The Heights, October 19, 2020

Monday, October 19, 2020

BC Thanksgiving Plan Expected Today All undergradute students were tested this past week.

By Scott Baker News Editor

Boston College’s undergraduate positivity rate for COVID-19 fell in the Friday update of the COVID-19 dashboard after an initial rise in

positivity rate at the beginning of the week following the holiday weekend.

The University reported six new positives out of 4,687 undergraduate tests between the Thursday and Friday updates of the dashboard, a positivity rate of .13 percent.

The low rate as of Friday dropped the weekly undergraduate positivity rate down to .30 percent from the .52 percent rate reported on Thursday.

The University has now reported

23 positives out of 7,985 undergraduate tests this week, with one non-undergraduate testing positive out of 1,501 tests.

Senior Associate Director of University Communications Ed Hayward told The Heights that all undergraduates would be tested last week .

The number of tests listed on the COVID-19 dashboard for last week

See Testing, A3

*DATA COMPILED FROM BC’S DASHBOARD

EAMON LAUGHLIN / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Students Await Spring Study Abroad Decision OIP has stated that it will announce an overall choice “mid-Fall.”

By Scott Baker News Editor

ERIC SHEA / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Newton Students March for Justice Student leaders discussed need for race and climate justice.

By Eric Shea

Editorial Assistant

More than 100 Newton residents, Newton North students, and activists carried signs reading “Black Lives Matter” and “There is no Planet B” in a socially distanced protest Saturday morning.

Protesters chanted into megaphones and sang songs about overcoming oppression as the group made the 1.3 mile walk from the Newton Centre Green to Newton City Hall. The goal of the march was to highlight the intersectionality of racial justice and climate justice.

“Today, we are the seed of a movement that was rooted back in Warren County, North Carolina in 1982 where Black activists were trying to stop a power plant in their community,” Christian Gaines, a Newton North senior and Climate Collec-

tive officer, said. “Today we sow the seeds of this movement into our hearts with a conviction of civil rights leaders before us as environmental racism is one of the highest contributors to despair and neglect in communities of color.”

Gaines made these remarks on the steps of Newton City hall after various members of the Newton North High School Climate Collective marched from the Newton City Green to Newton City Hall Saturday

See Newton North, A10

Students planning on studying abroad in spring 2021 are awaiting a decision from the Office of International Programs (OIP) about whether it will hold its expected programs. Nick Gozik, the director of OIP, said that a decision is expected to be made in “mid-Fall.”

Gozik told The Heights in an email that some spring programs have already been canceled by partner institutions and external programs, but BC has not made the final decision on the rest of its spring abroad programs.

Other schools such as Harvard University, Brown University, and Princeton University canceled their Spring 2021 study abroad programs in early October, citing the ever-changing nature of COVID-19 and the increased likelihood of its spread with travel.

Catherine Hoff, MCAS ’22, told The Heights that she would definitely go abroad if her spring program does not get canceled. Hoff is supposed to study in Quito, Ecuador next semester, and she said that the experience would be invaluable for her

minor in Hispanic Studies. At the same time, Hoff said that OIP could have done more in terms of communication and transparency with students.

“In general with COVID, I think BC could be more transparent,” Hoff said. “But especially when leases and housing depend on what people are doing, I think a little bit more transparency and openness would be appreciated.”

The CDC has many destinations for spring study abroad students—including all of Europe—listed at a level three risk assessment level, the highest risk assessment level the CDC has.

Given the number of students and departments on campus that will be affected by the decision, various offices and departments beyond OIP will be involved in the decision-making process, Gozik told The Heights in an email.

“Within the decision-making process, the OIP will be collecting information and providing recommendations, based on reports from peer universities, national and international health agencies, and the U.S. Department of State,” Gozik said.

Gozik emphasized the importance of keeping students, their families, and community members in other countries safe, and noted that many decisions that are not

See OIP, A3

BC Begins Forum on Racial Justice in America BC Law Dean Vincent Rougeau will serve as director of the forum.

By Ethan Raye For The Heights

When protests for racial justice swept the nation this summer after the police killing of George Floyd, the Black Student Forum launched a petition urging the University to release a list of tangible steps that it would take to combat racism. The petition asserted that BC had continually failed to speak up against acts of racism on campus, placing the burden on marginalized students.

“It is inappropriate for the BC admin-

istration to turn a blind eye and place the burden of progress on the oppressed,” the petition read.

After BC community members made calls for increased anti-racism measures at BC over the summer, the University established the Forum on Racial Justice in America to provide a place for conversations regarding race and racism in the BC community and in the country.

The forum kicked off its events earlier this month, most recently hosting a faculty discussion of Black Lives Matter and formative education. The forum has several other events planned this month, including a discussion on anti-racism practices, an event on racial justice in a democracy,

See Forum, A3

PHOTO COURTESY OF MATT GENTRY

Hokies Force Five Turnovers From Eagles “You can’t beat anybody turning the ball over five times.” - Jeff Hafley

Inside this Issue:

50 Years of Women at BC

See A6 and A7

SQUASHED SPORTS No. 14 Syracuse defeated the Eagles in weekend sweep, winning six matchups.

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE

NEWS: Sick Tok Goes Viral

METRO: Local Liquor Licenses

Sean Hanley chronicled his experience in isolation at Hotel Boston on TikTok........A2

Newton implements 50 percent decrease in license fees in 2021 due to COVID-19...........A10

INDEX

NEWS......................A2 OPINIONS............. A8 Vol. CI, No. 12 © 2020, The Heights, Inc. ARTS.........................A4 METRO.................... A10 MAGAZINE.................. A6 SPORTS.................. A11 www.bcheights.com

The Heights

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things to do on campus this week

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Camara Phyllis Jones, former president of the American Public Health Association, will be discussing organizing strategies for combating racism on Tuesday. The event, titled “Tools for Becoming a Racial Justice Warrior,” will be held at 5:30 p.m. over Zoom.

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Monday, October 19, 2020

The Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy will be hosting a panel discussion titled “Who’s the Bigot?” on Tuesday. The panel, which will take place at 6 p.m. over Zoom, will discuss conflicts over marriage and civil rights law.

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Mass. Senator Ed Markey, BC ’68 and BC Law ’72, will join the Boston Intercollegiate Government for a conversation on youth engagement on Wednesday.

“Youth Engagement and the 2020 Election” will take place at 8 p.m. over Zoom.

NEWS Sick Tok: BC Isolation Experience Goes Viral BRIEFS

By Maddeleine Romance Assoc. News Editor

Thomas Vanderslice Dies Thomas A. Vanderslice, a 17-year Boston College Board of Trustees member, University benefactor, and BC ’53, died on Oct. 9 at the age of 88, according to a University release.

Vanderslice and his late wife Margaret were known for their gifts to the University’s teaching, research, and residential programs for undergraduates, the release said.

Over half a decade, the couple endowed the University with chairs in chemistry and economics, as well as the renaming of the residence hall at 70 St. Thomas More Drive in honor of Vanderslice’s parents, Joseph and Mae. Geoffrey Boisi, BC ’69, a member of the Board of Trustees, called Vanderslice “a true son of Boston College.”

After graduating from B C , Vanderslice was a Fulbright Scholar who completed a doctorate in physics and chemistry in Washington, D.C. at Catholic University of America.

He went on to serve as the president and COO of GTE, the CEO of Apollo Computer, and as the CEO of M/ACOM, according to the University release.

The release said Vanderslice has authored over 25 technical articles and is credited with over a dozen scientific patents. He was a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Institute of Physics and the recipient of the 1962 Academy of Achievement Golden Plate Award.

Vanderslice is survived by his sons Thomas Jr., Paul, John, and Peter.

The funeral mass, which was livestreamed on the parish website, was celebrated on Oct. 16 at Our Lady of Victory Church.

The University presented Vanderslice with a Bicentennial Medal in 1976 and an honorary Doctor of Business Administration degree at Commencement in 2003.

Lynch Dean Publishes Book Lynch School of Education and Human Development Dean Stanton Wortham published a book examining an American town that Mexican migrants moved to over a 20-year period.

The book, titled Migration Narratives: Diverging Stories in Schools, Churches, and Civic Institutions, is the result of 11 years of research regarding the relationships among Black, Mexican, and Irish- and Italian-American communities in this town.

“We all have ways of discussing the complexities in our lives, and we usually oversimplify,” Wortham said in a University release. “What we do is document the complexities that migrants and hosts actually experience in towns like this. We think that is the best place to start if we hope to respond intelligently to the politically-motivated stories that oversimplify migration across the contemporary world.”

Wortham led the team of researchers who spent 1995-2016 speaking to residents as the Mexican migrant population grew to comprise nearly a third of the town.

Wortham and his co-authors Briana Nichols, Katherine Clonan-Roy, and Catherine Rhodes documented how the descendants of earlier Irish and Italian migrant groups reacted to new Mexican migrants, according to a University release.

“We spent many years in this community, and we wrote this book to document the complexities that migrants and hosts experience and to suggest ways in which policy-makers, researchers, educators, and communities can respond intelligently to politically motivated stories that oversimplify migration across the contemporary world,” Wortham said in a University release.

When Sean Hanley checked into Boston College’s isolation housing after testing positive for COVID-19, he decided to document his experience on TikTok, a widely popular video platform, so that he could play his story back later and provide some entertainment and updates for his friends.

After uploading his first video, the firsttime user of the app was surprised when he woke up the next morning to discover that his account was public, and that his most viewed video had garnered more than 700 views. Though going viral was not Hanley’s intention, “as events started unfolding,” he said, he decided to continue sharing his story on the app.

“It’s wild to me that people are watching that,” he said. “[But] I thought, ‘This is kind of interesting and might be kind of important … so let’s just roll with it.’”

Shortly after University Health Services notified Hanley, MCAS ’22, that he had tested positive for COVID-19, a Residential Life employee called him to explain logistics for going to isolation housing. The employee said that Eagle Escort would transport Hanley to isolation housing and provided him with instructions on what to pack.

Hanley said the ResLife employee also told him he faced allegations of breaking quarantine. The representative told him he was subject to “serious consequences,” though he did not provide any details. He asked Hanley if he had left the room “for anything out of the ordinary” while he was supposed to be in quarantine.

Hanley had in fact broken quarantine on two occasions—once to evacuate during a mandatory fire drill, he said, and again to receive his second COVID-19 test.

Assuming that a mandatory fire drill and UHS-ordered COVID-19 test would count as reasonable reasons for leaving the room, Hanley said he did not think to mention

“I wasn’t looking for sympathy, or people to tell me they were sorry for me.” the two instances to the employee.

“He was trying to get me to tell him what happened,” Hanley said. “I figured getting COVID tested wasn’t even on the radar, so I said no, that I didn’t leave the room for anything out of the ordinary.”

Hanley said that the same ResLife employee who called him also told him that the consequences for breaking quarantine might be worse because he had tested positive.

“I thought that was interesting because if I did something wrong, I should be punished for my actions, not whether or not I have this virus that I couldn’t control that I had,” Hanley said. “Obviously, it would be worse if I left the room, if I left quarantine, while positive, but that’s completely not how punishment should be made.”

Associate Vice President for the Office of Residential Life George Arey did not respond to an emailed question from The Heights about whether punishments are more severe for students who test positive.

Arey did not respond to a request for comment on Hanley’s situation and to emailed questions about what ResLife’s policies are for informing students of allegations against them.

After his phone call with ResLife, Hanley sat in his room and waited for Eagle Escort to drive him to Hotel Boston.

What ensued, as Hanley described it, was a “gigantic miscommunication that resulted in some wild things happening.”

Although Hanley refers to himself as a “guinea pig” of BC’s quarantine and isolation plan, he was adamant that he shared his experience with the BC community in the hopes that BC will use the feedback to improve.

“I know I have every right to be angry, and I certainly have been given my situation, but I’m choosing to stay level headed because I just want to help,” Hanley said. “I hope this interview, and the goofy videos that I’ve been posting can get into the hands of the right people.”

One of Hanley’s roommates in his eight-person suite tested positive for the

coronavirus on Sept. 2. The Office of Residential Life instructed him and his suitemates to quarantine for two weeks in their dorm room, informing them they would receive a test the following day.

Hanley’s first test came back negative, but a second test on Sept. 9, a week after his quarantine began, showed he was positive for the coronavirus.

The nurse who informed him of his positive result, Hanley said, told him that ResLife would be contacting him with more information and that he would be required to isolate for 14 days because he was asymptomatic. He said other nurses he spoke to during daily check-in phone calls during his isolation period, conversely, told him he would only have to quarantine for 10 days since his positive test.

UHS did not answer why nurses would give different dates.

Director of University Health Services Doug Comeau told The Heights that it is standard for students who test positive to remain in isolation for 10 days, though it may change if a patient develops symptoms during isolation.

While Hanley was in quarantine in his residence hall, he realized a simple but important need BC did not account for in its COVID-19 plans: laundry. The University did not provide students with any instructions for washing their clothes while they were supposed to be quarantining.

When Hanley asked the ResLife employee about what to do with his laundry, Hanley said that the employee told him to have a friend pick it up.

“I thought, ‘Why would I have a friend expose themselves to my dirty COVID clothes?’” Hanley said. “I was just a little amazed that there wasn’t a written down plan. … It’s just a simple thing that somehow nobody even thought to think of a solution for.”

Arey did not respond to The Heights’ emailed question about how students should do laundry while in quarantine and isolation.

Eagle Escort transported Hanley to Hotel Boston on Sept. 10, he said. Once alone in his room, the gravity of the past few hours began to sink in.

“I just kind of sat here not knowing what to do,” he said.

A few hours later, Hanley said, a man knocked at his door with a letter of summary suspension for violations of quarantine, and then said “I shouldn’t do this” before crossing into the doorway to sit in a chair in the corner of Hanley’s room.

“I thought I did something wrong by letting him in, I thought like, ‘Shoot, I shouldn’t have done that,’” Hanley said.

“We both wore masks and stayed distant, if that means anything. … But obviously it was a mistake on his part.”

Hanley reenacted the encounter in a TikTok. When asked about the encounter, Director of Student Conduct Corey Kelly told The Heights in an email that while she cannot comment on specific cases, “summary suspensions are generally delivered in person and the appropriate protocols are followed.”

Hanley said the man didn’t have all the details on Hanley’s specific case, but he did explain that the suspension was just until Hanley’s hearing with the conduct board. The suspension was not a disciplinary matter, Hanley was told, but was issued because they believed Hanley was threatening the safety of the BC community.

