Boston College Chronicle

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 VOL. 28 NO. 2

PUBLISHED BY THE BOSTON COLLEGE OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Rise in AHANA, Women Faculty

Q&A

INSIDE 2x Around Headline Campus

University Counseling Services ofxxxxx. fers “Alone Together” discussion xseries Headline to help students cope with xxx.

COVID; the Student Involvement Fair goes virtual.

x Headline 5 US News ranking xxxxx.

BC places 35th in the annual survey of top colleges and universities.

6 Anatomy of a win

Boston College faculty experts give their thoughts on alumnus Edward Markey’s victory in the September 1 Democratic primary.

Update on COVID-19 at Boston College The following Q&A with Director of University Health Services Dr. Douglas Comeau and Biology Professor and Department Chair Welkin Johnson, which took place earlier this week, provides answers to recent questions regarding Boston College’s COVID-19 testing program.

COVID-19 testing continued last week at the Margot Connell Recreation Center. photo by peter julian

Would you address the concerns that have been raised both on and off campus regarding the spike in positive COVID-19 cases this past week?

A total of 67 Boston College undergraduate students tested positive last week.

Most of these positives are directly related

to off-campus gatherings where students did not wear masks and practice physical distancing. Through contact tracing, we quickly identified close contacts and brought them in for testing. Most of the

Continued on page 3

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

Boston College’s strategic commitment to diversify its teaching ranks is bearing fruit, according to senior University administrators, who note a consistent upward trend in the hiring of women and persons of color as full-time faculty members.

Of the 49 full-time faculty members

Continued on page 7

Walking the Talk

Shutdown Didn’t Halt Formative Education

BC sophomore escaped homelessness, then walked 550 miles to help others do the same

Study shows how BC faculty used creative means to emphasize formation in their online teaching during spring semester

BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER­

BY ALIX HACKETT SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

Gordon Wayne ’23 is passionate about ending homelessness in America.

His drive was born out of personal experience. At this time last year, Wayne had $6 in his bank account and was living out of his car in Caroline County, Va. He spent days working 10-hour shifts at the local amusement park and nights in random parking lots trying not to attract attention.

He looks back at this time as his “rock bottom.”

“I didn’t think I was going to get out of it, honestly,” he said recently. “It seemed Continued on page 5

Gordon Wayne ’23 after his arrival at BC on August 28. photo by peter julian

The coronavirus shut down most aspects of normal life this past spring, but efforts to promote and support formative education at Boston College persevered, and flourished, during online classes, according to a BC research team that surveyed nearly 40 faculty, whose expertise ranged from biology to criminal law to theology.

“We asked the deans of all schools to identify faculty who not only overcame the challenges of the exclusively online environment during their second semester remote courses, but who also did particularly impressive work that emphasized formation at BC,” said Stanton E.F. Wortham, the Charles F. Donovan, S.J., Dean of the Lynch School of Education and Human

Development, who led the team.

While BC faculty are not required to integrate a formative education approach within their courses, many do, explained Wortham, because they realize “it serves a critical role in helping students develop not only intellectually, but also personally, ethically, and spiritually.”

BC, which draws its inspiration for its academic and societal mission from the University’s distinctive religious and intellectual heritage, is committed to leading students on a comprehensive journey of discovery—even in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic that sent most students home and converted in-person classes to a virtual experience, a new venture for most faculty.

Continued on page 4

Since 1990, in the hundreds of Senate elections across the states, an incumbent senator has lost to a challenger in a party primary only eight times. From this perspective, the race was Markey’s to lose.

– moakley professor of political science kay l. schlozman, page 6

Chronicle

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September 17, 2020

Around Campus

Counseling Services ‘Alone Together’ Program Offers a Virtual Haven The start of any academic year typically brings challenges for students as they adapt to campus life. But this year is an obvious exception: The return to the Heights amid COVID-19 safety protocols and guidelines—including testing and quarantining—has significantly altered students’ academic and social interactions.

Among other resources to assist them at BC, University Counseling Services (UCS) offers a Zoom-based series, “Alone Together,” to provide undergraduate and graduate students a safe, supportive virtual gathering space to discuss shared struggles, including navigating uncertainty, social disconnection, and isolation, with a focus on both mental health and physical health in the time of COVID-19 and physical-distancing requirements.

“The UCS support group and workshop series was created in the spring as a way of responding to new student needs in the context of remote learning and the pandemic our students are dealing with,” explained UCS Director Craig Burns. “We have been trying to find ways to provide support for students dealing with feelings of isolation, loneliness, uncertainty, and anxiety.”

During the spring and summer, hundreds of students participated in one or more group or workshop meetings, which are organized by UCS Senior Staff Psychol-

“We recognize that peer support, and having the chance to see and connect with others managing similar experiences, is one of the best ways to build and reinforce student well-being.”

—Craig Burns

photo by peter julian

ogist Emily Kates. The meetings resumed earlier this month and will be held weekly throughout the fall. Students may attend as many or as few meetings as they choose, and Burns anticipates that the number of attendees will likely rise during the semester.

According to Burns, UCS has offered groups broadly designed to foster building connections and feeling less alone; others

directed to more specific populations such as students of color, LGBTQ students, or international students who may benefit from more focused group contacts; mindfulness meditation workshops designed to help people build skills for being centered on the present and building acceptance; and workshops focused on skills for anxiety management.

“We recognize that peer support, and having the chance to see and connect with others managing similar experiences, is one of the best ways to build and reinforce student well-being,” Burns said. The drop-in style, non-clinical meetings are also available to students who, as a result of being out of state or country, would not otherwise be able to engage support through UCS due to state licensure limitations, he noted.

