Will take office when Fr. Leahy steps down in summer of 2026
BY JACK DUNN
ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
The Boston College Board of Trustees has named John T. “Jack” Butler, S.J., Haub Vice President for University Mission and Ministry, as Boston College’s 26th president. He will succeed University President William P. Leahy, S.J., who will step down in the summer of 2026.
A well-respected and trusted administrator who has served on the president’s senior leadership team since 2010, Fr. Butler has played a key role in advancing the University’s strategic priorities in formative education, curriculum renewal, and student wellness. He has worked closely with faculty, administrators, students, and alumni to
Whoop It Up
enhance the mission, culture, and heritage of Boston College as a top-ranked Jesuit, Catholic institution of higher education.
One of the architects of formative education at Boston College, which seeks to
integrate the intellectual, religious, social, and affective dimensions of students’ lives to help them discern their calling and develop their gifts in the service of others, Fr. Butler partners with the provost and vice president for student affairs to further this fundamental element of the BC educational experience.
He also was part of the team of institutional leaders and faculty committed to renewing Boston College’s Core Curriculum, and has served on the search committees for all senior administrator positions during the past 15 years.
In addition, Fr. Butler has directly assisted undergraduate and graduate students, providing counseling and guidance on personal issues and career goals, and engaged with student-athletes, serving as chaplain to the Boston College football program since 2010. A gifted speaker and homilist, he has inspired many BC students to find their calling, with the ultimate formative goal of helping them to lead lives of meaning and purpose. He is frequently invited to ad-
dress students, staff, alumni, and parents at lectures, discussions, retreats, and reunions, and to speak at high schools, colleges and universities throughout the country.
As Haub Vice President for University Mission and Ministry, Fr. Butler is responsible for all programs and efforts that promote BC’s Jesuit, Catholic culture and heritage, and administers a number of mission-based outreach programs including Campus Ministry, the Center for Student Formation, the Volunteer and Service Learning Center, the Office of First Year Experience, and the Montserrat Coalition for students, as well as the Center for Ignatian Spirituality and BC’s Intersections program for faculty and staff.
Since 2019, he has also worked with University Advancement to raise nearly $40 million for BC initiatives supporting academics and student life.
In announcing the selection, Board of Trustees Chair John Fish said that Fr. Butler possessed the vision, leadership, and re-
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Woods College and NHL Players’ Association Reach Agreement
BY JACK DUNN ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
The Woods College of Advancing Studies at Boston College and the National Hockey League Players’ Association have reached an agreement that will enable current and former members of the NHLPA to complete their education at Boston College through NHLPA UNLMT, providing an invaluable resource for professional hockey players looking to earn college degrees.
The agreement was signed by Woods College Dean David Goodman and NHLPA Executive Director Marty Walsh, a Woods College graduate, to help association members complete the coursework needed to earn a college diploma or certificate. Under the agreement, Woods College will review applications and transfer credits on a case-by-case basis, with the goal of mapping courses from prior institutions to its degree programs. The school will accept up to 90 transfer course credits of eligible students towards Boston College’s 120-credit degree requirement, facilitating degree completion for individuals whose
college years were interrupted when they signed pro contracts. Woods College also welcomes applications from NHLPA members with no college background who are interested in starting a degree program.
“The Woods College’s strength as a national leader in college degree completion and our successful, organic relationship with professional athletes over the years led us to pursue this agreement with the NHLPA,” said Goodman.
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John T. “Jack” Butler, S.J.
Boston College student dance troupe Sexual Chocolate raised the roof during its February 14 performance at Robsham Theater.
PHOTOS BY ANN HERMES
Around Campus
When Disaster Strikes, ‘Our Students Look for Ways to Help’
The disastrous spate of January wildfires that leveled an estimated 18,000 metro Los Angeles-area homes and businesses—dramatically disrupting the lives of more than 200,000 residents and causing $250 billion in financial losses—simultaneously motivated two Boston College undergraduates, whose homes are 2,000 miles apart, to form an on-campus alliance to raise funds for the victims.
Through cataclysmic kismet, LA native Marine Degryse ’26 and Georgia Paris ’26, of Jeffersonville, Ind., serendipitously met through BC’s Volunteer and Service Learning Center (VSLC), driven by their mutual desire to help the numerous displaced families and individuals in Southern California. With the VSLC’s assistance, the pair organized a fundraiser in January that netted $10,000 for the Wildfires Disaster Relief Fund of Catholic Charities of Los Angeles Inc., a non-profit organization endorsed by the Council on Accreditation for Children and Family Services.
“I have an uncle who lives in the Pacific Palisades,” said Paris, referencing the Los Angeles community where the wildfires destroyed more than 6,800 structures and damaged nearly 1,000 others. “So, I wanted to do something—possibly a clothing drive—to help the victims of the fire. Community service is very important to me, so I reached out to the VSLC, and coincidently, Marine—whom I had never met—had done the same.”
On January 21, during lunch in Corcoran Commons and dinner at Carney’s at McElroy Commons, Paris and Degryse pitched students to donate their Dining Bucks to the cause. They preceded their
BC Scenes
Just By ‘Accident’
fundraiser with social media posts, emails, and texts to on-campus friends, while the VSLC supplied critical guidance, electronic promotion, posters and signage, and logistical support.
“It was heartwarming to see so many students enthusiastically respond to our plea, particularly since it was so personal for me,” said Degryse, whose family—though unscathed—was under an evacuation warning.
“My neighborhood itself was not negatively impacted but many families and friends lost their homes. I wanted to be a good com-
Jack Dunn
SENIOR
Patricia Delaney
EDITOR Sean Smith
munity member, which motivated me to bring the fundraising idea to the VSLC.”
VSLC Assistant Director Kendra Glenn was only too happy to provide assistance.