The notice said Hanley was “summarily suspended” until he had a hearing with the conduct board because he had broken his required quarantine “by leaving the room and having guests in the room.” The notice said that, during the suspension, Hanley was expected not to enter any University buildings or participate in Universitysponsored events.

“This incident may have threaten/ intimidate members of the Boston College community, which has been deemed by University standards and authority to present a potentially serious threat to the safety and well-being of the campus community,” the notice reads. “[BC] chose to use this heavy hand of punishment, I don’t know if to set an example, or whatnot, but it just simply didn’t have to go there,” Hanley said. “I don’t know why they chose to bring it to that.

IKRAM ALI / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Hanley took to social media in hopes of improving BC's isolation and conduct policies.

In an email to The Heights, Kelly said that a summary suspension is not a disciplinary sanction.

“It is an interim administrative action that is intended to protect the University community until the matter can be investigated and adjudicated,” she said.

Kelly also said that procedures for violations of University COVID-19 protocols have varied.

“Whether summary suspensions are utilized for violations of the Eagles Care Pledge or the Housing Addendum, depends upon the facts and circumstances of each case,” Kelly said. “Some cases have resulted in summary suspensions and others have not.”

The following Friday, Hanley had a meeting over Google Meet with a representative from the Office of Student Conduct, who told him that a maintenance employee had reported that they saw someone enter Hanley’s dorm room while he was supposed to be in quarantine.

She also said that the Conduct Board and ResLife had verified that Hanley had punched in and out of the building on two occasions via electronic records of EagleID card swipes.

When asked whether the Office of Student Conduct uses records of students’ ID swipes or employee testimonies to determine if students have violated quarantine, Kelly said that “quarantine violations are determined in the same way as other types of conduct violations, based on the information available.”

“The conduct process utilizes any evidence that is made available to us,” she said.

Hanley explained that he had left his room for a fire drill and for a second COVID-19 test, which he said was factchecked by a conduct employee who said she would contact him with more

“I know I have every right to be angry, and I certainly have been given my situation, but I’m choosing to stay level headed because I just want to help.” information.

Hanley received a follow-up email from the conduct employee who conducted his hearing saying that the incident would not be included on his student conduct record.

While the views on his videos climbed, Hanley was surprised to find that some users left comments on some of his videos telling him he deserved the suspension for having broken the University’s rules, despite the fact that he cleared his name in other videos.

“They were ignorant, just not aware,” Hanley said. “I guess that’s the one most people saw, they didn’t look at all the other videos, which is understandable, but they only heard the part where I said I got suspended [and] just thought I broke the rules.”

Despite the nature of the situation, Hanley’s TikToks are riddled with comedic relief.

“That was the goal, I wasn’t looking for sympathy, or people to tell me they were sorry for me,” Hanley said.

Hanley did receive support in the comments on his videos, though, especially from a particular demographic, and found himself asking, “How did I get onto mom TikTok?”

TikTok algorithms drew many mothers to Hanley’s audience. Many mothers began commenting they were sorry for him and that they sympathize with him because they have children in college, and some even offered to send him care packages.

“I watched your whole story. I am sorry you are having to experience this. Sending prayers and positive vibes. Hugs,” one commenter wrote.

Other younger users commented saying that their mothers directed them to his page to virtually “keep him company” in the comments section.

“My mom just sent me your profile and told me to contact you and keep you company HAHAHHAHAH,” one commenter wrote.

UHS nurses contacted him each day to check in on him, Hanley said, and each time they asked him whether he was at home or in BC isolation housing. They also repeatedly asked him who he had been in contact with, even though he had been in isolation housing since he tested positive and had been quarantining in his residence hall beforehand.

In response to an emailed inquiry from The Heights, Comeau answered questions about the length of the isolation period and whether students are re-tested before leaving isolation housing, but not how UHS documents information on students who are supposed to be isolating.

Hanley left isolation housing on Sept. 20, 10 days after arriving.

Comeau said that isolation patients must be symptom-free for 24 hours prior to leaving isolation, but they are not re-tested again for 90 days, based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control. According to the CDC, if an individual is retested within three months of contracting COVID-19, they may receive a positive result even though they are not spreading the virus.

While in isolation, Hanley said his resident minister reached out, and though he did not need a meeting, he appreciated that the University is offering the resource for students.

Hanley is grateful that BC brought students back to campus, he said, but after his ordeal, he wishes he chose not to return.

“There’s no room for failure when you bring us back. And did BC fail me? Yeah, sure,” Hanley said. “But I hope that BC can use me as an example of what not to do moving forward.”

Despite his experience, Hanley said he believes the problem within BC lies not with individuals, but with the broader disconnect across BC departments.

“I’m super thankful for all the individuals, and all the people that are working very hard to keep us safe and healthy and on campus,” he said. “This is a crazy time for everybody. Nobody’s trained to lead a university in a pandemic and this hasn’t happened before. … There’s just this terrible disconnect everywhere that needs to get figured it out.”

Since arriving back on campus, Hanley says he sometimes picks up on whispers of students asking each other if that’s “the quarantine TikTok kid” when he walks by.

“I feel like people look at me when I go through campus … but nobody’s really come up to me, so that’s probably a good thing,” he said.

Hanley said he hopes the school can use him as an example of what not to do moving forward.

“As long as there are no students that have to go through what I went through or deal with any sort of stresses like me, I’ll chalk that up as a win for the school,” he said. n

The Heights

Monday, October 19, 2020

Lynch Students Zoom Into School

By Emma Dawson Heights Staff

After Initial Rate Jump, Weekly Positivity Falls Testing, from A1 will rise in the Tuesday update of the dashboard as more results from testing last week come in.

A University release on Thursday said that this week’s rise in positive cases was likely caused by travel over the weekend.

The University previously requested that students refrain from traveling during the holiday.

The University is expected to make a decision about Thanksgiving Break by Monday, according to an email from Vice President for Student Affairs Joy Moore.

The email included a survey regarding student preferences about BC’s schedule.

The survey asked whether students

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would prefer to return home for Thanksgiving Break and finish out the semester remotely, or if students would rather remain in Massachusetts—at BC or at home—and complete the semester on campus.

The survey closed Thursday at 5 p.m., but BC has not made the results public.

BC reported that 28 undergraduates were in isolation as of Saturday—with 21 in isolation housing and seven isolating at home—and that 182 undergraduates had recovered.

The University reported that this semester it has conducted 61,816 total tests, with 217 total positive cases, including community members, through Friday.

These numbers include 43,952 undergraduate tests, with 210 undergraduate cases. n

When Boston College moved courses online last semester, undergraduate students studying to become teachers in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development were faced with the task of adapting to online learning both for their BC courses and their own teaching responsibilities. Now, almost two months into the fall semester, Lynch students are acclimating to the new normal of completing the handson portions of their curricula mostly remotely amid a pandemic.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is allowing teacher education candidates to receive credit for completing their state-required practicum remotely, because the students and teachers in local school districts are currently operating in this format, according to Amy Ryan, assistant dean of field placement and partnership outreach in Lynch.

“It’s like the metaphor of building the boat while you’re sailing in it,” said Stanton Wortham, dean of Lynch.

“We’re always challenged by extensive state requirements for certification programs, but now the state is facing an unprecedented situation and they’re changing requirements relatively rapidly because they’re trying to figure out what’s best for the students.”

L ast semester, Lynch worked closely with partner schools during the transition to online learning so that students on their pathway to licensure could continue to work at their field placements. Students in practicum at the time shifted to fully remote instruction and worked with their program supervisors to be “good partners and stewards” during a major period of change, according to Ryan.

Candidates for teacher education complete three pre-practicum experiences during undergraduate studies, each in a different setting and consisting of one school day per week for 10 weeks. All pre-practicum experiences are fully remote this semester, which has allowed students for more flexibility, according to Wortham.

“That allows flexibility where a student need not be physically anywhere, so a student who chose not to be at BC this semester could do a remote practicum, and it would be the same as if he or she were here on campus,” Wortham said.

Lauren Mundinger, Lynch ’23, is

completing a remote pre-practicum for her elementary education major at The Oliver Hazard Perry School this semester.

Mundinger said that her prepracticum experience primarily consists of classroom observation over Zoom.

Education students must also create and teach several lessons which they can either do synchronously via Zoom or in a pre-recorded video that students watch on their own time, she said.

In addition to the three pre-practicum experience requirements, undergraduate Lynch students must complete one semester-long full practicum. In the full practicum, which students usually complete their senior year, teacher candidates work on-site five days a week.

Jacob Kelleher, Lynch ’21, is completing the final requirement for his secondary education major in person this semester, as a math student-teacher at BC High School.

BC High is delivering a hybrid model of instruction with half of the students attending classes in-person and the other half attending synchronously via Zoom.

Kelleher said that his own experience as a student during the pandemic has helped him empathize with his students, because he understands many of the challenges that they are facing in this new learning environment, including Zoom fatigue.

He said he is doing everything he can to meet them halfway, and is deliberately designing his lessons to support and engage with his students as much as possible.

The majority of full-practicum placements are remote, but some placements are allowing BC teacher candidates to teach in person. Ryan said placement of full-practicum students, whether in remote or face-toface environments, also depended on students’ comfort levels. All students visiting field placements in person are being tested for COVID-19 weekly, according to Ryan.

The student teaching program within the Department of Teaching, Curriculum, and Society (TCS) in Lynch is stateapproved, meaning it has undergone a rigorous program approval process.

This has been especially beneficial recently, Ryan explained, because it has allowed the school to work closely with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, who has provided guidance throughout the pandemic.

“We continue to meet with the state every week to every other week to monitor those regulations and to make sure we’re on top of anything that could potentially affect our students as they go on this pathway to endorsement,” Ryan said.

When the University decided it would allow students the ability to take courses pass/fail in March, the question arose as to whether Lynch students could opt in to that still fulfill state requirements. The department said that Lynch could support candidates in any way during the pandemic as long as they could determine that they were ready to teach, which allowed Lynch students the ability to opt into the pass/fail option, according to Ryan.

Ryan said that while other schools may have made significant changes to their programs or have taken different approaches from BC to working with the state, BC is still working hard to provide students with robust experiences and opportunities to engage in the professional careers they have chosen, despite the complex landscape.

“We anticipate that students are going to be really well-equipped to deliver instruction in this new environment and this new educational model,” Ryan said.

Since the status of each field placement is unique, whether remote or in person and with respect to logistics of how teachers design their classes, Ryan said that Lynch is taking an individualized approach to advising practicum students. The school is prioritizing transparent communication and accessibility by holding virtual coffee hours during which students can ask questions, and by delivering all news regarding field placements over Zoom rather than email.

Speaking of the individualized support Lynch has offered students amid the unusual time, Mundiger commended the school.

“Lynch is very good with that,” Mundinger said. “[My prog ram supervisor] only has four of us studentteachers to look after, so she dedicates her time to helping us.”

Ryan said she sees this year as a unique opportunity for students to learn to use digital technology to deliver remote instruction that supports high-need students, and she has been impressed by the willingness of Lynch students to engage thus far.

“By and large, my sense is that people are doing pretty well,” said Wortham.

“I think the fears were worse than the

particular responsibility in this regard as a Jesuit Catholic University,” Rougeau said. “Our mission and our values make it clear that racism is a moral problem that needs to be addressed.”

A central objective of the forum is to bring Black students together on campus, Rougeau said, and he hopes that the forum will enable students of color to feel more at home on the Heights.

“I hope for students of color that this will send the signal to them that they matter and their views and needs are an important part of how we think about community here,” Rougeau said.

There have been several documented incidents of racism on BC’s campus in recent years, including racist vandalism in Welch Hall, the defacing of “Black Lives Matter” signs in Roncalli Hall, and a racist Snapchat that circulated around Facebook.

At a university in which 65.9 percent of undergraduate day students enrolled in the fall of 2019 identified as white, Rougeau emphasized that bringing diversity to campus enhances the BC community.

“We’re not just bringing diversity to BC to check boxes, but we’re bring-

ing diversity to BC so that we can be a stronger and more representative community,” he said.

Aside from fostering inclusivity among Black students, Rougeau said that the forum strives to encourage involvement in racial justice issues among students who have not been directly affected by racism in the community.

“There are a lot of people who assume [racial justice] conversations don’t involve them, or they aren’t focused on the role that they may play in these issues,” Rougeau said. “One of the things we need to do is encourage all members of the community to be involved.”

Rougeau said that the participation of white students in fighting racial injustice is integral to the success of the forum and to the movement as a whole.

“It’s really important that white BC community members recognize the role that they play in fighting racism,” Rougeau said. “If you believe that racism is wrong and racial justice is important, then it’s something that everyone needs to take up in everyday life. n

Most Spring Programs Scheduled to Proceed Forum’s Events Began This Month OIP, from A1

up to the University due to travel restrictions and mandatory quarantines.

“We are monitoring immigration regulations,” Gozik told The Heights. “Many countries are not permitting U.S. citizens to enter, due to the high rates of COVID-19 here, and in other cases students may be permitted to enter yet they would be subjected to a quarantine upon arrival. A quarantine could be quite stressful and isolating for students just arriving in a new country, and would want to prevent that as much as possible.”

If spring study abroad programs were to be suspended, students will not be charged any withdrawal fee, Gozik said.

Gozik told The Heights that students have been advised not to make any travel arrangements until a final decision has been made. Therefore, BC will not be refunding any travel related expenses.

Quinn Welsh, MCAS ’22, is scheduled to study in Madrid, Spain next semester. Welsh echoed Hoff’s criticism about OIP’s communication and expressed hesitation about going abroad during a global pandemic.

“Honestly I’m not really sure where I stand at the moment,” Welsh said. “I think I will go if it’s not canceled but Madrid is

literally in a state of emergency, so it’s going to depend on how things look when we get closer to that point.”

In the event that Spring 2021 study abroad programs do take place, as currently planned, the University and partner schools will put special precautions in place to protect students.

“We will be amending our pre-departure sessions and providing additional information to address COVID-19,” Gozik said.

“Onsite, each program is different based on the regulations of the respective country and city. All are looking closely at housing, classrooms, and excursions to minimize risk.”

Gozik noted that study abroad experience will not be the same as students may be expecting. If students are going to have the opportunity to study abroad, BC will have to take significant measures to ensure student safety.

“They will have to follow local health regulations, such as around masking and social distancing, as is the case in the U.S.,” Gozik said. “Moreover, travel between and within countries may be significantly restricted. The experience will look and feel different than what students might have initially imagined; we want to be honest and transparent about these realities, so that students are best prepared.” n

Forum, from A1 and a solidarity event on Maloney Lawn.