To date, many of these meetings have addressed similar themes that students raise, such as dealing with the uncertainty in their lives at the moment, or trying to find ways to connect with others while practicing social distancing. UCS encourages self-care among students, in all aspects of their physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual well-being.

UCS seeks to provide a welcoming and supportive environment for all members of the BC community and is committed to fully recognizing and valuing all identities, beliefs, or experiences.

“We think that the students who attend these meetings are doing the best that they can to manage in these difficult times, and we want to reinforce what is working and support them in building new skills along the way,” Burns said.

–Rosanne Pellegrini

University’s Student Involvement Fair Shifts Online This Year The annual Boston College Student Involvement Fair, typically held on a bustling Campus Green, took place on September 4 in a virtual format to promote physical distancing and safety.

Using the online student organizations platform, MyBC, students could read about the various extracurricular opportunities on campus, speak to student leaders over Zoom, and join email lists for clubs and organizations in which they were interested.

Assistant Director of Student Organizations Megan Girmaiy said the fair, sponsored by the Office of Student Involvement, is not only a key recruitment tool for BC clubs and organizations but a vital opportunity for students to find community on campus.

“With everything going on in our world, it’s important for students to feel connected with one another,” said Girmaiy.

“Our hope for the fair is that students will ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Jack Dunn SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

The MyBC platform enabled student clubs and organizations to recruit new members.

develop relationships, find community, learn about interests, and most importantly, have fun. Face-to-face contact is already so limited, so being creative and having outlets outside of academics—even if it has to be virtual—allows for students to feel

CONTRIBUTING STAFF

like campus can be their home.”

Peyton Olszowka ’22, secretary of programming for Boston College Model United Nations, acknowledged that she had had some qualms about the new format.

“After learning that the fair was going

Christine Balquist Phil Gloudemans Ed Hayward Rosanne Pellegrini Kathleen Sullivan

Chronicle

PHOTOGRAPHERS

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

Patricia Delaney EDITOR

Sean Smith

Lee Pellegrini Peter Julian

to take place virtually, my fellow e-board members and I were initially concerned about how it would affect our engagement with potential new members,” said Olszowka. “Students would have to take the initiative to find us, as opposed to us being able to grab their attention with candy, cheers, and our giant United Nations flag.

But the fair was ultimately a success, as we had close to last year’s number of people visit our ‘booth’ on Zoom throughout the day, and we had a great turnout for our first virtual meeting this past week.”

Said Girmaiy, “Although this virtual fair cannot replace the in-person experience, we found that the event allowed for students to build those strong connections that we hope for through this event.”

To learn about Boston College’s 300plus student organizations and clubs, go to bc.edu/osi.

—Christine Balquist

The Boston College Chronicle (USPS 009491), the internal newspaper for faculty and staff, is published biweekly from September to May by Boston College, with editorial offices at the Office of University Communications, 3 Lake Street, Brighton, MA 02135 (617)552-3350.

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Chronicle

September 17, 2020

as occurred last week, but we believe our strategy will help us to deal effectively with COVID-19 on campus.

When would individuals be contacted by a contact tracer?

Contact tracers—experienced health care professionals and individuals trained through a program offered by Johns Hopkins University—will contact by phone any student, faculty, or staff member who is identified as a close contact from a positive trace.

Continued from page 1

More than 2,950 asymptomatic surveillance tests for COVID-19 were conducted last week at the Margot Connell Recreation Center. photos by peter julian

Q&A: COVID-19 at BC Continued from page 1

close contacts have tested positive, which accounted for the rise in cases. The increase serves as a critical reminder of the importance of following the health guidelines that we have consistently promoted, which include washing hands, wearing masks, avoiding large gatherings, and practicing physical distancing.

Does last week’s increase represent an outbreak?

No. While any increase in positive cases is cause for concern, we believe that last week’s rise is attributable to a few specific social gatherings where masks were not worn and physical distancing was not maintained. Our aggressive contact tracing protocols identified individuals who were affected, and enabled us to quickly isolate them. We have experienced a downward trend each day since last week, from a high of 22 positive cases on Tuesday, September 8, to a low of four cases on Tuesday, September 15. We believe we can continue to contain the increases we experienced last week and have a successful semester, provided that all of us do our part.

test positive, they are immediately placed in isolation for 10 days, with the last three days being symptom free. The asymptomatic surveillance testing, the vast majority of which is targeted, takes place Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in the MAC courts in the Margot Connell Recreation Center. This past week, we conducted a total of 2,954 tests. We expect to conduct a similar or higher number of tests this week, and are committed to adjusting our testing capacity throughout the semester as needed.

How does the University inform the community of positive tests?

The University currently conducts surveillance testing Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and reports testing results via the Reopening BC website every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

How is the health of those who have tested positive?

All of the affected students have had mild symptoms or been asymptomatic.

None has been hospitalized, and 22 have recovered and returned to normal activities.

What is Boston College’s COVID-19 testing strategy for the BC community?

Boston College tested all students, faculty, and staff who intend to be on campus at any time this fall semester between August 16 and September 1. Since testing began, the University has conducted 25,084 tests with a total of 104 positive cases. That represents a positivity rate of 0.41, which remains below the average in Massachusetts and the City of Boston.

In addition, University Health Services continues to conduct symptomatic and asymptomatic testing for members of the BC community. Daily symptomatic testing takes place in a lab on campus through The Broad Institute. Students who are tested wait in the Cabaret Room in Vanderslice Hall until their results are received. If they

What is the quarantine/isolation strategy for students living on and off campus?

