Boston College Chronicle

PUBLISHED BY THE BOSTON COLLEGE OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

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Pollution Risk

‘Ever to Excel’

Faith and Justice

Study by BC Global Observatory on Planetary Health outlines effect of air pollution in Massachusetts.

James O’Toole authors book on the social history of Boston College.

Arrupe service-immersion program reaffirms University’s ties with El Salvador.

PUBLISHED BY THE BOSTON COLLEGE OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

At the Center

SUMMER 2022

Only the Beginning

This summer, Boston College is the venue for key events dealing with some critical issues in Jesuit and Catholic education

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

A global spotlight is on Boston College this summer, with the University hosting four major international assemblies in late July and early August that examine the legacy and role of Jesuit and Catholic education in addressing compelling modern issues.

•The 27th General Assembly of the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU) will convene on campus July 30 to August 3.

•Also on July 30 will be the first formal meeting of college and university presi-

dents in the Strategic Alliance of Catholic Research Universities (SACRU), an international network of leading Catholic universities dedicated to research and teaching excellence, engagement, and global collaboration.

•The International Symposium on Jesuit Studies, “The Jesuits and the Church in History,” will take place August 1-4 under the auspices of BC’s Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies.

•The International Association of Jesuit Universities (IAJU) holds its 2022 assembly, “Discerning the Future of Jesuit Higher Education,” from August 3-6.

Continued on page 9

PHOTO BY CAITLIN CUNNINGHAM

Navigating Life

University to Offer Year-Round Employment in Dining Services

Find guidance through your personal compass, Lynch School’s Liang tells students

BY JACK DUNN ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER

The faces of the 300 parents and guardians attending the first orientation session for the Boston College Class of 2026 revealed emotions ranging from hopefulness to consternation as they filed into Robsham Theater Arts Center for a presentation on a heady topic: how to help their new first-year students find their way, both in college and in life.

Leading the seminar were Belle Liang, a professor in the Lynch School of Education

Continued on page 8

Student leaders from the First Year Experience program and members of the Class of 2026 whooped it up in Robsham Theater earlier this month at a closing ceremony for the fourth of the University’s seven orientation sessions. Classes begin August 29.

Lynch School of Education and Human Development Professor Belle Liang, co-author of How to Navigate Life: The New Science of Finding Your Way in School, Career, and Beyond. photo by caitlin cunningham

Boston College will offer year-round employment to Dining Services employees who are currently working less than 52 weeks a year, in an effort to attract and retain what it calls “the best-in-class employees” in the Greater Boston area.

In a July 7 letter to eligible Dining Services staff signed by Director of Dining Services Elizabeth Emery and Associate Vice President for Human Resources William Murphy, the University offers those who currently do not work during the summer months the option to extend their

work schedule to 52 weeks a year, thereby increasing their annual compensation.

Individuals who prefer not to accept the offer will continue working their existing schedules. Employees have until September 16 to submit their preference to Human Resources.

“We are pleased to make this offer to our Dining Services staff, which will enable them to convert their current lessthan-full-year position to a full-year position if they so choose,” said Vice President for Human Resources David Trainor. “It is our way of rewarding our outstanding Dining Services staff for their commitment to Boston College.”

Continued on page 3

The Music Outreach Program has served as a critical lifeline in the education of hundreds of inner-city children, who otherwise would not have an opportunity to study music and experience its profound gifts.

– community service award winner barbara gawlick, page 8

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Chronicle

Summer 2022

Around Campus

Adventure with a Purpose

Illustration of the Hoag Basketball Pavilion, expected to open next summer.

Hoag Pavilion Project Under Way Construction began earlier this month on the Hoag Basketball Pavilion, the future practice home of Boston College men’s and women’s basketball programs.

Traffic along Campanella Way is being re-routed for the duration of the project to accommodate construction. The new route will pass through the Mods parking lot before reconnecting with Campanella Way in front of the Yawkey Center.

Anticipated to open in the summer of 2023, the pavilion will be located at the northwest corner of Conte Forum alongside Gabelli Plaza. The 35,700-square-foot facility will include a strength and conditioning center, a sports medicine center, a nutrition center, player locker rooms and lounge area, and a renovated 10,700-square-foot practice gym.

The Hoag Basketball Pavilion is made possible by a $15 million gift from University Trustee Michaela “Mikey” Hoag ’86, chair and founder of Part the Cloud, an Alzheimer’s research movement in Silicon Valley that

has raised more than $60 million and funds 59 human trials in nine countries, and her husband Jay, a founding general partner of TCV, a venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, Calif. Mikey Hoag also is a founding member of the Council for Women of Boston College.

The Hoags—parents of three children, including 2014 BC alumnus Tim—said in a statement: “It was important to us to support both basketball programs and help position them for success for years to come. The belief we have in the future of both programs under [men’s basketball coach] Earl Grant and [women’s basketball coach] Joanna BernabeiMcNamee’s leadership, was a critical factor for us. We feel very fortunate to be able to help future generations of student-athletes improve both on and off the court in this exciting new facility.”

Read more about at the Hoag Pavilion and other campus construction projects at bc.edu/ updates.

—University Communications

Ski Team Coaching Position Endowed Boston College Athletics has received a $1.25 million gift from James “Jim” Maher ’71 to endow a full-time head coach for the BC skiing program. The James R. Maher Head Ski Coach Endowment will help propel a program which has made great strides in recent years.

“This historic gift from Jim Maher will have a profound and lasting impact on our Boston College ski program for years to come,” said William V. Campbell Director of Athletics Blake James. “We’re so appreciative of his incredible generosity and can’t thank him enough for his dedication to our student-athletes and the future success of our program.”

Maher, a former captain of the BC ski ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Jack Dunn

SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Patricia Delaney EDITOR

Sean Smith

team, graduated from the Carroll School of Management and received an M.B.A. from Columbia University. He went on to a successful career as an investment banker on Wall Street. Maher was vice chairman and a member of the operating committee of the First Boston Corporation, and later cofounded BlackRock Kelso Capital Investment Corporation, for which he served as chairman and CEO. Since 2018, eight Eagles have gone to the NCAA skiing championships. This past season, Chiara Maria Ferrari became the first freshman at Boston College ever to qualify for the NCAAs when she competed in Park City, Utah.

—Boston College Athletics

CONTRIBUTING STAFF

Four summers ago, Kate Meyer ’20 was among 14 Boston College students who undertook a big—in every sense of the word—challenge: climbing Mount Everest.

“The whole trip took 11 days,” recalled Meyer recently. “Most who do the Everest base camp hike are usually couples or a small group of friends. But we became notorious along the route because we were known as this ginormous group of college kids. The mountains were extremely humbling, and they push you further than you think you can go.”

While the trip was enjoyable, it was about more than just fun. Meyer and her fellow climbers are among 156 Boston College students who, as undergraduates or

Boston College students on Mount Everest in 2018—their destination through the Choose a Challenge program.

alumni, have taken on challenges across the world—from Machu Picchu to Morocco— to raise money for charity. According to Choose a Challenge, the non-profit that organizes the trips, students from BC have raised more than $150,000 for organizations like Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mass Bay since 2016.

Returning to Boston College for her senior year in the fall of 2019, Meyer was so energized by her experience that she signed up to be a Choose a Challenge campus leader, organizing a trip to Peru to hike the Salkantay Bay Trail and see Machu Picchu.

Meyer and other participating BC students spent much of the 2019-2020 academic year preparing and fundraising for the Be Positive Foundation, which supports cancer patients and their families.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic threw everything to the wayside.

“We were supposed to go just a few days after I graduated,” Meyer recalled. “I was trying to figure out the logistics of graduating, celebrating that, packing up my life at BC, and then getting ready to go straight to the airport. And then graduation got canceled, and my trip got canceled.”

Christine Balquist Phil Gloudemans Ed Hayward Rosanne Pellegrini Kathleen Sullivan

Chronicle

PHOTOGRAPHERS

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

Caitlin Cunningham Lee Pellegrini

Now, in what she describes as a fullcircle moment, Meyer will finally head to Peru next month to finish what she started three years ago.

“What draws you in initially is that flashy ‘Go to Mount Everest’ or ‘Go to Machu Picchu.’ But the best part about Choose a Challenge is that you are doing good across a yearlong commitment.

You’re putting in the effort to raise money in anticipation of this trip, so it’s a really great way to be grateful for it as well,” said Meyer, who brought in $5,500 for Big Brothers Big Sisters ahead of her trip to Mount Everest.

“It’s not something that you just book at the last minute and then go and come

back. To prepare for it all year long physically, emotionally, and financially—it just makes you feel like you’re doing something a little extra than just for yourself.”

Dan Quille started Choose a Challenge with his college roommate after the two climbed Mount Kilimanjaro together and realized the potential for combining adventure and charity to make a difference. Since then, the organization has raised more than $25 million for charities around the globe.

According to him, the Choose a Challenge trips “allow student travelers to stretch themselves with once-in-a-lifetime experiences and to boost the incomes of charities…For visitors, it is a powerful way to engage with cultures around the world.”

Meyer agrees. “Traveling in general is my favorite thing in the world. Getting to go outside your comfort zone and experience other cultures and sit there and learn from what you’re immersing in,” she said. “Doing that while fundraising for another cause? It’s just really amazing.”

Musing on her forthcoming trip to Peru, she added, “It has been a long time coming.”