“Marine and Georgia took their empathy and put it into action to do good. We encourage all students who feel passionately about a cause or a disaster to come to us and we will do our best to partner with them to find a solution.”
“When there is a major disaster in the world it is not uncommon for our students to look for ways to help,” said Dan Ponset-
to, the Welles Remy Crowther Director of the VSLC. “We have a partnership in place with Auxiliary Services whereby students can raise funds in the dining halls, so we are often able to create a way to engage the whole student body in responding to the event. The most important piece needed is student leadership, and that is what Marine and Georgia provided.”
Catholic Charities’ emergency relief assistance included food, clothing, transportation, household needs, and necessities; financial aid, including rental/mortgage assistance, motel/hotel vouchers, utility assistance, and security deposits; gift cards for essential supplies; property and insurance consultation; FEMA applications and appeals guidance; access to long-term disaster case management; and referrals to existing resource hubs and disaster recovery centers.
A letter from Degryse and Paris outlining their fundraising motivations accompanied the donation, which was transmitted by the VSLC.
Paris, a psychology major and film studies minor, noted that the entire experience was not only enlightening but clearly demonstrated the potentially significant impact of volunteerism.
“It truly restored my hope for humanity,” she said. “BC students are awesome; so many students showed they cared. For me, it was an opportunity to exhibit my Christian identity.”
Degryse, an economics major and marketing minor, agreed: “It was so uplifting to see BC students who cared about what happened in Los Angeles, a city so distant from Boston.”
—Phil Gloudemans
Phil Gloudemans
Ed Hayward
Audrey Loyack
Rosanne Pellegrini
Kathleen Sullivan
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Caitlin Cunningham Lee Pellegrini
Juniors Marine Degryse (center) and Georgia Paris (right) spearheaded a fundraising effort to help Los Angeles-area wildfire victims. At left is Kendra Glenn, assistant director of the BC Volunteer and Service Learning Center, who helped the pair coordinate the campaign.
photo by lee pellegrini
Robsham Theater and the Theatre Department staged Dario Fo’s based-inhistory comic play “Accidental Death of an Anarchist” on February 19 at the Bonn Studio Theater.
photos by lee pellegrini
BC Among Top Tier of U.S. Research Universities
BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER
Boston College has again been recognized as one of the nation’s premier research universities in the latest designations used by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, a joint project of the Carnegie Foundation and the American Council on Education.
The University was classified a Research 1—or R1—institution, the highest classification, based on “Very High Spending and Doctorate Production.” Each year, R1 institutions spend at least $50 million on research and development and award at least 70 research doctorates.
In fiscal year 2023, BC’s research spending totaled $81.4 million, growing from $57 million in 2020. The R1 classification, which BC first attained in 2016, includes less than three percent of educational institutions in the United States.
Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley said renewed classification as an R1 institution is recognition of a long-term, campus-wide commitment to research across all disciplines. The University’s 2017 Strategic Plan identified support for research that contributes to the com-
mon good as a leading institutional priority, according to Quigley.
“Nearly a decade later,” Quigley said, “it’s encouraging to see this external affirmation of our standing among the top tier of national research universities, as we work to advance pathbreaking scholarship animated by our distinctive mission and our ambitions to explore the frontiers of knowledge and to help address pressing societal problems.”
Research funding from government agencies, private foundations, and other external sources in 2023-2024 topped the $80 million mark for the first time in University history, a milestone that faculty and administrators attributed to nearly two decades of strategic initiatives and investment.
Aligned with the priorities of the University’s Strategic Plan, investments have been made in office, classroom, and lab space, equipment and technology, and support services for researchers, all of which have expanded research capacity, retained experienced scholars, and attracted stellar new faculty.
BC has made an approximately $300 million investment in the sciences, including the construction of 245 Beacon
Street—home to the Human-Centered Engineering Department, a rapidly growing Computer Science Department, and the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society—which opened in 2022. In the liberal arts, BC opened Stokes Hall in 2013, now a focal point of humanities scholarship.
The Provost’s Office has also supported high-impact research through its IGNITE and RADS internal grants programs, designed to foster collaborative projects to
Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley: “It’s encouraging to see this external affirmation of our standing among the top tier of national research universities, as we work to advance pathbreaking scholarship animated by our distinctive mission and our ambitions to explore the frontiers of knowledge and to help address pressing societal problems.”
photo by lee pellegrini
advance ideas and projects that could one day compete for funding from agencies like the National Science Foundation or the National Institutes of Health, as well as private foundations.
Starting in 1970, the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education developed a classification of colleges and universities to support its program of research and policy analysis. Using empirical data on colleges and universities, the Carnegie Classification was originally published in 1973. The framework has been widely used in the study of higher education, both as a way to represent and control for institutional differences, and also in the design of research studies to ensure adequate representation of sampled institutions, students, or faculty.
A Grateful Grad Establishes Faculty Fellowship
BY JACK DUNN ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
In gratitude for the formative education he received at Boston College and the faculty who made his experience so meaningful, 2006 BC graduate Mike Dixon has established the Dixon Family Provost Faculty Fellowship for Teaching Excellence, awarded to a faculty member whose classroom instruction has left an indelible impression on students.
Ed Taylor ’81, a popular senior lecturer in the Carroll School of Management who has taught accounting and taxation to students, including Dixon, since 1986, was chosen by Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley as the inaugural holder of the fellowship, in recognition of his commitment to mentoring and teaching excellence.
Dixon, a managing partner of the San Francisco-based firm Transformation Capital, and a member of the BC Board of Regents, was a member of the Gabelli Presidential Scholars Program who doublemajored in finance and accounting in the Carroll School.
Working in partnership with Quigley and staff from University Advancement, Dixon said he established the fellowship to honor great teachers who helped pave the way for his personal and professional success.