Students living on campus who test positive are immediately isolated for 10 days in University isolation housing. Currently, students are isolating in the Hotel Boston where they are assisted by staff from Residential Life and University Health Services, and have food brought to them daily by BC Dining Services. The University plans to use additional space at Pine Manor College, if needed. Students living off campus quarantine and isolate in their off-campus apartments. Like any other Boston or Newton resident, they are considered part of a family unit, and the positive patients will isolate in their bedroom, as they would if they lived at home with their parents/ guardians. Other students in the apartment are immediately quarantined in place and retested, if deemed appropriate by contact tracers. Staff from University Health Services will monitor the students during their quarantine and isolation.

Describe the University’s contact tracing strategy.

In addition to our symptomatic and asymptomatic testing, Boston College quickly tests all students who are identified as close contacts of individuals who tested positive for COVID-19. They are immediately quarantined for 14 days, and those testing positive are placed in isolation. This strategy of extensive contact tracing and rapid testing has allowed us to catch these positive cases in the earliest stages of infection (of the 104 positive cases, 74 were identified by contact tracing). It also allows us to target for asymptomatic testing those residence halls and off-campus apartments where cases have been identified. There will be increases in positive cases at times,

Will faculty be notified if students in their class test positive?

Faculty members identified as close contacts of a student testing positive for COVID-19 will be contacted, as per standard contact tracing protocol. However, if a student in a class tests positive, and the faculty member is not deemed a close contact, they will not automatically be contacted due to patient privacy regulations.

Nonetheless, the University understands the concerns of faculty, and is exploring options with University Health Services, Student Affairs, and academic deans’ offices to address this issue.

Why are student-athletes tested weekly?

The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) requires all conference members to test on a weekly basis student-athletes who are participating in sports. Students involved in off-campus academic practica, including nursing students, also will be tested weekly, and students who work in Dining Services, Residential Life, and the Margot Connell Recreation Center will be tested regularly, along with other high-contact community members.

Are the increases in positive tests

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among sports teams a cause for concern?

Boston College has more than 750 varsity student-athletes and a total of 30 have tested positive. Currently, most teams—including football, men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, and men’s and women’s ice hockey—have no positive cases. Contrary to reports, there has been no correlation between practice/competition in fall sports and positive test cases.

The University will continue to rely on its testing, quarantine and isolation, and contact tracing protocols to limit any potential spread.

Will BC adjust its approach to testing?

While our focus will remain on targeted surveillance and rapid testing of students identified through contact tracing, and on the areas on and off campus where positive cases have occurred, we have and will continue to increase our testing volume as needed.

Has BC disciplined students who have violated school policies regarding hosting parties and large gatherings, and for not wearing masks?

Our colleagues in Student Affairs have informed us that they disciplined students for these violations and will continue to do so. It is imperative that all members of the BC community follow public health and University guidelines to help us achieve a healthy and successful semester.

What have we learned through the first four weeks of testing, and how have we adjusted our approach as a result?

Overall, we have learned that our testing strategy has worked well thus far, despite the concern caused by an increase in numbers last week. We have adopted more aggressive targeted surveillance testing due to positive cases, and we will continue to make adjustments as necessary throughout the semester in an effort to keep the campus community healthy and safe.

How has the relationship with The Broad Institute worked for Boston College?

The partnership with The Broad Institute has worked very well. While the test results can occasionally take longer to process due to volume, The Broad has communicated results on a timely basis.

The mayor of Newton has asked that BC transfer contact tracing for students who live in Newton to Newton’s Health and Human Services Department. What is BC’s response?

We will continue to work with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Contact Tracing Collaborative to identify those individuals requiring quarantine and isolation, as well as with public health authorities in Boston and Newton.

Is there a scientific rationale in support of the University’s testing strategy?

Biology Professor and Department Chair Welkin Johnson has written a statement that provides context for the University’s testing strategy. You can read it at http://bit.ly/ welkin-johnson-virus-transmission.

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September 17, 2020

Study: Formative Ed. Thrived Online Continued from page 1

Professor of English Laura Tanner, who teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses, including Trauma in American Literature, was anxious and skeptical about transitioning to online instruction. She was able to overcome her fears due, in part, to a remotelearning strategy based in formative education.

“By dismantling the traditional barriers between teacher and student, we collectively learned how to adapt to the online environment,” said Tanner. “It served as an opportunity to cultivate a connection between the students’ educational experiences and the realities of life, an important component of formation.”

In prior semesters, Tanner had randomly paired her students as “discussion partners,” and asked them to meet in person to discuss a topic such as a reading or set of issues, the results of which would be reported to the class. She feared that the spring semester partnerships would disintegrate with the switch to online learning, but was pleasantly surprised that they continued, often with great intensity—an outcome she attributed to the students’ desire to stay connected during the pandemic.

“These ‘blind dates’ were designed to foster students’ intellectual engagement, a skill I encourage them to carry forward after graduation,” said Tanner. “In my view, student formation is about helping students develop the tools they need to bring their passion for reading, thinking, and learning with them into their adult lives in the same way that they nurture their love life or find friends who share their interests.

“Sustained intellectual relationships are necessary to live fully and meaningfully.”

Economics Professor of the Practice Can Erbil eschewed the traditional teacherstudent power dynamic in his 254-student Principles of Economics class by engaging his undergraduates as “consultants” for effective ways to better involve such a large group online. One suggestion was an “Instagram Live” session that allowed users to stream video and interact in real time; it drew nearly the entire class.

“The team approach has always been a central and essential element of my teaching philosophy, whether I’m conducting the class in-person, online, or hybrid,” said Erbil, who lauded his teaching assistants and BC’s centers for Teaching Excellence and Digital Innovation in Learning. “Formative education takes place in kinship with others, and my team approach tries to

create that learning community.”

The political environment of Erbil’s native Turkey, which has suffered through military coups, and political and civil instability during the last 40 years, has made him a firm believer and supporter of social justice, a just society, and giving back.