The University tapped BC Law Dean Vincent Rougeau as inaugural director of the forum. Rougeau outlined its significance in an interview with The Heights, illustrating it as an avenue for the BC community to grapple with the issues of racial justice on campus.

“The forum is designed to be a meeting point for the campus community to engage with racial justice and anti-racism in the BC community,” Rougeau said. “It will also be a way for us to be a voice in higher education and public policy for the work of racial justice.”

Earlier this month, the University hosted the Service of Hope and Reconciliation, a Catholic service focused on racial justice, as one of the forum’s first events. Rougeau said the forum hopes to initiate conversations on race through the lens of Catholic teachings, emphasizing the importance of intertwining faith into racial justice dialogues.

“I believe that Boston College has a

The Heights

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Monday, October 19, 2020

‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ Will Inspire Activists

By Alicia Kang Heights Staff Director Aaron Sorkin’s latest drama, The Trial of the Chicago 7, reminds its audience that problems with the U.S. policing system have existed for decades.

The film recounts the true story of seven men who were indicted for inciting violent protests against the Vietnam War. These men hail from groups including the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the Youth International Party (YIP), and the Black Panthers. As they butt heads and figure out how to collectively avoid a sentence, they find themselves pitted against a clever prosecutor, Richard Schultz (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), and crooked Judge Julius

Hoffman (Frank Langella).

The Trial of the Chicago 7 begins with a montage of various revolutionaries planning to congregate in Chicago to protest during the Democratic National Convention. These first few minutes are enough to give us a sense of the key players in the ensuing storm, which include Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne), the cool-headed leader of the SDS, and Abbie Hoffman (Sacha Baron Cohen), the lax, charismatic head of the Yippies. Throughout the film, Hayden’s straitlaced demeanor clashes with Hoffman’s belief that the seven should seize their moment in the spotlight of U.S. society and use the trial to further protest injustice. Redmayne and Cohen pull off their characters adeptly, enabling

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the film to achieve a balance between suspense, humor, and reality that isn’t found often in legal dramas.

The film has no shortage of talent in the rest of the cast, either. Jerry Rubin (Jeremy Strong), for example, offers a refreshing take on the comedic sidekick trope. Though Rubin is part of the Youth International Party, Sorkin gives him agency rather than simply making him Abbie’s lackey. And Langella pulls off a spectacular performance as Judge Julius Hoffman, if only for the fact that he makes viewers want to reach through the screen and smack him across the face.

Sorkin enhances the actors’ talent through the clever use of props and gestures. In The Trial of the Chicago 7, a simple act like declining to sip Johnnie Walker whisky with the other men in the room, donning a black jacket, or removing a police badge all become significant.

These actions indicate the subtleties in characters’ relationships with one another, as well as each character’s true intentions.

Props and gestures enable Sorkin to explore the complexity of Schultz, who is, by all intents and purposes, on the judge’s side. He wants to get the Chicago 7 convicted, and he truly does believe they are anarchists. And yet, along the way, Sorkin makes viewers question just how terrible this prosecutor is. It’s hard to tell whether or not viewers are meant to hate

a character when he sometimes stands for the right things and sometimes for the wrong ones.

Though the film has a specific, tangible antagonist—the clearly biased and racist Hoffman—it also identifies much greater, systemic issues within the criminal justice system and U.S. society as the culprits.

This double focus on the enemy at hand and the enemy within makes The Trial of the Chicago 7 even more powerful. And when the film does show us some amount of justice being achieved, when the truth comes out and the courtroom goes wild, the viewers can feel the righteousness that must have echoed throughout the room.

The high points in the film make us feel hopeful for a better future, and characters like hardworking defense attorney William Kunstler (Mark Rylance) remind us that some people still care about what’s fair.

Yet, the film serves as a bleak reminder of how often justice is rejected for the sake of convenience and order. And it is for that very reason that this film is a must-see for today’s U.S. audience. The Trial of the Chicago 7 tells its viewers that a movement is not just a moment in history that’s over when a hashtag stops trending, but rather a living, breathing effort created and grown by thousands of people throughout the nation. By showing us the past, it gives us hope for a better future in which people fight for what they believe in. n

‘Fake it Flowers’ Channels ’90s Nostalgia

By Josie McNeill For The Heights Fake it Flowers is a seemingly cathartic album for Bea Kristi, better known as Beabadoobee. The singer lets out all her frustrations and honest confessions about womanhood, youth, and love on the variety of songs on her first studio album.

Drawing heavily from bands such as Sonic Youth and Pavement, Beabadoobee manages to bring the alternative ’90s sound to more modern themes.

Beabadoobee broke into the alternative music scene with a self-recorded release of her song “Coffee” on YouTube.

After being signed to the independent record label Dirty Hit, Beabadoobee released multiple EPs, each with an acoustic, soft, indie pop sound, with the exception of 2019’s Space Cadet. This EP, featuring songs such as “I Wish I was Steven Malkmus,” gave listeners a good feel for the more rock direction Beabadoobee is heading with her recent music.

The release of Fake it Flowers was preluded by the release of the singles “Care,” “Sorry,” “Worth It,” “How Was Your Day?,” and “Together.”

“Care” is an angsty, yet upbeat song, similar to the ones you would find on the soundtrack to a ’90s teen romantic comedy. Beabadoobee voices her frustrations about being a young woman, misunderstood, or treated unjustly—and with

indifference on this track. Indifference is a common theme on many of the songs on this album, such as “Sorry” and “Worth It.” “How Was Your Day?” is more reminiscent of the types of songs listeners are accustomed to hearing from Bea on her 2018 album Patched Up. In this cute acoustic song, Bea wants to catch up with someone she misses spending both the good times and the bad times with, but she has not talked to this person in a while.

She wants to know about their day and if it was OK, and underneath these questions, she really wants to know if this person misses her too. In this song, Bea reverts back to an innocent and almost childlike way of seeing if someone feels the same way as her about their relationship.

Throughout this album, Bea often reflects on events in her childhood and how they are affecting her now. This is most apparent on “Emo Song.” Bea sings about people who remind her of those she knew in her youth, the ones that lie “like all the men she used to trust.”

All of these people have changed Bea—both her outlook on life and her relationships—and she sings that “it’s all your fault” to each individual person who made her the way she is today. “Emo Song” is exactly what the title describes: It’s an emotional song about the problems in her youth that negatively impacted how she feels about herself today.

Another common subject in Bea’s

past songs that remain relevant on Fake it Flowers is her boyfriend, Soren. Soren had his first self-titled song on Loveworm, Bea’s sophomore EP that was basically a love letter to him. “Horen Sarrison” on Fake it Flowers carries the same feeling of love and of complete understanding that he gave her in “Soren.”

She sings that she’s “convinced [Soren] is from outer space,” which parallels the line in “I Wish I Was Stephen Malkmus,” in which Bea sings that she is from outer space. This line insinuates they are perfect for each other, being from the same unique place.

Although Bea changes a lot and has a different musical style from other artists

today, she has found someone who understands her, supports her changes, and even changes with her.

“Horen Sarrison” is full of adoration—a stark contrast to “Dye It Red,” in which Bea sings about a relationship that she feels oppresses her freedom and ability to express herself.

Fake It Flowers is the perfect album to transport listeners back to the music of the ’90s, without the repetitiveness of playing the songs they’ve heard so many times before. It is cool and different from other current music. Hopefully, Beabadoobee can continue on her own path, bringing a fresh take to the nostalgic love songs so often played on the radio today. n

MUSIC

For The Heights Living up to its idealistic portrayal of politics, Emmy-award winning series The West Wing returned for a special staged reading on HBO Max on Thursday to benefit the nonprofit When We All Vote. The organization is dedicated to encouraging Americans to vote.

The show opened with a brief monologue from Bradley Whitford, who played Josh Lyman. He acknowledged that audiences may not want to hear advice from a bunch of actors, but stated that the “risk of appearing obnoxious is too small a reason to stay quiet if we can get even one new voter to vote.”

The special consisted of a staged reading of an episode from season 3 of the show, “Hartsfield’s Landing,” which focuses on a fictional small town in New

Hampshire that votes before the rest of the state and has accurately predicted the outcome of every election since the election of William Howard Taft. The original cast reprised their roles, with Martin Sheen as Jed Bartlet, Whitford as Lyman, Richard Schiff as Toby Ziegler, Rob Lowe as Sam Seaborn, Allison Janney as C.J. Cregg, Dulé Hill as Charlie Young, and Janel Moloney as Donna Moss. Whitford choked back tears as he mentioned the death of John Spencer, who played Leo McGarry and died during the seventh and final season of the show. Sterling K. Brown (This is Us) stepped in to play Leo. The cast, though noticeably older than when the series was airing, still had the same charm that made the characters in the original series so lovable. The witty banter and characteristic humor of the show were still very much apparent in the staged reading, even while the episode

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JULIA LANDWEHR

‘ONLY TIME MAKES IT HUMAN’ KING PRINCESS

King Princess, coming off the release of her 2019 album, Cheap Queen, is back with a new single this week: “Only Time Makes It Human.”

The track leans full pop and features a Dua Lipa-esque groovy bass line that gives the track the air of a retro dance anthem.

The song is about as meta as it gets—King Princess sings a heartbroken melody about how her failed relationships have launched her successful career in the music industry.

She croons, “And I’ll keep selling all my problems / And she’ll be the one who buys them / All of her love became an album / And I’m still the one who’s crying.”

It’s a reflection on a strange aspect of making music, namely that the very raw, tragic experiences musicians go through often inspire the best art. There’s an almost sadistic push for artists to put themselves in that vulnerable position time and time again in order to strike sonic gold.

All of this musing is shrouded in a too-cool-to-care sound, making “Only Time Makes It Human” a mustadd to your playlist. n

MUSIC VIDEO TONIE CHASE

‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’ GYPTIAN

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‘The West Wing’ Special Urges Americans to Vote

By Erin Pender

SINGLE REVIEW

deals with more serious issues.

In the episode, the Bartlet Administration must handle China’s anger as Taiwan holds its first free elections. A parallel is drawn between Taiwan’s first steps toward democracy and the long history of Hartsfield’s Landing. While emphasizing to Lyman the importance of the election and of every vote, Cregg tells him that Hartsfield’s Landing is a reminder “ ... that freedom is the glory of God, that democracy is its birthright, and that our vote matters.” The episode demonstrates how lucky Americans are to be able to have a say in their own government without fear of retribution.

Throughout the special, cast members and special guests speak about the importance of voting and corrected misconceptions about certain kinds of votes. The first guest was Michelle Obama, who simply sent a message to all viewers encouraging them to vote. Next, Elisabeth Moss and Dulé Hill, the actors who played the youngest characters in the show, spoke directly to younger voters about the importance of civic participation. Next, the legendary Samuel L. Jackson stressed that everyone must vote in this election.

Marlee Matlin, who played Joey Lucas on the show, joined Whitford to discuss misconceptions about mail-in voting. They explained that voting by mail-in ballot is safe and secure, and encouraged those voting by mail to do so early. They said out of over 250 million mail-in ballots that have been sent in the past 20 years, there have only been 143 instances of voter fraud.

The next special guest was Lin-Manuel Miranda, whose entire monologue was a self-deprecating joke about his deep desire to have been a part of The West Wing, with even award-winning Hamilton not being enough to satisfy that wish. He asked the audience to remember that candidates are not the ones who declare themselves the winner, and to not be swayed by speculation or misinformation.

Next, former-president Bill Clinton detailed the history of voting rights in the United States and pointed out the landmark status of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. But, because the Voting Rights Act was gutted in 2013, allowing jurisdictions with a history of racial discrimination to pass new voting laws without oversight from the federal government, many states have again made it more difficult to vote.

“If your vote really doesn’t matter, why are people working so very hard to make sure you don’t cast it? Because it does matter,” Clinton said.

In a similar vein, Brown and Hill spoke directly to young Black voters. They declared that this is no time to tune out current events—instead, it is time to turn out and vote in order to make politicians care about the issues that matter most, especially those that concern the lives of people of color in the United States.

This special staged reading of “Hartsfield’s Landing” from The West Wing comes at a very pivotal moment in American history. As Moss and Hill said, “If you don’t choose, someone else will choose for you.” n

Sure, plenty of people think that there is “something special” about their partner, but very few get to witness any supernatural abilities from them. Reggae fusion artist Gyptian, on the other hand, is lucky enough to. In the new music video for his song “Something Special,” Gyptian is enchanted by the extraterrestrial magic of his muse. The video walks viewers through Gyptian’s mind as he sings about his otherworldly love.

“Something Special” is one of the 10 tracks released on the collaboration album Nolosha Riddim. In his version of the instrumentals, Gyptian sings, “When I see you girl, like I catch a fever.” Immediately, he transfers his serene state of mind onto listeners. In combination with the visuals, which are also slow-moving and free-flowing, the video makes the supernatural enticing.

As the video narrates Gyptian’s muse’s descent from outer space onto Earth, it features astronomical shots of a comet-like object and its collision with a body of water. Even with potentially dangerous objects striking past the ozone layer, the mood feels ethereal and safe. It also helps that Gyptian’s muse, draped in gold arm jewelry and gold metallic regalia, looks as breathtaking as the landscapes. Her dancing echoes the weather around them. As she settles gracefully onto Gyptian’s Earth, she strikes lightning from her fingertips toward the sky. By the end of the video, the “Hold Yuh” singer is eventually able to bring more calm to her storm.

Though Gyptian incorporates a lot of special effects to capture the muse’s magic, they all flow into each other well. The ripples in the atmosphere around the muse work with the ripples in the water from her storm. Gyptian exaggerates the video’s mysticism through color as well, incorporating a more electric teal sky against rustic orange terrain. Infectious and simple, “Something Special” and its visual companion balance mystery and bliss well. n

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Monday, October 19, 2020

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Photography Exhibit Explores Life During Pandemic

By Katherine Canniff For The Heights As the number of coronavirus cases climbed and the world fell into chaos this past spring, Boston College stu-

feature a person figuring out how to function with the latest accessories: a face mask and bright blue medical gloves. Hand sanitizer sits among other common bathroom products in the second photograph as Xu focuses on

The collaborative exhibit will be displayed in Gallery 203 in Carney Hall through Oct. 30.

dent artists Van Xu, CSOM ’21 and Kaitong Hu, CSOM ’21, picked up their cameras. Through their lenses, Xu and Hu question what has happened to our lives since the pandemic began and how we have coped. Their collaborative exhibit Sheng, now on display in Carney’s Gallery 203, provides an abstract yet honest view of life in 2020.

