Boston College Chronicle

PUBLISHED BY THE BOSTON COLLEGE OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Page 12

Page 3

Page 4

New VP

Global Education

Shawna Cooper-Gibson has been appointed as vice president for student affairs.

New office will build on University’s academic activities and partnerships abroad.

BC Arts Upcoming McMullen Museum exhibition highlights the career of renowned Cuban painter Mariano Rodríguez.

SEPTEMBER 2, 2021 VOL. 29 NO. 1

PUBLISHED BY THE BOSTON COLLEGE OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

University Convocation

Fr. Leahy: BC Will Move Forward in Key Areas

BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER

Here We Go Again

photo by lee pellegrini

Campus was bustling on Monday for Boston College’s first day of classes.

Q&A

Meeting COVID’s Challenge

An update on Boston College’s COVID-19 vaccination rate and pre-semester testing results, and a Q&A with Dr. Douglas Comeau, director of University Health Services and Primary Care Sports Medicine, and Biology Professor and Chair Welkin Johnson Q. What percentage of the BC community has been vaccinated against COVID-19?

Comeau: As of Monday, August 30, 99.3 percent of the Boston College community has been vaccinated, including 99.3 percent of BC faculty and staff, and 99.1 percent of undergraduate students. Counting University-approved exemptions, 100 percent of those intending to be on campus have complied with BC vaccination protocols.

Q. What is BC’s testing policy for COVID-19? Will test results be shared with the BC community?

Comeau: All BC students, faculty, and staff

who plan to be on campus this semester were required to be tested for COVID-19 prior to the start of classes on August 30.

University Health Services will conduct symptomatic and targeted asymptomatic surveillance testing throughout the academic year.

Weekly tests results will be posted each Monday on the BC Forward website [bc. edu/forward]. The results to date—August 16 to 29—are as follows: Boston College Community Tests Performed: 15,878 Total Positives: 46 Positivity Rate: 0.290% Undergraduates Tests Performed: 8,723 Continued on page 5

Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, Boston College remains academically robust and financially healthy, and will move forward on signature initiatives designed to better serve underrepresented students, examine race and racism in the United States, and raise money for financial aid, said Boston College President William P. Leahy, S.J., at University Convocation on September 1.

These challenging times “call on us to strengthen our understanding of and commitment to BC’s mission and culture,” Fr. Leahy told the audience. “We have much reason to approach the future with confidence and ambition, even a collective

boldness, and a strong sense of institutional momentum.”

Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley and Executive Vice President Michael Lochhead also offered remarks at Convocation, which returned to Robsham Theater following a virtual presentation in 2020 because of COVID-19 protocols.

Fr. Leahy addressed a range of health and safety protocols designed to keep the campus community safe and return normalcy to academic activities as the campus and the nation learn to coexist with the presence of the coronavirus into the foreseeable future.

“Our goal is to have this year be as normal as possible for teaching, research, and learning as well as help protect the physical Continued on page 3

Robshams’ $75M Estate Gift Largest in University History

BY JACK DUNN ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Boston College has received an estimated $75 million gift from the estate of Joyce L. and E. Paul Robsham, M.Ed.’83—the largest estate gift in University history, which will provide funding for a range of core University priorities including student scholarships, academic programming, facilities improvements, and operation of the Robsham Theater Arts Center.

The gift builds upon the Robshams’

previous contributions to the Robsham Theater and other initiatives, placing the couple among the University’s most generous benefactors. Before Paul Robsham passed away in 2004, he stated his wish that BC be the major beneficiary of the couple’s estate. After his death, Joyce Robsham worked closely with her advisors, the late University Chancellor J. Donald Monan, S.J., University President William P. Leahy, S.J., and other Boston College leaders to target the areas most meaningful to the couple, including psychology, theater, and

Continued on page 7

The discussions I was having in graduate school for classes just didn’t seem important to the wider world. It was frustrating. It was hard to discuss theory when there were soldiers overseas still fighting and dying. Even today, it puts things into perspective for me a little bit.

– assistant director for veteran programs and services michael lorenz, page 8

Chronicle

2

September 2, 2021

Around Campus

Local Sculptor Transforms Ailing Tree into Lasting Campus Art Treasure A centuries-old oak tree on the edge of Boston College’s Brighton Campus was removed this past spring due to failing health—but rather than disappear altogether, its trunk has undergone an unusual transformation.

Ken Packie, a Massachusetts artist who specializes in wood sculptures, was commissioned by the University to carve the tree’s nearly six-foot-wide base into a three-dimensional portrayal of the Holy Family, celebrating Boston College’s Jesuit, Catholic heritage and recognizing the historical significance of the Brighton Campus.

The new sculpture, which Packie completed in July, is now visible from Commonwealth Avenue as motorists and pedestrians approach the McMullen Museum of Art. (Those who continue into Newton will be treated to another of Packie’s creations: a marathon runner carved from a dying maple tree.) It took Packie just over a month to create the sculpture, which he said was the most challenging assignment of his career.

“It’s probably the most ambitious thing I’ve tried, because it’s the human form, and everything about this subject matter is so important,” he said. “I’m not trying just to emulate the form, I’m trying to think about what it means to everybody.”

For Landscape Planning Director Regina Bellavia, whose team maintains roughly 4,600 trees across the University’s three campuses, preserving the oak’s memory through art is a fitting tribute. She estimates that the tree was around 200 years old when it was taken down, making it older than the buildings and roadways surrounding it.

“I could imagine, historically, before they cut Commonwealth Avenue through, there

Massachusetts artist Ken Packie shown at work this summer on a three-dimensional portrayal of the Holy Family he constructed from the remains of a centuries-old oak tree on Brighton Campus that was in declining health for some years. “It’s probably the most ambitious thing I’ve tried,” he said. photos by lee pellegrini

were probably many more of these oak trees, and this one happened to survive,” she said.

“I’m grateful we were able to witness it for as long as we did.”

Bellavia had been tracking the oak tree’s declining health for nearly a decade, consulting with arborists and taking steps to extend its longevity without risking the safety of people walking and driving nearby. Six years ago, the tree’s canopy was cut back significantly to reduce strain on its trunk, after a resistograph test revealed high levels of decaying wood. In the years since, Bellavia noticed carpenter ants alongside the back

of the tree, where the bark had long since fallen off.

Last November, a second arborist recommended that the tree be removed due to the “significant amount of dead trunk area and potential for future failure.” If it fell, the tree would have crashed directly into Commonwealth Avenue, posing a risk to cars, pedestrians, and subway riders.

“No one ever wants to take down a tree this big, but they are living things so they have a lifespan,” said Bellavia. “We decided it was time.”

Once the canopy was removed, Packie

began work transforming the trunk into a work of art. To create his pieces, many of which are inspired by nature, he uses only three tools: a chainsaw, chisel, and blowtorch. As an added challenge, when Packie began carving, he discovered extensive rot within the stump, requiring him to replace sections of wood as he worked.

In late July, Packie gave the sculpture a final coat of protective varnish before taking down his scaffolding and preparing to move on to his next project. With every commission, he takes joy in watching his subjects emerge from wood.

“It’s an evolution as the piece unfolds,” he explained. “[I’m] taking something that was alive and giving it a second life in a different form.”

—Alix Hackett

Zoom Discussion With Director of Documentary on White Nationalism The rise of white nationalism—and the danger it poses—in the United States and abroad will be the subject of an upcoming Zoom discussion organized by Boston College, featuring the director of “White Noise,” a groundbreaking documentary on the subject.

The discussion, which will take place on September 14 from 6-7 p.m., is sponsored by the Boston College Forum on Racial Justice in America and the BC School of Social Work. Daniel Lombroso, who also co-produced the film and was its cinematographer, will join a panel including BCSSW Associate Professor Samuel Bradley Jr.; Usha

ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Jack Dunn SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Tummala-Narra, a professor in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development; and Emily Kaufman, an investigative researcher with the Center on Extremism.

Further details and updates will be available via the Forum on Racial Justice website, bc.edu/forum. To register, go to https:// bccte.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN__ JwydyyVQa6So6gstqIUX. “White Noise,” the first documentary by The Atlantic magazine, is the inside story of the movement that has come to be known as the “alt-right.” Tracking the rise of farright nationalism by focusing on three of its main proponents, Mike Cernovich, Lauren

CONTRIBUTING STAFF

Christine Balquist Phil Gloudemans Ed Hayward Rosanne Pellegrini Kathleen Sullivan

Patricia Delaney PHOTOGRAPHERS EDITOR

Sean Smith

Lee Pellegrini

Southern, and Richard Spencer, the film presents “an urgent warning about the power of extremism, and where it’s going next,” according to its publicists.

Members of the Boston College community will be able to view “White Noise” through University Libraries prior to the September 14 discussion. The film is accessible for free at www.filmplatform.net/ product/white-noise.

“White Noise” is the feature-film debut for Lombroso, whose short documentaries have explored Russian espionage, the Israelisettlement movement, far-right Christian media, among other subjects. He has re-

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

ported across the U.S. as well as in Europe, Russia, and the Middle East.

The Forum on Racial Justice in America was founded in 2020 as part of efforts by the University to address issues of race and racism in the U.S. During its first year, the forum organized or co-organized a Service of Hope and Reconciliation, a “Solidarity for Racial Justice” walk and rally, and lectures and discussions on such topics as environmental racism, racial justice and democratic citizenship, Black Lives Matter in the age of COVID, and the effects of racial trauma.

—University Communications

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.

Distributed free to faculty and staff offices and other locations on campus.

Periodicals postage paid at Boston, MA and additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: send address changes to The Boston College Chronicle, Office of University Communications, 3 Lake Street, Brighton, MA 02135.

A flipbook edition of Chronicle is available via e-mail.

Send requests to chronicle@bc.edu.