“I strongly believe that every student has an unlimited source of untapped intellectual, social, ethical, and spiritual capacity,” he said. “To have the chance to help a young person become a fulfilled, purposeful, and caring person is an amazing responsibility that I don’t take lightly.

“As faculty, we have an opportunity, as well as an obligation, to show our students that they can and should have a larger purpose in their lives.”

Steven Koh, the Marianne D. Short and Ray Skowyra Sesquicentennial Assistant Professor of Law, met with each of his criminal law students early in the semester to deepen his understanding of them as “whole” people, and to help them to know him as more than just an instructor.

“One of BC’s many strengths is its emphasis on education of the whole person,” said Koh. “The Jesuit value of flourishing in turn enriches our collective sense of community at the Law School.”

When his class transitioned online, he intentionally connected his students’ respective interests and backgrounds gleaned from the one-on-one sessions to the daily course material, an approach Koh believed added dynamism to a potentially impersonal electronic teaching experience.

“One student told me that his passion for criminal justice stemmed from the killing of his cousin in the Bronx, when they were both children,” said Koh. “He saw a prosecutor during the criminal trial, and thought ‘That’s a job I’d like to do.’ I doubt I would’ve learned that about my student in the course of our everyday classroom discussion.”

Belle Liang, a professor in Counseling, Developmental & Educational Psychology at the Lynch School, whose research focuses on mentoring in adolescence and young adulthood, intentionally develops her courses with formation at the forefront.

“Relationships are at the heart of formative education, and these relationships are more than just vehicles for gaining knowledge,” said Liang, whose Applied Psychology Practicum: Pathways to Purposeful Work and Life course engaged her students in a peer-tiered program via Zoom called “Mentor On”—co-developed with her 15-year-old son—in which BC students mentored high school students, who in turn guided middle and elementary school

pupils.

Once her course transitioned to exclusive virtual learning, Liang revised her students’ final project topic to “A Day in the Life of COVID-19,” which challenged them to develop an intervention based on the integration of empirical psychological research on natural disasters, combined with adversity and crises in their own daily experiences coping with the pandemic, an exercise she characterized as empowering.

“Formative education is not just about information, but transformation,” said Liang, whose mentoring relationship with an academic advisor in graduate school produced the roots of her belief in formation.

“As a first-generation doctoral student from an immigrant family, I had so many insecurities as a 20-year-old entering graduate school,” she said. “But this advisor invested in me beyond the call of duty; I felt valued and seen as a whole person. Because she took the time to closely observe and listen to me, she knew my skills, strengths, and values, and provided me with spot-on guidance and feedback that ‘grew me’ as a psychologist and person.

“Along with equipping our students with academic understanding, our goal is inspiring our students to apply their learning by meeting a need in the world, in a way that only they can.”

An undergraduate class in cancer biology, and the scientific forensics of what occurs when genetic changes interfere with orderly cell growth, would seem an unlikely and surprising place for formative education to surface.

But, explained Biology Associate Professor of the Practice Danielle Taghian, “one of the most meaningful and forma-

Though not required to, many BC faculty integrate a formative education approach because “it serves a critical role in helping students develop not only intellectually, but also personally, ethically, and spiritually,” according to Stanton E.F. Wortham, Charles F. Donovan, S.J., Dean of the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, who led a research team on formational education at BC.

photos by lee pellegrini, peter julian, and tony rinaldo

tive experiences from the spring semester was a classmate’s talk on her battle with pediatric cancer. As she recounted her humanistic and biological journey, I knew she would affect her peers in an emotional and meaningful way, resulting in a transformative experience for each student. Knowing another student’s journey—a person who could be them—allows students to put context and perspective to their own lives, and unconsciously forces them to look inward.

“Student formation is not only a process by which a person actively evolves over the course of four years, but because of this conscious undertaking, it also possesses the lifelong benefit of remodeling the person.”

Initially apprehensive about the online format, School of Theology and Ministry Professor of the Practice Colleen M. Griffith discovered considerable room for creativity, likening the planning for her graduate-level Seminar in Practical Theology Zoom class to choreographing a dance routine.

Taking a step in that direction, she invited students to explore examples of contemporary artists who, in their estimation, offered theological commentary through their art. Zoom offered the ideal platform for an enthusiastic and liberating exchange of visual art, music, and video, she said.

“Incorporation of the arts proved freeing for all of us. It expanded our theological sensibilities and offered an experience of balancing intellect and affect that was truly transformative.”

Chronicle

September 17, 2020

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Homelessness Not Just a Social Issue for BC Sophomore Continued from page 1

like there was no real escape.”

A lot has changed in the past year. After his circumstances forced him to turn down an acceptance to the University of Pittsburgh, Wayne enrolled in a community college in Virginia, earning as many credits as he could while researching schools that offered full financial aid. Eventually, he applied to Boston College as a transfer student, and was one of only eight percent of transfer applicants accepted into the Class of 2023.

As his route out of homelessness became clear, Wayne began thinking about how to help the estimated half a million Americans who live without shelter on a daily basis. A map showed the distance from Wayne’s hometown to Chestnut Hill at just over 550 miles, so on August 12 he launched a GoFundMe page [www.gofundme.com/f/wu2vh-a-cause-i-care-aboutneeds-help?utm_source=customer&utm_ campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_ medium=copy_link] and started walking.

For the next 16 days, Wayne trekked north, traveling through cornfields and along the shoulders of busy highways. He brought along a homemade walking stick given to him by his grandfather, with both of their names carved into it. On his backpack, he taped a homemade sign promoting his cause: #BCvsHomelessness.

