PUBLISHED BY THE BOSTON COLLEGE OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
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Around Campus
Changes
Counting Down
France honors 102-year-old professor emeritus; a show of solidarity from some Boston College Jesuits.
New role for Student Affairs VP Moore; Connell School dean to step down next year.
After almost 50 years at the Heights, University Controller Joyce King is preparing for her retirement.
SUMMER 2020
PUBLISHED BY THE BOSTON COLLEGE OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
BC Plans for Aug. 31 Start of Academic Year BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR
Boston College continues to prepare for the opening of the 2020-2021 academic year, with Aug. 31 as the intended starting date, and has drawn up a series of guidelines and policies to protect the University community against the threat of COVID-19. These directives, the result of extensive University-wide planning in accordance with local and state regulations, govern the use of residence halls, campus workplaces, classrooms, dining facilities, and many other facets of University operations. This information is available on the Reopening
Boston College website [bc.edu/reopen] and has been communicated by Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley and Executive Vice President Michael Lochhead through email to BC students, faculty, and staff during the spring and summer. The Reopening Boston College website outlines the criteria—chief among them the necessity to maintain social distancing and wear face masks—the University will use, and options that offices and departments should consider, in bringing back its employees to campus. For example, BC will, “to the extent practicable,” prioritize the return of employees less able to perform essential tasks remotely. In addition
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University Will Focus on Race and Racism Boston College has announced several initiatives, including a Forum on Racial Justice in America and several faith-guided partnerships and programs, to address issues of race and racism in the United States. These initiatives, described in a letter earlier this summer to the BC community from University President William P. Leahy, S.J., and senior administrators, come in the wake of an ongoing national expression of anger, concern, and frustration about race-related matters in the U.S. Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley, Vice President for Student Affairs Joy Moore, and Haub Vice President for University Mission and Ministry Jack Butler, S.J.,
Boston College’s plans for reopening are the result of extensive, ongoing discussions and preparations among offices and departments across the University. photo by lee pellegrini
The Heights Now Smoke-Free
BC Law Dean Vincent Rougeau will direct the Boston College Forum on Racial Justice in America. photo by gary wayne gilbert
were the other signatories. The letter described America as “a na-
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A new policy that took effect Aug. 1 aims to make Boston College a tobacco- and smoke-free environment. Under the policy, smoking, vaping, or using any tobacco or plant product is prohibited on all Boston College campuses, including buildings, facilities, grounds, and any other property. The ban encompasses indoor and outdoor spaces, private offices, academic and administrative buildings, all areas of residence halls, athletic venues, dining facilities, and vehicles owned or used by the University. The policy reflects Boston College’s commitment to providing a safe and healthy work, learning, and community environment, according to the University. “Tobacco use is a major cause of preventable disease and death,” reads the introduction to the policy. “Smoking,
tobacco use, and exposure to second-hand smoke have been found to cause heart disease, cancer, asthma, bronchitis, and other respiratory problems. Electronic devices, more commonly referred to as electronic cigarettes, pose health risks and contain detectable levels of carcinogens and toxic chemicals. The purpose of this policy is to provide reasonable protection of the health of all members of the Boston College community from the effects of all forms of smoking and tobacco use.” The new policy states that “it is the responsibility of all faculty, staff, students, parents, alumni, and visitors to observe and enforce the smoking policy while on Boston College property. In implementing and enforcing this policy, common courtesy and consideration toward others should be Continued on page 11
For colleges and universities, it’s critical to be right out front in educating students, as well as the rest of the campus community, on following guidelines and observing restrictions. We have to provide both education and reassurance so students will know what to do and where to go, and that University Health Services is ready to help them. – univ. health services/primary care sports medicine director dr. douglas comeau, page 5
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Summer 2020
Around Campus
Mark of Distinction Sociology Professor Emeritus John D. Donovan ’39, M.S. ’41 could have stayed home from World War II: He had a medical problem that would have excused him from serving in the armed forces. But Donovan went anyway, and wound up in France a week after D-Day. This summer, France honored Donovan as Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d’Honneur, the highest French distinction for military and civil accomplishments. The formal acknowledgement, made on June 6 by Arnaud Mentré, consul general of France in Boston, coincided with the 76th anniversary of D-Day—the launch of Operation Overlord, a combined naval, air and land assault on Nazi-occupied France by Allied forces on June 6, 1944.
John Donovan reads the letter announcing his honor from France.
“This award testifies to France’s high esteem for your service,” said Mentré of the 102-year-old Donovan, recipient of the U.S. Bronze Star Medal for meritorious achievement in a combat zone. “It is a sign of France’s infinite gratitude and appreciation for your personal and precious contribution to the United States’ role in the liberation of our country during World War II. The people of France will never forget your courage and your devotion to the great cause of freedom.” The Légion d’Honneur was established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte and retained by all subsequent French governments and régimes to acknowledge excellent civil or military conduct. A Peabody, Mass., native and the son of Irish immigrants, Donovan was initially declared “4F”—a military classification inASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
Jack Dunn SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
dicating that the candidate is unacceptable for service in the Armed Forces—based on a heart condition, which freed him to pursue his academic interests stateside and out of harm’s way. Frustrated that he couldn’t serve his country, he convinced his local doctor to issue a clean bill of health, and soon afterwards was enlisted, commissioned a second lieutenant in the Medical Administrative Corps, and assigned to the 3rd Battalion of the 331st Infantry, 83rd Infantry Division, which landed on Normandy’s Omaha Beach one week after it had been cleared on D-Day. Like many WWII veterans, Donovan minimized his wartime involvement, simply noting in a 2012 Boston College Chronicle interview that his battalion “went from Normandy to the German side of the Elbe River; that was the end of the war. I was lucky; I came out of it in one piece.” His daughter, Christine Moynihan, recounted a much more vivid and horrific narrative: “He speaks of [his] anxieties, the worry he and his comrades had for friends who had gone ahead, the stress during the ‘waiting days’ in Portsmouth, England, for their turn to move on to France, and ultimately, their own sleepless night in the bowels of a landing craft. “He was 26 years old and speaks of trying to help so many young men, calling for litter bearers, morphine or chaplains as required by his advance triage responsibility. He marched for months through France, into Luxembourg and Belgium, and on into Germany. At Christmas 1944, he [served] in the Battle of the Bulge, and the following spring he helped liberate a concentration camp. We are so lucky—all of us—to have him with us now. He provides vivid context to those of us who were literally given the lives we have today by the ‘Greatest Generation.’” Following the war, he started his academic career at Fordham as an assistant professor, teaching there from 1946-1952, then earned a Ph.D. in sociology from Harvard, before joining the BC faculty. A co-founder of BC’s Sociology Department, Donovan taught full time from 1952 until 1988, then part time until 2002. He also played a role in the development of academic advising for BC’s student-athletes during the 1970s, and co-founded the BC Association of Retired Faculty. —Phil Gloudemans
CONTRIBUTING STAFF
Sean Smith
Witness of Gospel Love Against a somber backdrop of gray skies and threatening clouds, Jesuits at Boston College came together on June 5, on the St. Ignatius Church lawn, in prayerful solidarity with the Black community. The gathering was organized by members of Saint Peter Faber Jesuit community at BC, in response to the horrific death of George Floyd at the hands of police. “These are trying days, and our witness of Gospel love is a tool for raising awareness and showing support,” wrote School of Theology and Ministry students Eric Immel, S.J., and Brian Strassburger, S.J., in their invitation to join the gathering, which was extended to members of other Boston-area Jesuit communities. “This public prayer is a simple but important thing to do,” they noted. After walking together to the church, wearing masks and keeping appropriate social distance, the Jesuits began with a period of silent prayer, kneeling for eight minutes and 46 seconds, the length of time that George Floyd was pinned to the ground by Minneapolis police officers. The group then stood in silent prayer before praying the Rosary, and then ending in song. “We wanted to keep the focus on the issue of racism,” according to Jesuits Immel and Strassburger, a trustee associate on BC’s Board of Trustees. They had encouraged attendees—among them Haub Vice President for Mission and Ministry Jack
Christine Balquist Phil Gloudemans Ed Hayward Rosanne Pellegrini Kathleen Sullivan
Chronicle
PHOTOGRAPHERS
www.bc.edu/bcnews chronicle@bc.edu
Patricia Delaney EDITOR
Jesuits at Boston College gathered outside St. Ignatius Church in prayerful solidarity with the Black community against racism. photos courtesy of brian strassburger, s.j.
Lee Pellegrini Peter Julian
Butler, S.J., Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences Dean Gregory Kalscheur, S.J., and School of Social Work Assistant Professor Alejandro Olayo-Méndez, S.J.—“to bring signs bearing the words ‘Black Lives Matter,’ ‘Racism is a sin,’ or other papal or scriptural reference to anti-racism.” Said Fr. Kalscheur: “It was a genuine consolation to be able to pray in this way with brother Jesuits in the midst of this time in the life of our country.” —University Communications
The Boston College Chronicle (USPS 009491), the internal newspaper for faculty and staff, is published biweekly from September to May by Boston College, with editorial offices at the Office of University Communications, 3 Lake Street, Brighton, MA 02135 (617)552-3350. Distributed free to faculty and staff offices and other locations on campus. Periodicals postage paid at Boston, MA and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: send address changes to The Boston College Chronicle, Office of University Communications, 3 Lake Street, Brighton, MA 02135. A flipbook edition of Chronicle is available via e-mail. Send requests to chronicle@bc.edu.
Chronicle
Summer 2020
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Moore Will Be Director of New Pine Manor Institute BY JACK DUNN ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
Vice President for Student Affairs Joy Moore will become the inaugural executive director of the Pine Manor Institute for Student Success, which will oversee outreach and academic support programs for underrepresented, first-generation, lowincome students at both Boston College and Pine Manor College, which integrated with Boston College this summer. Key offices at Boston College engaged in supporting underserved students, including Learning to Learn, Options through Education, and the Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center, will be placed under the umbrella of the Pine Manor Institute for Student Success, which Moore will lead while continuing her duties in Student Affairs. All of Pine Manor’s
Joy Moore will continue to serve as vice president for student affairs while directing the institute. photo by lee pellegrini
approximately 200 students will have access to BC’s support programs through the institute. With the $50 million endowment established by Boston College, the institute will also link Pine Manor College students to such BC campus programs as the Montserrat Coalition, the Volunteer and Service Learning Center, Appalachia Volunteers, and 4Boston. Boston College and Brookline-based Pine Manor College, a 111-year old private liberal arts college whose recent financial struggles had threatened its reaccreditation, signed an agreement on July 1 to integrate the two institutions in a common mission to serve first-generation, high-financial need students. Under the agreement, Pine Manor College students will remain at their school in a “teach out” arrangement for a period of up to two years. Students currently enrolled at Pine Manor will be able to continue their Associate of Arts or Bachelor of Arts degree programs in classes taught by Pine Manor faculty on the Pine Manor College campus. Pine Manor College students who gain admission to Boston College’s Woods College of Advancing Studies can finish their Bachelor of Arts degree at Boston College.
The University’s integration of Pine Manor College, which serves a population that is 85 percent students of color, 84 percent first generation, and 80 percent low income, was praised by New England Commission of Higher Education President Barbara Brittingham, who described it as “an exemplary model of what can happen when schools look to one another as potential partners in pursuit of the common good.” University President William P. Leahy, S.J., said Moore was well suited to serve as the inaugural executive director of the Pine Manor Institute for Student Success because of her strategic thinking and planning skills and her experience in supporting students as vice president for student affairs at Boston College and former leader of the Archer School in Los Angeles, the Dana Hall School in Wellesley, and the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. “I am grateful that Joy is willing to take on additional responsibilities in this important new role,” said Fr. Leahy. “She will bring great experience and commitment to students as the inaugural leader of the Pine Manor Institute for Student Success.” Moore, a popular administrator who has won praise from students for her leadership and accessibility, said she was excited to take on this new role, which will expand access to the programs that have helped Boston College to become a national leader in student retention and graduation rates among Pell-eligible students. “I am excited to be named the inaugural executive director of the Pine Manor Institute for Student Success,” said Moore. “The creation of the institute demonstrates Boston College’s commitment to developing a national model for how best to ensure pathways to success for first-generation students and students from under resourced communities. “Partnering with the Pine Manor College Success Coaches, who provide support for Pine Manor students, will be key to designing a model that can be individualized for each student. It will also require the involvement of many talented colleagues at BC and Pine Manor College to make the institute a reality. I look forward to all of the opportunities the institute will provide the students as they chart their course to success.” Moore, who had also served as director of University Commencement since 2018, will be succeeded in that role by Associate Vice President for Alumni Relations Leah DeCosta. “Boston College and Pine Manor College are joining forces to advance the crucial mission of expanding educational opportunities for traditionally underserved and underrepresented students,” said Pine Manor College President Thomas O’Reilly. “It is a win-win for both institutions that will help preserve the mission and heritage of Pine Manor College through the Pine Manor Institute for Student Success at Boston College.”