—Lucas Carroll is a 2022 alumnus of Boston College

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

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Chronicle

Summer 2022

University Selects James as Athletics Director “We will strive for excellence in all of our pursuits in

BY JACK DUNN ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Blake James, the former director of athletics at the University of Miami, was named the William V. Campbell Director of Athletics at Boston College, effective July 1. He succeeds Patrick Kraft, who became vice president for intercollegiate athletics at Pennsylvania State University in April.

An experienced, nationally respected athletics administrator who established a student-athlete approach at Miami that focused on academic achievement, athletic success, and individual development, James served as the school’s director of athletics from 2013-2021, leading the Hurricanes to multiple NCAA and ACC championships across numerous sports. In his role, he oversaw 18 varsity sports involving more than 400 student-athletes, with a staff of more than 250 individuals and an annual budget of $123 million. At Miami, he set records for athletics fundraising and led the completion of major capital projects, including new indoor facilities for football, baseball, and golf, and facility enhancements for men and women’s basketball. He negotiated and managed one of the largest collegiate sports apparel deals in the country, and significantly increased ticket sales for the school’s football and basketball programs.

A proven leader within the NCAA and

alignment with our Jesuit values. We will compete for championships with integrity, with incredible young men and women, and talented and compassionate coaches and staff supporting their journeys.” ­ —Wm. Campbell Director of Athletics Blake James

ACC, James served on the NCAA Board of Directors (2017-2019), NCAA Board of Governors (2017-2019), the NCAA Football Oversight Committee (20152017), and held leadership roles on the NCAA Student Athlete Experience Committee (2019-2021). He also chaired the NCAA Division I Council, the group responsible for the day-to-day decision making for all Division I athletics. Within the ACC, he served on the Football Committee, the NIL Committee, and the Finance and Audit Committee, and was named chair of the conference’s athletics directors.

He was selected as one of four recipients of the Under Armour Athletic Director of

the Year award by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics in 2016.

In announcing the appointment, University President William P. Leahy, S.J., praised James as an individual with the proven record of accomplishment to lead Boston College Athletics into the future.

“Blake brings extensive experience, understands the issues facing intercollegiate athletics today, and is committed to BC’s mission,” said Fr. Leahy.

“It is truly an honor to join the Boston College family as the William V. Campbell Director of Athletics,” said James. “I am grateful to Fr. Leahy for the opportunity to lead the Eagles and for his confidence in me and in our shared vision for BC Athletics. We will strive for excellence in all of our pursuits in alignment with our Jesuit values. We will compete for championships with integrity, with incredible young men and women, and talented and compassionate coaches and staff supporting their journeys.”

A graduate of Minnesota State Univer-

sity-Mankato with a degree in marketing, James earned a master’s degree in sports administration from St. Thomas University.

He began his athletic career at the University of Miami in tickets sales and development before moving to Providence College to work in athletic development.

He later served as director of athletics at the University of Maine where he directed 19 Division I sports programs from 2005-2010, before returning to Miami as interim athletics director and senior associate AD for development and ticket operations. He was named Miami’s director of athletics in 2013.

“Having lived in New England for eight years, our family is thrilled to return to the region and to immerse ourselves into the Boston College community,” said James, adding that he and his wife Kelly looked forward to frequent visits in Chestnut Hill from their children Haley and Ryan. “We are humbled by the opportunity and look forward to serving Boston College for many years to come.”

University CIO to Serve on Vatican Investment Comm.

Boston College’s Chief Investment Officer John J. Zona has been appointed to the Vatican Investment Committee, joining three other internationally respected investment officers in service to the Holy See. The Investment Committee, established through the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium, will be presided over by Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life.

The other committee appointees are Jean Pierre Casey, founder and CEO of RegHedge (UK); Giovanni Christian Michael Gay, managing director of Union Investment Private Funds (Germany); and David Harris, portfolio manager of Skagen Funds (Norway).

According to Praedicate Evangelium, “The committee, composed of high-profile professionals appointed for five-year terms, is called upon to ensure the ethical nature of the Holy See’s equity investments, in accordance with the Church’s social doctrine and according to the criteria of profitability, suitability, and moderate risk.”

The appointment is considered a high honor and a tribute to the reputation Zona has earned throughout his 31 years at Boston College, including the last nine years as BC’s chief investment officer. During his tenure as CIO, Zona—working with University President William P. Leahy, S.J., and the Investment Committee of the Board of Trustees—has overseen the growth in the BC endowment from $1.7 billion in 2013

to more than $4 billion today.

“I am honored to serve on the investment committee of the Holy See and I look forward to working with the other members to advance the mission of the Church,” said Zona.

In his role as chief investment officer at BC, Zona is responsible for oversight of the University’s endowment, and management of long-term debt and real estate acquisition. He holds a Ph.D. in higher education administration from the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, where he serves as a professor of the practice. He is a CFA charterholder and certified public accountant.

—Jack Dunn

John Zona photo by lee pellegrini

Dining Services Offers Year-Round Employment Option Continued from page 1

In their letter, Emery and Murphy said that BC’s University Compensation Department conducts ongoing assessments of the area employment market and establishes pay policies and practices that reflect competitive salaries.

“This new offer is another great option in our ongoing efforts to be responsive to our Dining Services team and to continue to provide top notch benefits, generous

paid time-off, access to education and professional development, and a positive, fun, and collaborative work environment.

We value you and the work that you do each day in service to the students, faculty, and staff of Boston College. Thank you for your many efforts on the University’s behalf.”

BC Dining has been nationally recognized for excellence, most recently winning

gold awards from the National Association of College & University Food Services for environmental sustainability efforts and immersive events; it is also among the College Consensus top 20 dining halls for 2022, and is a past winner of the College Innovator of the Year Award from Food Management magazine.

Dining staff who choose to extend their employment to 52 weeks will provide food

services in support of campus events and conferences during the summer months.

The new year-round schedules will begin in June of 2023.

“We see this option as a win-win for our Dining Services staff and for Boston College,” said Trainor. “We look forward to our continued partnership in the years to come.”

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Chronicle

Summer 2022

BC Study Assesses Air Pollution Impact on Mass.

Philip Landrigan: “This report gives the people in every city and town the opportunity to see for themselves the quality of the air they and their families are breathing and the dangerous health implications for both adults and children as a consequence of air pollution.”

BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER

Air pollution remains a silent killer in Massachusetts, responsible for an estimated 2,780 deaths a year and for measurable cognitive loss in Bay State children exposed to fine particulate pollutants in the air they breathe, according to a new study by researchers at Boston College’s Global Observatory on Planetary Health.

The study was supported by the Barr Foundation and is the first to examine farreaching public health consequences of air pollution in the state on a town-by-town basis. The study found air-pollution-related disease, death, and IQ loss occur in every city and town regardless of demographics or income level. Highest rates were in the most economically disadvantaged and socially underserved cities and towns.

The Boston College team estimates the cumulative impact on childhood cognitive development in Massachusetts in 2019 was a loss of almost 2 million Performance IQ points, or more than 2 IQ points for the average child, according to the report, published recently in the journal Environmental Health. IQ loss impairs children’s school performance and reduces graduation rates, the team noted.

“We are talking about the impacts of air pollution at a very local level in Massachusetts—not just statewide,” said lead author Professor of Biology Philip J. Landrigan, M.D., director of the observatory. “This report gives the people in every city and town the opportunity to see for themselves the quality of the air they and their families are breathing and the dangerous health implications for both adults and children as a consequence of air pollution.

“All of these health effects occurred at pollution levels below current EPA standards,” Landrigan noted.

The average level of fine particulate pollution across Massachusetts in 2019 was 6.3 micrograms per cubic meter, and levels ranged from a low of 2.77 micrograms per cubic meter in Worcester County to a high of 8.26 in Suffolk County. The United States Environmental Protection Agency standard is 12 micrograms per cubic meter, and the World Health Organization’s recommended guideline is 5.

“Clearly, current EPA air pollution standards are not adequately protecting public health,” Landrigan said.

A web-based application developed by the observatory offers a searchable database [bc.edu/masscleanair] for air pollution impacts in each of the state’s 351 cities and towns.

Town-by-town air pollution information is not typically available, given that there are not enough air quality monitoring stations in the state. The team determined levels for all cities and towns using available data and computer modeling.

While Massachusetts meets federal clean air guidelines and air pollution in the United States has declined 70 percent since the passage of the Clean Air Act in the 1970s—when Landrigan and other sci-

photo by caitlin cunningham

entists successfully pushed for the removal of lead from gasoline—unclean air at current levels still poses health hazards to both healthy individuals and those with other ailments or illnesses.

“We do not have the level of air pollution you see in China or India and because it is mostly invisible today people tend to forget about air pollution and we get complacent,” Landrigan said. “We hope to break through this complacency and increase awareness. Air pollution is killing 2,780 people in Massachusetts each year, nearly 5 percent of all deaths in the state, and that is a big deal. Air pollution is something we can fix. We know the steps that need to be taken to reduce fatalities and the impact on our children and grandchildren. Now citizens in every city and town across the Commonwealth need to urge our elected officials to take those necessary steps.”

Additional findings include: •Of the 2,780 deaths attributable to air pollution in Massachusetts in 2019, at least 2,185 were due to lung cancer, 1,677 to heart disease, 343 to chronic lung disease, and 200 to stroke.

