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BCSSW Scrutinizes DEI in the Workplace

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

The concept of workplace equity gets a thumbs-up from most businesses and organizations, but insufficient resources to make it actually happen, according to a Boston College School of Social Work-led national study.

An ‘Ideal Fit’ for BAIC

BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER

Yvonne McBarnett has come home.

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

Vice Provost for Enrollment Management John L. Mahoney, a key architect for Boston College’s unprecedented success in undergraduate admission and enrollment during the past three decades—and one of the nation’s most respected professionals in the field—will retire from the University at the end of the 2022-2023 academic year.

Mahoney, who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from BC, returned to his alma mater in 1984 as assistant (later associate) director of undergraduate admission. He was appointed as director of undergraduate admission in 1990; in 2018, he became dean of undergraduate admission and financial aid and later that year was appointed as vice provost for enrollment management.

The University will announce plans for a restructuring of the Undergraduate Admission division at a later date.

During his tenure as director of under-

Not England, where she was born, but the Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center (BAIC), where she began her Boston College professional career in December 2002. She spent 14 years ascending from administrative assistant to program administrator before a stint at alumni relations, and seven years as a program manager and director of the Montserrat Coalition in the University Mission and Ministry division.

McBarnett, known to much of the University community as “Ms. Smiley,” won praise upon her recent appointment as BAIC director from Vice President for Student Affairs Shawna Cooper Whitehead, who noted that her leadership, vision, and mentoring skills are meaningful assets that McBarnett brings to the center.

“She has a wealth of experience and a unique ability to connect with people, particularly underrepresented and underserved students,” said Cooper Whitehead.  “She is an ideal fit for the BAIC.”

Founded in 1989 and named for the late Catholic nun, teacher, musician, liturgist, and scholar—and the first Black woman to receive an honorary Doctorate in Religion from BC—the BAIC provides support for the University’s undergradu-

ate community, with a particular focus on AHANA students and multicultural, multiracial, and Options Through Education (OTE) scholars. The center helps students navigate the challenges of college by offering programs that facilitate student

Continued on page 5

The recently released study, a joint effort between BCSSW’s Work Equity Initiative (WEI) and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the world’s largest human resources association, provides an in-depth look at the impact of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in United States workplaces.

Using a nationally representative sample of 1,062 organizations, National Study on Workplace Equity researchers reported that one-quarter of the companies have experienced gender bias (28 percent), racial bias (27 percent), or bias against older workers (26 percent) in the past two years. But although 64 percent of the organizations studied view DEI as important or very important, almost the same percentage—62—indicated that little or no resources are prioritized for DEI policies and practices.

According to the WEI leadership team—Assistant Professor Samuel Bradley Jr., Professor Emerita Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, and Faculty Fellow Kathleen Christensen—the national study is designed to examine the root causes of inequities that can be embedded into organizations’ employment systems. The WEI’s long-term goal, say the trio, is to create tools that support employers and practitioners in workplace equity.

Instead of conceptualizing the level of equity as being constant across the workplace, and throughout employees’ tenure

Continued on page 4

Each play creates a fictional form which dramatizes a distinctive form of reconciliation. Shakespeare thus provides an important model for modern dialogue which negotiates religious differences without denying them.

–prof emeritus dennis taylor (english), page 7

3 BC Companions University will launch yearlong immersive education program for adults.

5 Sloan Fellows

Ma, Sparkman earn early-career honors from Sloan Foundation.

8 Burns Scholar Lecture Eunan O’Halpin will present a different take on the Irish Civil War.

McBarnett returns to the Bowman Center, this time as its director

Yvonne McBarnett has been at Boston College since 2002.

photo by caitlin cunningham

BEATS performed at the official opening ceremony for Boston College’s celebration of Black History Month on February 9 in Gasson 100. See bit.ly/BC-BHM2023 for more events.

After Years of Success in Admission, John Mahoney Set to Retire

Around Campus

Portal Will Help Spark a World of Conversation for McMullen Visitors

Visitors to the McMullen Museum of Art “Landscape of Memory: Seven Installations from the Barjeel Art Foundation (Sharjah, UAE)” exhibition can enhance their experience with a real-time global conversation—and without leaving the building.

The museum is home this semester to the “McMullen Portal,” a videoconferencing chamber located in the third-floor Monan Gallery. These portals are interconnected, immersive audiovisual environments that allow visitors to converse with those in a distant portal—in Mexico, Ethiopia, and India, among other locations—as if they were in the same room.

Beginning February 19, the museum will offer free docent tours of the exhibition every Sunday from 2-2:30 p.m., followed by an approximately 50-minute session in the McMullen Portal. According to organizers, the portal dialogues will explore the “Landscape of Memory” exhibition’s themes of identity, exile, and memory.

This Sunday will feature Mexico City resident Maya Burns, a feminist Mexican folk singer who challenges the Ranchero style of music by injecting a feminist edge to this traditionally “machismo” musical genre. The February 26 event will explore

how the Walkers Institute for Regenerative Research and Design moves from activism to adaptation, applying design principles to create nature-based solutions to build habitat, increase biodiversity, and sequester carbon while reconnecting the community to nature through both agrotourism and other educational experiences.

The museum is inviting BC faculty and student groups to reserve sessions in the portal; a listing and description of portal connections as well as links for registering are available at www.bc.edu/sites/artmuseum/portal.

Boston College has been a frequent landing place for the portals, which are designed and hosted by Shared_Studios. During some recent semesters, including last fall, a portal has been located outside O’Neill Library and utilized by University faculty and students to connect with individuals and communities across the world. These sessions have featured conversations with Rwandan environmental activists; Iraqi, Kurdish, and Syrian refugees and displaced persons; and Afghan teenage boys, who enthusiastically discussed video games, music, and movies.

—Sean Smith

Total Compensation Info for BC Employees

Later this month, full-time employees of Boston College will receive the Total Compensation Statement: a personalized document that details the total compensation, salary plus benefits, they receive from the University. The Total Compensation Statement, which represents information for calendar year 2022, will be mailed to employees’ home addresses.