“I am dedicated to seeing the Connell School of Nursing through its reopening during COVID. I’m gratified to think that by the time a new dean is here, we will be in a much better place in terms of the virus and it will be a good time to turn things over to the next person.” —Susan Gennaro photo by lee pellegrini
Gennaro to Step Down as Connell School Dean BY KATHLEEN SULLIVAN STAFF WRITER
Connell School of Nursing Dean and Professor Susan Gennaro, an internationally respected nurse researcher who has led the Connell School since 2008, has announced she will step down as dean at the end of the 2020-2021 academic year. She will remain on the Connell School faculty. “I am proud of what the faculty and I have been able to do at the Connell School of Nursing,” said Gennaro, ahead of starting her 13th year as dean. “We have made substantive progress in meeting all of our strategic aims. It has been an honor to serve and I look forward to continuing to serve as a very productive faculty member.” A distinguishing aspect of Gennaro’s tenure has been the advancement of academic excellence in the context of valuesbased student formation, as exemplified by the creation of retreats for undergraduates (SCRUBS) and graduate students (VITALS). Curricular change has occurred on all levels, most notably the Doctor of Nursing Practice program launched in 2019 that educates advanced practice nurses at the highest level and represents the new gold standard for preparing nurse practitioners. In addition, Gennaro has overseen the introduction of several international programs which have provided undergraduates and graduate students with clinical and cultural experiences that have expanded their understanding of global health care issues and disparities. The Connell School also has formed collaborations with two Swiss universities, Haute École de Santé Vaud and LaSource, and with Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. One of Gennaro’s special commitments has been to build a diverse and inclusive CSON community. She cites programs like the Seacole Scholars and KILN (Keys to Inclusive Leadership in Nursing) as initiatives that nurture and promote future nurse leaders who may be first-generation students or come from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in professional nursing. “Susan Gennaro and I initially got to know each other in our first year as Boston College deans during the 2008-2009 financial crisis,” recalled Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley. “In the dozen years since, I’ve learned a great deal from her and have always admired her passion for nursing education and research and for the Connell School community. Dean Gennaro will leave behind quite a legacy as she prepares to step down as dean in the summer of 2021, and all of us at Boston College are
better for her leadership.” Her leadership skills and acumen were needed like never before when the COVID-19 pandemic reached Massachusetts, disrupting not only teaching and learning at the school, but also affecting the clinical placements for students and the health and safety of faculty serving in hospitals and other medical settings. Gennaro met regularly with other nursing school deans and deans at Jesuit universities and colleges, and she and her team worked with the state board of nursing to ensure virtual simulation satisfied the direct patient care requirements so students could sit for their licensure exams. Gennaro even found herself riding around Boston bringing KN-95 masks to faculty members who were working in hospitals and other settings that lacked sufficient personal protective equipment. “I am dedicated to seeing the Connell School of Nursing through its reopening during COVID,” said Gennaro. “I’m gratified to think that by the time a new dean is here, we will be in a much better place in terms of the virus and it will be a good time to turn things over to the next person.” Gennaro hopes that lessons learned from the pandemic experience will improve health care in the U.S. Not only does there need to be better stockpiling of PPE, she said, but “there’s a realization we need to focus on areas we haven’t thought enough about, such as health promotion, mental health, and support for new mothers. We need to expand telehealth visits and let nurse practitioners work to the full scope of their abilities. And we need to make sure nurses are at the table when decisions and policies are made.” Gennaro’s research focuses on perinatal nursing and improving outcomes for preterm babies and their mothers. She is the co-principal investigator of a study, funded by the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities at the NIH, of a prenatal care intervention for pregnant minority women experiencing emotional distress. Conducted in Ohio and the Bronx, the study seeks to determine if cognitive behavioral interventions to promote healthy lifestyle behaviors, such as following good nutrition and walking, can lessen anxiety, stress, and depressive symptoms. She also is editor of the highly ranked Journal of Nursing Scholarship, which has a readership of more than 130,000 nurses in more than 100 countries. Quigley said a committee will be created to begin the search for the Connell School’s next dean.
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Summer 2020
Desperate Scenes A report co-authored by a BC School of Social Work faculty member shows extent of health crisis at U.S.-Mexico border BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR
A joint report by the Boston College School of Social Work and Harvard Global Health Institute describes a serious public health crisis at the United States-Mexico border, where thousands of migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. are vulnerable to infectious diseases, chronic health problems, mental health risks, violence, and criminal activity. Desperate scenes of hazardous living conditions are depicted in the study, coauthored by BCSSW Assistant Professor Alejandro Olayo-Méndez, S.J: shelters with populations up to three times their capacity; encampments where thousands share a handful of outdoor showers and portable toilets; insufficient access to clean water, forcing some migrants to bathe in the contaminated Rio Grande; and people of all ages receiving little or no care for PTSD, depression, and other mental health problems. In “A Population in Peril: A Health Crisis Among Asylum Seekers on the Northern Border of Mexico,” Fr. OlayoMéndez and his co-authors call for “a comprehensive response” to the crisis, including changes in U.S. and Mexican policies regarding migrants and asylum seekers and coordinated health care efforts involving both governmental and non-governmental actors. “The full extent of the health crisis at the border has yet to be documented,” states the report, “but it is clear that it is growing. As such, sustainable solutions are needed now more than ever.” Fr. Olayo-Méndez’s BCSSW colleague Professor Thomas Crea was among those aiding in the ideation of the report, which is available at www.bc.edu/content/dam/ bc1/schools/sw/pdf/A_Population_in_Peril_HGHI_BCSSW.pdf. While health concerns about migrants and asylum seekers have been given public exposure through advocates and media coverage, the HGHI-BCSSW report aims to provide a far-reaching basis for assessing needs and formulating responses. Its findings are based on data collected by international NGOs, reporters, and service providers, and augmented with testimonials—including some collected by Fr. Olayo-Méndez last year—from individuals on the Mexican border. “The report is an effort to show the situation from different angles, and through different voices, as a humanitarian crisis rather than a ‘security crisis,’” said Fr. Olayo-Méndez, who has studied the intersection of humanitarian aid and migration, as well as questions regarding human rights, inequality, transit migration, mesolevel structures, and the so-called “Migration Industry.” “We wanted to stress the public health conditions, and especially the
mental health implications for migrants, who have already endured so much to reach the border. “There is an important role for the social work profession here, because of the big-picture perspective we bring: how to serve and advocate for migrants in a holistic way, and to work with the staff that serves this population on the ground.” The health crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border has been building for the past two years, according to Fr. Olayo-Méndez and his co-authors, in the wake of policy changes and practices enacted or encouraged by the Trump administration that affect migrants’ ability to seek asylum—a right guaranteed under U.S. law. One is
Asst. Prof. Alejandro Olayo-Méndez, S.J. (BCSSW) photo by lee pellegrini
“metering,” which restricts the number of migrants requesting asylum each day at a U.S. point of entry, requiring them to remain in Mexico for their turn to state their claim for asylum. Another is the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), where asylum seekers who have already been received and inspected by the U.S. government must wait in Mexico for their legal proceedings. The result has been a logjam at entry points along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to “A Population in Peril.” Since January of 2019, under the MPP, the U.S. government has sent more than 64,000 individuals to Mexico to await legal proceedings; of these, 537 have been granted leave to stay in the U.S., and the average wait time for the initial immigration court date is almost 90 days. They have been joined by thousands more would-be asylum seekers idled by metering. The asylum process often takes three or more interviews before a decision is made. For now, during this time, asylum seekers have to wait in Mexico. Meanwhile, the report notes, where in past years the typical U.S.-bound migrant was most likely to be a single adult, it is
Encampment near the U.S.-Mexico border.
photo by alejandro olayo-méndez, s.j.
“The more evidence we present, the more light we throw on the situation and, our hope is, the more voices will join together to demand a change—and that the mounting voices will generate a response from both sides,” says Fr. Olayo-Méndez. “Above all, we want to make sure that people know what is going on at the border, to cut through the political dimensions and focus on the human aspect.” now persons in family units or unaccompanied minors who form the majority: The 64,000 people sent to Mexico under MPP included at least 16,000 children and 500 infants less than a year old. Increasing numbers of these migrants are fleeing poverty or violence, and given the arduous journey many take—often facing personal as well as financial danger—they are likely to arrive at the border physically and emotionally depleted. Some, such as mothers, pregnant women, and LGBTQI individuals, are at particularly high risk. Entry points along the border where asylum seekers must wait are scarcely safe havens, given the spike in demand for essential services like food, shelter, water, and medical supplies. Casas de migrantes—shelters run by faith-based organizations—are typically “underfunded and overburdened,” often forced to ration food or charge for room and board, while rented rooms tend to be costly, overcrowded, and located in unsafe neighborhoods. The options for asylum seekers are to squat in abandoned buildings, sleep in the streets, or join makeshift, large-scale tent encampments. The report was largely researched and compiled before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, and thus does not address its impact. But Fr. Olayo-Méndez said the coronavirus has unquestionably put a further strain on services and contributed to the overall stress and anxiety among the migrants and those aiding them. [The research team has written an opinion piece on COVID-19 at the border, available at https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2020/07/09/ cross-border-implications-of-the-usresponse-to-covid-19-an-escalating-healthcrisis-on-mexicos-northern-border/] “A Population in Peril” concludes with recommendations for the U.S. and Mexican governments, such as ending MPP and
metering; allocating more resources to hire immigration judges; reinstating family case management systems; increasing federally supported accommodation capacity; and developing a long-term, strategic health care plan for asylum seekers. It proposes that NGOs, civil society organizations, and academic centers create educational materials for asylum seekers; empower religious leaders to deliver information on migrants’ health care rights and services available to them; advocate against governmental policies and practices harmful to asylum seekers; and promote the needs of migrants in high-risk populations, such as the LGBTQI community. Fr. Olayo-Méndez acknowledges that the current political situation in the U.S. or Mexico does not augur well for the report’s recommendations, but believes the project has been worthwhile. “The more evidence we present, the more light we throw on the situation and, our hope is, the more voices will join together to demand a change— and that the mounting voices will generate a response from both sides. Above all, we want to make sure that people know what is going on at the border, to cut through the political dimensions and focus on the human aspect.” “The findings of this report make it abundantly clear that the human condition of migrants at our doorstep is precarious,” said BCSSW Dean Gautam Yadama. “These migrants are not only facing a health crisis but a crisis of declining social, economic, and legal rights. The result is a people on the move, a generation of children and families, robbed of their human dignity and life chances. “I am pleased that the Boston College School of Social Work—and our colleague Alejandro Olayo-Méndez in particular— was able to contribute to this report on a very important humanitarian issue.”