•Air pollution was responsible for 15,386 cases of pediatric asthma and an estimated 308 low-birthweight babies (5.5 lbs. or less).

•More than 95 percent of air pollution in Massachusetts results from the combustion of fossil fuels. Cars, trucks, buses, planes, trains, and ships produced twothirds of pollutant emissions—655,000 tons—in 2017, the most recent year for which data were available. Power plants, industrial facilities, and home heating and cooking produced 283,000 tons. In all, these sources emitted 938,000 tons of pollutants.

•Fossil fuel combustion is also the major source of the carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that drive global climate change, which the researchers said should further incentivize Massachusetts to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions by transitioning to cleaner fuels.

“Air pollution harms our environment and young people, and these burdens disproportionately impact environmental justice communities,” said Kathryn Wright, the Barr Foundation’s senior program officer for clean energy. “Meaningful action on climate change requires us to swiftly ad-

dress air pollution from transportation and our energy system and its many harmful effects.”

Fine particulate air pollution is linked to multiple non-communicable diseases in adults, including cardiovascular disease, stroke, lung cancer, and diabetes. Among infants and children air pollution increases risk for premature birth, low birthweight, stillbirth, impaired lung development, and asthma.

“All of these adverse health effects occur at fine particulate matter pollution levels below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s current annual standard of 12 micrograms per cubic meter,” said Landrigan.

“So even for a state like Massachusetts, which registered below that standard, air pollution is a formidable public health threat that needs urgently to be addressed.”

Snapshot

Among the report’s recommendations: •City and town officials should convert their fleets to electric vehicles, install solar panels on public buildings, preferentially purchase green electricity, prohibit gas hook-ups in new construction, and revise building codes to increase energy efficiency.

•Massachusetts authorities must urge the EPA to tighten federal air quality standards for fine particulate pollution to better protect health.

•Massachusetts must set targets and timetables for reducing air pollution emissions.

•The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection must add more air monitoring stations with priority to placing monitors in economically disadvantaged and socially vulnerable communities, and publish an annually updated, open-source air pollution emissions inventory.

•The Massachusetts Department of Public Health must create an open-access dashboard on pollution-related disease and death in each county, city, and town in the Commonwealth.

•Massachusetts and the U.S. must recognize the significant health and environmental impacts of natural gas and reduce reliance on gas for power generation and heating, and accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels to wind and solar power by incentivizing renewable energy and ending tax breaks and government subsidies for the fossil fuel industry.

PHOTO BY LEE PELLEGRINI

BCSSW partnership

Boston College School of Social Work Dean Gautam Yadama spoke with Massachusetts First Lady Lauren Baker during a June 22 campus event marking the school’s expanded partnership with nonprofit FamilyAid Boston to help improve services for children facing homelessness in Boston. Yadama will advise a FamilyAid project, funded by the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, to map existing services for homeless children and develop a plan to improve the support they need to become successful adults.

Read more at bit.ly/bcssw-familyaid-partnership

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Chronicle

Summer 2022

Epstein, Wells Chosen for Phi Beta Kappa Honor

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

Classical Studies Professor of the Practice Thomas Epstein and Communication Associate Professor of the Practice Celeste Wells were recently named co-recipients of Boston College’s Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Award.

Each year, BC students in the prestigious honor society submit nominations for outstanding teachers who have positively influenced their experiences at BC, either inside or outside the classroom.

Faculty are selected for the award based on the cumulative nominations from students over multiple years.

Epstein, who joined the University in 1998 in the since-discontinued College of Arts and Sciences Honors Program, has taught in the Eastern, Slavic, and German Studies Department and is now primarily teaching in Classical Studies; he also teaches a course on Russian cinema in the Art, Art History, and Film Department. While Epstein focuses his research on Russian poetry of the late 20th century through the present—with particular interest in Saint Petersburg’s Underground artistic and literary movement—he also delves into philosophy, cinema, and the visual arts.

His scholarly activities abroad have included a semester teaching English at Smolny College in Saint Petersburg under a Council for International Exchange of Scholars Fulbright fellowship—one of nearly 50 visits he’s made to Russia in three decades—and another semester at the Venice International University. Epstein also teaches the undergraduate summer course Modernism in Paris, which involves museum visits, guided tours, and other cultural activities in Paris.

“More than anything, this award for me has been a catalyst for gratitude and reflection. How fortunate I am to have found a home at Boston College, where my various interests have found expression,” said

Thomas Epstein (Classical Studies) and Celeste Wells (Communication) are co-recipients of the 2022 BC Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Award. photos by peter julian and caitlin cunningham

Epstein. “Teaching has something sacred about it. Perhaps all meaningful activity does. To be able to devote one’s life to knowledge and its diffusion, to learning and intellectual exchange is to participate in great work. To be recognized by generations of students is deeply satisfying, and humbling. While I know that I have reached numerous students over these past 20-plus years, I also know that many of my colleagues have, too.

“I see the Phi Beta Kappa award also as collective and symbolic recognition: an award that recognizes the value and impact of all great teaching, and seeks to inspire future students and instructors to the pursuit of excellence, mutual commitment, and ever greater understanding of the meaning and meanings of our human lives.”

A member of the BC faculty since 2010, Wells pursues communication scholarship that assists students in becoming socially-just individuals, and aids organizations in improving practices in order to

become more socially-just employers. She studies inequities that emerge from rhetorically-positioned perceptions regarding difference, particularly nation, race, and gender.

Her research also aims to improve the ability of educators to teach complex communicative topics in order to develop student understanding of inequities in society.

“I was honored to find out that, over my course of service at Boston College, students have nominated and recognized me as a teacher that has been a positive force in their lives,” said Wells, who in 2017 was chosen as Teacher of the Year by the BC chapter of Alpha Sigma Nu, the honor society of Jesuit colleges and universities. “I am so proud to accompany outstanding young people in their education. I value the opportunities I have to work with students as they decide what interests them, excites them, makes them furious, and, most importantly, engages them, as these emotions are often catalysts for deep attentiveness and reflection.

“It is my hope, and I am sure I am not alone in this, that through my work, I can

play a beneficial role in mentoring our future leaders in a way that may ensure a more socially responsible future. This award has given me time to reflect on my vocation with sincere happiness and has further motivated me to work hard for our students and the University.”

Students nominating Epstein praised his demonstration of “the importance of active contemplation and an intellectual lifestyle beyond the classroom”; the “meaningful and authentic” insight he offered into an array of subjects ranging from transcendental and metaphysical literature to Soviet-era wartime propaganda; and his facilitation of “excellent in-class discussions.”

One student in the Modernism in Paris class had heard others laud Epstein for making the experience a valuable one— and was pleased to find that the praise was justified: “From the moment he handed me a piece of baguette upon my arrival, I knew [I would enjoy the experience].”

A nominator for Wells extolled her willingness to help students understand class material as well as the care and concern she has shown: “My class still gets Groupme messages from her checking in on us, giving us tips to combat anxiety from being in quarantine, etc. and I know that she will always be there if I need someone to talk to (and she has been!).”

Another also cited Wells’ attentiveness to students: In a class with 100 students, “she took the time to learn everyone’s name before the first class,” the student wrote, adding that Wells encouraged students to announce upcoming or ongoing campus events and activities. “She wanted to know what students were interested in, and she wanted students to participate in events and learn about what’s happening on campus around us.”

Wrote another: “Every day when I went into her class I felt cared for in the most whole sense, and her unconditional support helped me to grow personally and academically each and every day.”

BC Sociologist Wins Dissertation Award from ASA

BY KATHLEEN SULLIVAN STAFF WRITER

Assistant Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies Lacee Satcher has been named winner of the 2022 Dissertation Award from the American Sociological Association. She was recognized for her dissertation “(Un)Just Deserts: Examining the Consequences of Economic, Social, and Environmental Disinvestment in the Urban South.”

Satcher’s dissertation focused on the concept of compounded disadvantages—a series of adverse circumstances, particularly in an urban area, that have a negative cumulative effect on residents. She developed the term multiply-deserted areas (MDAs) to describe neighborhoods that have a shortage of multiple social, economic, and health-related resources,

specifically, the lack of affordable or goodquality fresh food, green space, and pharmacies. This term identifies historical processes of environmental racism and racial capitalism as catalysts for the emergence of MDAs. She identified MDAs in cities across the South and demographic predictors for which neighborhoods are MDAs. She examined the linkages between MDAs and health issues such as asthma, diabetes, obesity, and physical inactivity.

Satcher, who earned a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University, joined the Boston College faculty in 2021. She teaches Urban Sociology and Research Methods in Environmental Studies.

“I am so thrilled to be honored with this award,” said Satcher. “I am eternally grateful to the amazing students and faculty at Vanderbilt Sociology for shaping my Ph.D. journey, and I’m so happy that

Asst. Prof. Lacee Satcher (Sociology and Environmental Studies) photo by lee pellegrini

my new home, Boston College, is sharing in this proud moment.”

“I’m delighted for Professor Satcher,” said Sociology Department Chair Andrew Jorgenson, professor of sociology and environmental studies. “This is one of the most prestigious awards given in our discipline, and it is so well deserved.”

Founded in 1905, the American Sociological Association is the national professional membership association for sociologists and others who are interested in sociology. Its mission is to serve sociologists in their work, advance sociology as a science and profession, and promote the contributions and use of sociology to society.