“While I have enthusiastically supported the Gabelli Presidential Scholars Program, without which I could not have attended BC, and the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies, out of my appreciation for the
work of Director Casey Beaumier, S.J., I decided that I wanted to support professors who make a difference in the lives of students,” said Dixon.
“I did not want to be involved in who was selected for the fellowship, so when I found out it was Ed Taylor, I was thrilled. Every student in his class loved him. He is a superb teacher who makes accounting fun and genuinely cares about his students’ success. He is the canonical example of the professor I hoped BC would recognize through this faculty fellowship.”
Taylor, who has taught more than 270 classes with some 10,000 students, has won multiple teaching awards including the Mary Kaye Waldron Award in 2004, the Carroll School of Management’s Honors Program Outstanding Teacher Award in 2005, 2011, and 2013, the Massachusetts Society of CPAs Outstanding Educator
Award in 2012, and the Carroll School’s Distinguished Teaching Award that same year. He said he was honored to be named the inaugural recipient of the fellowship and grateful that young alumni like Dixon were willing to recognize faculty for their dedication to teaching.
“Mike was an extraordinary student who was part of arguably the best class of students that I have had during my 25-plus years on the faculty,” said Taylor. “We have so many talented and dedicated faculty members here at Boston College. To be recognized as the inaugural recipient of an award that recognizes undergraduate teaching and service is among the highlights of my career at Boston College.”
Said Quigley, “It is inspiring that Mike Dixon, who helped maintain our focus on the experience of undergraduates as the student representative on the University Strategic Planning Committee from 2004 to 2006, has established the Dixon Family Provost Faculty Fellowship for Teaching Excellence to recognize individuals among the Boston College faculty who embody our commitment to transformative teaching and mentoring.
“Ed Taylor of the Accounting Department is a most worthy first holder of this new faculty fellowship, as he has inspired generations of students in and out of his classroom.”
Dixon, whose firm focuses on supporting health companies with a shared interest in using data, AI, and digital technology to improve health care across all stages of life, said his rigorous undergraduate education at Boston College prepared him for success in the business world thanks to faculty
who went beyond outstanding classroom instruction to make a difference in shaping students’ lives.
“All of my classes at BC were taught by people who were committed to undergraduate education,” said Dixon. “They loved to teach and knew they had something meaningful to contribute. I am on the track I am in life because of people like Richard Tresch, David Twomey, Mike Barry, George Aragon, Billy Soo, and Ed Taylor, among others, who made my educational experience so formative. I had them 20 years ago and I still remember the lessons and values they taught me today.”
Dixon said his BC experiences outside the classroom, which included working with Quigley and University President William P. Leahy, S.J., as the student representative on the Strategic Planning Committee, were invaluable opportunities that exposed him to the importance of planning and assessment and the intricate work involved in university governance.
“BC gives its students a well-rounded experience that helps develop the hard and soft skills that are so useful in life,” he said. “The University’s alumni network also opened doors for me from Fidelity Investments to Sequoia Capital, and those connections continue to assist me in my work on behalf of Transformation Capital.
“Because I went to BC, I became friends with a lot of hardworking, driven, and successful students. We did great things together during our undergraduate years at BC and are continuing to do important work in our careers that will make a difference in the world. I am profoundly grateful to Boston College for all it has done for me.”
Ed Taylor, inaugural recipient of the Dixon Family Provost Faculty Fellowship for Teaching Excellence.
photo by caitlin cunningham
Fr. Butler Is the Choice to Lead Boston College
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lational skills needed to help the University maintain the institutional stability, continuity, and momentum it has experienced during the past decades.
“After an extensive search process and much careful consideration by the search committee, the Board of Trustees has enthusiastically selected Fr. Jack Butler to be the next president of Boston College,” said Fish. “He is a dynamic leader, proven bridgebuilder, and problem solver who understands the University’s strengths and aspirations and is fully committed to its mission. We are very excited for him and the future of Boston College.”
Fr. Butler said he was humbled to be named president and honored to continue the important work of advancing Boston College as the world’s leading Jesuit, Catholic university.
“I am deeply honored to be named the next president of Boston College, a university that I love and have served for the past 22 years,” said Fr. Butler, who began his tenure at Boston College in Campus Ministry in 2002. “I look forward to spending the coming year preparing for the presidency, and I promise to devote myself to continuing BC’s upward trajectory and making this great university an even stronger beacon of light and hope for the world.”
Prior to being named vice president at Boston College, Fr. Butler served as director of vocations for the former New England Province of Jesuits and director of Manresa House on the BC campus, which provided information and guidance for students considering a vocation to the priesthood and religious life.
Before entering the higher education apostolate, Fr. Butler worked with incarcerated individuals within the prison system, serving as the assistant director and inside
“Boston College is a university blessed with wonderful opportunities to become stronger, better, and more distinctive. I believe our future is full of promise because what we offer—an education with a heart, soul, and imagination—is essential for the world today and in the decades to come.”
counselor at St. Joseph Prison Ministry in Framingham, Mass.
An Atlanta native and 1987 graduate of St. Thomas University in Miami, Fla., where he earned a degree in religious studies, Fr. Butler received a master’s degree in theology from Providence College before entering the Society of Jesus in 1991. He received both a master’s degree and a doctorate in pastoral counseling from Loyola University Maryland and holds a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the former Weston Jesuit School of Theology, now the Clough School of Theology and Ministry at Boston College. Ordained to the priesthood in 2000, he took final vows as a Jesuit in 2015.
—John T. “Jack” Butler, S.J.
Fr. Butler will assume the presidency of one of the nation’s foremost universities, a Carnegie Institute Research 1 university consisting of nine top-ranked schools and colleges that draw students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries, an endowment of $4 billion, and more than 200,000 alumni worldwide.