The 11 large prints line the gallery’s white walls, their clear order guiding viewers through the room. The first section of the exhibit, shot by Xu, is a series of four photographs that

small details scattered throughout the subject’s space. The inescapable disinfectant is also hidden among condiment containers and casually rests between two figures on a couch in two other pieces that elicit a knowing chuckle.

Xu’s off-campus apartment in Brighton became a makeshift studio when he set up the backdrop and lights that were used to create the dark and moody images, he said in an email to The Heights.

Disorienting blue and purple lighting expresses the strangeness of the new normal that people have had to build.

“I decided to use a very cinematic, hyperbolic, dramatic, or ominous color scheme, in order to stress the weirdness or bizarreness that we might have nowadays under the pandemic,” Xu said.

Empty shelves and masked figures lit by harsh department store lights interrupt the first wall of dark and more personal photographs. Hu’s work occupies the second wall of the gallery and captures a gray, plastic-shielded environment. A haunting shot of bare shelves in a department store triggers memories of frantic shopping done in an even more uncertain time. In another striking photograph, shocking headlines pop out against the gray walls of a convenience store. The shift from Xu’s depiction of a single character dealing with personal lifestyle changes to the wider public scenes in Hu’s work reminds the viewer that the pandemic is also a shared experience.

The naturalistic style of Hu’s pictures, which were taken in stores in Watertown and Allston, Mass., depicts how common public spaces have been altered by the pandemic. Hu took the photographs in local convenience, grocery, and retail stores. The unstaged and unsaturated images are meant to express the dismal state of the economy.

The third wall of the gallery features lurid close-up images of Xu’s character as he shows how people have come to cope with the stress of the pandemic. Under the intense blue and pink lights, a drop of disinfectant falls and the model closes his eyes, suffocating

under his mask . Dark humor that seems to run throughout some of Xu’s pieces returns in the final photograph, as the model faces the camera and sips wine through a hole in his mask.

The exhibit takes advantage of the spacious gallery walls, allowing a visitor to step back and observe all the pieces with their varying colors and subjects.

The order of the images astutely guides a visitor through the different parts of our lives that have been upended by the pandemic: our personal living spaces, public places, and emotional states.

The title of the exhibit, Sheng, refers to

nuanced character. As explained in their artist statement, Sheng Ming refers to the lives of humans from beginning to end. Sheng Huo describes everything that happens in between, including all the events and activities that take up our time. The exhibit examines how the character’s meaning has shifted over these past months as the conditions of human life have drastically changed. Xu and Hu deliver a visually interesting reminder that even the language people use every day is being reshaped by the pandemic.

In their artist statement, Xu and Hu perfectly summarize their exhibit, which

An untitled piece by Kaitong Hu, CSOM ’21, evokes the grocery store panics of the early pandemic.

a Chinese character that encapsulates the existence and lifestyles of living beings.

After deciding to combine their photographs, Xu and Hu realized that both of their works explore the evolution of this

can be viewed weekdays through Oct. 30, as a “candid and almost deadpan portrait of where we are and what has happened at this specific point in history.” n PHOTOS BY KATHERINE CANNIFF / FOR THE HEIGHTS

Directors of Horror Anthology Speak at Roundtable

By Grace McPhee For The Heights

The unofficial prince of modern horror, producer and head of Blumhouse Productions, Jason Blum, has been the mind behind many of the decade’s most terrifying blockbusters. Films like Insidious, Get Out, and The Purge have been hailed as cultural cornerstones for the new generation of fright-hungr y audiences, bringing forth a fresh set of blood-curdling classics.

Considering his massive success in macabre media, it’s unsurprising that Blum would want to take his productions to the next level, i.e. signing an eight-film deal with Amazon.

Enter Welcome To The Blumhouse, a collection of four Blumhouse-produced films released by Amazon as a precursor to the Halloween season.

We l c o m e To T h e B lum h o u s e includes four new titles: The Lie, Black Box, Nocturne, and Evil Eye. Written and directed by a lineup of both veterans and newcomers , Welcome To The Blumhouse is an expedition into experiences rarely represented in horror, par-

ticularly those of people of color and female-centric narratives.

Thanks to a virtual and socially distant roundtable, I and several other college journalists were able to speak

peration of divorced parents as they try to protect their daughter from incarceration after she murders her friend in a fit of rage, spoke on the responsibility she felt to explore

against Muslims and people of color.

Sud is not alone in her desire for more narratives pertaining to the experiences of people of color in America. Audiences all over the

with each of the directors of the four films and get a full understanding of what it means to create horror films in a time that feels like a horror film itself.

As the political climate of the United States becomes increasingly hostile, filmmakers feel an increasing need to address social issues headon through writing and directing.

Veena Sud, writer and director of The Lie, a film chronicling the des-

the effects of race in the American criminal justice system onscreen.

Sud knew from the beginning that she wanted to address anti-Muslim sentiment in America, hence why she decided to make the father of murder victim Brittany a Pakistani man. By turning what should be the film’s victim into the villain, Sud demonstrated how the criminal justice system is often biased

world itch to see themselves represented onscreen, whether that be in the form of racial representation or depictions of atypical family units.

Sud also spoke on how the horror industry is changing in ways that allow for more diverse representation onscreen, specifically professing her admiration for recent South Korean and Japanese horror films.

Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour, writer

and director of Black Box, an eerie film about a widower’s memory loss and subsequent experimentation with mind recovery, spoke on his experience connecting to the original script and putting his own spin on it.

“I really felt that I wanted to tell a story about a man that was, you know, flawed, a man that had made mistakes. So for me, the idea of getting a second chance at being a better father was something I was really interested in exploring.”

Ultimately, Welcome To The Blumhouse is an examination of the different forms that horror can take. In a genre that was not originally so welcoming of women and people of color, Blumhouse Productions has utilized its infamous low-budget/creative freedom model to allow different perspectives in a once homogenous sector of film.

Of course, there will always be room for improvement regarding the representation of minority groups in media, but Welcome To The Blumhouse is a step in the right direction. As long as a platform is given to the voices of the marginalized, there will always be an audience waiting to hear them. n PHOTOS COURTESY OF AMAZON

Telegdy: How Should Theatre Look in the COVID Era?

By Lily Telegdy Heights Staff

I have a confession to make. I am …a theatre kid. I guess now I’m actually a theatre adult. Anyway, now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, I have another confession. Theatre sucks right now!

Like most things, no matter how hard we try to adapt them to life with coronavirus, it just feels wrong.

Theatre reflects life, and life right now is strange.

Just as most of us are living half on Zoom and almost always masked, so is theatre. In the coronavirus era, three types of theatre have emerged: Zoom performances, filmed performances, and movies of live showings.

I imagine Zoom is everyone’s least favorite medium. My personal beef with Zoom theatre stems from my designer side. I mainly focus on stage design, but I also do stage management, directing, and playwriting.

Zoom theatre still needs actors, managers, directors, and playwrights, but what Zoom theatre really lacks is design. Zoom is ugly—it lacks dimension, it literally confines

actors to a box. Unsurprisingly, it’s hard to design a set when there is no stage to speak of.

When scaling down productions to work over Zoom, design is the first thing to go. Lighting and set design just don’t work very well virtually, and it’s expensive and time consuming.

Even though design is an integral part of theatre, productions decide they don’t need them. At the same time, Zoom allows for live performances. Even though it differs considerably from traditional theatre, it retains the live element.

Let’s make one thing very clear: movies and plays are not interchangeable. Play directing is not the same as movie directing, but suddenly plays are starting to be filmed.

This type of coronavirus theatre doesn’t mean filming a play or musical that already has been running, but producing a play for the sole purpose of filming it.

Here, the set becomes a movie set and the focus shifts to making sure it can be filmed. Though this option is more aesthetically pleasing and probably more enjoyable for someone who doesn’t watch a lot of theatre, it’s just not right.

The last variation is filming a play that is already running. Think Hamilton on Disney+. A production like that—one that’s been running for years—gets filmed with a big budget and the best cameras.

What’s so great about this type of theatre is that because the show has been running for so long, everyone has a clear idea of what’s important and needs to be filmed. I find this type of filmed theatre truly enjoyable to watch, and it’s the closest

thing to sitting in an actual theatre that we will get for a while.

Theatre in the age of COVID presents many new challenges to overcome. Using new technology means modernizing old ways of doing things and rethinking things that just don’t make sense anymore.

Another unexpected positive effect of coronavirus theatre is its accessibility—it’s much easier now for individuals who couldn’t see productions before because of disabili-

ties or financial reasons to enjoy the art. Theatre is being shared with a previously unreached audience.

I am so happy to be back at BC creating theatre, or something that resembles it. I suggest that you keep a look out for what’s happening with theatre on campus. It will be strange, but a lot of love and hard work goes into it. What else are you doing? Watch a play, enrich your life.

GRAPHIC BY ALLYSON MOZELIAK / HEIGHTS EDITOR

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Editor’s Note: 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of Boston College becoming a co-ed university. In researching this story, The Heights attempted to f ind a s many alumnae as possible who played a role in improving the experience of female students on campus. We were disappointed to not be able to reach every alumna we found for comment, either because they ar e d e c e a s e d o r The Heights could not f ind cur rent contact information for them. n 1899, eight years before becoming president of Boston College, Rev. Thomas Gasson, S.J. spoke to a crowd at Trinity College in Washington, D.C. about the lack of women in higher education.

“Is man alone gifted with understanding? Is man alone dowered with reasoning faculties? Can man alone grasp truth? The harmony between the inner and outer world? Are men the only pilgrims to the shrines of wisdom? Are men the only torchbearers of knowledge?” he asked the crowd.

“If these questions cannot be answered in the affirmative, and assuredly they cannot be answered affirmatively by anyone who has not bid farewell to common sense, then we must come to one conclusion,” he said. “And that conclusion is that the blessings of higher education should be placed within the reach of women.”

Despite these words spoken by the namesake of BC’s most iconic building, the University would not open the doors of all of its colleges to women for another 70 years.

Oberlin College became the first school to admit women in 1837. Over the next century and a half, colleges throughout the country would become co-ed. Though BC, which was founded in 1863, began letting women into its School of Education in the ’50s, it did not admit women to all of its colleges until 1970.

The Class of 1974, the first co-ed class at the University, was the culmination of decades of small changes that expanded the presence of women on campus. Though 1970 was the official year that BC became co-ed for all undergraduate schools, women at BC—students and faculty alike—had been working behind the scenes for years to establish their presence on campus. And though the ’70s were a contentious time in the fight for equality, the struggle for equal opportunity on campus continued over the span of the past 50 years and persists today. argaret Magrath and Olivia Pennell became the first women to earn degrees from BC in 1926, receiving master’s of arts.

Magrath and Pennell have died.

Three decades later, a young mother was blazing the trail for women at the Boston College Law School. Margaret Heckler, previously O’Shaughnessy, B C Law ’56, was admitted to Harvard Law School in 1950, but she was not able to attend because her husband wanted to enroll, and Harvard did not allow spouses to enroll together.

In search of another school, Heckler found her way to BC Law, where she was familiar with the Jesuit mission, having attended Catholic school for her entire life. Heckler would go on to graduate as one of the top six students in the Class of 1956.

Her husband dropped out of Harvard during his first semester.

Heckler died in 2018. Her daughter, Amanda Heckler, is in the process of writing a book on her mother’s life.

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This story was co-written by Special Projects Editor,Owen Fahy, Magazine Editor Maeve Reilly, Asst. Magazine Editor Anna Lonnquist, Copy Chief Haley Hockin, and Editorial Asst. Eric Shea.

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The Heights

After her graduation, Heckler worked as a lawyer, although she initially struggled to find work because many law firms only wanted to hire women as secretaries, Amanda said.

Heckler eventually left law and ran for the U.S. House, becoming the first woman from Massachusetts to win a seat without succeeding her husband.

She went on to become the secretary of Health and Human Services and the

lin, was one of the seven. A Catholic woman from Jamaica Plain, Bonarrigo received her acceptance letter to BC without even submitting an application.

“One of the Jesuits came to my school and told us that Boston College had decided to accept women into the next class. That interested me greatly,” Bonarrigo said. “I went home and told my parents that they were doing that.

according to Bonarrigo.

Duhamel listened to the problems the women faced and advocated for them. He was a member of BC’s faculty who taught for 41 years before his death in 2006. After their first year, the women found that campus became more hostile as the administration debated whether women should be enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of

United States ambassador to Ireland.

As Heckler was making a name for herself, BC continued to slowly shift toward being co-ed. In 1959, the nursing school completed its move from Newbury Street to the now-demolished Cushing Hall, which brought 700 more students and faculty members to Chestnut Hill.

But women were still barred from the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Management. Male-only events and inferior dorms, among oth-

They kind of scratched their heads because they hadn’t heard about it before.”

After discussing it with her family, Bonarrigo decided to enroll as a math major. She would later switch to English.

“Part of my motivation was that I did not want to go to the same school that [my sister] did, which I had been doing all through high school,” she said. “The challenge, I guess, was a motivating factor.”

Management or if the program should be scrapped. It was years after Bonariggo graduated that Duhamel told her in a letter that this battle was raging during their time on campus.

The program was discontinued after her freshman year, but she and her female peers stayed and graduated from BC. Bonarrigo said she no longer felt welcome after the decision to discontinue the program—a feeling that stuck with her after her time at BC. After graduation, Bonarrigo en-

PHOTO COURTESY OF AMANDA HECKLER

M a rg a re t H e c k l e r wa s t h e o n l y wo m a n to gra d u ate f ro m B o s to n Co l l e g e L aw s c h o o l i n 1 9 5 6 . er things, led female students to write a letter to the editor in The Heights in 1964 calling for change. The call resulted in improvements—later that year, a new residence hall for women was opened in Brighton.

Progress for women continued in small increments. The school appointed Mary Kinnane as the first “Dean of Women” at BC in 1956. Then in 1959, Alice Borneuf became the first female tenured faculty member at the University. In 1966, the administration hired its first Black administrator, Sylvia Simmons, as a registrar for the

The following fall, Bonarrigo and her six other female classmates in the Class of 1963 received a private tour of campus from a male student on the first day. He taught them “For Boston,” BC’s fight song.

