse in psychotherapy if they live in an environment marked by cultural sexism.

Most any psychotherapeutic intervention can be affected by external factors beyond the purview of the therapist: A person being treated for PTSD, for example, may be triggered by an unforeseen event or random encounter. But, Price said, a set of pervasive biased attitudes, behaviors, and practices in the community can pose a considerable obstacle to a therapy patient’s progress. Mental health professionals therefore may need to adapt their therapeutic approaches on an individual basis to address the impact of these biases, while also working within the community to foment more holistic changes, she said.

“Research on the negative mental health effects of racism and sexism is well established, and recent studies have shown that women and Black people living in places

with high levels of cultural stigma–—that is, dominant beliefs about a group’s inferiority in a community–—have worse mental health. We also know that psychotherapy is not always helpful, but might that be in part due to cultural stigma? That is an important question for the mental health field to explore. We were the first, to our knowledge, to study whether cultural stigma undermines the efficacy of mental health treatments.”

The two studies involved taking randomized controlled data from hundreds of youth psychotherapy studies and from publicly available data on sexist or racist norms, then using meta-analysis to see how spatial factors, such as prejudicial norms and economic inequality, related to the efficacy of the interventions.

As Price explained, with the source material used for the research—such as the General Social Survey, a longtime, frequently-cited fount of information on social characteristics and attitudes in American society—it is possible to reasonably gauge the extent of sexist or racist attitudes in a given locale. These may be reflected in, for example, the availability of maternity leave policies and protections for reproductive rights; or responses to survey questions related to support for public programs or government policies that aid Black people.

Racism or sexism are not constituted simply by explicit, individual incidents, noted Price: the uttering of a racial slur, for example, or sexual harassment by an acquaintance or coworker. The implicit, more ubiquitous manifestations, and how rooted these are in the community where the client lives, must also be considered.

“Perhaps in a given place, there is a

Maggi Price: “It’s vital that practitioners incorporate advocacy into their practice by recognizing and making efforts to reduce sexism and racism in their client’s environments.” photo by caitlin cunningham

particularly pervasive attitude that women should stay at home and not be in the workplace. We know that sexist gender roles extend to young people’s environments, too, such as school— might girls in that community be even less likely to be encouraged to pursue STEM careers? Or might Black girls be even more likely to be penalized for assertiveness?

“Maybe in another community there is

an especially strong racist belief that Black youth are likely to cause trouble. We know that Black youth are more likely to be unfairly and harshly disciplined for the exact same behaviors as white youth. And studies show that these stigmatizing messages are internalized and affect mental health.

In other words, if one is repeatedly given the message that they are incompetent or a trouble-maker because of their gender or race, they may come to believe that. Those internalized beliefs can hurt self-esteem and heighten depression.

“Our study may suggest that if a young person with such experiences goes to therapy, some of the potentially positive effects of therapy might be hampered, either during or after treatment, by the cultural messages they receive about their inferiority.”

Because identity and stigma are central to the wellbeing of their clients—and perhaps determine how well they respond to psychotherapy—these should be integrated into the interventions that practitioners devise, said Price, who adds that further research is needed to better understand the complex interplay between stigma, mental health, and treatment.

“It’s also vital that practitioners incorporate advocacy into their practice by recognizing and making efforts to reduce sexism and racism in their client’s environments.

For example, by advocating for policy changes in their clients’ schools to eliminate racist disciplinary practices or reduce teacher bias.

“And, of course, enhanced training in culturally responsive care, including how to address racism, sexism, and other stigma in therapy, is essential, and will help clinicians better serve their clients.”

Lynch School: ECE Improves Children’s Life Chances

BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER

Recent research from the Lynch School of Education and Human Development and two partner institutions indicates that sustained, high-quality, community-based early care and education (ECE) appears to diminish the consequence of poverty into adulthood.

While previous studies examined ECE’s impact on academic outcomes in childhood through the teen years, this inquiry assessed whether more exposure to ECE is associated with adolescent and adult educational attainment and income.

“The results build on existing evidence on the role that ECE can play in improving long-term parity in children’s life chances,” said the Lynch School’s Eric Dearing, a study investigator and a professor of applied developmental and educational psychology.

Scholars and policy makers have long

Eric Dearing

photo by caitlin cunningham

asserted that early care and education in settings such as center-based care, family daycare, and informal, non-parental home care protects children from the detriments of economic disadvantage during the crucial, early years of development.