Chronicle

September 2, 2021

3

BC Selects Cooper-Gibson to Head Student Affairs

four-year plan to enhance the undergraduate student experience through academic support, health and wellness initiatives, experiential learning, and spirituality. She also worked with internal and external stakeholders to lead university-wide diversity and inclusion efforts, including developing diversity training modules and a Bias Education and Support Team. In addition, she worked with the Office of the Provost and the senior vice president of enrollment management to improve academic advising for students.

Prior to being named vice president at Seton Hall, Cooper-Gibson served as assistant provost for Student Academic Services at Loyola University Chicago, dean of students for the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago, director of African American Student Affairs at Northwestern, and assistant director of student activities at MIT. In announcing the appointment, Ex-

ecutive Vice President Michael Lochhead praised Cooper-Gibson as an experienced student affairs leader with a proven record of accomplishment in fostering student engagement and success at both private research and Catholic universities.

“Shawna stood out as the ideal person to lead Student Affairs at Boston College because of her vast experience in higher education and her commitment to BC’s mission and Jesuit, Catholic heritage,” said Lochhead in announcing the appointment.

“She is a tremendously gifted individual who has earned praise for her efforts and unwavering support of students wherever she has worked. I know that the entire BC community will welcome her when she begins her new role as vice president in August.”

Interviewed after accepting the position, Cooper-Gibson said she was excited to come to Boston College to lead Student Affairs and to support the University’s strategic commitment to student formation.

“I have a deep respect for and commitment to Jesuit education based on my 11 years at Loyola University Chicago,” said Cooper-Gibson. “When an opportunity became available to recommit myself to Jesuit, Catholic education at Boston College, I knew I could not pass it up.

“I am excited to contribute to the University’s Strategic Plan, to enhance the overall student experience, and to build an equitable experience for all BC students.

The important work of Student Affairs is not done alone. I look forward to partnering with Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley, with Haub Vice President for University Mission and Ministry Jack

Butler, S.J., and with BC faculty and administrators across the University to create not just best practices, but next practices so that we can prepare our students to go into the world to become global leaders.”

Cooper-Gibson received a doctorate in education and human development from Boston University, and a master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies: curriculum and instruction at National Louis University in Wheeling, Ill. She earned a bachelor of science degree in elementary education from the University of Illinois.

She is an active member of the National Academic Advising Association, NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, and the American College Personnel Association at the National Center for Higher Education.

Highly respected within the student affairs profession, she was awarded the prestigious Sankofa Award in 2021, given annually by NASPA to an African American senior student affairs officer, and was inducted into the Jesuit honor society Alpha Sigma Nu in 2018.

A native of Champaign-Urbana, Ill., Cooper-Gibson is married to Derrick Whitehead, and is the mother of Harrington Gibson III, a junior at Loyola University Chicago. An avid runner, Cooper-Gibson has completed the New York, Chicago, Berlin, Tokyo, and London marathons, and plans to run the Boston Marathon in the future.

“BC is a mission-driven institution with strong leadership and values and a clear vision,” said Cooper-Gibson. “I am elated to have the opportunity to lead Student Affairs at Boston College.”

vaccination in our community and desire to have as normal a year as possible, especially in light of the negative psychological impact of mask wearing reported by students and parents, we have decided not to require masks in classrooms at this time.

“But if the campus infection rate leads to higher than desired levels, we will make adjustments, not only regarding masks in classrooms but also considering masks in laboratories, libraries, residence hall lounges, and faculty offices and departmental spaces,” Fr. Leahy added.

In other areas, the integration of Pine Manor College into the University continues, following through on the 2018 agreement that established the Pine Manor Institute for Student Success, endowed with $50 million from Boston College to fund outreach and academic support programs for underserved, low-income students. The institute will be led by its executive director, Vice President Joy Moore.

Fr. Leahy praised the work of the Boston College Forum on Racial Justice in America, which was launched in the wake of the death of George Floyd and a wave of protests across the country. Following the departure of Boston College Law School Dean Vincent Rougeau for the presidency of Holy Cross College, the forum will now be led by Moore and Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences Dean Gregory Kalscheur,

S.J. “The forum offers great opportunities for Boston College to engage critical questions about race and needed changes in attitudes and structures,” Fr. Leahy said. “My hope is that it will also encourage scholarly exploration of conditions that result in racism and racist behavior, and suggest responses and solutions.”

Lochhead discussed the University’s financial affairs and facilities improvements.

He said BC is in a strong financial position because of undergraduate and graduate tuition, expense management, endowment investment returns, and a prudent debt strategy. That strong financial health allowed the University to absorb $31 million in costs imposed by the pandemic response.

Several capital projects were completed including additional improvements to Devlin 008 Auditorium, Bapst Library Exterior Restoration, and the Pete Frates Center at Harrington Athletics Village, and reclamation of the site of the now-demolished Flynn Recreation Complex for green space, recreation, and parking.

Current projects he cited include construction of the new, $167-million integrated science building, which will house the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society; renovations to the fifth floor of O’Neill Library; and upgrades to McEl-

roy Commons Dining.

Quigley discussed a range of academicrelated achievements and benchmarks: nearly 40,000 applications for the Class of 2025, which numbers 2,500 students; an increasingly diverse freshman class bolstered by the arrival of dozens of students drawn to the University through its partnership with QuestBridge; and the hiring of 36 faculty members, 53 percent female and 39 percent AHANA. Graduate and professional enrollment is up 14 percent and the incoming BC Law School class numbers 360, the highest in several years.

BY JACK DUNN ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Shawna Cooper-Gibson joined Boston College as its new vice president for student affairs on August 9. Former vice president for student services at Seton Hall University, Cooper-Gibson succeeds Joy Moore, who stepped down last October to assist her husband in his battle with cancer.

An accomplished student affairs leader with a reputation for building successful student engagement and community development initiatives and collaborative relationships with students, faculty, and parents, Cooper-Gibson brings to Boston College extensive experience leading student outreach efforts at institutions ranging from Northwestern University and the University of Chicago to Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Loyola University Chicago.

At Seton Hall, Cooper-Gibson oversaw all aspects of student affairs, housing and residential life, counselling and health services, student life and community development, and the Academic Resource Center and Career Center at a Catholic university with 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students. In her role, she led a division of 140 full-time professionals and 350 student staff committed to student engagement and success, and developed services to promote personal growth, service leadership, and student satisfaction among Seton Hall’s students.

In particular, Cooper-Gibson partnered with the campus community to design a

Convocation Continued from page 1

and psychological health of our campus community and the surrounding neighborhood. I believe we have to be prepared as a nation and world to address the challenges of COVID-19 and its variants for years to come.”

The University’s requirement that all faculty, students, staff, and regular visitors to campus be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 resulted in vaccination rates of 99.3 percent of faculty and staff, 99.1 percent of undergraduates, and 99.6 percent of graduate and professional students.

“We also encourage those who may be more comfortable wearing masks to do so, particularly individuals with young children or immune-compromised family members,” said Fr. Leahy, adding “we are committed to being vigilant and flexible in regard to COVID-19.”

Boston College is complying with requirements by the cities of Boston and Newton that individuals wear masks in indoor areas open to the public, including dining halls, bookstores, the McMullen Museum, and Conte Forum, Fr. Leahy said.

“We are aware of desires among some for BC to mandate mask wearing in classrooms. But given the impressively high

Shawna Cooper-Gibson

Mass of the Holy Spirit September 9 University President William P. Leahy, S.J., will celebrate the annual Mass of the Holy Spirit on September 9 at noon in the Plaza at O’Neill Library.

(The event will be held in Conte Forum in the event of inclement weather.)

Classes are cancelled that day from noon to 1:15 p.m. All members of the University community are invited to attend the Mass, a tradition for the opening of the school year at Jesuit institutions dating back to the Middle Ages.

Chronicle

4

September 2, 2021

A Global Point of View Boston College Office of International Programs has a new name, new leadership, and a key new initiative As the academic year ushers in a return to study-abroad programs, there is a new title and new leadership for the University office that oversees international education—and a new initiative to expand global opportunities for all Boston College undergraduates.

The Office of Global Education (OGE), formerly the Office of International Programs (OIP), reflects the agenda for a new era, according to Vice Provost for Global Engagement James F. Keenan, S.J. “OGE provides global education for undergraduates, so we thought we should name it as such,” he said. “It was time to incorporate the Office for International Programs and the Office of International Students and Scholars within the Office of the Vice Provost for Global Engagement, whose activities cover all the issues of international programming.”

OGE hallmarks are “greater inclusive opportunities, greater global opportunities, and greater academic emphasis,” Fr. Keenan explained.

“We want OGE to be more inclusive, to provide access to all programming for all undergraduates, and in time we hope it begins to serve graduate students. We want it to be more global,” comprising more programs in Central and Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. “We also want it to be more academically demanding, to see students expand their academic capabilities by going to demanding and enriching programs.”

Leading the OGE is Larry Pickener, who was named director after serving as interim head since January following the departure of previous director Nick Gozik, now dean of global education at Elon University.

Fr. Keenan praised Pickener’s leadership during the transition and the pandemic, both in terms of expanded initiatives and

leadership. “Larry has a very confident, collaborative team that is supportive of OGE’s ambitious agenda. There is a spirit of new purpose.”

“I am excited to assume the directorship and thrilled to continue at BC in this new capacity,” Pickener said. “I am most excited about continuing to work with my OGE colleagues as well as the broader BC community. I look forward to working closely with Fr. Keenan and the entire Global Engagement team in advancing Boston College’s international initiatives.”

“As interim director, Larry went beyond my expectations,” said Fr. Keenan, noting that in addition to meeting with the 28 undergraduate program directors to facilitate new OGE goals, Pickener developed agreements and/or programming with the University of Tübingen, Sacro Cuore in Milan, Pontifical University of Chile, the University of Global Health Equity in Rwanda, and a peace-building program in Croatia. He also renewed agreements with the Center for Global Education in Central America, and is pursuing new relationships at universities in Taipei, Nanjing, India, and Africa.

Pickener hopes to bring “support and leadership for my colleagues in the Office of Global Education, and continue to grow education abroad at Boston College, reaching out to traditionally underrepresented students and academic departments. My goal is to collaborate with colleagues on campus to promote study abroad to our students as not just a travel opportunity, but as a way to complement and enhance their academic careers.”

