Boston College Chronicle

PUBLISHED BY THE BOSTON COLLEGE OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

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Historic Appointment

While You Were Away

Important Voices

Clough Professor Emeritus James O’Toole becomes Boston College’s third University Historian.

Boston College news from the spring and summer.

Carol Anderson (left) is among the speakers this fall at the Lowell Humanities Series, which will be held in virtual format.

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020 VOL. 28 NO. 1

PUBLISHED BY THE BOSTON COLLEGE OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

University Convocation

BC Faces Challenge of ‘an Extraordinary Time’

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

Carroll School of Management Associate Dean Amy LaCombe welcomed students to their first class of the year on Monday—in a Fulton Hall classroom reorganized to meet COVID-19 safety protocols. photo by lee pellegrini

A New Beginning Amidst COVID-19 safety protocols and guidelines, the University officially reopens for the first time since late March

BY THE OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Boston College resumed classes on Monday, more than five months after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the University to shut down on-campus classes, sending most students back home for the remainder of the spring semester.

Just as the end of the last academic year had been out of the ordinary, the start of the new semester witnessed significant changes, with classes being taught by faculty in a mix of in-person, online, and hybrid modes, using Zoom or other technologies. Classrooms have been reorganized to ensure social distancing, and are limited to 50 percent capacity. Face masks are required in classrooms and common areas throughout campus. A number of

University offices and departments are operating on alternate-day or staggered schedules. Dining halls are providing meals on a grab-and-go basis.

The past three weeks have seen the start of the University’s COVID-19 testing program, with tests administered at Conte Forum to faculty, staff, undergraduates, and graduate and professional students. As of Tuesday morning, the University had conducted 18,700 tests of BC community members—including nearly all of BC’s approximately 9,000 undergraduates—with a total of 12 positives recorded, including 10 undergraduates. All individuals went into isolation, and contact tracing was conducted through University Health Services and state and local departments of public health.

Continued on page 4

Speaking yesterday at a University Convocation reimagined for the pandemic era, Boston College’s senior leadership expressed confidence in the University’s ability to meet the challenges posed by COVID-19, along with other compelling educational, economic, and social issues— and to help others do so as well.

Reflecting on the past six months, University President William P. Leahy, S.J., said he had been “very impressed” with how the Boston College community had responded to the obstacles and hardships imposed by the pandemic: faculty and students working together remotely; offices and departments keeping essential services functioning; teams of planners collaborat-

ing to create a safe environment for students and employees alike; and faculty and staff volunteering to assist in BC’s COVID testing program.

Yet BC did not neglect its mission to reach out to the wider community, Fr. Leahy added, noting that BC Dining Services agreed to take on surplus food from vendors, and used it to donate some 150,000 meals to the needy in the Greater Boston area. When another, equally important need became evident, the University took action by donating thousands of diapers.

“We are not a narrow, isolated little group in Chestnut Hill,” said Fr. Leahy.

“We know what is going on around us, and we seek to make a difference.”

Befitting the pandemic’s effect on routines and signature events at BC and else-

Continued on page 3

Boston College Receives $1.7M Student Support Services Grant

BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER

Boston College has been awarded a fiveyear, $1.7-million federal Student Support Services grant to help low-income, firstgeneration students, and students with disabilities, academically succeed and graduate from college, the U.S. Department of Education announced.

BC’s Learning to Learn program, which hosts the grant, has offered a variety of student services, including advising in the

areas of financial aid, academics, and student life, for more than 40 years. In addition to Student Support Services (SSS), the Learning to Learn program administers the federally funded McNair Program, which prepares undergraduate students for graduate and doctoral degrees.

“Leaning to Learn offers critical, comprehensive services that enhance academic success and significantly increase the likelihood that more students will graduate,” said Learning to Learn Director Rossanna Continued on page 10

Urban public school teachers are asked to do a lot with so little.

Accompanying educators from the beginning of their journey until the end is how we can truly support students, and they are who truly matter.

– ashana hurd, new lynch school asst. dean, page 3

ADDRESS GOES HERE

Chronicle

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September 3, 2020

Around Campus

“Preaching from Sr. Thea’s Kitchen” Series Spotlights Black Voices at BC Boston College Campus Ministry recently began a video series called “Preaching from Sr. Thea’s Kitchen,” a platform that focuses on and amplifies Black voices at Boston College, through the intersection of scripture and Ignatian spirituality with racial justice.

The series is named after Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman H ’89, namesake of BC’s Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center, who was known for integrating Catholic tradition with Black spirituality.

The idea for the series arose from conversations among Campus Ministry staffers Carly Anderson, Meyer Chambers, Emily Egan, and Rev. James Hairston, who have been working to identify ways Campus Ministry can contribute to a community that upholds the dignity of the person and affirms that Black Lives Matter.

The videos have been shared via YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and email.

[The series can be viewed at the Campus Ministry Facebook page, www.facebook. com/bccampusmin.]

The series kicked off in June with Chambers, who met Sister Thea while he was in

graduate school at Xavier University. His presentation included readings of 1 Corinthians 13 and Psalm 112. He also talked about his favorite saint, Peter Claver, S.J., who ministered to and cared for countless enslaved people, and the Knights of Peter Claver, the largest lay Black Catholic organization in the United States. Chambers said, “Many people are asking, ‘What can I do?’ You can pray.

You can protest. You can donate. You can be a friend. You can listen. You can empathize.”

Preaching from the Multi-Faith Chapel at BC, Rev. Hairston, an Episcopal priest and Army chaplain, read from the Book of Proverbs. He spoke honestly about the racism he has encountered at each of the communities his calls home. “Yet, I remain. Why? Because of those before me and those after me. I see the current crop of new priests and clergy coming into the Church, and I’m impressed. I see the students at Boston College protesting and demanding change, and I’m inspired. I see soldiers demanding more from the leadership…and I’m hopeful.”

Montserrat Program Director Yvonne McBarnett preached from a park and cited

Springsteen to Speak at Convocation Singer, songwriter, and legendary performer Bruce Springsteen, author of the best-selling autobiography Born to Run, will address the Class of 2024 at Boston College’s First Year Academic Convocation on Sept. 10.

The event, which has become one of the University’s signature traditions, will be held in virtual format due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The First Flight Processional, in which all first-year students process down Linden Lane in a torch-lit ceremony to Conte Forum for the convocation, will not take place this year.

The convocation will be livestreamed via YouTube. For more details, see the First Year Convocation website, www.bc.edu/ convocation.

Springsteen published his memoir in 2016 to critical acclaim for his candid exploration of family, faith, personal battles, and his relentless pursuit of musical perfection, providing an unobstructed view of his life’s journey from a poor upbringing in Freehold, N.J., to international acclaim as a 20-time Grammy winner, Academy Award recipient, and Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree. He and his wife, Patti Scialfa, are the parents of three children, ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Jack Dunn SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Sean Smith

Psalms 27 and Galatians 6:9. She quoted both Sister Thea and Tamike Palmer, mother of Breonna Taylor, who was killed by police officers earlier this year. McBarnett urged viewers to “be open to having conversations and hearing you’ve got it wrong” and “be willing to support your fellow brothers and sisters that don’t look like you.”

“Our hope, as the preaching series continues throughout the year, is to honor the legacy of Sister Thea by centering Black voices of faith from the BC community,” said Campus Ministry Associate Director Ryan Heffernan, who noted that videos will likely continue to be posted every other week and come from a cross section of the University community, including students, faculty, and staff.

More recent presenters include Joshua Beekman, director of football initiatives, and

Claire Johnson Allen, associate director of the Women’s Center.

Beekman, who spoke from Alumni Stadium, said, “We must affirm each other. We must uplift each other.” He read passages from the Book of Genesis about Joseph, the son of Jacob, and quoted Desmond Tutu, Martin Luther King, Jr. and his mentor and former coach, Don Horton, who died in 2016.

Allen shared her experience during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and how it turned into a pivotal time where she discovered her gifts. She challenged viewers to reflect on how they can use their gifts to address issues of racial injustice. “We all have the ability to fight for change. And we all have different ways, and different skills, and different gifts with which to be able to fight for change.”

–Kathleen Sullivan

Webinar Focuses on Catholic Voters

Bruce Springsteen

photo by e.j. hersom

including their son Evan, a 2012 Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences alumnus.

This summer, all first-year students received an e-copy of Springsteen’s book and a reflection guide that will help them to examine the themes raised in Born to Run—family dynamics, personal relationships, addressing adversity, and setting and fulfilling aspirations—and how they might intersect with their own lives.

–University Communications

CONTRIBUTING STAFF

This month, Boston College’s Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life will co-sponsor a three-part webinar series, “Catholic Voters and the 2020 Election,” beginning Sept. 15 with “The Church and Catholic Voters in the 2020 Election.”

The Boisi Center’s co-sponsors are the Trinity College Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life and the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at St. Anselm College. All three webinar sessions begin at 4 p.m.

“The Church and Catholic Voters in the 2020 Election” will be convened by Boisi Center Director Mark Massa, S.J., with Archbishop of Newark Cardinal Joseph Tobin, Boston College Libby Professor M. Cathleen Kaveny, and National Catholic Reporter columnist Michael Sean Winters.