The annual statement lists an employee’s base salary plus health and wellness benefits,

Members of the Boston College community are invited to submit nominations for the annual Ever to Excel awards, which recognize students, student groups, faculty, and staff for excellence in leadership and service to the University.

All nominations are due March 1.

The 17 awards include the St. Ignatius Award for Faith in Action, honoring a student who has exemplified the imperative to “Seek God in All Things,” and demonstrated love for God by serving their neighbor and inspiring others; the Welles

ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Jack Dunn

SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Patricia Delaney

EDITOR

Sean Smith

CONTRIBUTING STAFF

Phil Gloudemans

Ed Hayward

Rosanne Pellegrini

Kathleen Sullivan

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Caitlin Cunningham

Lee Pellegrini

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

retirement plans, and tuition remission. The non-salary section will be detailed further to show an employee’s contribution and BC’s contribution. Also included are descriptions of all the benefits the University offers, from disability coverage to group auto and home insurance to adoption assistance.

(Note: New employees who started on or after July 2, 2022 should not expect a statement this year.)

—University Communications

R. Crowther Service Award, given to an undergraduate who shows a commitment to service and inspires others by their example; and the Mary Kaye Waldron Staff Award, for a staff member who exhibits a continual commitment to the ideals of BC with a self-evident belief in the need to enhance student life in a positive manner.

For more information, and to submit nominations, go to bc.edu/awards or contact Matt Razek at razek@bc.edu.

—University Communications

The McMullen Museum Portal will be the site for immersive videoconferencing experiences with people in other parts of the world.

photo by sean smith

Student dance troupe Sexual Chocolate performed on the Robsham Theater main stage on February 10. Members of the Synergy dance group also took part in the event.

PHOTO BY CAROLINE ALDEN

University to Offer Yearlong Educational Program for Adults

The University will launch a new yearlong immersive education program for adults seeking academic study, reflection, and the opportunity to consider the next chapter in their life’s journey.

Study: Anti-China Rhetoric

Cost Asian Restaurants

BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, anti-China fervor stoked consumer discrimination that caused Asian restaurants to lose an additional $7.4 billion in revenues in 2020, according to Assistant Professor of Political Science Masha Krupenkin, co-author of a new study published online in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.

Asian restaurants lost 18.4 percent more than non-Asian eateries, said Krupenkin, who co-authored the study with researchers from the University of Michigan and Microsoft Research.

The findings begin to put a finer point on the broad economic costs of anti-Asian discrimination during the pandemic and the role of politicians who focused blame on China, where the coronavirus emerged in late 2019.

Attitudes towards Chinese and nonChinese Asian food declined precipitously during the pandemic and this change in attitudes was driven by a mix of assigning blame for COVID-19 spread to Asians and experiencing fear of Chinese food, the researchers found.

“The COVID-19 pandemic originated in China,” said Krupenkin. “Many actors in American politics and media, especially those that were ideologically conservative, emphasized the connection between COVID and China as a way of placing blame for the pandemic. At the same time, there was a sharp increase in incidents of discrimination and violence against Asian Americans.”

The pandemic effectively delivered a “shock” to consumer discrimination against Chinese and other Asian restaurants, survey data, online search trends, and consumer cellular device mobility data studied by the team revealed.

“Our analysis estimates that COVIDrelated stigma and anti-Asian hate cost Asian American businesses $7.42 billion in lost revenue in 2020, highlighting how negative sentiment towards foreign entities can spill over into consumer discrimination targeting domestic minority groups,” said co-author Justin T. Huang, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Michigan. “These patterns echo how Muslim Americans faced widespread discrimination, hate, and stigma post-9/11

and exemplify how some American minority groups are perceived through the lens of the perpetual foreigner stereotype.”

There were political aspects to the downturn in business, according to the study, titled “The cost of anti-Asian racism during the COVID-19 pandemic.” A range of data found anti-Asian discrimination was stronger in areas that had a higher percentage of residents who voted for Donald Trump in 2016.

According to the organization Stop AAPI Hate, there were almost 11,000 hate incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders reported to the organization between March 2020 and December 2021.

“While there’s been research on violence against Asian Americans, most acts of discrimination are more subtle,” said Krupenkin. “We set out to measure one of these more subtle forms of discrimination: consumer discrimination. This allowed us to examine a much more common—and economically meaningful—form of discrimination against Asian-Americans.”

The team, which also included Julia Lee of the University of Michigan and David Rothschild of Microsoft Research, was surprised to find that anti-China bias among consumers also affected restaurants serving cuisine from other Asian cultures.

Consumers would sometimes misidentify other Asian restaurants as Chinese, leading to decreased visits to those restaurants as well.

“Trump and conservative media had very thoroughly connected COVID to China specifically, so it was surprising to see a decrease in visits to other Asian restaurants as well,” Krupenkin said. “We tested this more thoroughly and found that many Americans misidentify other Asian restaurants as Chinese, which likely explains the spillover effects we saw.”

Parsing unique economic challenges faced by Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic, the team believes the research has substantial implications for the study of consumer discrimination and stigmatization in public health communications.

Krupenkin said the researchers hope to further examine and connect patterns of discrimination to negative media narratives about specific groups.

The article is accessible online at www.nature.com/articles/s41562-022-01493-6.pdf

The program, called Boston College Companions, will provide a distinctive formative learning experience for 15 to 20 individuals, called Fellows, when it begins in January 2024. The Fellows will audit undergraduate and graduate courses across the University’s eight schools and colleges, and have access to campus offerings, including lectures, art exhibits, athletic events, and academic symposia. They will also have opportunities to meet with senior administrators, deans, and faculty, and will be paired with a faculty advisor to help shape their future goals beyond the year in Chestnut Hill.