Chronicle
Summer 2020
Comeau Directs Health Services, Sports Medicine BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR
Dr. Douglas Comeau, medical director of sports medicine at the Ryan Center for Sports Medicine at Boston University and Boston Medical Center, was appointed director of University Health Services and Primary Care Sports Medicine at Boston College. He began his duties July 2. Comeau succeeds Thomas Nary, M.D., who had headed UHS since 1996. Nary will stay on as a clinical physician at UHS, helping to promote health and wellness among BC students. “It’s been a terrific time,” said Nary, who joined UHS in 1989 as a staff physician. “The people at University Health Services are wonderful, and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to work with them as director—and I’m very happy that will continue.” A Lynn, Mass., native who grew up as a fan of BC sports, Comeau has had a lengthy professional association with the University, having worked under contract since 2009 as a team physician, seeing patients in the UHS and the BC Athletics training rooms. “Even before then, when I was in the Tufts University Family Residency program [2003-2006], I rotated at BC Health Services with Tom Nary, whom I regard as a mentor,” said Comeau. “I liked the camaraderie that I found at UHS, the campus setting, the student body, and the overall atmosphere at BC. I’m delighted to come to the Heights in this new role, and to be able to help the University prepare for what will be a challenging time throughout higher education, given concerns about COVID-19.” Located at 2150 Commonwealth Avenue, the UHS Primary Care Center provides students access to board-certified physicians, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, and on-site specialty consultants affiliated with some of Boston’s finest hospitals. The center provides both inpatient and outpatient services. The transition in UHS leadership heralds a new model of student health care at BC, with primary care sports medicine now a foundational part of health services provided by the University. In addition to its role of serving the overall health needs of BC students, all student athletes— whether in club sports, intramurals, or intercollegiate programs—will now have their primary care needs met through UHS. “It’s managing health care for all,” said Comeau, “and bringing BC athletics under the umbrella of UHS. Ninety-five percent of sports medicine injuries or health conditions are non-surgical situations, so fellowship-trained primary care sports medicine physicians can handle most of them. The spectrum of care might include anything from concussion, musculoskeletal injury, cardiac conditions, and sports-related nutrition to the general physical and mental health of the athlete. So we will work with
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“The COVID-19 pandemic has presented high school students with unprecedented challenges surrounding their academic and personal pursuits.” —Undergraduate Admission Director Grant Gosselin
University Will Be Test Optional for 2020-2021
Dr. Douglas Comeau
Athletics to refine and strengthen the continuum of care for BC’s student athletes.” Interviewed at the time of his appointment, Comeau said he was ready to jump right in and help spearhead the Universitywide planning effort now underway to address the potential threat posed by COVID-19 during, and likely beyond, the coming academic year. “Boston Medical Center was a hotbed for the virus, and my colleagues and I learned a lot from our experiences,” he said. “For colleges and universities, it’s critical to be right out front in educating students, as well as the rest of the campus community, on following guidelines and observing restrictions. We have to provide both education and reassurance so students will know what to do and where to go, and that University Health Services is ready to help them. “Fortunately, through technology and telehealth, there have emerged new pathways that enable students to get assistance with health care needs at the click of a button. These will be invaluable to us as we move forward.” Comeau earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry-biochemistry at Colby College and a doctor of osteopathic medicine degree at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine. After graduating from the Tufts Family Medicine Residency program, he was a fellow in primary care sports medicine at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. In addition to a slew of professional experience and activities—that include serving as finish line medical tent physician at the Boston Marathon, medical director for the Boston Triathlon, and BU sports medicine fellowship director, concussion clinic director, and head team physician—Comeau holds academic appointments as a clinical associate professor of family medicine at the BU School of Medicine and a lecturer at Tufts School of Medicine. He also serves on the national committee for the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine and was on the national committee for the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Boston College will become test optional for first-year applicants during the 20202021 admission cycle due to ongoing concerns about future test dates and the availability of test centers caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the University announced this spring. BC intends to return to using standardized testing once the pandemic has subsided. Director of Undergraduate Admission Grant Gosselin said that high school students who are unable to submit standardized test results this coming year, or who choose not to, will not be disadvantaged in BC’s selection process. For those students who do submit standardized testing results, Boston College will use the scores as one component in the holistic review of applications. “The COVID-19 pandemic has presented high school students with unprecedented challenges surrounding their academic and personal pursuits,” said Gosselin. “The limited availability of standardized tests this year has added an additional level of stress to many students who have been unable to register for testing. We hope this decision puts those applicants’ minds at ease, and will allow them to focus on the other important aspects of their college search and application process in the months ahead.” Gosselin said that in reviewing applications that do not include standardized test results, the Undergraduate Admission Committee will place greater emphasis
SNAPSHOT
on other required application credentials, including academic performance, rigor of coursework, placement in class, personal statements, recommendations, and cocurricular involvement. Students who wish to further quantify their academic successes are welcome to submit non-required credentials such as Advanced Placement scores, predicted IB scores, or SAT Subject Test results. “At Boston College, standardized testing provides meaningful context as we evaluate candidates with varying degrees of curricular rigor across more than 6,000 high schools from which we receive applications each year,” said Gosselin. “Furthermore, our research routinely demonstrates that the inclusion of standardized testing in our holistic review process provides meaningful predictive value toward ensuring student success. To that end, we expect to restore standardized testing as a requirement for applicants once the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have subsided.” This past year, Boston College received nearly 30,000 applications for the 2,300 seats in the Class of 2024. The average SAT for admitted students was 1453, and the average ACT was 33. Boston College admitted students from 49 U.S. states, two U.S. territories, and 60 countries around the world. For more information, see www.bc.edu/ admission. —Jack Dunn PHOTO BY LEE PELLEGRINI
How do prospective students get to know a university these days? With campus visits off the table, the Office of Undergraduate Admission is bringing Boston College, and its students—including Brian Gardner ’23 and Julia Fraone ’22 (above)—into the homes of high schoolers everywhere. Read more at https://bit.ly/covid-admission-tour.
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TRANSITIONS
Summer 2020
A look at some key administrative appointments that have taken place this summer at BC
Patrick Kraft Takes Reins As BC Director of Athletics BY JACK DUNN ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
Temple University Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Patrick Kraft, considered one of the best athletics administrators in NCAA Division I sports, was named the William V. Campbell Director of Athletics at Boston College. Kraft, who has been credited with transforming Temple’s athletics program through new coaching hires, investments in facilities, and a focus on student-athlete welfare and improved classroom performance, succeeds Martin Jarmond, who was appointed as director of athletics at UCLA in May. As director of intercollegiate athletics at Temple, Kraft directed a $59 million budget, a department of 180 employees, and 500 student-athletes in 19 sports that compete in the American Athletics Conference, the Big East Conference, and the ECAC. He was responsible for all facets of athletics administration, including academics, NCAA Title IX compliance, diversity, finances, and athletics, and led the hiring of new head coaches in football, men’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, and field hockey. Temple sports accomplishments during
Patrick Kraft
his tenure included a 2016 AAC football championship, five straight bowl appearances for the first time in school history, a 2015-2016 men’s basketball AAC regular season championship, and the first NCAA Tournament appearance for women’s basketball in five years. Kraft also led an effort to improve student-athlete classroom performance that resulted in a 2018-2019 NCAA Academic Performance Rate of 993, fourth among Division I FBS institutions, followed by a school record 90 percent Graduation Suc-
cess Rate for 2019. He led planning and fundraising efforts for more than $55 million in construction and renovation projects, including the Temple Sports Complex for men and women’s soccer, field hockey, lacrosse, and track and field, enhancements to locker room facilities for all 19 sports, an all student-athlete lounge, multiple studentathlete nutrition centers, and updated practice facilities for several sports. A successful fundraiser, Kraft set records for the annual fund for five straight years, while consistently enhancing revenues from ticket sales. University President William P. Leahy, S.J., praised Kraft as a person of integrity and accomplishment who is well suited to lead BC Athletics. “Pat understands intercollegiate athletics today and has extensive experience as a player at Indiana University, as well as an administrator at Loyola University Chicago and Temple,” said Fr. Leahy. “He brings with him obvious passion, and a desire to be a part of the BC community. I look forward to working with him.” Kraft said that he was humbled to be named the next director of athletics at Boston College. “I am truly honored to be selected to serve Boston College as the steward of such
a great intercollegiate athletics department,” said Kraft. “The core values of Boston College are in alignment with how I live my life and how I approach my job, creating world-class experiences for student-athletes with the utmost of integrity, character, faith and love. We will compete for championships, we will continue to graduate young men and women who will go on to change the world, and we will represent BC with pride.” A native of Libertyville, Ill., Kraft attended Indiana University where he played football as a walk-on before earning a football scholarship. He earned three degrees from Indiana, including a Ph.D. in sport management, a master’s degree in sport marketing administration, and a bachelor’s degree in sport marketing management. Prior to being named director of intercollegiate athletics in 2015, Kraft served as deputy director of athletics at Temple, executive senior associate athletic director at Loyola University Chicago, and senior assistant athletics director for marketing at Indiana University. He has also served as clinical professor in the School of Business Administration at Loyola University Chicago, and as associate instructor in sport marketing and management at Indiana University.
Grooters Named Head of Ctr. for Teaching Excellence BY KATHLEEN SULLIVAN STAFF WRITER
Stacy Grooters, who as interim director of the Boston College Center for Teaching Excellence was a key figure in the University’s successful transition to remote instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been named the center’s executive director. The Center for Teaching Excellence provides support for faculty and graduate student instructors to create engaging and inclusive learning environments for all BC students. Grooters joined the CTE in 2015, serving as director of faculty programs until her appointment as the center’s interim director last summer upon the retirement of John Rakestraw. As executive director, Grooters is responsible for ensuring that the center’s programs and services align with faculty needs and are responsive to the University’s priorities and mission. Grooters said she is committed to promoting a strong culture of reflective, inclusive, evidence-based teaching at the University. “I find myself inspired on an almost daily basis by the incredible work of my colleagues in the CTE as well as by the dedication and creativity that BC’s faculty and graduate students bring to the classroom. I couldn’t be more grateful for this opportunity to lead the CTE into its next
chapter.” In her previous role as CTE’s director of faculty programs, Grooters had oversight of such initiatives as Excellence in Teaching Day, Faculty Cohorts on Teaching, Back-to-School Boot Camp, and the Junior Faculty Conversations on Teaching, as well as graduate student programs, and she designed and led one-time and ongoing programs at the request of departments and schools. Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley praised Grooters for her leadership and engagement with faculty. “Stacy has been instrumental in bringing the original vision for the Center for Teaching Excellence to life over the last five years,” said Quigley. “Her deep respect for and engagement with the work of faculty across campus enabled her and the CTE staff to rise to the unprecedented challenges of the spring semester. All of us at Boston College are benefiting from her leadership in preparing for high-quality teaching and learning this fall.” Added Vice Provost for Faculties Billy Soo: “Since she joined the CTE, Stacy has been at the forefront of developing faculty programs to further teaching excellence in the University. When the University had to pivot to remote instruction last spring, the CTE, under Stacy’s leadership, had to
Stacy Grooters
provide training and support to many of our faculty in a short period of time and often under trying circumstances. By all accounts, the work of Stacy and her colleagues at the CTE, Center for Digital Innovation in Learning, and Information Technology Services was instrumental in our successful transition to remote learning.” According to Grooters, the strong relationships CTE has forged with faculty and other campus partners over the past six years were key to the University’s success in
remote instruction this past spring. “I look forward to continuing to strengthen those partnerships in the coming years,” she added. Grooters is actively involved in the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network in Higher Education, a national organization for teaching centers, and has served two terms on the POD Network’s board of directors. She is overseeing a grant from the Davis Educational Foundation to further the CTE’s work to support faculty’s inclusive teaching efforts. Prior to arriving at BC, Grooters was the founding director of Stonehill College’s Center for Teaching and Learning, which she led for eight years, and an instructional consultant at the Center for Instructional Development and Research at the University of Washington. A former Peace Corps volunteer, Grooters earned a master’s degree in English from Miami University in Ohio and a doctorate from the University of Washington in Seattle. At Stonehill, she taught in the English department and in the Gender & Sexuality Studies program. She also taught in the University of Washington departments of English, American Ethnic Studies, and Women’s Studies. For information about the Center for Teaching Excellence, see www.bc.edu/cte.
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Bailey Leads Gabelli Presidential Scholars Program BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR
The Gabelli Presidential Scholars Program (GPSP), Boston College’s premier undergraduate academic program, recently completed a three-year transition in leadership as Kathleen Bailey, associate director of the University’s Islamic Civilization and Societies Program, succeeded Canisius Professor of Theology James Keenan, S.J., as director. A professor of the practice in the Political Science Department and a 1976 alumna, Bailey was appointed in 2017 to co-lead the program with Fr. Keenan, who had been director since 2010. She becomes the third director in the history of GPSP, which was founded in 1991 with Dennis Sardella, a now-retired professor of chemistry, as its head. The Gabelli Presidential Scholars Program is an integrated honors educational experience designed to embody the best of the University and its Jesuit heritage of educational excellence in service to society, and is centered around four pillars: global leadership; hospitality; fidelity to our partners; and promoting the common good. Students are chosen on the basis of academic excellence, demonstrated leadership ability, and significant community service. They take part in weekly meetings, cultural events, and community service projects during the academic year, as well as service learning, international study, and professional internships during the summer.
Kathleen Bailey
photo by lee pellegrini
Since the program’s founding, students in the GPSP have won a number of prestigious academic awards, including Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Churchill, and Fulbright scholarships. “Fr. Jim Keenan’s decade at the helm of the Gabelli Presidential Scholars Program has been marked by his personal concern for the program’s students and alumni and his commitment to building and sustaining a supportive community of scholars,” said Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley. “Kathy Bailey promises to build on the program’s recent successes and she will surely bring her characteristic commitment
to teaching and her students to the directorship. Generations of Boston College students have benefited from her caring approach to advising and mentoring.” “Having the opportunity to closely observe the program these last few years and work closely with Jim has been a gift,” said Bailey, who joined the University in 1984. “I’ve seen how thoughtfully it’s been put together. Jim and Dennis worked hard in refining the program each year so that students are continually challenged, not just in their intellectual development but their personal formation. Jim deserves a lot of credit for the excellent job GPSP does in engaging these bright students to think about the world around them and how they can serve others. “Although I have big shoes to fill, I feel I am not coming in at a disadvantage.” Fr. Keenan said the past decade had seen important developments in GPSP activities and programming, including a beginning-of-the-year retreat; weekly inter-class meetings; a freshman-year trip to Italy; a sophomore-year trip to Central America and eight-week summer experience of working and living in a foreignlanguage culture; and a junior-year trip to Jordan and Kuwait to encounter Islam. “I’m very happy that Kathy is assuming the GPSP directorship,” said Fr. Keenan, who is the University’s vice provost for global engagement. “Having worked together these past few years, I know that she brings enormous reach, imagination, wis-
dom—but most of all a genuine care and respect for the students.” An expert in Central Asian politics and history, Bailey is known for her rapport with students—in 2017, the BC chapter of Phi Beta Kappa selected her for its annual teaching award—and her involvement in international education: developing and teaching in the summer study-abroad program “Politics and Oil in the Gulf ” in Kuwait; helping create undergraduate fellowships and travel and research grants in collaboration with the McGillycuddyLogue Center for Undergraduate Global Studies; serving as lead faculty member for a multi-institutional initiative for student research abroad; and collaborating on a fund to provide undergraduates with research, language study, internships, and service learning opportunities throughout the Islamic world. Increased internationalization is among the areas of growth Bailey sees for the GPSP. “We want to continue expanding the opportunities for profound international experiences, expose students to other cultures and languages, especially in some less-traveled destinations. This is an important University-wide goal, and a critical part of the program.” Bailey also envisions increased support and mentorship for GPSP students in applying for competitive fellowships and scholarships as another objective, as well as strengthening connections with the program’s alumni.
