The Heights, Oct. 18, 2021

Vol. CIII, No. 15

© 2021, The Heights, Inc. www.bcheights.com Estalished 1919

Monday, October 18, 2021

SPORTS

Struggling to get into the endzone, the Eagles suffered a brutal loss on Saturday.

A8

www.bcheights.com

Usually held on Patriots’ Day in April, Monday’s marathon was a delayed celebration of the April 2021 marathon. The 2020 marathon was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was replaced by a 10-day virtual event in the fall of 2020. Read more about the experience of BC students on Marathon Monday.

Pemberton Lauds 2020 Graduates

AMY PALMER Asst. News Editor

Lighthouses are the “most selfless structure,” existing as a beacon of light in times of uncertainty, and according to commencement speaker Steve Pemberton, the Class of 2020 is the embodiment of the lighthouse.

“There are nearly 23,000 lighthouses standing in the world today, but on Monday, May 18 of 2020, we conferred 2,332 more, because the most powerful lighthouses in the world have always always been the human ones,” Pemberton, honorary doctorate recipient and BC ’89, said.

The BC community welcomed the

Class of 2020 back to campus for a delayed commencement on Sunday after the ceremony was canceled due to COVID-19 nearly a year-and-ahalf ago.

University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J., began the ceremony by acknowledging the commitment of the attendees in returning to the Heights for this special event, as well as praising the perseverance of the BC community.

“Much has happened since BC and other schools suspended classes in March 2020 because of COVID-19,” Leahy said. “As we know, the months since then have had their share of disruption and heartache, but our world and Boston College have persevered.”

ARTS

Asinine graced the stage and kept the crowd laughing this past weekend at its show. A5

Boston College students filled Mod lawns, wandered off-campus streets, and lined the sidewalks of Commonwealth Ave. on the morning of Oct. 11 as the City of Boston and surrounding areas celebrated the Boston Marathon for the first time since 2019

FALLON JONES / FOR THE HEIGHTS

FALLON JONES / FOR THE HEIGHTS

This Week’s Top 3 Events

Student Groups Host Town Hall, Urge BC to Divest

B Y J ULIA L ANDWEHR Heights Staff

In a Fulton Hall classroom on Wednesday night, a line of seven club leaders sat at a table facing a crowd of about 60 Boston College students.

A banner reading “BC: Whose Side Are You On?” hung in front of the table below a line of reusable water bottles.

“What does BC say about itself?” said Nickolas Constantino, MCAS ’23 and action and events coordinator for Climate Justice at BC (CJBC).

“It says it’s a Jesuit, Catholic institution. It says it cares for the whole person—cura personalis. It says it motivates the students to work for social justice, and things like that.

All very positive things. BC says a lot of things about itself in words. But what kinds of things does BC

say about itself with another form of communication: money?”

CJBC, alongside the Young Democratic Socialists (YDS) of BC, FACES, BC Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), EcoPledge of BC, and Real Food BC, hosted a town hall to explain fossil fuel divestment and why they’re fighting for it.

The idea is that BC should stop investing in fossil fuels because doing so contributes to climate change, and instead put its money toward investments that help the community, Constantino explained.

Though BC has not disclosed how much money it has invested in the fossil fuel industry, the University has reiterated its policy on divestment on multiple occasions—it does not think it’s an effective way to combat climate change.

But students are still concerned that the portion of BC’s 3.8 billion dollar endowment invested in fossil fuel companies is working to harm both the environment and those people most directly affected by climate change, including people of color and people with fewer re -

sources.

SJP and FACES, an anti-racism club at BC, shared examples of divestment strategies that they say have worked to push back against the private prison industry and injustice in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.

Private prison and detention center CoreCivic has seen its stock price drop from $35 in February 2017 to about $9 today, according to FACES Events and Communication Co-Leader An Nguyen, CSOM ’22.

Nguyen attributes this drop to investors’ growing unwillingness to loan money to these for-profit prisons on the grounds that they are unethical.

A strategy called BDS—boycott, divestment, sanctions—has become popular among activists trying to support Palestinians, according to SJP President Josh Fording, MCAS ’22.

These efforts involve boycotting Israeli companies and products on an individual level, and then encouraging institutions and corporations to do their own kind of boycott—divestment.

The town hall was just meant to scratch the surface of the divestment movement, but Nguyen said they hope students gained a basic understanding of how racism, food justice, fossil fuels, and other big ideas all intersect.

“I think it went great,” Nguyen said. “The turnout is amazing. This is the first time we did it in a big room like this, and it was really good to see it filled.”

As divestment continues to make headlines, CJBC and the other clubs involved are hoping that events like the town hall will build on existing momentum.

“Since the semester started, Harvard, BU, University of Minnesota, Church of Ireland, California State University, Dartmouth, and Reed have all divested from fossil fuels,” Cecilia Durcan, CJBC vice president and MCAS ’23, said. “This is the importance of divestment. One institution says it’s wrong, more and more you see it snowballing into this effect where no one wants to have their money in these companies anymore.”

‘Beacon of Light’: Pemberton Praises Class of 2020

Commencement, from A1

This ceremony, Leahy said, invites the graduates to reflect on their time since March 2020 and to recognize current realities and opportunities.

According to Leahy, the world needs the members of the Class of 2020.

“We need you to help resolve challenges and bring more hope to our day,” Leahy said. “I believe

“The traditional role of the commencement speaker is to offer words of counsel and advice, but you know the truth of it is that this is not a traditional commencement,” Pemberton said.

He said the graduates have entered into a significantly different world characterized by a pandemic, an economic meltdown, and a polarizing political culture.

Navigating this world has been challenging for everyone, Pember-

a specific time and place, but over the span of a lifetime because that is how long it takes to realize just how treasured your time here really was,” Pemberton said.

Pemberton then gave the audience an extended metaphor about a ship and a lighthouse, comparing the graduates to lighthouses as “keepers of the Ignatian flame” who serve as beacons in times of chaos.

“The lighthouse, the savior of the sea, exists now not to help us navigate the sea, but to help us navigate humanity—to show us and provide to us a perpetual reminder of how we ought to be with one another and how we ought to be to one another,” he said.

Pemberton said that the lighthouse is the most selfless structure created by humankind.

“It serves no purpose other than to be of service to another—to simply be a beacon in times of uncertainty and chaos,” Pemberton said. “It is faithful, steadfast, humble, [and] resilient; it seeks neither reward nor recognition.”

The Class of 2020 also reminds him of common humanity in others, he said.

final assignments.

“You have to let the lighthouses in your life know just how important they are to you,” he said.

The other final commission, Pemberton said, was to let their lives be lighthouses.

“Let your life be a lighthouse for this University that will always

treasure you,” he said. “Let your life be a lighthouse for the community that raised you and celebrates you. Let your life be a light for a world that does indeed summon you. Let your life be a lighthouse for your family that loves you in small ways and in big ways, but on every day, let your life be a lighthouse.”

that you are already doing that, and I urge that you leave this weekend more deeply committed to sharing with others the benefits you have received from your Boston College education.”

Pemberton—philanthropist, bestselling author, and chief people officer for Workhuman—first spoke to the graduates for their convocation in 2016.

He joined them once again to deliver the commencement address, acknowledging that this address is not like others.

ton said, but most especially for the Class of 2020.

“It has indeed required you to be resilient, to stand strong, to have faith, and to still serve in the spite of all of the extraordinary circumstances,” Pemberton said.

Many seniors wondered if their abrupt departure in March of 2020 was the final time their class would be together, but Pemberton said he wanted to assure them that it was never going to end that way.

“The Boston College experience is never really measured by

“We all have been reminded, through your example, of the importance of family and friendship, and common humanity that really does connect us,” he said. “We better understand that God’s greatest gifts to us, whether that be the miracle that is life, the sanctuary that is this planet, or the national treasure that is willingness to protect and defend it.”

Pemberton said that as commencement speaker, he serves as the graduates’ final professor.

In this role, he left the class with

Dina Nayeri, an acclaimed author whose stories have appeared in ‘The New York Times,’ ‘The Guardian,’ and other publications, will be giving a virtual reading from her book, ‘The Ungrateful Refugee,’ and answering questions at 7 p.m. on Wednesday night.

Travel through the centuries-old tradition of oil on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. with the Boston College theatre department’s in-person production of ‘Oil.’ Masks are required, and tickets are available through the Robsham box office.

Skate on Division I ice with the Campus Activities Board on Monday night. From 7 to 10 p.m., CAB is opening the gates of Conte Forum for students to glide about. Questions and accommodations about this free event can be sent to dowab@bc.edu.

STEVE MOONEY / FOR THE HEIGHTS

The town hall on Wednesday drew a crowd of 60 people to Fulton Hall.

VIKRUM SINGH / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The former students gathered with their fellow 2020 graduates after the ceremony.

VIKRUM SINGH / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The commencement ceremony was held on Maloney Lawn on Lower Campus.

VIKRUM SINGH / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The Class of 2020 adorned caps and gowns for its commencement on Sunday.

BY JULIA KIERSZNOWSKI Assoc. News Editor AMY PALMER Asst. News Editor AND SPENCER DANISZEWSKI For the Heights

Last Monday, Harry Sullivan woke up in his Mod at 8 a.m. and made breakfast with his roommates. After a few hours spent cheering on marathoners, Sullivan returned to the Mods to party.

