The Heights, Feb. 15, 2021

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Head Basketball Coach Jim Christian Fired After 3-13 Start Christian relieved of duties after more than six years.

Emma Healy Sports Editor Olivia Charbonneau Graphics Editor Asa Ackerly Assoc. Sports Editor

Boston College has fired men’s basketball coach Jim Christian after six and a half years at the helm, BC Athletics announced on Monday.

Christian has been on the hot seat for the past few seasons, as the Eagles have struggled to produce good results year after year. Since Christian was hired as the head coach in 2014, BC has only had one winning season, when the Eagles went 19-16 during their 2017-18 campaign.

Christian concludes his tenure with the Eagles with a record of 78-132 and an ACC record of 26-94.

According to a statement from BC Athletics, Athletics Director Pat Kraft opted to release Christian mid-season, effective immediately. Scott Spinelli, six-year assistant coach at BC, will serve as the interim head coach.

“I know that Jim gave everything that he had into leading our program and mentoring our student-athletes,” Kraft said in Monday’s press release. “Ultimately, the program is not headed in the right direction and though I hesitate to make a mid-season coaching change in any sport, now is the right time for us to look forward. We wish Jim and his family all the best in their future endeavors and thank them for their service to Boston College.”

Though the news officially came on Monday at noon, Christian’s firing has been in the works for a while. Shortly after BC men’s basketball lost its game against Florida State last March—a crushing 80-62 loss that capped off the Eagles’ disappointing 2019-20 campaign—news began to leak that Christian would be relieved of his coaching duties.

See Jim Christian, A8

IKRAM ALI / HEIGHTS EDITOR

UGBC President Christian Guma To Face Impeachment Trial Tonight Guma under fire for Instagram post.

Brandon Kenney Heights Staff Megan Kelly News Editor Julia Kiersznowski Assoc. News Editor

The Parliamentary Board of the Undergraduate Government of Boston College denied UGBC President Christian Guma’s petition to either dismiss a resolution scheduling his impeachment trial for Tuesday or to immediately reconvene the Student Assembly (SA) to debate the resolution again.

“Due to numerous procedural errors and numerous misunderstandings, in addition to clear bias, I believe the only true remedy is to completely dismiss these impeachment charges,” Guma, CSOM ’21, said at the meeting Sunday morning.

Representatives Leonardo Escobar and Mitzy Monterroso-Bautista, co-sponsors of the article of impeachment and MCAS ’22, argued on Sunday against the dismissal of the Feb. 8 resolution which called to proceed with the impeachment trial. The article calls for Guma’s impeachment for his posting of an unattributed statement on UGBC’s Instagram account on Feb. 3.

The post, which was uploaded in response to the vandalism on the women’s Multicultural Learning Experience (MLE) floor in Xavier Hall, had not been approved by the SA or UGBC’s Community Relations Committee, which is required under the UGBC Constitution.

The post was captioned, “Our statement regarding the acts of vandalism on the MLE floor this weekend,” and was also criticized by some SA representatives for not referring to the vandalism as a hate crime and not outlining a concrete plan of action.

“Through our actions, not simply words, we’ve made efforts to ensure that

LEO WANG / HEIGHTS STAFF

no students, especially students of color, feel unsafe in their residence halls or anywhere else on our campus,” the original statement read.

The UGBC account took the original post down and uploaded a different statement that was attributed to the president specifically.

In Guma’s petition for relief, which he issued on Thursday, he called for the Parliamentary Board to overturn the certification of the impeachment trial, claiming that the Feb. 8 SA meeting was too focused on the merits of the case rather than the amount of evidence.

Guma said on Sunday that the merits of the case should have been discussed during the trial this Tuesday, and that the content of the original post was not relevant to the Feb. 8 meeting.

“The job of the hearing was not to discuss the merits of the charges against me but merely whether there was sufficient evidence to bring it to trial,” Guma said. “But unfortunately the discussion still devolved into the merits of the case. … The content of my statement which was posted on the [UGBC] Instagram last Wednesday has no bearing in this case yet it was a heavy topic of discussion.”

In the notice denying Guma’s petition, the Parliamentary Board—which consists of Dennis Wieboldt, chair of the board and MCAS ’22; Laura Perrault, president pro-tempore and MCAS ’21; and Roatha Kong, Associate Director of Student Organizations—wrote that the discussion of the merits of the charges did not violate the standing rules of the UGBC Constitution.

See Impeachment, A2

OLIVIA VUKELIC / HEIGHTS STAFF

MFA Promotes Black Artists See MFA, A3

Student Vaccines Begin Ethan Raye Copy Editor

Caroline Daly, CSON ’24, is just one of the students at Boston College who have already been vaccinated for COVID-19.

Daly, who became aware of her eligibility for a vaccination over Winter Break because of her work in a local nursing home, explained how important it felt for her to get vaccinated early.

“Being vaccinated has taken a bit of the weight off of my shoulders,” Daly said. “I feel safer going to work, classes, and home without having to worry about getting sick.

I’m very lucky to have been among the first to get the vaccine and can’t wait until everyone who can get vaccinated does so as well.”

Under the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ COVID-19 vaccination rollout plan, some BC students are now eligible to receive vaccinations and have already begun getting vaccinated for COVID-19.

Flora Dievenich Braes, president of BC

BASKETBALL SPORTS

METRO The Heights reviews Black owned establishments, starting with Soleil’s southern-style food.

A8

THIS ISSUE

See Vaccine, A2

FOOD REVIEW

The Eagles nearly made a comeback but lost their fourthstraight game in a 75-67 loss to Syracuse.

INSIDE

Emergency Medical Services (BCEMS) and MCAS ’22, said that BC students who are Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) in BCEMS are eligible to receive the vaccine due to their status as first responders.

Braes said that EMTs have been able to sign up for vaccinations either through the Massachusetts Department of Public Health or through St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, the hospital that BCEMS works with.

“We’ve given [our members] the resources to sign up for [the vaccine], and we’re leaving it up to people to schedule their own appointments for now,” Braes said. “I think most people have either gotten the vaccine or have an appointment scheduled soon.”

Corina Kotidis, an EMT for BCEMS and MCAS ’22, said that it is important that EMTs get vaccinated early in order to keep EMS available to all students on campus.

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MAGAZINE: Grace Zuncic

MAGAZINE: Quarantine Kitchen

BC graduate Zuncic left her job in consulting to work at Chobani..................A4

Join cooking columnist Alexandra Morin and make French dip sandwiches............................A14

INDEX

NEWS......................A2 SPORTS................ A8 Vol. CII, No. 2 © 2021, The Heights, Inc. METRO..................... A3 ARTS.................... A10 MAGAZINE.................. A4 OPINIONS................ A13 www.bcheights.com

The Heights

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Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Guma’s Petition To Dismiss His Impeachment Trial Denied Impeachment, from A1 “First, and perhaps most importantly, debating the sufficiency of evidence for a trial to proceed cannot always be entirely divorced from merit-related considerations,” the notice reads.

In the petition for relief, Guma said that he believes the sponsors of the impeachment are showing racially motivated bias against him.

“In anticipation of the meeting, the Sponsors made comments to The Heights that show racially motivated bias on their behalves,” Guma’s petition reads. “In particular, Rep. Monterroso-Bautista argued that my Feb. 3 statement was not to be taken seriously because I am a ‘white man.’”

Monterroso-Bautista’s comment that Guma cited appeared in a Heights article about UGBC’s emergency meeting on Feb. 4.

“It was definitely frustrating when Christian’s statement came out because I felt that it undermined our work and it wasn’t reflective of our voices, not to mention that it was the opinion of a white man,” Monterroso-Bautista told The Heights.

In the Sunday meeting, Monterroso-Bautista denied Guma’s claim that she and other representatives had a racial bias against him.

“Stating that Christian Guma is a white man is not racially motivated bias,” Monterroso-Bautista said. “It is acknowledging his race and the different experiences and outlooks he has as someone who does not identify with a marginalized racial identity.”

In the notice denying Guma’s petition, the Parliamentary Board wrote that if anyone had stated that because Guma is a white man he should not be trusted, it would have likely violated the standing rules because it is unrelated to whether there was sufficient evidence to proceed to trial.

“Rather, this or a similar comment could only serve in an argument that the president should be found responsible at the trial’s conclusion because he cannot be trusted in any circumstance,” the notice read.

Guma also pointed out how evidence for the impeachment trial was sent in a group chat among SA members.

“The constitution dictates that that hearing is supposed to be about evidence,” Guma said. “The evidence is not supposed

to be done over GroupMe.” The Parliamentary Board said that the evidence sent in the SA group chat did not violate the standing rules.

“Considered in tandem with [Monterroso-Bautista’s] comment about the organization’s reputation and evidence she sent in a Student Assembly group chat that highlighted negative reactions to the post and alleged ‘lack of support offered [to those directly affected],’ we cannot conclude that a violation of S.R.I.8.C.I occurred ...” the notice reads.

Guma also said that those bringing charges against him are basing their claims on an incorrect reading of the UGBC Constitution. Monterroso-Bautista said in the Feb. 9 meeting that it was inconsequential whether or not Guma knew he was violating the constitution when he posted the statement.

“The constitution says that impeachment must be ‘knowingly violating with the goal of subverting the original intent of such a provision,’” Guma said.

Monterroso-Bautista said on Sunday that even if Guma did not knowingly violate the constitution, the oath he took when he

became UGBC president affirms that he is responsible for knowing the constitution and could be impeached for violating his oath.

“Guma’s claims that needing to know the constitution is only a ‘belief’ reveals his lack of commitment in upholding the oath he took when he was sworn into office,” Monterroso-Bautista said. “Guma cannot support, uphold, preserve, or protect the UGBC Constitution if he does not know the provisions within it.”

The Parliamentary Board found that the issue of Guma’s knowledge of the constitution was relevant to the Feb. 8 meeting.

Guma also said that last Tuesday’s vote was not fairly conducted and that it would be impossible for a trial to be fairly conducted in the future.

According to Guma, representatives had been making comments on the merits of evidence and Guma’s race and gender, all of which should not have been discussed until this Tuesday at the trial itself.

“The reality is that many representatives, whether they say it or not, are feeling this culture of fear and are worried about what associations can be made if they vote

either “no” on the charges last Tuesday or vote to acquit me this coming Tuesday,” Guma said.

Guma supported his argument by pointing out that many members of the SA abstained during last Tuesday’s vote.

“The mere fact that there were 10 abstentions … more than one-third of the Student Assembly abstained, simply shows you that students are afraid to make their voices heard in opposition,” Guma said.

Monterroso-Bautista discussed how Guma acknowledged that a typo was made on his first post on the UGBC Instagram account regarding the vandalism on the women’s MLE floor.

“This caption, made on the official UGBC Instagram account, clearly attributes this statement to UGBC as a whole, portraying it as a formal statement,” Monterroso-Bautista said. “Had Guma followed the correct protocol to releasing formal statements on Instagram, or had he taken the advice of the parliamentarian, this typo either would not have been made or the student body would not have mistaken the statement as a statement on behalf of all of UGBC.” n

Students Start Getting Vaccinated Vaccine, from A1

“If one of the members of the [EMS] crew has [COVID-19], then it could just spread within the organization like a wildfire, and that would deplete all the EMTs,” Kotidis said. “Even if one person is exposed in the organization it would be a mess, and we wouldn’t really have that resource for everyone here.”

EMTs aren’t the only students on campus who qualify for the vaccine, though.

Many students in the Connell School of Nursing who work in hospitals and other high-risk facilities are eligible to be vaccinated too.

“Through the whole process of setting up clinicals and everything, I got an email from, I don’t know if it was the clinical placement office or just someone involved in that process, that was basically saying because I was at Mass General, that Mass General was offering [the vaccine] for its students,” Kerriann McLaughlin, CSON ’23, said.

Part of the reason that nursing students have been able to start getting vaccinated, according to CSON Dean Susan Gennaro, is because upon receiving their vaccinations, these students would now be able to turn around and vaccinate others, speeding up the whole vaccination process.

“Part of why nursing students are the priority is they would really like to have people who can vaccinate the world, you know,” Gennaro said.

Gennaro said that some nursing students who are in clinical programs have received the vaccine at the hospitals they work at, and some have already been able to start assisting in vaccinations.

“Many of our clinical partners like Mass General Hospital, if you’re a nursing student there, is vaccinating nursing students,” Gennaro said. “Beth Israel Deaconess, if you’re a nursing student there, is vaccinating nursing students. In fact, some of our

students at MGH, we have 86 students there right now, they are helping MGH with the vaccination clinics that MGH is doing. So MGH vaccinated them so they could turn around and help vaccinate.”

Some students, including Kayleen Italia, CSON ’22, reported having to sign up for vaccination appointments independent of the hospitals where they are doing their clinicals, as the high volume of individuals signing up for appointments at hospitals has meant that not all nursing students have been provided with appointments.

“I’m a nursing student, so I was supposed to get it through my hospital because I’m doing clinicals this semester at St. Elizabeth’s,” Italia said. “But they told us they didn’t really have enough for nursing students so we kinda had to find our own way to try and get it.”

Italia expressed relief in receiving her vaccine, viewing it as her contribution to making the BC community that much safer.

“There’s an immense sense of relief and reassurance that one day, things will go back to normal,” Italia said. “With that, getting vaccinated means doing my small part to ensure the safety and well-being of the greater BC community.”

Many nursing students’ clinicals were moved online at the onset of the pandemic.

This semester, some students who have been vaccinated have been able to return to in-person clinicals with the reassurance that they are less likely to contract the virus.

Gennaro spoke about the process by which CSON has been able to acquire a limited number of Moderna vaccines for its students and faculty.

“University Health Services is who gets notified about whether or not they’re going to get any vaccine,” Gennaro said. “And then they have turned around and contacted the [Connell] School of Nursing. They asked us to let them know how many people needed vaccines in the beginning, how many faculty and students, and we let them know, and

we keep on trying to update numbers as we know that our students are being vaccinated elsewhere.”

Gennaro emphasized how large of a task it has been for CSON and the University to acquire and distribute vaccines, but noted the importance of getting these vaccines to students and faculty.

“We get that this is not gonna go away until we have a high enough percent of people who don’t have COVID,” Gennaro said.

Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two separate doses in order to be fully effective. Kotidis, who had only received the first dose when interviewed, described significant arm soreness as a side effect.

“I will say that my arm killed, like it literally couldn’t move it at all,” Kotidis said.

“Other than that, like, I didn’t really get headaches. I did feel a little tired but not like I couldn’t do my daily activities.”

Daly, who received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine, said that she experienced more significant side effects with the second dose than with the first.