Irish Studies Mainstay Savage Named Interim Director BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR
Robert Savage, whose research, teaching, and administrative leadership has bolstered Boston College’s renowned Irish Studies Program for more than two decades, has been appointed interim director of the program, the University announced. A faculty member in the History Department, Savage served as the program’s associate director from 1995-2003, and co-director from 2003-2010 with Associate Professor of English Marjorie Howes. The BC Irish Studies Program was created in 1978 and is widely acknowledged as one of the international leaders in the field. Headquartered in Connolly House on Hammond Street, the program explores the history, culture, literature, music, and art of Ireland through undergraduate and graduate study, faculty research, scholarly conferences, publications, lectures, concerts, and other events. Irish Studies also has developed fruitful partnerships with the University’s John J. Burns Library, which has an outstanding collection of Irish books and manuscripts, and the McMullen Museum of Art, with which it has collaborated on Irish-related exhibitions. Other features of BC Irish Studies include its Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies program, a cooperative venture with Burns Library that brings notable contributors to Irish cul-
tural and intellectual life to BC for a semester or academic year to teach, lecture, and undertake research; Gaelic Roots, a concert series that spotlights outstanding performers in Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton, and other Gaelic music and dance; and Dublin-based Boston College Ireland, which serves BC students, alumni, faculty, and partners in various academic, professional, and networking capacities. Savage, who holds bachelor’s and doctoral degrees from Boston College, said he sees an opportunity for Irish Studies to expand its partnerships and collaborations within the University, as well as beyond it. “I want Irish Studies to engage with other departments and programs at BC,” he said. “There are many common areas of interest that could provide the basis for interdisciplinary teaching, research, and other activities, such as issues of diaspora, justice, inequality, and borders. I’m very eager, as are my colleagues in Irish Studies, to work with faculty and students across the University. In particular, we seek to improve and update our outreach to undergraduate students; they are our real constituents. “At the same time, we look forward to continuing our long, successful associations with Burns Library and the McMullen Museum, and affirming relationships with our many friends and supporters in the U.S., Ireland, and elsewhere.” “I am looking forward to working with
Robert Savage
photo by lee pellegrini
Rob as he assumes the role of interim director of the Irish Studies Program,” said Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences Dean Gregory Kalscheur, S.J. “His years of experience with the Irish Studies Program as associate director and co-director, his gifts as an innovative and collaborative teacher, and his outstanding record as a scholar of the social and cultural history of modern Ireland all make him well suited to continuing the work of strengthening Irish Studies as a dynamic interdisciplinary program at the heart of intellectual life at Boston College. I am grateful to Rob for taking on this role as we
look toward the new academic year that lies ahead.” Savage, who is current director of the History Department core, is an expert in Irish political, social, and cultural history whose research centers on change in Irish society, Anglo-Irish relations, “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland, and the history of film and the broadcast media in Ireland and Britain. He has published five books including The BBC’s Irish Troubles: Television, Conflict and Northern Ireland; A Loss of Innocence? Television and Irish Society 1960-1972 (winner of the 2010 James S. Donnelly, Sr. Prize for Best Book in History and Social Sciences); Sean Lemass: A Biography; Irish Television: the Political and Social Origins; and Ireland in the New Century, Politics, Identity and Culture for which he was editor and a contributing author. He is working on a new book about Margaret Thatcher’s 1988 decision to institute restrictions on broadcasting, in response to coverage of British policies in Northern Ireland. In 1999, he was appointed by Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern to a commission tasked with establishing a national music archive in Ireland. The following year, he coordinated an interdisciplinary conference in Washington, D.C., to explore the Irish experience at home and abroad, held as part of a major festival of Irish art and culture.
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Summer 2020
Sadka Is Carroll School’s First Haub Family Prof. Ronnie Sadka, a prominent researcher in the field of market liquidity and chair of the Carroll School of Management’s highly regarded Finance Department, has been named the inaugural Haub Family Professor at Boston College. The new chair is endowed by the family of Christian and Liliane Haub, who are the parents of Carroll School graduates Marie-Liliane ’13, Maximilian ’14, and Constantin ’17. Both parents are members of Boston College’s Board of Regents, and Christian Haub also serves as a Boston College Trustee Associate. He is the chief executive officer of Tengelmann TwentyOne KG and Tengelmann Holding, in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany. Sadka is well regarded as a teacher as well as an advisor, and was selected for the Carroll School Teaching Award in 2014. After becoming chair of the Finance Department five years ago, he quickly launched a vigorous hiring effort that has attracted more than a dozen top scholars, substantially raising the department’s research profile. The department stands at 11th in U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Undergraduate Finance Programs.” In his role as Carroll School senior associate dean, Sadka has helped spearhead major innovations, notably the creation of four new management minors designed specifically for non-management majors at other schools of the University, along with a growing emphasis on teaching data analytics. Other academic initiatives have included an extension of the “tenure clock” from six to eight years, partly with an eye
Ronnie Sadka of the Carroll School of Management Finance Department. photo by lee pellegrini
to giving tenure-track faculty more time to develop as teachers and scholars. Beyond Boston College, Sadka has made a name for himself as a prolific researcher focusing on market liquidity—basically, the costs of trading financial securities. He came up with measures of liquidity, synthesized from hundreds of millions of trade data points, then devised a liquidity risk factor, which accounts for unanticipated changes in the transaction costs while helping to explain market anomalies and the performance of mutual funds and hedge funds.
“This is a great honor, and I’m very grateful to the Haub family and to Boston College for the recognition and for the support of my work and research,” Sadka said. “As an academic, you work hard because you want to work hard, but it’s gratifying to receive the acknowledgment of the efforts and the distinction. From the time I arrived at the Carroll School in 2008, I could tell that Boston College was committed to developing people academically and professionally.” “We are delighted by Ronnie Sadka’s appointment as Haub Family Professor. During his tenure at BC, Ronnie has demonstrated incredible leadership as senior associate dean for faculty and chairperson of the Finance Department,” the Haub family said in a statement. “His research and publications are of international significance and absolutely reflect the mission of the Haub Family Professorship and the impact that his work will have on current and future students at Boston College.” Andy Boynton, the Carroll School’s John and Linda Powers Family Dean said the establishment of the Haub Family Professorship marks a significant stride for the school as well as for Sadka. “Professorships are an essential part of a great university, as well as the pinnacle of great scholarship and service. Ronnie’s stature as a scholar, teacher, and leader at our school makes him a natural choice for this appointment. In all his roles, he strives for excellence and pushes all of us to do more, do better. He really embodies ‘Ever to Excel.’”
Recently, Sadka has expanded his research focus into the use of other novel data sets, including information gleaned from thousands of media sources and millions of consumer devices. In one study, seemingly random information—the number of Google searches for driving directions to Target, for instance—helped Sadka and coauthors construct estimates of retail sales performance in real time. The research has various implications for investments as well as corporate disclosure. Sadka has authored more than 30 articles in prestigious academic publications, ranging from The Journal of Finance and Journal of Financial Economics to the Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Economics, and Management Science (in which he has two articles on liquidity-related topics this year). He has also published in practitioner journals such as Financial Analysts Journal and Journal of Investment Management. His findings have been amplified by media outlets including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Sadka, a Boston native who spent most of his youth in Israel, earning bachelor and master of science degrees at Tel-Aviv University, holds a doctoral degree from Northwestern University. Prior to BC, he taught at the University of Chicago, New York University, Northwestern, and the University of Washington. His industry experience includes Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Lehman Brothers. He recently served on the economic advisory board of NASDAQ OMX. —William Bole, Carroll School of Management
Three BC Faculty Among Catholic Press Assoc. Winners BY KATHLEEN SULLIVAN STAFF WRITER
The Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada bestowed honors on three Boston College faculty members at its annual Catholic Media Conference, held virtually in July. The CPA awards recognize outstanding Catholic media, including books, newspapers, and magazines. School of Theology and Ministry Professor of Theology and Religious Education Thomas Groome was awarded a first-place CPA Book Award for his Faith for the Heart: A “Catholic” Spirituality. The volume, honored in the Popular Presentation of the Catholic Faith category, was cited for its succinct presentation of “theological issues critical for a well-informed understanding of both the Catholic faith in particular and the Christian faith at large.” In Faith for the Heart, Groome invites the reader, whether a practicing Catholic or one who has left the Church, to enter more deeply into the rich treasury of the spiritual resources of the Church’s faith, practice, and traditions. Vice Provost for Global Engagement James F. Keenan, S.J., who also is the Canisius Professor in the Theology Depart-
(L-R) Thomas Groome, Hosffman Ospino, and James Keenan, S.J.
ment, was recognized with a second-place CPA Book Award for Street Homelessness and Catholic Theological Ethics, which he co-edited with Mark McGreevy. The volume, which the judges called “provocative and well researched,” was honored in the Catholic Social Teaching category. Street Homelessness and Catholic Theological Ethics is part of the Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church book series. Its essays are written by theologians, practitioners, and social scientists, who address—on a
photos by tony rinaldo, peter julian, and lee pellegrini
global scale—accompanying the homeless and working to end homelessness, including actual strategies in Cameroon, India, and Jamaica. Fr. Keenan also contributed to the volume, along with BC alumna Meghan J. Clark. STM Associate Professor of Hispanic Ministry and Religious Education Hosffman Ospino was awarded second place for his Catholic News Service column, “Caminando Juntos.” The award was in the category of Best Regular Column-General
Commentary (Spanish-language). The judges deemed Ospino’s column “a nice demonstration of examples in our everyday lives, but through our Catholic faith.” The Catholic Press Association is an organization of Catholic journalists and media professionals created more than a century ago. To view a complete list of winners, see https://cdn.ymaws.com/www. catholicpress.org/resource/resmgr/journalists/cj_2020-06.pdf.
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Inspired to Help Build Connections
His parents’ example motivated a BC senior, along with his classmates, to create a resource for prospective college students BY CHRISTINE BALQUIST STAFF WRITER
Czar Sepe ’21 hasn’t had to look far for inspiration in the face of the coronavirus pandemic: His parents, both nurses, not only work on the front lines but have each survived a bout with COVID-19. Initially irritated to be stuck at home with his parents, Sepe realized he took for granted their time together when his father was forced into isolation by a positive COVID-19 test while his mother was working long hours at the hospital before contracting the virus herself. His parents’ symptoms were mild, but it was a scary time. “As nurses, their job is to care for others and I think they’ve instilled that in me” said Sepe. “I don’t think that the medical route is for me personally, but that mindset is still there.” After his parents had recovered and his semester was completed, that mindset of helping others prompted him to contemplate what he could do in the face of so much disruption. “I was looking for a way to help my community. What can I offer as a college student? I’m not a doctor, I’m not a nurse,” said Sepe, a political science and history major. “Sitting at home, not necessarily doing that much while my own parents are being lauded as heroes, I thought, ‘I want to do more.’” Reading about fellow members of the
Boston College seniors created the Parsippany College Connect website (above) to put high school students in touch with current undergraduates for helpful insights on college. “It’s intimidating,” says co-founder Czar Sepe ’21 of the college search process. “It’s a little frightening.”