This study utilized data covering children’s lives from birth through age 26 to examine the relationship between sustained participation in high-quality, communitybased ECE for children from families across the income spectrum on educational attainment at age 15, and life outcomes at age 26.

“Our team found that more months spent in ECE was associated with mitigated disparities between those who grew up in low- versus high-income households for college graduation and their salaries,” said Dearing. “Given recent national and international policy efforts focused on eradicating childhood poverty, these findings are relevant for ECE as a potentially effective lever for enhancing long-term outcomes for

children from low-income households.”

The findings were released in the October 18 online issue of Child Development, a publication of the Society for Research in Child Development.

In addition to Dearing, authors of the study included Assistant Professor Andres S. Bustamante and Professor Deborah Lowe Vandell of the University of California-Irvine School of Education, and Professor Henrik Daae Zachrisson of the University of Oslo, who was a visiting Fulbright professor at BC during the 20192020 academic year.

The research was collaboratively funded through respective grants from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation; the American Educational Research Association via the National Science Foundation; and the European Research Council Consolidator.

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January 20, 2022

Pine Manor Plan Provides Academic Access, Support Continued from page 1

teachers, counselors, or religious and community leaders. During the school year, it will offer academic support from trained BC success coaches and provide mentoring from BC undergraduate and graduate students to help the Academy students navigate the journey from middle school to college. In addition, during their summer experience at BC, Academy students will receive training in public speaking, time management, SAT/ACT prep, and the college application process. In the summer before their senior year, they will take a college-credit course to help enhance their college readiness.

The two-year college division of Boston College will be called Messina College, named after the first Jesuit school founded in Sicily in 1548. It will offer an associate’s degree program for 100 students annually beginning in the 2024-2025 academic year, with the goal of preparing students for continued studies in a bachelor’s degree program or for professional careers. Messina College will be located on the former Pine Manor College campus in Brookline, and its students will have full access to Boston College’s campus programs and facilities. Successful students will be eligible to apply to transfer to Boston College to complete a bachelor’s degree.

The Pine Manor Institute for Student Success will also serve as an umbrella organization for Boston College’s existing academic support initiatives, including Options Through Education, Learning to Learn, and the Montserrat Coalition, as well as BC’s extensive student volunteer efforts.

The final component of the Pine Manor

Institute will be an ongoing outreach initiative that will provide support for graduates of the Academy and Messina College throughout the completion of their academic studies and into their professional careers.

Together, these offerings aim to expand upon Boston College’s success in educating under-resourced, first-generation students, while continuing Pine Manor College’s legacy of outreach to underserved communities.

“The Pine Manor Institute for Student Success will help increase access to highquality education for underrepresented students,” said University President William P. Leahy, S.J. “Boston College was founded in 1863 to help educate Boston’s immigrant community. The Pine Manor Institute represents an extension of our mission in response to societal needs.”

Pine Manor Institute Executive Director Joy Moore said the institute will help meet the needs of students from throughout the Commonwealth who too often do not have a clear pathway to college.

“The Pine Manor Institute for Student Success will help to raise the sightlines for young students by providing access and the academic support that has enabled generations of underserved BC students to succeed,” said Moore. “The Academy will be the first step in helping students to achieve success by gaining the confidence that comes from good academic preparation during the middle school and high school years.”

Moore said that a distinctive element of the Pine Manor Institute will be long-term academic support and mentoring, which

BCSSW Equality, Justice, and Inclusion Lecture and Alumni Awards Jan. 31 “Code switching”—the means by which individuals adapt their identities based on the social situations in which they find themselves—will be the focus of the Boston College School of Social Work annual Equality, Justice, and Inclusion Lecture and Distinguished Alumni Award Celebration, which will be held in virtual format on January 31 at 7 p.m.

“Code Switching: Tuning In, Instead of Toning Down” will feature a panel discussion with four BC alumni on why code switching is relevant to social work, how it manifests in practice, and what strategies BCSSW can use to prepare practitioners to “show up authentically and as their whole selves at work,” according to event organizers.

Panelists include documentarian Mike Mascoll ’87, whose experiences as an African American child from Boston attending a west suburban school served as the basis for the 2019 film “CodeSwitching: Race and Identity in the Suburban Schoolhouse,” which he co-produced. (Event organizers note that “CodeSwitching” is available for streaming through University Libraries.)

Joining Mascoll are: Milly Arbaje-Thomas ’95, M.S.W. ’97, CEO of the Metropolitan

Council for Educational Opportunity Greater Boston voluntary school desegregation program; Claire Geruson ’13, M.S.W. ’19, a clinical social worker whose practice is based in person-centered, empowerment, and liberation frameworks; and BCSSW part-time faculty member Yvonne Castañeda M.S.W. ’18, who works with the Latinx population in a Boston community health setting.