“The second dose definitely hit me harder,” Daly said. “The vaccine itself is the same exact dosage and everything as the first one, but that night I started to feel some symptoms. I ran a fever, I had some body aches, and a little nausea.”

The Commonwealth recently transitioned to Phase 2 of its vaccination program, opening up vaccination eligibility to individuals 75 years or older. Though general public availability is not expected until April, students who have received the vaccine made it clear that members of the BC community should get vaccinated as soon as they are able.

“Definitely if you have the opportunity, get the vaccine, get the vaccine,” Daly said.

“I think that goes for everyone. Do your part in keeping everyone safe, and keep wearing a mask even if you do get it because it’s not foolproof.” n

BC Urges Reporting of Bias Incidents

By Julia Kiersznowski Assoc. News Editor

Following the vandalism incidents on the Multicultural Learning Experience (MLE) floor of Xavier Hall, Boston College is urging students to report any experiences of bias-motivated behavior and other conduct violations through a new online form, according to an email sent to the BC community on Saturday.

“Students told us they had experienced other bias-motivated incidents on campus this academic year that were not reported to administrators who would have been in a position to respond in a timely manner and provide support,” Executive Vice President and Acting Vice President for Student Affairs Michael Lochhead wrote in the email. The email also stated that the Office of Student Conduct completed its review of the Jan. 30 vandalism on the MLE floor—where two individuals spread trash in the hallway, knocked aggressively on residents’ doors, knocked out ceiling tiles, and tore off door decorations—and found the two perpetrators to be in violation of multiple University policies.

“Federal privacy laws preclude colleges and universities from divulging specific information on student disciplinary matters, but I want the campus community, and in particular the MLE residents, to know that these students were disciplined in accordance

with Boston College’s Student Code of Conduct,” Lochhead wrote.

The email also said that the incident in which students sang racial lyrics in the MLE hallway will be adjudicated next week.

The Division of Student Affairs will also review the DiversityEdu platform—an online module which addresses diversity and inclusivity on campus that all freshmen, transfers, and graduate students are required to complete—and the University’s diversity, equity, and inclusion programming in order to make the curricula more effective, the email said.

“Working with outside experts, staff within Student Affairs and others on campus will continue to engage in dialogue with students about race, community, and college life,” Lochhead wrote. “In addition, the Division

of Student Affairs will work with colleagues across campus to develop events that can help students better understand the painful and demoralizing effects of bias-motivated conduct.”

Lochhead also said that over the past few weeks, administrators and Student Affairs have engaged in conversations with students from the MLE floor, and that the Division of Student Affairs and the BC Police Department are committed to investigating all reports of bias-motivated incidents.

“I recognize that the University has more work to do so that all BC students feel welcomed and valued,” Lochhead wrote. “I assure you that the Student Affairs staff, along with BC faculty and administrators, are committed to this important work.” n

VIKRUM SINGH / HEIGHTS EDITOR

MEEGAN MINAHAN / HEIGHTS EDITOR This past week, Boston College reported a record number of undergraduate students testing positive for COVID-19.

Cases, Isolations Surge

By Megan Kelly News Editor Julia Kiersznowski Assoc. News Editor and Victor Stefanescu Asst. News Editor Boston College has reported its highest number of undergraduate cases of COVID-19 in a single week with 75 positive cases out of 9,628 tests, a positivity rate of .78 percent, according to the University’s COVID-19 dashboard as of Sunday.

The University has also reported the largest number of undergraduates in isolation, with 105 students isolating as of Friday. Sixty-two students are in isolation housing, and 43 are recovering at home.

The update surpasses the previous record of 91 students in isolation which BC set last Thursday. Last semester, the highest number of undergraduate students in isolation at one time was 87 on Nov. 27.

In the 12-day period from Feb. 1 to Feb. 12, the BC community represented 8.8 percent of all positive tests associated with higher-ed testing in Massachusetts, according to the Massachusetts COVID-19 Dashboard.

By the end of the second full week of the fall semester, BC had reported 108 undergraduate cases of COVID-19 out of 15,273 tests, a positivity rate of .71 percent. At the end of the second full week of the spring semester, 198 undergraduate students have tested positive out of 34,289 tests, a positivity rate of .58 percent, as of Thursday.

Executive Vice President and Interim Vice President for Student Affairs Michael Lochhead attributed the recent rise in cases at BC to “students letting their guard down” in an email sent on Feb. 9.

If the trend continues, BC may implement further restrictions, including further limiting the guest policy, requiring all students to quarantine in their rooms, and potentially ending the on-campus semester early, the email said.

In response to the rise in numbers of students in quarantine and isolation, the University required all students to attend mandatory meetings on Zoom.

“The number of close contacts has risen significantly,” Mogan said at one of the meetings. “We are reaching a crisis

stage so although the positive numbers are manageable, it’s the quarantine numbers we are particularly concerned about at this time.”

The University does not release the number of close contacts in quarantine, University Communications told The Heights in November.

Northeastern University and Providence College—both of which BC has compared itself to in its COVID-19 releases—as well as Tufts University release the number of students in quarantine.

Boston University, the University of Notre Dame, and University of Massachusetts-Amherst—all of which BC has also compared itself to in releases—do not release their quarantine numbers.

Administrators reminded students at the mandatory meetings that penalties for violating the University’s COVID-19 policies may include suspension from the University and loss of University housing.

“We don’t want to do these things but it only takes a handful of people that can really create drastic ripple effects across the campus,” Associate Director of Student Conduct Peter Kwiatek said. “We ask you to talk to one another and be the person that says you shouldn’t participate in something because what they do has an impact on your time in college as well as other people within your community.”

After entering a “high risk” category on Feb. 7, UMass entered a period of significantly tighter restrictions. For at least two weeks and until public health conditions substantially improve, in-person classes will be remote and students must “self-sequester.” Boston University also implemented tighter restrictions in some residential halls, according to The Daily Free Press. Newton reported an average of 20.3 daily cases per 100,000 residents between Jan. 24 and Feb. 6—down from 25.1 in the previous two-week period. Boston reported 38.8 daily cases per 100,000 residents during the same period, a drop from the prior two-week incidence rate of 48.5.

Massachusetts, which only officially recommends that people get tested if they have COVID-19 symptoms, have come into contact with someone who tested positive, or live in a high-transmission risk community, reported a seven-day average positivity rate of 2.4 percent on Sunday. n

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

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The Heights

Fuller Delivers Fourth State of the City Address

By Ashley Emanuel Heights Staff

OLIVIA VUKELIC / HEIGHTS STAFF

Teenagers Curate MFA Exhibit, ‘Black Histories, Black Future’ MFA, From A3

By Olivia Vukelic Heights Staff Upon entering the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), Boston, museum-goers encounter the “Black Histories, Black Futures’’ exhibit encircling the rotunda. Partnering with various youth empowerment groups, the MFA selected six Boston-area teens to curate the exhibit, highlighting prominent Black artists.

The teenage curators were fellows at the youth empowerment groups Becoming a Man, The BASE, and the Bloomberg Arts Internship Boston program. They used the skills they developed through a pilot internship program at the MFA to arrange the exhibit into four themes: “Ubuntu: I am Because You Are,” “Normality Facing Adversity,” “Welcome to the City,” and “Smile in the Dark.”

One curator, Jadon Smith, a 17-year-old from Dorchester, Mass., defines Ubuntu as being “who I am today because of what you’ve done or been through.”

The American visual artist Archibald Motley exemplified this theme, as his most famous works depict the vibrant life of the Harlem Renaissance. Motley is best known as a “Jazz Age Modernist,” incorporating high-contrasting colors into his lively nightlife paintings. Motley’s oil painting Cocktails is the focal point of the exhibit and depicts several Black women gathered around a table, drinking and engaging with one another.

The selected painting connects the way Black artists express and celebrate Black existence.

Along with Motley, Smith featured Allan Rohan Crite, whose 1970s dark ink drawings represent African culture and the African American community in Boston.

Eighteen-year-old Dorchester native, Armani Rivas, curated the “Normality Facing Adversity” section. The section most notably features a photograph of the all-African American 369th Infantry Regiment from World War I mourning the life of its fallen soldiers, taken by James Van Der Zee. The photograph shows the soldiers lined up outside of a funeral home in Harlem, stoically grasping their rifles and beginning

to salute their commander. Black soldiers fought and died in the gruesome war, only to return to the injustice and racism that plagues America.

Destiny Santiago-Mitchell, an 18-yearold from Dorchester, organized “Welcome to the City” which assembles vibrant urban-style paintings.

In one of the featured painting, Rain Over São Paolo, the self-taught artist Maria Auxiliadora da Silva captures the exciting bustle of the Brazilian city with rain beginning to pour from the dark sky, individuals of all skin tones scrambling for shelter, and people in nearby apartments opening their windows to peak at the excitement.

The final section “Smile in the Dark,” curated by 18-year-old Jennifer Rosa, featured a collection of photographs, along with other mediums, to celebrate Black families. Rosa described her favorite piece of her section to The Boston Globe, referencing Richard Yarde’s 1989 watercolor painting Savoy: Leon & Willa Mae. In this painting, the bright yellow background contrasts against the muted tones of the playful dancers. Yarde’s unique brush

strokes allow his subjects to spring to life.

Yarde is known for his innovative watercolor paintings, even incorporating images of his own X-rays into some of his paintings.

High school graduates Alejandro Flores and Jingsi Li also helped curate the exhibit and the pieces remain visible in the galleries, according to a press release from the MFA last year. According to a poster at the entrance of the exhibit, the teen curators emerged from diverse backgrounds, with limited to no art experience, and devoted themselves to developing an impactful exhibit by attending curatorial skill-building workshops throughout the summer as part of the MFA internship program.

Black Histories, Black Futures is on display at the MFA Boston from now until June 20. Admission to the museum is free with a promo code from the Office of Student Involvement to reserve a time slot online and confirmation of an Eagle ID. The MFA’s first all-teen curated exhibit demonstrates the importance of engaging youth in the arts, and the exhibit’s featured artwork by Black artists lays the foundation for more inclusive exhibits in the future. n

OLIVIA VUKELIC / HEIGHTS STAFF

Allan Rohan Crite’s ink drawing ‘Cancio de Cie’ is on display as part of the exhibit.

Reflecting on the resilience of the Newton community over the past year, Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller delivered her fourth State of the City Address, in which she provided an update on the city and community’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and offered her plan for the city’s gradual recovery in the coming year.

“I consciously tried to lead with a steady hand and a compassionate heart, making health decisions based on facts and science, communicating frequently, advocating for better state and federal support and ensuring our decisions reflect our core values of respect, diversity, and acceptance,” Fuller said.

Despite the many challenges of this year, Fuller has a positive outlook for the future and the lessons the community collectively learned from the pandemic, she said in her address, which was held on Wednesday night over Zoom, in contrast to its typical format in the crowded City Council chamber. She credited the Newton community for its generosity, citing the donations of time and resources by neighbors since March.

Fuller ’s address also centered around the resources the city provided to serve and assist the community.

Housing and Community Development Director Amanda Berman helped to fund $3.6 million in emergency housing and small business assistance, Fuller said.

Through the “Grab and Go” program, the City of Newton and Newton Public Schools donated 358,042 meals to members of the community.

Members of the community also helped each other during a time of need, Fuller said. She said that 150 members of the community donated personal protective equipment. Rob Gifford, Claire Sokoloff, and a fundraising team raised over $750,000 for the Newton COVID-19 Care Fund, according to Fuller.

Looking toward the future, Fuller will remain dedicated to helping the community survive and prosper for the duration of the pandemic, she said. She said she would prioritizevaccination distribution and keeping older residents safe.

“I am all in on moving us forward and helping us recover, rebound, and rebuild,” Fuller said. “At City Hall I am laser focused on getting our residents access to vaccines, whether we are 85, 65 or 25.”

Fuller said that she will continue to push the state to set up more vaccination sites in Newton, including at doctors’ offices, pharmacies, and large nearby sites.

For those who are homebound, without internet access, or without family to assist them in making an appointment, Fuller recommended calling City Hall for assistance. Senior citizens in the community without internet access or transportation can also call the Newton Senior Center for assistance with making a COVID-19 vaccination appointment.

While residents wait to get the COVID-19 vaccine, Fuller encouraged Newtonians to continue to social distance, wear masks, wash their hands, and stay home when not feeling well.

Reopening schools is another issue

Fuller will prioritize in the comingmonths, she said.

“I will do everything I can from City Hall to not just open fully in September, but also to help students this spring who want to be in person more.”

With ventilation upgrades to school buildings, weekly surveillance testing beginning in the coming weeks, and vaccinations of teachers and staff, Fuller said that more in-person learning in can be accomplished safely.

Fuller also emphasized creating a positive atmosphere for the daily lives of Newtonians. Fuller said small businesses are a fundamental part of the community atmosphere, and offered financial recovery grants to help them.

The city provided $300,000 recovery grants to brick and mortar businesses, and Fuller said that the city will soon provide another $300,000.

In September, the city took steps to expand outdoor seating at no cost to restaurants by installing painted barriers, placing picnic tables in parking lots, expanding sidewalk seating, and expediting alcohol permits.

Fuller said that the city will build on these efforts and continue to partner with small businesses.

Fuller said that the city should support the City Council in updates to zoning. She said that the city must have a mix of housing options, allowing the next generation to live in Newton and older residents to have a place to downsize.

“We are rightfully proud that 489 deed restricted, permanently affordable units have been permitted since my inauguration,” Fuller said. “We will keep going.”

Also central to the Newton community is the environment, Fuller said. She said that Newton continues to be the leader in Massachusetts with the city’s electricity aggregation program, Newton Power Choice.

Fuller said that all residents have access to renewable energy.

Fuller signed a new three-year Newton Power Choice contract in October, providing 80 percent local renewable energy sources for customers, compared to 63 percent renewable energy in the previous contract.

Working with the selection committee, Fuller will help find the next Newton Police Chief. The next police chief will lead the department in safe and effective policing, Fuller said.

Fuller anticipates that some challenges of the upcoming year will include a tight budget as well as recent instances of hate, including the display of hateful language such as white supremacy and anti-Semitism from banners on overpasses.

Fuller made it clear that the city will not tolerate racism and will strive for equity.

“I am actively committed to combating racism and hate. I ask for your help, as we strive for deeper, more systemic racial justice and equity,” Fuller said.

Going forward, it is the humanity, hope, and strength of Newton citizens that guides the city throughout the next year, Fuller said.