The second session, which will focus

Christine Balquist Phil Gloudemans Ed Hayward Rosanne Pellegrini Kathleen Sullivan

Chronicle

PHOTOGRAPHERS

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

Patricia Delaney EDITOR

Director of Football Initiatives Joshua Beekman shown during his presentation in the Campus Ministry “Preaching from Sr. Thea’s Kitchen” video series.

Lee Pellegrini Peter Julian

on the Republican Party and Catholic voters, will take place on Sept. 22, with John Sununu, former New Hampshire governor who later served as White House chief of staff; National Catholic Reporter Executive Editor Heidi Schlumpf; and Mark Rozell, dean of George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government.

Wrapping up the series on Sept. 29 will be a discussion of the Democratic Party and Catholic voters, with Shaun Casey, director of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs at Georgetown University; University of Notre Dame Theology Chair Timothy Matovina; and PICO California Co-Director Joseph Tomás McKellar.

Registration for the webinar series is available at bc.edu/centers/boisi/fall-2020. html.

–University Communications

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Chronicle

September 3, 2020

3

Lynch School Selects Hurd for New Asst. Dean Post

BY JACK DUNN ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Ashana Hurd, the director of professional development in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, has been named the inaugural assistant dean for professional development and urban outreach, as part of the new Office of Strategic Initiatives and External Relations in the Lynch School.

Hurd, who first began working at the University in 2016, holds a B.A. and M. Ed. in elementary education and a C.A.E.S. in education leadership from Boston College. She is a 2003 alumna of the Donovan Urban Teacher Scholars Program. Before returning to BC in 2019, Hurd spent 16 years working as an educator and administrator in the Boston Public Schools, including as an elementary school teacher and vice-principal at the Jackson Mann K-8 School in Brighton. Hurd and her husband Keyon ’08, also a Donovan alumnus, are the parents of two children. Both have devoted their careers to working as urban school educators and administrators.

In announcing the appointment, Stanton Wortham, the Charles F. Donovan, S.J., Dean of the Lynch School, praised Hurd for possessing the knowledge, experience, and skills necessary to move the school’s urban outreach efforts forward.

“Because of her experience as a Donovan alumna, as a teacher and administrator in Boston Public Schools, and as a leader at the Lynch School, Ashana is perfectly positioned for this new role,” said Wortham.

Ashana Hurd, assistant dean for professional development and urban outreach at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development.

“She will help us renew our commitment to the Donovan program and broaden our vision for how Boston College can serve urban education systems more effectively.”

Hurd said she was excited to begin this new role in an effort to help enhance urban education.

“Urban public school teachers are asked to do a lot with so little,” said Hurd. “Accompanying educators from the beginning of their journey until the end is how we can truly support students, and they are who truly matter. I am excited to come back to this important work at my alma mater.”

In a letter to the Lynch School community announcing Hurd’s appointment, Wortham said that the Office of Strategic

Initiatives and External Relations had been created to house Urban Outreach Initiatives—as well as other Lynch School efforts—following a yearlong review and recommendations from the Provost’s Office.

One of the significant benefits of the review, Wortham noted, was the creation of a cross-functional team to manage the various dimensions of the Donovan program.

With the newly launched Professional and Continuing Education area finding rapid success—much of it related to its engagement with issues that overlap significantly with Urban Outreach Initiatives—the decision was made to bring together PCE and Urban Outreach Initiatives under an assistant dean position, which would allow for synergy, joint creation of ideas and opportunities, and capacity for greater relationship building.

“Until relatively recently, Urban Outreach Initiatives, which includes the Donovan program, has been managed by a single director, Catherine Wong, and a group of extraordinary graduate assistants,” said Wortham.

“Their work has been impressive and has served Donovan Scholars in inspiring ways.

However, the Donovan program, like comparable initiatives, is facing increased external and institutional pressures, including a far more competitive marketplace created by the proliferation of similar programs. Without significant changes, student recruitment, retention, and support will become major challenges.”

Wortham said that rather than being limited to a single director, Lynch School leaders decided to create a team to support the Donovan Scholars and other programs. Un-

Confident Notes Struck at Convocation Continued from page 1

where, University Convocation took place via Zoom. The format also was different: Rather than deliver prepared remarks, Fr. Leahy, along with Executive Vice President Michael Lochhead, and Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley, participated in a conversation with Vice President for Student Affairs Joy Moore, who posed questions and solicited comments on University matters but also national events and trends.

Causes for concern, in both the short and long term, are plentiful for the BC community, the speakers agreed: the pandemic and its impact on the economy as well as the nation’s health and wellbeing; continued unrest over long-simmering racial issues and violence in some communities; and a presidential election marked by severe political polarization.

“We all need to recognize that we are living in an extraordinary time,” said Fr. Leahy, “and Boston College, like all of higher education, is very much affected by what is happening. Clearly, there are changes afoot, and there also are risks that we must take on.”

Looking at BC’s long history, which includes surviving the Great Depression and two world wars, puts current events in context, he said. Students, faculty, and staff should seek comfort and support, whether

from inner faith or other sources, including conversation with friends.

“Don’t be isolated or bound by fear,” said Fr. Leahy. “Seek that advice and perspective. It can help tap inner resources we may not realize we had. We can handle this and move forward. We have done it before.”

Quigley agreed, recalling the Great Recession of 2008—which began at the time he started his tenure as dean of the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences: “Somehow, we not only survived but emerged stronger than before. Then, we drew on the support from friends and colleagues, and that will be critical now and in the months ahead.”

Lochhead said he looked to his four children, two of whom are BC students, to maintain a sense of proportion. “It’s important to see the world from their vantage point, to understand the isolation, lack of connection, and other anxieties they feel, and to help them to sort out what’s important.”

The convocation speakers pointed to encouraging institutional developments.

Quigley noted that of BC’s 49 new fulltime faculty, 57 percent are women and 39 percent are AHANA, and that student assessment of remote learning last spring

had been positive. Lochhead said the University’s strong financial position had enabled it to avoid lay-offs while also moving forward on some key strategic investments, including construction of the integrated sciences building.

Fr. Leahy, Quigley, and Lochhead said upholding BC’s Jesuit, Catholic legacy— balancing individual formation with a commitment to the wider world—will be more important than ever during the 2020-2021 academic year. This mission will be reflected in two new initiatives, the Forum for Racial Justice in America—a series of events to address issues of race and racism—and the Pine Manor Institute for Student Success, of which Moore is executive director, which will oversee outreach and academic support programs for underrepresented, first-generation, low-income students.

In that spirit, Fr. Leahy urged faculty, staff, and students to “keep working for the good of the community and wider society. We want to be a place where solutions are brought forward.”

Fittingly, Moore concluded the virtual event by reminding viewers to wear face masks and practice social distancing where appropriate, and to engage in a daily check for COVID symptoms.

der this arrangement, Hurd will work with an associate dean for strategic initiatives and external relations, a programs administrator, a content development specialist, a programs innovation director, and 10 graduate students, as well as dedicated faculty, graduate student services, and consultant support.

“This increased range of team members is critical to managing the various dimensions of the program’s life—fiscal, student advising, partnership development, job placement, curriculum design, etc.—while also working toward its expansion into other needed areas,” said Wortham.

To ensure the strongest future for the Donovan program, Wortham said the school has begun a formal program review, to be conducted by a committee made up of Donovan alumni and Lynch School faculty and administrators. The committee members, he said, will give thoughtful attention to the Donovan program in its current form and review its mission, functions, and processes.

“The committee’s charge is to think creatively about the best possible version of the Donovan program, and how we can achieve it in the current environment,” said Wortham. “We are excited to work with their suggestions and to engage our alumni with the task of strengthening this important program.

“The year ahead promises many new possibilities, and we are confident that our effort will contribute to an expanded and elevated role for our Donovan Urban Teaching Scholars program and Urban Outreach Initiatives at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development.”

Mass of the Holy Spirit Sept. 10 University President William P. Leahy, S.J., will celebrate the annual Mass of the Holy Spirit on Sept. 10 at noon in the Upper Church of St. Ignatius. Haub Vice President for Mission and Ministry Jack Butler, S.J., will concelebrate, and Fr. Leahy will give the homily.

Organized by Campus Ministry, the Mass will be simulcast to Lannon, St. Joseph’s, and Trinity chapels, where communion will be distributed. Attendees will need to preregister online at bc.edu/mass. The Mass also will be streamed via the University’s YouTube channel [youtube.com/bostoncollege] for members of the BC campus community, as well as parents, alumni, and friends.

Classes are cancelled that day from noon to 1:15 p.m.

“As a Jesuit, Catholic university, prayer is vitally important to the life of Boston College and perhaps even more so this academic year, given what is happening in our country and in our world,” said Associate Vice President and Director of Campus Ministry Fr. Anthony Penna. “So, I hope, the BC community will join us in our chapels or online as we come together to ask God’s blessings on everything we will do throughout this new year.”

—Kathleen Sullivan

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September 3, 2020

BC Reopens Continued from page 1

BC has contracted with the Broad Institute to analyze the tests, which are shipped to the institute three times a day; the tests are processed within six to 26 hours of being received by the Broad laboratory. Faculty, staff, and students all received wristbands at the completion of their test, which they are asked to wear until Sept. 12.