Most days, Wayne averaged 14 hours on

Gordon Wayne ’23 arriving at Boston College after his long trek: “I was really fortunate to find my way here. It took a lot of luck and a lot of hard work. I just want to try to create opportunities for other people.” Watch a BC YouTube video about Wayne at www.youtube. com/watch?v=XI5oqm8Xs2k. photo by peter julian

the road, logging between 30 and 40 miles before bunking down in a local hotel. With so much time alone with his thoughts, he stayed connected to the outside world through social media, posting regular updates on his progress and musings about life. On one occasion, while preparing to spend the night on the sidewalk, he joked

with his 3,600 Instagram followers that it was the biggest room he’d ever stayed in.

“Sleep well everyone,” he wrote.

From day one of the trip, Wayne was plagued with blisters that made walking painful, and when his headphones broke, music was no longer a distraction. Prior to setting out, the farthest he had ever

walked was eight miles, and the immense challenge in front of him was sometimes overwhelming, he said.

“My feet hurt with basically every step, I took a lot of ibuprofen,” he said. “I don’t think I’ll want to do this again unless there’s a good reason to.”

Ultimately, what kept Wayne going was the steadily rising figure on his GoFundMe page, which would go directly to the National Alliance to End Homelessness. As he entered Massachusetts, more than 500 people had donated more than $15,000 to the cause. Less than a week later, the total was up to $28,000.

“People are aware of the issue now,” he said. “It just means the world to me.”

On August 28, Wayne walked onto the Boston College campus, passing fellow students and their families busy moving into the residence halls. With a Boston College police cruiser escorting him, he walked into Alumni Stadium, put down his pack, and raised a fist into the air in a moment of personal victory. For the first time in 14 months, he was home.

“I was really fortunate to find my way here,” he said afterwards, reflecting on his journey. “It took a lot of luck and a lot of hard work. I just want to try to create opportunities for other people.”

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

U.S. News: BC Ranks 35th Committee Is Formed for Boston College placed 35th in the 2021 survey of national universities by U.S. News & World Report, an increase of two points from last year’s rankings.

The University saw an improvement in its peer assessment score from 3.7 to 3.8— the highest peer assessment BC has ever attained—and in its graduation and retention rank from 23 to 21, but continued to be negatively affected by the 2019 change in methodology that rewards state universities with a high volume of Pell Granteligible students.

“This year’s rankings offer heartening evidence of our academic strengths across the University,” said Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley. “Boston College’s peer assessment by higher education leaders across the nation has climbed over the last two years in recognition of the quality of our faculty and students.”

BC placed highly in several specialty rankings among national universities this year, including “Service Learning” (fourth), “Commitment to Undergraduate Teach-

ing” (eighth), “Study Abroad Programs” (16th), and “Undergraduate Research” (44th). The University also ranked 42nd on the “Best Value Colleges” listing, due largely to its commitment to need-blind admission and meeting the full-demonstrated need of all accepted students.

The Carroll School of Management ranked 24th out of 511 schools in the “Best Undergraduate Business Programs,” and placed seventh overall in Finance; 12th in Accounting; and 20th in Marketing.

Overall, Princeton University ranked first among national universities in the 2021 rankings, followed by Harvard and Columbia, with MIT and Yale tied for fourth. Among Massachusetts universities, BC placed fourth behind Harvard, MIT, and Tufts (30th), and ahead of Boston University and Brandeis (tied at 42nd) and Northeastern (49th).

The U.S. News rankings of all colleges and universities can be accessed at http:// www.usnews.com.

—Jack Dunn

Connell School Dean Search

Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley has announced the formation of a search committee to seek candidates for dean of the Connell School of Nursing.

Quigley will chair the committee, whose members are Connell School Professor Ann Burgess, Haub Vice President for University Mission and Ministry Jack Butler, S.J., Vice Provost for Research and Academic Planning Thomas Chiles, Connell School Department Chair and Associate Professor Allyssa Harris, Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences Dean Gregory Kalscheur, S.J., Connell School Professor and Associate Dean

for Research Christopher Lee, Connell School Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs and Clinical Professor Colleen Simonelli, and Vice Provost for Faculties Billy Soo. In addition, Quigley announced that executive search firm Isaacson, Miller will work with the University on the search for a successor for Susan Gennaro, who announced last summer that she will step down as dean after the 2020-2021 academic year. Gennaro, who has led the Connell School since 2008, will remain with the faculty.

—University Communications

Virtual Tours of McMullen Available The McMullen Museum is offering virtual docent tours of the exhibition “Indian Ocean Current: Six Artistic Narratives,” which runs until November 24. Docents will lead visitors through the museum’s virtual exhibition and discuss its main themes pertaining to climate change and art from

around the Indian Ocean. Visitors may ask questions along the way. All that is needed is a computer or mobile device to join.

To schedule a private group tour, please contact the museum at least two weeks in advance by emailing Rachel Chamberlain at rachel.chamberlain@gmail.com.

After delivering the First Year Convocation address online last week, Bruce Springsteen spoke with several Boston College first-year students, including Sharon Pongon from Hyde Park, Mass. Read more at http://bit.ly/springsteen-convocation-video.

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September 17, 2020

Withstanding the Challenge Was there more, or less, than meets the eye to Ed Markey’s win over Joe Kennedy? BC faculty offer their perspectives.

The Trump-Biden battle has garnered most of the attention in the 2020 election campaign, but one of the year’s more notable political contests involved Boston College 1968 alumnus Senator Edward J. Markey.

Markey won a hard-fought September 1 Democratic primary against U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III, clearing the way for him to defend his Senate seat against Republican challenger Kevin O’Connor in November. The Malden native, who also earned a juris doctorate from BC Law School, served for 37 years in the U.S. House of Representatives before winning a special election in 2013 to the Senate. That same year saw Kennedy, the grandson of Robert F. Kennedy, become the representative for the Massachusetts Fourth Congressional District.