“We learned to run a city remotely, and created new ways to deliver city services,” Fuller said. “In the process we built new skills, and I know this muscle memory will serve us well.” n

Senior Center Launches COVID-19 Call Line Senior Center, from A1 The Newton Senior Center is also entering into a partnership with Holtzman Medical Group, a private medical group started by a Newton resident to provide vaccine access to those in need, according to Colino. “ We have the assurance from Holtzman Medical that we will continue to have designated appointment slots for us to help fill for people who can’t do it on their own, or who don’t have the daughter who can sit up at midnight to hop on to the appointments,” Colino said.

Holtzman is designating two days

a week, with up to 200 slots per day, for appointments made through the Newton Senior Center for residents 85 and over without access to a computer, transportation, or with a mobility impairment, according to Colino.

When people call the Senior Center hotline, an automated message informs the caller that seniors are eligible for the vaccine and it is available at pharmacies and public places in the city.

Callers can leave their name and phone number in order to receive more information and assistance, and volunteers and staff call them back with necessary information about testing.

“Who we were able to help ultimately was people who did not have computer access, did not have family or friends who could help get them an appointment through an electronic platform, and people who really had limited mobility and couldn’t see themselves at Gillette or Fenway,” Colino said.

The center has also helped seniors get rides to Mount Ida through Newton in Motion, or “NewMo,” a rideshare service for residents who are 60 or older.

“We don’t want transportation to be the hurdle that someone says ‘forget it, I’m not going to get the vaccine because I just can’t deal with this,’”

Colino said.

Colino said that the center has also been coordinating home vaccination visits with the Fallon Ambulance Service for seniors who are unable to leave their homes for an appointment.

“It’s a limited resource,” Colino said. “We don’t know when vaccines will go away, and it’s going to be about 10 people a week who are able to get those home visit vaccinations.”

While Newton residents cannot currently attend the Senior Center in person, the center’s staff and volunteers continue to offer support and services to Newton seniors.

Over the past year, Colino along with senior center staff and volunteers

made over 7,000 calls to check in with every Newton resident 60 years and older living alone, according to Mayor Ruthanne Fuller’s State of the City Address.

Colino said residents have been greatly appreciative of these calls.

“We feel, like, you know we’re using our resources in the right way for the people who need it the most.

And I have to say I deliberately made a few of the calls myself because I just needed that celebration with people,” Colino said. “That’s what we’re here for, is to decrease people’s anxieties, give them something to look forward to, so when we’re all vaccinated, we can come back together.” n

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Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Zuncic Follows Inner Compass To Career Fulfillment

By Caroline King Heights Staff

Every year, many Boston College seniors grapple with the daunting task of finding a fulfilling job after graduation. Scrambling to figure out their next steps, undergoing the pressures of job searches, and struggling to map out their futures are nearly universal experiences, no matter how well prepared an individual is. Grace Zuncic, BC ’05 and current chief people officer of Chobani, experienced a similar uncertainty as her time at BC was drawing to a close. Zuncic found her first career attempts as a consultant and investment adviser to be unfulfilling, so one day, when she glanced at a Chobani yogurt container, she took a leap of faith.

Zuncic grew up in the rural town of Skaneateles, N.Y., surrounded by family members with Puerto Rican, Ukrainian, Irish, and English backgrounds. She was also influenced by her mother, who worked full-time in the ’80s, Zuncic said.

“She set a beautiful example for me in terms of what women can do professionally,” Zuncic said.

Growing up, Zuncic volunteered for Catholic charities in inner-city Syracuse, N.Y., where she gained experience serving underprivileged youth. Although at that point she was unsure of what career she wanted to pursue, she felt drawn toward jobs that serve the greater good.

Zuncic’s upbringing would later help her interact with a diverse workplace and create leadership positions for members of underrepresented groups.

When Zuncic was searching for universities to attend, she knew that she wanted a strong liberal arts education. After she narrowed her options to Colgate and BC, her final decision came down to a coin flip, she said. With BC as heads, her decision

was made.

“I think it was meant to be, me being in a metropolitan area like BC,” Zuncic said.

“BC really shaped a lot of my thinking about the world and my beliefs and the things that I care about.”

During her freshman year, Zuncic was a member of the Shaw Leadership Program, which she credits for connecting her with peers of various backgrounds, as it prioritizes diversity in all of its forms.

“Some of my earliest friendships that I made at BC were people that didn’t look like me and didn’t think like me and didn’t grow up how I grew up,” Zuncic said. “Some of those friends continue to be my best friends today.”

Her senior year, Zuncic became president of the Undergraduate Government of Boston College alongside Vice President Burnell Holland III, BC ’05. These leadership positions prepared her to think critically and to make ethical judgment calls—skills that are applicable to every career field, she said.

“There are tons of judgment calls every day, and I feel equipped to handle those moments as crucible moments because of the experiences I had at BC,” Zuncic said.

Zuncic also credits BC’s Jesuit education for teaching her how to be a woman for and with others.

“What I learned from the Jesuits, and what I learned in particular from Father Neenan, who was very involved in my experience with BC, is that there’s a lot of good to do in the present moment,” Zuncic said.

Although she felt prepared to be a force of good after her experience at BC, she did not have a job lined up when she graduated.

When a friend recommended that she look into consulting, Zuncic took a government practice job at PRTM, a consulting firm in Washington, D.C. In 2008, Zuncic returned to Boston and earned her M.B.A. at the

Harvard Business School.

After graduating from Harvard in 2010, Zuncic took a job as an investment adviser at Goldman Sachs. The job itself was not fulfilling enough for her, she said, so she turned to volunteering opportunities to find what she felt her life was lacking.

Aside from her volunteering, Zuncic found herself employing the values she learned at BC after the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013, after which Pat Downes, BC ’05, and his wife, Jessica Kensky, had to be amputated. Alongside other BC alumni, Zuncic helped organize the BC Strong Scholarship, which supports students with disabilities who wish to attend BC. In the wake of the tragedy, the BC community showed its resilience and collective strength, Zuncic said.

In addition to the BC Strong Scholarship, Zuncic also said she is proud of what her fellow alumni have accomplished since their graduation.

“I look at what my class is doing today, and I’m so proud of everyone and their accomplishments,” Zuncic said. “I see the beautiful lives that they’re living, the professions that they’ve taken on, the good that they’re doing in the world, the families and the beautiful partnerships that they have, and it’s just awesome.”

Eventually, Zuncic realized that she needed her job to better align with her passions, she said.

“I felt that I had to find other places in my life for what I was yearning for, not realizing that, no, I really had to find it professionally to be fully satisfied,” Zuncic said.

Eventually, her days of cold calling companies while she worked at Goldman Sachs led her to what she had been searching for. Zuncic recalls that she ate a Chobani yogurt every day at work, and one day, on a whim, she decided to call the number on the container.

She spoke to a customer loyalty team representative at first, but she was then redirected to Hamdi Ulukaya, founder and CEO of Chobani.

“When I met Hamdi, I knew that I was going to be a part of his team someday,” Zuncic said. “I didn’t know when, and I didn’t know who would ask first, but it felt so right for me because I knew that the company was on a mission to do as much good as it could do in the world.”

Over the past eight years at Chobani, Zuncic has helped launch and maintain numerous programs geared toward aiding employees and community members. One program, Chobani Gives, allows Chobani employees to get paid for up to eight hours of community service.

PHOTO COURTESY OF GRACE ZUNCIC

Grace Zuncic took a leap of faith away from an unfulfilling career.

This year, during the COVID-19 pandemic, employees could use their service time to get tested for COVID-19 or to get out the vote. Zuncic also helped raise the minimum wage for Chobani employees to $15 an hour.

In 2015, Zuncic worked to launch Chobani Women, which is geared toward increasing leadership roles for women at Chobani. Since 2019, Chobani Women has created an even ratio of male to female executives at Chobani. Zuncic credits the progress of all of Chobani’s programs to the workers.

“We accomplish what we accomplished because of the incredible employees that work for our organization and the outstanding leaders that we have across the organization who work very collaboratively in everything that we do,” she said.

The emphasis on working for the greater good and fostering diversity that Zuncic cultivated in her early life and at BC equipped her to ensure that diversity and inclusion exist at Chobani, she said.

For Peter McGuinness, president and chief operating officer at Chobani, who has worked with Zuncic for seven years, Zuncic’s readiness to take on challenges is easily noticeable, he said.

“I’ve asked her to head up diversity and inclusion for the company and she jumped into that headfirst and showed a ton of passion and compassion,” McGuinness said.

“She has wisdom beyond her years.”

Looking to the future of Chobani’s People and Culture team, Zuncic said that she anticipates a greater integration of technology in the team’s practices and a continued focus on Chobani’s frontline workers, such

as those who make the products.

Zuncic says one of the best parts of her job is finding creative ways to reward and encourage Chobani’s hourly workers, who make up 70 percent of Chobani’s workforce.

At Chobani’s manufacturing facility in Twin Falls, Idaho, Zuncic helped create a state of the art building where hourly workers have everyday access to Peloton bikes, a weight room, and a subsidized cafeteria.

“It’s projects like that that get me very excited,” Zuncic said.

Kathy Leo, chief legal officer and general counsel at Chobani, said that while working with Zuncic for the past four years, she has seen Zuncic’s compassion for others come to the forefront of her career.

“We have worked together literally from day one,” Leo said. “She has the biggest heart ever and is just a very empathetic and thoughtful person. And that, I think, runs through her professionally and personally and just makes Grace who she is, and she’s fun.”

Reminiscing on feeling unfulfilled by her previous careers, Zuncic said she is content with her choice to join Chobani’s team.

“I am so glad I followed my gut years ago, thinking that it was a place where I belonged and where I could contribute the most good.”

Zuncic advises the next generations of BC graduates to seek fulfillment and show generosity to others, whatever their future career may look like.

“Asking yourself how you can be a force for good wherever you land, I think, is important because the world needs more BC grads out in the world. doing good. And have some fun,” Zuncic said. n GRAPHIC BY OLIVIA CHARBONNEAU / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Behind the Brain: Studying the Science of Perception

By Maddie Phelps Online Manager

In a sea of students walking across the Boston College campus, the brain can do a remarkable job of picking out a familiar face. While most people don’t think twice about how and why the brain is able to instantly identify others, Stefano Anzellotti, an assistant psychology and neuroscience professor at BC, certainly has.

Anzellotti was born in Bonn, Germany to Italian parents and grew up in Trento, Italy, where he lived until he received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics at the University of Trento in 2008. He then moved to the United States and received his Ph.D. in psychology at Harvard University in 2014. Later, he completed his postdoctoral in psychology and neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Since his early research days, Anzellotti has been driven by his fascination with the science behind people’s interactions.

“I’m very interested in how people learn things in the world around them,” Anzellotti said. “More specifically, I have been studying social perception and social cognition.”

By delving into the intricacies of brain organization and neural pathways, Anzellotti’s findings about facial recognition led to multiple breakthroughs in his field.

For his compelling research, the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded him the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award last spring.

According to the NSF, the CAREER Program supports early-career faculty who serve as academic role models in their fields from a research and education perspective, preparing them to be leaders who integrate teaching and research. The award is a five-year, $600,000 grant, and will support Anzellotti’s research in brain mechanisms, specifically in the exploration of facial recognition.

Anzellotti’s intended research for the grant all began with a broad question which he had pondered for years: how do people recognize other peoples’ faces?

From there, he expanded his study by incorporating the importance of facial expressions and social cues that can help with perceiving and understanding others.

While many can only hope for a grant to fund their research, Anzellotti’s ideas sparked an interest within evaluators. The key to applying for such grants, he said, is to present your research and questions in a way that makes them unique.

“Many people have thought of related questions,” Anzellotti said. “You need to phrase the question in a new way and argue for why it is important. Then, you can argue for how you are going to answer the question and move the field forward, propose a set of experiments, studies, or research programs in which you are going to answer this question.”

With these broad questions guiding his research, Anzellotti delved into the scientific details behind the way these neural mechanisms operate. The traditional views developed about the process of facial recognition, Anzellotti explained, create two separate neural “pathways” that assign particular brain regions to certain tasks.

In the midst of their research, Anzellotti said that he and his colleagues discovered something peculiar.

“When we started studying brain regions people thought were important for facial expression, we started finding something unexpected,” Anzellotti said.

“We found that participants reading out the identity of people used regions thought to be specialized for expression.

However, in the traditional view, those regions were supposed to ‘throw away’ that information. So, we started wondering why this was happening. We were so puzzled by this that we repeated the

experiment several times.”

With this discovery, Anzellotti began to hypothesize that the human brain could be trained to assign these “jobs” to the same region. Using artificial intelligence models, he and his colleagues tested the theory that if the brain could do one job, such as recognizing facial expressions, maybe it could also recognize identities, and vice versa—almost as if solving one of these tasks would solve the others.

Anzellotti, along with other BC professors, found computational data to support the idea that this hypothesis was, in fact, true.

“It’s almost like untying the lace of a shoe,” Anzellotti explained. “If you untie one string, the whole knot comes apart.

Recognizing facial expressions and face identity are kind of like two strings in a knot, where if you untie one, you also untie the other.”

After obtaining sufficient data to support this breakthrough, Anzellotti had what he needed to propose his idea for the CAREER award. He was first interested in how facial identity and expression are related, but now with the grant from the award he aims to explore why these two neural pathways exist when it seems that only one is necessary for these tasks. In the future, Anzellotti also plans to uncover whether this complementarity notion applies to other areas of cognition, which could affect how the brain is organized at large.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has made interacting with others in his department more difficult, Anzellotti and his colleagues are lucky to have the ability to continue their research with the grant, he said. The initial stages of the project are mostly modeling and computational, he said, which can be done remotely. The lab research phase likely won’t occur until about two years into the grant.

While his research alone could warrant this award, according to his col-

leagues, Anzellotti’s work ethic and admirable character are equally deserving of recognition. Liane Young, an associate professor in BC’s neurology and psychology department and director of the Morality Lab at BC, has worked closely with Anzellotti in the lab.

In the beginning of Anzellotti’s BC career, he and Young collaborated on a number of projects, including a study which focused on how people use actions or words to learn about others. Both in and outside of the lab, Young is grateful to be able to work with someone as kind as Anzellotti, she said.

“He is incredibly generous with his time and expertise,” Young said. “He is both incredibly competent at what he does and is incredibly kind. I’ve encouraged people with my lab to learn from him personally and professionally. He is a terrific mentor and colleague. I couldn’t ask for a better colleague in our department to work with and train graduate students with.”

Beyond the actual research, Anzellotti noted how beneficial the award is for

professors early in their careers. Not only does it provide support for lab efforts, but it also encourages community outreach and pushes researchers to have a good education plan. More specifically, the grant will enable him to design courses and programs that will focus on the ever-growing intersection between neuroscience and artificial intelligence.