“I think everyone just pretended like they knew each other,” Sullivan, CSOM ’22, said. “It was like a big community. Everyone was just kind of wandering around, going from backyard to backyard, even if they don’t know who lives in that Mod. So it was pretty cool from that perspective, I think everyone just kind of banded together.”

The Boston Marathon returned in full force last Monday for the first time since April 2019, and along with it came a horde of Boston College students once again flooding off-campus streets and the Mods to celebrate one of BC’s most beloved traditions.

Usually held on Patriots Day in April, Monday’s marathon was a delayed celebration of the April 2021 marathon. The 2020 marathon was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was replaced by a 10-day virtual event in the fall of 2020. For the majority of students, this was their first time experiencing Marathon Monday at BC. It had been two-and-a-half years since members of the Class of 2022 celebrated the marathon their freshman year.

Audrey Mullen, MCAS ’22, said she enjoyed an early breakfast in Rubenstein Hall with her friends from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m., when the first runners started coming down Commonwealth Ave. After cheering on the marathoners for a couple hours, she made her way to the Mods, where she spent the rest of the day.

“Everyone was in one combined area and everyone was just dressed ridiculously,” Mullen said. “It’s been two years since we got a real marathon so it was really a fun, exciting environment to be a part of.”

Mullen said Marathon Monday as a senior was a very different experience than when she was a freshman.

“My last Marathon Monday I was a freshman, which is a vastly different environment,” Mullen said. “It’s very confusing and overwhelming when you’re trying to figure it out as a freshman, and I feel like as a senior you’re established in your friendships and social scenes, so it wasn’t even a question of ‘Am I gonna get into this party tonight?’ It was like, ‘Everyone’s invited.’”

Patrick Cadogan, CSOM ’23, woke up at 6 a.m. on the dot to go to his friends’ off-campus apartment and make breakfast, unsure of what to expect for the rest of the day.

“None of us knew what we were doing,” he said. “The only grade that did kind of know the drill was in the Mods.”

An hour or so after waking up, Cadogan said he saw students gathering on the streets off campus and decided to start his day.

“I guess we descended onto the street at that time when there were a couple

hundred people on the road,” Cadogan said. “It was definitely a bit chaotic by BC standards.”

Peter Burdulis, MCAS ’25, also had an early start to his day.

“We woke up early at 6 a.m. to get ready for the day,” Burdulis said. “We arrived at Foster St. and some of the surrounding streets at around 7 a.m. and spent an hour there before heading over to Comm. Ave for the marathon.”

Since the BC shuttle buses were not running on Monday, Burdulis said he and other freshmen living on Newton Campus had to walk to off campus.

“That was the worst part of the day,” Burdulis said. “The walk was a bit taxing for a Monday morning.”

When he reached off campus, however, Burdulis said the scene was “electric.”

“It was a lot of fun,” Burdulis said. “The atmosphere was electric, and it was great to see so many students show up to support this city and the runners.”

Alexa Barrett, CSOM ’24, also enjoyed crossing Commonwealth Ave. and partying off campus.

“It was so nice to see everyone in the streets and like, everywhere you turn … you’re meeting all these new people and everyone’s just there to have fun,” Barrett said.

Barrett said it was strange seeing so many people together at once after the pandemic.

“It was weird,” Barrett said. “After like a whole year of being masked and like everyone being separated, it was so crazy, like, [with] the streets completely full.”

Students received several emails from administrators in the days leading up to the marathon discouraging rowdy behavior across Commonwealth Ave. and suggesting that students celebrate the marathon on campus.

“It is critical that all students are respectful of our neighbors who live close to campus, as well as their property,” wrote Associate Vice President for Student Engagement and Formation Tom Mogan. “All on-campus students are strongly encouraged to enjoy the Marathon on campus.”

Students living off campus also received emails warning them against hosting people at their houses and informing them that they are responsible for any misconduct that takes place at their residence, even if the host is not present.

“We anticipate that underage students and non-students alike will seek a place to consume alcohol on Monday,” wrote Andrew Klopstein, assistant director

of Off-Campus Student Living. “If you choose to host a social gathering, expect to be overwhelmed by guests, known and unknown, invited and uninvited.”

Sullivan said that it was a unique experience not having to stress about underage drinking, as it was his first marathon that he was of legal drinking age.

“It was kind of funny because we had the cops basically surrounding everyone, and your instinct as a college student is to be like, ‘Oh they’re coming to bust us up,’” Sullivan said. “But they were kind of just there for crowd control. … It was cool to be able to be in the Mods and have a huge massive party and not have to worry about underage drinking.”

Cadogan said that off campus there was a bit of uncertainty about whether off-campus students would let strangers into their houses and backyards.

Read the rest of the story at www. bcheights.com/news

GLC Celebrates Pride Week With BC Community

BY ERIN SHANNON Copy Chief MEGAN GENTILE Copy Editor AND ETHAN RAYE Copy Editor

Paints of all colors splashed onto canvases in the Vanderslice Hall Cabaret Room on Friday as students gathered for an art picnic event that encapsulated the feeling of community that Pride Week is all about.

“I think the biggest thing is that [Pride Week] means community and celebrating it,” said Mo Kazim, CSOM ’23. “It wasn’t until I surrounded myself with queer friends that I realized just how awesome it is to be part of this community, and I think Pride Week just takes that to a whole new level.”

Pride Week, held by UGBC’s GLBTQ+ Leadership Council (GLC), is a week-long series of events that celebrates queer joy on campus. The events were held from Oct. 11, which is National Coming Out Day, through Friday.

“So Pride Week is essentially GLC’s celebration of the week surrounding National Coming Out Day,” said Chris Rizzo, chair of GLC and MCAS ’22. “This is a little bit of our substitute for Pride Month in June … we don’t have a chance to celebrate then so we celebrate now.”

The week consisted of the art picnic and several other on-campus events, including an alumni panel, allyship bingo, a movie screening of Pariah—a 2011 film about a Black teenager coming to terms with her identity as a lesbian—and “My

Sibling’s Keeper,” an open discussion about sibling allyship. Pride Week surrounds the celebration of queer identities, according to Gianna Russi, vice president of UGBC and MCAS ’22.

“I definitely think that Pride Week is a time of celebration for queer students on campus, and it’s just been great to see the events roll out this whole week and have different events every day celebrating identity,” Russi said.

Emely Accostupa, MCAS ’25, described Pride Week as an opportunity to both celebrate the community and for LGBTQ+ students to embrace their own identities.

“Pride Week to me means the celebration of everything that has to do with being a part of the LGBTQ community and embracing who you are no matter where you are in the process,” Accostupa said. “Whether you just came out or you’re well out for so many years or you’re still figuring it out … or even if you’re just an ally.”

Russi hopes Pride Week attendees took away constructive tips on how to be a good ally, which is an important aspect of building a supportive BC community, she said.

“I hope that people that attended these events that don’t identify with the community took away … a tidbit about what it means to be an ally for friends but also for those around us in the BC community so we can become more aware and just a more well-rounded and supportive community,” Russi said.

Straight allyship is an important part of GLC’s programming, according to Rizzo. He said that straight peers are always welcome to GLC events and meetings,

as straight support is an important part of affirming queer existence on campus.

“Every time that you speak up about a transphobic joke or you counteract somebody who uses the F slur—which is all too common on this campus—you’re making a difference in the queer people’s lives who are in the room,” he said. “I think it is … all of our jobs to create a community where hate of any kind is unacceptable.”

Russi said she believes the week was a success and praised the hard work that GLC does for all students at BC.

“GLC has just done an amazing job at all the planning, and they’ve been very thoughtful for all their initiatives,” Russi said. “But I also think, you know, the turnout from students … is really great too.

Rizzo said he was satisfied with the outcome of Pride Week and thought the programming met the needs of the student body. He also said GLC has a two-pronged goal right now.

“We’re always trying to provide a space to build community where people celebrate their identities because it’s tough to do on BC’s campus that is, you know, blatantly homophobic and transphobic,” Rizzo siad. “So, we always want to offer a space for queer joy, and to let people celebrate themselves, but we also have the goal of educating our … straight, cisgender peers … I feel like we’ve accomplished much towards both of those goals.”

Despite the positive atmosphere of the event, some LGBTQ+ students expressed their dissatisfaction with how the BC administration has handled the needs of the queer community. Aneesa Wermers, vice chair of GLC and GSSW ’23, described

how though they felt supported by their own friends, the administration has been unresponsive to the LGBTQ+ community’s needs.

“At least from the administration I feel like there have been a lot of instances where we’ve expressed that we need certain resources and that the queer community would really benefit from having more discussions in the classroom and from the administration that are impacting the LGBTQ+ community,” Wermers said. “However, I think I found a really good community within BC, especially through GLC.”

Similarly, Kazim said that the BC administration has done little for the LGBTQ+ community and that the student body has had to pick up the slack in regards to accepting and supporting queer students.

“I think [the administration] has made it clear in the past that they don’t really wanna support LGBTQ students,” Kazim said. “I don’t think that’s something that’s anywhere near the top of their agenda.”