An important new initiative, the Home Tuition program, will expand global opportunities for a broad range of BC students.

“Beginning with the incoming Class of 2025, all tuition for programs—whether internal or external—will be at the home in-

OBITUARY

Marian St. Onge; International Programs Marian Brown St. Onge, the founding director of Boston College’s Center for International Programs and Partnerships, died on August 18. She was 77.

Dr. St. Onge served in many different roles during her long BC tenure, which began when she returned to the University—from where she had earned a master’s degree in 1975—to pursue a doctorate in French literature and taught as a part-time lecturer in the Romance Languages and Literatures Department. Receiving the doctorate in 1984, Dr. St. Onge subsequently went on to serve as coordinator of the French Language Program and director of the Women’s Studies Program before accepting the appointment to head

the Center for International Programs and Partnerships (later the Office of International Programs and now the Office of Global Education) in 1991.

She held that position until her retirement in 2006, and was credited with extending the outreach of the CIPP photo by lee pellegrini through her global travels and prolific partnership creation.

Dr. St. Onge is survived by her sons, Joseph and Richard Andrew, and her companion, Marshall Smith.

The Romance Languages and Literatures Department posted a tribute to Dr. St. Onge on its website at https://bit.ly/marianst-onge-in-memoriam.

—University Communications

Larry Pickener, who served as interim director for the Office of International Programs earlier this year, is director of the Office of Global Education. photo by lee pellegrini

stitution, Boston College,” said Fr. Keenan.

“By taking this step, students receiving financial assistance—whether need or merit based—can take advantage of all our external programming and receive that assistance.

This makes OGE much more accessible and more inclusive for the entire undergraduate population, providing a broader, global array of choices.”

“We are joining many of our peers in adopting this model,” Pickener added, which is beneficial because “all students, regardless of financial need, will be able to choose any program approved by Boston College. It also will allow us to add new programs more quickly in some areas of the world.”

Study abroad at BC has traditionally attracted roughly 45-50 percent of a graduating class, according to Pickener.

“Students are interested in taking advantage of international partnerships; our goal is to help them manage program selection and navigate their experience: to find ways to immerse themselves in the culture of a host city. We hope that as students return, they incorporate lessons learned abroad into their time at BC and beyond.”

Pickener acknowledged the challenges ahead. “The most immediate is studying

abroad during a pandemic. We believe we have taken all necessary precautions, but things can change quickly. We face the challenge of getting students excited about going abroad again, which has been an important part of so many students’ experiences, and is a viable and important part of the BC experience.”

The OGE also hopes to facilitate increased student participation in non-traditional locations, the development of new partnerships in keeping with BC’s strategic international goals, and the alignment of abroad programming with the needs of the academic community, he said.

Beyond his interim directorship, Pickener—who joined the University in 2007— most recently served as associate director of education abroad. He holds a master’s degree in higher education from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a bachelor’s degree in history from Loyola College in Maryland, where he spent junior year abroad at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in England. Pickener’s wife, Jill, is undergraduate student services assistant director at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development.

—University Communications

Committee Formed, Firm Hired for New BC Law Dean Search Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley has announced the members of the search committee for the next Boston College Law School dean.

Quigley, who is the committee chair, will be joined by Law School Associate Clinical Professor and Director of the BC Innocence Program Sharon Beckman; Founders Professor of Law Mary Sarah Bilder; Haub Vice President for University Mission and Ministry Jack T. Butler, S.J.; Mara Hermano, vice president for Institutional Research and Planning; Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences Dean and Professor of Law and Political Science Gregory A. Kalscheur, S.J.; Darald and Juliet Libby Professor of Law and Theology M. Cathleen Kaveny; Professor of Law Shu-Yi Oei; Professor of Law Vlad Perju; and Vice Provost for Undergraduate Academic Affairs Akua Sarr.

Quigley also announced that the University has retained Storbeck Search, a member of the Diversified Search Group, ranked by Forbes magazine in 2020 as one of the top five executive search firms in the country.

The search firm and committee will collaborate to name a new BC Law dean to succeed Vincent D. Rougeau, who was appointed the 33rd president of the College of the Holy Cross in February. Professor of Law and Dr. Thomas F. Carney Distinguished Scholar Diane M. Ring began serving as interim dean of the Law School in June.

“The committee’s work will span the next academic year and we hope to conclude a successful search by spring 2022,” said Quigley. “Furthermore, there will be various opportunities for community input during the fall semester.”

—Phil Gloudemans

Chronicle

September 2, 2021

5

Marsala Is University’s New Director of Financial Aid

BY JACK DUNN ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Ebony Marsala, formerly the director of undergraduate aid at Northeastern University, joined Boston College this summer as director of financial aid. She succeeds Mary McGranahan, who retired in May. A highly respected financial aid professional with 19 years of experience, Marsala was responsible for overseeing all aspects of undergraduate financial aid at Northeastern, including working directly with the school’s award recipients through a team of 19 financial aid professionals and staff, and reviewing financial models with senior leadership.

As director of undergraduate aid, she earned a reputation as a problem solver, strategic thinker, and effective communicator whose efforts improved the user experience for Northeastern’s financial aid recipients.

In announcing the appointment, Vice Provost for Enrollment Management John Mahoney described Marsala as a respected professional who possessed the experience and expertise to enhance Boston College’s

financial aid program for students and parents.

“Ebony has spent the past 19 years at Northeastern University acquiring deep experience in the field of financial aid and rising to key leadership roles, the most recent of which has been director of undergraduate aid,” said Mahoney. “In addition to her expertise in the complex workings of financial aid, our search committee was impressed with her commitment to inspiring leadership of her colleagues.

“Ebony supports BC’s commitment to need-blind admission and meeting full demonstrated need for all admitted students.”

At her appointment, Marsala expressed her excitement in joining a team that has earned such an outstanding reputation among student service and enrollment management professionals nationwide.

“Throughout the interview process, every BC employee spoke about a real commitment and expectation to be involved and connected with students and the greater campus community,” said Marsala.

“In small and big ways, I could tell that faculty and staff were committed to BC,

Ebony Marsala

photo by lee pellegrini

which speaks volumes about an institution.

I knew that I needed to be a part of this special community.

“I am also excited about working with and learning from John Mahoney, [Assistant Vice Provost for Student Financial Strategies and Enrollment] Bernie Pekala, and the entire Student Services team. John and Bernie are titans in the higher education community; it is truly an honor to have access to their

unique vision and ways of thinking. As a financial aid professional, getting an opportunity to work with them on institutional funding theories and how data modeling is used to innovate aid budgeting and enrollment forecasting is invaluable. I am very excited to become a part of the team.”

A member of the Massachusetts Association of Student Financial Aid Professionals, of which she was named president-elect in 2020, Marsala is also an active member of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.

A Bronx native, she received a bachelor of arts degree in psychology and a master’s degree in educational administration from the State University of New York, Albany, and is pursuing a master’s degree in organizational communications from Northeastern University.

“I attended parochial school for my K-12 education, so working at BC is kind of a homecoming in that I am returning to an educational system that has a focus beyond education,” said Marsala. “Empowering intellectual inquiry, truth in all things, and a passion for knowledge are all values that resonate with me personally and professionally.”

Vaccination Rate 99 Percent-Plus for Faculty, Staff, Undergrads Continued from page 1

Undergraduates Testing Positive: 32 Undergraduates in Isolation: 29 (18 in isolation housing, 11 home) Total Recovered: 6 (3 undergraduates) Q. Why are there positive test results on a campus where 99 percent of community members have been vaccinated?

Johnson: The important takeaway is that the vaccine is protective. It is clear globally that the COVID-19 vaccine is stemming the spread of the virus, but it is also important to note that it is not 100 percent effective. There is a small but significant minority of cases where vaccinated people get breakthrough infections; if they are infected with the Delta variant, they tend to make virus at levels similar to unvaccinated people, which means vaccinated, infected people can spread the virus. So that is a concern. But the other thing to know, which is very clear from the data, is that vaccination keeps people out of hospitals.

Even with vaccine breakthrough infections, people are generally having mild symptoms or no symptoms at all.

Growing up, almost everyone got the common cold, probably more frequently as a kid. The reason virtually almost no one is hospitalized for the cold now is because our immune systems are pretty effective at dealing with the rhinoviruses that cause the common cold. What the COVID-19 vaccine does is it makes our immune systems effective at dealing with the SARS coronavirus. So it’s a very positive thing. The vaccine is having a very important effect, but people have to remember that the vaccine is not a guarantee that they will not get or spread the virus.

Q. What can we do at Boston College to protect the community and ourselves?

Comeau: Because breakthrough infections do exist, we as a Boston College community, despite remarkable vaccination rates, still want to be cognizant of maintaining appropriate health protocols, which include not going out if we are sick, getting tested if we experience symptoms of COVID-19, and limiting our presence in places that do not have the high vaccination rates that we have at Boston College.

Even though Massachusetts is the second most-vaccinated state in the United States as of last week, and our Boston College community has a 99 percent-plus vaccination rate, the city and surrounding area outside of the Boston College community may not be as highly vaccinated. So we urge our Boston College community members to use an abundance of caution when they go into public places—whether it be social situations, bars, restaurants, or other places outside of the Boston College community—to help protect themselves.

Q. What about mask usage?

Comeau: Boston College has met the requirements of the City of Boston that masks be worn in indoor spaces on campus that are open to the public, including dining halls, the BC Bookstore in Maloney Hall, the McMullen Museum, and Conte Forum. By September 2, the University will also be in compliance with the City of Newton’s regulations regarding mask usage in indoor spaces that are open to the public, including dining halls and the BC Bookstore in McElroy Commons.