The development of these two disciplines, Anzellotti said, will be essential for better understanding cognitive impairments and will potentially improve the diagnosis of disorders and the development of treatments. In this regard, Anzellotti credits this award for pushing beyond his particular research and positively impacting the lives of others.

“This exciting intersection of these two disciplines will hopefully involve training a lot of young, smart students and thinkers who will go on and do all different kinds of things,” Anzellotti said.

“Hopefully, this will have some sort of broader impact for the area of neuroscience, but also more broadly for other applications as well.” n

PHOTO BY KAYLA BRANDT / HEIGHTS STAFF

An ze l l o t t i ’s re s e a rc h h a s s h e d n e w l i g ht o n f a c i a l re co gn i t i o n .

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Tuesday, February 16, 2021

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Erickson Engages During Pandemic-Ridden Summer

By Celia Mathay Heights Staff For many Boston College students, faculty, and staff, March 11, 2020 was the day that the COVID-19 pandemic became real to them. When the University announced it was moving classes online, students frantically packed up their belongings and bid their friends goodbye for the semester, and faculty questioned how to best support their students during such a bizarre time.

Jennifer Erickson, an associate professor of political science, was one of those faculty members. Erickson clearly remembers that Wednesday evening and the days that ensued.

Erickson said that she and many of her students spent the evening trying to wrap their heads around the pandemic and their new reality of remote learning. Following Wednesday’s meeting, Erickson scheduled office hours for that Friday, and told her students that they could come in if they were interested.

“I ended up having a whole group of people in the hallway, talking to each other and to me about what they were worried about, or even just trying to figure out how to get home at the last minute,” Erickson said.

It was at this point , Erickson said, that she began to realize the toll the coming months would take on her students—a realization that

PHOTO COURTESY OF JENNIFER ERICKSON

Erickson continued conversations during pandemic-ridden summer.

“It was just such a weird experience,” Erickson said. “That last week on campus was so fraught and stressful. In every class, people were wondering what was going to happen.”

Erickson had previously scheduled a midterm for both sections of her Introduction to International Relations course on March 12, but after the announcement, Erickson immediately shifted gears, prioritizing ensuring the well-being of her students rather than their coursework completion.

“We had a review session scheduled for that Wednesday evening,” Erickson said. “After receiving Father Leahy’s email, I told my students that I’d come to the review session anyway, and that they could come and talk if they wanted to, and a bunch of people did.”

only strengthened her commitment to them.

As campus emptied out, Erickson sent a survey to her students asking them where they would be living and what their preferences were for the format of her class going forward.

Students decided to finish the course in an online synchronous format in which the group continued to meet on Zoom at its regularly scheduled time.

After a few weeks of Zoom sessions, Erickson sent all of her students individual emails to gauge how they were doing amid the pandemic. Their responses, she said, were varied.

“It was just such a weird experience,” Erickson said. “I think everybody struggled with it in their own ways, but everybody worked really

hard to get through it.”

Through these email exchanges and at office hours, she and her students began to talk about more than just international politics. With the end of the semester looming, Erickson noticed a common thread among her students—anxiety regarding summer plans.

Erickson would come to play an important role in easing these concerns.

From a young age, Erickson had her own share of academic summer activities. She grew up in a small town in lake-countr y Minnesota, seemingly far removed from her realm of expertise in international politics.

She credits much of her interest in international politics to her parents, who forced her to attend a Swedish language immersion camp run by Concordia College following fifth grade. She attended the camp for seven years.

While much of Erickson’s family history traces back to Sweden, her parents felt disconnected from their Nordic heritage, she said. Erickson’s grandparents grew up speaking Nordic languages, but her parents never learned the languages themselves, so they wanted Erickson to do what they did not. Despite her reluctance to attend the camp at the time, Erickson said she is grateful for her parents’ foresight in that area.

“I was not happy that they were sending me, but actually, I loved it,” Erickson said. “The immersion camp was really important in broadening my horizons and my way of thinking about the world, with regard to international politics and all of the global changes that were happening at the time.”

Years later, Erickson received an undergraduate degree in political science from St. Olaf College in 2001.

After graduating, Erickson took two years off from school to work before beginning her Ph.D. program in government at Cornell University, where she specialized in international relations.

Then, right before ever ything “fell apart” due to the 2008 financial crisis, Erickson said, she entered the academic job market.

Despite the state of the economy at the time, though, many universities were still looking to hire professors.

Out of several offers, Erickson ac-

cepted a position at BC as an assistant professor in the political science department and was jointly appointed to the international studies program.

While BC is a big research university, Erickson said, she was drawn to its liberal arts feel.

“Because of my undergraduate experience, I felt that the teaching side of my job would be very important to me and something that I would put a lot of time into,” she said. “I wanted an institution that would value that, but would also value me as a researcher and a scholar. Boston College is a place where I can be both of those things.”

Ten years later, Erickson found herself adapting to an unprecedented year of online learning and helping her many students adjust to the rapid change.

“I was talking to a lot of students who were struggling to find summer internships, and I started wondering what I could offer that would be interesting to undergraduates without being a burden on them,” Erickson said.

She ultimately came up with the idea for a summer workshop for international studies majors, which built from Introduction to International Relations, a required course for all sophomore international studies majors. She opened applications for the workshop and selected 14 students to participate.

Erickson held hour-long meetings once every two weeks over Zoom in which she tied in six different topics covered in Introduction to International Relations to contemporar y debates in international politics.

Daniela Vazquez Loriga, an international studies major and MCAS ’22, was one of the 14 students who participated in Erickson’s workshop.

Following the virtual conclusion of her sophomore year, Loriga found herself without any summer plans. Everything had fallen through because of COVID-19, Loriga said, so when Erickson reached out to Loriga and her peers regarding a summer workshop, Loriga jumped at the opportunity.

“I was just very excited to be using what I had learned throughout the year and to be getting more experience,” Loriga said. “Professor Erickson was very helpful in making sure that our brains were still working.”

In between sessions, Erickson sent out a number of readings to serve as

a basis for discussion. These texts ranged from historical background readings to academic analytical texts, along with contemporary news articles to distinguish modern debates.

Students discussed the assigned readings in each workshop session, responding to questions posed by Erickson as well as to their classmates’ points.

“I was encouraged that they were so engaged in each session for the whole time,” Erickson said. “They were really interacting with each other, and not just with me. I can only do so much, and they put a lot of effort into making the workshop good.”

Loriga said that the workshop was a positive experience and that she was grateful for Erickson’s willingness to volunteer her time and resources that summer.

“I wasn’t surprised when Professor Erickson emailed us with her idea for the workshop,” Loriga said. “She is such a caring professor, and you can tell that she really wants her students to succeed.”

In a year of both an unprecedented election and a pandemic, Erickson worked to foster ongoing dialogue with her international studies cohort, engaging her students with pressing international debates during the fall semester. Following the presidential election in November, Erickson held a discussion for the summer workshop group to delve into the election’s implications for international politics.

“I’ll ask them if they’d like to get together again to talk through what they’re thinking and what they’ve been reading. And I hope they’ll do it,” Erickson said. “I think it would be nice to come back together again when we have a momentous event.”

Erickson said that she would consider offering her workshop again in the summer of 2021 if enough students expressed interest.

Erickson used a setback to propel her students’ learning, an approach which she says was successful due to the commitment and interest of her students. She feels lucky to teach at BC, she said, because of the caliber of students that she has encountered there.

“I think I’ve felt that since I started here, but it’s been especially evident in these last couple of semesters,” Erickson said. “They’ve shown me how great BC students can be.” n

Pandemic Illuminates Research on Social Networks

By John Kalil Heights Staff

If you look at Alyssa Goldman’s areas of expertise, you might think she predicted the most hot button events of 2020. The new sociology professor at Boston College has long researched social interactions and racial justice within the United States—but over the last year, her research has gained a new relevance.

The Boston native studied psychology and government as an undergraduate student at Cornell University, and then graduated from the University of Chicago in 2008 with a master’s degree in social sciences. During her studies at both schools, Goldman took great interest in what would eventually become her focus as she pursued her Ph.D.—social networks and the health effects of incarceration and contact with the criminal justice system.

“I was always very interested in the social sciences and actually started taking some courses on prisons while I was an undergrad, and then was always interested in social interactions and everyday social contexts,” Goldman said. “I was always interested in the idea of social interactions, and I liked that social network analysis made it something that could be more systematically studied.”

After graduating with her master’s degree, Goldman worked as a client services consultant for Concept Systems, Inc., where she worked on projects related to social science and public health. Eventually, though, she decided that working as a consultant where research topics were chosen for her was unfulfilling, and that she wanted to formulate and delve into her own.

“I came to a point where I wanted to be asking a lot of the questions, as opposed to working on projects where

other people were driving the research questions,” Goldman said.

Driven by the desire to pursue her own interests, Goldman returned to Cornell and earned a Ph.D. in sociology in 2020. As a Ph.D. student, she researched the topics that piqued her interest as an undergraduate. Goldman’s dissertation centered around the social networks of older adults and the ways inequality can shape these networks.

Alongside other researchers at Cornell, she also studied the important ways that criminal justice and incarceration impact the health of both the incarcerated and their families.

“I was lucky at Cornell to find people who were looking at the criminal justice system in terms of its effects on health and families,” Goldman said.

According to University of Massachusetts Amherst professor Youngmin Yi, a friend of Goldman’s and former fellow Ph.D. student at Cornell, Goldman excelled as a scholar because of her meticulous nature.

“She is extremely rigorous, detail-oriented, and very careful about how she uses quantitative data or numerical information,” Yi said. “She doesn’t leave a single part of her analysis to chance.”

Goldman’s research sheds new light on two major social issues of the last year.

Her work investigates how social ties, relationships, and networks impact physical health, specifically with regards to the elderly. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, many elderly people have been cut off from social interactions while distancing themselves from relatives.

“Social networks are especially important to maintaining the health of older adults, so those who are disabled or otherwise functionally or cognitively impaired are going to rely on their close

social ties to help them with routine things like grocery store visits and medical visits,” Goldman said. “It becomes especially challenging for older adults to get these resources that they need.”

In addition to the challenge older adults face in getting their practical needs met, Goldman expects that this demographic will suffer with mental health problems as a result of social isolation. She is currently working with a research group to investigate the extent to which older adults are using technologies like Zoom to maintain social connections.

“Older adults are increasingly using the internet and technology, but it’s certainly not as widespread as in young adults, and so the interesting question is whether older adults have adopted these technologies more during the pandemic,” Goldman said.

Working alongside a former colleague from Cornell, Goldman took her research on social interactions one step further, looking into how interactions change based on race and socioeconomic status.

“We’re looking at racial and socioeconomic differences in patterns of daily contact among older adults prior to the pandemic,” Goldman said. “[We’re asking,] ‘Who is most socially at risk as a result of the pandemic?’”

Her research also delves into the implications of incarceration and contact with the criminal justice system on health.

“There’s tremendous research showing that incarceration is not only damaging to an individual’s health after experiencing incarceration, but also [to] the health of family members, the health of community members,” Goldman said.

In the past, Goldman has studied the specific health effects of incarceration on adult and child relatives of incarcerated individuals. She has also

studied the conditions of confinement in American prisons and jails as well as racial gaps in criminal convictions related to drug crimes. In a study published in 2018, Goldman found that Black men are disproportionately more likely to be at risk of experiencing a drug-related conviction. Goldman also looked into the impacts of reducing drug-related convictions on this disparity in the study.

In light of COVID-19, Goldman has taken interest in the efforts many prisons have undertaken to mitigate

search projects at once might seem overwhelming, but not for Goldman, according to Yi. “She’s extremely productive,” Yi said.

“She can have multiple projects going on at the same time and manage to nudge them forward at the same time in a way that makes it look easy.”

Outside of her many responsibilities as a professor and a researcher, Goldman also balances her role as the mother of two children and as an avid runner, who has completed the Chicago and the Philadelphia marathons. Her

PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHAEL GLASS

Goldman’s longstanding research interests offer insight into pandemic life. the spread of the virus, including by de-densifying or moving more inmates to solitary confinement, and the implications these changes will have.

In keeping with the topics she is passionate about, Goldman taught a course titled “Crime and Punishment” during her first semester as a professor at BC this past fall. The course covered theories of criminology and explored the policies that have driven an expansion in incarceration in the United States.

Tracking multiple, evolving re-

ability to juggle multifaceted research projects and personal commitments while remaining enthusiastic about them all is evident to all of those who know her, Yi said.

“She’s such a dedicated, good researcher, and she’s so excited about teaching and talks about it all the time.

She’s a great friend, and she’s also such a dedicated family member,” Yi said.

“She’s just genuinely committed and enthusiastic about all of the different things that she’s doing.” n

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Tuesday, February 16, 2021 A9

OFF-CAMPUS CRIME

By Haley Hockin News Editor Julia Kiersznowski Assoc. News Editor Victor Stefanescu Asst. News Editor And Amy Palmer Asst. News Editor

Hannah Freehill, MCAS ’22, first realized someone had broken into her off-campus house on Radnor St. when she noticed something was wrong with her jewelry.

“We got back and I went into my room and all my jewelry was on my desk in a ball,” Freehill said. “I was like ‘Oh that’s a little weird.’ I thought someone was trying something on and it accidentally got tangled.”

She then checked if her laptop was in her room—it wasn’t. Five out of seven laptops belonging to her and her roommates, as well as all the cash in the house and some jewelry, were gone. She and her roommates had only been out of their lower floor unit for a little over an hour.

Immediately, she and her roommates called the Boston Police Department (BPD). It took 30 minutes for an officer to arrive at their unit, she said.

“We had enough time to be crying and freaking out by ourselves,” Freehill said, though she also said that the officers who arrived were helpful and quick to try and calm the roommates down.

When a BPD detective arrived at their unit later that night, though, his investigation heightened the residents’ nerves.

“He would come into our rooms and be like, ‘That window, he could easily come into that window,’” Freehill said.

“Like, what are we supposed to do about that?”

Stephen Borne, a District 14 BPD officer, said that when BPD receives a burglary call, officers will respond differently depending on whether the crime has already taken place or if the suspects are still on the scene. The latter, he said, would prompt a larger response with more officers.

If the suspect has already fled the scene, a BPD officer will the suspect’s points of entry, record the victims’ information, and call in a detective for further investigation, according to Borne.