Boston College community stepping up to help others during this time of crisis motivated Sepe to get creative. He was particularly inspired by the “Foster a Family” initiative created by Isabel Litterst ’21 that pairs families in need with those who can provide assistance. After receiving some advice from Litterst, Sepe launched the online resource Parsippany College Connect with friends from his hometown of Parsippany, NJ, including Rebecca Klausner ’21 and Danielle
Davis ’21. Parsippany College Connect helps high school students from Parsippany to learn from and connect with current college students from their hometown. The website provides a directory of more than 300 undergraduates, their universities, majors, extracurricular activities, and email addresses. Using this information, local high school students can find a college student who is majoring in something that they wish to pursue, attends
a university in which they are interested or to which they have already committed, or takes part in an extracurricular activity they might want to explore. In addition, the website provides a list of frequently asked questions and blog posts from college students offering insight and information about the college experience. Sepe, who in 2019 received BC’s Omar A. Aggad Travel and Research Fellowship for language acquisition and cultural immersion in Beirut and has served as a campus ambassador for Teach for America, remembered his own experience with the college search process: “It’s intimidating. It’s a little frightening. You’re kind of clueless in many ways.” The personal connections made through Parsippany College Connect are meant to lessen some of that uncertainty, especially for high schoolers who are now stuck at home, unable to visit college campuses or access resources that would typically be available to them at their high school. Sepe and his team hosted panel discussions over Zoom as another means to share information and answer questions about the college experience. In its first two weeks, the website received more than 9,000 page views. Sepe’s goals for the future of Parsippany College Connect are to expand the alumni directory and for it to become a permanent component of the local school district’s website by the end of the summer.
Forum on Racial Justice Will Highlight BC Initiatives on Racism Continued from page 1
tion divided and wounded because of longstanding tensions concerning race, police conduct, and civil liberties. The current anger, division, and alienation result from long-term, systemic causes, and they call for resolution of underlying issues through immediate and sustained action. “To move forward, it is essential for everyone to acknowledge and affirm that Black Lives Matter.” Building on the legacy of academia as a venue for exploring compelling contemporary questions and concerns, and developing effective responses, BC—guided by its Catholic social teaching—will seek to contribute to the discussion on race and racist behavior in America, according to the announcement. The letter described the Boston College Forum on Racial Justice in America as providing a meeting place “for listening, dialogue, and greater understanding about race and racism in our country, especially ideas for dealing with current challenges and planning for a better future.” It also will serve as a catalyst for “bridging differences regarding race in America, promoting reconciliation, and encouraging fresh perspectives.” There will be several components to the forum: Individuals will share their experiences of racism, police misconduct, job and housing discrimination, health care inequities, and wealth disparity; com-
munity and religious leaders, government officials, and members of law enforcement will be invited to comment on their efforts to foster community building and public safety in support of the common good; and participants will have the opportunity to describe their hopes and dreams for the future. In addition, the forum will sponsor speakers, panels, and seminars about key issues regarding race and needed changes in attitudes and structures, encourage scholarly exploration of conditions that result in racism and racist behavior, and suggest responses and solutions. BC Law School Dean Vincent Rougeau will serve as the forum’s inaugural director, working closely with Fr. Leahy and BC senior leadership as well as a national board of advisors. Other BC initiatives will be built around faith and formation. The Division of University Mission and Ministry will offer a series of multi-faith services to pray for healing and reconciliation in the local community and nation, according to the announcement, “and implore God’s help in surmounting the sins and effects of racism, injustice, and violence.” Campus Ministry will seek to establish partnerships with faith communities in the Boston area “for dialogue and neighborhood service activities,” and create opportunities for elementary and high school students to hold discussions with BC undergraduates
on experiences and beliefs concerning race, community, justice, and the future. Intercollegiate athletes at BC will also “reach out in new ways to youth in metropolitan Boston to build bonds and provide mentorship through sports and academics.” Boston College’s recently announced integration with Pine Manor College—and related establishment of the Pine Manor Institute for Student Success—as a means to recruit and graduate underrepresented, first-generation students was cited as another facet of the University’s response to race-related issues. The institute will work closely with existing academic outreach programs at BC in furthering Pine Manor College’s success in helping students facing major challenges in their pursuit of higher education obtain college degrees, the letter said, noting that BC has designated $50 million of its endowment to support the institute’s activities, and intends to seek additional funds from various sources. The University sees itself as contributing to the evolving national agenda on race and racism through its long-standing commitment to helping students engage central issues and ideas, develop skills in analysis and critical thinking, and according to the statement, “become more whole, more human, and more free from ignorance and prejudice. These commitments urge Boston College to work for racial
justice and to create opportunities across the curriculum for students and faculty to engage in the scholarly exploration of race through a range of disciplinary perspectives.” The letter also referenced existing University policies and resources that have aided underrepresented and underserved students, such as BC’s policy on need-blind admission and meeting the full-demonstrated need of all accepted undergraduates, as well as the Thea Bowman AHANA Intercultural Center, Options through Education, Learning to Learn, and the Montserrat Coalition, which have helped numerous students thrive academically and personally, as evidenced by the 96 percent graduation rate for the most recent cohort of Pelleligible students. In addition, BC has joined QuestBridge, a highly respected program involving 42 of the nation’s best colleges and universities that helps talented and high-financial need students apply and gain admission to its partner schools. Asking the University community for “advice and support” in regard to the Forum on Racial Justice in America and related initiatives, the letter concluded: “Working together we can accomplish great things, and help Boston College, our nation, and the world be more just and more at peace.” —University Communications
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Summer 2020
BC Study Looks at Pollution-Related Deaths, Disease BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER
Against a backdrop of weakened federal pollution control regulations, Boston College’s Global Observatory on Pollution and Health will conduct a study of air pollution-related deaths and illness, as well as cognitive loss among children, in Massachusetts. The project is supported by an $80,000 award from the Barr Foundation. The study will be the first to compile data on a town-by-town, city-by-city basis, said Professor of Biology Philip Landrigan, M.D., the observatory’s director and principal investigator on the project. The award will support an analysis of air pollution and health data from established government agencies and research organizations to assess the toll air pollution takes on public health, said Landrigan. Airborne pollutants are recognized as a major cause of disease, disability, and premature death around the world. In 2017, despite strong state-based pollution controls, there were an estimated 1,546 deaths caused by air pollution in Massachusetts, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Globally, air pollution accounts for five million premature deaths a year, according to findings from the landmark 2017 report of
Philip Landrigan, M.D., director of the BC Global Observatory on Pollution and Health. photo by gary wayne gilbert
The Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health, which Landrigan co-chaired. “This remains an important problem,” said Landrigan, whose observatory is the first initiative of the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society, the centerpiece of a 150,000-square-feet research center currently under construction and slated to open next year. “Approximately 1,500 deaths a year is
a lot of preventable deaths,” he added. “It may be better than 50 years ago, but it is still a significant problem. If we can detail the magnitude of the problem for a particular city or town—identifying deaths, or lost IQ points in children—we think that is going to stimulate action. We want people to understand the risks and bring it home so it is not something that is abstract.” Since the passage of the Clean Air Act in 1970, levels of air pollution have fallen across the U.S. and in Massachusetts. Across the country, levels of the six major air pollutants have declined by 70 percent and a milestone triumph in this effort was the reduction of airborne lead pollution by the removal of lead from gasoline, an initiative that Landrigan helped to lead in the 1970s. “In the three years since the inauguration of President Donald Trump in January 2017, control of air pollution in the United States has stalled,” according to the grant proposal. “This slowdown reflects a series of regulatory rollbacks by the Trump administration that have weakened environmental standards and shredded health protections.” Regulatory rollbacks include: replacement of the Clean Power Plan that regulated emissions from coal-fired power
Cochran-Smith Honored as an Influential Mentor
Babb Earns Pair of Awards for Co-Authored Article
Marilyn Cochran-Smith, the Cawthorne Chair in Teacher Education for Urban Schools at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, was recently named a 2020 Spencer Mentor Award winner by the Spencer Foundation, which recognizes mentors who have made extraordinary contributions to research training and career trajectories of graduate students and junior scholars engaged in education research. One of six awardees nationally, Cochran-Smith was nominated by Kara Mitchell Viesca, an associate professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, who earned a doctorate in curriculum and instruction at the Lynch School in 2010. Mitchell Viesca said her “incredible experiences” under Cochran-Smith’s mentorship were affirmed by more than 50 mentees and colleagues—including current and former doctoral students, collaborators, and colleagues—who explicitly supported her nomination. “The descriptors used to describe Marilyn’s mentorship include thoughtful, deliberate, consistent, tough—while kind and caring—unwavering, brilliant, and generous. One former student captured a consistent theme across all the stories I heard by saying, ‘Marilyn is one of those special mentors that looks after her students in ways that bring out the best in a person.’” Another successful scholar, according to Mitchell Viesca, praised Cochran-Smith
An article co-written by Professor of Sociology Sarah Babb has received dual honors from the American Sociological Association. “The Making of Neoliberal Globalization: Norm Substitution and the Politics of Clandestine Institutional Change,” which Babb co-authored with Alexander E. Kentikelenis of Bocconi University, was named winner of the 2020 Charles Tilly Article Award from the ComparativeHistorical Sociology Section of the ASA and winner of the Best Scholarly Article award from the ASA’s Section on Global and Transnational Sociology. “It’s really gratifying to get so much recognition for this paper,” said Babb. “We have thousands of declassified documents to work through, and these awards inspire us to move forward.” The article, published last year in the American Journal of Sociology—part of a larger study on the United States’ efforts to re-engineer multilateral institutions in fostering world-wide market reforms at the end of the 20th century—examines the repurposing of the International Monetary Fund to become the world’s leading promoter of free markets. Relying on archival material and interviews, Babb and Kentikelenis show the fundamental yet informal change of the IMF was achieved through a process of norm substitution—the alteration of everyday assumptions about the appropriateness of
Cawthorne Professor of Teacher Education for Urban Schools Marilyn Cochran-Smith photo by lee pellegrini
for living out “her social justice stance through mentoring and making space for new voices in teacher education,” while a former student summed up “what those of us who have been mentored by Marilyn distinctly feel, ‘She taught me more than anyone else ever has.’” Each Spencer Mentor Award recipient is awarded a $10,000 grant, intended to support the winners’ ongoing mentorship. The Chicago-based Spencer Foundation is a leading funder of education research and the only national foundation focused exclusively on supporting education research. The foundation received its major endowment upon publisher and philanthropist Lyle M. Spencer’s death in 1968, and began formal grant making in 1971. Since that time, it has issued grants totaling more than $500 million. —Phil Gloudemans
plants by a scheme that allows states to set their own emissions standards; weakening of emissions standards for cars, trucks, and buses; and deregulation of airborne releases from oil and gas extraction, Landrigan said. Already, deaths due to air pollution have begun to rise across the U.S., with the largest increases in Midwestern and Southern states that lead in coal mining, oil drilling, and natural gas extraction, according to Landrigan. [Landrigan was co-author of a major study on air pollution interventions released earlier this summer. Read more at https://bit.ly/pollution-interventionsreport] Working with lead researcher Samantha Fisher, Landrigan will undertake a detailed, geographically-based epidemiologic analysis of disease, disability, premature death, and decreased longevity due to air pollution in cities and towns across Massachusetts, using the most recently available data. Landrigan said he expects the study will shed more light on the role air pollution plays in non-communicable diseases that are often ascribed to smoking or other behaviors, or “old age.” In addition to health risks for adults, the study will look at pre-term births, low birth weight, autism spectrum disorder, and asthma in children.
Professor of Sociology Sarah Babb
photo by
peter julian
a set of activities, a transformation led by the United States. Sociology Chair Andrew Jorgenson praised Babb as “one of the world’s leading global and transnational sociologists” and called the article “essential reading for anyone interested in the contours of globalization and the inner workings of global governance institutions.” Babb, who directs graduate studies in the Sociology Department, focuses her teaching and research on subjects such as economic sociology, globalization, and organizations. She is the author of the award-winning book Behind the Development Banks: Washington Politics, World Poverty, and Wealth of Nations, and, most recently, Regulating Human Research: IRBs from Peer Review to Compliance Bureaucracy. —Kathleen Sullivan
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University Works Toward Aug. 31 Reopening Continued from page 1
to remote work performed on a full- or part-time schedule, offices and departments should weigh staggered start and end times for the workday, or partial staffing and alternating on-campus days to lessen campus density. Campus workplaces, according to the website, will observe a number of restrictions and directives, including a sign-in for visitors (whether BC employees or nonUniversity individuals); open and shared spaces reconfigured as necessary to promote social distancing; the installation of glass or plexiglass barriers at customer service stations, and no sharing of equipment such as keyboards, computers, and phones among employees.