Given the impressively high vaccination rate among students, faculty, and staff,

and the desire to have as normal a year as possible, Boston College has chosen not to begin the school year with masks in classrooms and laboratories. However, the University intends to be vigilant and flexible in responding to COVID-19, and will make adjustments as needed, including use of masks in classrooms and labs should the campus positivity rate rise to higher than desired levels. We continue to encourage students, faculty, and staff who wish to wear masks in classrooms and other indoor places on campus to do so.

Q. In general, why is the Delta variant creating a resurgence of positive COVID-19 cases, and are there other variants about which we need to be concerned?

Johnson: The Delta variant is highly transmissible. It is better at attacking the human respiratory pathway and in an uncontrolled infection produces very high levels of virus.

So somebody who is infected can also be expelling and transmitting more virus than somebody with a well-controlled infection.

On a positive note, the vaccine still works well against the Delta variant. It protects most people from infection. And even those who get infected with the Delta variant are overwhelmingly not being hospitalized. When we look at who is winding up in the hospital or in the ICU, it is people who are not vaccinated.

Comeau: As of last week, 98 percent of hospitalizations from COVID-19 involved unvaccinated individuals.

The issue is that many vaccinated people feel like they have invincibility because they have been vaccinated, especially those who have been exposed to COVID in the past and obtained the COVID-19 vaccina-

tion for further protection. Unfortunately, the vaccine is not 100 percent effective; we still have to keep our guard up in situations where there could be exposure risk.

Q. What steps will Boston College take in managing the coronavirus this semester?

Comeau: Similar to last year, we have a lot of flexibility not only with our on-campus COVID-19 management, but also with our on-campus testing. We are going to monitor trends in the Boston College community so we can make testing adjustments accordingly. We have an on-campus lab, but we also have external resources to test as frequently as we need to. We still have daily 24-hour care at University Health Services where we can take care of any symptomatic patient, and we can perform a point-of-care PCR or antigen test, but also send further confirmatory PCR testing to our on-campus lab. We are offering targeted asymptomatic surveillance testing in which we are focusing on high-contact individuals, but we will also include other members of the Boston College community in weekly testing. We will adjust the number of tests every week, based on our positivity trends.

In looking at last year’s data, it showed that our targeted asymptomatic surveillance strategy was effective in mitigating COVID-19 on campus. Clusters were identified early on and frequency of testing was increased, in addition to contact tracing that took place almost immediately after a positive test was rendered within a four- to six-hour period. By doing this and following our isolation and quarantine

Continued on page 7

Chronicle

6

September 2, 2021

Beiner Is Sullivan Millennium Prof. in Irish Studies Former Burns Scholar also will direct University’s Center for Irish Programs

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

Guy Beiner, whose academic and research experiences in Ireland have helped shape his career as an award-winning historian with a unique expertise in memory studies, has been appointed as the Craig and Maureen Sullivan Millennium Professor in Irish Studies at Boston College.

Beiner also will serve as director of the University’s Center for Irish Programs, which encompasses all Irish initiatives at Boston College including the Irish Studies Program, the John J. Burns Library Irish Collections, Boston College-Ireland in Dublin, and the Gaelic Roots Program.

A full professor of history at Ben-Gurion University in Israel since 2017—he began teaching there as a lecturer in 2003— Beiner served as the Burns Library Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies at BC for the 2019-2020 academic year. The Israeli native earned his doctorate from the National University of Ireland-University College Dublin and was a Government of Ireland Research Fellow at Trinity College Dublin.

He was also a National Endowment for the Humanities fellow with the KeoughNaughton Institute for Irish Studies at the University of Notre Dame, a Government of Hungary Scholar at the Central European University, and a Marie Curie research fellow at the University of Oxford.

“Guy is a remarkably innovative historian whose interdisciplinary skills will enhance Irish Studies at Boston College,” said Robert Savage, interim director of the BC Irish Studies Program.

Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences Dean Gregory Kalscheur, S.J., added: “I am delighted that Guy Beiner will be joining us here at BC, and look forward to him providing effective, energetic, and innovative leadership for Irish Studies in the years ahead. He will bring to Boston College important expertise in 18th- and 19th-century Irish history, a dynamically collaborative and interdisciplinary intellectual style, enthusiasm for teaching, and an outstanding reputation as a leading global figure in the field of Irish studies.”

The Craig and Maureen Sullivan Chair was established through a gift from G. Craig Sullivan ’64 to support a professorial chair in either the History or English De-

photo by peter julian

partment for a scholar in the Irish Studies Program.

Craig Sullivan, who retired as chairman of the Clorox Company in 2003 after 32 years with the firm, served in many capacities as a Boston College alumnus, including as chair of the advisory board for the Center for Corporate Community Relations at BC, co-chair of the Northern California Campaign Committee, and as a member of the Ever to Excel Campaign Corporate Council and National Campaign Committee, the West Coast Technology Council, and the BC Club. He died in 2017.

Maureen Sullivan’s charitable activities have included serving as a trustee of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and raising funds for the San Francisco Opera House. She and Craig were involved in Catholic Charities of San Francisco, particularly in its youth services: The Maureen & Craig Sullivan Youth Services Center provides childcare and family support services that strengthen family and community bonds.

For Beiner, the Sullivan Chair appointment means not only joining another university but relocating thousands of miles— a transition he is happily prepared to make.

“At Ben-Gurion University, in Israel’s relatively remote Negev desert, I was the only historian in the country specializing in Ireland,” he said. “Moving to Boston College, a leading American university with a first-rate History Department and a distinguished Irish Studies Program, opens many opportunities to forward my research and to contribute to the global development of Irish studies.”

Beiner takes a sophisticated interdisciplinary approach to examine the Irish past in relation to an ever-changing present, and how popular conceptions of national and local history are shaped not only by collective memory but also what he calls “social forgetting.” His work draws on concepts and sources from folklore, sociology, ethnomusicology, anthropology, politics, art, literature, drama, and other facets of cultural studies.

“Official history, that which is published or otherwise viewed as authoritative, is noteworthy not only for what it recalls but what it doesn’t—events and details that are considered ‘inconvenient’ are often relegated to oblivion,” he explained. “Other kinds

“Official history, that which is published or otherwise viewed as authoritative, is noteworthy not only for what it recalls but what it doesn’t—events and details that are considered ‘inconvenient’ are often relegated to oblivion,” says Guy Beiner.

“Other kinds of vernacular history persist, however—like oral history or folklore—in which such details can be shared and maintained informally.”

of vernacular history persist, however—like oral history or folklore—in which such details can be shared and maintained informally.

“The outcome is therefore a complex form of social forgetting, consisting of public silence alongside private remembrance.”

Beiner’s scholarly methodology is reflected in his 2018 book, Forgetful Remembrance: Social Forgetting and Vernacular Historiography of a Rebellion in Ulster, which explores the contrasts in how the 1798 rebellion against British rule in Ireland’s Ulster province—a conflict marked by an unusual, if short-lived alliance between Catholics and Protestants—has been remembered by different Irish communities and constituencies. Whereas the uprising was fervently and publicly recalled in the Catholic/nationalist south, the Protestant/Unionist north—mindful of solidifying ties with Britain—gradually scrubbed it from official commemoration or record, until the events of 1798 lived on more through oral histories, personal memoirs, historical fiction, and folklore.

“Social forgetting, as I define it, is not total amnesia: It’s more akin to when a judge instructs a jury to disregard certain inadmissible testimony,” said Beiner. “Officially, the jurors are expected to discount that information, but since it’s been brought to their attention, in all likelihood they will still keep it in their minds. The

memory is essentially retained under a façade of forgetting.”

Forgetful Remembrance was selected for four major international awards in the field of history-related research: the American Historical Association George L. Mosse Prize in the intellectual and cultural history of Europe since 1500; the American Folklore Society Wayland D. Hand Prize for history and folklore; the Katharine Briggs Award for a distinguished contribution to folklore studies; and the National University of Ireland Irish Historical Research Prize, which recognizes the best new work of Irish historical research.

During his year as Burns Scholar, Beiner taught a course on history and memory related to “Bloody Sunday,” the 1972 killings of protestors in Northern Ireland by the British Army that became a landmark event of the Northern Irish conflict, and led the seminar Commemoration Fever: Heritage, Remembrance, and Forgetting in Contemporary Ireland. He also gave a lecture on how the insights of two largely neglected Irish historians can inform current discussions of Ireland and Northern Ireland’s places in Europe and the wider world.

Beyond BC, Beiner had the opportunity that year to speak at academic forums at various North American universities and meet with researchers who share his interest in critically rethinking elements of Irish studies.

“During my year as Burns Scholar, my research benefitted from consulting the outstanding collections of the Burns Library. I was stimulated by the intellectual caliber of the faculty and impressed by the quality of the graduate and undergraduate students. It was particularly thrilling to engage with the many eminent guest speakers who came to visit, with the support of the Irish Consul-General. I also enjoyed attending Gaelic Roots music events. All of this made it clear that Boston College is a thriving hub of Irish studies and a vibrant academic environment.”

Beiner foresees a similarly eventful first year as Sullivan Chair: In addition to teaching and research, he will collaborate with other faculty and McMullen Museum of Art staff on an exhibition of photographs by acclaimed British photojournalist Martin Parr. In addition, he and Savage will co-organize a conference to mark the centenary of the Irish Civil War as well as a program of events in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. Boston College also will host the Sixth International Flann O’Brien Conference.

Activities such as these affirm BC’s longstanding eminence in Irish studies, “a diverse and dynamic interdisciplinary field, which is expanding and moving in many new directions,” said Beiner, who as Sullivan Chair will seek “to encourage crossfertilization by facilitating inspirational engagements between innovative researchers.

“My own expertise in memory studies stems from a keen interest in folklore that has led me to appreciate the creative and complex ways in which local communities have remembered their past. I am particularly interested in investigating supposedly forgotten episodes that have been silenced, as such explorations can reveal insights into less familiar aspects of Irish culture.”

Chronicle

September 2, 2021

7

Gift to Enhance Students’ Academic, Artistic, Social Experience Continued from page 1

student life.

A key priority for the Robshams was expanding financial aid, given their belief in the power of education to change lives.