Last week, the University began to roll out the BC Community Daily Self-Health Check Tool, created by BC Information Technology Services, to enable community members who are on campus this fall to conduct daily symptoms monitoring to prevent the spread of the virus. The tool, available at bc.edu/check, directs users—who must log in through the Agora portal—to answer six health-related questions; the app will give a “Cleared” or “Not Cleared” response with related instructions on how to proceed. Students, staff, and faculty may be asked to show the “Cleared” screen on their mobile device to enter a range of sites on campus, including dining halls, the Margot Connell Recreation Center, and O’Neill Library.

The University began asymptomatic surveillance testing yesterday, which University Health Services and Primary Care Sports Medicine Director Dr. Douglas Comeau said “is critical in enabling the continued health and well-being of our community.”

This testing will take place in the Margot Connell Recreation Center on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays throughout the fall semester from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Individuals selected will be notified of their required asymptomatic test via an email from University Health Services.

“We will be doing a mix of robust symptomatic and asymptomatic testing on a weekly basis, supported by the Broad Institute and our on-campus lab,” said Comeau. “As with any large-scale testing effort, there will be positive cases, but early identification, and the ability of the University to isolate individuals who test positive, will help us keep the community safe.”

For all the coronavirus-related changes, on Monday BC faculty and students expressed delight and relief in a return to some degree of normalcy.

Abigail South, a Lynch School of Education and Human Development senior from Montclair, NJ, looked forward to her first Microeconomic Theory class—a hybrid of in-person and remote instruction—taking place later that day.

“Considering my only class today is online, there’s no doubt that waking up on the first day of my senior year was different than I pictured,” said South, who is majoring in applied psychology/human development and communication. “But different doesn’t necessarily mean bad or disappointing. My roommates and I have been able to spend more time together as a ‘family unit’ and decorate our apartment to feel even more like home. When I see masked students happily reunite on campus, I’m reminded of BC’s strong community and the joy we feel when we’re together.

“My time away from campus has given me a greater appreciation for the time I do

Scenes from around campus as Boston College began the 2020-2021 academic year: at left, Assoc. Prof. Michael Serazio (Communication) and his students met in a classroom which, like others on campus, was reorganized to ensure social distancing and limited to 50 percent capacity; below left, undergraduates in the Portico class taught by Carroll School of Management Associate Dean Amy LaCombe took part in a discussion; below, Middle Campus was bustling again for the first time since March. photos by lee pellegrini

get to spend with my classmates.”

By mid-day on Monday, Carroll School of Management Associate Dean for Undergraduate Curriculum Amy LaCombe had finished teaching two of three in-person sections of the Portico course for Carroll School first-year students. LaCombe said she and her students—including one participating remotely because she was unable to travel to campus—were excited to be working together.

“It was great,” said LaCombe. “These freshmen lost a lot in the last six months— spring sports, their theater and music performances, graduation ceremonies, and proms. They were just so happy to be here.

The mask thing is awkward and you can’t move around. But they are excited. They are glad we are in-person. It’s just nice to see other people.”

LaCombe said she had been concerned about how to manage the discussion groups that are central to the course, which examines the ethical dynamics behind critical issues across the management fields. But based on her observations Monday, she was confident that the students would be able to hold substantive exchanges. She credited Facilities and Space Management planning efforts over the summer for providing her with rooms she could teach in safely and confidently: “The University did a really, really good job of upgrading the in-person rooms.”

Monday was the “weirdest ‘last’ first day of school” for Patrick Holm, a senior political science and history major from Great Falls, Va. “I woke up to familiar texts

from friends at BC wishing everyone good luck with their first day of classes, but they landed differently this time. Tinged with irony and a little bit of sadness, these messages communicate how we’re all feeling about starting our last year of college during a pandemic. While we’re happy to be here, it’s hard to ignore the many big and small things we’re missing out on: tailgating, catching up over coffee with friends, early morning commutes to class.

“Although these absences are hard to miss, they also inspire gratitude and attention to the things we have,” Holm added.

“We’re here with friends who have become like family, we’re soaking in the treasures of a New England fall, and we’re finishing up degrees in close proximity to the professors, mentors, and classmates that have shaped so many parts of our lives in these past three years.”

Associate Professor of Communication Michael Serazio, who had three in-person classes on Monday, said, “I always feel a little nervously excited before teaching a class and a little exhausted after. This semester being the strange, daunting undertaking that it is, all those sensations were heightened. The rush of energy back on campus traditionally invigorates the first day of fall, but felt subdued this year—as it had to be, for safety’s sake. So delighted, though, to see students’ faces (the uncovered half, at least) and to hear their voices (garbled as that seems to be through shroud). Nevertheless, we persisted!”

Associate Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures Regine Jean-Charles, who

teaches in the African and African Diaspora Studies (AADS) Program, had experienced strong emotions leading up to Monday, some having to do with the pandemic, others with the turmoil over racial issues in the U.S., including the shooting of Jacob Blake.

As she and AADS Director Shawn McGuffey prepared to start their class, she reflected on her attempts to imagine how different things would be when BC reopened—not only teaching with a mask or listening to others speak through their masks, but not being able to hug her returning students, or even to shake the hand of an undergraduate introducing herself. But the unsettled feelings began to dissipate when Jean-Charles read aloud a selection from Toni Morrison’s Beloved about the necessity for self-love in the face of violent antiBlackness: “They do not love your flesh. You got to love it. Hear me now, love your heart.

For this is the prize.”

“I hadn’t anticipated how much that reading would offer us something to hold on to in the face of all of that difference,” said Jean-Charles. “We wanted our students to know that despite physical distancing, despite masks, despite fewer in-person gatherings, we plan to bring our hearts to the classroom and invite them to do so also.

Because though many things will inevitably different this semester, why we teach and why we teach this class in particular, remains the same.”

For updates on the University’s reopening, see bc.edu/reopen.

Chronicle

September 3, 2020

5

O’Toole Is Appointed BC’s University Historian

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

Charles I. Clough Millennium Professor of History Emeritus James O’Toole, a scholar of Boston history and an expert on American religion and American Catholicism, has been appointed University Historian of Boston College.

Only the third person to hold the position, and first since 2012, O’Toole joins a distinguished legacy of University Historians: Thomas H. O’Connor ’49, MA ’50, H ’93, a professor of history considered the “dean of Boston historians,” and Charles F. Donovan, S.J. ’33, who was founding dean of BC’s School of Education and served in other key administrative positions in the University, including as academic vice president.

O’Toole, who earned a bachelor’s degree and doctorate from Boston College, is a former archivist for the Archdiocese of Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

After 12 years as director of the University of Massachusetts-Boston M.A. program in history and archives, he joined the History Department faculty in 1998 and in 2006 became the inaugural Clough Professor; he retired after this past academic year.

“Jim O’Toole has been a part of the Boston College community for nearly 50 years, and brings experience, wisdom, and knowledge to his position as University Historian,” said University President William P. Leahy, S.J. “His skill as a historian and commitment to Boston College make him ideally suited to serve in this new role.”

“I’m very happy to maintain my relationship with Boston College,” he said. “I enjoy the people, and I enjoy being on the campus.

It’s also a tremendous honor to be serving in a position held by Tom O’Connor, who was a mentor to me when I was a student as well as a faculty member. No one will ever fill his shoes, but I look forward to helping tell the story of Boston College.”

James O’Toole: “Historians look at change, but also continuity, because in that continuity we see larger, overarching themes that define major institutions.” photo by gary wayne gilbert

Each previous University Historian put his individual stamp on the position. Fr. Donovan published The History of Boston College: From the Beginnings to 1990, the first chronicle of the University since 1947, and produced a series of shorter “occasional papers.” O’Connor issued a shorter, updated book on BC history in 2009, Ascending the Heights: A Brief History of Boston College from Its Founding to 2008, and was involved in a project to put historical markers at select locations on Main Campus.

Although his duties will be “loosely defined,” O’Toole said, he plans to publish a new history of the University next year and create public programming that include lectures and walking tours of campus—the latter he organized while a faculty member.

Examining Boston College’s history requires a large lens, O’Toole said. “It is intimately connected with the history of Boston, as well as the Catholic community

and the immigrant community. While their particulars are different, of course, and have changed over time, these institutions are all intertwined.

“Historians look at change, but also continuity, because in that continuity we see larger, overarching themes that define major institutions.”

For his envisioned book, O’Toole said he seeks to “reimagine the story of BC” by looking at less-explored topics: “The curriculum. What went on in the classroom.

The core requirements. The development of BC’s academic departments. The professionalization of the faculty. Student research.

These are the things which give a university its distinctiveness.

“I’m also trying to focus on individuals, such as the students from BC’s early years: Which of them were immigrants? Which were second-generation? Where did their families come from? I’m hoping this will provide for a broader social history of BC.” O’Toole has researched and written on the history of Catholicism in the United States, using as a focal point not only major figures like Boston Archbishop Cardinal William O’Connell—the subject of his book Militant and Triumphant William Henry O’Connell and the Catholic Church in Boston—but also the lives of everyday Catholics seeking, and gradually gaining, acceptance in a country that often viewed them with suspicion and prejudice.

In The Faithful: A History of Catholics in America, O’Toole documented the experience of lay Catholics in the New World, beginning with the first settlements in the original 13 colonies. American Catholics, he noted, had complicated relationships with both the Catholic Church leadership in Rome and their own nation. Examining prayer, ritual, and other expressions of faith by the laity, O’Toole recounted the gradual arrival of Catholics into the American mainstream, as well as their responses to crises,

including the recent clergy sexual abuse scandal.