The ASA Dissertation Award will be presented at the organization’s 117th Annual Meeting in Los Angeles on August 7.

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Chronicle

OBITUARY

Patricia Doherty, 72, Director of the Institute for Scientific Research A funeral liturgy was held on Wednesday for Patricia Doherty, the director and senior research scientist at Boston College’s Institute for Scientific Research (ISR) and an internationally recognized leader in the fields of space weather and its impact on global navigation systems, who died on July 14.

She was 72.

Ms. Doherty joined Boston College and the ISR in 1989 as a research scientist. She was named ISR co-director in 2005 and became the director in 2008, leading an internationally renowned research center conducting theoretical and experimental studies of space physics, space chemistry, solar-terrestrial research, space weather, and astrophysical studies. She also was a fellow of the Institute of Navigation and of the African Geospace Society.

Formed in 1954, the ISR is the largest sponsored research center at Boston College. The institute’s work has been supported by organizations including: the United States Air Force Research Laboratory, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Office of Naval Research, National Science Foundation, and Federal Aviation Administration.

“Under Pat’s leadership, the ISR became an international leader in theoretical and experimental research to help us better understand the science of the vast space, as she liked to say, ‘between the surface of the earth and the center of the sun,’” said DeLuca Professor of Biology and Vice Provost for Research Thomas Chiles. “Pat also played a vital role in the expansion of science education in developing countries, and worked

Patricia Doherty photo by lee pellegrini

tirelessly to increase the participation of women in global navigation satellite systems and space science research.”

She not only burnished the international reputation of ISR, but raised its profile at BC by moving the institute and its more than 40-person team to facilities on Newton Campus from its previous off-campus address at the former Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford, Mass.

Ms. Doherty, whose research interests focused on the ionosphere, space weather, and the Global Positioning Satellite System (GPSS), contributed to more than 80 peerreviewed scholarly articles. Specific research initiatives during her career included radio wave propagation, focusing on ionospheric effects in satellite-based navigation, including Satellite-Based Augmentation Systems and the Federal Aviation Administration’s Wide Area Augmentation System.

She was also a leader among the global community of space science researchers. At the time of her death, she was vice president of the International Union of Radio Science (URSI) and chair of URSI’s Commission G, Ionospheric Radio and Propagation. She

chaired the Satellite Division of the Institute of Navigation (ION), the world’s premier professional society dedicated to the science of positioning, navigation, and timing.

Ms. Doherty was recognized for her scientific research and her outreach activities throughout her career, including the 2018 Carrington Education and Outreach Award of the 130,000-member American Geophysical Union. Other honors included ION’s Burka Award in 1995, the organization’s Distinguished Service Award in 2015, and ION’s 2014 Captain P.V.H. Weems Award for her service to the organization and her efforts to promote advanced navigation research throughout the world.

“I love the science of navigation and I love to make connections between people in universities and scientists around the world,” Ms. Doherty said at the time she received the Weems award.

“I think those two passions of mine have served to benefit ION and BC.” Ms. Doherty actively promoted research and education in the science of navigation in developing countries, organizing workshops and conferences around the world. She lent her expertise to the Scientific Committee on Solar-Terrestrial Physics, an interdisciplinary body of the International Council for Science, and was the University’s representative to the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) and a member of the USRA Board of Trustees.

In June, Ms. Doherty and ISR Research Scientist Rezy Predipta gave a talk at the 2022 URSI Conference in Spain about the threats to civil aviation caused by ionospheric phenomena. She also hosted a special session on “Women in Radio Science,” honoring the work of Jocelyn Bell-Burnell, who discovered radio pulsars. Through her work with URSI, Ms. Doherty was preparing to host more than 100 researchers at the 21st International Beacon Satellite Symposium on campus in August.

Ms. Doherty, who earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts-

Summer 2022

Amherst and an M.B.A. from Boston College, led a successful initiative to help developing countries derive social and economic benefits from the satellite-based PNT technology. International meetings linked leading PNT scientists with teams of professors and scientists from African universities.

Those meetings led to the founding of master and doctoral research initiatives, creating a research infrastructure that produced the first ionospheric measurements from Africa, a region largely devoid of such data prior to 2010.

“Here in the U.S., we most commonly see GPS guide our cars,” Ms. Doherty said in a 2015 interview with Boston College Chronicle. “In the developing world it can be used for precision farming, better emer-

More obituaries on page 11 gency services, and monitoring scarce natural resources. It’s a phenomenal technology that has been developed and it is free to use. You just have to get out there and use it.”

The initiative made available highly accurate multiple-frequency GPS technology which comes in a container about the size of a breadbox. In support of the program, Ms. Doherty led workshops in Europe, Africa, South America, the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia.

At the time, Ms. Doherty said the level of graduate research in the topic had already increased, collaborations had increased among African universities, and the ionosphere data gap on the continent was closing.

“One of the success stories is seeing so many new Ph.D.s coming off the African continent who are studying the ionosphere and they are studying it with the technology we gave them,” she said.

Ms. Doherty is survived by her husband, Charles, her children, Karen M. Stickney and Brian J. Doherty, and many other relatives.

—University Communications

Assoc. Dean Lee Appointed to Connell School Chair Christopher S. Lee, an award-winning and highly respected cardiovascular nurse scientist, has been named to the Barry Family/Goldman Sachs Endowed Chair in Nursing in the Connell School of Nursing, CSON Dean and Professor Katherine Gregory has announced. He succeeds nurse researcher Mei Fu, who served as the inaugural chairholder.

The Barry Family/Goldman Sachs Endowed Chair in Nursing was established through a gift from Boston College Trustee Associate Steven M. Barry ’85 and his wife Tammy J. Barry ’85, M.Ed. ’87. The parents of two Boston College graduates—Courtney, a Connell School alumna, and Matt, a Carroll School of Management alumnus—the Barrys are longtime BC benefactors who have supported the Connell School, financial aid, athletics, the Wall Street Council Tribute Dinner, and Pops on the Heights, among other University priorities.

“I am deeply humbled and honored to be named the new Barry Family/Goldman Sachs Endowed Chair. I look forward to honoring the Barry Family’s generosity by raising the national and global visibility of CSON to

Christopher Lee photo by lee pellegrini

new heights,” said Lee. As an endowed chair, Lee will focus on advancing his program of research, scientific mentoring, and further developing the school’s global partnerships.

Lee joined the Connell School in January 2018 as associate dean for research and director of the Office of Nursing Research. Under his leadership, the Connell School has seen a five-fold increase in the amount of external

research funding and marked increases in the number and quality of grants submitted, as well as faculty publications.

For the time being, Lee will continue in the roles of associate dean for research and Office of Nursing Research director. The University will begin a national search in the coming months for a new associate dean for research.

“We are thrilled to have an internationally recognized leader of Dr. Christopher Lee’s caliber named to this prestigious endowed chair,” said Gregory. “As an accomplished researcher, teacher, and mentor, Dr. Lee is the ideal person to help advance the work of the Connell School, influencing the future of nursing science and education.”

A fellow of the American Heart Association, the Heart Failure Society of America, and the American Academy of Nursing, Lee has dedicated his career to improving outcomes for patients with heart disease.

His research focuses on heart failure selfcare and symptom science, and patient and care-partner dyadic relationships in chronic conditions.

Lee has had a leadership role on five Rlevel grants and served as a mentor on six federally funded training grants. In that same time, he has published more than 150 papers and garnered an additional 3,000-plus citations of his work.

Lee is an appointed member of the National Advisory Council on Nursing Research and chairs the working group on diversity in the National Institute of Nursing Researchsupported scientific workforce. He also is a professorial fellow at the Australian Catholic University Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research.

Lee has been the recipient of several honors, including the Kathleen A. Dracup Distinguished Lecture and Exemplary Career in Mentoring Award, Mathy Mezey Excellence in Aging Award, Martha N. Hill Early Career Investigator Award, and Marie Cowan Promising Early Career Investigator Award, all from the American Heart Association’s Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing. He also received the Heart Failure Society of America’s Nursing Leadership Award.

—University Communications

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A Social History of Boston College ‘Ever to Excel,’ new from University Historian James O'Toole, tells Boston College's story through a lens on the people who helped to shape it

BY JOHN SHAKESPEAR SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

The history of an institution like Boston College is one of many milestones and pivotal moments, but it is also a history of people—of the hundreds of thousands of students, faculty, staff, alumni, and benefactors who have shaped the University through the years. In his new book, Ever to Excel: A History of Boston College, University Historian and Clough Millennium History Professor Emeritus James O’Toole centers his lens on some of these individuals, offering a personal look at BC’s first 150 years.

Ever to Excel, recently published by BC’s Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies, was conceived during conversations leading up to Boston College’s sesquicentennial anniversary in 2013. O’Toole set out to write what he calls a “social history,” conducting 12 years of archival research through letters, newspaper articles, government and University records, Catholic Church archives, and many other sources.

“Over the course of my career, I’ve come to think history is valuable precisely because it connects to the stories of real human beings,” O’Toole said of his decision. “What are the actual people doing, not just in the president’s office, but on the ground?”

The pages of Ever to Excel are full of detailed anecdotes about such actual people,

BC Scenes

University Historian James O’Toole: “I’ve come to think history is valuable precisely because it connects to the stories of real human beings.” photo by justin knight

from John McElroy, S.J., the Irish-born pastor who founded Boston College in 1863, to the 22 boys who made up the inaugural class and the first women and students of color who enrolled at the University decades later.