“After graduating from college, I worked as a teacher and administrator at a K-8 parish school and upon entering the Society of Jesus I taught at both the high school and college level,” said Fr. Butler. “I have been involved in education as a teacher and administrator since my early 20s, so it is with great humility and gratitude that I prepare to embark on
this new role of leading one of the nation’s best institutions of higher learning.
“Boston College is a university blessed with wonderful opportunities to become stronger, better, and more distinctive. I believe our future is full of promise because what we offer—an education with a heart, soul, and imagination—is essential for the world today and in the decades to come.
“I look forward to working closely with the BC community so that together we can lead Boston College to even greater heights, ever mindful of the responsibility that has been entrusted in me as the University’s next president.”
Pro Hockey Players Can Finish Degrees at WCAS
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“With a wide array of degree options, such as in-person, online, and hybrid course offerings, and years of experience in helping non-traditional students—including former student-athletes—complete their degrees, the Woods College is well positioned to work with the NHLPA to offer this resource to its members.”
Walsh, the former mayor of Boston and Secretary of Labor during the Biden administration, said he was pleased to work with BC given his own experience as a Woods College student who took evening classes at the school to earn his degree in 2009.
“The NHLPA is constantly encouraging its players to take advantage of opportunities, including personal development through continuing education,” said Walsh. “The Woods College of Advancing Studies at Boston College provides the needed flexibility in transferring existing college credits and the experience in providing degree completion for professional athletes. That is a big differentiator. A col-
lege diploma sets players up for success by preparing them for the next phase of their lives. To help our members earn a degree from a renowned university like Boston College is a win-win for all involved.”
According to the NHL, more than a third of its players played college hockey
College Dean David Goodman: “We offer the flexibility and support that working professionals need to fulfill their aspirations and a successful track record in assisting professional athletes to complete their college degrees.”
in the United States or Canada, with most leaving school early to play professionally. That reality led the NHLPA to seek degree completion cooperation agreements enabling players and association staff to take online courses during the season, or in-person, hybrid, or online courses during the summer.
“Our academic advisors build close, supportive relationships with each of our students to help them achieve their academic goals,” said Goodman. “We offer
the flexibility and support that working professionals need to fulfill their aspirations and a successful track record in assisting professional athletes to complete their college degrees. We are proud to formally welcome NHLPA UNLMT to the Woods College family.”
Brooks Orpik, who left Boston College after his junior year and went on to win two NHL Stanley Cup titles with the Pittsburgh Penguins before he retired from pro hockey in 2019, said the agreement will be helpful for players of all ages.
“I had promised a lot of people, including my parents and former BC hockey coach Jerry York, that I would finish college at some point,” said Orpik, who went back to Boston College in 2020 and completed his degree in 2022.
“The Woods College faculty and staff made the process as easy as possible. The feeling of pride I had was just so different than anything, athletically, I have accomplished.”
photos by lee pellegrini and caitlin cunningham
Woods
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Tracing Nitrogen Pollution in the Gulf
BC-led study clarifies how nitrogen is delivered to the Gulf of Mexico, and could inform policies to help protect it
BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER
As opposed to a constant flow from sources above and below ground, periods of heavy rain and runoff deliver the greatest amounts of fertilizer-derived nitrogen through creeks, rivers, and storm drains into the northern Gulf of Mexico, according to a team of scientists led by Boston College researchers.
The findings, published recently in the journal Communications Earth and Environment, clarify how nitrogen is delivered to the gulf and can be used to develop policies to protect the northern Gulf of Mexico, according to Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences Xingchen (Tony) Wang, a lead author of the report.
“The northern Gulf of Mexico faces significant environmental challenges, including nutrient overloading, harmful algal blooms, and oxygen-depleted ‘dead zones,’” Wang said. “These issues are primarily driven by nitrogen pollution transported via rivers, with the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin—a major agricultural hub in North America—being a key contributor.”
With funding from the Army Corps of Engineers, Wang’s lab teamed up with researchers from the California Institute of
Technology and University of CaliforniaSanta Barbara to determine how different nitrogen sources, particularly fertilizers, are mobilized and transported into the gulf under different hydrological conditions. The answers, Wang said, can improve the understanding of these pollution dynamics and guide effective mitigation strategies.
The Gulf of Mexico is fed by 33 major rivers that drain water from 31 states and two Canadian provinces. In 2021, the researchers collected water and particle samples from the Wax Lake Delta, a key distributary of the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin. At BC, the nitrogen isotopic
Xingchen (Tony) Wang: “With climate change predicted to increase the frequency of extreme precipitation events, the transport of fertilizer-derived nitrogen into the gulf is likely to intensify, further exacerbating hypoxic conditions.”
composition of the samples was analyzed in the Wang Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry Lab.
Nitrogen contains two stable isotopes, nitrogen-14 and nitrogen-15, Wang said. Different nitrogen sources often exhibit distinct nitrogen-15 to nitrogen-14 ratios, allowing the scientists to effectively trace and characterize the sources of nitrogen in the Wax Lake Delta.
Lower nitrogen isotope ratios characterize nitrogen derived from fertilizers. The team found that the nitrogen-15 to nitrogen-14 ratios in samples collected during the wet season were consistently lower than those from the dry season, according to Wang and co-authors including University of California-Santa Barbara’s Gen Li, Caltech’s Michael Lamb, and BC professors Noah Snyder and Hanqin Tian.
In contrast, samples collected during the dry season showed that groundwater nitrogen becomes the dominant nitrogen source
in those months, Wang said.
“We were somewhat surprised to observe such a significant shift in anthropogenic nitrogen sources between the dry and wet seasons, which had not been identified in previous studies,” said Jian-Jhih (Kenji) Chen, a postdoc researcher in the Wang Lab during the project, who is now an assistant professor at National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology in Taiwan.
The findings underscore the critical role of hydrology in driving nitrogen pollution in the northern Gulf of Mexico, said Wang.