Their gift establishes new undergraduate scholarships for students studying the performing arts, as well as graduate fellowships for those pursuing counseling or school psychology. Combined with their previous scholarships, the Robshams now provide financial aid for nearly 25 BC students each year.

The Robshams’ gift also provides for major programming enhancements in psychology and theater, two disciplines that were close to Paul’s heart. Included are funds for ongoing operations, repair, and upkeep of the Robsham Theater, which was named in honor of their son E. Paul Robsham Jr., a member of the Boston College class of 1986 who died in a car accident immediately following his freshman year.

In addition, the gift will fund vital training programs for both undergraduate and graduate students at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development. For undergraduates, it will help support the expansion of the practicum experience into

a required component of Fr. Leahy praised the the applied psychology Robsham gift for the and human developtransformational effect ment program, which it will have on the Uniprovides the opportuniversity. “Paul and Joyce ties to assist students Robsham have left a in developing the skills lasting legacy at Boston they need to succeed College,” he said. “I am professionally. grateful for their generFor graduate stuosity over the years and dents, the Lynch School its impact on generais creating a 60-credit tions of BC students.” program for those who Robsham Estate aspire to serve as menTrustee Jack Downs tal health counselors said that through their in urban settings. This support of student life, program will provide University President William P. Leahy, financial aid, the arts, students with the oppor- S.J., praised the generosity and supand academics, the tunity to train together, port of E. Paul and Joyce Robsham Robshams’ legacy will develop close peer rela(shown at left during the 10th anlive on for generations. tionships, and make a niversary celebration of Robsham “Whatever assistance difference in the lives of Theater). The couple, he said, has left they could provide, Boston’s most vulnerable “a lasting legacy at Boston College.” they wanted to make populations. By support- photo by gary wayne gilbert sure it made the biggest ing future mental health impact possible for BC counselors, the Robshams’ gift will have a students,” said Downs. “As we see their vipositive ripple effect on the patients gradusion come to fruition, I know they would ate students will help during their years at be deeply satisfied.”

BC and throughout their careers.

“Joyce in particular wanted to fulfill

Keeping BC Healthy for 2021-2022 Continued from page 5

protocols, we were able to limit the number of positive cases on campus. Now, with a highly vaccinated community, those students who do test positive for COVID-19 will still have to go to isolation, but their close contacts will not have to quarantine because they have been vaccinated. The close contacts will be tested, but they will not be required to quarantine, in accordance with CDC guidelines.

Q. What about those who have been granted an exemption for medical or religious purposes?

Comeau: With a 99 percent-plus vaccination rate on campus, we have very few faculty, staff, and students who have been approved for a University exemption. Those who have an exemption will be required to wear masks, indoors and outdoors at all times, except when eating, drinking and, in the case of students, sleeping in their residence hall. In addition to mask wearing, these individuals will be required to test regularly, starting at a rate of twice weekly.

Q. What is your prognosis for the pandemic in the coming months?

Comeau: It is very hard in medicine to have a prognosis for a disease, particularly in the case of a pandemic. We as physicians and as scientists are learning every day about the ramifications of COVID, its variants, and its effect on the world.

Looking ahead to the next month or so, I believe that the overall COVID-19 positivity rate will go down. There are other variants on the horizon, such as Lambda, which we will continue to monitor daily with the CDC, the Mass. Department of

Public Health, and also local epidemiologists and infectious disease specialists, but I am optimistic for the future.

Johnson: The world has never been better prepared in terms of having the tools, surveillance methods, and vaccine technology to actually deal with a global pandemic like this. We have everything we need to control it and suppress it. The remaining piece is to get everybody to comply and get vaccinated. That is our best defense against COVID-19.

Q. What is your advice regarding booster shots for those who have been fully vaccinated?

Comeau: Booster shots for those who received Pfizer and Moderna vaccinations will be available after September 20th for the regular community at local pharmacies. For those who received the Janssen or Johnson & Johnson vaccination, it was recently announced that they will be having a booster shot, but it is not yet available.

The CDC recommends a booster dose eight months after you have been fully vaccinated. As a doctor, I would definitely recommend getting the booster shot because it can be of help from a protective standpoint.

Q. What immediate steps can people take to protect themselves and their families?

Comeau: Just like any other illness, appropriate hygiene is of the utmost importance. So washing your hands frequently with warm soapy water, paying attention to your surroundings, and getting tested if you start to have symptoms. Symptoms of COVID-19 include nasal congestion, sore throat, fever, chills, and even GI illness. If

you have these symptoms you should stay home. Or if you are a student on campus you should call University Health Services and be evaluated and tested for COVID. Johnson: On a personal note, I keep a mask with me all the time. I don’t assume, especially in crowded situations outside of Boston College, to know what is going on with other people. I think it is also important as a community that we respect and understand that everyone’s situation is different. So we may have colleagues

Paul’s vision and to enrich the lives of students like him,” said Patricia Davis, a longtime friend and employee of the Robshams who was named as the estate’s co-trustee after Joyce’s death in 2018.

High school sweethearts, the Robshams rose from humble beginnings to become prominent business owners. Paul was a successful real estate developer and Joyce was one of the top owners in thoroughbred racing. Paul had originally enrolled in a graduate program in the early 1950s at what is now the Lynch School, but his education was cut short when he was called to serve in the Korean War. Thirty years later, he returned to Boston College to complete his master’s degree and became an active alumnus, serving multiple terms as a University Trustee and growing close to then-University President J. Donald Monan, S.J. “Paul and Joyce were true believers in the Boston College mission—they cared deeply for BC students and always kept their needs uppermost in their minds,” said Vice President for University Advancement Jim Husson. “Through their visionary gift, they will not only improve the student experience but also strengthen the University for years to come.” who have children at home under 12, who are understandably anxious. And so I keep the mask with me for those reasons. If I am meeting in close quarters with somebody who prefers for personal reasons that I wear a mask, I will. It is the right thing to do to help reassure them. Everybody, of course, is free to wear a mask wherever and whenever they want, and I think keeping it with you and being prepared to use it when in doubt is a good idea.

September Conference Honors the Work of Theologian Cahill An upcoming two-day conference at Boston College will celebrate the work of Monan Professor of Theology Lisa Sowle Cahill, considered one of the most important contemporary scholars in the field of Christian ethics.

“Reimagining the Moral Life: On Lisa Sowle Cahill’s Contributions to Christian Ethics” will take place September 10 and 11. The conference is open to the public and will take place in person; all sessions also will be available via Zoom.

During her 45 years at BC, Cahill has been at the forefront of significant transformations in Christian ethics, in areas such as Scripture and Christology, natural law theory, the study of major theological figures in the Christian ethical tradition, as well as ethical issues concerning sexuality, family, and health care.

In each session of the conference, Cahill’s former and current doctoral students and her colleagues from Bos-

Lisa Sowle Cahill

photo by

justin knight

ton College and elsewhere will examine how her scholarship and teaching have shaped the terms of debate in these multiple areas of fundamental and social ethics, and what that impact means for the future development of the discipline of Christian ethics.

For more information about the conference, and to register, go to: bit.ly/ reimagining-the-moral-life.

—University Communications

Chronicle

8

September 2, 2021

Lorenz Seeks to ‘Give a Voice to Veterans’ at BC

BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER

Michael Lorenz, an Air National Guard veteran who has worked closely with the University’s enrollment of veteran students since 2016, has been named assistant director for veteran programs and services, Executive Vice President Michael Lochhead has announced.

In his prior position, as associate director for selection, development, and formation in the Office of Residential Life, Lorenz helped to lead a number of efforts to increase supports for student veterans, as well as build connections with employees and alumni who have served in the military. In his new position, he will report to Lochhead.

“I see a lot of this role as giving a voice to veterans at BC, as well as providing a place where there is one person veterans can go to go get help, or get answers to their questions,” said Lorenz. “A lot of research shows that veterans want a one-stop shop, rather than go from office to office.

Meeting with them, hearing their stories, engaging with them and giving them that connection is certainly rewarding to me and I hope it is for them.”

The creation of the new position coincides with the 20th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, which prompted a U.S. military response that has produced 4.2 million post-9/11 veterans, among them 2.8 million who served after the attacks that killed 2,996 people and injured 25,000 in New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C. Those veterans, with access to the tuition benefits of the GI Bill, have turned to higher education. BC veteran enrollment stands at approximately 100 graduate and undergraduate students at the University.

In 2016, the University created a Veterans Affinity Group to improve outreach and services to students and employees at the University who have served their country. In 2018, those efforts spurred the

Assistant Director for Veteran Programs and Services Michael Lorenz, right, with Brett Huntley, president of the BC Student Veterans Association. photo by lee pellegrini

creation of the Veterans Advisory Group, with representatives from departments from across the University, as well as students and alumni. The group began discussing how to further improve supports for veterans.

“One of the first priorities that emerged from these discussions was the need for a dedicated liaison to student veterans,” said Lochhead, himself a U.S. Army veteran. “Mike Lorenz was a logical choice for this position given his previous service in the Air Force and to Boston College. In his role, Mike will be able to dedicate his time, energy, and focus on our student veteran community and work with critical partners within and outside of the University to improve the veteran experience and, longer-term, hopefully attract other talented veterans to Boston College. He will also be animating the important work of the Veterans Advisory Group.

“I am looking forward to working with Mike in this new role and bringing about positive changes that impact our veterans and military-connected members of the

BC community.”

Lorenz praised the work of Linda Malenfant, assistant director of student accounts and cash management, who for many years has worked closely with student veterans in her additional role as the University’s veterans certifying agent.

“I am thrilled to have Mike in this new role,” said Malenfant, a member of the Veterans Advisory Group. “He is dedicated to serving all of our campus veterans and will be a critical liaison for the campus community. I look forward to working with him.”

The University has created partnerships to better serve veterans, easing their transition into the classroom and supplementing GI Bill benefits to meet tuition costs.