“So if you called 911 and you said, ‘You know, I just came home my front door is open, my laptop’s now missing,’” Borne said. “And you call 911 and stated that, then an officer would come out to your residence, observe the door that was left unlocked, take down the information of yourself or whoever the reporting party is, whoever the party whose laptop was taken. They would try to get serial numbers off of whatever you had for electronic devices or whatever.”

While neither the BPD officer nor the detective reporting to the Radnor St. house were able to identify the culprit, a resident of the unit above said that she was doing laundry while her downstairs neighbors were away and had seen a man leaving their unit.

“She saw a guy leaving out the back with a computer under his arm but she just thought it was one of our guy friends or boyfriends,” Freehill said. “He had a normal build, looked like a college kid and he was wearing a hoodie and a mask, obviously, so she couldn’t identify him.”

Almost immediately after the incident, Freehill and her roommates installed a Ring camera, which records outside of the house.

On the Friday following the breakin, their Ring camera recorded a man walking the length of their house, taking walks around the block, and coming back to their house multiple times. The following Monday, Ring footage also caught the man doing the same thing, as well as walking up the stairs to the door and inspecting the Ring camera.

“That [Monday] night we were like ‘Alright, we’ve got to do something’ because the detectives and the police told us from here on out to report any suspicious activity,” Freehill said.

Freehill, whose family lives in Chestnut Hill, called BPD while her mother called the Boston College Police Department (BCPD).

“While I was calling BPD my mom was calling BCPD, just to be like, ‘There’s a creepy guy outside my daughter’s, who lives off campus, house,’” she said. “They were like, ‘Oh, we’ll send someone over right away’ and they never sent one.”

The police never came to a conclusion in their investigation, the Radnor St.

window nine feet off the ground and left with three of their laptops.

After initially contacting their parents, the residents called BPD, and then BCPD, who were the first to arrive on the scene.

“BCPD came first, and then when Boston Police showed up, BCPD kind of

campus.

“I didn’t see him rattle my door, but I know that the robber has been like not even breaking and entering, and just like going into unlocked doors, so I would assume he tried the doors like maybe I didn’t lock it all the way or it didn’t go immediately after I left, like watching me

ÉAMON LAUGHLIN / HEIGHTS EDITOR

residents said.

Borne said that generally, resolutions for burglary cases benefit the victims.

“You know, personally I’ve experienced positive outcomes where we have gotten an individual that was seen inside of a residence,” he said. “We’ve also had luck with also recovering items. But that’s, you know, in a broad sense where I can only touch upon a few things.”

Students living in another off-campus house nearby on Gerald St. went out for dinner on the night of Nov. 6. They returned later to a seemingly calm yet violated home.

The residents had previously made

just left,” Emily Wells, one of the roommates and MCAS ’22, said.

BPD ran the investigation. A forensics team collected fingerprints from the windowsill, where the culprit had entered and a few other places around the house, and then left, according to the residents.

Since then, there have not been many developments in the investigation. One day after the break-in, the Find My iPhone feature linked to Dahlquist’s laptop showed it was moving on a Boston area interstate. She called BPD, but they took no action, according to Wells.

“Only because it was on a highway, it wasn’t an accurate location so they

to see like who’s leaving and if someone is,” she said.

Richardson said she spoke to BPD over the phone and gave a description of the man.

Hargraves said she spoke to BPD when they arrived at the apartment.

Hargraves said BPD took a description of the man, asked about the situation, and drove off in the direction Richardson said the man went.

“I just remember them not really taking it with a lot of like care,” Hargraves said. “They weren’t very sympathetic to the situation in terms of the fact that a lot of girls in the house were really scared

IKRAM ALI / HEIGHTS EDITOR

IKRAM ALI / HEIGHTS EDITOR

it a routine to lock up their laptops in a walk-in closet before leaving their house.

Emma Dahlquist, MCAS ’22, said that it had been coincidently left unlocked the night of the dinner. Entering her closet that night, she knew something was wrong.

“I was going in my closet, and I noticed that my laptop was no longer on my jewelry box, and so I called [my roommate], and I said, ‘Did you move my laptop?’,” Dahlquist said. “She thought I was joking.”

Locked doors and inoperative surveillance cameras were not enough to stop a burglary. According to Dahlquist and her roommates, the culprit entered through a

couldn’t have [pursued the laptop],” Wells said.

Carly Richardson, MCAS ’23, and Elizabeth Hargraves, MCAS ’22, shared their experience with BPD after a man attempted to enter their off-campus apartment on Kirkwood in early November.

Richardson said she saw a man on the front porch of her apartment while leaving in the car, flashed the car lights at the man, and he pulled up his hood and walked away quickly. She said the man was white, wearing mostly gray and black, had a beard, and appeared to be middle-aged. She also said he had a sleeve of tattoos, which matched a description she heard from other students living off

and some people were crying.”

Hargraves said she does not remember if she and her roommates ever spoke with BCPD, but was unsettled knowing that neither BCPD or BPD were able to stop the offender.

“It’s definitely a little unsettling considering both BCPD and Boston PD have jurisdiction over our neighborhood,” Hargraves said. “I knew that it was a repeat offender who was going around and kind of hitting these off-campus houses, and it didn’t seem like much was done to either find out who it was or or put a stop to it.”

Since then, Richardson and Hargraves said they have not heard any updates from BPD.

Although off-campus areas are under the jurisdiction of BPD, Borne said the department often collaborates with BCPD in policing them, especially on weekends.

“We have a very good relationship with the Boston College Police Department,” he said. “During the football games we work together. During the weekends we have extra cars on … that one of the patrol cars will carry a Boston College police officer with them on patrol. We’re also very involved with, you know, off-campus resident life.”

Julia Evers, MCAS ’22, said she often feels the police are patrolling the neighborhoods at the wrong times, and that their first priority often seems to be catching students for drinking.

“I’m not sure if it’s BCPD or Boston PD, but I feel like Saturday nights on Kirk or Foster Street, you see hordes of police cars going up and down the street,” she said. “So it kind of feels like they’re, like, over policing when they think kids are going to be drinking or whatever, and then when actual things happen, like break-ins, they don’t do anything.”

BPD Sergeant Detective John Boyle said collaborating with BCPD makes off-campus communities safer.

“We have a lot of history with the department, we work in partnership with them, as well as we work in partnership with the students and the college itself,” he said. “Basically, you know, our goal is to build neighborhoods without fear, prevent crime, you know, arrest perpetrators.”

Brooke Kaiserman, a former Heights editor and MCAS ’21, lived in a house on Gerald St. last year.

One of Kaiserman’s former roommates, Abby Schlageter, MCAS ’21, said that in January of last year an unfamiliar man knocked on her door and told her that he was from Verizon and needed to do maintenance on her house’s cable lines. He repeatedly asked her if any of her roommates would be home before 8 p.m. When Schlateger said no, the man left and did not return back to her house at any point that day.

The next month, Kaiserman was home when another unfamiliar man rang her doorbell.

“The first thing he said to me was, ‘I’m not a salesman, I’m not a Mormon,’” she said.

The man then said that he needed to check the girls’ electricity, and was doing this for all for the town of Brighton.

Kaiserman did not let the man enter the house.

Annie Bredemann, another one of Kaiserman’s roommates and MCAS ’21, had her mother call BPD about an hour after the incident. The police said they were frustrated that the girls had called so long after the incident had occurred, and told Bredemann’s mother that the girls should ask for a police walkthrough of the house and not go back to the house alone.

She then called BPCD, who came with the girls to do the walkthrough of their house.

During the walkthrough, BCPD officers told Bredemann and Erin Santacrose, another roommate and CSON ’21, to never answer the door unless they had a predetermined maintenance appointment, to call the police as soon as the incident happened, and to take a picture of an unfamiliar person through the window to scare them off and to have evidence, Kaiserman said.

After the house walkthrough, Bredemann called their landlord to make sure that the man had not been sent by him. The landlord said he had not sent the man and that the event seemed very suspicious, according to Kaiserman.

According to Borne, Kirkwood Rd. and Gerald St. could be classified as burglary hotspots. The high concentration of college students living on these streets attracts criminals, he said.

“You know, I would say it’s elevated, or it’s a hotspot in terms of you only have a certain type of community living in that area,” Borne said.

In 1990, students wrote in a letter to the editor in The Heights about the inconveniences of off-campus living, discussing the fear of crime that off-campus residents have to live with.

The Heights

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

- “We have had to deal with a landlord dwho is often unsympathetic to the needs hof his tenants and is not overly concerned nwith the safety and protection of these tenants,” the students wrote. “... Most precently we were awakened in the middle -of the night and harassed by a group of sstrange men as they tried to kick our door sin. Altogether we have filed four police

p.m. being very insistent on bringing our groceries inside and like trying to get in the house,” Isabelle Sorensen, one of the roomates and MCAS ’22, said.

They suspect that the culprit tried to determine whether men or women lived in the house by knocking on the door in daylight, and seeing whether a man or woman would anwer. If it was a man, the

Joelle Kelley, another resident of the Radnor unit and CSOM ’22, also said that she and her roommates have become much more aware of their valuables after having to replace the ones that were stolen.

“We hide our laptops everytime we leave because we’re nervous,” she said.

“We just don’t trust, even being in the

house, that someone’s not there so we usually keep our laptops with us all the time.”

Kelley said that BC needs to take more steps to address off-campus break-ins, since this is not the first year that they have been happening.

“I think BC needs to take certain steps, like maybe putting blue lights on the streets out here because that could

residents that break-ins are a common occurrence.

Luke Welch, CSOM ’23, plans on living on Foster St. next year and is familiar with the trend of off-campus burglaries.

Welch said that his friend’s sister has shared stories of burglaries that she heard about as a junior.

“One of my buddy’s sisters lived off campus last year as a junior, and there was this man who acted as an Xfinity cable guy … [and] they believed him,” he said. “He ended up being like a robber or something, like that he stole stuff too.”

“I hear very often about houses being broken into,” Evers said. “I feel like it’s kind of spoken about like it’s an inevitability, like it’s gonna happen at some point. … Our landlord does have a ton of security cameras around the house, so I’m less worried about it for us, but I’m still worried about it.”

Welch said he is not concerned about living off campus, but still plans on being vigilant with safety precautions.

“I’m not personally worried about it,” he said. “I just think it comes down to being smart, and like always remember to lock your doors. I mean, that’s the only thing that we can do.”

Connolly said that she plans to live on Kirkwood next year as a junior, and that she has already taken many precautions to keep herself safe—including not walking home alone at night and not staying on main campus late—which she plans to continue next year.

“If I am listening to music or a podcast or something, I’ll take a headphone out, or I will keep it on lower volume just so I can like, be aware of what’s going on around me,” Connolly said.

The robbery left the Gerald St. residents more vigilant than they were before. Their locked house fell victim to

idents have been taking, they said, are common among women living off campus.

“I definitely was a little bit more like on edge and I still am,” Richardson said.

“I always am on edge when I’m walking around late at night in the dark, but for the most part I kind of always felt safe on our side yard where our driveway is. But like after that I had three Ring cameras installed and lights that would trigger with motion and like any recording of our front door. I was like I need that now because I was literally being watched …

So I definitely would say that it made me super uneasy.”

Welch said it’s important for off-campus residents to act proactively in preventing burglaries.

“It’s not like these houses are super nice with, like, high tech security or anything … we can’t stop people from being who they are, but it’s just being proactive about it and sort of remembering to lock your door, close the curtains when you’re gone, stuff like that,” he said.

Borne said that the BPD takes steps to thwart crime in off-campus areas.

Aside from attaching posters to the doors of off-campus residences with tips on keeping houses secure, the department works in conjunction with the Office of Residential Life to conduct an informational meeting for off-campus students in the fall, where they give guidance for how to prevent burglary.

“So myself and another officer, we go and speak at that meeting, and we try to impress upon the students the importance of, you know, locking your doors, being vigilant, seeing something and saying something,” he said.

Freehill said that she wished BC would do more to combat off campus break-ins, especially because BC does not

roommates said they believe a robbery would have been less likely.

Evers said that although, for the most part, she feels safe in her off-campus house, the reality of six girls living alone is that they always have to be mindful of the possibilities.

“I’m not a very worrisome person, but I think it is something I think about pretty often because we are young and women,” she said. “So we have to think about it.”

Kelly Connolly, a transfer student and CSOM ’23, lives in a residence hall at 2000 Commonwealth Ave. Connolly said she initially was not too concerned about off-campus safety when talking to the Office of Undergraduate Admission and other students about transferring to BC. “But then when I got to school, I started hearing some stories,” Connolly said.

Connolly said that her roommates were waiting for the Commonwealth Ave. bus behind Gabelli Hall to return home when a man approached them and tried to make conversation with them.

“They walked away, [and] he started kind of chasing them,” Connolly said. “ …

I think having someone I know have an unfavorable incident or something like that definitely scared me, so I definitely think it’s something I’ll just be very cognizant of next year.”

After three incidents at their own house, and hearing about countless others from other BC students who live in nearby off campus houses, Freehill and her roommates said that they all feel more uneasy in their unit on Radnor.

“All of us have never felt unsafe in our own home and now this year we feel like we’re always on edge,” Moira Garry, Freehill’s roommate and MCAS ’22, said.

“We are constantly checking locks and windows.”

potentially scare [anyone attempting to break in] away,” she said.

Emergency blue lights, which are scattered across campus, contain panic buttons that connect students directly with BCPD during emergencies.

Though Evers and her roommates have not experienced a break-in at their house on Kirkwood, she said that there is a general consensus among off-campus

a targeted robbery, so now, they go about their days off-campus like they could again be targeted.

“Especially since the robbery, like even before that when you’ve heard about the robberies, like we’ve definitely made a concerted effort to lock the door, which you don’t think about in your dorm,” Wells said.

The extra precautions that the res-

grant four years of housing to all students, so some juniors may not have the option to live on campus.

“They kind of are the reason we are off-campus,” she said. “They kicked us off here because they don’t have enough space for us so I think they need to take certain measures to keep us safe and I think they need to actually care about it and what happens.” n

e

n

e e ,

s

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lreports since moving into our apartment ,last September. Unfortunately, police re-ports cannot abate the fear that we have experienced as a result of this.” s Between Dec. 15, 2015 and March 17, n2016, there were 27 reported break-ins among off campus residences, many of -which included stolen valuables such as dlaptops. In 2016, a house on Lake Street rwas robbed at gunpoint. Though the rtenants were not harmed, the invaders dstole many valuable items, including ecredit cards. f On March 17, 2016 The Heights wrote 8an editorial calling for a better alert sysntem for off-campus break-ins, and the efollowing August, it wrote an editorial calling for the University to address the sbreak-ins and warn students about what gthey would face by living off campus.