“There wasn’t a sense of great hostility—curiosity more than anything—and the people who were social didn’t make an issue of it, so it was pleasant,” Bonarrigo said. “I mean, we were invited. It wasn’t until after that first year that it became clear that there was a lot of controversy about our being there.”

rolle d at B oston University L aw School and eventually set up her own law practice in Maine.

“I didn’t attend reunions. I didn’t feel like I was part of the family,” Bonarrigo said. “It wasn’t until our 50th reunion that we got any recognition. I have a plaque that I can put on the wall that confirms that I was a graduate and one of the first women.” nn O’Malley, BC ’66, and Judy Gundersen, BC ’67, went to BC before it allowed women in all schools. They met around 50 years ago in The Heights

School of Management. Kinane and Bourneuf have died. Simmons could not be reached. niversity President Rev. Michael P. Walsh, S.J., feared that BC was missing out on intellectual talent, and he instructed Rev. Charles F. Donovan, S.J., vice president for Academic Affairs at the time, to find and enroll a cohort of female students who could demonstrate they were prepared for the rigors of a college education.

Seven women enrolled in the college of Arts and Sciences in 1959 and were colloquially known as the “Vestal Virgins” by their classmates. Six of them graduated with honors, and the seventh joined a convent, according to Peg Bonarrigo.

Bonarrigo, previously McLaugh-

In 1959, The Heights interviewed male students about how they felt about the decision to accept a limited number of women to campus.

“Any tradition which excludes excellence is detrimental to one of the primary reasons for the existence of a university,” Francis McLellan, BC ’59, said in the article. “If accepting excellent students is what is proposed, these students should be given all the encouragement possible.”

Some were less enthusiastic.

“I don’t honestly think it will hurt anybody in A&S,” Bill Connell said in the article. “Women are infiltrating the ranks of every profession. I accept the inevitable.”

One person who was receptive was Albert Duhamel, a professor of English who looked out for the women,

office at BC—they still talk regularly.

O’Malley came to BC as an undergraduate student in the School of Education and Gundersen as a graduate student in the School of Nursing. The pair agreed that they had wanted to become more involved in campus life and subsequently found The Heights.

O’Malley recalled her early experience in The Heights office as a typist. She was offered the job of head typist, which was the highest position women normally occupied on the paper. Instead of taking the position, O’Malley rejected their offer. She later became the first female co-editor-inchief of the paper and is now a partner at the law firm O’Malley and Harvey.

“It was meant to be an honor,” she said. “[The boys] offered me the job of head typist, and I said no, and

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they didn’t get it. I mean, they were surprised, but they weren’t in any way hostile. It was just like, ‘Hey, this is a new idea.’”

Gundersen echoed O’Malley ’s thoughts on breaking some of the gender molds in The Heights. But she too recalled the open and willing nature of the boys in the office.

“They were just really exciting guys,” she said. “I think that they were supportive.”

A s the ’60s progressed and women continued to push for equal opportun i t y, t e n s i o n s rose.

“So, without f ur ther ado, I would like to start this series with one of the more vulgar aspects [of BC life]: the relationship between B.C. men and B.C. girls,” one student wrote in a 1965 column in The Heights. “I know some very nice girls whom I like to consider friends—but not those stereotyped wenches I see most of the time.”

The op-ed was met with condemnation from women on campus, which had made clear that the struggle to integrate women into BC was not just a battle against the administration, but against male students as well.

“Despite the most adamant cries to the contrary by the administration, it is the B.C. student (I mean male) who makes this university whatever it is,” the same student wrote later that month.

At the same time, some male students started to call for improvements to the female experience at the University.

“Among the obje ctives of the new president of UGBC should be examination and improvement of the position of women here,” one wrote in a letter to the editor published in The Heights in 1970. Nursing students also felt that their department administrators were not advocating for and assisting them.

“What we are asking for is that the university become more flexible, that we become recognized as members of the university,” nursing student Nancy Turletes said to The Heights at the time, “and also that the School of Nursing make changes for the benefit of the student, and not just in terms of schedules.”

Moving into the back half of the decade, improvements continued to come in the form of new residence halls and expanded course offerings to nursing students.

On March 19, 1969, the Academic Senate voted unanimously to admit women to all colleges at BC. n 1970, 247 women enrolled, which exceeded the University’s aim of 200 female students for the Class of 1974. Years of financial mismanagement by BC led to a budget shortfall of $6.6 million, which influenced the decision to admit women.

“The Heights has learned that substantially more than $2 million of the $4.6 million operating deficit represents accumulated debts covered up by an antiquated accounting system for several years,” The Heights wrote. “An informed source within the administration indicated that the Treasurer’s Office, until the deep-going audit of 1969, had been using the system of short-term borrowing on university funds.”

The administration defended itself in a letter to the editor in The Heights, saying that the reporters had botched facts about the deficit.The inclusion of women did help to meet the need of declining enrollment and tuition income as 941 women applied in the first year following the announcement of co-education at Boston College.

Marie Kenkel, BC ’74, joined the School of Management in 1970. Being the only female in her male-dominated classes could be stressful, Kenkel said.

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The Heights

Monday, October 19, 2020

Years Down the Line

“Especially freshman and sophomore year in the School of Management, you looked at it, a classroom full of male faces,” she said. “And there was one female face, and we always had to be better prepared, on top of it, because we would be called on.”

Kenkel said that her professors realized the amount of stress the women in the School of Management were under, and they began putting two or three women in a class together to alleviate this.

In terms of extracurricular activities, she said that women had fe wer opp or tunitie s available to them.

In the world of sports, co-ed teams and women’s teams were just being introduced, making it difficult for Kenkel to be as involved as men on campus. She ended up joining one of the first women’s rowing teams at BC— something she said she didn’t think was that big of a deal at the time.

As she was applying for jobs toward the end of her time at BC, Kenkel noticed that people were particularly inclined to hire women.

“They were so concerned about the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, that they had to look like they were being proactive,” she said. “So as far as finding jobs … everyone wanted us. I had no doubt I’d have a job when I finished.”

Kenkel said that in that moment, she didn’t think much about the impact she’d made as one of the first women to attend a co-ed BC. Only later in life did she look back and realize she had made a change.

“All of a sudden someone called you a pioneer and you’re like, ‘Oh, I guess I was awesome,’” she said.

Margaret Doherty, BC ’74, came to Chestnut Hill as a nurse in 1970, but due to the admittance of women to all undergraduate colleges, she transferred into the College of Arts and Sciences after her freshman year.

“It was a very big year for the campus. [Freshman year] was a pretty exciting year because so much was changing,” Doherty said. “The year before, the school had been on strike…

So it was a really interesting year.”

Being part of the first group of women in the College of Arts and S ciences , D oher ty rememb ers a learning curve taking place among the men, who now needed to share their classrooms with women.

“It was a conservative school, a conservative young men’s school,” Doherty said. “It took some time for many of the young men to learn how to share the campus with women, share their classes with women.”

Even if she could tell that everyone was not quite used to women walking the halls of every school on campus, Doherty said she still felt welcome.

“People were really not resistant to it,” Doherty said. “It was more a matter of some people had to adjust their behavior now that there were more women on campus.”

The adjustment happened relatively quickly, Doherty said, although there were still groups of male students who were not courteous to their new female counterparts.

“They just did not have respectful attitudes towards women,” Doherty said. “But other than that, I think it was a very progressive time. It was a great time to be in school.”

Mary Anne Macaulay, BC ’74, learned of BC after her sister moved to Massachus e tt s , w h i c h p i q u e d Macaulay’s interest in following her for college. She found her way to BC and became involved with the PULSE program.

“When I look back on [PULSE], it was very formative for me,” she said. “I was working with one other student, and we were assigned to the lead poisoning prevention efforts in South Boston on Mission Hill.”

Macaulay went on to earn a mas-

ter’s degree in the School of Social Service, and she worked in the health care industry for 41 years.

Despite finding her passion, she remembers a struggle to get the administration to recognize the needs of women on campus.

“It was challenging. I think the administration really had to come to terms with safety issues. There were reports of assaults on campus, and

“An 18-year-old could vote for the first time,” Dezell said. “These 18-year-olds could drink for the first time. Eighteen-year-old women could go to Boston College.”

In 1973, a group of female students opened the Women’s Center in the bathroom outside of what is now Eagle’s Nest.

The students invited then-University President Rev. J. Donald Monan,

up where he had left off. She did, and she won the election.

“I didn’t actually even appreciate or factor in the importance of gender and being the first woman,” she said.

“Because it wasn’t something that sort of came through in terms of the campaigning until after I won.”

Caruso recalled receiving letters from administrators , professors , and students, which she said helped

we had to demand better security and lighting on campus,” Macaulay said.

“From that, there was a real push to get administration to come to terms with the overall needs of women at the University.”

Maureen Dezell, BC ’75, arrived on campus in 1971. While the majority of people on campus were engaging and welcoming, she recalled some bitter attitudes.

“There were, you know, men and students and a couple of faculty who made it clear that they didn’t think that women should be there,” she said.

“But again, you know, [everything] was changing.”

Dezell is currently a senior editor in the marketing section of the Of-

S.J., to be their first guest, but instead of attending, Monan gave the center its own room in McElroy Commons, where it stayed until it moved to Maloney Hall in 2015.

In 1974, BC acquired Newton College of the Sacred Heart and its 900 female students, which worked dramatically toward evening out the gender imbalance on campus.

Around this time, women were voicing concern about sexual assaults and the “monitoring” of feminist voices—professor Mary Daly was known for banning men from some of her classes. ut the end of the ’70s didn’t mark the end of the fight for gender equality on cam-

her realize the significance of being elected.

Because she entered the race so late, Caruso’s name wasn’t on the ballot, and she wasn’t allowed to participate in the debates. For students to vote for her, they had to write her name in and check the box next to it, Caruso said.

In the two weeks between Shea’s disqualification and election day, things got unpleasant.

“That’s when I was really hearing things that I just could not believe, you know, ‘nasty woman’ and ‘militant lesbian’ and all of these things,” she said. “Frankly, it seemed so ridiculous to me. I was like, ‘This is just insane.

This is just crazy. Like, where is this

fice of University Communications at BC. She was the first female editor-in-chief of The Stylus, BC’s literary magazine, and was in the second co-ed graduating class of the College of Crts and Sciences. She was also an editor for The Heights. Dezell said society was rapidly shifting at that point. Before BC went fully co-ed, there was a de facto system in place on campus for women to get Arts and Sciences credits.

“The trick with BC was you applied to the education school,” she said.

“And you always got in there, and then you just took your courses in A&S until you have enough to graduate.”

Dezell said that when she came

pus.

Joanne Caruso, B C ’82, made history as the first female president of the Undergraduate Government of BC. In the 1981 election, one of the candidates was disqualified for spending over the allotted budget two weeks before election night, turning a tight race into an all-out scramble.

With Timothy Shea, BC ’82, out of the picture, the election faced an uncertain future.

Caruso had just decided to take a step back from her responsibilities.

She was in her junior year and had spent her time excelling in her classes, being an active participant in UGBC, and working a job at a hair salon in

coming from?’”

Caruso said she tends to ignore bad things and plow forward, which is exactly what she did then.

The night before the results came out, she went out to dinner with one of her roommates, who was not involved in the campaign, and she went to bed early.

She said this helped her ignore those rude things that were said during the race.

“I didn’t carry that with me as we moved forward, which I think was a really good thing because I think things like that you don’t forget,” she said. “They’re just so nasty.”

In 1969, feminist professor Mary

to campus, it was the year before the 1972 election, and people were completely focused on the war, Nixon, and corruption within the government.

Students were also experiencing freedoms they never had before.

Newton.

“I really got a little bit burned out,” she said.

She had been working on Shea’s campaign, so when he was disqualified, her peers turned to her to pick

Daly had been forced to resign after the publication of her first book, The Church and the Second Sex. After student protests, the University rehired Daly with tenure.

Despite her reinstatement, Daly

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remained a controversial figure at BC. Jessica Miller, previously Prata, BC ’91, recalled students protesting in the Dustbowl—a green space where Stokes Hall now stands—in support of Daly when the University again threatened to fire her for what they viewed as radical feminism.

This conflict over feminist issues played out during Miller’s time at BC. She enrolled in 1987 and went on to become the UGBC director of women’s issues during her junior year. As a political science and philosophy double major, she was exposed to feminist ideas early in her undergraduate career, she said.

Through her p olitical science major, Miller also had access to opportunities for activism. She won the Rising Star Award for Women in Politics and G overnment , which allowed her to intern under Lucille Hicks, a Republican state representative in Massachusetts.

She now works as a philosophy professor and certified health care ethics consultant at the University of Maine. She said her career path was highly influenced by a philosophy of women class she took at BC, where she read Philosophy of Woman by Mary Mahowald.

Miller’s ideas of feminism leaned somewhat more conservatively in college, she said. As director of women’s issues, one of her more controversial moves was hosting a panel to hear men’s perspectives on abortion.

“The event was absolutely packed, and the tensions boiled over,” Miller said. “I had a roommate who is today a high-powered lawyer and is still a dear friend who stood up and took everybody to town—including me for even hosting the event.”

During her time as an undergraduate, rhetoric around feminism was focused on topics such as rape, pornography, and the ways public images of women affected women’s rights, Miller said.

BC was a place where she could express her ideas, but also have them challenged by others, helping her grow.

“What an amazing place Boston College was that I could have the academic experience, the student government experience, the experience at the State House, and this experience in the community,” Miller said. “That I could do all of those things and express feminism in all of those ways as an undergraduate.” p on ref le cting on her experience at BC, Dezell remembers thinking progress would happen more quickly—she described herself as more radical at the time. Despite changes happening slightly slower than she expected, Dezell talked about the little things, like seeing more and more women dressed in professional clothing on the T. Dezell’s story of women on the T is just one example of the small increments of change that were taking place when BC welcomed women to campus and went co-ed. The culmination of years of work from various women in BC’s community brought about the reality of a co-ed campus and steps toward equality for women.

After the decision in 1969 to make BC coed for all undergraduate schools, women continued to fight for equal opportunity on campus.

“The lofty tower of Gasson Hall at Boston College registered no shock perceptible on the s eismog raph at Weston College Observatory last week,” The Boston Globe wrote in 1952. “So perhaps the first enrollment of women a s undergraduates at the century-old college at Chestnut Hill was not, actually, earth-shaking.” n

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The Heights

A8

EDITORIAL

Monday, October 19, 2020

Don’t Wait: Announce Plans for Spring Break Now

Boston College has dragged its feet making decisions and responding to feedback regarding its response to COVID-19. At the beginning of the school year, BC was not testing students frequently enough, much to the frustration of students and the local community.