Earlier this year, the University announced it will increase funding for the Yellow Ribbon Program, a Veterans Affairs initiative that helps eligible veterans with tuition costs beyond what the Post-9/11 GI Bill covers. BC has participated in the Yellow Ribbon Program since its inception in 2008. Under the program, all

financial aid Boston College provides is fully matched by the VA. Lorenz joined the Air National Guard as an undergraduate and shortly after earning his degree, he was deployed to Kuwait for the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. He returned to earn a graduate degree and was then deployed to Afghanistan.

Members of the armed services perform a wide range of roles. Not all who serve deploy to a war zone and not all who deploy see combat. But regardless of the experience, the transition to civilian life, to college life, can be challenging.

“What I learned was that coming back into the classroom after being in a combat theater, it takes a while to adjust,” Lorenz said. “The discussions I was having in graduate school for classes just didn’t seem important to the wider world. It was frustrating. It was hard to discuss theory when there were soldiers overseas still fighting and dying. Even today, it puts things into perspective for me a little bit.”

In his own experience, it helps to be able to turn to a fellow veteran who has a shared baseline experience. “I turn to other veterans,” he said. “It is hard to find people who understand what you’re reflecting on inside the classroom, or at work. That reinforces my work to know there is someone with a shared experience that our veterans can turn to.”

Brett Huntley M.B.A. ’22, president of the Student Veterans Association, said it is important for the University to have a consistent presence for veterans since most student veterans are in graduate programs and not on campus for four years.

“It will be great from a continuity standpoint for students from year to year,” said Huntley, who served nine years in the U.S. Coast Guard and remains a reservist.

“There is a lot of turnover in our group. To have someone on our side to talk to who has that face-to-face with campus leadership is very important. Mike has already done a great job on that. We look forward to continuing to work with him.”

A Prize of a Summer for BC Dining Services and ‘Heights Ramen’ This summer, Boston College Dining Services won a prestigious Gold Award from the National Association of College and University Food Services for Heights Ramen, a popular campus event that celebrated Japanese culture and cuisine and offered students an immersive dining experience.

The Dining Awards are “the ultimate professional tribute in college and university culinary arts,” according to NACUFS, whose mission to support and promote excellence in collegiate dining. BCDS received the organization’s 2020 Loyal E. Horton Dining Award—for a large institution in the category of Catering Special Events— which honors a campus event “executed with notable touches and with an original feel to it.”

Inspired by a BC chef who traveled to Japan to study the cuisine and tea culture, Heights Ramen transformed the Walsh Hall

Player’s Club into a Tokyo-style ramen shop to celebrate the quintessential street food.

In addition to authentic ambiance, care was taken in the menu development to help students feel as if they were traveling in Tokyo, walking down the famous ramen street, Omoide Yokocho, organizers noted.

The event featured four different types of ramen, three types of yakitori (grilled meat), and liquid nitrogen matcha ice cream paired with crispy, sweet Japanese butter cookies.

The concept was a hit with students, as the pop-up restaurant sold out to more than 200 diners.

“After all that Dining Services has endured during the pandemic, notification of this NACUFS Gold prize in the catering category is a bright light at the end of a long tunnel,” said Associate Vice President of Auxiliary Services Patricia Bando.

“Notable is that this event exemplified

the culinary cultural diversity capabilities of this catering team,” she said, “as well as their skill to pivot during the pandemic, since these same team members were cooking and delivering thousands of quarantine and isolation meals while special campus catered events were dormant for 15 months. Bravo to this marvelous team.”

Heights Catering hosted Heights Ramen on February 20, 2020. Director of Dining Services Beth Emery praised the team for the success of the award-winning pop-up— one of the last special events to be held on campus prior to the pandemic.

“I am incredibly proud. It was an exceptional event that received raves from students,” said Emery. “Every detail was considered and Heights Catering had wonderful collaborations with the Japan Club student group, a manager in a Japanese market in Medford, our student dining

interns, and the Art, Art History, and Film Department.”

On a daily basis, Heights Catering services hundreds of events across campus. In recent years, the pop-up restaurant concept has become a tradition which brings students together around food, community, and culture. The goal is to create a dining experience that students do not find on campus every day, and to serve as a creative outlet for the talented culinary team.

Named for a NACUFS founder and past president, the Loyal E. Horton Dining Awards celebrate exemplary menus, presentations, special event planning, and new dining concepts, and provide an avenue for sharing ideas and creative presentations in campus dining services. In 2020, 58 North American member institutions submitted entries in six categories.

—Rosanne Pellegrini

Chronicle

September 2, 2021

‘Evo-Devo’

A BC researcher’s work challenges our understanding of how land plants evolved

BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER

The world may need to start thinking differently about plants, according to a new report in the journal Science by Boston College paleobotanist Paul Strother, who with a colleague took a fresh look at sporelike microfossils with characteristics that challenge our conventional understanding about the evolution of land plants.

Found in rock samples retrieved in Australia more than 60 years ago, the microfossils dating to the Lower Ordovician Period, approximately 480 million years ago, fill an approximately 25-million-year gap in knowledge by reconciling the molecular clock—or pace of evolution—with the fossil spore record: the physical evidence of early plant life gathered by scientists over the years.

This reconciliation supports an evolutionary-developmental model connecting plant origins to freshwater green algae, or charophyte algae, said Strother, a co-author of the new report. The “evo-devo” model posits a more nuanced understanding of plant evolution over time, from simple cell division to initial embryonic stages, rather than large jumps from one species to another.

“We found a mix of fossils linking older, more problematic spore-like microfossils with younger spores that are clearly derived from land plants,” said Strother, a research professor in the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department. “This helps to bring the fossil spore record into alignment with molecular clock dates if we consider the

9

ing to the Early Ordovician age—approximately 480 million years ago. This material fills in a gap of approximately 25 million years in the fossil spore record, linking well-accepted younger plant spores to older more problematic forms, said Strother.

Strother and Foster examined populations of fossil spores extracted from a rock core drilled in 1958 in northern Western Australia. These microfossils are composed of highly resistant organic compounds in their cell walls that can structurally survive burial and lithification. They were studied at Boston College, and at the ANU’s Research School of Earth Sciences, with standard optical light microscopy.

“We use fossil spores extracted from rock drill cores to construct an evolutionary history of plants going back in time to the very origin of plants from their “We need to move away from thinking of the origin of land plants algal ancestors,” said Strother. “We have as a singularity in time, and instead integrate the fossil record into independent age control on these rock samples, so we study evolution by looking an evo-devo model of genome assembly across millions of years.” at changes in the kinds of spores that occur —Paleobotanist Paul Strother over time.” photo by gary wayne gilbert Molecular biologists also look at evolutionary history through time by using origin of land plants as a long-term process As a result, researchers and the public genes from living plants to estimate the involving the evolution of embryonic demay need to re-think how they view the timing of plant origins using “molecular velopment.” origin of terrestrial plants—that pivotal clocks”—a measurement of evolutionary The fossil record preserves direct eviadvance of life from water to land, said divergence based on the average rate during dence of the evolutionary assembly of the Strother. which mutations accumulate in a species’ plant regulatory and developmental ge“We need to move away from thinking genome. nome, Strother added. This process starts of the origin of land plants as a singularHowever, there are huge discrepancies, with the evolution of the plant spore and ity in time, and instead integrate the fossil up to tens of millions of years, between leads to the origin of plant tissues, organs, record into an evo-devo model of genome direct fossil data and molecular clock dates, and eventually macroscopic, complete assembly across millions of years during said Strother. In addition, there are similar plants—perhaps somewhat akin to mosses the Paleozoic Era—specifically between the time gaps between the oldest spores and living today.

Cambrian and Devonian divisions within when actual whole plants first occur.

“When we consider spores as an impor- that era,” Strother said. “This requires seriThese gaps resulted in hypotheses about tant component of the evolution of land ous re-interpretation of problematic fossils a “missing fossil record” of the earliest land plants, there is no longer a gap in the fossil that have previously been interpreted as plants,” said Strother. record between molecular dating and fossil fungi, not plants.”

“Our work seeks to resolve some of recovery,” Strother said. Absent that gap, Strother and co-author Clinton Foster, these questions by integrating the fossil “we have a much clearer picture of a whole of the Australian National University, set spore record into an evolutionary developnew evolutionary step: from simple celluout to simply describe an assemblage of mental model of plant origins from algal larity to complex multicellularity.” spore-like microfossils from a deposit datancestors,” Strother said.

OBITUARY

Former Trustee, Burns Library Benefactor Brian Burns Dies A memorial Mass was celebrated on August 20 in Palm Beach, Fla., for philanthropist, business executive, and former Boston College Trustee Brian P. Burns, the founder and principal benefactor of the John J. Burns Library of Rare Books and Special Collections, who died on August 12. He was 85.

The former chairman of BF Enterprises, Inc., a publicly owned real estate holding and development company, the Massachusetts native was the fifth of seven children born to 1921 BC alumnus John J. Burns and his wife, Alice. He served on the Boston College Board of Trustees from 1998-2002.

In 1963, Mr. Burns became the youngest director of the American Irish Foundation.

In the mid-1980s, he spearheaded its merger with the newly established Ireland Fund to form The American Ireland Fund. Since its inception, the AIF has raised more than $450 million in support of Irish charities that promote peace and reconciliation, arts and culture, and community development.

Mr. Burns was a lifetime trustee of the foundation.

Mr. Burns was widely praised for his

activities in support of the library at Boston College named for his father, who rose from humble origins to become a Harvard Law School professor and the youngest associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court, before being appointed the first general counsel for the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Burns Library opened in 1986, following the renovation of the Bapst Library building, in which it is located.

The Burns Library preserves and provides access to archives, manuscripts, rare books, and special collections of art, photographs, prints, and artifacts, with special emphasis on the religious, cultural, intellectual, and political history of Western Civilization and the Jesuit, Catholic tradition.

The library’s Irish Collection, the most comprehensive in the United States, documents all aspects of Irish history and culture.