“The goal of the Boston College Companions program is to welcome a small cohort of accomplished professionals into our community to learn, reflect, and discern what the future holds for them through courses, meetings, and conversations with faculty, the larger campus community, and their peers,” said Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley. “This program is a powerful expression of Boston College’s commitment to formative education—in this case focusing on lifelong learning and dialogue.“

Boston College Companions builds on established adult learning programs at other leading colleges and universities, including Harvard, Stanford, and Notre Dame, by offering distinctive components of Jesuit

spirituality and pedagogy that will help participants grow in discernment and sense of purpose. In addition to academic courses, weekly group discussions, guest lectures, and social gatherings, the program will provide opportunities for retreats, service learning, guided conversations, and spiritual direction, including a pilgrimage to Spain and Italy to learn more about the life of Jesuit founder St. Ignatius of Loyola, and an optional five-day silent retreat.

With an emphasis on building community and lasting relationships, the Companions program will encourage individuals to share their life stories and engage with fellow participants in mutually enriching conversations that include reflecting on their lives and planning for a meaningful future. Fellows will also benefit from classroom interactions with current students, creating intergenerational dialogue that will enrich all members of the BC community.

“This new program is intended to assist adults who are entering the next phase of their lives and looking to renew themselves through coursework, reflection, and spiritual engagement, said Haub Vice President for University Mission and Ministry Jack Butler, S.J. “It combines the best of what Boston College offers as a Jesuit, Catholic university committed to formative education, and makes it accessible to individuals searching for a transformative experience.”

More information about the Boston College Companions program is available at www.bc.edu/companions.

—University Communications

NASPA Bestows Award on BC’s Espresso Your Faith Week

“Espresso Your Faith,” a weeklong, campus-wide celebration of faith at Boston College sponsored by the Church in the 21st Century Center and Campus Ministry, has earned national recognition: the Spirituality and Religion in Higher Education Knowledge Community Outstanding Spiritual Initiative Award, presented by NASPA (Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education).

The Outstanding Spiritual Initiative Award recognizes a program or initiative that promotes spiritual and religious growth on a college campus and demonstrates a significant impact on a college campus by promoting spiritual and religious engagement among the student body.

Established in 2012, Espresso Your Faith Week is an annual celebration of faith that, according to C21 Director Karen Kiefer, “invites students to realize the gift of God working in their minds and hearts with the hope that they will be intentional about how they spend their time here and be inspired to see God in all things.

“Each year, in partnership with Campus Ministry and offices and organizations across campus, we offer more than 30 programs and events that are creatively curated to engage thousands of students in their faith. From programming and events to spiritual

practices and prayer-filled opportunities, the week serves as a catalyst for conversation and faith-inspired action.”

“The committee was blown away at how robust this program was and the many opportunities students had to engage in such meaningful experiences,” wrote Kenzalia Bryant-Scott, awards coordinator for NASPA’s Spirituality and Religion in Higher Education Knowledge Community, in an email announcing the award. She added that Espresso Your Faith is a model program and should be recognized as such.

“Having an opportunity to highlight and honor Espresso Your Faith Week and the work of C21 on a national platform is truly amazing,” said Senior Advisor to the Vice President of Student Affairs Colleen Dallavalle, who nominated the program for the award. “The programs offered through Espresso Your Faith Week invite introspection, reflection, and allow individuals to explore their faith wherever they are on their journey.

“I felt called to honor that, while also sharing this idea with others in hopes that it could inform practitioners, inspire colleagues, and provide opportunities for additional formative experiences in higher education.”

—Kathleen Sullivan

Asst. Prof. Masha Krupenkin (Political Science) found that the COVID-19 pandemic carried an extra economic burden for Asian restaurants.

photo by lee pellegrini

Researchers Seek Root Causes of Inequity in Workplace

Continued from page 1

at their respective jobs, the WEI leadership opted to take a more targeted approach by scrutinizing 10 different employment systems that typically are utilized within organizations. Those with the most equity are, in order, recruitment and hiring; compensation and benefits; and orientation and onboarding (the processes by which new hires are integrated into the organization). The three employment systems with the least equity are: resources and supports (10th out of 10); job structures; and supervision and mentoring.

“Traditionally, DEI work has a tendency toward heavy focus on awareness building and training, through programs such as trainings in implicit bias, anti-harassment and diversity, and the names certain groups prefer to be identified by,” said Bradley. “While those are certainly important, research has shown that these approaches can be ineffective or counterproductive. I can count the number of people in a group, but that doesn’t tell me how included they feel. The benchmarks we use are trickier to get at, but are more revealing.”

The WEI seeks to collaborate with employers in select organizations to conduct research and apply the findings to practical application through the Equity Innovation Lab, a project within the WEI. The lab, which has worked alongside organizations such as the United Way and is currently partnered with Catholic Charities Boston, aims to utilize its innovative framework to help organizations tackle difficult DEI problems in the workplace.

The survey used in the National Study on Workplace Equity also is the means through which the lab works with organizations, said Bradley, who noted that the lab’s goal is to expand its offerings nationally. “Now that we’ve collected this data in partnership with SHRM, we will be able to

BC Scenes

Women’s Summit

help other organizations assess the equity of their employment systems. Our hope is to create a set of helpful toolkits that guide them from insight to action.”

The National Study on Workplace Equity represents a classic application of social work philosophy and practice in what might seems an unfamiliar context—but actually isn’t, say the WEI co-leaders: Social work’s emphasis on evidence-based practice is as useful in helping an organization confront DEI issues as it is in resolving individual and familial problems related to behavioral or mental health issues. Whatever the setting, social work practitioners help clients understand that it is in their best interest to take an active role in improving the situation.

“Social work education can help us to understand how organizations can be made more equitable, which can be good for the overall organization and the wellbeing of employees,” said Bradley. “So, in the WEI project, we’re talking about get-

The Boston College Women’s Center hosted the annual Women’s Summit on February 4, which included a keynote address by Shereen Marisol Meraji (at right in photo below), audio producer, reporter, and co-host of National Public Radio’s critically acclaimed Code Switch podcast. The event also featured workshops—among them “How to Figure Out Your Life When You Barely Know What’s Going On,” led by Amaka Nnaeto (below right)—panels, and a student vendor fair.

ting at root causes to eliminate workplace inequities—like through flexible working arrangements for all employees, not just some. We emphasize that more flexible job structuring makes for equitable working conditions, and this translates to more engaged employees, and a more successful organization.