The presence of racial as well as religious prejudice in America formed the backdrop for another O’Toole book. Passing for White: Race, Religion and the Healy Family, 18201920 chronicled the lives of the children of a multiracial couple from Georgia who were sent to the north in the hopes of concealing their racial identity and affording them a chance for a better life. Three of the family’s sons became priests, including one who was appointed rector of Boston’s Cathedral of the Holy Cross.

O’Toole also served as editor and contributor to Habits of Devotion: Catholic Religious Practices in Twentieth Century America, which traces the causes and development of some significant changes in religious practices in the American Catholic Church between 1925 and 1975.

Technological advances, such as digitization of research materials, give O’Toole capabilities his predecessors could scarcely have imagined. “I was recently browsing through the online resources in the University Archives via my home computer, looking for a particular item in a BC catalog from the 1950s, and it took me a matter of minutes.

Before this, I would’ve had to get in my car, drive to campus, go to Burns Library and then spend time combing the archives until I found what I needed. That could’ve taken me half the day, if not more.”

O’Toole lauds the Burns Library staff for their digitization program, which during the University’s sesquicentennial celebration (2012-2013) made original sources for understanding BC history more widely available.

“It’s remarkable how technology has made things easier. Of course, you still have to have a good idea of what it is you want to find out, and what its significance is to the work you’re doing. That aspect of history has not changed.”

Adediran is New Donohue Asst. Professor at BC Law

BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER

Atinuke “Tinu” Adediran has been appointed as the David and Pamela Donohue Assistant Professor in business law, Boston College Law School Dean Vincent D. Rougeau announced this past summer.

Adediran, who was hired earlier this year and joined the faculty in July, succeeds the inaugural chairholder, Natalya Shnitser, who was promoted to associate professor and granted tenure.

An interdisciplinary empirical scholar who joins BC Law from the University of Chicago Law School, Adediran teaches civil procedure, professional responsibility, and access to justice. Her research focuses on inequality in the law, legal institutions, the legal profession—particularly through the lens of elite law firms as businesses—which was the topic of her seminar as an Earl B. Dickerson Fellow and Lecturer in Law at UChicago Law. She earned a J.D. from Co-

Atinuke Adediran

lumbia University School of Law, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.

“We are so very excited to have Tinu joining us,” said Rougeau. “Her scholarly work is exciting, and demonstrates how interdisciplinary perspectives and training

can deepen our understanding about critical issues in the legal profession and the work of law firms. She is a wonderful addition to our academic community.”

Prior to her fellowship, Adediran was an associate in the litigation department of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLC, New York City’s oldest law firm and one of the nation’s oldest continuously operating legal practices. At Cadwalader, she focused her practice on securities, contractual disputes, and Alternative Dispute Resolution. This past spring, the Ford Foundation Fellow earned a Ph.D. in sociology from Northwestern University, where she also received a master’s degree.

“I am tremendously honored to be the second holder of the Donohue chair at BC Law,” said Adediran. “The chair will make a significant difference to my teaching and research on inequality in legal institutions, including law firms, nonprofit legal services organizations and their executives and boards of directors.”

In a 2014 interview, David A. T. Donohue JD ’71, cited the factors which led him to make his gift to BC Law. “I have been fortunate to build a happy, challenging, and rewarding career, and wanted to give back to an institution that helped me realize professional success,” said Donohue, founder and president of Bostonbased International Human Resources Development Corporation. “This gift also helped me recognize the important guidance I received from my father, who encouraged me to attend a Jesuit institution, having himself been taught by Jesuits for most of his formal education.

“This gift supports assistant professors who are helping build the school’s commitment to business law,” he said. “I know how fulfilling a career in business can be, especially when it offers opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship internationally.

I hope my gift inspires others to invest in BC Law’s future.”

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photos by lee pellegrini (moore, bailey, savage) and caitlin cunningham (gennaro); photo of patrick kraft courtesy boston college athletics

September 3, 2020

WHILE YOU WERE AWAY

Key Administrative Appointments Announced Vice President for Student Affairs Joy Moore was appointed as the inaugural executive director of the Pine Manor Institute for Student Success, which will oversee outreach and academic support programs for underrepresented, first-generation, low-income students at both Boston College and Pine Manor College, which integrated with Boston College this past summer.

Moore, who will continue as Student Affairs VP, had also served as director of University Commencement since 2018; she will be succeeded in that role by Associate Vice President for Alumni Relations Leah DeCosta.

Boston College and Brookline-based Pine Manor College, a 111-year old private liberal arts college whose recent financial struggles had threatened its reaccreditation, agreed to integrate the two institutions in a common mission to serve first-generation, high-financial need students. Pine Manor serves a population that is 85 percent students of color, 84 percent first generation, and 80 percent low income.

Under the agreement, Pine Manor College students which will remain at their school in a “teach out” arrangement for a period of up to two years. Students currently enrolled at Pine Manor will be able to continue their Associate of Arts or Bachelor of Arts degree programs in classes taught by Pine Manor faculty on the Pine Manor College campus. Pine Manor College students who gain admission to Boston College’s Woods College of Advancing Studies can finish their Bachelor of Arts degree at Boston College.

Dr. Douglas Comeau, former medical director of sports medicine at the Ryan Center for Sports Medicine at Boston University and Boston Medical Center, became director of University Health Services and Primary Care Sports Medicine at Boston College on July 2.

Comeau succeeded Thomas Nary, M.D., who had headed UHS since 1996.

Nary will stay on as a clinical physician at

UHS, helping to promote health and wellness among BC students.

In addition to a slew of professional experience and activities—that include serving as finish line medical tent physician at the Boston Marathon, medical director for the Boston Triathlon, and BU sports medicine fellowship director, concussion clinic director, and head team physician—Comeau holds academic appointments as a clinical associate professor of family medicine at the BU School of Medicine and a lecturer at Tufts School of Medicine. He also serves on the national committee for the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine and was on the national committee for the American Academy of Family Physicians

retirement of John Rakestraw. As executive director, Grooters is responsible for ensuring that the center’s programs and services align with faculty needs and are responsive to the University’s priorities and mission.

The Gabelli Presidential Scholars Program, Boston College’s premier undergraduate academic program, completed a three-year transition in leadership as Kathleen Bailey, associate director of the University’s Islamic Civilization and Societies Program, succeeded Canisius Professor of Theology James Keenan, S.J., as director.

A professor of the practice in the Political Science Department and a 1976 alumna, Bailey was appointed in 2017 to co-lead the program with Fr. Keenan, who had been director since 2010. She is the third director in the history of GPSP, which was founded in 1991 with Dennis Sardella, a nowretired professor of chemistry, as its head.

The Gabelli Presidential Scholars Program is an integrated honors educational experience designed to embody the best of the University and its Jesuit heritage of educational excellence in service to so-

ciety, and is centered around four pillars: global leadership; hospitality; fidelity to our partners; and promoting the common good. Students are chosen on the basis of academic excellence, demonstrated leadership ability, and significant community service.

Robert Savage, whose research, teaching, and administrative leadership have bolstered Boston College’s renowned Irish Studies Program for more than two decades, was named interim director of the program.

A faculty member in the History Department, Savage served as the program’s associate director from 1995-2003, and co-director from 2003-2010 with Associate Professor of English Marjorie Howes.

The BC Irish Studies Program was created in 1978 and is widely acknowledged as one of the international leaders in the field. Headquartered in Connolly House on Hammond Street, the program explores the history, culture, literature, music, and art of Ireland through undergraduate and graduate study, faculty research, scholarly conferences, publications, lectures, concerts, and other events.

Temple University Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Patrick Kraft, considered one of the best athletics administrators in NCAA Division I sports, was named the William V. Campbell Director of Athletics at Boston College.

As director of intercollegiate athletics at Temple, Kraft directed a $59 million budget, a department of 180 employees, and 500 studentathletes in 19 sports that compete in the American Athletics Conference, the Big East Conference, and the ECAC. He was responsible for all facets of athletics administration, including academics, NCAA Title IX compliance, diversity, finances, and athletics, and led the hiring of new head coaches in football, men’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, and field hockey.

Gennaro to Step Down As Connell School Dean

Stacy Grooters, who as interim director of the Boston College Center for Teaching Excellence was a key figure in the University’s successful transition to remote instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic, has become the center’s executive director.

The Center for Teaching Excellence provides support for faculty and graduate student instructors to create engaging and inclusive learning environments for all BC students. Grooters joined the CTE in 2015, serving as director of faculty programs until her appointment as the center’s interim director in 2019 upon the

Connell School of Nursing Dean and Professor Susan Gennaro, an internationally respected nurse researcher who has led the Connell School since 2008, has announced she will step down as dean at the end of the 2020-2021 academic year. She will remain on the Connell School faculty.

A distinguishing aspect of Gennaro’s tenure has been the advancement of academic excellence in the context of valuesbased student formation. To that end,

retreats like SCRUBS for undergraduates and VITALS for graduate students were instituted. Curricular change has occurred on all levels, most notably the Doctor of Nursing Practice program which was launched in 2019. This new degree program educates advanced practice nurses at the highest level and represents the new gold standard for preparing nurse practitioners.

In addition, Gennaro has overseen the introduction of several international programs which have provided undergraduates and graduate students with clinical and cultural experiences that have expanded their understanding of global health care issues and disparities. The Connell School also has formed collaborations with two Swiss universities, Haute École de Santé Vaud and LaSource, and with Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.