Local and national political analysts generally portrayed the Markey-Kennedy primary as a clash of different generations of progressive Democrats, but also as a test of whether the Kennedy family legacy remained relevant in 21st-century American politics, especially in the state where it began. There was doubt that Markey—sometimes cast as a wonk whose congressional career was associated with work on arms control and telecommunications—could appeal to younger voters, especially on climate change-related issues, because they tended to view him as more of a centrist Democrat.

Instead, Markey was able to win supporters from the more liberal wing of the Democratic Party, notably U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, through his backing of the Green New Deal. Kennedy—who had a sizable lead in polls early on in the race—could not mount an effective campaign, especially in the midst of a pandemic.

Boston College faculty experts recently offered their perspectives on Markey’s victory. Associate Professor of Political Science

David Hopkins called it “one of the most successful political reinventions of the year.

“Markey hasn’t always been known as a committed progressive during his 44 years in Congress—and he wasn’t known very well at all in some corners of the state when the race began,” he said. “But by championing the Green New Deal and winning the vocal support of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, he gave liberals and younger Democrats a reason to choose him over Joe Kennedy. It’s a victory for progressives, but it’s a bigger victory for savvy politics.

He’ll be heavily favored to win the general election by a large margin.”

Joseph Moakley Professor of Political Science Kay L. Schlozman said early predictions of a Markey defeat seemed reasonable, given his opponent’s family history—with the exception of 2011-2013, there has been a Kennedy in Congress since 1947. But the actual outcome was completely consistent with another pattern in American politics, she said: Incumbents have advantages.

“Since 1990, in the hundreds of Senate elections across the states, an incumbent senator has lost to a challenger in a party primary only eight times. From this perspective, the race was Markey’s to lose. There is much to be said about the sources of the two candidates’ support and what they mean for the future of conflicts within the often-fractious Democratic Party, but in this limited sense the victory of Ed Markey over Joe Kennedy has ample precedent.”

Professor of Political Science Marc Landy, for one, thinks the Kennedy-legacy aspect of the race was overblown, pointing to the “humiliating loss” that Ted Kennedy suffered in the 1980 presidential campaign.

“He could not beat a severely weakened and unpopular president to gain the Democratic nomination. And he lost for the

U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey ’68, JD’72, shown during a 2015 event at Boston College. A BC faculty member calls Markey’s recent Democratic primary victory “one of the most successful political reinventions of the year.” photo by lee pellegrini

same reason that young Joe lost: Neither could give the voters a principled reason for ousting their own party’s incumbent.

In the famous Roger Mudd interview, Ted could give no solid reason as to why he was running. Neither could Joe during his campaign. Even in 1980, being a Kennedy was not enough and so it is unsurprising that likeability, and in the recent case, youth were insufficient 40 years later.”

Retired Professor of History Patrick Maney thinks pundits who discounted Markey’s progressive credentials got it wrong. Far from undergoing a progressive makeover on environmental issues, he explained, Markey was “ahead of the curve” as an early supporter of Al Gore’s far-reaching proposal for a “BTU tax” to discourage the use of fossil fuels, and a cosponsor for equally far-reaching cap-andtrade legislation in 2009 to curb greenhouse emissions.

Markey also showed himself to be prescient on regulatory matters, Maney said. During the Clinton administration, Markey teamed up with Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone to battle repeal of the

Depression-era Glass Steagall Act, arguing that deregulation of the financial industry threatened to make banks “too big to fail.”

Such warnings seemed prophetic when the Recession of 2008 arrived, Maney said.

“So, instead of the story of the 2020 primary being a case of Edward Markey catching up with progressives,” he said, “it is an instance of progressives catching up with him.”

But don’t write off Kennedy—at 39, he “will doubtless be heard from again”—or, for that matter, the Kennedy name in American politics, Maney warned: John F. Kennedy is consistently ranked in the top tier of American presidents, and is still the subject of many books and articles—the first volume of a two-part JFK biography was recently released to great acclaim— while a much-anticipated study on Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights is in the works.

“Whether a Kennedy occupies public office or not, the Kennedy ‘mystique’ remains firmly rooted in the public’s imagination,” said Maney.

–Phil Gloudemans and Sean Smith

It’s ‘Pops Off the Heights’ This Year – with Josh Groban Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Awardnominee Josh Groban headlines “Pops Off the Heights” on September 25 at 7 p.m., continuing the University’s annual “Pops on the Heights” tradition this year in the form of a virtual musical celebration.

A consummate American showman, the singer, songwriter, and actor has entertained fans across the globe with his multi-platinum albums (more than 35 million sold worldwide), electrifying live performances, and comedic film and television appearances.

An active arts education philanthropist and advocate, Groban is a member of Americans for the Arts Artists Committee; his Find Your Light Foundation helps enrich the lives of young people through arts, education, and cultural awareness.

As special guest artist, Groban will be joined by maestro Keith Lockhart, who will once again conduct members of the

Josh Groban

Boston Pops Orchestra.

Throughout its 28-year history, the momentous BC Pops on the Heights

tradition—started by Barbara and James F. Cleary ’50, H’93—has raised more than $80 million for student scholarships, organizers note. It has evolved into the University’s largest fundraising event for financial aid, as well as one of Boston’s most successful philanthropic events.

“Given all that Pops on the Heights represents to Boston College and, most especially, to our students, we felt it was very important to keep the tradition going,” said BC Senior Vice President for University Advancement Jim Husson.

“While we cannot be together in Conte Forum on the last Friday of September, Pops Off the Heights will bring our student performers and the talented Boston Pops and guest artist Josh Groban into the homes of Eagles around the world. Many alumni and parents have never been able to be with us on campus and so this will be an opportunity for them to experi-

ence the magic of Pops for the first time.