“Through data and benchmarking tools that we make available, organizations can take the initiative to self-examine and customize solutions to their own issues and challenges.”

The lack of equity in certain areas occurs when there is no intentionality in measuring and planning for issues of workplace and equity, noted Bradley, PittCatsouphes, and Christensen. “While there is a lot of good work happening in the DEI space, we are trying to help get at the overall experience of equity within employment systems. Without a plan for innovating in these employment systems the state of equity in any organization may be left to

chance.”

BCSSW’s efforts at promoting workplace equity also are taking place in the classroom. In the fall of 2021, the school launched a certificate program, Leaders for Equity and Justice in the Workplace, to improve equity in the workplace for women, people of color, and other marginalized employees. Students earn the certificate by completing three courses, Re-thinking Diversity, Dismantling Organizational Bias, and Creating the Inclusive Workplace.

Bradley noted that, in the school’s early years, its curriculum included such courses as Labor Relations and Principles of Employment Administration. “The idea that social workers can have an impact on workers and the workplace has been around for a long time, and it’s been part of how we educate our students here.”

The National Study on Workplace Equity can be accessed via the BCSSW Center for Social Innovation, of which Pitt-Catsouphes is co-founder. The center website is bc.edu/csi.

(L-R) Samuel Bradley Jr., Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, and Kathleen Christensen led the BC School of Social Work study on workplace DEI policies. photos by caitlin cunningham (left) and gary wayne gilbert (center)

PHOTOS BY CAROLINE ALDEN

McBarnett

identity formation, such as the Racial Identity Development Experience, and build community through events, retreats, and mentoring opportunities.

McBarnett, who emigrated from London to the Boston area when she was 13, earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a master of science degree in administrative studies from the Woods College of Advancing Studies. Her daughter, Mashaunda, is a 2016 graduate of the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, and her sister, Maleka, will earn a degree from the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences this spring.

McBarnett readily relates to BC students who suffer from the so-called “imposter syndrome”—when an individual doubts their skills, talents, or accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud—because she felt much the same as an adult returning to the classroom.  She credits her family, mentors, friends, and professors who never stopped believing in her.

“Because of that support, I was able to conquer that fear of ‘I’m not good enough [for] Boston College,’ and was able to excel,” she told The Heights in a 2017 interview.  She favors the Booker T. Washington quote, “Success is to be measured not so

much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.”

McBarnett envisions her office as the source for the same type of encouragement that she received, plus the necessary mentorship to help typically marginalized, underrepresented, and underserved students not only overcome the belief that they “don’t belong” at BC, but to thrive and flourish.

“These are the perceived barriers that so

many AHANA students grapple with every day,” said McBarnett. “They carry a heavy load. However, the goal of the office will be to offer that listening ear, to celebrate their accomplishments, and to help them achieve little wins, which will support them on their journey toward becoming the leaders of tomorrow.”

McBarnett—whose office sports a poster quoting poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou, “If you don’t like something, change it; if you can’t change

it, change your attitude”—also sees BAIC playing a larger role promoting diversity and inclusion within the University, particularly through engagement with student groups on campus.

Regarding discussions about race and respect for ethnic and cultural differences, McBarnett said, “We—the administration—are continuing to have ongoing conversations that involve students about race, identity, and culture. When students see the `head’ working wisely and well, the community will follow.”

From the vantage point of her 21 years on campus, McBarnett characterizes the University as evolving on diversity issues, and feels BC has minimized the divide between the students and the administration.

“It used to be the ‘us versus them’ mentality from the students’ perspective, but I’ve seen a more inviting attitude expressed by University leaders over the years, and students today are more comfortable talking with us,” she said.  “There is much more diversity on campus, and the University and Office of Undergraduate Admission should be commended for the commitment to increasing the number of AHANA students at BC.

“That said, once they are here, it’s our duty and pledge to serve them holistically, and our responsibility to embrace and empower them.”

For more about the Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center, see bc.edu/ ahana

Two BC Faculty Named as Sloan Research Fellows

BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER

Assistant Professor of Physics Qiong Ma and Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience Gregg Sparkman are among the recipients of 2023 Sloan Research Fellowships, awarded annually to leading early-career scientists in the United States and Canada by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

A Sloan Research Fellowship is one of the most prestigious awards available to young researchers, in part because so many past fellows have gone on to become towering figures in science, including 56 Nobel laureates.

A Boston College faculty member since 2021, Ma is an experimental physicist who conducts quantum materials research in order to discover and understand complex materials for emergent functions.

“I was thrilled to receive this news from the Sloan Foundation,” Ma said. “This recognition is a huge boost to my morale and that of my team. The fact that my research program and direction were considered important and interesting by the Sloan selection committee, which represents a wide community, is a great source of inspiration for me.”

Ma describes her work as gluing together individual constituents of materials and turning on the interactions between them. Once activated, these novel materials exhibit collective behaviors that cannot be expected from their microscopic constituents, giving rise to emergent functions. Ma’s lab aims to understand and utilize those emer-

gent functions for new technology.

Ma said the $75,000 that comes with the fellowship will help support student researchers in her lab, including attending scientific conferences. Last year, Ma was named one of 18 CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars. She is also the recipient of a National Science Foundation Early CAREER Award.

“I am very grateful to the department for recognizing my efforts and providing ongoing strong support, which has allowed me to build my research program and team at BC within a short period of time, despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Ma said.

Sparkman’s research focuses on the

psychology of social change, including research on interventions to address social problems related to the environment, health, and social inequity.

“I am very honored,” said Sparkman, who joined BC last fall. “Very few social psychologists have received this award—I take it as a good sign that the research we are conducting in the Social Influence and Social Change [SISC] Lab is able to make important contributions that, as the Sloan Foundation Fellowship notes, ‘have the potential to revolutionize their field of study.’”

The SISC Lab research focuses on social change, including research on scalable interventions to address pressing social

problems. The group studies motivations to change behavior and investigates how best to advocate for change, including the role of social influence, identity, moral reasoning, and beliefs about whether change is possible.