One section of the book follows Thomas “Buttsy” Craven of the Class of 1917, whose diary covered everything from classroom experiences (he boasted of a test he had “KO’ed,” and bemoaned a professor for “harping on St. Thomas [Aquinas]”) to his decision to enlist in the First World War. While everyday musings like Craven’s offered O’Toole an insight into life on campus a century ago, the new history is also “social” in its attention to larger demographic shifts. For instance, the book notes that “one hundred and thirty-eight of the more than eight hundred students in the 1925–1926 school year had surnames

that began with either ‘Mc’ or ‘O’,’ and there were fully 30 Sullivans on campus that year,” while by 2013 “more than one quarter of the student body would be from racial and ethnic minorities.”

In similar fashion, Ever to Excel traces BC’s transition from being “mostly a male preserve” to a school where the majority of students are women. O’Toole highlights individual steps within this long arc: the foundation of a Women’s Resource Center in 1973, for instance, and the 1981 election of Joanne Caruso, who was “forced to run as a write-in candidate” to become the first female president of the Undergraduate Government of Boston College.

O’Toole includes both BC’s successes and the moments in which it has fallen short of its ideals, as it did with “Lightning” Lou Montgomery ’41. One of the University’s first Black students, Montgomery was a football star, but when the

Eagles played segregated southern schools, the team acquiesced to Jim Crow laws and traveled south without him. Today, O’Toole writes, that decision “seems fundamentally wrong, even cowardly.

“History cannot avert its gaze from examples of frailty and failure if it hopes to be taken seriously when it memorializes strength and achievement,” he writes.

“Boston College has had its share of all of these.”

As he outlines BC’s development across three distinct eras—“The School,” “The College,” and “The University”—O’Toole is perhaps uniquely well positioned to consider how the school has both changed and remained the same over time. Following in two brothers’ footsteps, he first came to BC in 1968, and his undergraduate years coincided with the dawn of its full coeducation. As a history major, he studied with then-University Historian Thomas H. O’Connor ’49, M.A. ’50, H’93, who became a mentor and friend. In the 1980s, O’Toole returned to the Heights to earn a Ph.D., and has taught at the University since 1998.

Despite all the changes that he has witnessed—to say nothing of all those he has studied—O’Toole is struck by the ways in which Boston College has remained true to its origins as it evolves.

“BC will always have to keep asking itself how the education it provides addresses society’s needs, but history also shows us the values that have persevered since the beginning,” he said. “To this day, students here talk about service and the common good. You don’t have to ask—they volunteer it.”

John Shakespear is a senior digital content writer in the Office of University Communications

PHOTOS BY LEE PELLEGRINI

‘A Refreshing Summer’

Xiangyi Liu, a doctoral fellow at Boston College’s Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History, presented a recital, “A Refreshing Summer,” at the institute on July 13. Liu performed traditional and modern music compositions from China, Japan, and the United States on the pipa or Chinese lute—a traditional musical instrument with more than 2,000 years of history. (Near left) Claire Wu, daughter of Ricci Institute Director of Research Xiaoxin Wu, offered Liu a token of her appreciation at the event’s conclusion.

Located at the Creagh Library on Brighton Campus, the internationally acclaimed Ricci Institute moved to BC earlier this year after almost four decades at its original location, the University of San Francisco. For more on the institute and its programs, see bc.edu/ricci.

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Gawlick Wins Community Service Award for Music Outreach

BY ROSANNE PELLEGRINI STAFF WRITER

Despite a lack of arts resources in local schools, and the more recent educational challenges presented by the pandemic, Music Department part-time faculty member Barbara Gawlick has ensured that the lives of area youths are enriched through music.

For her long-term service initiative— the Music Outreach Program, which she established in 2011 and has directed since then—she is the recipient of the 2022 Boston College Community Service Award.

Organized by the Office of Governmental and Community Affairs, the award recognizes the outstanding contributions of a BC employee whose actions exemplify the Jesuit spirit of service to others. Gawlick received the honor from University President William P. Leahy, S.J., at a recognition dinner held on June 1.

Through the Music Outreach Program, BC students provide weekly instrumental and vocal lessons to some 50 children and teens enrolled in schools located in the Allston and Brighton areas. In turn, the approximately 20 BC undergraduate and graduate students who participate annually gain valuable experiences.

“The Music Outreach Program has served as a critical lifeline in the education

of hundreds of inner-city children, who otherwise would not have an opportunity to study music and experience its profound gifts,” Gawlick said. “Along with the program’s artistic mission, it also strongly aims to address issues of social justice and educational equality.”

In a letter notifying Gawlick of her award, Director of Community Affairs William R. Mills Jr. wrote: “We salute you for your labor of love that enables unprivileged children to be exposed to the beauty of music. As a specialist in early childhood music education, you conveyed your talents in schools that have limited or no music instruction, creating the Music Outreach Program with the presence of Boston College students so they could also get training on skill-learning public service opportunities.”

Gawlick was nominated for the award by her departmental colleague Jeremiah McGrann, a professor of the practice and assistant chair, who noted that the outreach program—which serves students at Brighton High School, Gardner Pilot Academy, and Thomas Edison School—“directly addresses two important interrelated aspects of Ignatian education: a commitment to actively serve the community, and learning beyond the classroom. Remarkably, Professor Gawlick was able to maintain the

University President William P. Leahy, S.J., congratulates Barbara Gawlick on winning the BC Community Service Award. photo by lee pellegrini

program during COVID through virtual online lessons.”

According to Gawlick, the program “fosters invaluable relationships between BC student volunteers and the kids they teach. BC students serve as instructors, mentors, and role models. Nothing illustrates our program better than the following statements reported by the most recent

BC volunteers: ‘After our second lesson, my student asked if she can take the violin home to practice.’

‘Once my students learned “Old MacDonald,” they could not stop playing it over and over again, with big smiles.’

‘My students did not speak English, but we communicated through gestures and music.’

“Without the Music Outreach Program, hundreds of children would never know the feeling of pride and joy that comes from learning how to play and/or sing a song! In order to realize such musical goals, discipline and hard work on both the part of the student and the instructor are essential,” Gawlick added.

The program has received support from or collaborated with BC areas and local organizations, according to McGrann, including BC’s Institute for the Liberal Arts, Volunteer and Service Learning Center, Arts and Social Responsibility Project, and Music Department, as well as the Boston Cultural Council, Massachusetts Cultural Council, City Connects, and the BC Neighborhood Center.

More information on the program— and a BC documentary film titled “Genesis,” which highlights its success—is available at bit.ly/bc-music-outreach-program.

Book Offers Students Alternative Path for College, Life Continued from page 1

and Human Development’s Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology department, and Tim Klein, a licensed certified social worker and project lead for Liang’s True North digital app, designed to help students discover pathways to finding purpose in college and life. The duo are the co-authors of How to Navigate Life: The New Science of Finding Your Way in School, Career, and Beyond, a new book to be released in August.

Given the session’s pre-college timing, the lecture’s title, and the families’ current and future university investment, expectations for a surefire path to success were high. But Liang and Klein, in a congenial, empathetic, and research-driven way, re-routed the attendees’ focus away from student performance toward finding “purpose”—their child’s “true north”— which according to the authors is the key to harnessing the core qualities that lead to choosing a course of study and a career.

“Instead of following a step-by-step set of directions, life should be guided by a personal compass,” said Liang, highlighting the book’s central theme. “Having a clear sense of purpose, grounded in core values, can help your students choose the best direction for themselves.”

How to Navigate Life reflects the collective personal and professional experiences of Liang and Klein, who have devoted their careers to counseling individual students, and to providing guidance that slices through the daily pressures to achieve, whether they are imposed by society, par-

ents, or peers, or are self-inflicted.

“The performance mindset centers on pursuing success and achieving as much as possible, a scenario that leads to a constant and insatiable desire to do more,” said Liang, the parent of a recent BC grad and a high school senior. “Seeking achievement in this way is powered by fear, and selfworth becomes exclusively dependent on how accomplished we are.”

language to navigate the inflection points in life,” said Klein, a former Harvard University teaching fellow, high school guidance counselor, and outreach director for Summer Search, a national youth development non-profit serving historically underrepresented student populations. “We’ve culled together the science and knowledge we’ve gained through our joint experience as educators, mentors, practitioners, and

“Instead of following a step-by-step set of directions, life should be guided by a personal compass,” says Liang. “Having a clear sense of purpose, grounded in core values, can help your students choose the best direction for themselves.” photo by caitlin cunningham

The pair also outlined the danger of the “passion mindset”— which poses personal happiness as the defining characteristic of success—citing the disappointment likely to follow when unrealistic expectations for constant happiness are not met.

Instead, their book demonstrates that successful individuals tap into their “purpose”— a combination of performance and passion applicable to every aspect of life, from college majors and careers to important life decisions.

“Our book bridges the gap between generic advice and allegedly foolproof ‘life hacks’ by providing an empirically-based decision-making framework, and shared

parents.”

Among the tools that Liang and Klein provide is a questionnaire that homes in on a young person’s values, to help them understand their niche and match them to one of four roles, such as a creative and independent role called “trailblazer,” or a communal, stability-oriented character, dubbed “guardian.” Likewise, they offer toolkits for mentors that pose questions and scripts to assist them in connecting with mentees. Their systematic advice prioritizes cultivating students’ self-discovery and drawing out their intrinsic interests— the antithesis of the ubiquitous “snowplow parenting” style of child-rearing driven by

fear, obsession with future success, and the constant impulse to shovel obstacles from kids’ paths.