Foster St., Kirkwood Rd., Lake St., and many other popular student-occupied lo, cations off campus are in Brighton, which ” is located in the BPD district D-14. In the dmost recently released data, BPD reportsed 36 robberies or attempted robberies .and 121 instances of residential burglary ein D-14 from Jan. 1 to Nov. 15 of 2020.

Although the BPD investigation into the burglary on Gerald St. from Novemf ber has been unsuccessful, the residents , are confident in their own theory of who r the culprit may have been: an unidentiy fied man who had knocked on their door o just days before the break-in. d The residents said that a man knocked s on their door at 3 p.m. on the prior Friday, e asking if a man named Tyler lived there. .

That same man similarly loitered around e their neighbor’s houses that same day too, f the residents said.

D “I was talking to the girls across the -street, just if they had any footage that Nwe could use, ... and they’re like no, but ssome guy was over here earlier at like 3 e n a h e

A7 A9

IKRAM ALI / HEIGHTS EDITOR

IKRAM ALI / HEIGHTS EDITOR

e y t y

. n s

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r e s ÉAMON LAUGHLIN / HEIGHTS EDITOR , SOURCE: BPD

CANNED. The Heights

A8

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

BC men’s basketball head coach Jim Christian posted just one winning season in nearly seven years, and he got the boot on Monday.

From Jim Christian, A1

The COVID-19 pandemic, however, secured Christian’s job on a temporary basis. Then-Athletics Director Martin Jarmond opted to keep Christian on for another season.

“There’s uncertainty when we’re going to have students back on campus, there’s uncertainty about graduation, there’s uncertainty about the fall,” Jarmond said about his decision, as reported in The Boston Globe. “With so much uncertainty, I just feel like it’s important to have stability in your leadership.”

With his job saved by the pandemic, Christian has shown no improvement during the 2020-21 season, as the Eagles have slipped even deeper into the depths of the ACC standings. BC is currently last in the ACC with a woeful 1-9 conference record.

BC has recorded just three wins during the 2020-21 campaign.

The firing is the first major move for Kraft, who was hired by BC in June of last year. Kraft oversaw one men’s basketball coaching change during his time at Temple with the hiring of head coach Aaron McKie in 2019 after longtime Owls head coach Fran Dunphy retired.

Huge losses became something of Christian’s signature during his time on the Heights. The Eagles lost five games by at least 20 points during the 2019-20 season and have lost by that margin 26 times during Christian’s six-plus years in charge. BC’s 38-point loss to Syracuse earlier this season put his proclivity for huge defeats on full display, a loss only exceeded by the 39-point drubbing that Duke levied against the Eagles last season.

Since finishing above .500 in the 2017-18 season, Christian has seen the Eagles take a large step back in terms of performance, unable to compete on the conference and national level. While BC had hoped to maintain its momentum following the departure of Jerome Robinson—replacing him with Jairus Hamilton and then-junior Ky Bowman—the Eagles failed to replicate their winning season, instead taking a dramatic step back from the season prior.

BC’s most impressive performance under Christian came during the 2017-18 season, when the Eagles upset then-top ranked Duke 89-84. The victory snapped the Blue Devils’ 11-game win streak over the Eagles.

With Christian at the helm, BC not only struggled on the floor, but also on the recruiting trail. BC averaged a 12th-place finish in the ACC recruiting rankings over Christian’s seven signing classes.

Two Eagles were drafted into the NBA during Christian’s time in charge. Olivier Hanlan was drafted in the second round in 2015 by the Utah Jazz and Robinson was selected 13th overall by the Los Angeles Clippers in 2018.

“I am confident that our student-athletes will compete hard down the stretch in this most unusual year with our full support,” Kraft said in the release. “We will begin a national search immediately to find a new leader of our young men on the Heights.” n

BC To Start Immediate National Replacement Search

By Emma Healy Sports Editor

Seven seems to be an unlucky number of seasons for Boston College head coaches.

BC fired Steve Addazio in December of 2019 at the conclusion of his seventh season, and on Monday, Jim Christian got the boot midway into his seventh year as the head coach of BC men’s basketball.

After just one winning season in his seven years on the Heights and no appearances in the NCAA Tournament, Christian left BC fans with much to be desired, but his seven-year tenure will undoubtedly leave a mark—for better or worse—on the program.

The question remains: where will BC turn for the positive change it’s been missing for nearly a decade?

BC Athletics is immediately beginning a national search for Christian’s replacement who will be “a new leader of our young men on the Heights,” according to a press release.

Regardless of who takes over, BC needs a coach focused on recruiting. In the Christian era, the Eagles’ recruiting classes have averaged in the cellar of the ACC. Plus, what the transition in football from Addazio to Jeff Hafley brought that was so beneficial for the program was Hafley’s increased focus on student engagement, and a coach who could pack the stands at Conte Forum—once it’s safe to do so—couldn’t hurt either.

With those things in mind, here are a few potential picks to lead the Eagles. This list is not exhaustive, nor is it based on any official releases from Athletics Director Pat Kraft or BC Athletics.

Porter Moser, Loyola Chicago Head Coach Interim head coach Scott Spinelli is familiar with a lot of Moser’s former stops.

Although the two never overlapped, each has spent time at Texas A&M and Loyola Chicago. He’s been the head coach at Loyola Chicago since 2011, taking the

Ramblers on their Cinderella-story-esque Final Four run in 2018. In his time with Loyola Chicago, Moser’s Ramblers went from 7-23 in 2011-12 to 20-14 seven years later. The same sort of 180-degree turnaround is all BC fans can hope for.

Tommy Amaker, Harvard Head Coach Amaker, though he’s been in the Ivy League since 2007, has ACC experience, first as a player himself and then ser ving as an assistant coach under Mike Krzyzewski at Duke. His connection to BC also runs back more than a decade, as Harvard’s 2009 win over then-No. 17 BC marked Harvard’s first win over a ranked team. Another win over BC in 2016-17 earned Amaker his 179th win, making him the winningest coach in program history. He also oversaw the development of Jeremy Lin while the future NBA star played for Harvard.

John Beilein, Former Michigan Head Coach Beilien, though he’s pushing 70 years old, has a track record of success. He’s not the young, bold choice that Hafley was for BC football, but Beilien has proven he’s willing to put in the work. Beilein began as a high school coach before working his way through Erie Community College and a handful of Division III schools. Beilein got his big break at Michigan in 2007, where he worked for 12 years before spending a year as the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

He’s best known for fully rebuilding the Michigan program after Amaker’s departure, and he inherited a team finishing out a period of scholarship reduction due to a scandal, but within three years, his team made its way to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Jared Dudley, 2020 NBA Champion and BC ’07 Dudley plays for the Los Angeles Lakers

and has been in the league since he was drafted No. 22 overall in the 2007 NBA Draft. He graduated from BC after being named the 2006-07 ACC Player of the Year and averaging 15.9 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in his college career. BC’s switch from the Big East to the ACC in 2005 fell in the middle of his time at BC, and the 2021 season with the Lakers marks just the second team Dudley has played with for more than one season. Dudley is familiar with how major transitions affect players and teams, making him an ideal candidate to oversee a shift in leadership at BC. The problem is, he’s still under contract with the Lakers. If BC could’ve ridden the Christian wave through November of 2021, Dudley would be a great candidate to take the reins.

But BC’s 2021-22 season will be well underway at that point, and Dudley has made no indication, even at 35 years old, that he has any intent to leave the pros. n

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Scott Spinelli To Assume Interim Head Coach Role

By John Scrimgeour Heights Staff

In the midst of another underwhelming season, Boston College Athletics fired BC men’s basketball head coach Jim Christian mid-season, effective immediately.

Scott Spinelli, the current associate head coach of the Eagles (313, 1-9 Atlantic Coast), is set to replace Christian as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season, according to a statement from BC Athletics earlier today. Spinelli has been an assistant coach with the Eagles since 2014.

Spinelli has earned his reputation as an excellent recruiter over his 31-year career, having most notably helped to send recruits such as DeAndre Jordan, Khris Middleton, Alex Len, Jerome Robinson, and Ky Bowman to the NBA.

A Massachusetts native, Spinelli was born in Leominster and graduated from Boston University in 1989. Spinelli walked on to the basketball team at BU and eventually earned a scholarship as a

B U

point guard for the Terriers.

Immediately after graduating from BU, Spinelli began his coaching career at the prep level for Milford Academy, where he coached for three seasons.

In 1993, Spinelli founded the basketball program at the Winchendon School in Winchendon, Mass., where he produced several Division I players including Randell Jackson. The school remains one of the top prep school programs in the Northeast today.

Spinelli split the years between 1996 and 1999 as an assistant coach at the University of Wyoming and American University, where he helped to recruit two nationally ranked classes. Spinelli then worked as a scout for the Philadelphia 76ers, evaluating Big East and Atlantic 10 talent for one year, before returning to college basketball in 2001.

After serving as an assistant coach for Loyola Chicago for two years, followed by a stint at the University of Nebraska from 2003 to 2006, Spinelli got his first job as an associate head coach at Wichita State in 2006 under head coach Mark Turgeon.

Turgeon took Spinelli with him to Texas A&M, where the two accrued a handful of talented recruits for the 20072008 season, including five-star recruit Jordan. From 2007 to 2011, A&M won 102 games and advanced to the NCAA Tournament all four years.

In 2011, Turgeon once again took Spinelli with him to his new school to hold the same position, this time at the University of Maryland. While with the Terrapins, Spinelli helped the program land three top-25 recruiting classes, including a top-10 class in 2014.

In 2014, Spinelli left Turgeon to become the associate head coach at BC under Christian. At BC, Spinelli was the lead recruiter in helping the Eagles land current NBA players Robinson and Bowman, once again showing why he is widely regarded as one of the elite recruiters in the country.

Since 2014, the Eagles have posted just one winning record: the 2017-2018 season when the Eagles went 19-16 but just 7-11 in ACC play. While Spinelli’s career under Christian thus far has not been

LEO WANG / HEIGHTS STAFF

Scott Spinelli (right) will take over Christian’s position on an interim basis.

remarkable, Christian’s firing gives Spinelli the temporary chance to lead his own team.

The situation Spinelli is stepping into is not ideal, as the Eagles have been battling COVID-19 and injuries all season. In a hard-fought loss to Syracuse last Saturday, BC had only seven scholarship players active for the game. With a game at Georgia Tech (9-8, 5-6) this coming Wednesday, Spinelli will look to prove his worth while leading a severely undermanned Eagles

team.

Spinelli has seen success at every level of basketball during his career, but stepping into the driver’s seat of a program that has struggled to find relevance since departing the Big East is the newest challenge for the interim head coach. Sitting at 3-13 with five games left in the regular season, Spinelli and BC will be looking to turn their season around heading into the ACC Tournament. n

A9

The Heights

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

RUNNING ON EMPTY BC men’s basketball has struggled to stay healthy, leading to dwindling manpower and a string of brutal losses. A 75-67 decision against Syracuse was no different.

IKRAM ALI / HEIGHTS EDITOR

By John Scrimgeour Heights Staff Boston College men’s basketball has been plagued by a short bench for most of its season so far, and Saturday’s matchup against Syracuse Boston College 67 was no exception.

Syracuse 75 BC had seven active scholarship players against the Orange, giving plenty of opportunities for the five available walk-ons to fill in. Andrew Kenny was the only walk-on to appear, however, and he saw just one minute on the floor, leaving only seven players to do the vast majority of the heavy lifting.

Despite the lack of manpower, Saturday’s game was a big improvement from the last time the two teams met, when Syracuse (12-6, 6-5 Atlantic Coast) came

to Conte Forum and dismantled the Eagles by double digits. BC (3-13, 1-9) seemed to play with renewed energy on Saturday even without a full roster but still dropped a 75-67 decision at the Carrier Dome.

“We executed so much better today than we did the first time we played them,” then-BC head coach Jim Christian said. “We got great shots, and I thought we attacked the zone very, very well.”

Despite the improvement, Syracuse’s infamous 2-3 zone defense proved to be difficult to score on yet again, as the Eagles struggled to get easy looks inside. All together, BC’s 67 points came on 23-of-63 shooting from the field and 9-of-31 shooting from 3-point range.

The Eagles took their only lead in the game off of a Rich Kelly 3-pointer around three minutes into the first half. Aside from

the lone exception where BC led 6-4, the Eagles fought from behind, turning defense into offense and capitalizing in transition.

BC managed to hang around for 40 minutes by staying active on the defensive end, forcing 16 Syracuse turnovers throughout the afternoon. During their late first-half run, in which they cut their deficit to two points, the Eagles used a full-court press after made baskets to force back-to-back Syracuse turnovers.

While the full-court press was effective, playing defense for 94 feet was tough to do for extended periods of time without a full active roster. Christian applauded the efforts of his team, but he mentioned fatigue, and the frequent layoffs due to injuries and health protocols that his players have had to deal with, as huge factors in the result.

“Again, this whole thing is about health,”

Christian said. “We want to win and we’re going to do everything we can to win. But if a guy’s coming off that type of layoff, he’s not going to be where he was right away.”

Christian was talking about freshman guard DeMarr Langford Jr., who returned to game action against Syracuse after only one practice. Langford played 20 minutes and scored 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting against the Orange.

Steffon Mitchell played in his usual stat sheet-stuffing form, recording 12 points on 3-of-7 shooting, which complemented his 10 rebounds and four assists.

Sophomore duo CJ Felder and Jay Heath continued their streak of strong play. Felder contributed nine points and 12 rebounds, while Heath scored 14 points and had two steals on the defensive end.

For the Orange, all five starters scored

in double figures, led by Joe Girard III who posted 16 points, including two quick threes in the first half.

The win for Syracuse means that the Orange have now won 12 of their 15 matchups with the Eagles since joining the ACC, including wins in all six of their last meetings. The game marked the fourthstraight loss for BC, a streak the Eagles will try to end in their next matchup at Georgia Tech on Wednesday. BC will look to move on from the loss, and hopefully see some more players return to action before Wednesday’s game.

“You’ve got to let them play through the fatigue a little bit,” Christian said. “You know they’re going to make some mistakes but it’s going to help us, you know, in the long run.

The more bodies we have the better we can be.” n

Barnes’ OT Goal Lifts BC Over Friars

By Nicole Cho Heights Staff With 2:18 left in overtime and Boston College women’s hockey tied with Providence at one apiece, Hadley Hartmetz carried Providence 1 the puck near Boston College 2 the Providence blue line and dished it off to Savannah Norcross. Norcross wound up for a huge slap shot, but whether she meant to pass or shoot ended up unimportant, as she perfectly placed the puck at the stick of Cayla Barnes next to the goal. Barnes immediately poked the puck past Providence goalie Sandra Abstreiter, scoring her third goal of the season and securing the win for BC by a final tally of 2-1.