Following the lecture, the school will present the 2022 Distinguished Alumni Awards, which recognize BCSSW alumni who have made significant contributions to the social work profession. This year’s honorees are community-based social work professional Leslie Domínguez-Santos M.S.W. ’01, author of a groundbreaking report on COVID-19 and social determinants of health in Chelsea, Mass., and Hunter College Silberman School of Social Work Assistant Professor Keith Chan M.S.W. ’06, Ph.D. ’13, whose research on social determinants of physical and mental health focuses on Asian Americans, immigrants, and older adults.

For more information on the event, and to register for a Zoom link, go to bc.edu/ content/bc-web/schools/ssw/about/eji-lecture-series.html.

—University Communications

Pine Manor Institute Executive Director Joy Moore said the institute “will help to raise the sightlines for young students by providing access and the academic support that has enabled generations of underserved BC students to succeed.” photo by lee pellegrini

will provide assistance for students from the Academy and Messina College through their first two years in the workforce.

“Students benefit tremendously from ongoing academic support, success coaching, and mentorship,” said Moore. “The institute will provide assistance for students at every stage of their academic careers and for up to two years into their careers.”

The decision to create the Pine Manor Institute for Student Success was based in part on BC’s proven track record of educating underrepresented students through its

Snapshot Out in the Cold

Classic January weather visited the Heights during the latter part of the semester break, with several inches of snow and singledigit temperatures.

academic support programs and financial aid commitments.

Specifically, Boston College is one of only 20 private universities in the United States that is need blind in admissions and meets the full demonstrated need of all accepted students. In 2020, BC had the third highest graduation rate (96 percent) of Pell-eligible students in the United States according to U.S. News & World Report. In addition, the University is one of 42 colleges and universities in QuestBridge—a non-profit program that helps high-achieving, low-income students gain admission and scholarships to the nation’s top-ranked colleges and universities—and one of 77 institutions of higher education to be named a First-Gen Forward Institution, a distinction given to schools with a demonstrated commitment to first-generation student success.

Pine Manor College President Thomas O’Reilly said he was pleased that the school’s legacy will live on through the Pine Manor Institute for Student Success and Messina College.

“Boston College and Pine Manor College agreed to integrate to advance the crucial mission of expanding educational opportunities for traditionally underserved and underrepresented students,” said O’Reilly. “With the creation of the Pine Manor Institute for Student Success and Messina College, that mission has been fully launched. Boston College has exceeded all expectations. They are to be applauded.

The social justice imperative of Pine Manor College has found a home. I am proud to be a part of this endeavor.”

PHOTO BY CAITLIN CUNNINGHAM

Chronicle

January 20, 2022

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After 45 Years, Riley Ends Full-Time Stint at BC

BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER

Linda J. Riley, executive director of Auxiliary Services and a 45-year BC employee who made extensive contributions to the University through varied positions in the Office of Residential Life and Auxiliary Services, retired from her full-time position on December 31. She will continue in her part-time role as University harassment counselor until June.

Riley began her professional life at BC as a career advisor following graduation from the University in 1976. In 1981 she joined University Housing (now Residential Life) as an administrator, and rose to the position of assistant director of housing and then associate director of operations and financial management (1985-2005); she also served as acting co-director of Residential Life from December 2001 until September 2002.

In 2005, the Waban, Mass., resident was appointed executive director for business services within the recently established Auxiliary Services division, now a nine-department unit that provides critical goods and services to the entire BC community.

Associate Vice President for Auxiliary Services Patricia Bando characterized her colleague of 16 years as a person who truly demonstrates that BC is not just a campus community, but a family.

“Linda was so highly respected because of her history of demonstrating care and fairness and her industry knowledge when working with our colleagues,” she said.

“I’m grateful to Linda for her dedication and managerial leadership; her creative, tactical, and strategic thinking skills; and

“She is a remarkable problem solver; her creativity and fast thinking, combined with her years of wisdom about how BC works, made her an excellent leader, especially in times of crisis,” says a former colleague of Auxiliary Services Executive Director Linda Riley, who retired recently.

photo by peter julian

her mentoring expertise, which has enabled our Auxiliary Services team to raise our benchmark goals over the years and surpass customer expectations.”