“With climate change predicted to increase the frequency of extreme precipitation events, the transport of fertilizerderived nitrogen into the gulf is likely to intensify, further exacerbating hypoxic conditions.”
The study suggests the impacts can be mitigated by optimizing the timing of fertilizer application to crops to reduce nitrogen loading and its environmental consequences in the Gulf of Mexico.
The next steps involve exploring the fate of anthropogenic nitrogen in the Gulf of Mexico, said Wang. Specifically, the researchers want to determine whether this nitrogen remains confined to coastal zones or is transported into the open waters of the gulf.
Young Alumni Award Highlights Clough School Spring Events
BY KATHLEEN SULLIVAN STAFF WRITER
The Clough School of Theology and Ministry’s spring events include talks by Boston College professors and guest lecturers as well as the presentation of the Young Alumni Leadership in Ministry Award to Nathaniel Blanton Hibner, senior director of ethics at Catholic Health Association of the United States.
All events, unless indicated otherwise, take place at 5:30 p.m. in the Theology and Ministry Library auditorium on Brighton Campus.
Tonight, BC School of Social Work Assistant Professor Alejandro Olayo-Méndez, S.J., will present “A Call to Active Solidarity: Migrants in the U.S. during the Second Trump Administration.” Fr. Olayo-Méndez will offer reflections, based on Christian and Catholic thought, on navigating a complicated immigration system to accompany and support migrants.
On March 20, CSTM Professor of Old Testament and Professor Ordinarius Andrew Davis will give the talk “What Emily Dickinson Teaches Us about the Psalms,” which will discuss insights from scholars of Dickinson’s poetry that offer new ways of thinking about the biblical Psalms, both as a collection and pluriform text.
Hibner will be presented with the second annual Young Alumni Leadership in Ministry Award on March 29 at the annual Evelyn Underhill Lecture in Christian Spirituality, which takes place at 10 a.m. in
Gasson 100; this year’s lecturer is Anathea Portier-Young, an associate professor of Old Testament at Duke Divinity School, who will present “Encountering God Through Sacred Art, Prophetic Text, and Bodily Experience.”
The Young Alumni Award honors a recent CSTM graduate demonstrating outstanding leadership in their field, and celebrates the ways they live out the school’s Jesuit mission to be persons for and with others. Honorees exemplify what the CSTM stands for—creativity, commitment, pastoral outreach, and theological acumen—and their commitment to the field of ministry and ability to meet the changing needs of their community are a model for their peers and current CSTM students.
Hibner earned a master’s degree in theological studies from CSTM in 2013 and a doctorate from the Albert Gnaegi Center for Health Care Ethics at Saint Louis University in 2019. In his role at Catholic Health Association, Hibner provides consultative services to leaders across the Catholic health ministry, convenes gatherings of senior ethicists at annual events, and produces an array of educational resources tailored to the ministry’s needs. He has made vast contributions to the field, frequently collaborating with Catholic universities to shape their programs and assist in the formation of future ministers, theologians, and health care professionals.
According to the award selection committee, Hibner has “embodied the mission
Christian Ireland Have a Unique (Celtic) Liturgical Rite?” His talk will explore the roots of the theory of a “Celtic Rite,” the influence of first Anglican and later Roman Catholic self-interests in maintaining this rite’s existence, and the conclusions that can be drawn on the subject today. This event is cosponsored by the BC Irish Studies program.
The annual lecture honoring former CSTM Dean and Professor Emeritus Richard J. Clifford, S.J., will be held on April 24, with Ellen F. Davis, Amos Ragan Kearns Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical Theology at Duke Divinity School, presenting “The Poetry of Care and Loss.” This lecture is sponsored and supported by the Kitz Family.
of the Clough School of Theology and Ministry in his commitment to Catholic health care ministry by advancing the field of health care ethics through his work and research and providing quality care and treatment for those in need. The good work that he is doing will have lasting positive effects in the Church and the world.”
On April 3 at 4 p.m., Fr. Neil Xavier O’Donoghue, director of liturgical programs at St. Patrick’s Pontifical University in Maynooth, Ireland, and executive secretary for liturgy for the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, will present “Did Early
CSTM’s final spring event will feature award-winning theologian and author Professor Emerita of Theology M. Shawn Copeland, who will deliver the Annual Women in Theology and Ministry Lecture on May 1. In her talk, “The Synod, The Spirit, and Women in Ministry,” she will reflect on the invitation of the Holy Spirit and the expanded possibilities for participation for women in the Catholic Church following the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, known informally as the Synod on Synodality.
These events are organized by CSTM’s Continuing Education program. For details and information on registration and Zoom options, go to the Continuing Education link on the Clough School website, bc.edu/ clough.
Professor Emerita of Theology M. Shawn Copeland will deliver the Annual Women in Theology and Ministry Lecture.
photo by lee pellegrini
photo by peter julian
Q&A Uncertainty, Risk Loom for Immigration
The Trump administration’s stated plans to limit immigration—long a complex and rapidly changing branch of the law—have raised concerns and questions about legal protections for immigrants. To sort through some current immigration-related issues, Chronicle staff writer Phil Gloudemans sat down with Boston College Law Professor Daniel Kanstroom, faculty director of the Rappaport Center for Law and Public Policy, a Dean’s Distinguished Scholar, founder of BC’s Immigration and Asylum Clinic, and co-founder of the Post-Deportation Human Rights Project.
[This article has been edited for space; read the full version at https://bit.ly/kanstroomimmigration-2025]
Religious groups have sued the federal government to stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from conducting enforcement in places of worship, a policy they say infringes on congregants’ right to freedom of religion and expression. Is their argument legitimate?