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September 3, 2020

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A digest of Boston College news from the spring and summer University Will Be Test Optional for 2020-2021 Boston College will be test optional for first-year applicants during the 2020-2021 admission cycle due to ongoing concerns about future test dates and the availability of test centers caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. BC intends to return to using standardized testing once the pandemic has subsided.

Director of Undergraduate Admission Grant Gosselin said that high school students who are unable to submit standardized test results this coming year, or who choose not to, will not be disadvantaged in BC’s selection process. For those students who do submit standardized testing results, Boston College will use the scores as one

Snapshot

PHOTO BY LEE PELLEGRINI

component in the holistic review of applications.

Gosselin said that in reviewing applications that do not include standardized test results, the Undergraduate Admission Committee will place greater emphasis on other required application credentials, including academic performance, rigor of coursework, placement in class, personal statements, recommendations, and co-curricular involvement. Students who wish to further quantify their academic successes are welcome to submit non-required credentials such as Advanced Placement scores, predicted IB scores, or SAT Subject Test results.

Campus Now Smoke-Free Boston College has now become a tobaccoand smoke-free environment, as a result of a policy that took effect Aug. 1. Smoking, vaping, or using any tobacco or plant product is prohibited on all Boston College campuses, including buildings, facilities, grounds, and any other property. The ban encompasses indoor and outdoor spaces, private offices, academic and administrative buildings, all areas of residence halls, athletic venues, dining facilities, and vehicles owned or used by the University.

The policy reflects Boston College’s

commitment to providing a safe and healthy work, learning, and community environment, according to the University.

BC employees can obtain help for smoking cessation through the University Faculty/ Staff Assistance Program, while students can turn to University Health Services and the Office of Health Promotion for aid, the policy notes; in addition, the BC Healthy You website [www.bc.edu/healthy-you] provides a list of smoking cessation resources, including those supported by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care insurance plans.

Sadka First Haub Family Prof.

Ronnie Sadka, a prominent researcher in the field of market liquidity and chair of the Carroll School of Management’s highly regarded Finance Department, was named the inaugural Haub Family Professor at Boston College.

The new chair is endowed by the family of Christian and Liliane Haub, who are the parents of Carroll School graduates Marie-Liliane ’13, Maximilian ’14, and Constantin ’17. Both parents are members of Boston College’s Board of Regents, and Christian Haub also serves as a Boston College Trustee Associate. He is the chief executive officer of Tengelmann TwentyOne KG and Tengelmann Holding, in

Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany.

Sadka, the Carroll School Teaching Award winner in 2014, was appointed Finance Department chair a year later and launched a vigorous hiring effort that has attracted more than a dozen top scholars, substantially raising the department’s research profile. The department stands at 11th in U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Undergraduate Finance Programs.”

As Carroll School senior associate dean, Sadka has helped spearhead major innovations, notably the creation of four new management minors designed specifically for non-management majors at other schools of the University, along with a growing emphasis on teaching data analytics. Other academic initiatives have included an extension of the “tenure clock” from six to eight years, partly with an eye to giving tenure-track faculty more time to develop as teachers and scholars.

Boston College held a topping-off ceremony in July for the science building now under construction on Middle Campus that will house the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society. University administrators, along with project architect Diana Tsang of Payette, were on hand for the event, a traditional builders’ rite to celebrate the placement of the last beam atop a structure during its construction. The new science facility is scheduled to open in late 2021.

Deaths Among the members of the Boston College community who died this past spring and summer were: •Joseph E. Corcoran ’59, H ’09, former Boston College trustee whose 2014 gift created the Joseph E. Corcoran Center for Real Estate and Urban Action; June 3, aged 84.

•Norine Smith ’87, who worked at the University from 1979-1996, mainly in the Carroll School of Management, and held a number of administrative positions; May

19, aged 93.

•Mary A. Armstrong, a member of the Fine Arts faculty for almost 30 years while continuing to pursue an active, accomplished artistic career; May 14, aged 71.

•Michael I. Mitsukawa M.A. ’85, a staff member and administrator in the Boston College Law Library for 35 years who played a key role in the construction of the present library as part of the Law School’s East Wing; April 29, aged 56.

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September 3, 2020

Inspired by Nature Boston College chemists use a multi-catalyst system to covert greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into methanol

BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER

Converting carbon dioxide into methanol, a potentially renewable alternative fuel, offers an opportunity to simultaneously form an alternative fuel and cut down on carbon dioxide emissions.

Inspired by naturally occurring processes, a team of Boston College chemists used a multi-catalyst system to convert carbon dioxide to methanol at the lowest temperatures reported with high activity and selectivity, the researchers reported in a recent online edition of the journal Chem.

The team’s discovery was made possible by installing multiple catalysts in a single system constructed within a sponge-like porous crystalline material known as a metal-organic framework, said lead authors and Boston College Associate Professors of Chemistry Jeffery Byers and Frank Tsung.

Held in place by the sponge, the separate catalysts work in harmony. Without isolation of the catalytically active species in this way, the reaction did not proceed and no product was obtained, they reported.

The team drew its inspiration from the biological machinery in cells, which use multicomponent chemical reactions with great efficiency, Tsung said.

Jeffery Byers

Frank Tsung

The team employed catalyst separation through host-guest chemistry—where a “guest” molecule is encapsulated in a “host” material to form a new chemical compound—in order to convert carbon dioxide to methanol. The approach, inspired by the multicomponent catalytic transformations in nature, converted a greenhouse gas to a renewable fuel while avoiding high catalytic demand on a single species.

“We accomplished this by encapsulating one or more catalysts in metal-organic framework and applying the resulting hostguest construct in catalysis in tandem with another transition metal complex,” said Tsung.

The team, which included graduate student Thomas M. Rayder and undergraduate Enric H. Adillon, set out to determine whether they could develop an approach to integrate incompatible catalysts in order to convert carbon dioxide to methanol at low temperature and with high selectivity, said Byers.

Specifically, they wanted to find out if there are specific advantages to this approach when compared to current state-ofthe-art systems for transition metal complex-based conversion of carbon dioxide to methanol.

“Positioning multiple transition metal complex catalysts at the right position in

a system is critical to the reaction turning over,” said Byers. “At the same time, encapsulating these catalysts allowed for recyclability in the multicomponent catalytic system.”

These properties make the multicomponent catalyst construct more industrially relevant, which may pave the way for a carbon-neutral fuel economy, the researchers said.

In addition to achieving site isolation by encapsulating the catalysts, which led to catalyst activity and recyclability, the team discovered an autocatalytic feature of the catalyst that enabled the reaction to be run without the need for large amounts of additives. Most previous reports for similar reactions use large amounts of additives, but the team’s approach avoids this necessity.

The team plans to do further research into the modularity of both the encapsulation method and the metal-organic frameworks to gain a deeper understanding of the multicomponent system and optimize it further, as well as access new, unexplored reactivity through the formation of new host-guest constructs, Tsung said.

Read the team’s study at: www. sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/ S2451929420301765?via%3Dihub.

Career Center Steps Up Virtual Resources for Students, Alums

BY ALIX HACKETT SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

As cancellations, closures, and slowdowns became the norm this spring, the Boston College Career Center—in collaboration with the University’s Alumni Association and departments across campus—began rolling out new programs and keeping its virtual lights on longer than ever before, helping the Class of 2020, as well as students and other young alumni, navigate an uncertain job market wrought by the coronavirus pandemic.

Instead of meeting face-to-face, career coaches held virtual sessions with students to discuss their interests and career goals.

And while the center’s physical doors were closed, it offered daily drop-in hours online for job-seekers looking for quick feedback on a resume or cover letter.

“A lot of students have asked whether they will have access to our resources. Can they attend our events and use our services?” said Joseph Du Pont, associate vice president for Career Services, interviewed in May. “And the answer is ‘yes,’ a resounding ‘yes,’ of course you can—and those resources are richer than ever.”

Under normal circumstances, Du Pont and his team would have had cause for celebration. The results of a survey sent to the Class of 2019 found that 95 percent were employed, attending graduate school, or engaged in a fellowship or volunteer opportunity within six months of graduating.

For the fifth straight year, 73 percent of BC graduates entered the workforce, joining respected organizations across a broad range of industries.

The survey, which was sent to graduates between April and December of last year, provided a pre-pandemic snapshot of how a BC liberal arts education can help prepare students for fulfilling careers. Despite the obstacles presented by the coronavirus, Du Pont and others are determined to ensure that remains the case.

“These are challenging times, but we don’t want students or our 2020 graduates to give up on their dreams,” said Career Education & Strategy Director Rachel Greenberg. “We want them to continue to really think about the big questions they’re asked throughout their BC education: What are you good at? What do you enjoy?

Who does the world need you to be? These are still really important questions and they should not be shoved aside.”

For students whose internships or parttime jobs were lost to coronavirus, the Career Center offered a host of resources, including a self-guided, eight-week Praxis Summer Program designed to help them recognize and develop their professional skills. Several hundred students registered for the free program, which included modules on leveraging technology, effective leadership, and working across cultures.

Each week of Praxis centered around a skill area that would normally be strengthened through on-the-ground experience.

In Week 5, for example, students learned about teamwork and collaboration by completing a conflict style assessment, creating a “How to Work with Me” user manual, and collaborating with another Praxis student on a research assignment.