Rizzo also spoke about GLC’s goals in progressing LGBTQ+ rights and support on campus, both at the administrative level and the individual student level.

“There is the administrative side, and that’s significant concessions from the University on those issues that were brought up, giving LGBTQ+ students a physical space together is huge,” Rizzo said. “And another part of that [is] the administration … overhauling DiversityEdu, really making the diversity and inclusion training that Boston College students go through a lot more comprehensive.”

Rizzo also acknowledged the University’s lack of an LGBTQ+ resource center, an initiative that, for several years, GLC, UGBC, and BC community members have been advocating for. Rizzo referred to the resource center as GLC’s “white whale” and said it is imperative that BC offer a space on campus where LGBTQ+ students know that they can gather with people like themselves.

“Having an institution, a permanent institution like a resource center, legitimizes and normalizes the presence of students here,” Rizzo said. “It shows that Boston College has our back.”

Accostupa said one of the things that BC has failed to address is the safety of LGBTQ+ students, especially given recent incidents targeting members of the queer community, such as the vandalism at Williams Hall last April.

“I think [the BC administration should] incorporate more safety-wise,” Accostupa said. “I think that’s the main issue that’s really been going around with hate crimes and everything.”

Wermers echoed the importance of a student center for the LGBTQ+ community and said it would go a long way in acknowledging the existence of queer students on campus.

“If BC ... makes the effort to make that space for us and meet the other needs that we have, especially gender-neutral bathrooms, having IDs that correctly identify [students] … and having a queer living and learning community, having those kinds of things would really be helpful,” Wermers said. “I think the biggest thing is acknowledgement and action.”

FALLON JONES / FOR THE HEIGHTS

Students walk around off-campus neighborhoods to celebrate Marathon Monday.

Fuller and Sangiolo Face Off in Mayoral Debate

By Conor Richards For The Heights

Newton mayoral candidates Mayor Ruthanne Fuller and former Councilor Amy Mah Sangiolo disagreed on the handling of the pandemic in the city, tax breaks for large businesses coming to Newton, and the institution of a diversity, equi-

equi

following the preliminary election in September.

The candidates spent much of the hour debating proposed additional positions in Newton City Hall, including Sangiolo’s proposed “small business liaison” position.

Although Newton already has an economic development position, Sangiolo said that the position is not easily accessible to small businesses.

“I’ve been talking to a lot of the store owners, the retail shops, as well as the restaurants, and I feel like there just isn’t enough outreach to them—there isn’t enough support,” Sangiolo said. “We do have an economic development person, but I think there has to be somebody who is dedicated to our small

Hires to see how many businesses have utilized the program. While Project: Pop-Up is a good way to start to fill empty storefronts, Sangiolo said more needs to be done. She suggested directing American Rescue Plan Act funds to small businesses for rental and mortgage assistance.

The candidates also discussed creating a diversity, equity, and inclusion officer position in Newton. Fuller pointed to the director of community engagement and inclusion, a position that she established in 2017, as already fulfilling the role. Fuller said she hired a fulltime consultant to help determine if additional staffing is necessary to provide adequate services in promoting diversity and inclusion in the community.

breaks,” Sangiolo said. “It depends on the type of industry that’s coming here. We have to identify which industries we want.”

Sangiolo said her criteria would include the available resources for the business and making sure that business is committed to employing city residents.

Fuller said Bright Horizons recently moved its headquarters to Newton without a tax break. Fuller said she wants to instead invest funds in infrastructure to support businesses, as done in West Newton Square and Newtonville.

ently moved its to Newton a id w ants in v est u nds in infrastructure to su pp ort usinesses , as done in West Newton quare and Newtonville. Prior to closi ng a rg uments, eibman xpress how they want thheir camaig ns r a w s candida te e s xpressed

petition was created by about 400 physicians. Sanigolo additionally said small homeowner renovations were shut down while large projects moved forward, which she said created hardships and was not based on advice from the medical community.

Fuller defended her record amid the pandemic, saying that she listened to medical guidance and continued

ty, and inclusion officer in the city in a debate hosted by Charles River Regional Chamber President Greg Reibman on Thursday.

Fuller was elected as the first female mayor of Newton in 2017. Sangiolo served as a city councilor at-large in Ward 4 from 1997 to 2017 and placed third in the 2017 mayoral election. The two candidates moved forward in the mayoral race

Fuller said that she is proud the city already has a small business liaison, Devra Bailin, whose official title is economic development director. Bailin acts as a concierge for small businesses. Fuller said all of the businesses have Bailin’s cell phone number and reach out to her regularly. She cited recent programs to help small businesses, including Project: Pop-Up and Newton Hires, that have come in part from the economic development director.

“With Devra’s help, we have given out $610,000 worth of grants with no strings attached to over 54 businesses, including women and minorities businesses,” Fuller said.

Sangiolo said she will be interested to examine the data for Newton

Sangiolo said that the position does not focus enough on diversity, equity, and inclusion both within the city government and the larger Newton community. Opposed to hiring a consulting firm, Sangiolo said her approach is to hire a director.

“I would definitely hire a director of diversity, equity, and inclusion and not just sprinkle our boards and commissions with racial and ethnic and gender diversity, but really give them the opportunity to have real equity and inclusion in our planning and decision making because that’s what really is important and what is missing now,” Sangiolo said.

Sangiolo said the initial community engagement and inclusion director did not have the necessary skill set or training and that she is not sure about the current director’s skill set or training.

Reibman later moved the debate to providing tax breaks to encourage companies to move to Newton. Sangiolo said she supports this idea, but Fuller said is reluctant toward that type of tax break, citing the several companies who have moved into Newton without the added incentive.

“I would definitely give tax

Reibman asked the candidates to express how they want their campaigns to proceed as election day draws closer. Both candidates expressed a desire to keep the election about the issues and to provide a platform for the open discussion of ideas.

lect i o n th e i ssues a n d o p rovide a p latform for th h e p en discussion of ideas

cussed vaccine mandates. Fuller expressed support for a vaccine mandate without a testing alternative. Sangiolo did not provide a stance on whether or not Newton should impose a vaccine mandate, but she did stress her support for a testing alternative.

T h e ca n d i dates a l so d i sussed mandates. xpressed supp ort for a vaccine m andate without a testin g ale rnative. San gi olo did not r ovide a stance on whether r vaccine mandate, but she id stress her supp ort for testing alternative.

Th e de ba te e ndd x pressing i ssatisfaction f Fuller’s hanling a ndemic, e seciallycon -

ed with Sangiolo expressing her dissatisfaction of Fuller’s handling of the pandemic, especially concerning the reopening of Newton’s schools.

“I think there was a mismanagement of our reopening of our schools,” Sangiolo said. “I think that could have been handled much better. … I think there should have been an oversight over the ventilation and testing of our HVAC systems.”

She also said there was a delay in creating a medical advisory committee during the pandemic until a

to evolve to consider what would be safest for all Newton residents.

“I am actually really proud of our team for the amazing work that they did,” Fuller said. “Could we have done some things better? You betcha.”

The candidates will continue to campaign aamong the community for the next three weeks until election day on Nov. 2.

MBTA to Upgrade Three Newton Commuter Rails

By Lydia Boer For The Heights

The MBTA announced its plans to reconstruct three commuter rail systems on the Worcester Line in Auburndale, West Newton, and Newtonville. The 30-percent design, which includes the conceptual design and preliminary engineering, will improve accessibility for riders with disabilities and accommodate for bidirectional service, according to the MBTA.

At these three stations now, the low-level platforms on Track 2 can only be accessed by stairways, according to the MBTA website. The improvements include two fully accessible and elevated platforms at each station. The project also involves modification to the Walnut Street Bridge at the Newtonville Station.

“The updated stations will be fully

accessible,” Lisa Battiston, deputy press secretary of the MBTA, wrote in an email to The Heights. “Both platforms [will] have two accessible means of access. The designs incorporate accessible access to the station for pedestrians, parking, drop-off, and The Ride.”

Battiston also said the two-side platform design is necessary to provide high-frequency and bidirectional services. Without platforms on both tracks, trains would need to bypass the Auburndale, West Newton, and Newtonville stations, according to Battiston.

The planned construction is estimated to take five years and the MBTA is in the process of securing funding for the project, Battiston said. As of now, Battiston said the project does not have construction funding.

At the Auburndale Station acces-

sibility upgrades include sloped walkway connections to the Auburn St. parking lot, sidewalk, and pick-up and drop-off area; a ramp connecting the Auburn Street Bridge to the station; and elevator and stair connections between the station platforms, according to the MBTA website.

Accessibility improvements at West Newton Station involve elevator and stair connection from the Washington St. sidewalk to the station, elevator and ramp connection between the Washington St. parking lot and pick-up and drop-off area to the station, a sloped pedestrian walkway form the Webster St. parking lot to the station, and elevator and stair connection between the station platforms.

Similar improvements are planned for Newtonville Station, including an elevator and stair connection from the Washington St. sidewalk and the pick-

up and drop-off area and elevator and stair connection between the station platforms.

The current single-platform design only allows for one direction of travel at a time. With a single track, trains traveling in the opposite direction cannot stop in Newton. An original design plan for these stations to improve accessibility was presented in 2019, but involved a single-platform design.