How to Navigate Life has elicited praise from experts in academia, child development, and related fields such as Tufts University’s Richard M. Lerner, an expert in positive youth development. He praised the book as “masterfully written, compelling, and engaging,” while providing “answers to parents’ fundamental concern: How to raise children whose lives involve not only financial well-being but positive purpose, valued contributions to self and others, and joy and fulfillment.”

Elon University’s President Emeritus Leo M. Lambert, and Peter Felton, assistant provost for teaching and learning, the co-authors of Relationship-Rich Education: How Human Connection Drive Success in College, said that “at a time when young people are clamoring for guidance to make sense of the world and to navigate college, life and careers, Liang and Klein have written a guidebook that is clear, insightful, honest, and practical.”

Added William Stixrud, a clinical neuropsychologist, and PrepMatters’ founder Ned Johnson, the authors of The Self-Driven Child, “Liang and Klein skillfully teach parents, educators, and other caring adults how to build respectful, genuine, and trusting relationships with their children and students, one that allows adults….to guide young people to discover who they really are and become their best selves.”

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University at Center of Key Jesuit, Catholic Gatherings Continued from page 1

BC also was the venue for the International Association of Jesuit Engineering Schools (IAJES) Summit, “Jesuit Engineering Vision for a Better World,” which took place July 13-15.

That BC is hosting five separate Jesuit or Catholic conferences in a mere span of weeks highlights Boston College’s presence in prominent international assemblies that provide a leadership role in Jesuit and Catholic education, according to University administrators.

“This summer, Boston College’s global

engagement emerges remarkably here in Chestnut Hill and throughout the world’s Jesuit and Catholic institutions of higher learning,” said Vice Provost for Global Engagement James F. Keenan, S.J., who is also the Canisius Professor of Theology and director of the Jesuit Institute. “Our capacity to lead and host is now proven by this ambitious program led by initiatives from [University President] William P. Leahy, S.J. Significantly, BC has built bridges most importantly by scheduling successively the assemblies of IFCU and then IAJU. Their mutual engagement ought to have lasting effect.”

Underscoring this historic occasion, the IFCU, IAJU, and Jesuit studies conferences will join together on August 3 for a Mass celebrated by Boston Archbishop Cardinal Sean O’Malley, O.F.M., Cap. Comprising more than 226 Catholic universities and higher education institutions throughout the world, the IFCU holds its general assembly every three years, offering a unique opportunity for its affiliates to engage and reflect on essential academic and ecclesial themes.

The 2022 assembly theme, “Legacy and Transformation in a World of Change: Catholic Higher Education and the Future,” reflects the assembly’s task to consider how Catholic universities can carry out their mission to reach, research,

and serve communities and the Catholic Church in ways that promote a greater good. Highlighting its schedule are a series of discussions that focus on a single theme: “Intellectual Tradition and Catholic Universities Today”; “Global Crises and Catholic University Collaboration”; “The Impact of Catholic Higher Education: Compelling Testimonials”; “Catholicism and New University Leadership”; and “From Local Voices to Global Design.”

Boston College is one of eight founding members of SACRU—along with Australian Catholic University, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Pontificia Universidad Católica do Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Sophia University (Japan), Universdade Católica Portuguesa, Universitá Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Italy), and Universtat Ramon Llul (Spain)—which seeks to harness its partners’ resources and knowledge for the common good, and “contribute to the development of a brand beyond its walls.”

SACRU’s priorities include reinforcing the link between faith and reason in the

digital age, promoting global education, accelerating interdisciplinary education and research, and contributing to knowledge and technological transfer. The July 30 meeting of the member institutions’ presidents will set some additional goals and strategies.

The International Symposium on Jesuit Studies, which began in 2015, brings together a diverse community of scholars to cross thematic, chronological, and disciplinary boundaries. The 2022 symposium will explore the many aspects of the Society of Jesus’s relations to the Catholic Church, all within the global contexts in

which the Jesuit mission grew and operated.

Fr. Leahy and University Secretary Casey Beaumier, S.J., director of the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies, will offer greetings on the opening day, prior to the keynote address by historian PierreAntoine Fabre, director of studies at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, and University of Turin theologian Franco Motta. Each day features two concurrent panel discussions and a plenary session, examining such topics as “Foundations in Mission Lands: The Jesuits and the Local Clergy,” “Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Jesuit Missions to China,” “The Jesuits and Politics in the Early Modern Church,” “Jesuit Universities as Catholic Institutions in the Global, Contemporary Context,” and “The Jesuit and the Church: Trajectories and Perspectives.”

IAJU, an association of Jesuit, Catholic universities and institutes of higher education founded in 2018, is the international advisory and coordinating body to the secretariat of Jesuit higher education and, through him, the Jesuit Superior General and his assistants in matters related to higher education and the intellectual apostolate. Its member universities and institutions represent the six regions of the Society of Jesus: Africa, East Asia, South Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America.

Fr. Leahy will deliver a keynote address at the conference, which will feature presentations by IAJU task forces on global citizenship, migration, reconciliation and peace, environmental sustainability and economic justice, and theology in the Jesuit university. There also will be group

discussions on such topics as “Reinventing Business Education,” “Best Practices in Mission Integration and Formation,” and “Developing a Laudato Si’ University Plan.” Reports and remarks from presidents of the six IAJU regional associations

will be among the concluding events.

The IAJES Summit, which took place at 245 Beacon Street, BC’s new state-ofthe-art science facility, featured keynotes

by BC School of Social Work Dean Gautam Yadama, Assistant Professor of Engineering Ali Salifu, and Mike H.M. Teodorescu, an assistant professor of information systems at the Carroll School of Management. David Moinina Sengeh, minister of basic and senior secondary

education and chief innovation officer for the government of Sierra Leone, also spoke.

Other highlights of the conference included an interactive participatory session led by Professor Glenn Gaudette, the inaugural Kozarich Chair of BC’s Engineering Department; collaborative working sessions; two reflection sessions led by Fr. Keenan; and a closing meeting with the current Society of Jesus Higher Education Secretary Joseph Christie, S.J. Fifty-five attendees representing 23 institutions attended the summit in person.

“Boston College is very privileged to have been chosen to host this important summit, given the fact that our Engineering Department is barely a year old,” said Sunanda Bhattacharya, associate vice provost for design and innovation strategies at BC, who presented an introduction at the summit opening.

Information about and links to these Jesuit and Catholic conferences are available at “The World at BC” section of the Global Engagement website, bc.edu/global.

CBYX Placement Enables 2022 Grad to Study and Work in Germany Pauline Flanagan ’22 is one of 75 Americans selected to study and work in Germany as part of the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) for Young Professionals, a joint program of the United States Congress and the German Bundestag now in its 39th year.

During her year abroad, Flanagan will attend a two-month intensive language course, study at a German university, and

complete an internship in marketing.

The Carroll School of Management graduate, who earned a degree in management with concentrations in marketing and information systems and a French minor, took five semesters of German at Boston College and learned about the CBYK fellowship from Professor Michael Resler in the Eastern, Slavic, and German Studies Department.

“I knew I wanted to live abroad for a period of time following my graduation from BC, especially since I didn’t get to study abroad due to the pandemic,” said Flanagan, who departs on July 30. “I’ve always had a connection with Germany because my grandmother immigrated from

Germany to the United States when she was around my age. I saw this fellowship as an opportunity to explore that part of my identity and it really is a culmination of everything I involved myself in and worked for at BC. “During my year in Germany, I hope to boost my fluency in German, establish my own individual ties to the country, kickstart my career, and also positively represent my generation of Americans.”

Flanagan is interested in the consumerpackaged goods industry, specifically skincare and beauty companies, and hopes to intern for a small sustainable company to gain insight into “how this industry that produces a lot of waste in production and

consumption can adapt to do its part in combating climate change.”

To become better acquainted with Germans in her host community, she plans to join a German synchronized skating team, a skill she practiced as a member of the synchronized skating club team at BC. “Our newest cohort of young professionals, including Pauline, is well-equipped to further our core mission—creating lasting ties between the United States and Germany,” said CBYX for Young Professionals Senior Director Daniel Villanueva. “We are thankful these promising young leaders will be representing us in Germany this year.”

—Christine Balquist

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Roche Ctr. Hosts Major Forum on Whole Child Education

BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER

More than 50 researchers, practitioners, and philanthropists gathered at Boston College earlier this summer for a national conference which focused on critical needs in their commitment and effort to deliver a holistic approach to education.

Hosted by the Barbara and Patrick Roche Center for Catholic Education at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development with support from the Porticus Amsterdam C.V. foundation, the June 24-25 convening—“Whole Child Education in U.S. Catholic Schools”—examined the substance of whole child development in Catholic schools and the impacts on students, educators, and graduates.

Roche Center conference presenters included Molly McMahon, director of leadership programs; Michael O’Connor, program director for outreach and professional development; and John Reyes, director of research, program evaluation, “At the heart of Catholic education is the belief that it’s about forming the heart, mind, and soul, known in Ignatian spirituality as the cura personalis, or ‘care of the whole person,’” said Executive Director Melodie Wyttenbach.

and innovation. Collaborators from 16 institutions of Catholic higher education, dioceses, or Catholic networks and schools also presented their research or best practices advancing whole child education.