“We didn’t want our students to lose a summer of career exploration and skill building,” explained Greenberg. “Praxis provided them with something concrete that they could do with their time to develop these skills and boost their resumes.”

For non-management students looking

“These are challenging times, but we don’t want students or our 2020 graduates to give up on their dreams.”

—Rachel Greenberg to add a grounding in business to their portfolio, the Carroll School of Management switched its summer Catalyst Program to a fully online format. Participants took three full courses and a career practicum covering a wide range of business management topics, including accounting, finance, marketing, ethics, and law.

Students and recent graduates could also seek advice from the University’s vast alumni network through EagleExchange, an online community with more than 9,200 members.

“Many of our alumni have been through

economic downturns before and can offer support and guidance to students wondering how this will affect their future careers,” said Colleen Cimoch Smith, a project manager in University Advancement. “These conversations can also lead to mentorships or job shadow opportunities down the road.”

Members of the Class of 2020 who are still job searching can expect personalized outreach from Du Pont and his team, who work regularly with Eagles who have graduated in the past five years. By visiting the Career Center website [www.bc.edu/career], they’ll be able to learn about upcoming virtual career fairs, brush up on their virtual interview skills, and tune in to the Career Center’s “Ask an Alum” video series.

“A message we’re trying to make sure the seniors hear loud and clear is that they’re not cut off after graduation,” said Greenberg. “We hope the Class of 2020 will continue to access our resources and services in the months and years ahead.”

For those who have lost jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic, Du Pont urged optimism, as well as patience.

“There are students getting jobs now.

There are students doing interviews now who are going to be employed,” he said.

“It’s harder now, but you shouldn’t give up.

We are here to help at every stage of the process.”

–Alix Hackett is a senior digital content writer for the Office of University Communications

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September 3, 2020

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Tracking Conservative Constitutional Thought Political scientist Kersch receives a major honor for his book Conservatives and the Constitution

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

Professor of Political Science Ken Kersch has won a major professional honor for his study of the development of conservative constitutional thought during the mid- and late-20th century.

Kersch was selected for the C. Herman Pritchett Award from the Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association (APSA), given annually for the best book on law and courts published by a political scientist during the previous year.

The award recognizes Kersch for his 2019 book, Conservatives and the Constitution: Imagining Constitutional Restoration in the Heyday of American Liberalism, which examines how the intellectual and political trajectory of conservatives took shape on constitutional issues during 1954 to 1980—a period when they were largely sidelined in the American political arena.

“Receiving the Pritchett Award is an extraordinary honor,” said Kersch, who joined the University in 2007 and from 2008-2012 served as founding director of the Boston College Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy. “C. Herman Pritchett was a pioneering scholar of judicial politics at the University of Chicago and the University of California-Santa Barbara. The recognition of my work by a prize named in his honor, by one of the American Political Science Association’s largest and most important sections, puts that work in the company of other leading

photo by peter julian

“I have always been interested in the contrast between the political thought of periods when groups were out of political power,” says Ken Kersch, “and when they have achieved political power.” studies in the field. It is immensely gratifying to have my scholarship considered in this company. It is a highlight of my career.”

In Conservatives and the Constitution, Kersch discusses how conservatives sought to counter the institutional power liberals held for most of the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s, represented by majorities in Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. During this period, conservatives in various academic, religious, business, and other circles—from free market capitalists to evangelical Christians—found common cause in advocating and mobilizing for what they saw as

constitutional restoration and redemption.

This movement reached its apotheosis with the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan, which brought about a conservative realignment in American politics, and a conservative presence in the federal judiciary and the Supreme Court.

According to Kersch, however, since the 1980s there has been a “ritualized opposition” in legal thought between conservatives’ “originalism” and liberals’ “living constitutionalism” that has overshadowed the complex, intricate interplay of personalities, motivations, beliefs, and events which defined postwar conservative constitutionalism. He sees Conservatives and the Constitution as offering a fuller picture to conservatives and liberals alike of their respective views on the Constitution, and how each developed over time.

“Unlike many books on conservative constitutional theory, mine does not treat originalism as the alpha and omega of postwar conservative constitutional thought. I present conservative originalism as a particular theory that emerged as the consensus view for a delimited period of time within a broader political movement. And I demonstrate that that thought extended well beyond originalism. Originalism emerged at a certain time and place in the history of the conservative legal movement to address particular questions to advance certain ends and serve certain movement purposes.”

This is the third honor from APSA for Kersch, a previous winner of the association’s Edward S. Corwin Award and the J. David Greenstone Prize from APSA’s Politics and History Section. He also has received the Hughes-Gossett Award from the Supreme Court Historical Society.

Kersch said one of the driving forces in his work is a desire to make sense of how different forces, events, and vectors inter-

Two BCSSW Alumni Named Catholic Relief Services Fellows Jannah Muhammad and Kevin O’Brien, both of whom graduated from the Boston College School of Social Work in May, will work for Catholic Relief Services (CRS) as fellows for the next year. The two, who had served internships with CRS, are among only 18 people this year to receive fellowships from the international humanitarian organization, which works with institutions, nonprofits, and nongovernmental organizations around the world to help people on the basis of need, not creed, race, or nationality.

Muhammad will be stationed in Dakar, Senegal, but will spend much of her time working in the neighboring countries of Guinea-Bissau and The Gambia. She will support The McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program in Guinea-Bissau by helping to build relationships with potential partners

BC School of Social Work graduates Jannah Muhammad and Kevin O’Brien

who can strengthen the initiative. The program has provided food to 40 million children in 24 countries since it was created in 2002. World Vision, a humanitarian organization, reports that 65 million people in Africa did not get enough to eat in 2018, including more than 11 million people in West Africa.

“One of the things I value most is putting the community first,” says Muhammad, who served in the Peace Corps in Benin, West Africa, from 2013 to 2016.

“Those close to the problem should have

photos courtesy bcssw

the greatest say in how that problem is being addressed.”

O’Brien will divide his time between Gaza and the West Bank, territories in the Middle East separated from each other by Israel. He’ll draft and implement grants that provide health care and emergency shelter for people in Gaza who have been displaced from their homes and help farmers in the West Bank secure the money and resources they need to grow crops and raise livestock.

He says that one of the goals of the

sect with one another to influence and alter legal and political understandings. Living in the context of ascendant political and constitutional conservatism, he said, has had him mulling different strands of the book throughout his adulthood: studying economics in college while supply-side “Reaganomics” dominated political discussion, and attending law school when Reagan’s failed nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court moved the originalistsvs.-living constitutionalists debates to the center of the U.S. constitutional discussion.

“I have always been interested in the contrast between the political thought of periods when groups were out of political power, and when they have achieved political power. How is it similar, and how does it change?”

Kersch sees a familiar theoretical originalist/living-constitutionalist issue in the Supreme Court ruling earlier this year on LGBTQ rights, although the cases leading to it, including Bostock v. Clayton County, were not constitutional per se but rather concerned interpretation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act forbidding discrimination based on sex.

“Should judges today understand the meaning of the word ‘sex’ by the lights of what those who passed the law in 1964 understood and imagined as its scope and applicability?” he said. “Or should we understand it in light of what the word and concept of ‘sex’ means in today’s world?”

Noting that the Supreme Court’s conservative justices split on the issue, Kersch said the Bostock case suggests the instability and current implausibility of what he calls “old-school, Reagan-era originalism.

“Whether conservatives are moving towards an entirely new form of originalism, or something completely different, remains to be seen.” project in the West Bank is to support farmers who want to turn their livelihoods into businesses and sell their goods to customers at local markets. Al Jazeera reported in May that the novel coronavirus has crippled the agricultural industry in the West Bank, as closures imposed by the Palestian Authority to control the spread of the virus have made it particularly difficult for farmers to sell their livestock.

“I want to support their contributions to their community,” says O’Brien, “and help them get what they need to implement their vision for their small business.”

CRS reports that 75 to 80 percent of fellows continue to work for the humanitarian organization after their fellowships end. Muhammad and O’Brien expressed interest in managing programs for the organization when they finish their fellowships. O’Brien says he wants to work in public health, with a particular emphasis on addressing health disparities. Muhammad says she wants to apply her skills to improve the health of women and children.

–Jason Kornwitz, BC School of Social Work Read the full article at http://bit.ly/bcssw-grads-crs

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No Summertime Blues

“She has great expertise and a knack for explaining difficult topics in an understanding and digestible manner, and focuses on challenging questions that link our class material with current events,” says a student of Jennifer Erickson (left) who took part in Erickson’s informal summer workshop on international politics.

When the pandemic ruined her students’ summer plans, Jennifer Erickson came up with a solution: a workshop on their favorite subject

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

For many Boston College undergraduates, the COVID-19 pandemic not only affected their academic year but also their summer plans, resulting in the cancellation of internships and other professional or academic programs.

When Associate Professor of Political Science Jennifer Erickson saw the impact on some of her students, she decided to fill the gap.

A faculty member jointly appointed in the International Studies (IS) Program, Erickson ran an informal workshop via Zoom this summer for 14 IS majors—all of whom who had been in her Introduction to International Studies class this past spring or in previous years—on the theme “order and disorder in international politics.” The sessions covered controversies such as the World Health Organization and its handling of the coronavirus, as well as topics related to the World Trade Organization, the International Criminal Court, refugees, and arms control, among others.