As Bando explained, there was no “honeymoon period” following the launch of Auxiliary Services—a demanding University-wide enterprise even in its infancy that now includes management of a retreat center, print services, transportation and parking, the BC Bookstores, and later, the Bureau of Conferences (now Event Management). The goal was and continues to be self-sustainment for each cost center.

“Linda’s high degree of experience in management and supervision of operations, personnel management, financial planning and management, facility maintenance and

renovation in her role in Residence Life were assets that proved to be invaluable for the success of our programs in Auxiliary Services,” said Bando. “She and I built the division from scratch. She has been a devoted and skilled partner along the entire way.”

Additionally, in August of 2008, Riley was named University harassment counselor, which entails advising all parties in cases of alleged sexual, racial, or other harassment on the job or in the classroom. At the time of her appointment, then-Human Resources Vice President Leo V. Sullivan noted that Riley was “an excellent choice as counselor who possessed the presence, judgment, and wisdom to deal with the various issues involved.”

Current Vice President for Human Resources David Trainor said he was “very grateful” that Riley will stay on until June as harassment counselor and “support us with this important role for the remainder of the academic year. Linda has made remarkable contributions to BC over her career. We wish her the very best as she embarks on the next chapter of her life.”

Michael Sacco, executive director of

Lynch School’s Wargo Is Selected for Two Awards Jon M. Wargo, an assistant professor of teaching, curriculum, and society in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, was recently named the recipient of two early-career awards from prominent professional education organizations, and was cited for an annual honor for a language arts article he authored.

The Literacy Research Association (LRA) announced in December that Wargo, a former Denver Public Schools elementary education teacher who joined BC in 2017, was its 2021 Early Career Achievement Award winner.

The LRA, focused on the advancement of literacy theory, research, and practice in a multicultural and multilingual world, established The Early Career Achievement Award was established in 1999 to annually recognize the work of a member at the outset of their professional life whose research, publications, service, teaching, and contributions to the field are outstanding.

In November, the National Council of Teachers of English Children’s Literature Assembly (CLA) selected Wargo as its Early Career Achievement Award winner, which recognizes the work of an individ-

Jon Wargo

ual in the formative stage of their profession who has demonstrated “extraordinary promise as a researcher and leader in the field of children’s literature.”

Wargo’s publication, titled “‘Seeing’ Difference Differently: Inquiry-based Learning as a Site/Sight of Intersectional

Justice in English Language Arts,” was selected for the 2021 “Language Arts Distinguished Article Award” by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

The CLA award recognizes outstanding language arts articles that advance the Elementary Section Steering Committee’s mission of achieving justice and equity; initiate the sociocultural realities of children’s everyday lives into language arts instruction; and facilitate conversations of rich and authentic literacies.

NCTE is a 25,000-member organization dedicated to improving the teaching and learning of English and language arts at all education levels.

“We are excited to see that Jon has earned these important awards from leading organizations in the field,” said Stanton E.F. Wortham, the Charles F. Donovan, S.J., Dean of the Lynch School of Education and Human Development.

“His work has been receiving increasing attention and substantial recognition, and we are very pleased to have him as a Lynch School faculty member.”

—Phil Gloudemans

the Center for Student Formation and Office of First Year Experience, praised the mentorship his colleague displayed during his 26 years at BC. “Linda always took time to explain the various levels of complexity on any given project, and you could be sure that she would teach you as much about the financial implications as the related BC history and politics,” said Sacco. “She is a remarkable problem solver; her creativity and fast thinking, combined with her years of wisdom about how BC works, made her an excellent leader, especially in times of crisis.”

Sacco also characterized Riley as a rare manager who could innovate and oversee significant change, while still respecting tradition and culture. “I don’t think most people realize what an enormous impact she has had on Boston College. She has helped shape the campus on which we learn, play, work, and live. BC is a much better place because of Linda Riley, and it is hard to imagine the University without her. She will be sorely missed.”

Riley’s years at BC also set an example close to home, according to her daughter, Lauren Riley ‘13, senior associate director of the Office of Undergraduate Admission.

“My mom inspired me to not only attend BC, but to work here as well,” she said. “Over her wonderful career, I’ve seen how she has made life-long friendships, and made the University more than just her job, but her home and community.

Her impact on BC will long outlast her tenure here.

“It’s hard to imagine BC without Linda Riley, but anyone who knows her knows that she’ll still attend every football game.”

Former Senator Doug Jones to Speak Jan. 25 Doug Jones, former United States Senator of Alabama and the Jerome Lyle Rappaport Distinguished Visiting Professor at Boston College Law School, will present “The State of American Democracy: A New ThreeLantern Warning in the Old North Church” next Tuesday from noon-1 p.m.