All students, faculty, and staff will be tested at no charge for COVID-19 at campus sites supervised by staff of University Health Services (UHS) before
Custodians Ana Texiera, left, and Sherrise Trim sanitized an apartment in the Mods as Facilities Services crews prepared campus buildings and grounds for the coming academic year. photo by lee pellegrini
classes begin on Aug. 31. Among other protocols noted by Quigley and Lochhead, classrooms will be reduced to 50 percent of previous capacity to enable appropriate physical distancing. All students, faculty, staff, and visitors will be expected to wear masks while on campus, except in their residence hall room or private office, or while able to maintain six feet of physical separation. Sanitizing measures will be increased throughout the campus, including the provision of wipes and gels in all classrooms. As of late July, approximately 25 percent of Boston College faculty had received accommodations to teach online, reported
Quigley and Lochhead, and many large lecture classes have been moved online in accordance with state guidelines. Courses will therefore be taught in different formats this fall: The majority of classes will feature in-class instruction, and for some courses, all students will be in attendance for each class meeting; for other courses, while the faculty member will be in class for each meeting, students will alternate between attending in person and participating remotely; a hybrid of in-person and online instruction will characterize other classes. All students, faculty, and staff will be tested at no charge for COVID-19 at campus sites supervised by staff of University
Health Services (UHS) before classes begin on Aug. 31. The University has contracted with The Broad Institute, a Cambridge, Mass.-based biomedical and genomic research center, to analyze test samples. Students who test positive for the virus will be required to isolate in their apartments or in designated campus housing for at least 10 days, the last three of which they must be symptom-free. Undergraduates living in campus residence halls and seeking to be isolated in University facilities must abide by required health protocols. Dining Services will deliver food to their room doors, and they will be able to participate in classes remotely. Students
living off campus will be expected to isolate in their off-campus apartments. Students and employees in high-contact positions—such as resident assistants, Dining Services and Facilities staff, Athletics personnel, and Boston College Police—will be tested on a weekly basis at no cost throughout the fall to check for asymptomatic presence of the coronavirus. Results will be disclosed only to the individual tested and the ordering UHS physician and, if positive for COVID-19, to public health officials and appropriate University officials. All members of the Boston College campus community will be urged to monitor their health through daily “selfchecks,” added Quigley and Lochhead, facilitated by a mobile application selected by the University. Other guidelines pertain to campus dining operations. McElroy Commons, Stuart Dining Hall, and Corcoran Commons will serve as the primary dining halls on campus with decreased seating and amended service layouts; between meals, they will be closed for 60 minutes to sanitize service areas and dining rooms and for re-stocking. Customers will be required to wear masks or face coverings inside dining halls, but may remove them to eat. Self-serve areas will be eliminated and all serviceware items will be disposable. Sanitizing wipes will be made available in the dining halls, and guests will be expected to clean their dining area before and after each use. In addition, Dining Services will increase its “grab-and-go” options and delivery locations for GET Mobile orders to minimize volume in the main dining halls.
With New Policy, BC Is Now a Smoke-Free Campus Continued from page 1
exercised.” Undergraduate and graduate students who disobey the no-smoking policy will be referred to the Office of Student Conduct; faculty and staff violations will be dealt with in accordance with procedures outlined in the faculty and employee handbooks. BC employees can obtain help for smoking cessation through the University Faculty/Staff Assistance Program, while students can turn to University Health Services and the Office of Health Promotion for aid, the policy notes; in addition, the BC Healthy You website [http://www.bc.edu/ healthy-you] provides a list of smoking cessation resources, including those supported by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care insurance plans. Vice President for Human Resources David Trainor said the impetus for the policy grew out of periodic discussions during the past few years that, among other points, raised the question as to why the University invested so much in the health and well-being of its employees and stu-
Vice President for Human Resources David Trainor: “When we reviewed survey data from colleges and universities in the greater Boston area, we found that virtually all were smoke- and/or tobacco-free. So it made sense for us to implement a similar policy.” photo by marius mellebye via wikimedia commons
dents yet permitted smoking and tobacco use on campus. More recent discussions that included University President William P. Leahy, S.J., BC senior administrators, and others in the University community yielded a consensus for moving forward at this time, he said. “At every university where I have worked, going back at least 20 years, the campus was smoke- and/or tobacco-free,” said Trainor. “When we reviewed survey data from colleges and universities in the greater Boston area, we found that virtu-
ally all were smoke- and/or tobacco-free. So it made sense for us to implement a similar policy. “Boston College, from a health perspective, has a strong profile,” he added. “The information available to us suggested the community has a relatively small segment who still smoke. With our smoking cessation resources and commitment to our students, faculty, and staff we felt comfortable moving forward.” Added Vice President for Student Affairs Joy Moore, “Fewer and fewer people are smoking in general; the health benefits of not smoking are widely known and understood; and the dangers of secondhand smoke have been proved. So, with all of these factors in play, it seemed like
the right time to officially establish BC as a smoke-free campus.” Trainor and Moore said they recognize the difficulty smokers and tobacco users often face in quitting, and urged them to seek assistance through the University’s resources. “BC is here to help in any way we can,” said Trainor. “The thing that is most admirable, and in some ways striking, about BC is our commitment to each other. Our health and well-being plans are geared to be of assistance to those who wish to quit smoking. We have resources through the health plan and Healthy You to support faculty and staff, and programs for students through Health Services, if they wish to stop smoking or using tobacco.” Moore added, “BC is very supportive in helping employees and students change unhealthy habits. There are educational programs, counseling services, smokingcessation therapies, and more that employees and students can receive referrals to participate in.” —University Communications
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Lynch School’s Coley Wins Newly Minted APA Award BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER
Lynch School of Education and Human Development Professor Rebekah Levine Coley is the inaugural recipient of the American Psychological Association’s (APA) E. Mavis Hetherington Award, which recognizes excellence in scholarship and contributions to applied developmental science. Coley, chair of the Lynch School’s Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology Department, was saluted during the APA annual meeting, held in a virtual format from August 6-8. One of two new honors within the APA’s Developmental Psychology Division 7, the Hetherington Award salutes developmental scientists whose work has not only advanced the science of developmental psychology, but also helped to promote the well-being of children, families, and groups or organizations. Coley’s research delves into issues related to poverty and economic inequality, family
Lynch School of Education and Human Development Professor Rebekah Levine Coley photo by lee pellegrini
structure and parenting, housing and community contexts, and educational programs. Her work, published in more than 120 articles, chapters, and policy briefs, has been funded by American and international gov-
ernment organizations and numerous foundations. As a leader in linking social science research to policy and practice, Coley seeks a broader audience for her scholarly writing. “Throughout my career, I have integrated an appreciation for the incremental building of basic scientific knowledge with a desire to unearth evidence and create insights that have a direct impact on real-world issues and injustices,” she said. “Through both research and policy engagement, I seek to expand our field’s impact on children and families as well as on the social, political, and legal systems that enhance and constrain their lives.” Hetherington, a pioneer explorer of family dynamics, is a retired University of Virginia psychology professor, and a leading researcher on the impact of divorce and remarriage on child development. A Canadian native who has published more than 200 articles and edited 13 books, she also made significant contributions to research on childhood psychopathology, personality and social development, and stress and
coping. “I still recall the experience of reading a Mavis Hetherington paper concerning family structure and adolescent development in my undergraduate developmental psychology class nearly 30 years ago,” wrote Coley in the APA’s Division 7 newsletter, Developmental Psychologist. “I was struck by the relevance of this work for real people’s lives, for parents, educators, and other professionals working with adolescents and for social and legal policies.” Stanton E.F. Wortham, the Charles F. Donovan dean of the Lynch School, praised Coley for doing “extensive, highquality developmental science on crucial topics like welfare reform, father involvement, housing policy, and adolescent substance abuse. She has consistently developed the implications of her work for policy and practice, and she has been unusually active in disseminating her work to policymakers and practitioners in the real world.”
Political Science Faculty Member Named a Hoover Fellow BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR
Assistant Professor of Political Science Michael Hartney, whose background as a policy analyst has helped inform his research and teaching on education and social welfare issues, has been awarded a prestigious fellowship at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University for the 2020-2021 academic year. A faculty member at Boston College since 2017, Hartney was selected for a W. Glenn Campbell and Rita Ricardo-Campbell National Fellowship, which enables outstanding scholars from colleges, universities, and institutions around the world to devote one year to unrestricted, creative research and
Assistant Professor of Political Science Michael Hartney photo by lee pellegrini
publication. Program alumni rank among the top scholars, deans, university presidents, and government leaders, according to the Hoover Institution. During his fellowship, Hartney plans to finish his book concerning the history of American teachers’ unions and their impact on education and politics. Hartney said he was honored to be chosen for a fellowship considered one of the coun-
try’s most preeminent. The year ahead will not only be an opportunity to continue his writing, he noted, but to reflect on teaching political science in a tumultuous era. “It will be helpful to step back, recharge, and take a fresh view of teaching, given how so many of our conventional ways of thinking about and looking at American politics have been completely upended these past several years,” said Hartney, who has taught such classes as Democracy and Our Schools, State and Local Government, and Politics and Policy in the U.S. Prior to entering academia, Hartney—who taught at Lake Forest College before joining BC—worked as a policy analyst for the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, where he provided technical analysis to governors and other state officials on a wide range of K-12 education issues, from teacher and principal quality to high school redesign. This experience provided some useful insights into his subsequent research and writing on educational issues, including school governance and teacher-school district relations. In his current project, Hartney is tracing the emergence of teachers’ unions as a potent force in politics as well as education, both nationally and locally. “Their rise began in the 1960s and ’70s, as states increasingly allowed teachers to unionize and enacted collective bargaining. Whether you like or dislike the results, the role of state governments in the development of teachers’ unions is unarguable.” It is important to note, Hartney said, that teachers and other public sector workers are the only remaining semblance of a union movement in the modern United States. While private sector union membership began falling in the 1950s, public union membership flourished over that same time period: Between 1953 and 1999, public sector membership density rose from 11.6 to 37.3 percent, as states increasingly passed collective bargaining laws.
“The political significance of this evolution in the demographics of organized labor cannot be overstated. Although organized labor remains a key cog in the Democratic Party’s electoral coalition, that coalition has increasingly become comprised of public, not private, unionized workers.” But there is a mounting generational tension within the profession, said Hartney, as teachers’ salaries have largely stagnated—especially since the Great Recession of 2008— while school districts are devoting more school expenditures to benefits and pensions. “It’s not quite accurate to say that younger teachers are ‘anti-union,’ but there are the
older teachers who want the pension and health benefits funded, while the younger ones—who can’t take the pensions with them if they move to another job—want the union to focus on improvements in salaries.” Ultimately, said Hartney, these various conflicts and disagreements have a pervasive, long-term impact not just on teaching, but American education itself. “As a society, we want to recruit the best and the brightest to teach in our classrooms. But politics, and polarization, really complicate the way we fund public schools, and how local districts are governed. It’s difficult to see a way forward.”
Halvorsen a GSA ‘Rising Star’ Boston College School of Social Work Assistant Professor Cal Halvorsen will receive the 2020 Carroll L. Estes Rising Star Award, which is presented by the Gerontological Society of America to honor outstanding early career contributions in social research, policy, and practice. The award was established in 2009 in honor of Carroll L. Estes, a distinguished gerontological researcher and advocate for the elderly, and a former GSA president. Halvorsen studies the antecedents, experiences, and outcomes of longer working lives, with emphasis on later-life selfemployment and entrepreneurship, encore careers, and older adults as social innovators. He has taught courses related to aging societies, social work practice, and research methods at both the undergraduate and
graduate levels. Prior to joining the BCSSW faculty in 2018, Halvorsen worked for six years at Encore.org, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to engaging people in midlife and beyond in paid and unpaid work that improves the world, later serving as the organization’s director of research and evaluation. He was selected as an inaugural member of the 2018-2019 Encore Public Voices Fellowship. “Cal Halvorsen’s research examines how people past midlife pursue new or ongoing forms of paid and unpaid work and laterlife entrepreneurship,” said BCSSW Dean Gautam Yadama. “He is also breaking new ground through public scholarship to inform the design of social policies for a just society that is inclusive of our older adults. He is most deserving of this award.” The award will be presented in November at the GSA annual meeting in Philadelphia. —University Communications photo by lee pellegrini
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Looking to Close the ‘Opportunity Gap’ Lynch School faculty member touts ‘critical consciousness’ approach as a means to solve educational disparities BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER
The “opportunity gap” is widely regarded as the most significant issue facing the U.S. education system. This persistent and troubling disparity between marginalized, low-income youth—often students of color, non-native English speakers, and those living in rural communities—and their more privileged peers is consistently demonstrated in grades, standardized test scores, dropout rates, and college completion. But Lynch School of Education and Human Development Associate Professor Scott Seider believes this pernicious divide can be appreciably and demonstrably closed by incorporating an innovative approach, “critical consciousness,” and its associated programming and practices into the high school curriculum. Seider, a faculty member in the Counseling, Development and Educational Psychology Department of the Lynch School, spent four years following approximately 450 predominantly black and Latinx students attending five Northeast urban high schools to test the influence of critical con-
sciousness, a process by which individuals learn to comprehend, analyze, and challenge systemic oppression. “There was a growing body of research that suggested that young people who were more critically conscious are more resilient, possess better mental health, and are more politically and academically engaged,” said Seider, a former Boston Public Schools high school English and literacy teacher. “We found that the more students understood and challenged the racial injustice they were experiencing, the better they performed academically.” Seider’s research, initially published in the journal Child Development, served as the basis for the recently released book Schooling for Critical Consciousness, co-authored with Simmons University Associate Professor of Education Daren Graves. Critical consciousness, a term rooted in the work of the late Brazilian philosopher and educator Paulo Freire (1921-97), has been characterized by scholars as “psychological armor” for marginalized youth against the negative effects of racism and other oppressive forces. Seider and Graves’s work revealed how five pedagogical models—expeditionary learning, habits of mind, problem posing, no excuses, and action civics—offered varied approaches to teaching students how to analyze, navigate and challenge oppression. The authors converted their findings into practical strategies to assist educators in nurturing the civic and political engagement skills of their students. Seider described a theater class imple-
“We found that the more students understood and challenged the racial injustice they were experiencing, the better they performed academically.” —Scott Seider
photo by lee pellegrini
mented by one high school that engaged students in practices drawn from Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed to better equip them to navigate oppressive moments and experiences. In one example, as a scene that depicted injustice between the actors unfolds, the instructor freezes the action, and audience members—now in the role of “spec-actors”—join the scene to demonstrate how they would respond to the oppressive circumstances. “Given the evidence that this type of programming contributes to critical consciousness and academic achievement, we believe that educators should consider incorporating practices like these into the
curriculum to better prepare our youth to survive, thrive, and challenge inequity,” said Seider. “Schooling for Critical Consciousness offers a clarion call for educators and researchers as we respond to these dangerous times in our work with youth,” said University of Colorado Boulder School of Education Professor Ben Kirshner. “This is a must-read for educators looking to support the healthy development of all of our young people as they contend with a social world fractured by structural oppression and racism.” Seider holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and master’s and doctoral degrees in education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Among the classes he teaches at the Lynch School are Applied Adolescent Development and Psychology of Adolescence.