The non-credit workshop, not affiliated with or sponsored by any department or program, was an “on-the-fly” creation by Erickson, who saw it as a means to keep her students engaged in intellectual formation and help enrich their understanding of international issues. But there was another, deeper aspect to the workshop, she said.

“Once we began remote learning, I thought a lot about the value of a BC education,” she explained. “Besides the academic component, the value is being part of a community built on interaction between faculty and students, whether in the classroom or outside of it. Teaching intro

classes is a good way for me to get to know IS majors, so that I can stay connected with them through the rest of their time at BC; I like to be a person they feel they can keep in touch with.

“When I checked in with my students, they expressed concern about whether they would be able to do internships in the summer. But they also talked about the difficulty of being away from BC and its sense of community. So I tried to come up with ways to keep connected, and where they felt they were building on what they had learned—not the same thing as an internship, of course, but hopefully of some value.”

Daniela Vazquez Loriga ’22, a native of Hialeah, Fla., had hoped to participate in the Boston Lawyer Group Summer Internship Program or the U.S Foreign Service Internship Program, but both possibilities fell through. She was enthused when Erickson floated the idea of a workshop.

“She has great expertise and a knack for explaining difficult topics in an understanding and digestible manner, and focuses on challenging questions that link our class material with current events,” said Vazquez Loriga, whose International Studies major is complemented by a concentration in Ethics and Social Justice and a minor in history.

“This really pushes our critical thinking and comprehension skills. I was discouraged at not having the opportunity to further develop these skills in an internship as I’d hoped. But I trusted Professor Erickson to deliver a challenging and fascinating workshop that would expand my understanding of international relations.”

Although the workshop was informal, Erickson wanted to promote a shared sense

Student Services Support Continued from page 1

Contreras-Godfrey. “We are very grateful for SSS funding that supports our academic and financial aid advising, career and college mentoring, and Student Supplemental Grants to help students with unexpected college expenses and other forms of assistance.”

SSS began in 1968 and is one of the eight federal “TRIO” programs authorized by the Higher Education Act to help college students succeed in higher education. It recognizes that students whose parents do not have a college degree have more difficulties navigating the complexity of decisions that college requires for success, bolsters students from low-income families who have not had the academic opportunities of their college peers, and helps students with disabilities remove obstacles preventing them from thriving academically.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the systemic inequality and financial hardship which prevent promising students from succeeding in college,” said Maureen Hoyler, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Council for Opportunity in Education, a non-profit dedicated to furthering the expansion of college opportunities for low-income, first-generation students, and students with disabilities. “Student Support Services is needed now more than ever.”

Many Student Support Services alumni have gone on to great success, including BC alumnus, author, and Workhuman Chief Human Resources Officer Steve Pemberton; Emmy, Tony and Academy Award-winning actress Viola Davis; U.S. Rep. Gwendolyn S. Moore of Wisconsin’s 4th District; and Franklin Chang-Diaz, the first Hispanic astronaut.

September 3, 2020

photo by gary wayne gilbert

of commitment among the participants.

She asked interested students to apply and include a cover letter stating their reason for wanting to join the workshop, which consisted of six Zoom sessions that took place every other week; in between, the students had to do assigned readings.

“I tried to strike a balance,” she said. “I didn’t want the workshop to be burdensome, because I knew some of the students had jobs or other responsibilities. At the same time, I wanted them to take it seriously, and understand that they had to commit to attend the sessions and do the readings. Above all, I wanted the experience to be fun as well as intellectually stimulating.”

Stephanie Brendsel ’21, whose IS major includes a concentration in political economy and development and a minor in economics, was awaiting her security clearance for a summer internship at the U.S. embassy in Panama when her program was cancelled due to travel restrictions.

Although she had found a new internship when Erickson contacted her about the workshop, Brendsel decided to take part.

“I was interested in having a built-in summer commitment where I could read and discuss policy topics within a group of BC International Studies students,” said Brendsel, a native of Virginia who spent her high school years in London. “It’s in these intimate group discussions during my previous IS courses, including Introduction to International Studies, that I feel like I gain the deepest understanding of specialized topics.”

For senior Christopher Sundaram, who decided to take some online courses and offer tutoring for children when his internship ideas didn’t pan out, the workshop was satisfying on many levels.

“The hour always seemed to fly by,” said Sundaram, from Hanover, NH. “Professor Erickson asked us questions, moved the discussion along smoothly—it never felt forced—and I learned a great deal from everyone. I think it shows that if the professor and students are interested and committed to the topic, online classes can really work.”

Among other activities, Erickson and the workshop participants compared the WHO guidelines for COVID-19 with those of the 2014 Ebola outbreak and examined the Trump administration’s

response to the investigation of U.S war crimes in Afghanistan. They also discussed how much protection the International Humanitarian Law provides to hospitals in conflict zones, how states skirt their responsibilities toward refugees through bureaucratic measures or by excluding certain groups, and the degree to which the “taboo” against use of nuclear weapons persists today.

Vazquez Loriga appreciated that the topics were timely, relevant, and challenging in that “we were talking about things that were still unfolding. We had to really think about everything we’ve learned from our courses and theories that we’ve studied to draw our opinions and conclusions.”

“These topics are not spoken about nearly enough, especially given their massive importance,” said Sundaram. “The most valuable thing about the workshop was being able to discuss them in a critical way in an accepting setting, as this is the best way to reach solutions and fix these issues.”

Brendsel agreed. “I enjoyed hearing the different interpretations of readings amongst our group. Professor Erickson or a student would pose a question: For example, did we believe that the WHO serves as a stabilizer or as a police force for member states? Our readings, these questions, and students’ diverse opinions were all useful for me as I formulated my own educated opinion on an important international relations topic.”

The three students greatly appreciated Erickson’s willingness to volunteer her time and effort, but were by no mean surprised by it.

“She has always been a reliable resource for help and guidance, whether hosting multiple review sessions before a big midterm, organizing a movie night so the class can bond, or just answering emails asking for academic advice,” said Vazquez Loriga.

“I was very grateful that she decided to dedicate her free time to her students who just wanted to make their summer worthwhile despite the many setbacks of COVID-19.”

There is a possibility the workshop may continue on in some form during the academic year, perhaps as a monthly discussion. “I want all the students to get settled back into the school routine, and then see how everybody is,” said Erickson. “I’m glad the experience meant so much to them.”

September 3, 2020

Chronicle

Bailey Receives Promotion in BCDS

BC in the Media

Frank Bailey, an employee at Boston College Dining Services since 2001, was recently promoted to associate director for food and beverage. Starting out in BCDS as a frontline cook, Bailey advanced to catering production manager and then to executive chef, where his major focus “has been to ensure culinary excellence in our catering operations across the campus; [he is] highly regarded by many of our catering clients,” said BCDS Director Beth Emery.

As executive chef, Bailey represented Boston College in the Menus of Change University Research Collaborative (MCURC) representing 66 institutions since 2014. More recently, he has chaired

the collaborative’s Executive Chef Committee, where he helped to lead the team of university chefs to develop more recipes that are healthier and more sustainable.

In addition, Bailey has led the BCDS Chef Council, which meets regularly to discuss planning of seasonal menus and recipes, food safety, product specifications, and culinary training for its frontline culinary team. During the COVID 19 pandemic, Bailey has led BCDS efforts, in collaboration with the Office of Governmental and Community Affairs, to provide food and meals for people in need across Boston.

–University Communications

Nota Bene María Estela Brisk, professor emerita of Teaching, Curriculum, and Society in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, was selected for the Scholars of Color Distinguished Career Contribution Award from the American Educational Research Association.

Presented to a senior-level professor, usually 20 years or more after earning their doctoral degree, the AERA Committee on Scholars of Color in Education awards recognize academics at different career stages who have made significant contributions to the understanding of issues that disproportionately affect minority populations, and minority scholars who have made a significant contribution to education research and development.

AERA will honor Brisk and other winners for their outstanding scholarship and service at AERA’s Virtual Awards Celebration on Sept. 12.

Professor of Theology James Morris, a faculty member in the Islamic Civilization and Societies Program, was awarded the 11th annual Farabi International Prize in Islamic Studies and the Islamic Humanities at a virtual award ceremony in Tehran last month. The award’s namesake, Al-Farabi (872-950), was the founder and central figure in the millennial tradition of Islamic philosophy, particularly political philosophy.

Presented by Iran’s UNESCO delegation and selected by leading scholars from Iran’s universities and from the

Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Farabi International Prize honors significant lifetime contributions to Islamic Studies, particularly in the Islamic humanities, through research, publications, lecturing, and the ongoing scholarship of the awardee’s former students. Morris’s teaching and research interests and prolific publications have focused on the intersection between the scriptural foundations of the Qur’an and hadith, and their ongoing creative communication across diverse local cultural expressions of Islam.

Lynch School of Education and Human Development Assistant Professor Jon Wargo was awarded a 2020 National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship from the National Academy of Education. Wargo, an assistant professor in the Lynch School’s Teaching, Curriculum, and Society department, was one of 30 postdoctoral fellows selected to receive a $70,000 stipend that will underwrite a one-year leave. The fellowship also includes professional development funding designed to support early-career researchers whose projects address critical issues in the history, theory, or practice of formal or informal education at the national and international levels.

Wargo’s departmental colleague Assistant Professor Gabrielle Oliveira was a 2019 Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship winner.