The program, which is free and open to the public, will be held in person at the BC Law East Wing 120 and via Zoom.

Jones became the first Democrat since 1997 to represent Alabama in the Senate when he won a largely unexpected victory in the 2017 special election.

To register, go to the Rappaport Center for Law and Public Policy website at bc.edu/rappaport.

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January 20, 2022

Lowell Humanities Series Resumes on Feb. 2 A February 2 virtual lecture by the Very Reverend Kelly Brown Douglas, dean of the Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary and professor of theology at Union College, will launch the spring semester Boston College Lowell Humanities Series (LHS).

Douglas—who also serves as the Canon Theologian at the Washington National Cathedral and Theologian-in Residence at Trinity Church Wall Street—will speak at 7 p.m. on her latest book, Resurrection Hope: A Future Where Black Lives Matter, followed by an audience Q&A. Questions from her son—such as “How do we really know that God cares when Black people are still getting killed? How long do we have to wait for the justice of God?”—prompted the theologian to undertake this soul-searching reflection.

Douglas reflects on how a “white way of knowing” has come to dominate American identity and even to shape the consciousness of Christians. Her presentation is cosponsored by the Theology Department and the PULSE Program.

“We look forward to another semester of dynamic Lowell Humanities Series speakers from different disciplines and addressing an impressive range of important and timely issues,” said LHS Director and Associate Professor of English James Smith, who asked faculty members to encourage their students to participate.

“Given the ongoing situation with COVID, we will begin the semester with three virtual webinars, but keep open the possibility of in-person events later in the semester.”

Other LHS offerings also begin at 7 p.m.—with the exception of the May 1 event, which begins at 2 p.m.—and include audience Q&As following each presentation. All are free and open to the public.

February 23: Eli Saslow—A Pulitzer prize-winning Washington Post reporter who has been called “one of the great young journalists in America,” Saslow will give a lecture based on his reporting in Rising Out of Hatred: The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist. Born out of his Washington Post feature “The White Flight of Derek Black,” the book tells the story of how the one-time heir to America’s white nationalist movement came to question the ideology he helped spread. Based on extensive interviews, it explores the ramifications of Black’s decision to publicly denounce white nationalism in an open letter to the Southern Poverty Law Center in 2013. The event is cosponsored by the Journalism and American Studies programs, and the Communication Department.

March 2: Claudia Rankine—Rankine, the author of six collections of poetry, will give a reading from Citizen: An American Lyric, which recounts “mounting racial aggressions in ongoing encounters in 21st-century daily life and in the media,” according to her website. “In essay, image, and poetry, Citizen interrogates the individual and collective effects of racism in

Tools for the New Jim Code, which according to her publisher Wiley “cuts through tech-industry hype to understand how emerging technologies can reinforce white supremacy and deepen social inequity [and] shows how a range of discriminatory designs encode inequity.” The event is presented by the Park Street Corporation Speaker Series and cosponsored by LHS and the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society.

April 6: Kevin Barry—A former Burns Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies at BC whose works include award-winning novels City of Bohane, Beatlebone, and Night Boat to Tangier, and the story collections Dark Lies the Island and There Are Little Kingdoms, Barry will speak on the topic of place, dialect, and hauntedness in his novels. Among his honors are the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, the Goldsmiths Prize, and the Sunday Times EFG Short Story Prize. This event coincides with the sixth Biannual Conference of the International Flann O’Brien Association, which Boston College is slated to host April 6-9.

April 20: Poetry Days Presents Ada Limón—Limón is the author of five books of poetry, including The Carrying, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry and was named one of the top five poetry books of 2018 by The Washington Post. She will give a reading from the book, which Milkweed Editions calls “vulnerable, tender, acute…exploring with honesty the ambiguous moment between the rapture of youth and the grace of acceptance…Limón shows us, as ever, the persistence of hunger, love, and joy, the dizzying fullness of our too-short lives.” Limón is an MFA faculty member of Queens University and the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center. Her appearance is cosponsored by the Poetry Days Series and the English Department.