Premier book and manuscript holdings of Nobel laureates William Butler Yeats and Samuel Beckett; the library and personal papers of prominent writer Flann O’Brien; significant collections related to other literary luminaries including laureates George

Brian Burns speaking at Burns Library in 2012. photo by lee pellegrini

Bernard Shaw and Seamus Heaney; collections on fine presses such as Dun Emer and Cuala; scores and recordings of traditional music, and the principal archives of John McCormack and Mary O’Hara, among other materials, combine to form the most comprehensive array of Irish studies resourc-

es outside Ireland.

To promote use of the collections and enhance Boston College’s Irish Studies Program, Mr. Burns established a visiting scholar endowment through the Burns Foundation, which he chaired. Since 1991, the Burns Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies program has brought to campus a distinguished series of academics, writers, artists, journalists, librarians, and notable public figures who have made significant contributions to Irish cultural and intellectual life. Burns Visiting Scholars have included former Irish president Mary McAleese, Ireland Professor of Poetry Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, historian and Irish Times columnist Diarmaid Ferriter, among more than thirty others.

Mr. Burns was also a principal benefactor of the first Irish Famine memorial in Cambridge, Mass., dedicated in 1997 by former Irish President Mary Robinson.

Mr. Burns leaves his wife, Eileen, and eight children.

Read the full obituary at bit.ly/brian-burnsobit.

—University Communications

Chronicle

10

September 2, 2021

A ‘Utility Player’ Retires After 36 Years at the Heights If Joe Burns seemed to be everywhere during his time at BC, it’s because he was

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

J. Joseph “Joe” Burns has a classic sports metaphor to describe his 36-year career at Boston College: “I’ve been like a utility player in baseball,” chuckled Burns during a recent conversation. “Whatever position they needed me to play, there I went.”

But one colleague uses a different, and more complimentary, sporting phrase to sum up Burns’ tenure at BC. “Joe is a team player, a very humble, kind person,” said Michael Davidson, S.J., director of the Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center. “You bring him a suggestion, and if it’s for the betterment of a student, he’s on board. There’s been no task too high, or too low, for him.”

Burns, a 1967 alumnus who also graduated from Boston College High School, formally retired from BC this summer, more than three decades after returning to the Heights as an administrator. His fulltime, official positions at BC were associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (1985-1998) and associate vice provost for undergraduate academic affairs, but Burns’ tenure included numerous other jobs and undertakings, among them acting director of the University’s Pre-Health Program and BC’s Learning Resources for Student Athletes office; member/chair of the committees for the Martin Luther King Jr. and the Benigno and Corazon Aquino scholarships; and Athletic Advisory Board member.

He also oversaw a major Carnegie Corp.-funded initiative, “Teachers for a New Era,” that involved a collaboration between A&S and the Lynch School of Education; led undergraduate program assessment efforts; spearheaded the creation of the Commencement Day processional; helped establish the Academic Advising Center; and was BC’s delegate to the New England Association of Schools and Colleges accrediting body. In 2006, Burns received the Mary Kaye Waldron Award, which honors administrators, faculty, and staff members who have had a positive impact on student life at Boston College.

Burns’ ties to BC go beyond employee and alumnus: His father, J. Joseph Burns, MD, was the University’s first director of student health, long-time chief physician for the athletic program, and a member of the BC Athletic Hall of Fame; and his sons, Dan ’03 and Chris ’04, are both graduates. All these perspectives provided Burns with broad and deep insights into BC’s academic, formational, and spiritual elements, which he shares in the History of Boston College course he developed and taught for the Capstone program. But appreciative as he is of its past, colleagues say, Burns played a key role in helping the University move to the future.

“Over nearly 40 years of dedicated service to his students and his faculty and staff

J. Joseph Burns at his retirement party last month. “To me, Joe has been as much of a welcoming presence at BC as Gasson Hall,” says a colleague. photo by justin knight

colleagues, Joe has befriended generations of the Boston College family and left his mark in academic affairs and well beyond,” said Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley. “ I wish him a joyous retirement and thank him for all that he’s done for BC.” Explaining his decision to retire, Burns said his enthusiasm for working at BC was by no means on the wane. “I loved what I was doing. But I thought about everything that’s happened the last couple of years with the pandemic, and now that BC is essentially starting over, I just felt this was the right time to step away.”

As a BC undergrad commuting from home, Burns majored in chemistry for two years before switching to sociology— a fairly new academic discipline at the time—and flourished under the tutelage of faculty members like John Donovan, Severyn Bruyn, and Ritchie Lowry. After graduating, Burns joined the Peace Corps, eager to see more of the world and learn about other cultures. He spent two years in the Philippines working on, among other things, rice-growing (“I don’t think you find too many sociology majors who had to take a course on growing rice”) while making friendships that endure to this day.

But Burns had an eye-opening moment in a group discussion during Peace Corps training: He was speaking about some close friends in his old Boston neighborhood, when another volunteer asked, “Do you have any friends who aren’t Irish?”

“That really hit me,” said Burns. “I realized how small a world I’d been living in—I loved it, of course, but I knew then how important it was to get to know people whose backgrounds and experiences are different than yours. I feel that lesson has stayed with me.”

After earning graduate degrees in sociology at Yale University, Burns accepted a faculty post at Princeton University in 1975. Teaching at an Ivy League college might seem an enviable landing place, but Burns found himself growing more interested in the administrative domain, especially where there were opportunities to engage students outside of the classroom.

In 1983, he was appointed as director of

studies at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson College (now the First College), which appealed more to his evolving career path.

Still, Burns wasn’t quite satisfied.

“Princeton was wonderful. The quality of education, the standards they held for the students—all of that was very impressive to me. But it never really felt like ‘my place.’

In the back of my mind, I always thought how nice it would be to return to BC.” In 1985, he got his wish, accepting the position of A&S associate dean. “From the beginning, I wanted to see how different aspects of the University operated,” said Burns. “I was very fortunate to have that chance. I enjoyed getting a better understanding of the great work done by Learning Resources for Student Athletes [now the Office of Student-Athlete Academic Services], for example, and—through ‘Teachers for a New Era’—learning more about K-12 education and the Lynch School.”

One of his earliest, and most rewarding, BC affiliations was with the MLK Memorial Committee, which supports and sponsors programs—including an annual scholarship—that promote King’s ideals of social justice and equality and focus on issues of importance to the African American community, at BC and beyond. He later served on, and chaired, the committee for the Aquino Scholarship, which honors student contributions to the Asian American community.

At a time when BC was building a national—and increasingly international—profile, said Burns, committees and

initiatives such as these underscored the importance of recognizing the needs of a considerably more diverse university. While not necessarily comparable to the experience of an AHANA student, Burns, as an American in Southeast Asia and an Irish Catholic at an Ivy League college, knew something of feeling like an outsider.

“It was clear that BC had to help support students making the transition from other cultures to life at the Heights,” he said. “We’ve seen many AHANA students achieve great things at BC, and the MLK and Aquino scholarships are an indication of that. I’m happy to have played a role in both.”

“When you talk about someone who wants AHANA students to succeed, Joe is that person,” said Fr. Davidson, who worked with Burns on the MLK Committee. “He is very conscious of the challenges that face students from underrepresented communities who enter higher education.

To me, Joe has been as much of a welcoming presence for BC as Gasson Hall.”

Burns can tick off other changes at BC during his time—its growth as a research institution and an increased emphasis on art on campus and in the curriculum, to name two—but one constant has been the University’s Jesuit character.

“The Jesuits have shown continuing commitment to BC in so many ways,” said Burns, noting that the MLK, Aquino, and Archbishop Romero scholarships all started with grants from the BC Jesuit Community. “BC’s Jesuit core remains solid and strong, particularly its emphasis on reflection. Our students get to examine the Jesuit ideal, which is at the heart of BC’s formational mission and guides what we do not only in the classroom but in the residence halls and other areas of campus life.”

Burns won’t be completely absent from campus: He plans to teach History of Boston College next spring, stay in touch with the Pre-Med Committee, and remain active in the Cornerstone Seminars program for first-year students. It would be difficult, he admits, to not be around a community that’s meant so much to him.

“There are so many people I’ve loved working with over the years: Jesuits, administrators, faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate students, alumni. And what they’ve all had in common is their commitment to making a difference, for BC and its students.”

Alpha Sigma Nu Honors BC Chapter Alpha Sigma Nu, the honor society of Jesuit institutions of higher education, selected Boston College for a Chapter of the Year Award in the category of Best Loyalty Programming.

The ASN awards recognize student chapters whose programming for the academic year has been truly outstanding in embodying the tenets of scholarship, loyalty, and service.

BC’s chapter won the award for its series of programs by BC Jesuits, including University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J., who spoke to chapter members about life as a Jesuit and how to live out Jesuit values. The popular “Dinner with Fr. Leahy” program invites senior ASN student members to talk about their BC experience and learn how to continue living out Jesuit values post-graduation.

—University Communications

Chronicle

September 2, 2021

11

Wilkerson Talk Leads Off Lowell Humanities Series The Boston College Lowell Humanities Series’ fall programs, which begin next week, will address critical issues such as the ongoing struggle for racial and ethnic justice, the increasing threat of violence against some in those communities, and the need to listen to and learn from our indigenous communities as we all seek to effect climate justice.

“Once again, we welcome an array of prominent scholars from diverse disciplines to address perennial issues that confront us as a society,” said LHS Director James Smith, an associate professor of English.

“These are all timely, if not urgent, conversations and I look forward to seeing my colleagues and our students engage and participate.”

On September 8, Pulitzer Prize and National Humanities Medal winner Isabel Wilkerson launches the series of virtual events, all of which will be held at 7 p.m. and followed by moderated discussions and audience Q&A sessions.

A leading figure in narrative nonfiction, Wilkerson is an interpreter of the human condition and an impassioned voice for demonstrating how history can help us understand ourselves, our country, and the current era of upheaval. The first African American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in journalism, she is a daughter of the Great Migration, the mass movement she described in her debut work, The Warmth of Other Suns, for which she interviewed more than 1,200 people over 15 years to tell the story of the six million people— among them her parents—who left the Jim Crow South. The Warmth of Other Suns won honors such as the National Book Critics Circle Award and Heartland Prize for Nonfiction. Wilkerson will discuss her new book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. Co-sponsored by the Office of the Provost, the Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics, the Jesuit Institute, Boston College Law School, and the Boston College Forum on Racial Justice in America.