“Finally, the MBTA is addressing the significant design flaws so residents, employees and visitors will have frequent, accessible rail service from all three stations, [which are] each such an important part of these village centers and the surrounding neighborhoods,” Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller wrote in a statement on Oct. 7.

In a letter to MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak, Fuller criticized the

gaps in the commuter rail schedule on the Worcester Line in April 2021. In the letter she said that the one-sided platform at the three stations is a serious and ongoing problem that causes limited service.

Since the letter, Poftak and Jamey Tesler, secretary of transportation and CEO of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, committed to funding a 100-percent design, which includes a detailed engineering design of the three stations, according to Fuller.

“We still have a long way to go, but we finally have real progress,” Fuller said. “The MBTA is indicating that construction on all three rail stations could be completed in seven years. (Accessible platforms on the northside of the tracks at all three stations could be completed even sooner.).”

Jason Lim Designs ’90s-Inspired Streetwear Brand

BY PATERSON TRAN For The Heights

The eclectic creativity of Foolish 1999’s latest spring and summer 2021 releases—including a graphic white T-shirt with a red stencil of two cartoons embracing, commemorating the brand’s two-year anniversary—featured on its Instagram make it easy to forget the clothing brand is only headed by two brothers who are still undergraduates.

Jason Lim, CSOM ’22, and his twin brother Ryan Lim, a senior at New York University, have managed to balance developing Foolish 1999 from the ground up with their academic and social lives.

The brothers have pulled inspiration from major cult-followed fashion lines such as Supreme, Wacko Maria, and Born X Raised to shape their own streetwear brand.

Foolish 1999 can be hard to describe, but one word has repeatedly come up between the two brothers: streetwear.

With its old-school script logos, beanie and brim hats, and corduroy fabrics, it’s clear Foolish is reviving another era of fashion.

Foolish pulls inspiration from ’90s style streetwear, with its baggy denim jeans and oversized graphic T-shirts, but Ryan said the brand is also a reflection of the brothers’ lives.

Jason first worked at Sizerun Supply, a men’s clothing store that features street-style apparel and brands including Supreme.

When Jason and Ryan had the idea to jumpstart their own brand,

they turned to the clothing store for help, making the store’s Brookline, Mass. location the setting for their first pop-up store.

For a few years, Jason and Ryan had contemplated creating a clothing brand of their own, before finally going forward with the idea after Ryan came up with its potential name: Foolish.

“Ryan tells me: ‘Foolish,’ it’s catchy, it’s simple, it’s one word,” Jason said. “And we kind of just ran with it. When I heard it, I was like, ‘We got to do this, like right now.’”

Not long after putting out their first collection in 2019, Jason and Ryan’s merchandise sold out at their first pop-up. To promote their collections, Jason and Ryan turned to their friends to help model the apparel on Foolish’s Instagram.

Of the collections they’ve produced, the brothers said the custom-made jewelry line they created with Popular Jewelry in New York City’s Chinatown, which was exclusively for friends and family, was their clear favorite.

As Foolish has grown, the brothers have learned how to best divide their responsibilities with the

“We get along really well, and I think we see, like, in terms of design and what we put out very similarly,”

Jason said. “[Ryan] does most of the graphic work, and every day he’ll send me a graphic and ask if I think it’s sick, and I’ll most likely agree.”

Over the years, the brothers’ roles within Foolish have become more fleshed out and concrete.

While Ryan does most of the mocking up of the garments, Jason is left to do post-production marketing, lookbooks, and photography. They split the responsibilities for shipping, and will help one another out whenever needed.

The brothers said Foolish 1999 has big plans for the future.

As Jason starts his final year at Boston College, Foolish is looking to drop its fall and winter line during November.

“Without giving too much away, what we’re doing now is definitely elevated—colors, quality, graphics,” Jason said. “I can’t even say too much because we’re still designing.”

Kai Takayama, a Boston University junior and close friend to the brothers, said that Jason and Ryan are still evolving Foolish 1999, but that the brand stands out among the street fashion sphere.

“There’s nothing out there that is super similar,” Takayama said. “[Foolish] is more street-esque.”

Jason and Ryan said Foolish 1999

also changed through the pandemic as a response to the “Stop Asian Hate” movement that arose from the anti-Asian sentiment surrounding COVID-19.

Jason said the movement had an influence on how he viewed his clothing designs.

In March, the brothers released T-shirts depicting Asian warriors that symbolized Jason and Ryan’s Asian heritage and empowerment.

For each sale they made on their recent spring summer collection, Foolish 1999 donated 100 percent of its profits to Asian Americans Advancing Justice, an organization that provides legal services to the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.

Jason, who is Asian American, said that he recognizes the majority of clothing brands are white-owned but the point of Foolish is to have a story, and he sees his personal story reflected in Foolish.

Allison Pyo, Lynch ’22 and one of Jason’s friends, raved about the items she has from Foolish.

Jason and Ryan’s relationships with their friends—who can be seen on Foolish’s Instagram and website modeling the brothers’ latest T-shirt designs and hoodies—are essential to promoting the brand, Jason

“[Jason’s] enigmatic and definitely cares very much about his friends,” Pyo said. “His dream is to make a store and have all of us over.” Jason said he and Ryan are united in their creative mission: making the “hardest stuff possible, the coolest stuff possible.”

Asinine Cracks Up In-Person Crowd at Improv Cafe

BY KATHERINE CANNIFF Assoc. Arts Editor

The improv and sketch comedy group Asinine transformed the historic Fulton debate room, with its wooden engravings and painted ceilings, into a lively comedy club during its Improv Cafe on Thursday night.

All the seats were filled and students packed the stairs as the Asinine comedians put on their 40-minute show.

The lights went off as the group kicked the night of comedy off with a brief recorded sketch.

Introducing each of the 11 members, the premise of the sketch was to highlight the actors’ various oth-

er talents.

Stephanie Chamberlain, MCAS ’23, knocked on dorm room doors pretending to sell cauldrons.

In his quirky scene, Jack Foulsham, CSOM ’23, climbed the staircases across campus on all four limbs.

Quinn Kiernan, co-president of Asinine and MCAS ’22, wore a

formal suit as he pretended to be a campus bathroom attendant.

Throughout the video, the comedians were shown goofing off while other BC students unknowingly walked by.

The show consisted of a series of improv games involving quick character changes, exaggerated accents, and the occasional sexual innuendo.

Margaret Dockrey, co-president of Asinine and MCAS ’22, introduced the first game called “Pan Left, Pan Right.”

Four performers lined up while Dockrey asked the audience for a word suggestion to start off the scene’s dialogue.

When Dockrey gave a cue, the actors had to change character, jumping around from a surprised new mother to a delusional aspiring clarinet player.

In another game, four of the comedians sat in chairs as they pretended to be radio hosts.

Paxton Decker, MCAS ’24, got the crowd laughing as he acted as the host of a Christian rock radio show while singing Black Sabbath. Madelyn Schwartz, MCAS ’24, drew laughs as the fanatical host of a Twilight series show.

Throughout the night, the group impressed the crowd with its quick-wittedness and comic talents. The crowd was laughing all night and when the perform-

ers asked for audience suggestions they were met with overwhelmingly enthusiastic shouts from the crowd.

Other members of the group include Gracie Murnane, MCAS ’25, Daniel Strickland, MCAS ’25, Sara Litteken, Lynch ’24, Audrey Davis, MCAS ’23, and Madeleine Bamberger, MCAS ’24.

Another improv game the comedians played involved creating humorous dialogue by going through the alphabet and spitballing sentences that started with the next letter.

The group closed out the show with a series of ridiculous scenes.

The improv group jumped from scenes depicting a character putting their hands into a lobster tank followed by detectives searching for a missing krill to an impression of Steve Irwin, the Australian zookeeper who was also known as “The Crocodile Hunter.”

Last spring, the group, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, was able to host an outdoor, masked performance.

But, Thursday night’s rowdy show marked a return to indoor performances for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was so nice to finally have a crowd, especially after COVID, and everyone was so alive,” Bamberger said.

This past summer, Jason Lim, CSOM ’22, created graphic T-shirts that pulled influences from his Asian heritage.

IKRAM ALI / HEIGHTS STAFF

Two Asinine improv and sketch comedy club performers riff off of each other’s humorous bits as one acts as a lobster.

AGAZINE

New Directions: BC ’20 Alumni Shift Career Paths

By Caroline King Heights Staff

Editor’s Note: In honor of the Class of 2020’s long-anticipated Commencement, The Heights Magazine spoke to members of the class who exemplify adapting to a new direction of life after an abrupt end to their senior year.

During an Agape Latte talk in the summer of 2020, professor Thomas Wesner compared St. Ignatius’ life-changing encounter with a cannonball—which caused damage to both of his legs—to the onset of COVID-19. The connection? Both caused drastic changes in many peoples’ lives.

Few people experienced these “cannonball moments”—a phrase coined by Wesner—quite like the Class of 2020, whose final months at Boston College consisted of curveball after curveball. Along with the usual stress of post-graduation job hunting, 2020 graduates had to adjust to online jobs, lost jobs, and modified job descriptions. Now, over a year after the Class of 2020’s time at BC ended remotely, many find themselves in a very different position from where they envisioned they would be.