Clockwise from top left: Claudia Rankine, Eli Saslow, Martin Parr, Kelly Brown Douglas, Ada Limón, Kevin Barry, and Ruha Benjamin. photos by joanna cecilianic (saslow), conor o’mahony (barry), and martin parr (parr)

African and African Diaspora Studies, and PULSE programs, the English, History, and Sociology departments, with support from an Institute for the Liberal Arts Major Grant Award.

our contemporary, often named ‘post-race’ society.” The Frederick Iseman Professor of Poetry at Yale University, Rankine has won several awards, and also is a playwright and author of anthologies. Her appearance is cosponsored by the American Studies,

March 24: Ruha Benjamin—A professor of African American studies and founding director of the Ida B. Wells Just Data Lab at Princeton University, Benjamin investigates the social dimensions of science, medicine, and technology with a focus on the relationship between innovation and inequity, health and justice, knowledge and power. She will give a lecture based on her book Race After Technology: Abolitionist

May 1: Martin Parr—One of the bestknown documentary photographers of his generation, Parr will speak on his groundbreaking career. His appearance coincides with an exhibition of his work, “Martin Parr: Time and Place,” at the McMullen Museum of Art [see page 12]. Covering nearly a half a century and comprising more than 135 works, this innovative survey is Parr’s first wide-ranging, and most comprehensive, museum exhibition in the United States. A visiting professor of photography at the University of Ulster whose work has been collected by many leading international museums, Parr has published more than 100 books and edited 30. This event is cosponsored by the McMullen Museum and the Irish Studies program LHS is sponsored by the Office of the Provost and Dean of Faculties, the Institute for the Liberal Arts, and the Lowell Institute. To register for these events, and for updates, more details on the speakers, resources for faculty and students, see www. bc.edu/lowell.

—University Communications

Chronicle

January 20, 2022

OBITUARY

BC in the Media

Peter Kugel, 91, Computer Science Retired Professor Peter Kugel, a longtime member and former chair of the Computer Science Department who devoted much thought to the human dimension of computer technology, died on October 11. He was 91.

Befitting a scholar with a doctorate in philosophy from Harvard University who had worked in the software industry and at MIT before coming to Boston College in 1974, Dr. Kugel focused his research on the connections between human intelligence, logic, and computability. He summed up these interests in an abstract for a 2009 article: “I believe the human mind can evaluate functions so uncomputable that no machine, not even a hypercomputer, can compute them. But I believe that computers can evaluate such functions, too, because computers, like minds, have other ways to evaluate functions that go beyond computing. If we allow them to use these ways—or, as I shall put it, to uncompute—they may be able to do things that only minds can do well today.”

Earlier in his career, Dr. Kugel published an influential article on studying the process of induction—“by which we reason from the particular to the general”—using ideas from the theory of abstract machines and recursion theory. Another article offered suggestions on developing precise accounts of cognitive processes that could be modelled on computers.

He also was interested in how college teachers develop as teachers, and in 1989 published an op-ed piece in The New York Times that explained how bringing a cup of coffee to class helped him create a better rapport with his students. “My pauses, as I sipped, not only gave my students time to think about what I had said, but gave me time to think about what I was going to say next,” he wrote. “I began to use my pauses to look around the room to see how my students were reacting to what I had just said.

Prof. Ann Wolbert Burgess (CSON), a celebrated forensic and psychiatric nurse who helped revolutionize how the FBI tracks serial killers, was featured by ABC News.com.

CNN.com cited comments by Prof.

Heather Cox Richardson (History) on texts pushing “strategy” to undermine the 2020 election.

When I saw their attention wander, I tried to bring them back. When I saw them puzzled over some concept that I thought I had explained, I gave another example. My lectures became less organized and less brilliant, but my students seemed to understand me better. And my courses became more popular.”

Interviewed in 1989 by Boston College Biweekly, Dr. Kugel—then the Computer Science chair—discussed how he and his colleagues made sure that the knowledge they passed along to their students was put to use.

“In computer science, you learn to do something by doing. We don’t simply lecture. We give students at least one assignment a week they must complete. And it’s not like doing an essay; a program has to work before your job is done.”

Dr. Kugel retired in 2005, but continued to write, teach, and learn. Among other activities, he took courses at the Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement, where he taught a class titled “Vision and Art.” He is survived by his wife, Judy, and sons Jeremy and Seth, who were all at his bedside when he died.

An online tribute posted on the Computer Science website recalled Dr. Kugel for “his wide-ranging interests and for his humor. He was an exceptional colleague and an especially generous mentor to both students and junior faculty colleagues.”

The tribute to Dr. Kugel can be viewed at bit.ly/bc-computer-science.

—University Communications

Nota Bene Lynch School of Education and Human Development Professor Emeritus Andy Hargreaves and Professor Marilyn Cochran-Smith were ranked in the top 200 American education professors in the 2022 “Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings” by American Enterprise Institute Director of Education Policy Studies and Education Week blogger Frederick M. Hess.

