The Heights September 3, 2018

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HEIGHTS

THE

The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College

BC’S ‘JACK RYAN’

UNBLEMISHED

ARTS

SPORTS

Amazon’s ‘Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan’ features John Krasinski as the BC-alum CIA operative.

BC defeated No. 21 Texas Tech on Saturday night, recording its fifth-straight shutout and moving to a perfect 6-0.

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S MADISON MARIANI/HEIGHTS EDITOR

Endowment, Now $2.6B, Sees 10.7 Percent Return BC also returned 5 percent on its balance sheet. BY JACK MILLER Asst. News Editor Boston College’s Executive Vice President Michael Lochhead announced Wednesday at University Convocation that the endowment posted a 10.7 percent return during the last fiscal year that ended on May 31, which Lochhead said surpassed University expectations. 2018 is the 47th consecutive year operating revenues exceeded expenses, according to Lochhead, which he said was driven by undergraduate enrollment that made up for “challenges” the University faced in certain “graduate areas.” The endowment sat at $2.6 billion at the end of fiscal year 2018, according to Lochhead. Last year, the endowment had returns of 13.4 percent and finished fiscal year 2017 at $2.4 billion. In 2016, it posted a -4.3 percent return, the first time the endowment hadn’t returned a positive percentage since 2012. “That is a new watermark for Boston College and something that will help position us well in the future as we talk about investments in Ever to Excel,” Lochhead said.

“As a result of the endowment returns, some slight reductions in liabilities, as well as the operating budget returns, the University posted a strong return, 5 percent, on its balance sheet which means the balance sheet overall is well positioned for potential investments in the future.” Earlier during University convocation, University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J., addressed some of the problems facing higher education as a whole, including questions of affordability and reduced government support for colleges and universities. Lochhead expanded on this topic, emphasizing that the success of previous years would provide flexibility for upcoming costs, specifically naming wavering tuition and fee revenues in the face of widespread affordability concerns. He also noted that continued strength in regards to undergraduate enrollment numbers boosted difficulties BC faced on the graduate front. He also provided some information about how the University spent its money in the last year. About 48 percent of the operating budget went to personnel-related expenses—namely salaries and benefits. Lochhead concluded the review by listing the University’s priorities, which includes investments in the core curriculum, student life, and athletic programs in the upcoming fiscal year. 

Leahy: ‘Similar Response’ as C21 Needed Amid Penn. Clergy Abuse At Univ. Convocation, Leahy talks trends in Catholic higher ed BY JACK MILLER Asst. News Editor University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J. spoke to Boston College’s faculty and staff Wednesday as part of University Convocation. In his speech, Leahy shared his thoughts on

the University’s place in the world and commented more specifically on the renewed revelations of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. Leahy committed to formulating a response similar to how the University respondede to the sexual abuse scandal that gripped the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston in 2002. Leahy’s speech addressed some of the problems facing higher education as a whole, including questions of affordability and reduced government support

for colleges and universities. In the face of these issues, Leahy stressed the importance of frequent reflection and analysis in the context of a fast-paced society. He also briefly acknowledged some of the topics that have been raised by the student body in the past several years. “Boston College has responded well to various challenges and opportunities, particularly because of its regular cycles

See University Convocation, A3

KAITLIN MEEKS/PHOTO EDITOR

Eagles Blow Out UMass in Opener Four touchdowns and 279 yards through the air propelled the Eagles to a season-opening victory, see B1

Gosselin Plans to Focus on Yield, Diversity Save Late New director of undergrad admissions on BC’s standing BY CHARLIE POWER Assoc. News Editor A little over one month into his new position as the director of undergraduate admission at Boston College, Grant Gosselin, BC ’97, LGSOE ’02, is looking to continue the legacy of John Mahoney, who helmed that office for 28 years.