Pablo Cardenal, Courtney Smith, and Emily McCarthy, all BC ’20, are some who have had their own share of “cannonball moments.”

provide, he said. BC’s Jesuit identity also drew him in because his faith had been important to him in high school, he said.

“I knew it would be a big transition moving to another country,” Cardenal said. “No matter what college it was going to be, I knew it would be hard. But I’m glad I took the leap of faith into BC.”

before the start of their program in August.

When the pandemic had not improved by July, LV’s yearly pre-program training session was moved online, Cardenal said.

“That was the first loss I felt,” Cardenal said. “I just felt like I was missing out

Games with Campus Ministry” events for freshmen twice a week with his fellow campus minister, Nicole Stecklein.

“We started off with only four people showing up, and we literally only played spoons … but then the next week, out of those four people, four more showed up who were their friends,” Cardenal said.

“And then we played Uno as a group. And then 16 people showed up. And then we got to play … bigger games.”

The second semester at DeLaSalle opened up new opportunities for Cardenal, as a change in COVID-19 restrictions allowed DeLaSalle’s Campus Ministry to host modified retreats. For the retreats, Cardenal and Stecklein set up stations around the campus with different activities.

said. “They’re basically both the same concentration … the distinction is that my current concentration focuses more on Catholic institutions.”

Cardenal also serves as a programming graduate assistant for the three College Road dorms: Williams, Welch, and Roncalli. In this role, Cardenal helps out with various programing in the dorm including bigger programs such as trivia or game nights, and also works with community engagement and wellness programs, he said.

Although Cardenal is grateful for the lessons he learned during his year of service, he is happy to be back at BC again, he said.

Cardenal’s job as a high school campus minister through Lasallian Volunteers (LV) wasn’t canceled—but it certainly didn’t look as he expected it to.

Cardenal was an applied psychology and human development major in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development with a double minor in marketing and leadership in higher education. He was born in the United States, but he moved to Nicaragua—his parents’ native country—when he was five years old. While there, Cardenal attended the American Nicaraguan School.

From an early age, he knew he wanted to attend college in the United States because of the opportunities it could

Cardenal came to BC planning to pursue business. He declared a major in economics but quickly found that it did not interest him, he said.

During his first semester, Cardenal said that he also struggled to feel connected to the BC community.

The second semester of his freshman year took a turn for the better when he was introduced to Campus Ministry, he said. Upon the suggestion of his resident minister, Steven Patzke, Cardenal attended the Ignite Retreat, an Ignatian spirituality retreat for first-year students.

Cardenal also volunteered with Appalachia Volunteers, a service immersion program.

“With these experiences, I realized Campus Ministry was the space where I felt at home, I felt heard, I felt I could be my funny self,” Cardenal said.

At the same time that Cardenal was finding his place socially at BC, he dropped his economics major and transferred to Lynch. He hoped this major would help prepare him to pursue higher education or student affairs, he said.

When it came time during senior year to think about his post-graduation plans, Cardenal was interested in doing a year of service. Patzke recommended Cardenal apply to LV, a year-long service program emphasizing faith, service, and community.

In February of 2020, a month before COVID-19 shut down much of the United States, LV accepted Cardenal as a campus minister at DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis, Minn. As a campus minister, Cardenal’s primary duties were to lead retreats and service immersion programs for DeLaSalle’s students, he said.

Even when COVID-19 hit the United States in March of 2020, Cardenal and the other LV members had an optimistic attitude, he said. They were under the impression that the pandemic would be short term and would blow over

because all of the other LVs seemed like such cool people, but the fact that we were meeting in an online setting took so much away from the experience. It just felt very hard to make social connections through a screen.”

Also in July and due to the pandemic, LV canceled all retreats and service immersion programs—Cardenal’s two primary responsibilities as a campus minister.

“There’s no one I could be mad at because it’s no one’s fault,” he said. “But it was kind of like, ‘Okay, now what is my role going to be?’”

With these two disappointments, Cardenal began to reconsider doing service and thought about taking a year off from it. As Cardenal was processing whether or not he would participate in LV, he vividly remembered the message of Wesner’s talk, he said.

Inspired by the story of St. Ignatius’ encounter with a cannonball, Cardenal began to see his situation with LV in a new light—he saw it as his own personal “cannonball moment,” he said.

“And so now my job was, ‘How can I make the best out of this experience?’” Cardenal said.

DeLaSalle was on a hybrid schedule with half of the student body coming on Mondays and Tuesdays and the other half coming on Thursdays and Fridays, making it hard to build a community among the students. One way Cardenal worked to combat this was through hosting “Fun and

While at DeLaSalle, Cardenal took on a variety of roles that were not in his original job description but were great learning opportunities for him, he said. Cardenal became the moderator for the Association of LatinX and Allied Students, which strives to provide a space for Latinx students to form a community, he said. Cardenal has also been a substitute teacher, a teaching assistant, and has run the front desk of the school.

“It kind of caught me off guard because I wasn’t mentally prepared for those roles, but I’m glad I said yes because at the end of the day, I’m not here to say what the community needs from me,” he said. “I’m here to do what the community says they need me to do.”

Prior to his experience with LV, Cardenal aspired to work with college-aged students in a student engagement role. After his time volunteering at DeLaSalle, though, he could envision himself working with high school students, he said.

Cardenal said that current college students should be open to the changes life may throw at them when it comes to finding a job and figuring out their career paths.

“Just try to be flexible and open and always be gentle on yourself,” he said. “It’s okay to grieve. It’s okay to think of the could have, should have, would haves of life, but at the same time, always be proactive about trying to make the best that you can out of an experience. Try to find the beauty and try to find the light in the darkness.”

In June of 2021, Cardenal received an offer to do a second year at DeLaSalle through LV. As much as he wanted to do another year with LV, Cardenal was given the opportunity to attend graduate school back at BC and to pursue higher education and student affairs, he said.

After spending the summer at home with his family, Cardenal returned to BC in August to begin his first year of graduate studies. Originally, Cardenal was in the higher education program with a concentration in student affairs, but he then switched to Faith Formation Spirituality.

“My year of service experience kind of influenced that transition from student affairs to Faith Formation Spirituality,” he

“I’m glad to be back at BC, but I’m glad I took a year off before coming back to BC, just because I kind of wanted that outside experience [to] kind of grow in the more professional setting,” he said. “And also, BC is the only thing I’ve known, and the BC bubble is real … the fact that I was able to take a step back, allow[ed] me to take two steps forward now that I’m back here and have a bit more perspective.”

The career curveballs caused by the pandemic led Smith, also an applied psychology and human development major, to undergo what she thought would be temporary shifts in her career aspirations. Now, a year and a half later, these changes may be here to stay, Smith said.

While at BC, Smith was involved in the Campus School. She began as a teaching assistant for the Campus School her freshman year and worked in the same classroom through her senior year. Smith also worked at a middle school in Dorchester her sophomore year for her PULSE placement. Her experiences in the classroom at the Campus School and her PULSE placement sharpened her interest in working with children for her future career, she said.

When COVID-19 hit in spring 2020, Smith returned to her home in San Diego, Calif. and began looking for jobs.

PHOTO COURTESY OF PABLO CARDENAL

After a year of service, Cardenal returned to BC for graduate studies.

2020, from A6

Smith experienced difficulty finding a job with a psychology major and no master’s degree, she said.

After four months of job searching without any luck, Smith landed an inter view at Liberty Healthcare Corporation (LHC), a health and human services management company. Smith was hired at LHC as a behavioral support professional, where she works with three adult women in their 50s who have disabilities.

Her role working with adult women at LHC was already different from what she had imagined her career path to look like, she said. But, she quickly learned how heavily the lives of her clients at LHC had also been impacted.

Clients used to be allowed to go outside freely, as well as have activities in the neighborhood and engage with community members, but COVID-19 largely restricted them to their homes.

The new conditions have forced Smith and her co-workers to get creative when interacting with their clients, she said. One strategy has been taking the clients for daily van rides around the neighborhood, sometimes stopping for an outdoor picnic.

Another dramatic change was the workers’ uniforms—Smith wore full PPE gear every day, which many of her clients were confused about, she said.

“It was really hard because we were just like, full PPE … they couldn’t leave

difficulty of adapting to COVID-19 restrictions, Smith enjoys the same little moments that she did at the Campus School—whether that be when typically more reserved clients engage with activities or spontaneous dance parties, she said.

“It’s the little moments, similar to at the Campus School, that stay with you a while, because sometimes you go days without seeing anything like that,” Smith said.

In February of 2021, Smith transitioned to working at Beacons North County, a nonprofit providing vocational training and social activities for adults with developmental disabilities. At Beacons, Smith teaches 18 students a day, many of whom are around her own age. Since she herself recently navigated entering the workforce, Smith has been able to leverage her own experience when aiding her students, she said.

“We see people get jobs, we see people move out on their own, we see people navigate … public transportation for the first time,” she said. “It’s just like all these mini milestones that seem maybe pretty easy to some, but … a lot scarier for others, so it’s just fun to help them walk through these little things and see them so excited that they did this on their own.”