This past week, the University tested every undergraduate for the first time, after students and community members have been calling for increased testing all semester. The school announced last week that it will make a decision about whether students will be allowed back to campus after Thanksgiving Break by Monday, just over a month before the holiday.

If BC’s Thanksgiving plan involves sending students home, students will have roughly five weeks to buy plane

tickets. For some students who are still slated to go abroad in the spring (which the University also has yet to make an announcement about), they will only have that much time to move out completely.

It’s understandable why some students are frustrated with BC’s too-little-toolate approach.

To avoid another late decision, the University should decide now about what it plans to do about Spring Break.

Currently, BC’s Spring Break is scheduled for March 1 through 6. According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, normal life in the United States is not slated to return completely until the end of 2021. Mass student travel to and from campus is dangerous while the pandemic continues. Spring Break cannot be the same as it has been in past years.

The University has a few options. It could follow Boston University, which canceled Spring Break altogether and pushed back the beginning of spring semester by a week. It could also follow the University of Pennsylvania, which shortened the break in order to discourage students from traveling.

To give students the break they need, Boston College would ideally split the break up into two different, shorter breaks. This would ensure that students (and professors) still have a moment to breathe during the semester while discouraging students from traveling outside of Massachusetts. Whatever its decision may be, BC must decide soon, or it could find itself making a similar, last-minute decision as it is for Thanksgiving Break.

A group of Heights editors who are committed to participating in the consistent writing of editorials comprise the editorial board. Editors who report on topics discussed in editorials are not permitted to participate in the discussion or writing of the editorial.

Members: Colleen Martin, Abby Hunt, Maddie Haddix, Brooke Kaiserman, Meegan Minahan, Jillian Ran, Danny Flynn, and Rachel Phelan.

QUOTES FROM BEYONCÉ “We have to teach our boys the rules of equality and respect, so that as they grow up gender equality becomes a natural way of life. And we have to teach our girls that they can reach as high as humanly possible.”

“I can never be safe; I always try and go against the grain. As soon as I accomplish one thing, I just set a higher goal. That’s how I’ve gotten to where I am.”

“The reality is: Sometimes you lose. And you’re never too good to lose. You’re never too big to lose.

You’re never too smart to lose. It happens.”

“If everything was perfect, you would never learn and you would never grow.”

“When you love and accept yourself, when you know who really cares about you, and when you learn from your mistakes, then you stop caring about what people who don’t know you think.”

- Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter, 22-time Grammy Award Winner

CUSTOMER SERVICE Clarifications / Corrections The Heights strives to provide its readers with complete, accurate, and balanced information. If you believe we have made a reporting error, have information that requires a clarification or correction, or questions about The Heights’ standards and practices, you may contact Colleen Martin, Editor-in-Chief, at (617) 552-2223, or email eic@ bcheights.com.

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The Heights reserves the right to edit for clarity, brevity, accuracy, and to prevent libel. The Heights also reserves the right to write headlines and choose illustrations to accompany pieces submitted to the newspaper.

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The Heights

Monday, October 19, 2020

A9

A Freshman, Football, and a Pandemic

Olivia Franceschini College football is a right of passage for Boston College students. But as with everything, things are different this year. BC students have to find new ways to watch the game and support our team while still maintaining social distancing practices.

The feeling of FOMO can be overwhelming, especially when other schools are allowing students to attend games. This FOMO is only heightened among the freshman class because it’s a natural freshman desire to fit in and be a part of something, college football included.

That FOMO is hitting the freshman class particularly hard. Part of it is linked to social media, which tends to exacerbate the feeling of being left out. When you log onto Snapchat or Instagram and see friends from high school tailgating or

cheering in the stands, it’s hard not to feel like something’s missing.

Even as someone who enjoys football, but doesn’t major in it coming into BC, I was excited to be able to cheer on a team I could truly call my own. Part of this might come from the fact that my home teams are the New York Giants and The Jets which are two sinking ships that I jumped ages ago. Regardless, just like every other freshman, I was looking forward to packing into the stands and losing my voice from cheering.

College football might not be what it’s been for every single freshman class before us, but I wouldn’t trade the memory of watching the game with my floor on a blurry projection on the lounge wall for anything.

While it’s still fun to watch football on the television, I don’t worship the sport enough not to be disappointed by the lack of tailgating and field-storming. Still, if football is a sort of religion, then shifting from NFL football to college football feels like converting. I feel like I’ve found home.

When I used to watch football at home, it was always an event that I felt ostracized from because I never truly understood how the game worked. If 69

I’m being completely honest, sometimes I would lose the ball on the screen, and when the play ended, it was a total surprise that it even moved a yard. Worse, if I tried to run the risk of asking a stupid question—like “Can someone explain to me what a fumble is?” or “Why are they calling unnecessary roughness. Isn’t the entire sport unnecessarily rough?”—I’d have a room full of eyes turning on me because I’d disrespected American culture.

But college football is a completely different watching experience. For the first time, I’m proud to represent my team instead of dreading the inevitable, crushing loss to come (Giants fans, you know this is true, don’t try and argue with me here). Beyond that, people at BC actually take the time to explain the game—and when you know what’s going on, it’s actually fun to yell at the screen! Especially when BC uses Pitt as a dishtowel.

The Leaves!

Around this time every year, the Northeast looks like a giant stop sign in the best way possible. It’s so stunning. There are also super great piles in which to stomp your mid-semester stress out. Plus, you really can’t beat that nice crunchy sound.

Olivia Franceschini is an op-ed columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at olivia. franceschini@bcheights.com.

Patagonia Season Like the Northeast resembles a stop sign this time of year, Fulton resembles an army— an army of gray patagonias.

As one CSOM friend put it, “If everyone in a Patagonia at BC got together, we’d have enough people to storm the Vatican.” Indeed. They are super comfy and warm, so points for that.

FEATURED GRAPHIC BY ALLYSON MOZELIAK / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Skunk Hunting Part 3: At World’s End

Grace Christenson When my roommate, Molly, and I went camping on Brighton campus, I was prepared for the possibility of being woken up by the Boston College Police Department in the middle of the night. I was not prepared to wake up to Molly aggressively poking my shoulder and scream-whispering: “Grace, there’s an animal right outside the tent, and it’s moving around a lot, and I don’t know what it is.”

I bolted upright and asked the only relevant question: “Do you think it’s a skunk?”

“I don’t know—I mean it’s either a really big squirrel, or it’s a skunk,” Molly replied.

Our low-key camping night had just turned into a high-stakes part three of my fraught and long-suffering skunk investigation. I’d never felt more alive.

I had first resolved to camp on Brighton campus the night Molly and I moved in for junior year. Molly came crashing through the door to our apartment at midnight on September first, throwing down a long, red tube before squeezing the life out of me. Once she released me from her clutches, I pointed at the red thing and asked what was so special that it got moved in first.

Molly shrugged, said “It’s a tent,” and walked away.

Of course it was.

I called after her: “Where do you think we’re going camping without a car in Boston, Molls? Brighton campus?”

A beautifully stupid idea was born.

A little over a month later, I flopped down on my bed at 9 p.m. on a Friday and screamed into my pillow.

My thesis was systematically destroying my capacity to function, my internship scheduled me to work 16 hours in one weekend, and following COVID protocol meant I felt seriously deprived of interesting social engagements.

I needed shenanigans, and I needed them now.

Brighton camping would be my salvation.

Like all daring adventurers, I began by tackling some logistical hurdles. From what I can tell, the legality of camping on BC’s campus falls in a gray area. (If it doesn’t, and it’s blatantly, totally, completely illegal, then everything you’ve read so far and what follows is purely hypothetical. Also, sorry Mom.) A cursory Google revealed the long and interesting history of camping on college campuses, which consists of two main branches: protest camping of the Occupy Wall Street variety and tradition-based camping. Ours was not noble enough to fall under the former and not institutionalized enough to belong to the latter. Camping felt similar enough to a picnic—a clearly admissible activity—but also like something that we were supposed to

intuit to be verboten. After some deliberation, I decided Brighton camping falls under college students’ favorite law: “ask forgiveness, not permission.”

Molly and I packed duffle bags full of blankets, suited up in winter coats, and grabbed my trusty camouflage headlamp. I insisted we bring the celebration cowbell (the cowbell I ring when good things happen to myself/ Molly/anyone because the world is a dumpster fire and I need gratuitously stupid, positive things) and our mostused pink kitchen knife in case we needed to defend ourselves. (Defend ourselves from what, you ask? A Tesla backfiring. A purebred golden retriever escaping an idyllic family home and coming to give us kisses. A group of kids pretending not to be smoking weed. Brighton is full of danger.)

Eventually, we dragged all of our gear out to Brighton lawn. No one even looked twice at the two girls walking down Comm. Ave. with overstuffed bags and a long, lumpy red tube, which proves that no one else ever cares about what you’re doing—even if you’re the main character of your own column. Duly noted.

Molly and I picked a site between some trees and pitched our tent with only a medium amount of struggle.

We then curled up in our blankets and debated life’s big questions, like how we think we’ll die (Molly: in her sleep; Me: a freak accident) and whether we should have brought snacks (a resounding yes). After a few hours of wholesome but largely uneventful hanging out under the airplanes and satellites, we drifted off to sleep.

This sleep was efficaciously interrupted by the aforementioned Molly-poking-me-and-whisper- screamingabout-a-potential-predator-or-skunk-friend.

After Molly sounded the alarm, we huddled together, eagerly watching the animal’s blotchy shadow move around the perimeter of the tent. I wondered whether the cowbell or the knife would be more useful in the face of what, in the best case scenario, was E.T. (I would give him the cowbell as a gift) and, in the worst case scenario, was a baby demogorgon (I would wield my tiny pink knife with the same sexy confidence as Steve Harrington wielding his nail spike baseball bat). Before I arrived at a definitive plan, the creature rounded the corner, stepping directly into the moonlight.

There, silhouetted against the wall of the tent, was the cartoonishly perfect, completely unmistakable outline...of a skunk.

I grabbed Molly’s arm and let out a small, joyous shriek.

The skunk rustled closer to the tent, pushing against the wall. It was trying to get inside. The skunk, it seemed, was hunting us.

At this point, we were losing our minds. I had never even dreamed of this level of contact. I started recording a video, which is visually useless but contains priceless audio of us wondering if we would get sprayed, fervently debating the greater spiritual and metaphysical implications of this encounter, and keeping a running commentary of its exact location in relation to us.

Eventually, when it seemed like the skunk had shuf-

fled away, I unzipped the tent and pushed my way out.

There, waddling off toward the seminary, was the skunk to end all skunks. Fat with a glossy, onyx black coat and a fluffy tail that swayed hypnotically with every step, s/he was glorious. No offense to Mod Man and his compatriots, but Umberto could never compare. If Umberto is Rubinoff, Transcendent Brighton Spirit Skunk is Absolut. It is what it is.

Watching it fade into the distance, I turned to Molly and asked: “Is this what being high feels like?”

It felt like transcendence mixed with confusion and awe and disbelief and adrenaline. It was Rocky Balboa going the distance. Robert Angier realizing Alfred Borden’s true secret. John Bender with his fist in the air.

So, you know, very low-key. Not over-dramatic at all.

I realize that this entire series of events seems absurd. The prospect of a skunk trying to enter your tent and spray you should be fundamentally undesirable. It also just seems highly improbable. I can’t explain why the universe fills my life with implausibilities (although I’m not complaining), but the reason for my skunk-sighting-induced elation is simple: cosmic closure.

One year ago, I was obsessed with seeing a skunk.

I actively sought one out over the course of a two-part investigation and hated that my search ended in failure.

Sure, I said that the people I met along the way made it worth it, but I always felt unnerved by the incompleteness of it all. So, when a skunk literally pushed its way into my life exactly one year and one day (even I don’t believe this) from the publication of the last skunk investigation article—long after I stopped searching and re-invested my energy in equally asinine but more fulfilling ventures, it felt like the perfectly ridiculous end to a perfect, ridiculous story.

The skunks did it again: they restored my hope for the contemporary universe. God, they’re annoying that way. It’s actually becoming cliche. Just when I was ready to write off this year as an exercise in futility—a crapshoot beyond saving, fraught with thesis struggles and social isolation—the skunks intervened, bringing me some unexpected joy, a really good story, and hope for more idiocy yet to come. They showed me that what started as a stupid joke is still a stupid joke. Right now, when so much is literally life and death, I’m really grateful for that.

To close the skunk hunt for good, I’ll paraphrase Dick King-Smith: Patience is a virtue. Virtue is a grace.

Grace is Boston College’s long-suffering (but now triumphant) investigative expert on skunks. And skunks are the hopeful heroes we don’t deserve. May they pester us forever.

P.S. You may now refrain from sending me drunk texts/photos/dms/videos about/of the skunks you see.

You’ve collectively sent enough content for a medium-length documentary. I’m good, guys.

Grace Christenson is an op-ed columnist for The Heights. She can be reached at grace. christenson@bcheights.com.

The opinions and commentaries appearing on this page represent the views of the authors of those particular pieces, and not necessarily the views of The Heights.

People Who Don’t Like Candy Corn This thumbs down is kind of a double negative—apologies to our copy team. That being said, candy corn is literally honey-flavored nostalgia.

Anyone who doesn’t like it clearly just didn’t have the proper amount of Halloween cheer as a kid. For 21+ readers, try soaking candy corn in vodka and then adding pineapple juice or club soda. You’re welome.

Phone Sticker Wallets Yes, those things we all have on the back of our phones.

They’re ungodly annoying and single-handedly ruining the plastic coating on all my cards. But they’re just so convenient, you can’t live without them. I’m convinced that the secret society that keeps pockets out of women’s clothing has an arrangement with whoever makes these guys.

The Heights

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Monday, October 19, 2020

Newton North Students Hold March for Justice Newton North, from A1 afternoon demanding action from the City of Newton on the subjects of racial justice and climate change.

The march was organized by Newton High School students—they view the climate crisis and racial justice as complementary issues. The group has divided its demands into three themes of dismantling oppressive systems, creating equitable city opportunities, and taking environmental action.

In order to dismantle oppressive systems, the collective explained their demands. They urge the mayor to declare racism a public health emergency in Newton.

They’ve called on the Newton Public Schools to incorporate the 1619 Project into its curriculum, which dates the founding of the United States in the year 1619 when the first slave arrived on U.S. soil. The students called for the creation of an additional branch of student government led by BIPOC high schoolers at Newton North and urged the district to educate Newton students on legislation such as the BREATHE Act. The BREATHE Act calls for defunding police departments and allocating the money to other community programs.