“This funding will help support personnel and participant funding for research that develops novel psychological approaches to facilitate positive social change to address contemporary societal problems such as those related to climate change and social inequity,” said Sparkman.

He thanked his colleagues and mentors, including psychologists Greg Walton and Carol Dweck at Stanford University, where Sparkman earned a doctorate, and Princeton’s Elke Weber.

Fellows from the 2023 cohort were drawn from a diverse group of 54 institutions across the U.S. and Canada. The awards are open to scholars in chemistry, computer science, earth system science, economics, mathematics, neuroscience, and physics.

Fifty-six fellows have received a Nobel Prize in their respective fields, 17 have won the Fields Medal in mathematics, and 22 have won the John Bates Clark Medal in economics.

“Sloan Research Fellows are shining examples of innovative and impactful research,” said Adam F. Falk, president of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. “We are thrilled to support their groundbreaking work and we look forward to following their continued success.”

photo by caitlin cunningham

The goal of the Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center, says McBarnett, will be to offer students “that listening ear, to celebrate their accomplishments, and to help them achieve little wins, which will support them on their journey toward becoming the leaders of tomorrow.”

Asst. Prof. Qiong Ma (Physics) and Asst. Prof. Gregg Sparkman (Psychology/Neuroscience)

photos by caitlin cunningham and lee pellegrini

Mahoney to Retire at End of 2022-2023 Academic Year

graduate admission, Boston College saw a dramatic rise in freshman applications that continued after he became a senior administrator and was succeeded by Grant Gosselin: from 12,403 in 1990 to 20,743 in 2000 to 34,061 in 2012; the latter figure was a record surpassed seven years later by the 35,500 applications for the Class of 2023; three years after that, undergraduate applications exceeded 40,000.

The planning and strategizing that produced such statistics is a source of pride for Mahoney, but it’s an achievement made possible by many, he says—especially the two presidents he’s served under, William P. Leahy, S.J., and J. Donald Monan, S.J., and their vision for BC as a Jesuit, Catholic university mindful of its heritage while building toward the future. He also points to his predecessor as admission director, Charles Nolan, who hired him, and retired Dean for Enrollment Management Robert Lay, who worked closely with Mahoney.

Discussing his decision to retire earlier this month, Mahoney said, “It feels like it’s the right time. These 39 years have been an amazing run, and it’s a blessing to have worked here at Boston College during a time of such incredible progress.”

The appeal of Boston College to prospective students, said Mahoney, rests on two things, one of which is its proximity to Boston. “The other thing is, students and their families like what they hear about a Boston College education, not only what happens in the classroom but the formation that takes place throughout their four years here. Parents recognize that BC is serious about helping their child grow, not just intellectually but personally, in such a critical period of life. Care of the individual: That’s what differentiates us.”

The increase in numbers of applicants to BC under Mahoney precipitated the enrollment of an undergraduate student body marked by superior academic achievement as well as greater diversity, critical factors in the emergence of BC as an elite national university. Even accounting for changes over time in the way test scores are calculated, as well as other factors, numbers for

the Class of 2026—a 1,484 mean SAT and 34 mean ACT—confirm BC’s academic excellence, said Mahoney.

During the first decade of Mahoney’s directorship, BC saw an uptick in the numbers of AHANA undergraduate applicants. From 1992 to 2002, according to a national study, the University recorded the 10th biggest increase (3.1 percent) in the share of underrepresented minorities, compared to an overall 0.4 percent gain among all entries in the US News “best national universities” category. Progress has continued, Mahoney said: AHANA students make up 36 percent of the Class of 2026, and in recent years that percentage has consistently reached the mid-30 percent range.

While they laud such statistics, Mahoney’s colleagues say his dedication to BC goes beyond the quantifiable, noting his ties as an alumnus and the son of one of BC’s most storied figures, longtime English faculty member John L. Mahoney Sr.

“

Since joining the team in Devlin Hall nearly 40 years ago, John Mahoney has been an indispensable leader as he and his colleagues have admitted nearly 100,000 young women and men who are today Boston College alumni,” said Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley. “John

“Students and their families like what they hear about a Boston College education,” says Mahoney, “not only what happens in the classroom but the formation that takes place throughout their four years here.”

remains one of the most eloquent voices in articulating what makes this a special place among the nation’s best universities.  Like his father before him, John leaves a remarkable legacy here on the Heights.”

“It is significant that the person responsible for the admission of tens of thousands of undergraduates beginning in the early 1990s is himself a model of the ‘wellrounded’ individual that we all seek in college admissions,” said Lay. “John exhibits a balance of strong verbal skills and insightful mathematical skills. Through his words he commands a room of prospective students and parents on the essence of the Boston College experience, and with his analytical skills he directs enrollment modeling and statistical planning for each incoming class.”

Mahoney’s work in undergraduate admission has been recognized by his peers. In 2002, he won the John B. Muir Editor’s Award from the National Association for College Admission Counseling for his article “Perception of the Profession Is a Cause for Concern,” published in the Journal of College Admission. In 2014, the New England Association for College Admission Counseling selected him for the Harry R. Carroll Distinguished Service Award, which honors a college admission counseling professional whose contributions and achievements merit special recognition and whose work reflects the spirit and principles of its namesake.

Yet Mahoney’s success was hardly preordained. He spent the first five years after his graduation from BC as an English teacher at St. John’s Preparatory School in Danvers, Mass., an experience he found demanding yet invaluable: “When you’re teaching 14- to 16-year-old boys, you have to bring it every day. I had to be prepared,

engaged, enthusiastic, and passionate about what I was saying, and I feel this prepared me well to speak about BC when I joined the Admission Office.”

Mahoney succeeded Nolan as director of admission at an inauspicious time for higher education, with the college-age population at low ebb; the number of high school graduates during his first years at the helm of undergraduate admission was only 2.4 million, with the biggest decline in the Northeast. BC, he recalled, had to begin recruiting nationally and internationally. It was a challenge he took on personally, making visits to high schools across the country.