BC Researcher Named a Pew Latin American Fellow BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER
Luisa Maria Nieto Ramirez, a Boston College postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Associate Professor of Biology Tim van Opijnen, has been named a 2020 Pew Latin American Fellow in the Biomedical Sciences. The Pew Latin American Fellows Program in the Biomedical Sciences provides support for young scientists from Latin America to receive postdoctoral training in the United States, giving them an opportunity to further their scientific knowledge by promoting exchange and collaboration between investigators in the United States and Latin America—ultimately resulting in advances in research in Latin America. The fellows will work under the mentorship of prominent biomedical scientists, including alumni of the Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences. A native of Colombia, Nieto Ramirez has been selected as one of 10 postdoctoral fellows from across Latin America—including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru—to receive two years of funding to conduct research. “From the moment I knew about the
Postdoctoral fellow Luisa Maria Nieto Ramirez: “I cannot be more thankful for this lifetime opportunity.”
Pew Latin American Fellowship, I pictured myself as one fellow of this prestigious program,” said Nieto Ramirez. “Now under the guidance of an excellent scientist and pioneer in the field, Dr. van Opijnen, the dream has come true. I cannot be more thankful for this lifetime opportunity.” Nieto Ramirez will study how the immune system recognizes and eliminates the
pneumonia-causing microbe Streptococcus pneumoniae (Spn). Early clearance of Spn infections requires a two-pronged approach: First, proteins that are part of the complement system—one of the body’s first lines of defense—attach themselves to proteins on the surface of the bacteria; these “marked” microbes are then detected by immune cells, which engulf and digest the intruders, she said. “Using an array of cutting-edge methods in genomics, immunology, biochemistry, and microscopy, I will characterize the proteins present on the surface of Spn, pinpoint which are recognized by complement, and assess which can be altered by the bacteria to evade immune detection,” Nieto Ramirez said. “My findings could lead to new strategies for combating and clearing Spn, a potentially deadly bacteria, which is currently the leading cause of pneumonia in young children, even in the post-vaccine era.” Other research interests among members of Pew’s 2020 class of Latin America scholars, according to the Pew announcement, include how leukemia stem cells evade detection by the immune system, how the influenza virus can increase susceptibility to secondary bacterial pneu-
monia, and how the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can hide quietly inside host cells. Fellows who choose to return to Latin America to launch their own research labs will receive additional funding from Pew. Approximately 70 percent of participants have pursued this path, to contribute to the development of a more robust biomedical research community in Latin America. “The pursuit of scientific discovery calls for diverse perspectives from around the world,” said Rebecca W. Rimel, Pew’s president and CEO. “Pew is thrilled to welcome these promising Latin American fellows to our global network of researchers as they explore new frontiers in biomedical science.” “The 2020 class of fellows brings a global perspective that will help advance biomedical discovery,” said Eva Nogales, a professor of biochemistry, biophysics, and structural biology at the University of California-Berkeley, and chair of the Pew program’s national advisory committee. “By collaborating with investigators in the United States and Latin America, these rising talents benefit scientific progress in both regions.”
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Summer 2020
A Fixture for Five Decades, King Prepares to Depart BC BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR
There was no obvious reason for University Controller Joyce King to end up working at Boston College. She wasn’t an alumna, nor was anyone in her family a graduate of BC, and her first experience with the Heights came while she was working and attending night school in her Connecticut hometown. But she had friends who were undergraduates at BC, and every time she came up to visit them she found herself falling a little more in love with the campus, and the city of Boston. After her friends had graduated, King realized she missed those visits. So she took a deep breath, moved to Boston, and looked for jobs at BC and other area colleges. And BC hired her. Forty-eight years later, King is preparing to say goodbye to a university where she has played an integral role, not only as a senior administrator in a key leadership position but as a mentor to many students—including three who are now her administrative colleagues. King, who is retiring on Aug. 31, feels fortunate to have had a well-positioned perspective on an eventful five decades at BC, and to have been part of a community that values personal connections as well as professional acumen. “The atmosphere here has just been wonderful: the people, the ideals and beliefs, and the students,” she said. “I’ve always thought of myself as a problem-solver, as someone who can be a resource—it’s just my nature. I feel very grateful that BC has given me the opportunity to be that kind of go-to person through the years.” Executive Vice President Michael Lochhead found working under King as a student employee was ideal preparation for his first post-collegiate job, at Arthur Andersen. When he returned years later as a senior financial analyst in the Controller’s Office, and then again as EVP—by which time King had been appointed controller—Loch-
head’s already considerable respect for her grew even more. “Those same professional traits I recalled from my earlier days at BC were still very much apparent. As controller, the breadth of her job had increased as did her overall impact on the University. I have never worried about the integrity of the University’s accounting records and financial statements under Joyce’s leadership. Joyce is someone who leads by example, holds everyone to the highest standards, and is a wonderful representative of Boston College. I am personally grateful to have worked with her, and appreciate her significant contributions to Boston College over her long and successful career.” King arrived at BC at the start of what would prove a transformational period in its history, as under the guidance of President J. Donald Monan, S.J., a financially strapped, largely male commuter college gradually emerged as a prosperous, coeducational institution with a national profile. Starting out in the Student Loans and Accounts division of the Controller’s Office, King was involved in an important component of that transition: computerizing what had long been a paper operation. “That was quite a time,” said King, who took classes in what was then BC’s Evening College—she would go on to earn an accounting degree there in 1980—to help her work with computers. “Back then, all the University’s key financial offices were located in Gasson Hall, and there was a lot of activity in the building as BC started modernizing its financial practices. Student Loans and Accounts was the first to convert from paper to computer files. It was very enjoyable to put the puzzle together and I felt lucky to be in that position.” King went on to become associate controller and then director of financial services and reporting, and was named controller in 2013. Along the way, she became acquainted with administrators widely respected for their contributions to BC’s development in crucial areas, including Louise Lonabocker
University Controller Joyce King, shown in a 2016 photo with three of her former student employees: (L-R) Chief Investment Officer and Associate Treasurer John Zona, Financial Vice President and Treasurer John Burke, and Executive Vice President Michael Lochhead. photo by lee pellegrini
(student services), Catherine “Kay” Briel (financial systems), and Bernard Gleason (information technology). Another was John R. Smith, who served as financial vice president during the crucial period when BC endeavored to overcome its financial difficulties—and who deserves credit, along with Fr. Monan and Executive Vice President Francis B. Campanella, for “kickstarting the University” in the 1970s, according to King. “John was quite the character,” King said of Smith, renowned for his innovation and energy. “He could be a little intimidating, but he was very bright. And he really changed the way BC, and colleges everywhere, do accounting.” King found equally rewarding the relationships she forged among the student employees with whom she worked, including Lochhead and two other current administrators, Financial Vice President and Treasurer John Burke and Chief Investment Officer and Associate Treasurer John Zona. “Our students are very talented, and many of them have gone on to do very well, like Mike, John, and John,” she said. “I think that’s one thing about BC which has not changed: It always gets good students. What I’ve tried to do is teach them the importance of work ethic—showing up when you’re supposed to, being diligent in what
you do, and making the best use of your time.” “Joyce was selfless in her approach to working with students,” recalled Zona in a 2016 interview with Chronicle. “She gave us her time and her energy. She was a role model for me in terms of her work ethic and her commitment to BC.” Said Burke: “Joyce was always willing to share her vast knowledge of University finances. She has been an amazing teacher and mentor to many across the University, including me. The commitment and energy she brings as University controller has not changed from the days when I worked with her as a work-study student. She will be truly missed by all of us in the Boston College community.” King said she is looking forward to spending time at her house in New Hampshire, where she plans to move permanently in the coming months. “In the financial division, you would spend the summer working on financial statements, so you didn’t get much time off; you’d wait until winter,” she laughed. “That’s why I became a winter girl. So I will be very happy to live farther north, and to do lots of skiing.” Of course, she added, there is always the possibility that somebody at BC may need a question or two answered. “If that happens, I’m a phone call away. I’m happy to help.”
BCPD Officer Rose Serves His Final Shift Officer Patrick Rose of the Boston College Police Department has retired after 44 years as a patrolman. He started his career at Boston College during his junior year of college through Northeastern University’s co-op program, and worked under six different police chiefs. In addition to his role as patrolman, Rose also worked for 35 years as an emergency medical technician on campus. One of the most memorable events of his career came in 1988, when he assisted with the delivery of a baby in the back seat of a car on Commonwealth Avenue. “It was not the typical type of call I receive here,” Rose told the Boston College Biweekly at the time. “No more than 30 seconds after I got the equipment, the baby was born.” Another unforgettable experience was
when he helped rescue students from a 1977 fire in Cheverus Hall which sent a number of BCPD officers to the hospital. The fire started around 1 a.m. while Rose was working the night shift. The intensity of the fire melted doorknobs and caused around $150,000 in structural damage. Some students had to be relocated to a local hotel for the remainder of the semester and inform their professors that they lost notes and textbooks in the blaze. “Very few people here would remember that,” said Rose. Rose said he will miss seeing the familiar faces on campus that he has come to know well throughout the years. “I know virtually everyone,” said Rose. “I made it my mission to know everyone.” Rose’s time at BC has been a family affair. His three daughters, Kimberly ’04,
Patrick Rose served under six different chiefs during his 44 years at the BC Police Department.