Last spring, the inherent difficulties of teaching over Zoom made Smith’s job challenging, she said. Yet, this fall, the transition back to being in the classroom with her students has posed new difficulties due to her students’ lack of socializa-

The curveballs thrown her way by the pandemic have been impactful in their own ways, she said. Although she never imagined being in full PPE gear for her first job, Smith said she is also grateful that she has been able to go to work in person when many of her friends’ work has become entirely remote.

After working with both adult women and young adults, her career horizons have also broadened—perhaps permanently—she said.

“I just loved working in like elementary, middle school age, and then I went to like my first job [with] 50s-and-60-yearold women which was a huge shock, and then now being with young adults, I just really love it,” Smith said. “You’re dealing with these … real life problems that are just so fun to figure out with them … long term, I’ll probably stick in this age group for sure.”

McCarthy felt welcomed and supported by her team, she said.

the house, it was like before the vaccines,” Smith said. “That was really, really difficult because obviously one of the biggest things with people with disabilities is getting them involved in the community, but also most of them are immunocompromised so they were … lacking for a whole year and a half this socialization that they really needed.”

Despite working with a different age group than she envisioned and the

tion over the past year and a half, she said.

“We had to do the first couple of weeks just like [the] basics of conversation ... like what do you say when you meet somebody new … how do you continue a conversation,” Smith said. “Every Wednesday, we … have them all sit in one room and talk to each other about various topics … they regress a lot faster than neurotypical people, so that year and a half of not being around anybody hit them a lot harder than most.”

One of the hardest parts about her job, which she also experienced at LHC, has been confronting stigmas surrounding what people with disabilities are capable of. Smith has seen people with disabilities be pushed toward jobs like being dishwashers rather than applying their strengths in more challenging positions, she said.

“We’re trying to show them, “No … you have all these other very marketable skills … you should actually go for the dream job that you want,” Smith said.

“Many of them can build their own websites and stuff like that, but it’s just this weird stigma that they belong in these … mundane positions, like bussing [food] and not talking to anybody.”

When the pandemic prohibited McCarthy’s plans to pursue a year of service, she dove—quite literally—into a completely different field.

During her time at BC, McCarthy, who majored in English with a Spanish minor, volunteered with 4Boston and charity: water, and taught immigrants English at the Education Development Group during her sophomore year PULSE placement. These volunteer experiences, as well as her Spanish language skills, inspired her to pursue a year of service in a Spanish-speaking country post-graduation. The travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, made her shift her plans.

When doing a service program abroad was no longer an option, McCarthy scrambled to figure out what to do next and came across a unique opportunity in a place that held a sense of nostalgia for her. Her hometown is in southern New Jersey, but she spent her summers in Green Pond, N.J.

During the summertime, McCarthy and her friends worked all kinds of jobs—waitressing, lifeguarding, and babysitting. Yet, she never encountered what she would now be doing post-graduation—diving into a lake at Green Pond. Despite having no prior diving experience, McCarthy joined a small team of all-male divers to remove the invasive species milfoil—which needs to be hand-pulled out by the roots—from the waters of Green Pond as a part of the Highlands Glacial Lakes Initiative.

“I was so nervous. I didn’t really know what I was getting into,” McCarthy said.

Although she was new to diving,

“It was the most fun experience I’ve ever had in my entire life,” she said. “These men were from all walks of life. They were so funny, so smart, and so compassionate. They were so willing to teach me not just about pulling milfoil from the bottom of the lake, but about what life is about, what careers are about, and how you should go about choosing what it is that makes you happy. They basically mentored me.”

McCarthy’s unique post-graduation path was even picked up by CNBC, who wrote a story about McCarthy and the Green Pond dive initiative.

In addition to diving into the lakes of Green Pond, McCarthy was also the editor-in-chief of The Ponder, Green Pond’s summer newspaper. McCarthy took the volunteer opportunity after the prior editor-in-chief stepped down. As editor-in-chief, she led a small group of journalists who reported on Green Pond’s current events and rich history.

When September of 2020 rolled around, it was too cold to dive and the newspaper had finished its summer cycle, so McCarthy worked as a nanny and then traveled to her mother’s hometown of Seattle, Wash.

“Along the way, I am reading, writing, taking time to figure out what I want to do, who I am, and all those big questions,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy kept up with her writing by taking a short-story creative fiction writing class with GrubStreet, a creative writing center, which she started in January. Also in January, she moved to Park City, Utah for a month, followed by a three-month road trip.

“[I] traveled around Utah, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, and skied and rode, and … just explored and stuff, hiked a bunch, slept on people’s couches, you know, slept in motel rooms,” McCarthy said.

In May of 2021, she began to work at A Bar A Ranch in Encampment, Wyo. There, she worked as a waitress alongside about 100 other college-aged students, which she said was “a blast.” Similar to McCarthy, her co-workers were uncertain about where they wanted to take their careers.

“[They’re] educated and smart and driven, and they work hard, and it’s just a blast, like you could do whatever you wanted when you weren’t working, and … we worked hard. We worked long hours, but it was just so much fun. It was like an experience unlike anything else … I mean it was the best time of my life.”

While working at the ranch this past summer, McCarthy said she felt separated from the real world and the surge of the Delta variant of COVID-19, as

the ranch is approximately 45 minutes away from the nearest town. She finished her job at the ranch about two weeks ago, and since then, the return to COVID-19 regulations has shocked her, she said.

McCarthy said her experience working at the ranch is the reason why she is moving to Jackson Hole, Wyo., where she plans on continuing her work as a waitress. She hopes to continue to implement her love for outdoor activities in her daily routine after the move.

“The idea is to ski during the day and work during the night,” McCarthy said.

“[I] loved waitressing. It was super fun, and, like, you can make some good money, especially in a town like Jackson Hole.”

Instead of letting the onset of COVID-19 throw a wrench in her career, McCarthy said that, in retrospect, it has opened doors for her that she didn’t know existed.

“I thought I was going one way, and then, you know, I moved across the country, and I met all these amazing friends, and I’m doing something that I’ve never done because of it,” she said. “And I knew in my brain [that] … pre-COVID, pre-graduation, I wanted to move somewhere and do a year of service or just, like, meet new people, or do an experience [that] I’ve never done before.”

McCarthy said that COVID-19 has helped her find comfort in uncertainty. She doesn’t know where she wants to take her career yet, but she looks at her unsure future through an optimistic lens.

“Maybe I’ll live in Denver and I’ll work at a magazine there, like, I don’t know,” she said. “Now I just have all this opportunity.

I feel so comfortable in myself and, like, traveling, and I think that’s what COVID gave to me, and now, I just feel like the job will come from that, because I can feel like I can be anywhere.”

Anna Lonnquist, Stephen Bradley, and MC Claverie contributed to reporting.

Graphics by Eamon Laughlin / Heights Editor

PHOTO COURTESY OF EMILY MCCARTHY

After celebrating her graduation in New Jersey, McCarthy traveled West.

This fall, Smith has been able to teach her 18 students in person again.

PHOTO COURTESY OF COURTNEY SMITH

T h r ow n to t h e wo lv e s Thrown the wolves

BY EMMA HEALY Sports Editor

Grant Carlson has been Boston College football’s go-to punter for the last three years. He averaged 42.4 yards per punt through BC’s first five games of the 2021 season, consistently pinning opponents inside their own 15-yard line. He’s earned a reputation as the pinnacle of consistency, game after game exceeding expectations.

But with 12 minutes left in the third quarter, he stood on BC’s sideline, helmet off, glaring at a ball spinning between his hands.

Moments earlier, the graduate punter had dropped a snap from Gunner Daniel, and NC State had carried it straight into the endzone. Carlson’s consistency had hit a snag, and down with it went BC’s chance at its first win over a ranked opponent since 2014.

The fumbled snap was the beginning of a collapse for BC, resulting in a 33–7 defeat for the Eagles (4–2, 2–2 Atlantic Coast) at the hands of No. 22 NC State (5–1, 2–0).

“It’s just for me, it’s one game,” BC head coach Jeff Hafley said in his postgame press conference. “It always has been since we started. And we just—we didn’t play well. We didn’t and that’s just the truth. And I don’t want to make anything bigger than that.”

It took NC State just five plays in its first possession to drive 75 yards to the house, aided by a horse collar flag against BC on the first play of the game. The Wolfpack capped the drive off on a 40-yard pass from Devin Leary to Devin

Carter, who hauled it in off the back of Elijah Jones and waltzed into the endzone.

BC’s first two offensive plays, on the other hand, went nowhere. But on BC quarterback Dennis Grosel’s third snap of the day—a 3rd-and-9 situation—he sent a screen pass over the middle of Travis Levy, who took it for 27 yards. Four plays later, Pat Garwo III took it 18 yards, including a truck outside the hash marks, to set BC up in scoring position on its first offensive drive. The score ignited a crowd of over 40,000 people in Alumni Stadium.

“When we ran out of the tunnel, that was one of the best atmospheres I’ve seen,” Hafley said. “Students were there. It was loud, and I appreciate that, and I thank them. Our team thanks them. And I don’t want that to get lost.”

With a 6-foot-6 Trae Barry cutting across the middle, Grosel took a drop from the eight-yard line and dished a laser to Barry, who caught it to even the score at seven apiece. Though Barry earned credit for the score, the success of the drive was a testament to BC’s offensive line, which, as it has all season, paved the way for BC’s deep running back corps.