“Bob [Lay] told me, ‘You need to be a national figure in two years,’” recalled Mahoney. “I wanted to get out to as many places as I could, like Salt Lake City, St. Louis, and Denver. Sometimes, when I’d come to a high school, one of the counselors would ask why the BC director of admission was visiting: ‘Did we do something wrong?’ But I loved talking to the students about liberal arts education and BC; it was enriching.”

Mahoney can wax nostalgically about how aspects of the admission process have changed during his time at BC—such as when he and his admission staff would lug home freshman applications (70 to 80 apiece) in mail crates to read through them—but one constant has been those undergraduates who have aided the office as campus tour guides or in panel discussions on student life.

“They are in many ways our most valuable resource, because they have lived experience,” said Mahoney, recounting how one such student answered a parent’s question of whether BC faculty hold office hours. “He said the question should be, ‘Do you have coffee-and-cellphone faculty?’ And he explained that he had his professors’ numbers in his cellphone, and knew that he could call them and say, ‘Would you have a cup of coffee with me? I need to talk about something.’ That’s the sort of thing which really stands out to prospective students and parents.”

Biographer of AA Co-founder’s Spiritual Advisor to Speak Feb. 28

Since its founding nearly a century ago, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) has helped millions of people with drinking problems achieve sobriety. A Jesuit priest who played an instrumental role in the life of AA cofounder Bill Wilson is the subject of an upcoming campus talk by Dawn Eden Goldstein, author of the new biography Father Ed: The Story of Bill W.’s Spiritual Sponsor.

The lecture will take place February 28 at noon in the Heights Room of Corcoran Commons. Goldstein’s lecture is cosponsored by the Boston College Libraries, Center for Ignatian Spirituality, School of Theology and Ministry, Church in the 21st Century Center, and Jesuit Institute.

Edward Dowling, S.J. (1898-1960) grew up in St. Louis and played baseball

as a boy but in his 20s was diagnosed with a debilitating form of arthritis that forced him to use a cane for the rest of his life. During his novitiate, he struggled with his vocation and his faith, but his physical and spiritual suffering may have made him a kindred soul to those facing addiction and other troubles, according to Goldstein.

“Fr. Ed” and Wilson first met in 1940, during a period when Wilson—who became known as “Bill W.”—was struggling to advance the fledgling AA, which he had founded with Robert Smith five years prior. Wilson credited Fr. Ed, whom he called “the greatest and most gentle soul to walk this planet,” with rescuing him from depression and providing the spiritual guidance needed to bring AA to national,

and eventually international, prominence.

Fr. Ed wrote about the connections he saw between AA’s 12-step program and the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Beyond helping alcoholics, Fr. Ed ministered to people in troubled marriages and those suffering from nervous disorders. He was also a champion of civil rights and other social justice issues, according to Goldstein, who has called him an “extraordinary Jesuit whose passion was to help people with problems.”

For the biography, Goldstein drew on the personal papers of Wilson and Fr. Ed as well as newspaper archives. She also interviewed Fr. Ed’s former secretary and the priest’s niece and nephew.

Publishers Weekly praised the biography, calling it “a powerful take on an often

overlooked spiritual influence on Alcoholics Anonymous.”

A convert to Catholicism, Goldstein is an award-winning author of four other books, The Thrill of the Chaste, My Peace I Give You: Healing Sexual Wounds with the Help of the Saints, Remembering God’s Mercy, and Sunday Will Never Be the Same. She received a doctorate in sacred theology from the University of St. Mary of the Lake in 2016, becoming the first woman in the university’s history to earn a canonical doctorate, and has taught at universities and Catholic seminaries in the United States, England, and India.

To register for the event, go to https:// bit.ly/goldstein-fr-ed.

—Kathleen Sullivan

photo by lee pellegrini

Taylor Examines Shakespeare’s Handling of Religious Differences

BY ROSANNE PELLEGRINI STAFF WRITER

A major new work of literary criticism by Professor Emeritus of English Dennis Taylor is drawing accolades from prominent Shakespearean scholars.

Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Reformation: Literary Negotiation of Religious Difference argues, via the work of English playwright William Shakespeare, the importance of Catholicism as a necessary dialogue partner, with Protestantism and secularism, in Western culture.

Taylor’s book examines Shakespeare’s dramatization of key issues of the Elizabethan Reformation, including the conflict between the sacred, the critical, and the disenchanted, as well as the Catholic, the Protestant, and the secular.

This detailed work of scholarship shows how Shakespeare was negotiating the key religious differences of his time, according to Taylor. Born and raised a Catholic, as most scholars now agree, Shakespeare coped with what he and others experienced as the trauma of the Protestant Reformation. Attending Mass and observing other Catholic rituals were proscribed under severe penalties.

“While many applauded the new Protestantism, many resisted,” Taylor explained. “This fierce cultural war, the source of many cultural wars to come, characterized Shakespeare’s formative years. In response, he sought to imagine possibilities of reconciliation between the Catholic, Protestant, and secular currents of his time.”

Shakespeare’s plays show how all three perspectives are needed if society is to face its intractable problems, providing a powerful model for our own ecumenical dialogues, according to the book’s description.

“Each play creates a fictional form which dramatizes a distinctive form of reconciliation,” Taylor said. “Shakespeare thus provides an important model for modern dialogue which negotiates religious differences without denying them.”

Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Reformation has been hailed as “a magisterial study [and a] rich and indispensable landmark,” by Rev. David Beauregard, emeritus professor of church history at St John’s Seminary. Hofstra University professor Emeritus of English John Klause described the book as “essential reading for anyone interested in Shakespeare’s relation to the religious, a-religious, and irreligious currents of his time—and beyond his time.” College of the Holy Cross

Upcoming campus music events include a performance on Sunday at 3 p.m. in Gasson 100 by the Boston College Symphony Orchestra, conducted by John Finney. The program includes Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 5” and Barber’s “Violin Concerto, 1st and 2nd movements,” featuring Kristen Lee ’23, winner of the 2022-2023 Boston College Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition.