Kanstroom: The Trump administration’s change of enforcement guidelines regarding places of worship has already inspired great uncertainty, fear, consternation, and resistance. There are several such lawsuits already filed, and more being contemplated by many religious groups, including Christian and Jews but also Sikhs, Quakers, and many others. As one legal complaint filed in Maryland puts it: “Allowing armed government agents wearing ICE-emblazoned jackets to park outside a religious service and monitor who enters or to interrupt the service and draw a congregant out during the middle of worship is anathema to plaintiffs’ religious exercise.”
“While there have been some scholarly debates since the mid1990s about whether the Wong Kim Ark decision applies to the undocumented noncitizens of today, the clear consensus is that the logic and underlying principles of the 19th-century precedent is still compelling.”
The essential legal claims highlight that the government has for decades recognized the sensitivity and dangers of enforcement actions in “protected areas,” including houses of worship and places of religious ceremonies such as weddings and funerals. This longstanding prior policy was grounded in moral, political, and pragmatic considerations as much as legal ones, including First Amendment constitutional protections of religious freedoms to worship and to associate and statutory rules embodied in the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
The basic Department of Homeland Security (DHS) enforcement model has long
recognized that “exigent circumstances” could override such general protections, a position widely regarded as representing a sensible, legally legitimate balance (supervisor approval was also required in such cases). The new policy—published quickly and without public input or comment— eliminates all such standards and safeguards and suggests (rather blithely, in my view) that agents in the field rely on “common sense.”
Courts will closely examine the chilling effects of the new policy and the way it was promulgated as potentially violative of United States “administrative” legal norms. I think that some of these claims are strong, though courts are unlikely to preclude enforcement in protected areas entirely.
At least 22 states and other organizations have sued over Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship; three federal judges have ordered a freeze on the order. What is birthright citizenship and can the president stop it via executive action?
Birthright citizenship, originally grounded in English Common Law, was later given constitutional status in the 14th Amendment, adopted in 1868 following the Civil War. A main goal was to overrule the explicitly racist reasoning of the so-called Dred Scott case in which the Supreme Court had ruled that the Constitution did not grant American citizenship to people of black African descent—even if they were born in the U.S. They were thus denied all the “rights and privileges” of American citizenship.
The language of the 14th Amendment is quite expansive and simple: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.”
However, the question of how to interpret the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” immediately arose. It was litigated in a major Supreme Court case in 1898 involving Wong Kim Ark, a person born on U.S. soil of Chinese parents during a time when virtually all Chinese immigration was prohibited by law and Chinese people were prohibited from naturalizing. The court held that “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” should be interpreted “in the light of
the common law” which had included as subjects virtually all native-born children, with very few exceptions: those born to foreign rulers or diplomats; on foreign public ships; to enemy forces engaged in hostile occupation; and “Indian tribes not taxed.” This understanding has been reaffirmed by innumerable court decisions since then and the 14th Amendment language has been written into the immigration statutes verbatim.
While there have been some scholarly debates since the mid-1990s about whether the Wong Kim Ark decision applies to the undocumented noncitizens of today, the clear consensus is that the logic and underlying principles of the 19th-century precedent is still compelling. Moreover, Trump’s executive order would also seem to violate the consistent understanding of the statute and thus be subject to judicial overturning on that ground alone.
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program allows undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children to avoid deportation, enabling them to live and work in the U.S. openly and legally. But the program has been the subject of political and legal attacks, and in January, a federal appeals court ruled against it, while permitting renewals to continue. Could DACA be eliminated?
The short answer, unfortunately, is yes, DACA could be eliminated by the courts as it was never grounded in a statute. If that were to happen, DACA recipients could well face individualized removal proceedings, though many would have quite strong and compelling defenses. However, given the length of time that DACA has been in existence (since 2012) and the terrible consequences its elimination would portend, I think (and hope) that such a dramatic reversal is unlikely.
Any lower court decision attempting to do so would inevitably go back to the Supreme Court, which ruled against the first Trump administration’s initial attempts to eliminate DACA, albeit on technical, proce-
Snapshot Looking Forward
Earlier this month, the Boston College Institute for the Study of Race and Culture co-sponsored the Future of Black Educators Summit—a series of discussions focusing on ways to cultivate and sustain Black educators. Among the presentations was “My Black Story in America,” led by Lynch School of Education and Human Development Assistant Professor Earl Edwards.
dural grounds.
Trump’s actions have raised questions regarding immigrants’ rights and fundamental legal protections if ICE or other authorities enter a local school, workplace, or hospital. Is a court-issued judicial warrant required? Is a vocal assertion of rights, such as “I do not consent to this search” sufficient to thwart an in-person investigation? In Massachusetts, do we have the right to film an interaction with immigration officials or law enforcement?
These are quite difficult and complicated questions to answer. For one thing, we must distinguish formal rights from what is wise or practical to do in actual situations. Second, some rights vary state to state. Massachusetts, for example, has more robust protections for noncitizens’ rights than, for example, Florida. Here, you are generally allowed to video record encounters with police or ICE agents. Also, immigration law is very complex, and people have many different statuses that can affect both what rights they have in principle and what is the best advice in real life.
I would say that all institutions—schools, hospitals, workplaces, etc.—and all people should take the current possibilities of ICE raids and interrogations and arrests very seriously. All institutions and all noncitizens also should seek training from legal experts to know their rights vis-à-vis immigration interrogations and arrests.
As a very general guidance, anyone—especially noncitizens—detained, interrogated, or arrested should consider politely but firmly declining to answer questions from government agents and ask for a lawyer if they can possibly hire one. There is generally no right to free counsel in removal proceedings, unfortunately, except in some places that have special programs, like New York City.
As a final note, I would urge all government agents and employees to maintain respect for the law and for the better norms of both law and discretion that have long guided practice in this always fraught arena.
BC Law Professor Daniel Kanstroom
photo by caitlin cunningham
PHOTO BY ANN HERMES
John Sallis, Adelmann Prof. of Philosophy
John Sallis, the Frederick J. Adelmann, S.J. Professor of Philosophy at Boston College and a highly regarded sage of continental philosophy, died on February 18. He was 86.