Both professors rose in the ratings since last year’s announcement: Hargreaves from No. 34 to 15, and CochranSmith from No. 103 to 84.

Using nine metrics, Hess calculates the contributions of university-based academics to public discussions of education. There are over 20,000 universitybased faculty addressing educational issues in the United States.

Stories from the Field: A Guide to Navigating

11

Prof. Thomas Groome (STM) commented on Catholic morality and vaccines for the Cape Cod Times.

Matt Schweitzer, associate director at the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies, talked about St. Francis Xavier, S.J., one of the first Jesuits, as well as a new IAJS volume of his letters, in an interview with Catholic TV’s “This is the Day.” Connell School of Nursing faculty and students who helped Cristo Rey Boston High School hike its COVID-19 student vaxx rate were among “everyday heroes” included in a tribute sponsored in The Boston Globe by leading health care organizations.

Global Public Health Program Director Philip Landrigan, M.D., wrote on the importance of renewable energy to New England in an op-ed for the online journal CommonWealth.

Consumer prices for the month of December rose by seven percent, the highest increase in nearly four decades. Assoc. Prof.

Robert Murphy (Economics) discussed the report with CBS Boston.

Francisco Eduardo Cervantes, who will attend BC through the University’s participation in QuestBridge, a program that helps high-achieving, low-income students gain admission and scholarships to the nation’s top-ranked colleges and universities, was featured by KRGV-TV News, Texas.

Assoc. Prof. Hosffman Ospino (STM) wrote about lessons in synodal experience from 50 years of Encuentros in a piece for National Catholic Reporter.

Carroll School Drucker Professor of Management Sciences Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research, discussed building long-term financial health via career sustainability in a Q&A with PharmExec.com; commented on inflation’s effect on benefit checks for Marketplace; and wrote a piece for MarketWatch on the third study in the center’s three-part series on the needs and resources available for long-term care. Center for Retirement Research Senior Research economist Gal Wettstein spoke with MoneyGeek on financial planning for retirement.

Center on Aging and Work Co-Director Jacquelyn James outlined myths about older workers in a piece for Includr.

Even though the economy is booming and unemployment is falling, stubborn inflation is taking its toll, a topic Murray and Monti Professor of Economics Peter Ireland discussed with The Boston Globe.

Tattoos are one of the few ways that religiously unaffiliated persons can express their spirituality, wrote Assoc. Prof. Gustavo Morello, S.J., (Sociology) in an essay for America magazine.

A 201-year-old poem serves as a reminder that the struggle for justice has been ingrained in American history from the start, wrote Prof. Paul Lewis (English) in The Boston Globe.

BC Law School Founders Professor Mary Sarah Bilder was a featured panelist in the U.S. National Archives discussion held on Bill of Rights Day.

Jobs Fieldwork in Political Science, co-edited by Associate Professor of Political Science Peter Krause, was named an Outstanding Academic Title for 2021 by Choice, a publishing unit of the Association of College & Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association.

Reviewers have described Stories from the Field as a “relatable, thoughtful, and unorthodox guide to field research in political science,” featuring personal stories from working political scientists. It is a resource for graduate and advanced undergraduate students learning about field research methods, as well as established scholars contemplating new journeys into the field.

The book, which Krause co-edited with Clark University Associate Professor of Political Science Ora Szekely, served as the basis for the duo’s podcast of the same name.

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.

Administrative Assistant, Office of Senior Vice President for University Advancement Campus Minister Program Director, Ever to Excel Assistant Director, Annual Giving Staff Nurse (multiple positions) Business Systems Analyst Job Coach/Case Manager Director, Catholic Religious Archives Program Assistant Registrar

Fiscal & Grant Administrator, Morrissey College Service Center Research Associate, Connell School of Nursing Assistant Director, Strategic Sourcing Degree Audit Analyst Health Care Assistant Assistant Director, Biology Labs Residential Life Administrator Health Care Assistant Lead Teacher, Pine Manor Institute Fiscal Specialist, Center for Corporate Citizenship Investment Officer Post-doctoral Research Fellow (multiple positions)

Chronicle

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January 20, 2022

BC Arts “Glenbeigh Races, County Kerry (A Fair Day),” 1983, by Martin Parr.

Time and Place

Upcoming McMullen exhibition features British documentary photographer Martin Parr

BY ROSANNE PELLEGRINI STAFF WRITER

Beginning January 31, the McMullen Museum of Art will present an innovative, career-spanning exhibition of acclaimed British documentary photographer Martin Parr.