Other LHS fall offerings: September 29—Beth Lew-Williams: A Princeton University associate professor of history, Lew-Williams examines race and migration in the United States, specializing in Asian American history. Her book, The Chinese Must Go: Violence, Exclusion, and the Making of the Alien in America, won the Ray Allen Billington Prize and Ellis W. Halley Prize from the Organization of American Historians. With Endowment for the Humanities support, her next book project, John Doe Chinaman, will consider the policing of Chinese migrants in the American West. She will speak on the eruption of anti-Chinese violence in the American West within the broader history of anti-Asian violence, and reflect on the present-day implications, amid a new surge of anti-Asian hate crimes during the pandemic. Co-sponsored by the Asian American Studies Program and the History Department.

October 20—Dina Nayeri: Nayeri will read from her book The Ungrateful Refugee,

November 10—Samuel Moyn: The Henry R. Luce Professor of Jurisprudence at Yale Law School and professor of history at Yale University, Moyn is a scholar of international law, human rights, the law of war, and legal thought. He has worked on such subjects as 20th-century European moral and political theory and written books including The Last Utopia: Human Rights in History, and edited or co-edited others. Moyn’s books include Christian Human Rights and Not Enough: Human Rights in an Unequal World. His lecture will be based on his new book, Humane: How the United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented War, on the origins and significance of humane war. Co-sponsored by the International Studies Program and Global Citizens Project.

Clockwise from top left: Isabel Wilkerson, Beth Lew-Williams (photo: Princeton University), Dina Nayeri (photo: Anna Leader), Bryce Pinkham, Samuel Moyn, Robin Wall Kimmerer (photo: Dale Kakkak)

a finalist for the 2019 Kirkus Prize and Los Angeles Times Book Prize. A former Columbia Institute for Ideas and Imagination Fellow, she is a past winner of the UNESCO City of Literature Paul Engle Prize, a National Endowment for the Arts literature grant, O. Henry Prize, Best American Short Stories, and numerous fellowships.

Her debut novel, A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea, was translated into 14 languages; her second, Refuge, was a New York Times editor’s choice. At age eight, she fled Iran with her mother and brother and lived in a refugee camp before being granted asylum in the U.S. In her latest book, she weaves together her own vivid story with those of other refugees and asylum seekers, taking readers through the different stages of their journeys. Co-sponsored by the Fiction Days Series and the English Department.

November 3—Bryce Pinkham: This 2005 alumnus is an acclaimed actor, per-

haps best known his performance in the Broadway production of “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder,” for which he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical. His starring role in the Broadway revival of “The Heidi Chronicles” earned him a nomination for an Outer Critics Circle Award and Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance in 2015.

Recent film and television appearances include performances in Robert DeNiro’s “The Comedian,” Baz Luhrmann’s Netflix drama “The Get Down,” and the PBS series “Mercy Street.” A past winner of Leonore Annenberg Fellowship, given to “exceptionally talented young dancers, musicians, actors, and visual artists,” Pinkham is co-founder of the non-profit Zara Aina, which helps at-risk children expand their capacity for achievement through theatrical performance and storytelling. Co-sponsored by the Theatre Department.

December 1—Robin Wall Kimmerer: Mother, scientist, decorated professor, enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Kimmerer is author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants. Her first book, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses, was awarded the John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing, and her other work has appeared in Orion, Whole Terrain, and numerous scientific journals. She is founder and director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, which creates programs drawing on the wisdom of both indigenous and scientific knowledge for shared goals of sustainability. Co-sponsored by the Environmental Studies Program and the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department.

This free, public series is sponsored by the Lowell Institute, the Office of the Provost and Dean of Faculties, and the Institute for the Liberal Arts. To register for the fall events and for more details, including resources for faculty and students, see www.bc.edu/lowell.

—University Communications

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.

Assistant Director, Schiller Institute Programs

Assistant/Associate Director, Programs & Events

Custodial Supervisor

Associate Law School Technology Consultant

Strategic Sourcing Specialist, Procurement

Fiscal & Grant Administrator, Morrissey College Service Center

Director, Advancement Talent

School Support Specialist

Program Director, Ever to Excel

Application Administrator

Assistant/Associate Director, Leadership Giving

Assistant Manager, Mail & Package Services

Assistant Director, Financial Aid

Recovery House Manager

Program Director, Carroll School of Management

Associate Dean, Graduate Student Services

Senior Financial Administrator

Lead Teacher, Pine Manor College Program Director, BC Prison Education Program Administrative Assistant, Sponsored Programs Post-doctoral Research Fellow (multiple positions)

Chronicle

12

September 2, 2021

BC Arts “Mariano: Variations on a Theme”

McMullen to Feature Renowned Cuban Painter

Among the works to be featured at the McMullen Museum retrospective on Mariano Rodriguez: left, “Gallo (El Gallo),” 1941; below, “La Paloma de la Paz,” 1940; “Mangoes,” 1967.

BY ROSANNE PELLEGRINI STAFF WRITER

Beginning next week, the McMullen Museum of Art at Boston College will present the first major United States exhibition on Cuban modernist painter Mariano Rodríguez (1912-1990), one of his country’s most renowned artists.

“Mariano: Variations on a Theme | Variaciones sobre un tema” will be on display from September 7 through December 5 in the McMullen Museum’s Daley Family and Monan Galleries.

This retrospective features more than 140 oil paintings, watercolors, and drawings, including works from the artist’s estate—which has provided unprecedented access to rarely, if ever, seen works and archives—as well as from leading museums and private collections.

Mariano’s allegiance to the Cuban Revolution limited the display of his artworks in America principally to those created before 1959, when he was a member of the Cuban avant-garde. This exhibition widely expands the artist’s known corpus, demonstrating how his dedication to lo cubano— the essence of Cuban expression—and to his evolving stylistic interests from other parts of the world repositioned him as a painter of universal consequence.

“The McMullen Museum is grateful to the Fundación Mariano Rodríguez for collaborating with us on the first retrospective in the United States devoted to the work of the preeminent Cuban artist Mariano Rodríguez,” said Inaugural Robert L. and Judith T. Winston Director of the McMullen Museum of Art Nancy Netzer, a BC professor of art history in the Department of Art, Art History, and Film. “‘Mariano: Variations on a Theme | Variaciones sobre un tema’ continues the McMullen’s Latin

BC Scenes

American Art Initiative that examines artists from this area of the world from an interdisciplinary and global perspective, a venture that since 2004 has organized exhibitions on Roberto Matta, Wifredo Lam, Rafael Soriano, and Esteban Lisa.” “‘Variations on a Theme | Variaciones sobre un tema’ marks Mariano’s great reencounter with the North American art world and academic environment,” according to Dolores and Alejandro Rodríguez, the children of Mariano Rodríguez and co-presidents of the Fundación Mariano Rodríguez, which collaborated on the exhibition. “Mariano’s heirs extend their eternal gratitude to all the McMullen team.”

Mariano’s career spanned six decades of the 20th century—almost the duration of Cuban modernism. He embarked on his peripatetic life in 1936 when he left Cuba for Mexico to study with painter Manuel Rodríguez Lozano. Mariano belonged to the second generation of Cuban modernists, who first sought to align themselves with Mexico and then to adopt themes of national Cuban identity.

Mariano’s Cuban iconography focused on el gallo (the rooster), but he also embraced leitmotifs that included peasants, fruit, vegetation, and marine subjects. In exploring these national themes, Mariano forged distinctive styles that incorporated, in turn, geometric abstraction, abstract expressionism, figuration, and grotesque imagery. Through the grotesque he demonstrated virtuosity in hybridity, signaling a new postmodern orientation.

Contextualizing the scope of Cuban modernism in relation to aesthetic movements in the Americas and Europe is fundamental to understanding Cuban artists’

quest for creating national artistic identity on the island, according to exhibition organizers.

“The extensive talents of 20th-century Cuban modernists warrant continued examination, and this exhibition marks the third in a series at the McMullen following Wifredo Lam and Rafael Soriano,” said Elizabeth Thompson Goizueta, an expert on Latin American art and Hispanic studies faculty member at Boston College who serves as the exhibition curator and contributed to the accompanying catalogue.

“As historically marginalized artists begin to garner attention in the Western modernist canon, the expansion of these rigid boundaries is due to inclusive dialogue. Through a bilingual catalogue and didactics, the McMullen Museum hopes to bring Mariano’s work to the broadest community possible.”

Major support has been provided by Boston College, the McMullen Museum’s Latin American Art Initiative, and the Patrons of the McMullen Museum.

Virtual and in-person programming to accompany the exhibition—including a walk-and-talk with Thompson Goizueta on September 24—is planned for the general public and museum members. For more information, and to sign up for those events that require advance registration, go to bc.edu/sites/artmuseum/about/events. html. More events will be added leading up to this exhibition; visit the McMullen website [bc.edu/artmuseum] and subscribe to the McMullen mailing list for programming updates.

Members of the University community are invited to attend a Zoom lecture by the curator on September 12 at noon. The museum also is open from noon until 5 p.m.

PHOTOS BY LEE PELLEGRINI

Comings and Greetings

Last Friday saw the arrival o undergraduates at campus residence halls. Far left, seniors Jenny Lee and Nicholas Kim kept watch at a collection point for several student friends outside of Ignacio and Rubenstein halls. Near left, Ava Santamaria ’25 moved into Gonzaga Hall with help of her family and friend Danny Rice. Santamaria and other first-year students later attended the Freshman Welcome event at Conte Forum, which included a greeting from Haub Vice President for University Mission and Ministry Jack Butler, S.J. (above left), and was followed by the Freshman Opportunities Fair on Gabelli Plaza.