“We are supporting and educating on the BREATHE Act and similar legis-

lation,” said Naomi Goldstein, a Newton North student and Newton North High School Climate Collective officer. “We are thinking about broader racial justice laws and how we can bring them to Newton and appoint a branch of student government led by Black and Indigenous people of color.”

The group advocates to change “Columbus Day” to “Indigenous Peoples’ Day,” and calls on the mayor of Newton to regularly consult with Indigenous groups, change the city seal and any other anti-Indigenous language in Newton legislation and monuments, and uphold the principles of the Red New Deal. The Red New Deal was written

by Indigenous leaders and builds on the Green New Deal. The Green Deal is a Congressional resolution that calls the federal government to decrease the use of fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions across the country.

“The Red New Deal is a deal that the people of the Red Nation have created in order to bring Indigenous perspectives into our climate justice conversation,” Goldstein said.

The collective said in their demand to the City Council that the Newton Police Department must be defunded, and its funds should be allocated to other causes.

“It’s about re-imagining the police

because obviously there needs to be safety in our town,” Goldstein said. “Some of the underfunded programs are public mental health services and domestic violence resources so we are trying to reinvest the funds [from the police] in productive and helpful ways.”

In order to create equitable city opportunities within Newton, the commission demands that the City of Newton abolish single-family housing zoning and increase affordable housing within Newton.

“We support a zoning re-design plan in Newton so there’s less single-family-only housing and there are more subsidized housing opportunities,” Goldstein said.

The commission believes that Newton must support local environmental protection by declaring a climate emergency in Newton and renegotiating the Newton Power Choice contract to ensure all power in Newton is from renewable energy sources.

Newton resident Wendy Lewis said she was participating in the march due to her interests in environmental issues and said she hopes Newton can continue to minimize its environmental impact.

“Newton has been pretty good about giving us a choice to have 100 percent renewable energy,” Lewis said. “I would like to see the state get off fossil fuels and

ERIC SHEA / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Young Newton residents held signs listing their demands as they marched from Newton City Green to Newton City Hall on Saturday.

ERIC SHEA / HEIGHTS EDITOR

A Newton North senior speaks to a crowd from the steps of Newton City Hall. ban fracking. I would like to see the state become a real leader in environmental issues.”

The group spoke about issues beyond the bounds of the City of Newton, too.

“There are many environmentally unjust and dangerous projects being created like the Weymouth compressor station,” Goldstien said. “We are asking for these projects to be halted because they are often created in lower income communities of color and they disproportionately impact those communities.”

The Weymouth compressor station is a proposed site adjacent to the Fore River Bridge in North Weymouth, Mass.

Activists, South shore towns, and politicians have tried to block the construction of the natural gas compressor in the past five years. There are five existing compressor stations in Massachusetts.

Multiple members of the Newton North High School Climate Collective and Newton City Ward 5 Councilor Bill Humphrey spoke on the steps of Newton City Hall.

Humphrey urged those in attendance to be active in their local communities and be vocal with their governmental leaders about issues they are passionate about.

“That’s the type of thing that you all can figure out in your communities or at the state level, or even at the federal level,” Humphrey said. “You can find out

who is the person that has the most ability to influence the situation and is most likely to be influenced by your activism.

You start sending those emails and those letters, they are going to start getting noticed and thinking about how they might need to change their behavior.”

Gaines spoke about the intersection of climate change and racial justice. He said that issues such as the coronavirus pandemic negatively impact communities of color more than their white counterparts.

“Cities with a stable majority [of ] white citizens like Newton can have hope while Black and brown and lower income communities continue to be absolutely devastated by the ongoing homelessness and unemployment caused by the virus,” Gaines said.

Gaines called upon Mayor Ruthanne Fuller to declare systemic racism a public health emergency and cited the sizable turnout of protesters as confirmation that many Newton residents share his concerns.

“You all still showed up today and we appreciate that,” Gaines said. “In a community where the mayor has yet to declare systemic racism as a public health crisis, you all still heard George Floyd’s last words echo over the last six months, and we are really grateful that you all are still out here advocating and still pushing for a change.” n

Fuller Signs Power Choice Contract

By Julia Remick Metro Editor

Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller has signed a new three-year Newton Power Choice contract that involves providing 80 percent local renewable energy sources for customers, compared to 63 percent renewable energy in the previous year’s contract.

Newton Power Choice is an electricity program from the City of Newton for residents and businesses. The City of Newton signed the first Newton Power Choice contract in 2018 and the program went into effect in March of 2019. Eversource, New England’s largest energy provider, delivers the electricity to houses and businesses.

Customers will automatically purchase electricity at a level of 80 percent green energy. They will be able to opt up to 100% renewable energy, opt down to the state mandated 18 percent renewable energy, or choose Eversource Basic Service which involves 18 percent renewable energy. Customers can change their option from 80 percent green energy by filling out a form on the Newton Power Choice website.

“I wanted to find the right balance between, on the one hand, addressing climate change and moving Newton forward to higher renewable levels and, on the other hand, not having our residents opt out of our program because of the higher price and fully considering the challenges faced by those who are struggling financially,” Fuller said in an email update on Oct. 15.

Fuller said the price of renewable energy has quadrupled since two years ago. The price increase can be attributed to the overall cost of electricity and Eversource’s delivery charge, which is 48 percent of the total cost.

Median Newton customers that remain with the standard of 80 percent renewable energy will pay $143.25 per month for electricity in 2021. Customers who opt for the state mandated level of 18 percent green energy through Newton Power Choice will pay $127.81 per month. Customers that opt for 100

percent green energy will pay $148.23 per month.

Customers that used the median level of renewable energy of 63 percent in the past year and opt for the new median level of renewable energy of 80 percent will pay an increase of $11.86 per month.

“There are situations now with COVID where people are financially stressed,” Marcia Cooper, the Green Newton president, said. “Those people have the option to not participate in the program. They can opt down or they can opt out of the program.”

Cooper said that conserving energy is one way to bring down the cost of electricity. She said that this can be done in many ways, such as by adding insulation to your home to make it more energy efficientm and using power surge protectors.

“I think that more people are trying to save money, and I think that more and more people are becoming conscious of their own impact,” Cooper said.

Fuller said that the contract’s new 80 percent level puts Newton on target to meet Newton’s Climate Action Plan for Newton Power Choice to meet 100 percent green energy by 2025.

“In order for our city to achieve the goal of the Newton Climate Action Plan these are the kinds of things that we need to do,” Cooper said. “The climate is a serious situation, and we can all play a role in making a difference.”

At 80 percent renewable energy, Newton will continue to lead the Commonwealth with the Newton Power Choice Program, as the City did last year, in providing the highest amount of local renewable energy. There are 50 cities and towns with similar programs that provide renewable energy above the mandated level. Fuller said in her update that the closest comparable contracts are Brookline with 46 percent, Watertown with 51 percent, and Lowell with 61 percent.

“I think that we can’t drag our feet anymore and that we have to take more rapid action, you know, to make changes within our local community, the state, and in the nation, and around the world, Cooper said. n

VIKRUM SINGH / FOR THE HEIGHTS

Mail-in Ballot Requests Rise

By Rahul harve For The Heights

Approximately 35,000 Newton residents requested a mail-in ballot this year, a sharp increase from the 2,000 casted in the 2016 election, said David Olson, Newton’s city clerk.

Olson said that they’ve already received 6,000 ballots from residents and are expecting more in the coming weeks.

To keep up with the increase in ballots, Olson hired more staff and is increasing work hours as Election Day approaches.

“We have hired staff, we’ve been doing training, and we’ve been keeping on top of things,” Olson said. “We are working every day from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, and starting this weekend, we will be in on the weekends as well.”

Voters are able to check the status of their mail-in ballot through the website trackmyballotMA.com. Massachusetts recommends that applications for mailin ballots be submitted by Oct. 20 to ensure a timely delivery of the ballot.

Applications for mail in ballots will no longer be accepted after Oct. 28.

Ballots that arrive through the mail will be unopened until the weekend

before the election. The ballots will then be processed through advance tabulation.

“Those 35,000 ballots will be processed through a tabulating machine before the election happens, so we won’t know the results until election night,” Olson said.

Olson said that because ballots are processed early, voters who have already voted by mail will have their names checked off in the voter lists.

People will be unable to vote in-person if they have already mailed in a ballot.

Olson said that there are multiple ways for people to vote this year, making it easier for people and taking into consideration those who have concerns about COVID-19.

“You can do this completely remotely with a mail-in ballot or you can pick your time to come and vote in person at the library or you can show up on Election Day,” Olson said.

Early in-person voting began on Oct. 17 and continues through Oct. 30 at the Newton Public Library.

Although directions on how to properly fill out and submit a mail-in ballot are included in every envelope, Olson is concerned that there are still people who will miss a step in the directions.

This could lead to the ballot being con-

sidered ineligible, meaning that it will not be counted in the election.

“One of the key things is that when they have returned [the ballot] to us, they have to sign the envelope that it comes in to say that they are the ones who are submitting it,” Olson said. “And if that signature is not on there, then we have to contact the voter and give them options about what they want to do.”

Some of these options include sending a new mail-in ballot, coming in to find the envelope, or just voting in-person at early voting.

Olson recommends that people submit their mail in ballots as soon as possible and avoid waiting until the deadline.

“We do encourage people that once we have mailed their ballots to them, they fill it out,” he said. “Have it ready to get it back to us.”

Olson also explained that the drop box at Newton City Hall has been receiving numerous ballots from residents and is an easy way to make sure your ballot will be counted.

“But as we get closer if people have waited to send their ballots back, we would encourage them to bring it down and drop it in the drop box and take the chance of it not getting back to us in time,” he said. n

The Heights

Monday, October 19, 2020

A11

Eagles Lose Five Turnovers, Hand VTech Runaway Victory FB vs. VTech from A12 you can’t win.”

Despite all of the Eagles’ struggles, they came out of the gate firing on all cylinders on offense. Though BC has struggled all season to get a run game going, David Bailey opened the game with some strong runs deep into Hokie territory. But as soon as the Eagles entered the red zone, Bailey coughed up the first fumble of the night.

“We were rolling on them,” Jurkovec said about the early parts of the game. “Everything was clicking early—the run game, we were dominating them up front, running the ball. But we just shoot ourselves in the foot with the turnovers.”

It took until the very end of the first quarter for either team to draw first blood, and it came off of BC’s second turnover of the night. The

Hokies marched down the field but couldn’t find the end zone, and they settled for a 41-yard field goal from Brian Johnson to open the night’s scoring.

BC responded quickly after the break, firing a bullet to Jaelen Gill from 12 yards out with 10:38 to go in the half. Gill had a breakout night, as the Ohio State transfer saw his first major action on offense.

Gill caught six passes for 104 yards and a touchdown to lead the Eagles through the air.

Gill was one of a number of rotation players who saw the spotlight for the Eagles on Saturday. Jehlani Galloway grabbed four receptions for 68 yards, and despite the Eagles’ struggles on the ground, three different running backs had touches on the ball. The Eagles’ depth, Hafley said, is encouraging.

And even with so many turnovers

plaguing BC all game long, Jurkovec still threw for a staggering 345 yards and two touchdowns.

His second touchdown pass went to the tight end with the most receptions in the nation, Hunter Long.

After the catch, Long absorbed some initial contact, but a great second effort helped him dive just over the goal line for a score.

With the touchdown, BC trailed by just three with 7:11 to go in the third quarter.

But Virginia Tech exploded in the later part of the game, recording 23 second-half points to silence the Eagles in Lane Stadium.

“We’re going to learn from this,” Hafley said. “And I can’t wait to get back in practice and get it right. But I’m even more confident now. You guys can all think I’m crazy, but it just shows me the type of group we have.

I can’t wait to play again.” n

MATT GENTRY/THE ROANOKE TIMES VIA ACC MEDIA

Ohio State transfer Jaelen Gill (No. 86) had a breakoutout game against the Hokies.

How Should Athletic Teams Promote Social Justice?

Activism from A12 Even so, some of the Tigers used their prominence as members of the No. 1 team in college football— and their platform of 4.6 million viewers—for something bigger than the game.

Clemson players followed the example set forth by professional teams. After the NBA season resumed, commissioner Adam Silver permitted players to wear messages of social justice on the back of their jerseys. Some stars, such as LeBron James, elected not to, but many did take part. Some notable examples include Boston Celtics’ budding star Jayson Tatum wearing Black Lives Matter, and Dallas Mavericks’ star Luka Doncic wearing Enakopravnost, which means equality in his native Slovenian. Each player had the opportunity to promote a message close to their heart and unique to them, showing fans that fighting for social justice is motivated by strong personal convictions.

Teams have also taken a more collaborative effort to promote social justice. In July, the Boston Red Sox placed a 254-foot billboard reading Black Lives Matter along-

side the Massachusetts Turnpike by Fenway Park.

“Recognizing that we have work to do ourselves, we wanted to show that we stand with those who are working to achieve racial equity,” Red Sox spokesperson Zineb Curran said in a statement to ‘CNN’. “The billboard is operated by the Red Sox Foundation and one of the ways we plan to feature the Black Lives Matter movement throughout the baseball season as a way to amplify the voices of those who share our values but may not share our platform.”

The worry for many, however, is that acts of support for various social justice movements is performative. But, when athletes and teams have the opportunity to use their platforms to support the movements in the way most meaningful to them, the messages are much more genuine.

In the case of honoring victims of police brutality, for example, athletes have an even larger platform when it comes to amplifying the experiences of their local communities. In Minnesota, teams can honor George Floyd. Likewise, Jacob Blake can be commemorated

by Wisconsin teams and Breonna

Taylor in Kentucky. That’s not to say that they cannot be memorialized elsewhere—as we’ve seen around the country—but the best way for athletes to affect change is to use their platforms sincerely.

That’s not to say that they cannot be memorialized elsewhere—as we’ve seen around the country—but the best way for athletes to affect change is to use their platforms sincerely.

Gabriel Wallen: Activism Should be Enforced League-Wide As the nationwide demonstrations this summer showed, protest is far more effective when voices and platforms are used in unity. In their protests, the NCAA and ACC ought to be no different.

Widespread social justice movements such as Black Lives Matter require support from across the board. While it is certainly critical to make individual and personal demands for justice, change will not come without unified league-wide and nationwide support.