Comprising more than 135 photographs and an extensive selection of photobooks, “Martin Parr: Time and Place” is Parr’s first wide-ranging, and most comprehensive, museum exhibition in the United States. On display through June 5 in the McMullen’s Daley Family and Monan Galleries, it will explore and examine a series of works by the artist that are rarely displayed together.

Parr’s photographs evince a global sensibility presented with the closely observed, precise detail of the local. His images underscore how global continuities diminish distinctions among local cultures, according to exhibition organizers.

Members of the University community will receive an email invitation, from the McMullen Museum, to attend a Zoom lecture by curator and BC Associate Professor of the Practice of Photography Karl Baden on January 30 at noon.

“The McMullen is pleased to present nearly half a century of British documentary photographer Martin Parr’s remarkable oeuvre in this innovative exhibition,” said Inaugural Robert L. and Judith T. Winston Director Nancy Netzer, a BC professor of art history in the Department of Art, Art History, and Film.

“With the support of the Martin Parr Foundation and through the curatorial lenses of Karl Baden and Boston College’s Irish Studies, Art, Art History, and English faculty, ‘Time and Place’ situates Martin Parr as an unrivaled documentary and

artistic photographer while examining the historical backgrounds in which various series were created. ‘Martin Parr: Time and Place’ also continues the McMullen’s recent focus on photography both in its acquisitions and exhibitions.”

Said Parr, a native of the United Kingdom born in 1952: “I am very happy that my exhibition is coming to the McMullen Museum in early 2022. As this is my first one-person museum show in the United States, it has added significance for me personally.”

The exhibition features at its core a selection of Parr’s Irish photographs, which depict the radical evolution of Ireland over the last four decades and the major themes of his work: social class and consumption, curiosity and humor, humanity and its predictable idiosyncrasies.

Photographs from a number of other series, such as “Autoportraits,” “The Last Resort,” “Small World,” and “The Cost of Living”—made in Europe, North America, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia—demonstrate how Parr developed a powerful vocabulary of visual and conceptual ideas informed by overlapping feelings of familiarity and alienation, and instincts that are anthropological as well as artistic.

Working in the lineage of documentary photographers Walker Evans, Bill Brandt, Robert Frank, and Lisette Model, Parr often seems to engage in cultural critique familiar from some of their work, one that is humorous, affectionate, ironic, or biting depending on the viewer’s perspective, exhibition organizers noted. Finding productive models in commercial and journalistic photography as well as fine art, Parr distinguishes himself from fellow ironists by introducing bright, saturated color to documentary practice. The early black-andwhite work featured in “Time and Place”

highlights the important role that color plays in Parr’s later photographs, while also emphasizing how his style and vision is more complex, and less defined by color than viewers might expect.

The exhibition “constitutes the most comprehensive museum survey of this influential and globally celebrated photographer in the United States to date,” said Baden. “While photographs from Ireland made over a 40-year period form the core of this exhibition, it includes work from a total of five bodies of Martin Parr’s images made around the globe, as well as books detailing his many collections and his groundbreaking work with the history of the photobook.”

Baden’s Boston College faculty collaborators from the Irish Studies program, Art, Art History, and Film, and English departments include: Ash Anderson, Jane Cassidy, Marjorie Howes, Lisa Kessler, Vera Kreilkamp, Kevin Lotery, Greer Muldowney, Joseph Nugent, Robert Savage, and James Smith.

“The Great Sphinx, Giza, Egypt (Small World),” 1992, by Martin Parr

A recent catalogue—Martin Parr: From the Pope to a Flat White, Ireland 1979–2019, published by Damiani with an introduction by journalist Fintan O’Toole—contains many of the Irish photographs in the exhibition.

The exhibition is organized by the McMullen Museum in conjunction with Tracy Marshall-Grant for Northern Narratives and the Martin Parr Foundation. The Martin Parr Studio has loaned all works in the exhibition and Martin Parr is represented by Magnum Photos. Major support has been provided by the Martin Parr Foundation, the Patrons of the McMullen Museum, and Mary Ann and Vincent Q. Giffuni.

In-person and virtual public programming is planned for the general public and museum members, including a virtual lecture by Parr to be held on May 1 in conjunction with BC’s Lowell Humanities Series [see page 10]. For more information, and to sign up for those events that require advance registration, see the calendar at the McMullen Museum website [bc.edu/artmuseum].