BC in the Media

The “Great Resignation” created the idea that people were leaving the labor force forever, but new hard data is proving differently, as Prof. David Blustein (LSOEHD) noted in an interview with Scripps TV News.

An op-ed in America magazine by Assoc. Prof. Hosffman Ospino (STM)) drew on findings from his national study conducted with Roche Center for Catholic Education

Executive Director Melodie Wyttenbach

Vice President for Student Affairs  Shawna Cooper Whitehead contributed a blog post on the importance of vocational discernment for NASPA, Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education.

Ireland’s proposed legislation on redress for survivors of mother and baby homes is deeply flawed, according to Assoc. Prof. James Smith (English), author of an op-ed for  The Journal (Ireland).

Assoc. Prof. of the Practice  Richard McGowan, S.J. (CSOM), provided insights to WBUR News and The Boston Globe about the arrival of legal sports betting in Massachusetts.

Center for Digital Innovation in Learning

Associate Director John FitzGibbon was among those interviewed by WGBH News for a story on how AI technology is growing in popularity, prompting educators to assess how it fits—or doesn’t fit—in classroom settings.

The New York Times highlighted research by Assoc. Prof.  David Hopkins (Political Science) for a piece on the urban-rural partisan divide in American politics.

Millions of Americans are quitting their jobs each month, even in the face of high inflation. Retired Prof.   Christine O’Brien (CSOM) discussed the contributing factors and potential economic impact in a Q&A with WalletHub.

English Professor Lee Oser praised Taylor as “that rare gem among scholars, a first-rate historicist whose work illuminates Shakespeare’s greatness as a literary artist.”

Taylor joined the English Department faculty in 1971, served as chair from 19821987, and retired in 2008. He spent his early years studying Victorian realist Thomas Hardy and authored several books on his poetry and language.

He changed his scholarly focus in 1996 after seeing the movie “Hamlet”—adapted and directed by British actor and filmmaker Kenneth Branagh—with its vivid portrayal of King Hamlet’s ghost. Taylor asked himself: “Why is Shakespeare presenting a ghost who mourns being assassinated without benefit of the Catholic sacraments? Did Shakespeare have some interest in Catholicism and the Reformation?”

This led him to co-edit and write the introduction to Shakespeare and the Culture of Christianity in Early Modern England, a collection of essays in which scholars address the question. Taylor then spent the next few decades writing on Shakespeare and religious issues.

Of his new work, Taylor—who inaugurated and served as the first editor of the journal Religion and the Arts—noted that he is “one of a number of scholars at BC who are developing the nature of interreligious dialogue, so important now for our divided time.”

For more on the book, see rb.gy/ua5trc

Finney also will direct the University Chorale on February 25 at 7 p.m. in St. Ignatius Church.

On February 26, the Irish Studies program’s Gaelic Roots series will host Boston-based singer and storyteller Kate Chadbourne at 6:30 p.m. in Connolly House.

Information on these and other events available at events.bc.edu.

Prof. Brian Quinn (Law) offered comments to The Boston Globe for a story on a suit against Twitter by a consulting firm and an air charter company over unpaid invoices for services pre-dating Elon Musk’s $44 billion takeover.

Assoc. Prof.  Robert Murphy (Economics) weighed in on the Federal Reserve and the outlook for rate hikes in a WalletHub Q&A.

Jobs

The following are among the recent positions posted by the Department of Human Resources. For more information on employment opportunities at Boston College, see www.bc.edu/jobs or scan the QR code at right.

Staff Psychologist or Staff Clinician

Associate Director, Athletics Communications

Assistant Director, Reporting & Data

Analytics

Senior Events Specialist

Patrol Officer

Staff Nurse

Lead Wait Staff

Associate Director, First Year Experience

Academic Support Assistant, Law School

Head Librarian, Social Work Library

Senior Network Systems Engineer

Program Administrator, McNair Scholars Program

Associate Director, Student Affairs Title IX

Supervisor, Audio & Event Services

Transitions & Summer Operations Assistant

After lavishing employees with perks, including expanded parental leave, in a tight labor market, companies have now turned to mass job cuts, reported The New York Times, which cited research by the Boston College Center for Work & Family and comments by its executive director, Brad Harrington

Principal Data Architect

Asst. Coach, Women’s Soccer

Quality Assurance Lead

Public Safety Dispatcher

Senior Applications Architect/Engineer

Software Release Analyst

Asst. Director, Housing Operations

Research Program Manager

Dining Management Intern

Senior Research Associate, Connell School of Nursing

Post-doctoral Research Fellow (multiple positions)

Prof. Emeritus Dennis Taylor (English)

photo by caitlin cunningham

BC Arts

Taking Another View of the Irish Civil War

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

For Burns Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies Eunan O’Halpin, his fondness for reading print newspapers mirrors his approach to scholarly work, delving into bureaucratic archives of diplomatic, governmental, administrative, and military correspondence and records.

“When you leaf through the newspaper to get to what you want to read, you find yourself stopping at something else that catches your interest, and this can lead to revelations that are as profound as they are unexpected,” explained O’Halpin, a professor emeritus of contemporary Irish history at Trinity College Dublin.

“That’s how it is when I’m in a library or archive. If you want to get a ground-level view of history, this is the kind of material that offers straightforward, detail-oriented narratives. The joy of this work is what I call serendipitous research, where I might initially go for collection ‘X,’ but wind up looking at collection ‘Y’ because of something I found in ‘X,’ and so I end up incorporating that in my project.”

It’s this methodology that helped spark O’Halpin’s interest in studying similarities between Ireland and Afghanistan’s struggles to cope with anomalous, British-imposed and maintained borders, for example, or the political violence precipitating the Irish Civil War of 1922-1923—the subject of his Burns Scholar Lecture on March 2 at 5:30 p.m. in the Burns Library Thompson Room.

A collaboration between the Center for Irish Programs and University Libraries, the Burns Scholar program brings outstanding academics, writers, journalists, librarians, and other notable figures to the University to teach courses, offer public lectures, and work with the resources of the Burns Library in their ongoing research, writing, and creative endeavors related to Irish history, art, and culture.