Lauren ’08, and Stephanie ’09 all graduated from Boston College and his wife, Karen, received a M.Ed. from the University in 1992. “I couldn’t have done the job this long if I didn’t have a good wife to support me,” said Rose. Although he and Karen will forego trav-
el for the time being, Rose looks forward to spending time with his three grandchildren and his friends during his retirement. One other thing he’ll relish: being able to sleep past 5:30 a.m., his customary wake-up time to get to campus for his 7 a.m. shift. —Christine Balquist
Chronicle
Summer 2020
OBITUARIES
Mary Armstrong, Fine Arts Faculty
by University Communications staff
Trustee, Benefactor Joseph Corcoran Joseph E. Corcoran, a Boston-born pioneer in the development of mixed-income housing and Boston College graduate who shared his talents and generosity in service to his alma mater, died on June 3. He was 84. Mr. Corcoran’s life was the stuff of classic American success stories: The son of Irish immigrants, who grew up during the Depression in a Dorchester neighborhood both economically and ethnically diverse, he attended Boston College— originally founded to educate the children of Boston’s Irish immigrants—on the GI Bill, graduating in 1959, and went on to become a prominent real estate developer who, in his work and his philanthropy, sought to improve others’ lives. The chairman of the privately held development firm Corcoran Jennison Companies, Mr. Corcoran was renowned for transforming Boston’s notorious Columbia Point housing project into the mixed-income Harbor Point on the Bay apartments, partnering with residents and community organizations to ensure that local knowledge and quality-of-life needs shaped the future of Harbor Point. Taking the lessons learned from Harbor Point, Mr. Corcoran later created a nonprofit, the American City Coalition, with the mission of transforming inner-city neighborhoods. Having experienced the transforma-
tive benefits of education, Mr. Corcoran sought to create opportunities for others to do so, and funded scholarships for city youth to attend Boston College, Simmons College, and Emmanuel College, as well as Boston College High School, of which he also was an alumnus. He put his talents and skills to work for BC as a University trustee from 1998 to 2006, serving on the Building and Properties Committee and the Executive Committee, and as president of the Boston College Real Estate and Finance Council. Mr. Corcoran also taught a course on real estate development in the Carroll School of Management that was the precursor to one of his most significant contributions to BC. In 2014, his gift created the Joseph E. Corcoran Center for Real Estate and Urban Action, designed to educate and inspire the next generation of professionals to use real estate as a catalyst for turning struggling neighborhoods into stable, flourishing communities. Boston College celebrated Mr. Corcoran’s service and generosity at the 2009 Commencement Exercises, presenting him with an honorary Doctor of Business Administration degree. In 2007, the BC Alumni Association bestowed on Mr. Corcoran its highest honor, the William V. McKenney Award, which honors graduates who have made outstanding contributions to service, industry, and the University. Read the full obituary at https://bit.ly/josephcorcoran-obit photo by lee pellegrini
Norine Smith, Carroll School of Mgmt. Norine Smith, a longtime Carroll School of Management employee fondly remembered as a friend to many in Fulton Hall and across campus, died on May 19 at age 93. Ms. Smith, whose years of service to the University spanned from 1979-1996, held a number of administrative positions prior to her retirement at age 70. At CSOM, Ms. Smith worked in the Management Center as supervisor of management seminars and later joined the Undergraduate Associate Dean’s Office. During the renovation of Fulton Hall from 1993-1995, when CSOM offices temporarily moved to other locations across campus, Ms. Smith staffed the Higgins Hall suite in which faculty members held office hours. Prior to joining CSOM, she worked at the Center for Women in Politics and Government on Newton Campus. According to her daughter Tracy Downing, Ms. Smith “absolutely loved her time at BC and working with [former CSOM Dean] Jack Neuhauser, [Management Center Director] John McKiernan and Nancy
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Samya,” then the CSOM Dean’s Office administrative secretary and now Office of University Advancement assistant director of school development initiatives. “My mom loved working with her work-study students; some remained in contact with her throughout their adult lives with visits, telling Mom about their marriages and births of their children. She loved hearing from all of them,” added Downing, who is an English Department administrative assistant. At age 60, Ms. Smith earned a bachelor’s degree from what was then the Evening College, now the Woods College of Advancing Studies. “She was extremely proud of this accomplishment as we all were; my mom was the ultimate role model and my best friend,” said Downing. “Anyone who met her would describe her as kind, warm, classy, and elegant. She had a wonderful sense of humor, but always remained down to earth.” “Her family was most precious to her,” Samya recalled. “She adored and was adored by her children and grandchildren.” Read the full obituary at https://bit.ly/norinesmith-obit
Mary A. Armstrong, who taught painting at Boston College for almost 30 years while continuing to pursue an active, accomplished artistic career, died on May 14. She was 71. Ms. Armstrong joined the studio art faculty in BC’s Fine Arts Department in 1989 after having taught at the Charles River School in Dover for 13 years. At BC, she taught such classes as Foundations Drawing, Color Theory and Practice, and—in collaboration with the Lynch School of Education—Principles and Concepts in the Arts. She also curated the McMullen Museum of Art exhibitions “Re/Dressing Kathleen” and “Original Visions.” A native of Kent, Conn., Ms. Armstrong found inspiration for her own art in seascapes and landscapes, especially along the coast of Maine, where she spent several months a year, or at the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California, which she visited for many years. “Every day I stare wide-eyed at the changing light, and perceive, more and more deeply, the symbiotic connection of earth and sky,” she wrote on her website [www. maryarmstrongpainter.com]. “I see how the forces shape each other and I strive to create a painted space that will express the ineffable beauty of this dynamic ‘sandwich’ of atmosphere and earth. I am striving, in my daily practice in the studio, to continually improvise from my perceptions; this makes the process very active, containing many layers
of oil paint and wax (on wood panel). I am a student of light and a collector of air.” Ms. Armstrong’s artistic vision found acclaim in many quarters. She exhibited multiple solo shows at The Victoria Munroe Gallery in New York City and Boston’s Victoria Munroe Fine Art Gallery, and was given a 10-year retrospective at The Felecita Foundation in Escondido, Calif. She also participated in numerous group exhibitions, including at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, Mass., and the Portland Museum of Art in Maine, as well as others in Connecticut, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. Among her numerous honors and awards were a fellowship from The Ballinglen Arts Foundation in Ballycastle, Ireland, and a grant for works on paper from the New England Foundation for the Arts. Ms. Armstrong, who was the wife of Stoney Conley, a faculty member in BC’s Art, Art History, and Film Department, continued to find new avenues and contexts for her art. In 2006, she created the exhibition “24 Hour News,” a series of paintings representing her response to the Iraq War. After retiring from BC, last fall Ms. Armstrong presented the exhibition “Conditions of Faith” in the McMullen Museum’s Atrium—a selection of paintings she had done in recent years depicting vistas in Maine and Anza-Borrego. “For Armstrong,” the exhibition description read, “roiling currents, sunlit estuaries, and particularly rising waves are ‘a perfect visual metaphor for change, both desired and feared, destructive and regenerative, personal and political.’” Read the full obituary at https://bit.ly/maryarmstrong-obit photo by lee pellegrini
Michael Mitsukawa, Law Library Michael I. Mitsukawa, a vital presence in the Boston College Law Library for 35 years, died on April 29. He was 56. Mr. Mitsukawa began his professional career at BC Law shortly after earning a master’s degree in theology from Boston College in 1985, starting at the circulation desk of the old Law School library. But in the 1990s, he would play a key role in the construction of the present Law Library as part of the Law School’s East Wing. “He worked tirelessly with the architects, outside contractors, BC construction team, designers, and library staff to ensure that the plans for the library and its fitness for its purpose were fully executed,” recalled former Associate Dean for Library and Computer Services Sharon O’Connor in an interview with BC Law magazine. “Truly, the building as it stands today is a testament to his work.” Mr. Mitsukawa took on another important task, assuming the position of associate director of administrative and technological resources when the Law Library was given the responsibility for providing
computer support for the Law School. “Michael was ready to lead in that effort, one that is part technical, part fiscal, and part administrative, allowing his strengths to be used in all aspects of decision-making,” O’Connor said. “From its small beginning equipping all faculty and staff with a computer on their desk, the department evolved to provide the support it offers today.” Colleagues and friends remembered Mr. Mitsukawa as a spiritual person who was a willing listener and counselor: “A session with Michael was far more useful than an hour in a therapist’s office,” Professor and Associate Dean for Library and Technology Services Filippa M. Anzalone told BC Law. He is survived by his mother, Margaret “Peggy” Mitsukawa; sisters, Margie Mung Lim, Maureen (Ray) Fleming, and Marie Mitsukawa; brother, Mark Mitsukawa; and nieces and nephews. A funeral Mass was celebrated for Mr. Mitsukawa in Hawaii on July 11. Donations can made in his name to the Institute for Human Services (IHS) or St. Jude Children’s Hospital. To read the BC Law appreciation for Mr. Mitsukawa, see http://lawmagazine. bc.edu/2020/05/remembering-michaelmitsukawa photo by christopher soldt/mts
Chronicle
16
Summer 2020
BC Arts
A ‘Virtual Voyage Around the World’ for Art Lovers An international arts organization headed by Boston College faculty member Mary Sherman launched a global project this summer aimed at fostering solidarity— inspired by the creative efforts of artists worldwide to remain positive and productive during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Hello World” invites art lovers on a “virtual voyage around the world,” said Sherman, who teaches in the Art, Art History, and Film Department and is director of TransCultural Exchange, the nonprofit spearheading the project. The project’s Zoom launch on June 20—the summer solstice—was livestreamed on TCE’s Facebook page, where viewers were able to see and hear from the hundreds of artists whose work is included in the global showcase. Through the initiative, “travelers” can experience paintings, music, dances, films, and installations by contemporary artists working in Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, Finland, France, Japan, Norway, Spain, Germany, Morocco, Peru, Poland, Senegal, Turkey, and Zambia—with countless stops along the way, Sherman said. “Hello World”—which involves 70 countries, nearly 250 artists and more than 250 cultural venues around the world—is a way to demonstrate global care and concern, and signals that we are all in this pandemic together, according to organizers.
(Left) “Trans-border Happiness,” by Irene Gaouda (Senegal), one of the works featured in a global art project sponsored by an international organization directed by BC faculty member Mary Sherman (above).
“Viewers can collaborate with art projects from Kyrgyzstan, the UK, U.S., Brazil, and more,” Sherman said. “The choices are myriad.” The goals of “Hello World,” Sherman said, include helping to sustain people-topeople interactions within and beyond borders during this period of travel restrictions and social distancing; provide artists and many in the arts and cultural community with more visibility during this difficult time of limited operations; address the isolation, loss, and fear resulting from the pandemic’s decrease in the usual sources of solace, includng the arts and connections with others; and help encourage a global mindset to stem rising nationalism, discrimination, and other extremist tendencies that can result when people feel scared or stressed. “Hello World” organizers solicited texts, SoundCloud links, photos, and videos from
artists of all cultures, disciplines, abilities, backgrounds, and orientations. Joaquin Fargas (Argentina), Josely Carvalho (Brazil), Shaarbek Amankul (Kyrgyzstan), The Wahapahapa Band (Tanzania), Chun-Hao Chen (Taiwan), and Dorothea Rockburne, Sawad Brooks, Arthur Ganson, and Lloyd Schwartz (United States), are among noted artists participating in the project. Among the hundreds of organizations involved are Theater without Borders, The International Association of Art (a UNESCO official partner), Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, the Art Gallery of International University of Sarajevo, Union of Bulgarian Artists, Radio SUBMARINE (Egypt), Radio Dordogne France, Bucharest International Dance Film Festival, South Africa National Association for the Visual Arts, Taipei Artist Village, Museum Making of Ukrainian Nation, The Venezuelan
Association of Plastic Artists, Southlondonmuseum, Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator, and the George Washington Carver Museum. The mission of TransCultural Exchange is to cultivate a greater understanding of world cultures through artist exchanges, global projects, and educational programming. “Hello World” is among the largescale projects undertaken by the organization over its three-decade history of working across boundaries and disciplines, via the Internet. For more information on “Hello World,” including participating artists and cultural venues, go to the Transcultural Exchange website [https://transculturalexchange.org/ activities/hw/overview.htm]. Mary Sherman can be contacted at msherman@transculturalexchange.org. —University Communications
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts earned the ire of conservatives on some recent decisions. How will that play out for the court in the long term? Prof. Kent Greenfield (Law) offered his perspective in an op-ed for The Hill.
that revealed personal information of alleged crime victims and suspects should be a lesson for those in government charged with safeguarding sensitive data, Kevin Powers, founding director of the M.S. in Cybersecurity and Governance Program at the Woods College, told the Bangor Daily News.
BC in the Media The Boston Globe published a feature on Project Entrepreneur at Boston College Law School, launched to help address the barriers to starting a business faced by those with criminal records, which leads a story on initiatives to assist former inmates’ return to the workforce. Assoc. Professor of the Practice Richard McGowan, S.J. (CSOM), offered comments to the Springfield Republican via MassLive.com on the reopening of MGM Springfield and the challenges it faces following a four-month COVID-19 shutdown—and before that a year-and-a-half of not living up to gambling revenue expectations. Experts worry that state reopening plans could open the door for another COVID-19 surge. Asst. Prof. Nadia Abuelezam (CSON), an epidemiologist, appeared on WBUR News to discuss experts’ concerns on how state reopening plans could lead to another COVID-19 surge, and commented on surges elsewhere in the U.S. in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
She also spoke with the Associated Press on the danger that rhetoric which turns mask-wearing into a politically fraught action could lead to more deaths and infections. Members of the Bhutanese community in western Massachusetts are drawing on their own experience to keep their community safe and self-sufficient during the pandemic, wrote Jenna Berent of the School of Social Work’s Research Program on Children and Adversity in a piece for Dig Boston. CNBC highlighted a Boston College Center for Retirement Research study of several concerns that will affect older workers’ careers, and included comments from center director Alicia Munnell. Professional life has changed dramatically for many over the past few months. Prof. David Blustein (LSOEHD) discussed how to navigate this new normal in an interview with News 12 Long Island.
The hacking of a Maine intelligence agency
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.
ment, Center for Corporate Citizenship
Campus Security Officer II
Assistant Director, Financial Aid
Public Safety Dispatcher
Senior Program Manager, RPCA
Post-doctoral Research Fellow
Program Manager, RPCA
Director, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Research Associate
Director, Research Security
Per Diem Nurse
Manager, Digital Communications, Center for Corporate Citizenship
Assistant Director, Learning Design
Assistant Director, Member Recruit-
Head Strength & Conditioning Coach Basketball Assistive Technology Specialist
Data Manager, RPCA