The Boston College
Chronicle Published by the Boston College Office of News & Public Affairs december 10, 2015 VOL. 23 no. 8
A recent $10 million gift from the foundation of longtime Boston College benefactor and parent, and current University Trustee Mario Gabelli will support the beautification of the BC campus. In recognition of the gift, made through the University’s Light the World campaign, Boston College will name the open spaces around Conte Forum as the Gabelli Plazas. These areas are among the most frequented public spaces on campus, especially on football game days, and enjoyed by many students, alumni, parents and visiMario Gabelli tors, noted BC administrators.
“One of our goals in developing the campus is to bring more attention to important outdoor spaces and the role they play in the lives of our students,” said Executive Vice President Michael Lochhead. “The Gabelli Plazas are incredibly vibrant, and not just on game days. Most members of our community walk through and pause at these plazas almost daily and now, thanks to the wonderful gift of the Gabelli family, we can sustain and enhance them even further.” The gift adds to the legacy of generosity toward BC forged
By Jack Dunn Director of News & Public Affairs
•BC undergrads host Model UN high-schoolers •Financial VP McKenzie says farewell
3
•CSOM professor’s fantasy game a winner
4
•Do luxury and charity mix during holidays?
faculty researchers 5 •BC explore other aspects of immigration issues
6
•Fr. Morello examines complex role of Catholic Church in ‘Dirty War’ •Kearney, Gallagher team up for unique project on 1916 Irish Rising •Photos: ‘Week of Dance’
Additions’; BC 7 •’Welcome in the Media; Briefings •Students compete in the Fed Challenge Connolly leaves 8 •Seamus Irish music legacy at BC
Boston College’s Christmas tree on the Plaza at O’Neill Library, Dec. 3. More photos on page 8. (Photo by Lee Pellegrini)
Place of Desperation Three-year stint working with Middle East refugees a vivid memory for STM student By Sean Smith Chronicle Editor
The controversy over whether the US should accept refugees from Syria is not some abstract topic for School of Theology and Ministry student Daniel Corrou, SJ: For many months, they were people he saw every day, and whose lives he and his colleagues tried to improve. Corrou, a Jesuit scholastic from Saratoga Springs, NY, who entered STM in 2014, spent nearly three years in Beirut, Lebanon, as part of his regency – a period in a Jesuit’s formation during which
he becomes immersed in the apostolic and community life of a Jesuit province. As it happened, Corrou’s stay in the Middle East coincided with the unfolding of the so-called Arab Spring, a series of uprisings that brought an additional layer of complexity and volatility to the already distressed region. One of its numerous consequences was the multi-faceted conflict in Syria that exacerbated an already serious refugee situation in Lebanon – one to which Corrou, as an administrator with the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), bore witness. Continued on page 4
QUOTE:
Lee Pellegrini
Alumnus Burke Appointed as Financial VP, Treasurer
INSIDE 2
by Gabelli, the chairman and CEO of GAMCO Investors Inc., highlighted by his longstanding support of the University’s Presidential Scholars Program, which provides an integrated educational experience for some of BC’s most accomplished students. Last year, the program was named the Gabelli Presidential Scholars Program following a major gift from the Gabelli Family Foundation. In 2010, through a $3 million gift from Gabelli, the Carroll School of Management established the Mario J. Gabelli EnContinued on page 3
Boston College has named Associate Vice President of Finance John D. Burke as its new financial vice president and treasurer. He will succeed Peter McKenzie, who is retiring on Dec. 18 after 25 years of service. Burke, the University’s chief finance leader and a 1984 graduate of Boston College, brings to the position 30 years of financial leadership in both higher education and health care. After serving in leadership roles at Caritas Chris-
John D. Burke
ti, St. Elizabeth Medical Center and Partners Health Care System, Burke returned to his alma mater Continued on page 3
Nikolova Named Coughlin Prof. By Ed Hayward Staff Writer
Lee Pellegrini
University Health Services Director Thomas Nary, MD, announced yesterday that public health authorities have confirmed the presence of norovirus among Boston College students. Dr. Nary said that more than 120 students had reported to University Health Services “with symptoms consistent with the norovirus.” Nearly all cases are related to students who at the Chipotle restaurant in Cleveland Circle during the past weekend, he said. Read the full announcement at www.bc.edu/offices/uhs/health_ alert.html
$10 Million Gabelli Foundation Gift to Beautify Campus Lee Pellegrini
Norovirus Confirmed Among BC Students
Carroll School of Management Assistant Professor of Marketing Hristina Nikolova has been named the Diane Harkins Coughlin and Christopher J. Coughlin Sesquicentennial Assistant Professor, making her the most recent faculty member to be recognized by a University-wide initiative to support early-career professors. Funding for the professorships comes from the University’s Light the World campaign’s Sesquicentennial Challenge, which is de-
Hristina Nikolova
signed to provide financial support for the research and scholarship of junior faculty. Continued on page 5
“The decade of centenaries is highly charged in Ireland. Everyone is wondering whether the commemorations will heal the scars of a contested history or open the wounds of a fragile peace.” –Associate Professor of Fine Arts Sheila Gallagher, page 6