“My goal is to build on the legacy that John has set here in terms of always being seen as a reputable and ethical admissions office,” Gosselin said. In March, Mahoney was promoted to a newly created office, the dean of undergraduate admission and financial aid. Just a few days ago, Mahoney was promoted again to vice provost for enrollment management. He’ll be tasked with fostering collaboration between the admission, financial aid, and registrar’s offices in order to better predict enrollment cycles. “It will free up John to think more strate-

gically on the bigger decisions that need to be made at the institution,” Gosselin said. Gosselin will focus on running the dayto-day operations of the admission office, and navigating annual enrollment cycles will be one of his most important tasks. To work through cycles, he’ll be taking on the challenge of predicting how many admitted students will actually decide to accept BC’s offer of admission. Over the past four cycles, the admissions yield has hovered between 26 and 28 percent. In addition to yield, selectivity, often seen as a gauge for prestige, is an admissions

statistic that gets a lot of publicity. During last year’s admissions cycle, BC had a 27 percent acceptance rate. Over the past few years, acceptance rates have been in the 28 to 32 percent range. The easiest way to increase selectivity is to attract more applicants, and many admission offices spend considerable resources to build their pool of prospective students. BC’s admissions office is not interested in inflating application numbers, according to Gosselin. He sympathizes with the psyche of

BY ABBY HUNT Copy Editor The Boston College and Boston University Police Departments teamed up last month to participate in the Law Enforcement Lip Sync Challenge, with a Boston-themed “Battle of Comm Ave.” between police officers and other community members from the two rival schools. The challenge began early this summer,

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

when Deputy Alexander Mena from Bexar County, Texas recorded himself lip syncing the Kumbia Kings’ “Fuiste Mala” in his car, and has since spread across the country, with hundreds of departments participating nationwide. “There’s these little challenges that pop up on social media that police departments and police officers get involved in to really kind of humanize the profession, to kind of humanize the men and women who wear the uniform,” said BCPD Lt. Jeffrey Postell, who—along with student interns—wrote the script for the video. “We had folks within our … own community here that had reached out to the police department—to me—and said, ‘You

NEWS: Mahoney Promoted

John Mahoney is the new vice provost for enrollment management........................... A2

know, we’ve seen a hundred of these police departments around the country do these videos, when is BC going to do one?’” he said. “And I’m not one to back down from challenges.” When thinking about how his department should partake in the social media phenomenon, Postell wanted to do something that hadn’t been done before—something that would make BCPD’s video stand out. “I just love the camaraderie and the rivalry of college sports, so I said, ‘You know what, I have not seen a department do an actual battle. We’ve heard them say lip sync challenge, but we have not heard them do a lip sync battle,’” he said. “And so

FEATURES: Michael Davidson

ROBERT WALMSLEY

I said, ‘If the Boston College Police Department is going to do a lip sync challenge—or battle—there’s no better department to battle than Boston University because of the rivalry between BU and BC.’” When considering which songs to include, Postell again thought it would be important to do something different than any other police department had done before, ultimately deciding to do songs that represented the Boston community. Postell pitched the idea to the BCPD student interns, from whom he took ideas about what the video should look like, and then he began to write the script.

Yes, the rumors are true. They are all true. Late night as we know it is gone. Lower is closing at 10 p.m. The menu includes only salads and grilled chicken so cold, so tough, Excalibur would stand nary a chance, never mind your flimsy plastic knife. Wilhelm screams galore. Snack attacks … gone. OK, maybe only that last part is true. STILL, late night is irreversibly changed for the worst, right? It got up and left us for good, as if we’re Omelas or something. (I’m not saying we’ve imprisoned an involuntary martyr under the depths of Gasson to inherit the amalgamated ills of a community built on a utopian facade, but I’m not denying it.) Those soggy fries, breaded sticks with a hint of cheese, and half-baked tenders you drunkenly dream of while you stand motionless in a dimly lit Mod won’t be found upstairs at Addie’s. Speaking of half-baked, how the hell is this whole operation going to function? Honestly, I’m not completely opposed to the new food options: Pizza and meatballs sound fine to me. And who doesn’t want a nice iced mocha latte to push you through a procrastinated assignment or counter

See Lip Sync, A3

See Late Night, A5

See Gosselin, A3

Law Enforcement Lip Sync Challenge, Boston Style BCPD and BUPD team up for viral “Battle of Comm Ave”

Night

Davidson begins his new role as the director of the BAIC.......................................................A6

INDEX

NEWS.........................A2 SPORTS.................... A7

Vol. XCIX, No. 15 M AG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A6 ARTS..................... A11 © 2018, The Heights, Inc. OPINIONS................... A4 www.bchelghts.com 69


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