But the real magic is the difference that our Pops benefactors make in the lives of our students. This year will be extra special as Pops Off the Heights celebrates student scholarships and the launch of Be a Beacon, our year-long financial aid campaign.”

The event—which also will feature Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences seniors Tiffany Brooks and Olivia Constantino as soloists—is free of charge, but registration is required via email to kristen.sauer@bc.edu, by Thursday, September 24.

Attendees are invited to make a contribution to support Boston College students.

More information is available at www. bc.edu/pops.

–University Communications

Chronicle

September 17, 2020

BC Puts Emphasis on Diversity in Full-Time Faculty Positions Continued from page 1

joining BC for the 2020-2021 academic year, 57 percent are women and 39 percent are AHANA (people of African, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American descent)—the highest such percentages in at least 15 years.

The figures are not an aberration, administrators pointed out. Including 20202021, BC has hired the highest percentage of full-time AHANA faculty in University history four of the past five years: 35 percent in 2019-2020, 37 percent in 20172018, and 32 percent in 2016-2017; another high-water mark came in 2011-2012 (31 percent).

A glance at the total percentage of women faculty members at BC indicates a similar increase, from 39.1 percent in 2010-2011 to 42 percent during the last academic year. Administrators note that

make several new hires.

The opportunity for a department to enrich its diversity is strongly encouraged, Soo noted. Departments that have already have a candidate for an available position are at times given permission to also recruit a woman or person of color who subsequently emerged as a strong entrant; in some cases, both candidates wind up being hired.

BC also has taken stock of the way it seeks out potential new faculty, Soo added, by ensuring search committees have a diverse membership and are in touch with national programs and organizations that support faculty of color, among other measures. In addition, the Office of the Provost has collaborated with the Office for Institutional Diversity on a program that offers useful insights for conducting faculty searches.

“The department chairs and search committees understand very well that diversity is something we’re very interested in supporting.”

–Billy Soo

photo by lee pellegrini

these data include visiting faculty, who are not included in the University’s hiring statistics; the percentages of more permanent, full-time women faculty hired during that period would be significantly higher.

While Boston College has consistently strived to build a diverse faculty, administrators said, the progress of recent years demonstrates a collective focus on refining the means by which academic departments and programs evaluate and address their teaching needs. This approach has the capacity for a success that is self-generating, they added.

“The trend builds on itself,” said Vice Provost for Faculties Billy Soo. “It creates momentum for other people of color and women to join the BC faculty. This, in turn, can help in recruiting AHANA and female students—when they see professors who look like themselves, they appreciate the opportunities higher education presents.”

The process by which BC hires fulltime faculty is a multi-faceted one, Soo explained. Deans for each of BC’s schools receive requests for faculty hires from individual departments—based in part on how many faculty retired or left for another position—and send them to the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculties. The vice provost and provost then use several criteria to evaluate the deans’ requests, such as the numbers of student credit hours and the demand for classes associated with each faculty position. There may be other considerations: If a department is launching a new program, for example, it may need to

OID Executive Director Patricia Lowe said, “The program and its participants exhibit a strong commitment to moving beyond traditional recruitment practices that fail to increase the hiring of AHANA and women full-time faculty. Among other things, the insights from this program help participants to undergo self-reflection and self-awareness of potential biases they may be bringing into the process—and to find ways to park those biases at the door.

“While challenges still exist,” she said, “they are now viewed more as opportunities to do better and reimagine how we can continue to build a more diverse and inclusive faculty at Boston College.”

Such initiatives and practices “send a strong signal,” said Soo. “The department chairs and search committees understand very well that diversity is something we’re very interested in supporting.”

BC can aid its own efforts to foster a diverse faculty, he said. While the number of faculty members from historically underrepresented populations in the United States has risen over the years, aided in part through the McNair Scholars Program and other initiatives, there is still much room for growth. Increasing access to graduate studies for women and persons of color is vitally important, Soo said.

“Those graduate programs are where our future professors will come from, so we, along with other institutions, have an obligation to make sure there are opportunities for everyone.”

7

BC in the Media Labor Day traditionally signals the end of summer and a return to routine—but this year is different, noted Prof. David Blustein (LSOEHD), author of The Importance of Work in an Age of Uncertainty, in comments for CNN.com.

Will the Trump campaign’s amplification of scenes of unrest in the nation appeal to swing voters? Prof. Heather Cox Richardson (History) weighed in for Time magazine.

CBS Boston reported on the case of Ronnie Qualls, a client of the Boston College Innocence Program at BC Law School, who was exonerated following his wrongful conviction in a 1992 double homicide.

The Boston Globe and The Art Newspaper (U.K.) ran a profile on Boston College School of Social Work alumna Rosa Rodriguez-Williams, who has been appointed the Museum of Fine Arts’ first-ever senior director of belonging and inclusion.

Due to the pandemic, oil and gas operations, government facilities, and other sites won permission to stop monitoring for hazardous emissions or otherwise bypass rules to protect health and the environment. Global Public Health Program Director Philip Landrigan spoke with the Associated Press on the impact.

What can the stock market expect if Joe Biden wins the general election? Woods College of Advancing Studies Associate Dean Aleksandar Tomic, director of the M.S. in Applied Economics program, offered his views to U.S. News & World Report.

Widespread unemployment heightens the risk of people not being prepared to retire, the Center for Retirement Research reports. A brief by center director and Drucker Professor Alicia Munnell, as-

sistant director of savings research Anqi Chen, and research economist Wenliang Hou was highlighted by the Washington Post. Munnell also commented to Forbes on Joe Biden’s plans for 401(k)s.

Asst. Prof. Cal Halvorsen (BCSSW) was featured in WalletHub’s recent piece about the best places to retire.