According to the National Catholic Education Association, more than 1.5 million students attended some 5,900 Catholic elementary, middle, and secondary schools in the United States during the 2021-2022 academic year.

“At the heart of Catholic education is the belief that it’s about forming the heart, mind, and soul, known in Ignatian spirituality as the cura personalis, or ‘care of the whole person,’” said Roche Center Executive Director Melodie Wyttenbach in her opening remarks. “Since their founding, Catholic schools have embodied this belief, attending to the spiritual, communal, and intellectual dimensions of formation, with specific attention to the unique gifts of each individual child.”

While Catholic schools have been a leading model of whole child development across educational sectors for decades, she noted, models and implementations of this mission greatly vary.

“There needs to be a concerted effort by scholars to establish a research agenda, and we must examine the knowledge and practice base to serve as a foundational wellspring that would inform the deliberate actions of Catholic schools to support healthy development for all children,” said Wyttenbach, outlining the conference’s objectives. “A need exists to examine the policy environment and the supports nec-

essary for Catholic schools to provide a sustained holistic education.”

Wyttenbach remarked that Catholic schools, and those who work in and support Catholic education, face considerable challenges.

“I think we can all agree that we are living in an increasingly polarized America, and in an increasingly complicated world,” she said. “We know that society and schools are inextricably linked; schools reflect society, it’s a simple concept. What occurs in the real world impacts our students and teachers in their classrooms. Catholic schools since their founding are spaces of resilience. The constant for Catholic schools has been the profound sense of community that is embodied and sustained by the people who make possible Catholic education.”

To personalize the remarkably positive results of this holistic formation, keynote speaker Dr. Carlos G. Torres, a primary care physician at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), reflected on his experiences as a Catholic school student. A native of Mexico and youngest of 10 children whose father was a migrant field worker, Torres moved with his family to Milwaukee when he was 10 years old, a relocation that he characterized as a “defining moment” in his life. He went on to attend Nativity Jesuit Academy (NJA), a co-ed urban Catholic school where Wyttenbach was a teacher, principal, and president over an 11-year span.

“My siblings had to work, but luckily, my sole job was to go to school, and I took it to heart,” said Torres of NJA, which now serves more than 250 Latinx students and their families. “It was my introduction to academic discipline; we would be in school all day, go home for dinner, and then return for study hall. It was where I learned English and fell in love with reading.”

While in high school, and the only English speaker in the family, Torres accompanied his mother to the hospital when she suffered a stroke. She survived but the ordeal inspired him to seek a career in medicine. After graduating from Marquette University High School, an all-male, Catholic, Jesuit, college-preparatory school, he earned an undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and graduated from the Harvard Medical School. His initial interest was psychiatry, but he “found his calling and his people” when he discovered pediatrics; Torres serves as the associate director of diversity and inclusion at MGH for Children and an instructor in pediatrics at the Harvard Medical School.

“I wanted to become a doctor to help people like my parents,” he said, a decision that echoed NJA’s mission statement, “Educating Youth for a Life of Christian Leadership and Service”—a phrase Torres memorized and which has become his personal declaration of purpose. “As a middle school student, I had no idea what it meant; however, the repercussions down the road were really big.”

For more about the Roche Center for Catholic Education, go to bc.edu/roche

After receiving the Kelleher Award, Katherine O'Neill '73 (left) joined Connell School of Nursing Clinical Associate Professor Laura White for a conversation and Q&A. photo by caitlin cunningham

Connell School Honors Alumna Katherine O’Neill, past president of the Massachusetts School Nurse Organization, is this year’s recipient of the Dean Rita P. Kelleher Award, presented annually by the Connell School of Nursing to a graduate who embodies the Boston College nurse.

O’Neill is a founding member of the Massachusetts School Nurse Research Network and a fellow in the National Academy of School Nursing.

The niece of a school nurse, O’Neill said she was drawn to that occupation because she liked working with adolescents and wanted to make a difference in their lives.

In addition to serving as a school nurse herself, she also took on leadership and advocacy roles within the school nursing community.

She served two terms as president of the Massachusetts School Nurse Organization and served for five years on the board of directors for the National Association of

School Nurses.

She said she became active in policy matters because “I knew that changes needed to be made and I wanted to be a part of that.”

Named after the school’s first faculty member and former dean, the Kelleher Award recognizes a Connell School graduate who is an accomplished nurse leader, an ethically aware scientist, and an inquisitive clinician. O’Neill earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from BC in 1973. The Kelleher Award was presented to O’Neill by Connell School Interim Associate Dean for Graduate Programs Andrew Dwyer, an associate professor, at a campus event held during Reunion Weekend in June.

After the award presentation, O’Neill joined Connell School Clinical Associate Professor Laura White for a conversation and audience Q&A. —Kathleen Sullivan

New Partnership Offers Employees Wellness Resources and Support Boston College has established a partnership with human resources services firm KGA to offer employees and their adult household members confidential access to wellness resources and support, including around-the-clock availability of licensed counselors and literature, webinars, podcasts, and scheduled consultations on topics ranging from financial planning to nutrition.

The service, launched by BC’s Department of Human Resources in June, marks a transition from a standalone Faculty/ Staff Assistance Program to a more integrated model that incorporates the Healthy You program and various employee well-being efforts.

“When I’ve met with individual employees who have reached out for help, one common theme has been their concern over not being able to do their job as effectively as they would like to because of personal concerns,” said Director of Employee Wellbeing Marie Elena Gioiella. “They’re looking for support so that

they can maintain their focus at work. It speaks to their commitment and dedication to their jobs.

“We want to do everything we can to support employees in their work and in their relationships here at Boston College.

Managers and supervisors have a lot on their plates, and no one person can be an expert on all topics. But through KGA, employees can find the resources they need.”

KGA was selected for its 40 years of experience, robust collection of offerings, 24/7 access to a vast network of licensed mental health counselors, website translation offerings, and commitment to confidentiality, according to Gioiella.

KGA’s wellness services are available at no cost to all BC employees and members of their household over the age of 18.

To access KGA, log in to my.kgalifeservices.com with company code bostoncollege. There is also a KGA Mobile app available for download.

—Christine Balquist

OBITUARIES

Rev. Michael Himes, 75 Widely respected Catholic theologian Rev. Michael J. Himes, a beloved faculty member at Boston College for almost three decades, died on June 10 at the age of 75.

From 1993 to 2021, Fr. Himes was a professor of theology at BC, where his teaching, preaching, and ministry became integral to many aspects of the Boston College experience. For more than a decade, he was one of the first members of the University community to greet incoming freshmen and parents as keynote speaker at summer orientation sessions. His hourlength talk, “What Makes a Great University?,” was often met with a standing ovation by both students and parents.

Fr. Himes developed a vocational discernment framework called the “Key Three Questions” which has become woven into the fabric of reflection at Boston College.

The three questions: “What brings you joy?

What are you good at? And who does the world need you to be?” also served as the foundation of many Boston College retreat programs, in particular, the Center for Student Formation’s “Halftime” retreat.

For many years, he preached at the weekly noon Mass on Wednesdays, filling St. Mary’s Chapel with students, faculty, and staff who sought his gifts as a homilist and remarkable ability to make the Gospel accessible from the pulpit. In recognition of these gifts, he was invited to be the homilist at Boston College’s Sesquicentennial Anniversary Mass, celebrated at Fenway Park in front of a crowd of approximately 20,000. His homily exhorted all Boston College educated students to “give away” the gift of receiving a BC education: “The measure of the success of your education at Boston College is the measure to which people’s lives are richer, fuller, and more genuinely human because you did go to Boston College.”

Fr. Himes also delivered many wellattended public addresses during his time at Boston College, perhaps most notably as the inaugural speaker for the “Last Lecture Series” (2008) and as featured speaker at the Church in the 21st Century Center’s Agape Latte program, where he discussed family (2014) and hope (2016).

As a lecturer and professor of theology, Fr. Himes was known for his dynamic, animated lectures, quick wit, charitable sense of humor, and astounding ability to quote and synthesize great works of scholarship, all without notes. He often said the key to being a great teacher is to “Love what you teach and to love who you teach,” and the immense popularity of his classes appeared to confirm the success of his approach, particularly his course, “The Problem of Belief in Modernity,” which scrutinized the most notable proponents and critics of faith to ultimately shape a foundation for responsible belief in Catholicism.

In 2002, the BC chapter of Phi Beta Kappa selected him as Teacher of the Year.

In addition to courses co-taught with his dear friend and colleague, Michael J. Buckley, S.J. (the former faculty member and director of BC’s Jesuit Institute who

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Rev. Michael Himes photo by lee pellegrini

died in 2019), Fr. Himes regarded teaching alongside his beloved younger brother and fellow priest, BC Professor of Theology Kenneth Himes, O.F.M., as one of his life’s greatest blessings. Their offices were adjacent to one another in Stokes Hall, and they co-authored the book Fullness of Faith (1993), which explores the “public significance of theology” and was awarded the Catholic Press Association Book Award in 1994.