Despite the Eagles’ (12-3) strong finish, the No. 10 Friars (10-6-1) held the

BC struggled with penalties all night, handing the Friars five power plays throughout the game. Kelly Browne particularly struggled with clean play, heading to the box in the first period for interference and again in the third period for delaying the game. Luckily, Providence failed to score during any of its 5-on-4 opportunities. In fact, all three of the afternoon’s goals came at full strength.

It took t he Eag les u nt i l m idway through the second period to level the score. Hannah Bilka skated through traffic, weaving her way through defenders, and ultimately set Norcross up perfectly, right in front of the Friars’ net. Bilka’s assist marked her 50th career point, while Norcross scored her 10th goal of the season.

Following Norcross’ goal, the momentum of the game shifted in BC’s favor.

At the end of regulation, BC and Providence were stuck in a 1-1 tie. Just under three minutes into overtime, however, Norcross broke the tie with a go-ahead goal, sending the Eagles home with a win minutes later.

The Eagles opened the year by rotating through three goalies, but Levy has taken over the starting responsibilities in some of the bigger games due to her consistent strong play, including a shutout against UConn two weekends ago. She had another strong showing on Friday afternoon, notching 30 total saves, including a big save on a breakaway during a Providence power play in the last few seconds of the third period.

“I think Abby’s been playing great for us,” BC head coach Katie Crowley said in her postgame press conference. “She got tested again today with … a breakaway there, and a couple of power plays where they had opportunities.”

played them so far, and I think finding ways to score on her, being more diligent in front of that net, and trying to take away her eyes, trying to get some tips and screens in there will be helpful.”

The Eagles’ dramatic win gave them their first victory of the season against the Friars. BC has fallen 3-2 in both of the teams’ prior matchups this season. Due to updated Hockey East scheduling procedures, BC’s next matchup has not yet been announced.

With Friday’s victory, BC has extended its winning streak to nine games. The Eagles’ hot streak started when they split a two-game series with Northeastern, and has continued with sweeps of Merrimack, Holy Cross, and UConn. BC is currently ranked No. 7 in the NCAA, and with 13 wins it’s tied with just Penn State for the second most in the country.

lead for much of regulation. Friars forward Bailey Burton scored five minutes into the game. Coming off a pass from Brooke Becker, Burton sprinted through the neutral zone and snapped a quick, low shot past BC goaltender Abigail Levy.

More accurate passing and fast-paced stick handling allowed the Eagles to attempt 19 shots on goal, in comparison to the Friars’ seven, in the third period.

Unfortunately for BC, its increase in shots did not result in a third period goal.

Abstreiter also put on an impressive performance, racking up 31 saves.

“We [have] got to find a way to score more on even strength with this goalie,” Crowley said of Abstreiter. “Obviously, she’s played great in the three times that we

“I thought we had some other scoring opportunities that we could have scored on, but their goalie played great,” Crowley said. “And you know, we were able to find one out there in the overtime, so it was a nice one for us.” n

Eagles Storm Back From 2-0 Deficit To Beat Lowell

By Maria O’Donnell Heights Staff

With a little over 10 minutes remaining in the second period, Boston College men’s hockey was in an unfamiliar place.

Down two goals Boston College 4 to UMass LowUMass Lowell 3 ell, the Eagles showed no signs of their usual, aggressive selves. The Eagles desperately needed someone to bring the spark and momentum back into their offense, and both Drew Helleson and Jack McBain were up for the task. After roughing penalties against both teams, BC capitalized on the 4-on-4 play as Helleson sent a beautiful cross-net pass to McBain, who fired it past the River Hawks’ goalie Owen Savory and earned BC its first point.

Less than two minutes later, Helleson struck again on a perfect pass from Nikita Nesterenko, and Helleson tipped the puck into UMass Lowell’s net to tie the score at 2-2.

“He was a big factor in both goals and he is a defenseman that also [has many] offensive gifts to him,” BC head coach Jerry York said about Helleson in his postgame press conference. “He moves [the] puck very well and he can score goals … that was [one] of the big turning points of the game.”

BC went on to win the game 4-3 despite a very slow start on offense. The night prior, the No. 1 Eagles (13-3-1) held UMass Lowell (4-7) to one goal while

racking up seven of their own. BC looked like a completely different team when the puck dropped in Tsongas Arena on Saturday night. The Eagles’ usual quick passes and tenacious defense were replaced by much sloppier play, resulting in the early two-goal deficit.

“That was a much better Lowell team than the score indicated. … They had us back on our heels after the first period,” York said.

Less than five minutes into the first period, UMass Lowell’s Blake Wells fired a slap shot into the upper righthand corner of BC’s net, giving the River Hawks an early lead and plenty of momentum.

The River Hawks capitalized on BC’s stagnant defense once again in the final minutes of the first frame. Andre Lee easily sliced through the Eagles’ defense and beat BC goaltender Spencer Knight in a 1-on-0 situation with a drag to the right, bringing the score to 2-0 and further solidifying the River Hawks’ lead.

After Helleson and McBain’s efforts in the middle of the second frame, the game’s intensity increased exponentially.

Frustrations over late penalties and offside calls riled up the Eagles. BC’s Jack St. Ivany led the Eagles in their aggressive defensive efforts to keep the puck out of their zone.

“You [have] got to have some balance in your scoring,” York said. “Secondary scoring is important for us, but Jack [St. Ivany]’s line—especially Jack—has been playing really, really well. He’s a junior

AUDREY THALHEIM / FOR THE HEIGHTS

BC trailed UMass Lowell 2-0 midway through the second period but fought back to sweep the weekend series. now and he’s got two freshmen on his wings and I think he’s brought them along very, very well. And now that line’s pretty dangerous.”

Nine seconds into the third period, after McBain won a faceoff, Nesterenko went flying toward the River Hawks’ net and sent a beautiful slap shot into the upper righthand corner, earning the Eagles their first lead of the game.

“Tonight there were [many] game breakers for us, and that big goal by Nikita was certainly a big momentum change for us.” York said. “We have some scorers

up and down the lineup, but [Matt] Boldy’s line is our number one line, and they’re going to take all kinds of checking during the course of the season. They try to shut that one line down, we’ve got to have help from the other lines.”

The Eagles only went up from there as McBain notched his second goal with another slap shot into the UMass Lowell net with the ever-present Helleson earning credit for the assist, giving BC a comfortable two-goal lead. The River Hawks scored with less than a second left to bring the score within one, but their

efforts weren’t enough to take down the nation’s top team.

Despite two very different games this weekend, a win is a win, and the Eagles added another weekend sweep to their record.

“I thought we responded really well and 4-on-4 [play] was certainly a critical part of the game,” York said. “We got two goals right back, and then Nikita’s early goal in the third period was a spark for us. Lowell never quit, and they are a good solid team [and] are hard to play against.” n

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Slowthai’s ‘TYRON’ Explores New Sound

By Nathan Rhind Heights Senior Staff In 1977, Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols sang, “God save the queen / She ain’t no human being / There is no future / In England’s dreaming.” Nearly 10 years later, in 1986, Morrissey of the Smiths sang, “Her very Lowness with her head in a sling / I’m truly sorry but it sounds like a wonderful thing.”

And just recently, on the title track of his 2019 album, Nothing Great About Britain, Slowthai rapped, “I will treat you with the utmost respect / Only if you respect me a little bit Elizabeth, you c--t.” Combining the acerbic wit of the British punk era with the swagger of Dizzee Rascal and other grime

trailblazers, Slowthai has crafted a voice that is utterly his own—at once an advocate for the downtrodden, yet also a fierce critic of Boris Johnson’s populism and its xenophobic undertones. Case in point, Slowthai brandished a replica of the prime minister’s severed head on stage at the Hyundai Mercury Prize Awards in 2019.

Born Tyron Frampton in Northampton, England, his nom de guerre Slowthai is inspired, like much of his work, by his childhood and outsider status—his friends called him “slow Ty” because of his tendency to slur his words. Indeed, on his newest album TYRON, Frampton struggles to escape the self-destructive tendencies of his teenage years.

Divided into two seven-track parts, the

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‘TYRON’ SLOWTHAI DISTRIBUTED BY INTERSCOPE RECORDS RELEASE FEB. 12, 2021 OUR RATING

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album explores the nature of the actual and the aspirational—the question of whether we can escape who we are and become who we truly want to be. The first half sees Frampton indulge his usual manic impulses—flaunting his lyrical chops and material success with lovable braggadocio. In the second half, however, Frampton abandons his Slowthai act for a character no less captivating yet infinitely more vulnerable— himself. Slowthai fans, meet Tyron.

One of the starker moments of introspection arrives on “i tried,” the first track on the album’s second act. Producer Kwes Darko samples Trey Gruber’s chorus “I tried to die / I tried to take my life / I tried” at the beginning of the track—a chorus made all the more heavy by the death of Gruber in 2017 after a long battle with heroin and alcohol addiction. Frampton is anxious to avoid the fate that befell Gruber and, after the chorus, raps “Ayy, long roads, took a tumble down this black hole / Stuck in Sunday league but I’m on levels with Ronaldo.” Here, Frampton is frustrated that he recognizes his potential, yet he is helpless to escape his inner demons.

An equally intense moment arrives on his final verse of the album on “adhd.” Here, Frampton vents about his manic psyche and explores the effects of ADHD through a series of evocative metaphors and allusions. At one point, he raps, “Caught in Charlotte’s Web, I can’t feel myself /

Mind complexity be the death of me.” At another—his distorted vocals echoing over a sinister piano instrumental—he howls, “And this stress soon to give me alopecia / And I’m vexed tryna smile like Mona Lisa.”

Brilliant instrumentation and despondent lyricism do not appear solely on “i tried” and “adhd” but rather abound on the album’s second half. In addition, the second half’s introspective character study is elevated by the contributions of multiple collaborators. On “terms,” Dominic Fike provides an indie-soul chorus, “push” features plaintive acoustic strumming and whispery vocals from Deb Never, and “focus” is anchored by a zany Kenny Beats instrumental. Frampton succeeds on the album’s second half by steering clear of the performative self-pity of Drake’s Take Care and the vapid fetishization of drug abuse found in emo rap.

I would be remiss to neglect the first half of the project. On “CANCELLED,” Frampton enlists Skepta as his partner in crime as they rant against cancel culture.

The inspiration for this track most likely came from Frampton’s widely criticized conduct at the NME Awards.

Russian novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn said, “The battleline between good and evil runs through the heart of every man.”

In a time where people are swiftly declared either heroes or villains, on this project, Frampton is neither. He is human. n

Final ‘To All the Boys’ Delivers Romance

By Julia Landwehr Heights Staff If you remember anything from the first two installments of To All The Boys, it’s probably that the main character, high schooler Lara Jean (Lana Condor), is a lover of both rom-coms and her boyfriend, Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo).

After overcoming struggles to define their relationship and the threat of another love interest, Lara Jean and Peter are finally stable in their relationship in the third movie. But now instead of high school drama standing in their way, it’s the future. Peter has been accepted to Stanford University to play lacrosse, and when Lara Jean doesn’t get in, the two have to navigate the fact that they might not be together forever like they’d planned.

Things become even more complicated after Lara Jean gets accepted to New York University. On a school trip to New York City, Lara Jean meets up with a friend and a few NYU students to go to a party and explore the city. As the group laughs about boys and hauls a stolen pink couch through the subway, it’s obvious that Lara Jean has a tough choice to make—should she choose her own happiness by attending NYU or commit to Peter to save their relationship?

The trope is a common one in teen movies—how do you cope with graduating and the end of your childhood? Even though it’s a cliché, it’s certainly not unfounded.

Lara Jean’s older sister Margot (Janel Parrish) is away at school, her younger sister Kitty (Anna Cathcart) “discovers boys” on a family trip to Seoul, South Korea, and her dad (John Corbett) has a serious girlfriend.

Even her best friend, Chris (Madeleine Arthur), is finding love with her on-again, off-again partner. Even if painfully obvious, Lara Jean’s fear of change and losing control over her life is well represented, and a feeling that’s all too familiar to anyone over the age of 17.

Besides the core dilemma of To All The Boys: Always and Forever, the aesthetics and soundtrack especially stand out. Like the first two movies, the carefully executed clutter of Lara Jean’s bedroom and the pastel school hallways create a beautiful aesthetic, and music from The Greeting Committee— their song “Beginning Middle End” plays a big role in the movie—crafts this perfect soundtrack of teen emotion.

And although Lara Jean, bogged down by her conceptions of a perfect relationship, laments that she and Peter “are a terrible rom-com couple,” the opposite is true. For all of its charms, the third To All The Boys is exactly what you’d expect it to be—a cheesy rom-com that over-romanticizes teen life and love. Although the central conflict has merit, the small squabbles that set back Lara Jean and Peter’s relationship are so contrived that it’s almost painful.

Even though they’ve been dating for a while, Lara Jean and Peter’s conversations mostly

consist of them making jokes or talking around tensions, and there’s a couple of times where their conversations devolve into tickle fights.

Cringey dialogue and awkward acting aside, this third and final To All The Boys does what it sets out to do. My friends and I had guessed how the movie would end within the first 20 minutes, but simply because there’s only one way that a rom-com like this can end.

When you’re watching something, it can be hard as a viewer to take yourself out of reality and accept the premise of a fictional world. But just like how a cynic might scoff at the force in Star Wars or magic in Harry Potter, the impulse is the same in To All

The Boys—it can be weird to accept that in this rom-com world, the class of 2021 has a normal graduation, the attractive jock falls for the quiet girl, and high school seniors can plan to be together forever and mean it.

Of course, it’s ridiculous. But, if you take the movie at face value, revel in the absurd rules of this world, To All The Boys hits the mark. It’s no revolutionary piece of art, but arguably, it doesn’t try to be. Although your Valentine’s Day cynicism might be at an all-time high after what’s been a pretty isolating 11 months, giving To All The Boys: Always and Forever a try might just be the perfect emotional, cringey thing to round out a weekend of celebrating connection and love. n

MOVIE

Heights Staff Florida Georgia Line’s new album, Life Rolls On, relays important messages of hope, love, and gratitude in a time when people can certainly use them. Fresh off releasing its 6-Pack EP in January, the duo, comprised of Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley, returns with 16 tracks, many of which appeared on the EP. With Life Rolls On, Florida Georgia Line does not stray far from its established sound and follows the rest of pop-country music by incorporating various hip-hop and R&B inspired beats. While much of the actual music and specific lyrics do not shine through, the overarching meaning is this project’s saving grace.