A memorial event is planned for March 15; at press time, the time and location had not been confirmed.
Dr. Sallis arrived at BC in the fall of 2005 with an impressive body of work and notable achievements, having published widely acclaimed books and articles on Plato, Heidegger, Derrida, Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche, and other foundational figures in philosophy, and holding named chairs at Pennsylvania State University, Vanderbilt University, and Loyola University of Chicago.
His teaching and research focused on continental philosophy, an umbrella term for philosophical movements characterized by elements such as the subjective experience of individuals, the concept of authenticity—being true to oneself—and the synthesis of history with modernity, society with individuals, and application with speculation. Dr. Sallis also had been the founding editor of the international journal Research in Phenomenology, which became a touchstone in the field of phenomenology, a study and research method based on the lived experiences of humans.
Professor of Philosophy Gary Gurtler, S.J., recalled that his friendship with Dr. Sallis had pre-dated Boston College, when the two were on the Loyola-Chicago faculty. A lecture Dr. Sallis gave on Immanuel Kant’s The Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals during that time was particularly memorable, said Fr. Gurtler: “It captured John’s style of delivery and penetrating analysis of the work under review.” Twenty years later, as a BC faculty member, Fr. Gurtler recommended him for the Adelmann Chair.
Dr. Sallis’ February 2006 lecture, “The Look of Things,” served as his introduction to the University community. A Heights article on the event described how, using slides, Dr. Sallas described the parallels between works of visual art—notably the Madonna as painted by Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci—and the study of philosophy, specifically the revelation of a thing’s outer and inner demeanor. Painters invoke the look of a thing in their paintings, he said, philosophers with words.
“Nothing appears simply by being present,” he said, reported The Heights. “Imagination hovers between meaning and sense in such a way as to draw forth the look of things.”
Although Dr. Sallis had taught at other institutions, said Fitzgibbons Professor and Chair of Philosophy Jeffrey Bloechl, “he was emphatic about the fact that he was happier and more comfortable here than anywhere else. This was certainly a matter of culture and ethos, but also the steady stream of excellent students who he was
Lynch School’s Goodwin Named to National Academy of Education
A. Lin Goodwin, the Thomas More Brennan Professor in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, is one of 22 education leaders and scholars elected for membership in the National Academy of Education (NAE), a prestigious organization that advances high quality research to improve education policy and practice.
able to mentor.”
Equally at home in the worlds of Ancient Greek philosophy, modern German philosophy, contemporary German philosophy, and contemporary French philosophy, Dr. Sallis is generally thought of as an interpreter and translator of Heidegger, said Bloech, “but I think his real legacy is in careful and often highly illuminating work in the history of philosophy—both in what he finds in the great texts of Plato or Hegel, for example, and in his manner of reading them.
“In the department, John was a tremendously steadying colleague, with proposals or advice generally coming from the accrued wisdom of long years in multiple places, and always with one eye fixed on what he judged is important for the future of our field.”
During his career, Dr. Sallis published more than 20 books—among them Kant and the Spirit of Critique, Songs of Nature, and The Logos of the Sensible World—many of which were translated into other languages.
Part of Dr. Sallis’ legacy includes his rapport with, and care for, his students, noted Professor Emeritus of Philosophy Patrick Byrne, who was department chair when Dr. Sallis arrived. “John was one of the most loved and highly respected teachers in Philosophy. He was a gentle man with a jovial laugh, and just a marvelous human being. He would spend hours prepping for a graduate class, and as a result his students felt like they were in a community of learning.”
Dr. Sallis put his scholarly interests to work in other settings, including as curator of two exhibitions at the McMullen Museum of Art.
A native of Helena, Ark., Dr. Sallis earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Arkansas; after attending Columbia University, he went on to earn master’s and doctoral degrees from Tulane University. He also taught at Duquesne University, where he served as chair of the Philosophy Department for a decade, and the University of the South.
He is survived by his wife, Jerri; his daughters, Lauren and Kathryn; a grandson, Benjamin, a graduate of Boston College; and brother, James, a crime fiction writer whose 2005 novel Drive was adapted into a film of the same name.
—Sean Smith
Read the full obituary at bit.ly/john-sallisobituary
Goodwin, director of the Lynch School’s doctoral program in curriculum and instruction, joined Boston College in 2022 after serving as dean of the Faculty (School) of Education at the University of Hong Kong for five years. She also was vice dean and the Evenden Foundation Chair in Education at Columbia University Teachers College; a senior research fellow at the Learning Policy Institute; and vice president of the American Educational Research Association Division K (Teaching and Teacher Education).
In 2022, she received the Spencer Foundation Mentor Award honoring her work with emerging academics and doctoral students. Goodwin is the recipient of several multi-million-dollar United States federal grants to support an innovative teaching residency program at Teachers College that she designed and launched in 2009, which thus far has prepared 13 cohorts of exceptional teachers for New York City schools.
“We are thrilled that Lin Goodwin has been elected to the National Academy of Education,” said Stanton E.F. Wortham, the Charles F. Donovan, S.J., Dean of the Lynch School. “Across her productive career, she has made important contributions to teacher education, educational research, and several institutions where she has held
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.
Network Project Manager
Associate Director of Financial Systems, Reporting and Planning
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Biology Systems Integrator/Developer
Job Coach/Case Manager for Supported Employment
Associate Director, Pre-Award Administration
Program Director and Assistant Program Director, AMDG
Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
Physician/Assistant Director, Sports Medicine
Temporary Office Pool
Director of Assessment and Accreditation, Lynch School of Education and Human Development
Senior Budget Financial Applications
leadership positions. It is wonderful to have her on our faculty, and we applaud her for this well-deserved recognition.”