O’Halpin is a specialist in 20th-century Irish and British political, administrative, and diplomatic history, and in the role of intelligence in diplomatic, counterinsurgency, and related activities. His books include Head of the Civil Service: A Study of Sir Warren Fisher, Defending Ireland: The Irish State and Its Enemies Since 1922, Spying on Ireland: British Intelligence and Irish Neutrality during the Second World War, and (with Daithí Ó Corráin), The Dead of the Irish Revolution. A former civil servant, he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from University College Dublin and a doctorate from the University of Cambridge.

This semester, Halpin is teaching the class Ireland, America and Britain during the Cold War and Beyond (1945-2023), which explores relations between the United

States and Ireland in the context of evolving Anglo-Irish, Anglo-American, and broader geopolitics.

In his upcoming lecture, “An Island at War: Reframing Irish Political Violence, 1922-23,” O’Halpin will offer his perspective on a controversial and troubling chapter in Irish history: the conflict known as the Irish Civil War that flared a century ago between supporters and opponents of the treaty ending the Irish War of Independence against Britain (1919-1921), with the protreaty side emerging victorious. Precise figures for combatant and civilian deaths have never been verified, but are estimated to be at least 1,500 and probably more, and the economic damage to Ireland was substantial.

O’Halpin, for his part, believes the focus on the purely military aspect of the civil war is misplaced. More Irish civilians were killed, mainly in Northern Ireland, in the months leading up to the government/pro-treaty forces’ June 28, 1922, attack on an anti-treaty Dublin stronghold—generally regarded as the start of the war—than afterwards, and most civilian deaths were from assassinations and other targeted violence.

While the Irish Civil War was tragic and traumatic, O’Halpin believes some perspective is in order in assessing its impact on Ireland. “The war defined our politics,” he says, “but not our society.”

“What happened in the months before June 1922? There was a settling of scores left over from the Anglo-Irish War along various fault lines: sectarian killings; killings of expolice; killings of people suspected of being on ‘the other side’ or helping whoever the enemy was. In newly established Northern Ireland, there was ferocious conflict particularly in Belfast, resulting in almost 400 deaths, about 60 percent being Catholic civilians. By contrast, in newly independent Ireland’s ‘civil war,’ most of the civilian injuries and deaths that occurred can be considered accidental—someone caught in a crossfire between the pro- and anti-treaty forces, for example.”

Such details can be gleaned from administrative and military records or private papers from that period, said O’Halpin: “Even the Irish Republican Army, which by then was an ‘underground’ force, was highly bureaucratic and kept records—they

had to track their various expenses, including bribes and use of equipment. So, using different sources, it’s possible to reconstruct the events that occurred with a good deal of confidence.”

For example, there was the case of a 13-year-old girl from a Protestant family killed during an IRA raid on her border home in June 1922, and an elderly single Protestant farmer shot dead while attending a funeral. Although the girl’s death may have been unintended, the attack on her home was premeditated, said O’Halpin, as was the farmer’s shooting—because he had no next of kin, his property was vulnerable to seizure by the IRA. In such instances, the minority Protestant community would have interpreted these deaths as sectarian, like those of the 13 Protestant males killed in the Bandon Valley in April of 1922.

Recent decades have seen a concerted effort in academic, political, and other circles to promote discussion not only about the conflict itself but the way it has been chronicled and perceived in the Irish memory: An Irish journalist in the 1950s famously referred to it as an “unspeakable war” that seemingly nobody wanted to talk about, despite the fact that many civil war veterans had published or otherwise shared their accounts and later generations contested the “code of silence” characterization.

While the Irish Civil War was certainly tragic and traumatic, said O’Halpin—as are most civil wars—he believes that some perspective is in order in assessing its impact on Ireland. He points out that after the armed conflict ended, political violence waned swiftly and dramatically in both the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland; although some combatants or civilians on both sides felt compelled to leave Ireland for their safety, those numbers were fairly small, and emigration was a shared experience for the rank-and-file of both sets of combatants.

O’Halpin’s family history reflects the complexities of the Anglo-Irish and Irish Civil wars period. His great-grandfather P.J. Moloney was a member of the first Dáil Éireann, the Irish assembly. P.J.’s son Paddy was killed by Black and Tans (Royal Irish

Constabulary reinforcements), and his Tipperary home and business burned to the ground. P.J. voted against the treaty and after winning re-election refused to take his seat in the Dáil. P.J.’s sons, Jim and Con Moloney, were senior officers on the antitreaty side, but once released from captivity suffered no further repercussions. O’Halpin said of his grandfather: “No one took his business away, and he was allowed to vote.”

O’Halpin’s grand-uncle Kevin Barry was one of Ireland’s most storied war martyrs. Executed by the British in 1920 at age 18 for his part in an IRA attack that killed a British soldier, Barry was memorialized in a song that is still a fixture in many Irish repertoires, and even beyond—others who recorded it included Paul Robeson and singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen (ABBA co-founder Björn Ulvaeus also composed a tribute to Barry while a member of a Swedish folk band).

O’Halpin published Kevin Barry: An Irish Rebel in Life and Death, in which he analyzes his ancestor’s ideological formation and puts Barry’s story in the context of the generation of young men who joined the IRA to fight the British, and later one another. It is a family legacy O’Halpin acknowledges and embraces, but which has not guided or restricted his wider view of the events and circumstances surrounding the Irish Civil War.

“My parents’ generation was not interested in pushing us down the path of fervent Irish republicanism; they looked forward. There are some generalizations about the war that must be cast aside. Contrary to what one might expect if looking at the war in terms of social revolution, it was not the young, poor, and less educated members of Dáil Eireann who rejected the treaty, but the older, more settled, and better educated.

“The war defined our politics,” he said, “but not our society.”

The Burns Lecture, preceded by a 4:30 p.m. reception, is free and open to the public. For more information on the Burns Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies program, see libguides.bc.edu/burnsscholars.

Burns Scholar Lecture: March 2

Eunan O’Halpin, the Burns Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies for the spring semester.

photo by lee pellegrini