With scores on each of the teams’ opening drives, what looked like a barn burner quickly became a battle of the punters. After Barry’s touchdown, the next five drives for either team ended in punts.

On the sixth drive of that sequence, BC finally mustered an endzone shot, rather than bringing Carlson in to punt it away. But Barry couldn’t haul it in for his second of the night, and Connor Lytton,

Read the rest of this story at www.bcheights.com

BY ETHAN OTT Asst. Sports Editor

When Boston College football sprinted into Alumni Stadium on Saturday night, the Eagles were greeted by more than 40,000 students, parents, and alumni belting “I’m Shipping up to Boston” under a maroon and gold fireworks display.

Prior to the game, BC head coach Jeff Hafley asked BC fans to be in the stands at the beginning of the game, citing the energetic student section in BC’s Week Four win over Missouri as a reason for the team’s success. Alumni Stadium was packed as BC (4–2, 0–2 Atlantic Coast) kicked off to No. 22 NC State (5–1, 2–0), but the only things left in the stands when the clock hit zero were crushed beer cans, puddles of rainwater, and shattered dreams of BC’s first win against an AP ranked opponent since 2014.

Momentum

Both BC and NC State came out swinging on Saturday night. NC State scored on its first drive after a miraculous catch by Wolfpack wide receiver Devin Carter, but BC was quick to answer. With the support of 40,000 strong, the Eagles pushed downfield to even the score at seven.

Attempting to salvage the spirit of its first drive, BC soon found itself marching downfield again in the second half. The Eagles made it to the 14-yard line, where they opted for a field goal on 4th-and-3. When kicker Connor Lytton sent the ball toward the uprights, however, Alumni Stadium went quiet as it went wide. The referee signaled no good, and BC’s momentum was crushed as rain poured down onto players and fans.

The Eagles could never regain the

momentum lost by their missed field goal. The first half ended at 10–7, but the damage had been done. The Wolfpack burst into the third quarter aided by a BC fumble returned for a touchdown on the first drive of the half. The Eagles’ next drive resulted in an interception, and NC State kept pushing, as the Eagles made mistake after mistake. NC State scored 21 points in the third quarter to push the score to 31–7, and a safety at the end of the fourth quarter moved the final score to 33–7. Momentum won BC its Week Four home game against Missouri. Three weeks later, momentum—or lack thereof—cost the Eagles an upset and resulted in a crushing defeat.

Offense

There was not one thing in particular that cost BC the game on Saturday, but its failure to show any grit on offense was a deciding factor. Before NC State, the Eagles had looked almost unstoppable with the ball in their hands. They had scored an average of 30.83 points per game and showed some consistency in both their ground and air attacks. NC State, however, seemed to have the answer for everything BC threw its way.

BC’s playbook lacked creativity on Saturday, but that was not the only thing keeping the Eagles out of the endzone. BC’s problems started with quarterback Dennis Grosel, who has proved himself able to compete with the best but also capable of breaking down under pressure. The latter was the case Saturday, as Grosel completed just 21-of-39 pass attempts for 197 yards and an interception. His quarterback rating of 40.7 was over 20 points worse than his previous low, although some of his struggles were the result of dropped passes.

Grosel was, however, just the start of BC’s offensive problems. The Eagles burst out of the gate this season with a ground attack as the mainstay of a BC offense that progressed almost entirely through the air last season. Its run game, however, has shown cracks in the last few weeks. The Eagles ran for just 46 yards against Clemson and managed just 97 against NC State—100 in the first half, and three in the second.

BC averaged 236 rushing yards through its first three games of the season but has averaged 66 rush yards per game since the start of conference play. With Phil Jurkovec sidelined with a hand injury, a successful BC run game is necessary to push downfield. The Eagles’ recent struggles by land do not bode well, and unless Pat Garwo III and Alec Sinkfield can replicate their first few weeks of play, BC’s offense will continue to struggle.

Halftime Adjustments

BC and NC State both played high-level football through the end of the first half. BC and the Wolfpack totaled 172 yards apiece on offense in the first half, and BC managed to convert four of its seven third downs, while NC State converted on just three of its eight. The Eagles were winning the penalty battle and averaging more yards per play than the Wolfpack through 30 minutes of play.

Where NC State head coach Dave Doeren beat Hafley was in halftime adjustments. The Wolfpack started the second half with a purpose, while the Eagles laid down in defeat.

BC and NC State’s offensive stats

Read the rest of this story at www.bcheights.com

NC State Boston College 33 7

After holding its own in the first half, the wheels fell off for Boston College football, turnovers began to plague BC, and NC State ran away with a 33–7 victory.

JESS RIVILIS / HEIGHTS SENIOR STAFF

BY OLIVIA NOLAN Heights Staff

Boston College and St. Joseph’s field hockey each went into their Sunday matinee matchup with hopes of redemption. The two squads suffered similar, disappointing fates in their respective Friday afternoon tilts. The Eagles, despite holding a 2–0 advantage through the 36th minute against visiting No. 4 Louisville, fell to the Cardinals in overtime. St. Joseph’s dropped a close contest against UMass after the Minutewomen scored with less than one minute left in overtime.

The No. 11 Hawks (11–4) took down No. 12 BC (9–5) in decisive fashion with a 2–0 shutout, dashing the Eagles’ bid for a redemptive victory.

St. Joseph’s came out of the gates flying and never let up. The Hawks earned the first penalty corner of the game and began testing BC goaltender Jonna Kennedy early on, forcing her to make two saves through the first quarter.

BC’s offensive chances were limited during the first frame, but strong play by midfielder Fusine Govaert was in full

display against the Hawks’ potent offense.

Govaert made a number of nifty moves through the midfield, weaving in and out through St. Joseph’s defenders and maintaining possession for the Eagles.

Despite Govaert’s strong individual efforts, the Eagles struggled to piece together cohesive ball movement all game. Off-target passes and frustrating miscommunications plagued BC through the match, and the Eagles struggled to gain offensive momentum as a result.

BC escaped the first quarter without allowing the Hawks to get on the board, but the home team’s luck ran out in the second frame. Manon van Weezel put St. Joseph’s ahead when she capitalized on a loose rebound after a diving save by Kennedy.

In addition to Govaert and Kennedy, graduate student Jaime Natale was a bright spot for the Eagles through the first half. The speedy midfielder put on a ball control clinic through the middle of the field, and she fought through Hawks defenders in order to give and receive passes from her teammates.

In a halftime interview with ACC Network, BC head coach Kelly Doton emphasized the strength of the Eagles’

opponent and the way her squad needed to respond in the second half.

“St. Joe’s has had a couple breakaways that we’re getting lucky to get out of, so there’s a lot of things we’ve got to change right now,” Doton said.

But the Eagles could not turn the tide in their favor. The third quarter passed with little fanfare, but BC was once again at the mercy of the Hawks’ crisp passing and cohesive offensive pressure. Kennedy’s strong play held St. Joseph’s scoreless in the frame and kept the Eagles’ hopes for a victory alive.

Less than one minute into the fourth quarter, defender Juliette Hijdra looked up the field and surveyed her options. She attempted a pass to Sky Caron, but Hawks forward Katelyn Cocco deftly intercepted the ball, deked past Caron and Hijdra, and reverse chipped the ball past Kennedy.

Rather than deflate the Eagles, this surprising miscue by Hijdra seemed to galvanize BC through the remainder of the fourth quarter. The final frame was the Eagles’ best period of the game, and they earned all of their three total shots on goal during the last 15 minutes of play.

Though BC gained back some mo-

mentum in the fourth quarter, the Eagles’ struggles to connect passes continued. A number of offensive chances were squandered when balls sent into the circle continued to sail past the Hawks’ net untouched by a BC attacker.

BC was awarded one final bid for a

score when they earned back-to-back corners in the final two minutes of play, but the Eagles didn’t fire a shot off on either corner. The visiting Hawks walked away with a shutout win, and BC is left searching for answers after posting an 0–2 weekend homestand.

BY Kelly Di Luccio Heights Staff

Coming off the heartbreaking loss to UNC in overtime last Sunday, Boston College women’s soccer was looking to break its sixgame losing streak and bank its first ACC win of the season. The Eagles matched up against Louisville, which, though unranked, has had considerably more success in the ACC than BC has.

Luckily for the Eagles (7–7–1, 1–6–0), Louisville struggled heavily to convert its shots into goals, allowing BC to take off with an early lead that it was able to hold onto for the remainder of the match. Freshman goalkeeper Wiebke Willebrandt had a great showing for the Eagles, putting a swift stop to Louisville’s con-

sistent efforts and handing BC a 2–1 win over Louisville (7–5–1, 3–4–0) for its first ACC win of the season.

The Cardinals started off strong, placing heavy offensive pressure on the Eagles right out of the gate. Despite their enthusiastic efforts to get on the scoreboard early, the Cardinals struggled to convert any of their early opportunities into points.

The Eagles held their own, matching the Cardinals’ fast-paced style. These efforts paid off around the 17-minute mark, as BC’s Laura Gouvin turned a beautifully placed corner kick into a goal.