Fr. Himes’ other notable publications include Doing the Truth in Love: Conversations about God, Relationships, and Service (1995), Ongoing Incarnation: Johann Adam Möhler and the Beginnings of Modern Ecclesiology (1997), and the book and video series The Mystery of Faith: An Introduction to Catholicism (2004). He received honorary degrees from St. Joseph’s College, Molloy College, Sacred Heart University, Felician College, and Holy Cross College of Notre Dame.

Fr. Himes’ love for Boston College was well noted among members of the BC community. When interviewed in 2021, shortly before his retirement, he shared this parting thought with the Boston College Chronicle in gratitude for his career on the Heights: “Being a part of Boston College is not only a job or profession; it is a vocation. It’s a lifelong project which one undertakes, not only for one’s self, but for all who will enter this ongoing conversation. At BC, we’re engaged in an ongoing conversation which enables us to come together as a community. Central to Boston College is that it’s a place where people are giving themselves away to others, and in doing so, we become what is most valuable to say about being human. We become the people who celebrate the reality of God—that God is a pure and perfect self-gift. Boston College has given me rich frameworks and many opportunities to participate in conversation, for which I am profoundly grateful.”

—John Walsh is director of creative video services in the Office of University Communications Read the full obituary at https://bit.ly/revmichael-himes-obituary

Edward ‘Eddie’ Miller, 91 Edward D. “Eddie” Miller ’57, M.B.A. ’68, Ph.D. ’90, a popular figure in Boston College Athletics for decades who also directed public relations for the University, died on July 5. He was 91.

A Dorchester native, Mr. Miller came to BC’s College of Business of Administration in 1953 after a 14-month stint with the Marine Corps in Korea, and made an immediate impression on the Eagles varsity baseball team as a good-hitting left fielder with exemplary defensive skills. A bout with polio the summer after his sophomore year landed him in the hospital for 10 months, during which time he kept up with his course work by listening to reel-to-reel tapes of his classes. With one leg completely paralyzed and the other partially immobilized, Mr. Miller’s athletic career at the Heights was over, but he had just begun to forge strong ties with BC Athletics.

For some years, BC had played a majority of its home football games at Fenway Park, but at the end of the 1956 season the Boston Red Sox ended the arrangement. In January of 1957, BC President Joseph R. N. Maxwell, S.J., announced the University would build a new football stadium to open that fall. As fundraising efforts for the new facility began, Mr. Miller—who had been elected Class of 1957 president—spearheaded a “Dollar Per Student” campaign that yielded $2,600.

That was not the extent of Mr. Miller’s or his fellow undergraduates’ involvement in the opening of Alumni Stadium, as he recounted in a 1982 interview with The Heights: Students supplied labor—especially in reconditioning the stands from Alumni Field, the old venue for BC football—and as the stadium’s September 21, 1957, debut drew nearer, they aided in painting, cleaning up “and tying loose ends,” he said.

During the Alumni Stadium campaign, Mr. Miller had met William Flynn ’39, who at the time was secretary for BC’s Alumni Association. Later in 1957, Flynn was appointed athletic director, and he offered Mr. Miller the position of business manager for athletics.

But the job Mr. Miller coveted was sports information director, and when it became available in the fall of 1960, he put his name in. While he lacked the journalistic background of most SIDs, Mr. Miller had developed friendships with Boston-area sportswriters as well as athletics personnel at other colleges. An acumen for public relations, combined with his in-depth knowledge of, and love for, his alma mater made him the ideal candidate.

Mr. Miller’s contribution to BC Athletics was recognized when he entered the BC Varsity Club Athletic Hall of Fame in 1977, three years after he had moved on to become the University’s director of public relations. Among other accomplishments during his years as public relations director, Mr. Miller revamped several University publications and founded Boston College Colleague, a biweekly newspaper to present campus news, events, and features aimed at University administrators, faculty, and staff.

Colleague became Boston College Biweekly in 1980 and Boston College Chronicle in 1992.

Edward D. “Eddie” Miller ’57, M.B.A.’68, Ph.D.’90

Mr. Miller also played an integral part in obtaining support for the University, through his network of relationships formed with BC alumni in the business and political communities, during what would be a period of major growth during the presidential administration of J. Donald Monan, S.J., for whom he later served as special assistant.

“Eddie Miller was an ‘old-fashioned’ public relations professional who perfected his trade in the days before texts, emails, and cable television networks took over the industry,” said Reid Oslin ’68, M.S.P. ’71, who succeeded Mr. Miller as SID in 1974.

“He was a marvelous ‘in-person’ representative of Boston College, always with a sincere handshake, a warm smile, a funny story, and a genuine eagerness to promote the University that he so loved.”

—University Communications Read the full obituary at https://bit.ly/eddiemiller-bc-obituary

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.

Technology Consultant Assistant Director, Office of Sponsored Programs Business Systems Analyst Assistant/Associate Director, Annual Giving Programs, Law School Teacher Assistant Broadcast Engineer, ACC Network Production Associate Director, Participatory Giving Patrol Officer Assistant Director, Career Education Career Services Assistant Senior Construction Project Manager Administrative Assistant to the Dean, Woods College Grant Administration Specialist Programs Assistant Manager, Recruitment and Operations

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BC Global

Faith and the Struggle for Justice Through BC’s Arrupe International Immersion program, students encounter the complexities of justice and human rights in El Salvador

BY ROSANNE PELLEGRINI STAFF WRITER

One of Boston College’s hallmark service-immersion programs has resumed for the first time since January 2020, reaffirming for a new cohort of Boston College students the deep ties of the Jesuits to El Salvador.

Through Arrupe International Immersion, two groups composed of about a dozen BC undergraduates, two adult mentors, and a community partner visited the Central American country from May 25 through June 2. For the students, the trip was the culmination of a yearlong commitment to the Arrupe program that included weekly community building and education, and ongoing faith formation.

“Our initial plans didn’t take us to El Salvador, but COVID spikes forced us to pivot,” said former Campus Ministry Associate Director Ryan Heffernan, who left BC this summer. “Given how closely connected El Salvador is to some of the themes of our immersion program, it was an ideal place for us to resume post-confinement,” and provided a meaningful experience for both students and in-country partner organizations, he added.

Through the immersions, themed “Faith and the Struggle for Justice,” students learned how faith communities in San Salvador and Morazan advocate for human rights, from the civil war years (1972-1992) to the present day, according

to Campus Minister Emily Egan, who runs the Arrupe program.

Partner organizations included CRISPAZ (Christians for Peace in El Salvador), an ecumenical faith-based organization dedicated to building solidarity between the Catholic Church of the poor and marginalized communities in El Salvador and communities in the United States, Canada, Australia, and other countries; and the Center for Global Education and Experience, whose regional study centers in Central America, Mexico, and Southern Africa offer programming which emphasizes social justice and community engagement.

“Arrupe participants learn about the complex realities of the countries we visit by hearing the stories of our hosts in their own words, in their own spaces. Those moments of encounter and accompaniment allow us to foster a spirit of mutuality,” according to Heffernan. “Our hope is that, by taking part in the yearlong program and visiting with our partner communities, students are prepared to put what they have learned into action—embracing [the late Superior General of the Society of Jesus] Pedro Arrupe’s call to be a person for and with others.”

Among the groups’ robust roster of activities was a visit to the Jesuit University of Central America to pay homage to the six Jesuits and two lay women martyred there in 1989 during the Salvadoran civil war.

The BC contingents also met with UCA students for discussions.

Victoria Newell '22 in front of the Jesuit martyrs grave at the University of Central America.

Dylan Breen ‘24 reflecting in El Ocotillo. photos courtesy of bc campus ministry

“The legacy of the martyrs continues to influence the work we do at Jesuit institutions around the world, so introducing current Boston College students to that is deeply important,” Heffernan said.

Participants also met with members of the Committee of Family Members of Migrants who have died or disappeared, to hear from those who have lost loved ones trying to migrate to the U.S. They visited the gravesite and home of Saint Oscar Romero, attended Mass, and had a homestay in the rural community of El Ocotillo,

being transformed by the stories of the people we accompany and letting them fuel the part we can play in the fight for justice.

“I think that for all of us, perhaps especially the seniors, it was a perfect way to end the academic year as it reminded us that our duty to be men and women for others extends well beyond the confines of the school year and the Heights,” she added.

Of the resumption of the international trips after the pandemic forced its tempo-

BC students on a hike hosted by Arrupe Immersion community partners in El Ocotillo.

with which BC has had a relationship for more than two decades.

A significant aspect of their faith formation experience was evening prayer and reflection—which is grounded in Ignatian spirituality and invites students to pay attention to the way God is calling them on the immersion and beyond. The aim, according to organizers, is that students translate their learning into action.

“I was incredibly moved by the generosity and hospitality of the Salvadoran people who invited us into their lives and homes,” said Victoria Newell ’22, a student leader of the CRISPAZ group. “The stories they shared opened my eyes to new ways of seeing, and I anticipate them continuing to shape me well beyond the completion of the trip. That’s what Arrupe is all about:

rary suspension, Heffernan said: “Pope Francis has written and talked about a Church that isn’t ‘confined’ but goes ‘out into the streets.’ COVID has confined each of us in different ways and it made travel for Campus Ministry’s immersion programs impossible. While that offered an invitation to reimagine our work and create some local and virtual programming, it has been great to say ‘yes’ this year to the invitation from our partner organizations to return to their communities and families.”

An Arrupe trip to El Salvador also took place during Holy Week. Information about Arrupe International Immersion is available through the Campus Ministry website, bc.edu/ministry.