The penalty for early filing for Social Security, and the bonus for delaying, are based on old formulas that don’t reflect gains in life expectancy, resulting in a system that hurts lower-income people the most, Center for Retirement Research Director Alicia Munnell told the Associated Press. A study by the center that showed racial gaps in retirement security were large before the coronavirus struck, and the economic disruptions caused by the pandemic could worsen the problem, was cited by The New York Times.

Lynch School of Education and Human Development Augustus Long Professor Janet Helms, director of the Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture, commented on CNN.com regarding the stresses related to the experience of racial trauma.

Prof. Juliet Schor (Sociology), author of the recently published book After the Gig: How the Sharing Economy Got Hijacked and How to Win it Back, commented on contract workers for a special report on “The Economy Reimagined” from Marketplace.

Boston College Law School Dean Vincent Rougeau and his mother, Shirley SmallRougeau, whose lives were intertwined with the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis and the fight for social justice, were guests on WBUR “Radio Boston.”

Assoc. Prof. David Hopkins (Political Science) wrote on Joe Biden’s choice of Kamala Harris as a running mate in The New York Times, and offered comments to Bloomberg Baystate Business and the Washington Post. Hopkins also spoke with the Wall Street Journal on the evolution of the Democratic Party.

Turkish officials delayed plans to reopen schools as medical experts warn of rising infection rates throughout the country.

Asst. Prof. Emrah Altindis (Biology), who has been studying the epidemic in his native country, gave his views to the Washington, D.C.-based Middle East news source Al-Monitor.

An essay in Tablet Magazine by Prof. Maxim D. Shrayer (Eastern, Slavic, and German Studies/English) recalled the formative years in Moscow of Ilia Salita, president and CEO of Genesis Philanthropy Group, miracle-maker of Jewish philanthropy, who died this summer.

Technology has an important role to make good teaching and learning better, wrote Lynch School of Education and Human Development Professor Emeritus Andy Hargreaves in the Washington Post, but even as a hybrid, it should not be the main driver or leverage for reimagining better learning in schools.

Carroll School of Management Senior Lecturer Edward Chazen weighed in on the best and worst cities for renters, common mistakes renters make, and tips on how to get the best value in a Q&A with WalletHub. On the 75th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Prof. Kenneth Himes, O.F.M. (Theology), published a moral reflection in the theological journal Asian Horizons.

In an op-ed for the National Catholic Reporter, Vice Provost and Canisius Professor of Theology James Keenan, S.J., wrote about ordination, competency, and the case for women cardinals in the Catholic Church.

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.

Leadership Effectiveness Director

Program Nurse

Assistant Manager, Dining Services

OBITUARY

Residential Ministry

John Donovan, 102

Research Scientist, RPCA

A Mass of Christian Burial was held on Aug. 18 at St. Joseph’s Church in Needham, Mass., for John D. Donovan ’39, M.S. ’41, a cofounder of Boston College’s Sociology Department and longtime faculty member, who died on Aug. 14. He was 102.

This past summer, Professor Donovan received France’s highest honor for his service during World War II. Read a BC News story about it at http://bit.ly/john-donovan-honored; there also is a link to a full obituary.

11

Clinical Fellow Administrative Assistant, Career Center Assistant Director, Bowman Center Assistant Director, Career Education Public Service Fellow Director of Development, Morrissey College, Schiller Institute Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Chemistry Third Class Engineer III, Sp 2

Student Services Associate Executive Chef, Catering Research Associate, Part-Time Temporary Custodial Workers Audio & Event Services Specialist Grant Manager, Connell School of Nursing Director, Research Security and Export Compliance Data Manager, RPCA Athletic Maintenance, Tuesday-Saturday, 3 p.m.-11:30 p.m.

Assistant Director, Learning Design Director, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Manager, Digital Communications, Center for Corporate Citizenship

Chronicle

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September 3, 2020

Campus Arts Lowell Humanities Series

Fall Speakers Offer Insights on Compelling Issues The upcoming 2020 presidential election provides a timely backdrop for next week’s campus appearance by award-winning New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman as part of the University’s Lowell Humanities Series, which will be held in virtual format this semester.

Haberman’s webinar, “The Current Political Landscape,” will take place on Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. After joining the New York Times as a campaign correspondent in 2015, Haberman was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for reporting on Donald Trump’s advisers and their connections to Russia. Prior to the Times, she was a political reporter at Politico and a finalist for the Mirror Awards, with Glenn Thrush, for the 2014 Politico profile “What Is Hillary Clinton Afraid Of?” Haberman previously worked at publications including the New York Post and New York Daily News. Her appearance is cosponsored by the Campus Activities Board.

Associate Professor of English James Smith, the LHS director, said the fall lineup “offers students the opportunity to enhance their academic experience by engaging with conversations addressing a series of urgent issues in our society, including civic engagement in an election year; voting suppression; climate change;social justice; veterans’ care services; and the ongoing public health crisis.”

The rest of the LHS fall schedule (all events take place at 7 p.m.): Sept. 30: Carol Anderson—Emory University’s Charles Howard Candler Professor of African American Studies, Anderson is the author of White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Nation’s Divide, a New York Times bestseller, Washington Post Notable Book, and National Book Critics Circle Award winner. She is also the author of other books including One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression is Destroying Our Democracy, which was long-listed for the National Book Award and a finalist for the PEN/Galbraith Award in non-fiction.

She was a member of the U.S. State Department’s Historical Advisory Committee and board of directors of the Harry S. Truman Library Institute and the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative.

Co-sponsored by the Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics and the History Department.

Oct. 7: M Jackson—A geographer, glaciologist, TED Fellow, and National Geographic Society Explorer, Jackson is the recipient of notable grants and awards including U.S. Fulbright grants and a U.S. Fulbright Ambassadorship. Currently a National Geographic Society arctic expert, she has worked for more than a decade chronicling that region’s climate change and communities, guiding trips, and exploring glacial systems. Her memoir While Glaciers Slept: Being Human in a Time of Climate Change weaves together parallel stories

of what happens when the climates of a family and a planet change. In The Secret Lives of Glaciers, she explores the impacts of glacier change on the human and physical geography of Iceland. Co-sponsored by the Earth and Environmental Science Department and the Environmental Stud-

Davis is a professor of Journalism and the Writing Professions at Baruch College, CUNY and facilitates writing workshops for junior faculty of color and women.

Co-sponsored by the African & African Diaspora Studies, American Studies and Journalism programs.

(Clockwise from top left) Lowell Humanities Series speakers Bridgett M. Davis, Carol Anderson, Maggie Haberman, M Jackson, Michael Murphy, and Stephan Wolfert.

ies Program.

Oct. 21: Bridgett M. Davis—In addition to her success as novelist, essayist, teacher, filmmaker, and curator, Davis has earned accolades for her memoir, The World According To Fannie Davis: My Mother’s Life in the Detroit Numbers, a New York Times Editors’ Choice. Writer and director of the award-winning film “Naked Acts,” she also is an advocate in promoting and nurturing literary talent by people of color.

As an early-career reporter, Davis wrote for newspapers and magazines and her recent reviews and essays have been featured in such prominent publications as the New York Times and O, The Oprah Magazine.

Nov. 4: Stephan Wolfert—Wolfert left a career in the military—having served as an Army medic and infantry officer—for a life in the theater after seeing Shakespeare’s “Richard III.” He earned a master of fine arts degree from Trinity Repertory Conservator and went on to create and direct the military segments for Twyla Tharp and Billy Joel’s Tony-Award winning Broadway production “Movin’ Out.” Wolfert is the founding artistic director of Shakespeare & Veterans, and the Veterans Center for the Performing Arts. He is currently a company member and the head of outreach for Bedlam in New York City, and the creator of DE-CRUIT: a program to reintegrate

BC Scenes Safe move-in

Boston College welcomed thousands of undergraduates last week as they moved onto campus.

Students and their families and guests had to observe safety protocols due to COVID-19.

military veterans using classical actor training. Co-sponsored by the Theatre Department.

Nov. 12: Michael Murphy—Murphy is the founding principal and executive director of MASS Design Group, an architecture and design collective that leverages buildings, the design and construction process to become catalysts for economic growth, social change, and justice. With a portfolio comprising more than a dozen countries and spanning health care, education, housing, and urban development, MASS’s work has been published in some 900 publications and won global awards.

Its project, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, was named the single greatest work of American architecture in the 21st century. Murphy’s 2016 TED talk reached over a million views and was awarded the Al Filipov Medal for Peace and Justice. Presented by the Park Street Corporation Speaker Series and co-sponsored by LHS. “I want to urge faculty to encourage students to register for the webinars via the BC Event Calendar and to avail themselves of the additional resources linked to each event and accessible from the Lowell website,” said Smith, who acknowledged the support of the Office of the Provost and Dean of Faculties and the Institute for the Liberal Arts in the move to a virtual webinar format this semester, which along with the generosity of the Lowell Institute ensured the continuity of a 63-year-old BC tradition.

Smith also expressed thanks to the departments, programs, and partners across campus which co-sponsor Lowell events and help make possible the vibrant intellectual dialogue they foster.

Registration links for each webinar will go live two weeks prior to each event. To register, and for more details, including resources for faculty and students, go to www.bc.edu/lowell.

—University Communications PHOTOS BY PETER JULIAN