The remainder of the first half was a lot of back and forth, as the Eagles attempted to build upon their early lead and the Cardinals strove to even out the score. Despite some close calls on both ends of the field, neither team capitalized on their

shot opportunities, and the Eagles went into halftime leading the Cardinals by one.

The energy was high starting off the second half, as both the Eagles and the Cardinals were eager to make up for their numerous missed opportunities in the first half. Senior captain Jenna Bike broke the long scoreless period, netting a goal in the 49th minute. This goal brought the Eagles’ advantage up to two, marking their first 2–0 lead in conference play so far this year.

The rest of the half told a similar story to the first, as Louisville saw a plethora of opportunities with nothing to show for it. BC began to close in on the Cardinals by giving them fewer passing lanes, making it more difficult for Lousiville to move forward offensively.

The Cardinals’ frustration be-

gan to get the best of them, when Anouk Denton committed a foul and received a yellow card around the 71st-minute mark, handing the Eagles a penalty kick opportunity. Michela Agresti’s penalty kick was deflected by Louisville goalkeeper Gabby Kouzelos, and the score stayed put at 2–0.

As the clock wound down, the Eagles continued to focus on their defensive efforts, making things difficult for an already frustrated Louisville team. With three minutes left in the game, Louisville’s Julia Simon turned this frustration into motivation, finally breaking through the scoreless rut to put a shot in the back of the net.

Despite the late goal, BC held on to walk off ahead by one, securing its first win in conference play so far this season.

BY ASA ACKERLY Assoc. Sports Editor

Three years ago, in the midst of a nightmare start to what would eventually turn out to be a nightmare of a 2018–19 season for BC men’s hockey, Bentley visited Conte Forum for the first matchup ever between the two programs.

Unbeaten over their previous four games and facing a much less talented Falcons team, the Eagles seemed poised to grab another win and make their terrible start a thing of the past. Instead, BC was penalty prone and anemic on offense, as Bentley grinded out a 4–2 win. BC would eventually finish the season at 14–22–3, Jerry York’s first losing record on the Heights since his first season.

BC has had a strong start to the

new season despite the loss of much of last year’s star-studded roster to the NHL, but a clash with the Falcons once again spelled trouble for BC as Bentley (2–2–0) smashed BC (2–1–1) by a final score of 6–2 in Waltham, Mass.

Bentley has had an up-anddown start to the season, falling 4–0 against the same Northeastern team that BC dispatched 5–3 on Friday night, but had little trouble taking advantage of a young BC goalie and a defense filled with new faces.

The Falcons exploited sloppy play from BC’s defense to get on the board 13 minutes into the game, as Cole Kodsi picked up a loose puck right in front of the Eagles’ net and left Henry Wilder no chance to make a glove-side save.

After Kodsi’s first-period goal, the game passed scoreless for nearly half an hour of game time, as BC regained some competence on the backline and Bentley goalie Nicholas Grabko came up with a series of

huge saves.

BC’s inability to clear its lines led to the second goal as well, and Kodsi sniped his second of the night a couple of minutes into the third period. Though BC had held strong after going down by one, Kodsi’s second goal threw off whatever wheels still remained on BC’s defense. Bentley secured a commanding 3–0 lead just 30 seconds later off a long-distance shot from Collin Rutherford.

Wilder’s poor performance in net added further uncertainty to the Eagles’ goalie situation. Wilder, who saw time as a true freshman last year when Spencer Knight was playing at the IIHF World Junior Championship, and Bowling Green transfer Eric Dop have alternated games in goal, but neither has replicated Knight’s success.

If the Eagles’ alternating strategy in net continues, Dop will start on Friday against Colorado College.

The loss marked the Eagles’ larg-

est margin of defeat since their 6–2 loss to Providence in October of 2019.

Jack McBain slotted one in after Bentley’s third goal to finally put the Eagles on the board, but the comeback bid did not last long, as the Falcons put their advantage back to three with another quick

goal.

Drew Bavaro added the fifth for Bentley with a slap shot from nearly the blue line, again exposing Wilder’s difficulties in dealing with long shots through traffic. Marc McLaughlin scored BC’s only other goal of the night with a rebound with nine minutes to play.

STEVE MOONEY / FOR THE HEIGHTS

BC struggled to create scoring chances and lagged on defense in a blowout loss.

St. Joseph’s shut down BC’s offense until the fourth quarter on Sunday. NICOLE WEI / FOR THE HEIGHTS

Boston College Should Evaluate Mental Health Services, Implement Virtual Scheduling and New Hires

Boston College should evaluate the efficacy of mental health services provided on campus in order to determine how to best serve the mental health needs of the student population. Some improvements that should be implemented include the creation of an email or messaging service to schedule appointments with University Counseling Services (UCS) and an increase of UCS staff who handle the process of getting referrals to off-campus mental health care providers. Mental health care is a critical need, especially for college students, and it is in the best interest of all members of the BC community to ensure this need is being adequately met.

The main provider of mental health care at BC is UCS, which provides traditional one-onone therapy, group sessions, same-day consultations, medication management, emergency services, and referrals to outside providers.

During a normal year, an average of 15 percent of the student population uses services at UCS, which is more than the average of 9.6 percent for institutions of similar sizes. Despite the demand from students, UCS is plagued by negative student perception, which can deter students from using its resources.

One example of a discouraging rumor around campus alleges that students often have to wait more than a day for an appointment at UCS. Any student can schedule a same-day consultation by calling the UCS office that morning. This consultation serves as a one-off therapy session in which a clinician evaluates the best path of care for the student. It can take about two weeks to schedule a one-on-one therapy session after the initial same-day consultation, but this is a reasonable wait that is similar to other clinics.

Another frequent complaint about UCS is that the number of individual counseling sessions that a student has access to is limited. There is no session limit, but like most college

counseling programs, UCS is designed for shortterm services, so most students go to about six to eight sessions, which is standard given that the average number of sessions that college students attend at on-campus clinics is five. UCS helps students who want more intensive, frequent treatment to get referrals to outside providers.

The referral process can be frustrating, especially with the complications of insurance coverage and transportation costs, but the solution to this problem is not the expansion of UCS to provide long-term care. UCS would need to significantly increase its staff in order to provide long-term care to all students who want and need it. Instead, UCS should increase the number of its staff who handle referrals to make it easier for students to continue receiving care elsewhere.

In addition to staff increases, UCS should expand its virtual services to allow for email or live chat appointment requests, as phone calls asking for mental health assistance can cause stress and anxiety—especially for students who are already struggling with those issues. This addition would build on the work that UCS did in response to rising levels of stress associated with the pandemic last year, when it expanded virtual services.

It is also important to note that UCS is not the only mental health resource on campus. Other on-campus programs and student-led groups supplement the resources provided by UCS. Lean on Me at BC is a student-run, anonymous text hotline for students who are looking for non-crisis assistance, and works to remove the stigma of asking for help through its anonymous format. The Boston College chapter of To Write Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA-BC) aims to further break this stigma through events that foster conversations about mental health. The Office of Health Promotion provides

support through online wellness assessments, wellness coaching sessions to help students with developing personal goals and strategies, and The Body Project, which is led by peer leaders for female-identifying students.

Mentorship and community are also important components of creating a healthy support network. Ascend, a program for first-year women offered through the Center for Student Formation, provides opportunities for meaningful conversations and mentorship through weekly meetings and a retreat. The Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center’s AHANA Summit creates community among AHANA students and provides opportunities for students to share their experiences, and also offers additional resources.

This year especially, college students are under immense stress because of the negative effects the COVID-19 pandemic has had on mental health in addition to the normal stressors of academic pressure and seasonal depression. In the span of two weeks, St. Louis University grappled with two suicides and the precipitating feelings of isolation and loneliness that followed.

On Oct. 12, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill canceled classes one day last week due to two suicide investigations that began over the previous weekend. There is a mental health crisis that is taking place across the nation, and it is exacerbated by academic and social stresses experienced on college campuses.

The demand for and necessity of UCS is clear, so it is paramount that BC continues to take steps to ensure it is able to meet the needs of the student body: add more staff, make it easier to schedule appointments, and continue to provide UCS with support.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, contact University Counseling Services at 617-5523310 or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

(FALLON JONES / FOR THE HEIGHTS); (VIKRUM SINGH / HEIGHTS EDITOR); (STEVE MOONEY / FOR THE HEIGHTS); (IKRAM ALI / HEIGHTS EDITOR); (JESS RIVILIS / HEIGHTS SENIOR STAFF); (ADITYA RAO / HEIGHTS STAFF).

Top photos, left to right: BC students cheer on Boston Marathon runners as they run up Commonwealth Ave., Monday, Oct. 11; Members of the Class of 2020 walk the stage for their rescheduled commencement ceremony, Sunday, Oct. 17; BC players celebrate after scoring a goal against Northeastern, Friday, Oct. 15.

Bottom photos, left to right: Students speak at a divestment town hall organized by various BC organizations, Wednesday, Oct. 13; Quinn Kiernan and Maggie Dockrey perform an improv scene during Asinine Fall Cafe, Thursday, Oct. 14; BC football runs out onto the field to a cheering student section, Saturday, Oct. 16; BC forward Jillian Fey pursues UNH defender Charli Kettyle as she skates with the puck, Friday, Oct. 15.