Middle managers face potentially competing interests to protect themselves, support others, and advance their work, but can play an important role, according Assoc. Prof. Bess Rouse (CSOM), who wrote about her research in this area for LSE Business Review.

Murray and Monti Professor of Economics Peter Ireland spoke with CNBC and Bond Buyer about the Federal Reserve’s signals on inflation and on the U.S. economy’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Assoc. Prof. Karen Arnold (LSOEHD), whose pioneering work on transitions of low-income students brought the term “summer melt” to the vernacular, gave her assessment of this year’s phenomenon to the Washington Post.

Prof. John Baldovin, S.J. (STM), offered comments on the issue of sacramental validity to America magazine, in light of the discovery by Fr. Matthew Hood of the Archdiocese of Detroit that his baptism as an infant had been invalid.

Six centuries ago, the Yongle emperor moved the capital of the Ming dynasty from Nanjing unto Beijing. In an interview with South China Morning Post Magazine, Assoc. Prof. Aurelia Campbell (Art, Art History, and Film), author of What the Emperor Built, explained how his constructions sent a message of power.

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.

Program Nurse Director, Research & Program Development Clinical Fellow Research Scientist, RPCA Administrative Assistant, Career Center Assistant Director, Bowman Center Assistant Director, Career Education Associate Director, Instructional Media Director of Development, Morrissey College, Schiller Institute

tirement Research Fiscal & Grant Administrator Research Associate, Center for Retirement Research Temporary Office Pool, School of Theology and Ministry Research Specialist, Measurement and Data Analysis Classroom Technology Specialist Temporary Custodial Workers Data Manager, RPCA Capacity Building Manager, RPCA Research Technician, Biology Temporary Office Pool, Campus School

Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Chemistry

Research Associate, Part-Time

Temporary Office Pool, Center for Re-

Assistant Director, Financial Aid

Director, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Chronicle

8

September 17, 2020

BC Research

Access That Made a Difference Carroll School’s Sadka co-researched the impact of new fin-tech apps on the stock market during the lockdown period

BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER

New financial technologies that put powerful trading tools in the hands of individual investors may have moved Main Street a little closer to Wall Street during the COVID-19 lockdown period—and boosted the stock market in the process—according to a new study by Carroll School of Management Haub Family Professor of Finance Ronnie Sadka.

During the lockdown period, roughly from late March to early May, investors flocked to the trading app Robinhood and delivered a much-needed infusion of cash, according to Sadka and co-authors Gideon Ozik, of France’s EDHEC Business School, and Siyi Shen, of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen-School of Management and Economics.

The first week of lockdown in March saw a 14.3 percent increase in the number of Robinhood stockholding accounts, doubling by June 11, according to the findings.

Retail trading reduced the rise in illiquidity, the researchers report. A bottomto-top decile increase in retail holding in lockdown is associated with about a 19 percent decline in the effective bid/ask spread compared to that in normal time (relative to sample mean). A decline in the effective bid/ask spread signifies an improvement in liquidity, making it easier to trade a stock.

Retailers’ easy access to equity markets may carry some unintended risks: In lockdown, a bottom-to-top decile increase in

“When there are no sports, or other entertainment, people simply play the market.”

–Ronnie Sadka

photo by lee pellegrini

COVID-19-related media-driven trading by retail investors is associated with about a 17 percent increase in effective bid/ask spread.

“If, for example, retailers excessively trade a given stock, as in the case of stocks with high COVID-19 media coverage during the pandemic, they might turn from providing liquidity to demanding liquidity, and, in turn, decrease the overall liquidity of the stock,” said Sadka.

“We often think of large financial institutions, such as banks and large asset management firms, presenting systemic risk, yet under this new regime of significant retail trading, retailers as a group might present similar risks,” he added. “If

they suddenly decide to buy or sell certain assets, they might significantly affect prices and generate a liquidity spiral. While institutional capital flows are at the very least monitored, and are subject to constraints, retail trading is not. Over time, this group of retail traders in aggregate, with direct access to the market, will likely emerge as a significant driver of asset prices. Therefore, while innovations in financial technology are welcome and generally viewed as positive disruptions, we should also beware of some perhaps unintended risks and consequences.”

The hypothesis was that retail traders are attention driven and their trades are more likely to be motivated for attention-

grabbing stocks. “We expect that the attention-driven retail trading is likely to result in worsening liquidity conditions for these stocks,” said Sadka.

Sadka said the team looked at the interaction of three variables: the lockdown versus the pre-lockdown period, firms with high versus low retail trading, and firms with high versus low COVID-19 media coverage. “The reason one takes into consideration all these variables is to provide better identification for the mechanism we are trying to establish: That is, it’s not just retail investing, not just lockdown, not just media coverage, it’s the interaction of all three variables.”

Sadka points out that the analysis isn’t focused on parsing the reasons why retail investors decided to increase trading activity, but on the ultimate effect on the market. But Sadka said it could be that trading was one activity in which people realized they could participate.

“A large liquidity crisis was avoided because retail investors had the technology available to get direct access to the market,” said Sadka. “They might be buying Hertz and Delta Airlines, but the point is they are there in the market and their buying and selling provides liquidity. And it was the combination of access but also lockdown conditions that caused this. When there are no sports, or other entertainment, people simply play the market.”

A version of the full paper is available at: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_ id=3663970

BC Scenes Sounding off

PHOTOS BY LEE PELLEGRINI

The Boston College Screaming Eagles Marching Band prepared recently for the new academic year, as percussionists (at left, L-R) Tristan Louria ‘21, Leah Gerrish ‘22, and Angel Yi ‘22 practiced in the Robsham Theater lobby, while some of their bandmates—including (top left, L-R) Angelique Jean-Noel ’23 and Elizabeth Carcieri ’21—held a socially distanced rehearsal on Brighton Campus.