Goodwin is the eighth Lynch School faculty member to be elected to the NAE. Previous inductees include Wortham, Marina Bers, Henry Braun, Marilyn CochranSmith, Andy Hargreaves, Diana Pullin, and Matthias von Davier.
The academy consists of over 300 U.S. members and international associates who are elected based on outstanding scholarship or leadership related to education. In addition to serving on expert study panels that address pressing issues in education, members are also engaged in the academy’s professional development fellowship programs.
Filmmaker Lola Ellis ’26 was honored for her documentary highlighting the plight of widows in India
BY ALIX HACKETT
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
On January 1, 2024, after ringing in the new year with her family in New Jersey, Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences junior Lola Ellis boarded a 14-hour flight to Chennai, India, for what would prove the most challenging but rewarding assignment of her budding film career. From the airport, she traveled seven hours south, along dusty roads riddled with potholes, to the headquarters of Kalangarai, a nonprofit that has worked to empower widowed and abandoned women in India for 20 years. Inside the concrete building, Ellis unpacked her equipment, met her interpreter, and got to work.
Ten months later, in mid-October, Ellis sat in the audience as her film “Lighthouse” [www.youtube.com/ watch?v=4UJcG57O66Q] was screened at the GlobeDocs Film Festival, where she’d been presented with the Emerging Filmmaker Award. Afterwards, she joined a group of documentary filmmakers on stage for a panel discussion, where she described what it was like to be a one-woman film crew in a remote location halfway around the world.
“It was difficult but also a really transformative experience for me,” she said. “Seeing poverty firsthand was very jarring, and there were times when I wanted to go home, but I had a responsibility to give these women a voice, which was very important to me.”
More than 45 million widowed and abandoned women live in India, where they are treated as outcasts by society. When their husbands die, they are cut off by family members, excluded from cultural gatherings, and stripped of their basic hu-
man rights. Many live in extreme poverty while caring for young children, with no support network or prospect of remarriage.
“Lighthouse” tells the story of Kalangarai (which means “Beacon of Light”), which has helped more than 2,500 widows in the state of Tamil Nadu since its founding by Jesuits in 2004. Supported by grants and donations from abroad, the organization provides vocational training, educational opportunities, and no-cost loans to women in 100 villages, while providing a safe space for them to gather and form friendships.
Ellis’s film opens with a four-minute scene showing a woman in a rural village going about her daily chores: carrying wa-
Ellis says she learned a lot from making “Lighthouse”: “It pushed me creatively and forced me to problem-solve on my feet.”
ter from the local pump to her thatched house, preparing stew over a gas burner, and milking the family cow. One minute in, V. Manjula faces the camera and tells her story: how she was married at the age of 15 to a man 10 years her senior, and how they lived happily until he suffered an accident at work, and developed sepsis while recuperating at home. She describes how, during Diwali, India’s most widelycelebrated holiday, he took his own life, leaving her to care for their two young children.
“After his death, no one spoke to me,” she says in the film. “They were afraid that I might ask for money. We couldn’t afford to eat food. My husband had many relatives but no one came to help. I stopped expecting anything from anyone.”
Fishing and agriculture are the most common occupations in Nagapattinam, where Manjula lives, and Kalangarai has helped her and other widows develop farming skills that have made them financially independent. Ellis spent hours filming in the Thirukkalacherry rice paddy field, conducting interviews in ankle-deep water while holding a camera and microphone. One of the film’s most visually striking scenes shows three women walking slowly through the lush field, their saris creating pops of color against the waist-high green grass.
Back in the United States, Ellis spent three months editing the 14-minute film, submitting drafts to her Boston College professors for feedback and occasionally ignoring advice from her father (a photographer) to cut certain shots. She submitted
the finished piece to festivals around the world, including the Independent Shorts Awards, in Los Angeles, where it won Best Documentary Short.
“It was surreal,” she said of the film’s success. “I learned so much from that experience—it pushed me creatively and forced me to problem-solve on my feet.”
Ellis grew up messing around with her dad’s old cameras but didn’t consider film as a career path until she began working at BC’s Office of University Advancement as a multimedia intern her freshman year. She started doing video projects in her spare time, and produced her first short film the following summer: a profile of her Chinese grandmother, Mimo. Like “Lighthouse,” the film features scenes of Mimo going about her day—playing mahjong with friends and making wontons in her New Jersey kitchen.
“I find a lot of beauty in the simple things and I’m very particular about cinematography,” said Ellis. “I want the viewer to just be kind of immersed in what’s happening, and to know something about the person’s life without them even talking about it.”
“Mimo: Sau Chun’s Story” [www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbMBC9RqfMc] was accepted at the Salem Film Fest, the largest international documentary film festival in Massachusetts, and caught the attention of Professor and Director of Film Studies John Michalczyk, who recommended Ellis for the Kalangarai project (a former colleague is involved with the organization’s fundraising arm). He and other professors helped Ellis secure a grant to help with travel expenses through the department’s Jacques Salmanowitz Program for Moral Courage in Film, which supports student filmmaking dedicated to social justice causes.
“Lola is a fine producer,” said Michalczyk. “Working with another language is very, very difficult and she did it remarkably—‘Lighthouse’ is really very polished.”
Recently, Ellis was awarded a second Salmanowitz grant to produce a documentary in France, where she is studying this spring. Through Michalczyk, she’ll also be attending the famed Cannes Film Festival as a student intern. Her first narrative film, which she co-directed and co-produced with Morrissey College sophomore Owen Durkee, will be released this year as well.
“Every day I get a little bit more sure that this is what I’m supposed to do,” said Ellis. “It’s something I look forward to in my day, and I think it’s important for me to do something that I love.”
Alix Hackett is a senior digital content writer in the Office of University Communications
Boston College junior Lola Ellis (third from right) filming in the Thirukkalacherry rice paddy field in Tamil Nadu, India.