It is clear that from Colin Kaepernick’s protests during the 2016 NFL season that until widespread support and action is taken,

cries for justice like his are likely to become lost in the pervasive drone of the status quo.

When looking at the most prominent protests in the history of social justice, the most effective have been those demonstrations that have been the most widespread among many communities. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s marches in 1964 and the anti-Vietnam War protests in the late 1960s and 1970s are characterized by the participants who came together from all walks of life.

In an interview with ‘The Heights’ in July, BC linebacker Max Richardson also emphasized the importance of diversity in justice movements.

“The most significant are always going to be the ones that are the most diverse [with] many, many people from many walks of life,” Richardson said. “2020 was obviously a huge year, and the Black community wanted to take a stand and make change, and the white community hopped on board and all people from all walks of life joined in.”

If the momentum built over the summer is to continue well into the future, however, it is absolutely

critical that these diverse voices find ways to continue to remind the world that we are all united in the fight against racism.

In fact, the NCAA ought to look at the principal English soccer league, the Premier League, for inspiration. Before each game, the referee signals for all players, coaches, and officials to kneel prior to kickoff in solidarity with Black Lives Matter. So far, this has been the case for every single team before every single match. Such a gesture is what a unified expression of protest looks like on a sports field.

Of course, this is not to say that individual players should not find their own ways of showing their support as well. Individual signs of protests, such as “Justice for George Floyd” written in permanent marker on English soccer player Jadon Sancho’s uniform, or kneeling after scoring a touchdown can be equally as effective.

If progress is to continue, however, teams and leagues must find ways to unify their gestures, thereby amplifying the message that racism does not belong in sports, in the United States, or anywhere in the world. n

Eagles Crumble Under Syracuse Offense in Sixth Loss

By Olivia Charbonneau Assoc. Sports Editor

Boston College volleyball can’t seem to catch a break. After going without an offseason this past summer and starting the season late compared to th e o th e r Boston College 0 teams in the Syracuse 3 ACC, the Eagles have been playing catch-up since the team came back to campus in August.

Even going into this schedule, BC knew it had its work cut out for it.

Aside from the Eagles, each of the ACC teams in BC’s pod is nationally ranked, including No. 14 Syracuse (4-4), who completed a weekend sweep against the Eagles (0-6) on Saturday night.

Saturday’s competition between the Eagles and the Orange began similarly to how the first game of the weekend series started. The two teams traded points back and forth, neither truly gaining an early advantage over the other. A key difference between the two contests, however, was that the points exchanged during Saturday night’s games were largely the result of unforced errors by both BC and Syracuse.

A long kill attempt by senior Clare Naughton, a net violation, and a fatal miscommunication by the Eagles in front of the net gave the Orange easy points. On the other side of the net, an unsuccessful block at the net and a service error by Yuliia Yastrub kept the Eagles within two points of their opponent.

The back-and-forth ended quickly, however, as the miscommunication by the Eagles triggered a run by the Orange to set them up for a first set victory. Syracuse sophomore Marina Markova, who led both teams in kills with 14, started the 5-0 run by securing two kills against the Eagles, helping to

push Syracuse to a six-point lead and forcing a timeout from BC head coach Jason Kennedy.

The Eagles were minimally successful in putting a stop to Syracuse’s momentum with a kill by Katrina Jensen coming immediately after the timeout, but the Orange quickly got back in the groove and ran away with the lead.

Syracuse’s offense was on the attack, securing point after point as it went on run after run while keeping the Eagles’ point-scoring to a minimum.

And with set point on the horizon, Kennedy called a second timeout to give the Eagles a chance to regroup.

But BC still had no response to the aggressive Orange offense, giving up the set point, 25-12.

The second set turned out no differently for the Eagles, the young core still reeling after the frustrating first set loss. Syracuse went on a fast 7-1 run to start the set, headlined once again by Markova. Kennedy called another early timeout to make sure the Eagles had a chance to right their path. And once again, the timeout was unsuccessful as a ball handling error by freshman Sophia Lambros gave the Orange another easy point.

Syracuse’s offense continued to dominate the play, limiting BC to two-point runs before regaining the serve and furthering its lead over the visiting team. While the Eagles’ offense struggled to find its footing, Syracuse expanded its lead in leaps and bounds.

It wasn’t long before the Orange secured its second set, with Markova and senior Ella Saada making four and six kills respectively.

When it came to the third set, the Eagles almost looked like a completely different team. Rather than just rolling over and accepting its fate, BC fought to keep up with Syracuse, matching the Orange point for point for nearly

PHOTO COURTESY OF SYRACUSE ATHLETICS

Senior Clare Naughton goes up for a block in No. 14 Syracuse’s straight-set sweep of the winless Eagles.

the entire set.

Naughton and Silvia Ianeselli, who had seemed absent from the previous two sets, stepped up their game, securing kills and blocks to prevent Syracuse from running away with another set without a fight. The two teams exchanged points throughout the set, remaining within three points of each other up until a media timeout late in the set put a stop to both teams’ momentum.

Off the break, Lambros tallied her first kill of the match to tie the game up at 15 before everything went downhill for the Eagles. Saada went

on a hot streak of her own, tallying three straight kills against BC, forcing a timeout from Kennedy. After a kill from Amaka Chukwujekwu brought the Eagles within two points, Syracuse picked up right where it left off. The Orange went on a 6-4 run to put them at match point, punctuated by a long kill attempt by Ianeselli to bring the set to 24-20.

Just like in previous sets, the Eagles were unable to fend off the set and match point as Elena Karakasi made a deep kill just beyond BC’s coverage.

And just like that, the Eagles suffered their fourth-straight set sweep of the

season, the second at the hands of the Orange.

The Eagles’ last games of the season are against No. 5 Notre Dame next weekend—the highest ranked opponent they will play this fall.

At this point in the season, the Eagles are no longer fighting to be a competitive team in the conference.

In order for it to consider this season a success, Kennedy’s squad needs to look for substantial improvements within the team rather than determining its worth solely on how many games are in the win and loss columns. n

Monday, October 19, 2020

SPORTS VIRGINIA TECH 40

BOSTON COLLEGE 14

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@HeightsSports

Athlete Activism

Gabriel Wallen

Frank Fishman

familiar unstoppable foe on the other side of the ball. Hokie running back Khalil Herbert—who ran all over BC last year with Kansas—found a wide-open field all game long and recorded 143 yards and a touchdown.

He averaged a staggering 9.1 yards on his 18 carries.

And if Herbert’s dominant running game wasn’t enough, quarterback Hendon Hooker twisted the knife in the Eagles’ wounds with a 164-yard, three-touchdown performance on the ground. He also passed for 111 yards through the air and another touchdown.

“The story of the game was that they ran the ball right through us,” linebacker Max Richardson said after the game. “So if you can’t stop the run,

Athletes have often acted on a particularly effective platform, as televised games have become more than mere competition, but opportunities to encourage equality.

At Boston College, such initiatives within athletics are strong. The football team is wearing “EQUALITY” stickers on their helmets and have placed banners that read “Eagles for Equality” and “Unite” over the empty seats of Alumni Stadium. They continue to remain inside the locker rooms while the national anthem plays before games.

All teams should use their platforms in such a way, but the question is how exactly athletes should proceed.

Should individual players and teams be the ones to decide what supporting the cause looks like, or should leagues and conferences encourage unity across the board?

Frank Fishman: Athletes Should Have the Option to Choose How They Use Their Platforms Having the players and teams hold the right to choose how they want to promote social justice is the best way for athletes to use their platforms to combat racism and inequality. Giving athletes the freedom to choose how they show support allows each player or team to adopt a unique approach and not have to just conform or abide by a general policy, thus making it more personally meaningful.

When Clemson took on Virginia in a rematch of the 2019 ACC Championship Game on Oct. 3, many of the Tigers donned social justice messages on their jerseys during warmups. The last names typically on the back of the jerseys were replaced with phrases like Equality, Peace, Love, Together, Unity, Enough, and Vote.

Clemson players were not required to do this. The ACC and NCAA did not mandate it, and Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney even disagreed with it, according to a story from ‘The Washington Post’.

See FB vs. VTech, A11

See Activism, A11

MATT GENTRY / THE ROANOKE TIMES VIA ACC MEDIA

Boston College football gave up five turnovers—including three forced fumbles and two interceptions—as well as 461 yards of offense in a 40-14 loss to No. 23 Virginia Tech.

By Emma Healy Sports Editor All week, Boston College football head coach Jeff Hafley has been Boston College 14 promising BC Virginia Tech fans that the time for 40 the run game to explode is coming.

But against Virginia Tech, it was more of an implosion than an explosion.

Over the course of 60 minutes, BC (3-2, 3-1 Atlantic Coast) gave up five turnovers, including three fumbles from three different players. BC shot itself in the foot time after time, and No. 23 Virginia Tech (3-1, 3-1) ran away with the game, notching a 4014 win in front of about 1,000 fans in Blacksburg.

“You can’t beat anybody turning the ball over five times,” Hafley said

in his post-game press conference.

“Turning the ball over five times— some deep in our own territory—with the momentum we had … it’s self inflicted. We have to hold on to the ball.”

Turnovers started showing up in the early minutes of the first half, as the Eagles gave up two fumbles and one interception in the first 30 minutes. Before each of the first two fumbles—both in the first quarter— BC found itself on the cusp of scoring, but a VT attack on the ball and a botched play in the backfield gave the Hokies a break.

Midway through the second quarter, BC gave up its third turnover of the night as quarterback Phil Jurkovec tossed an errant pass right to the hands of VT’s Devin Taylor. BC gave up 10 points off of turnovers in the first half, leading to its 10-point

deficit heading into the locker room at halftime. The Hokies’ fourth takeaway was another fumble recovery on BC’s 17-yard line, setting up a quick field goal for the Hokies.

And to round out BC’s five turnovers, Jurkovec threw a pass in garbage time intended for Hunter Long, who tipped it to the hands of Brion Murray. As Murray returned it 45 yards up the right side of the field, Jurkovec was the one who had to make the hit.

“A prime example of who he is as a player and a person is the tackle he had on the interception,” Hafley said of Jurkovec. “A lot of guys would have started to jog off the field, [but] he got off of a block and looked like a linebacker out there.”

But regardless of BC’s struggles on offense, the Eagles also ran into a

BC Football Shoots Itself in the Foot in Virginia Tech Loss

By Emma Healy Sports Editor Entering Saturday night in Blacksburg, Boston College football was the clear underdog. Oddsmakers had No. 23 Virginia Tech as 13-point favorites, but even so, Eagles fans were hopeful. VT had given up more points against BC’s previous opponents than the Eagles had, and of course, in Boston, it’s all aboard the Hafley train. First-year head coach Jeff Hafley has the football world buzzing, and his energy and drive gives fans a reason to believe in the underdog. But faced with a chance to take down their first ranked opponent since 2014 and crack the AP Poll, the Eagles shot themselves in the foot, and they return to Chestnut Hill with a 40-14 loss on their record.

BC Shoots Itself in the Foot There’s no question about it: no one can win a football game by turning over the ball five times, especially when the other team protects it as well as Virginia Tech did.

BC coughed up the ball on three

of its first four drives, including two fumbles in the red zone. Phil Jurkovec threw two interceptions, which he said after the game were “inexcusable.”

If there’s one bright spot, though, it’s that BC allowed just 20 points off those five turnovers, as the Eagles’ defense held Virginia Tech to a field goal attempt on three of the five giveaways. BC let go of one fumble on its own 17-yard line, setting up Virginia Tech with a short field, but the defense held, and the Hokies settled for three.

No Fly Zone After a stunning 358-yard airraid performance against Pittsburgh last week, BC just couldn’t seem to connect on the long balls against Virginia Tech. Last week, Jurkovec tossed a couple of dimes to Zay Flowers on the run, one which went for 44 yards and the other which went for a staggering 77 yards. But when the Eagles got to Blacksburg, the deep ball connection disappeared. The combination of VT’s stout pass rush—which sacked Jurkovec once—and a lockdown

secondary kept BC from hitting explosive plays in the air. The Hokies’ secondary notched six pass breakups and two interceptions on the night. The Eagles notched their longest completion of the night on a 43-yard pass to Jaelen Gill. Other than that, BC, which had previously found a weapon in Jurkovec’s cannon of an arm, struggled immensely as Jurkovec threw into tight coverage deep down field.

Turning Molehills Into Mountains As much as BC struggled with explosive plays, the Hokies thrived.

On the back of running back Khalil Herbert and quarterback Hendon Hooker, VT drove daggers into BC’s secondary on the ground all night long. Hooker, who kept the ball 18 times for 166 yards—making the quarterback the team’s leading rusher—averaged 9.1 yards per rush, including a long of 31 yards. Herbert followed close behind with an average of 7.9 yards per carry on 18 touches for 146 yards. The highlight of the night for Herbert was a 57yard dash midway through the third quarter.

Through the first half of the game, Virginia Tech averaged a staggering nine yards per play, and by the final whistle, the Hokies were collecting 8.23 yards per play. BC, on the other hand, averaged just over five yards per play with very few explosive plays all game long.

A Recurring Nightmare Though BC has spent the early part of the season trying to erase its bad habits from last season, its biggest nightmare from last season returned against Virginia Tech. In a 2019 matchup that the Eagles would rather forget, Herbert, then with Kansas, racked up 187 yards on 11 carries in the Jayhawks’ dismantling of BC. After he graduated last year, Herbert took his talents to Virginia Tech, where he once again ran circles around BC’s defense. In his weekly press conference, BC head coach Jeff Hafley noted the importance of stopping the run, but BC just couldn’t take Herbert down, and as linebacker Max Richardson said in the postgame press conference, it “cost [BC] the game.”

Getting Into the Backfield, But Not Finishing As was a problem for the Eagles last week, BC’s front seven had no trouble getting into the backfield, but they couldn’t seal the deal. The Eagles had plenty of clear looks at Hooker, but he was elusive all night long.

With all of BC’s primary defenders packing the backfield to take Hooker down, when he found a hole, he had plenty of room to run.

Midway through the first quarter, the pocket collapsed around Hooker, and a BC defender even had a hand on his jersey, but the quarterback escaped and scrambled to turn a 3-yard loss into a 3-yard pickup.

Oftentimes, Hooker’s elusiveness was more a result of trickery in the backfield than just his pure speed, causing confusion among BC defenders and allowing him to take a wide open hole with little pressure.

Just a few plays before that nearmiss from BC, Hooker faked a jet sweep to Tré Turner, which sent the defense the wrong way, and Hooker took the hole for 30 yards. n