The first song, “Long Live,” sets the tone for the whole album and contains imagery that will be revisited again and again during

the 16 tracks. While the spirit of the album’s lyrics are wholesome and positive, the country duo does rely heavily on frequently used country music tropes and lacks originality on many of the tracks. With references to “old dirt roads,” “country girls,” and Billy Don Burns’ “Haggard and Hank,” Florida Georgia Line hits on numerous, classic country music themes. With upbeat guitars, drums, and synths, this lead track immediately places Life Rolls On comfortably in pop-country territory and sends the album on its way.

“Life Looks Good” is a twangy love song that lays the groundwork for all the other love songs that will follow it in the LP. This particular song is reminiscent of the duo’s 2016 album, Dig Your Roots, and while it doesn’t add anything new to the band’s discography, it does its job as an easy listening country love song.

“Countryside” is much more of a mod-

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LILY TELEGDY

‘FRIDAY (REMIX)’ REBECCA BLACK

Former teen star Rebecca Black has recently made a comeback after blowing up on TikTok. Her most recent single is a remix of her 2011 hit song “Friday.”

“Friday,” as many people remember, was a cultural phenomenon and amassed over 150 million views on YouTube. The viral teen pop song blew up and made Rebecca Black an overnight star.

This hyper-pop electric remix rebrands Black and her hit single with a new sound, positioning her in a music genre that is already filled by big-name artists like Rico Nasty, Charli XCX, and Ashnikko.

But, ultimately this publicity stunt just led to a bad song. “Friday (Remix),” featuring 3OH!3, Big Freedia, and Dorian Electra, fails to generate the same nauseating excitement as the original hit.

It also fails to tell us anything new about Black as a musician. Black’s vocals are strained by autotune and a synthy beat—passing as a sped-up, higher-pitched version of the original song.

But her new single, although underwhelming, serves to distance Black from her innocent teen persona, offering her a chance to try a new music style. n

MUSIC VIDEO CHARLEY CONROY

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‘Life Rolls On’ Supplies Old Country Love

By Kieran Wilson

SINGLE REVIEW

n

ern country love song featuring mellow electric guitar and trap-inspired hi-hats.

Again, the lyrics are nothing to write home about, but the song still has strong melodies and is easy to sing along to. The next track, “Always Gonna Love You,” is similarly easy to sing along to and has one of the more memorable choruses on the album.

“I Love My Country” and “U.S. Stronger” are both tributes to the United States which find Florida Georgia Line encouraging people to take pride in being American, while also acknowledging that the country is going through some difficult times. “I Love My Country” is a high-energy song that focuses on many tropes of country living that have already been explored on Life Rolls On. “U.S. Stronger” is much softer and laid-back but contains many stereotypical lyrics. While neither of these songs are impressive examples of songwriting, they provide much-needed hope for listeners.

The title of “Hard To Get To Heaven” prepares the listener for a possible change of pace from the positive vibes preceding it, but Florida Georgia Line turns it into another heartfelt love song to add to its repertoire. The chorus ends with “It ain’t hard to get to heaven / Hell, I go there every night,” leaving the listener to interpret the rest of the story.

“Long Time Comin’” and “Second Guessing” represent the two best tracks on Life Rolls On from a songwriting perspective. “Long Time Comin’” describes a more realistic love story in which the two partners have been busy with “the kids and work” and “[making] both ends meet.” In

the chorus, they decide to “Get down to business and bring it on home / ‘Cause it’s been a long time comin’.” Musically, the song has more of an R&B feel to it than previous songs while also featuring smooth electric and acoustic guitars.

“Second Guessing,” which originally appeared on NBC’s Songland, spotlights the most creative lyrical twist of all 16 songs.

The verse and pre-chorus find Hubbard and Kelley reflecting on the fact that they “Couldn’t jump into the deep end” and how they were “always overthinking.” But as the guitars, beats, and synths swell in the chorus, the two declare, “Since I met you, I / I ain’t spent one second guessing.”

Turning the phrase “second guessing” on its head is a masterful display of songwriting and injects some much-needed originality into Life Rolls On. “Good to Me” finds the pair acknowledging that “God’s been good, so good to me.” This moment in the album allows the listener to reflect on their own life and all that the past months have brought.

Backed by acoustic guitars and drums, Florida Georgia Line provides a heartfelt message of gratitude that should resonate with everybody.

While Life Rolls On is not Florida Georgia Line’s best album, the overall themes of hope, love, and gratitude save the album from being swept under the rug by the country music industry. With so many stressful events and hotly debated topics on people’s minds, Florida Georgia Line supplies its listeners with 16 positive tracks and a respite from the rest of the world. n

Sufjan Stevens’ newest album The Ascension saw Stevens explore a brand new electro-pop sound. The album’s lyrics are complex and delve into deep questions about the American dream, like on “America” when Stevens sings, “I have loved you, I have grieved / I’m ashamed to admit I no longer believe.” Riddled with intricacies and thought-provoking lyrics, it is the type of album that deserves visually interesting and dynamic music videos enhancing the album’s meaning. Sadly, “Tell Me You Love Me” fails to generate any meaning in its music video.

The video starts with a black screen before it’s illuminated by tiny, multi-colored lights—purple, orange, green, and red— rhythmically flashing along to the music’s beat. This visual returns later on in the video, but instead of flashing in time with the music, the lights sparkle haphazardly off beat. As the lights dim in and out on the screen, Stevens’ vocals build before cutting to a new scene. Although these lights only take up a small portion of the song, they aren’t visually interesting enough for their inclusion to be justified.

Switching to a white backdrop, figures are depicted writhing and laying within a white void—and these visuals continue for nearly the whole song. The dancers’ emotions, depicted through their languished movements, match the melancholy tone of Stevens’ lyrics. As Stevens sings, “My love, I feel myself unraveling,” dancers roll across the floor and attempt to pick themselves up from the despair they feel. The music video is intercut with a few shots of paintings and a fox in a snowy forest, along with a return of the opening light visuals.

With recurring visuals, the music video fails to maintain the viewer’s attention the longer it goes on, but it also seems to beg the viewer to find some deeper meaning in the nonsense.

“Tell Me You Love Me” is a very forgettable music video that just doesn’t have anything truly interesting. Stevens’ album deserves much more captivating videos to accompany it than this half-hearted attempt at depicting heartbreaking love through obscure scenes. n

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‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ Cast Talk New Movie

By Alicia Kang Asst. Arts Editor When taught in American classrooms, the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense is often portrayed as a group of radical, armed terrorists. Judas and the Black Messiah, HBO Max’s latest film, reveals the plain truth about the Black Panther Party as an empowering, unifying agent in the 1960s.

The film focuses on Black Panther Party Chairman Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya), who led the party’s Illinois chapter. Through this leadership, the Panthers fed hungry children for free and established

medical clinics. The film delves into a greater internal struggle pertaining to his loyalties to the Panthers through William O’Neal (Lakeith Stanfield), who entered the party under coercion from the FBI and acted as an informant for agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons).

In a virtual roundtable with Warner Bros., the Judas and the Black Messiah cast answered questions from journalists at universities across the country, including Boston College. By participating in the film project, the actors upheld director Shaka King’s goal to uncover the realities of Hampton’s efforts to unify, rather than

to destroy, Chicago.

“It’s the truth,” Kaluuya said. “How people take it, that’s just a reflection on them and how they feel about the world.”

Dominique Fishback, who portrays Hampton’s partner Deborah Johnson, said uplifting Hampton’s legacy was an important mission.

“We’ve always had heroes, and we don’t get to know that, you know?” Fishback said. “There’s always some kind of white savior in these stories. By learning about Hampton, and the fact that a lot of us have never heard about him—who else have we never heard of?”

PHOTO COURTESY OF HBO AND WARNER BROS.

The ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ cast spoke about how the Black Panther Party is unfairly depicted in media.

Stanfield echoed Fishback’s sentiments on refusing to accept how history is taught through the lens of white Americans.

“How much time do they spend in education talking about these really important historical figures?” Stanfield said. “Not very much. So you’ve got to do your own individual research to kind of understand it.”

Kaluuya said he sees Hampton as “the mouthpiece of this larger body” of revolutionaries. “[Hampton] could be any of us,” he said.

“It’s not like he was this star child. He was any of us.”

Fishback, in particular, said she had the opportunity to confirm that her performance was historically accurate.

“The first time [Mama Akua] came [to set], she called me down, and she said, ‘You did that scene. That was Deborah Johnson up there,’” Fishback said. “She saw herself in me.”

In conjunction with historical accuracy, the cast knew the importance of rendering complex, real human beings. Stanfield, for example, said he believes his character O’Neal “might be more like the people that’s watching [the film] than they think.”

Because Stanfield portrayed O’Neal as a nuanced person rather than a flat antagonist, he was able to transform every one of his scenes into an emotional work of art, making O’Neal dance on the line separating treachery from true loyalty.

Kaluuya takes creative liberty in bringing Hampton’s power and charisma to life.

In the months before filming, Kaluuya said he listened to Hampton’s speeches con-

stantly, sang gospel songs, and even took up smoking to ultimately create Hampton’s voice and to adopt his speaking mannerisms. Kaluuya’s ability to masterfully embody such a righteous and selfless leader augments his immense talent as an actor.

Beyond the cast’s spot-on, stunning performances, the film employs skillful lighting techniques and camera movement to transport viewers into the constantly changing world of Chicago in the 1960s.

Depending on the setting—from an empty alleyway at night to a crowded pool table inside a dimly lit bar—King’s sophisticated stylistic choices enable viewers to feel the anxious tension that must have rang throughout the city.

Even within this swirl of action and anxiety, King and his cast capture poignant moments of sweet love, happiness, and loyalty within the Black Panther Party.

The bond between the Panthers and Fred Hampton’s ability to live for the people made it possible to gradually change the cultural landscape and power imbalances in Chicago. In short, Hampton actualized the start of a battle the Black Lives Matter movement is still fighting.

When asked about what the movie could mean for young activists today, Kaluuya said the answer isn’t to simply wait for a visionary like Fred Hampton.

“People go, ‘well we ain’t got a mouth, we ain’t got a mouth.’ Let’s make the body.

So that the mouth presents itself,” Kaluuya said. “I don’t think it’s the time for hope.

It’s a time for action. It’s a time for ‘let’s get this shit done.” n

Book Launch Honors Professor’s Personal Poetry

By Asher Kang

For The Heights

“Each [of Adair’s poems] is an immersive call on senses—a Gravitron ride, a centrifugal force, holding you fast while simultaneously lifting your feet off the ground and spinning you out into the world,”

growing up in the town of Gettysburg, the Civil War landmark in Pennsylvania. Among them were “RD 8 Box 16A (Rural Route),” her old home address, and “Gettysburg.”

“Place is very, very important to me,”

Gettysburg as the site of the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, Adair has witnessed the tension of her town’s personality stretched between its weighty past and its quaint present.

Associate professor Allison Adair of the Boston College English department read from her debut collection of poems, The Clearing, at her virtual book launch on Thursday evening.

Published in June 2020, The Clearing had its celebratory launch pushed to this February due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

To Adair, the delay was reminiscent of a childhood memory when she once celebrated her January birthday party in summer.

“Tonight, when I was getting prepared, I thought, ‘Well, that’s what this is. This is my birthday party. The book came out in June, but [we’re] finally getting to celebrate it.’”

Adair’s poems in The Clearing have garnered praise and awards from journals and reviewers, including the Max Ritvo Poetry Prize from the Milkweed Editions publishing company. Adair’s poems have also been featured in American Poetry Review, Arts SCREENSHOT BY ASHER KANG / FOR THE HEIGHTS & Letters, The Best American Poetry, Best Professors Allison Adair, Suzanne Matson, and Christopher Boucher introduce ‘The Clearing,’ Adair’s poetry book.

New Poets, Boston Review, and Los Angeles Review, among other journals.

Matson said in her introductory remarks at Adair said. “In fact, if I had to pick one thing She shared memories of her childhood Reviewers and fellow poets have also Thursday’s book launch. that I feel like I focus on, it would probably growing up in Gettysburg, specifically how remarked on Adair’s distinctive lyricism and Adair read 10 selections from The Clear- be that: the evocation of place. And I think she used to go to McDonald’s as a kid. sensory-rich language infused in her recent ing, introducing each poem with the stories it’s partly because the places I grew up in During the summers, she recalled that the collection, including BC English professor and people that inspired them. Several of really had personalities.” town would be bustling with tourists, and Suzanne Matson. the poems drew upon her experiences of Given the historical significance of she’d witness how the line at the McDon-

ald’s would be out the door with Civil War enthusiasts, dressed in Confederate and Union costumes. Memories like this one influenced Adair’s poetry.

Adair said in her work she tries to capture personal periods in time. Writing about these moments, like her experiences growing up in Gettysburg, from her perspective creates alternative histories to what readers generally learn about a place or event.

The book launch was hosted on Zoom by the Boston College English department and The Institute for the Liberal Arts. In addition to Matson’s remarks, associate English professor Christopher Boucher provided introductory banjo music as the audience logged in to the event.

Following the reading, English professor Elizabeth Graver facilitated a Q&A session with the audience. Adair elaborated on writing about grief, overcoming writer’s block, and creating a sense of risk in her poems.

“I ask my students in my poetry workshop, ‘Who or what is at risk in this poem?

What is the risk for this speaker? If there is no risk, no experience of uncertainty or novelty or destabilization for the writer, or the speaker, then there’s not going to be any for the reader,” Adair said. “So for me, that’s very, very important. If I’m just lecturing, or popping off, I’m not doing my job as a poet at all.” n

‘Taking Shape’ Presents Middle Eastern Modern Art

By Tonie Chase Heights Staff

After nearly 11 months of online programming and virtual exhibitions, the McMullen Museum of Art opened its doors on Feb. 1 to the Boston College student body and staff who scheduled museum appointments.

This new visitor policy is accompanied by the debut of the museum’s current exhibition, Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s-1980s.

Originally curated by the Grey Art Gallery at New York University, Taking Shape is on display at McMullen in person until June 6 by appointment, but the museum will also offer virtual tours to the public beginning on March 4.

Presenting the work of 58 unfamiliar artists from the Middle East, the exhibit offers a new lens through which to view the emergence of abstract art in the mid-20th century. The exhibit poses questions regarding the traditional Eurocentric narrative of the development of abstract art.

“It is very important, I think, for university museums in particular to take the lead in showing work that otherwise hasn’t been accessible to American audiences,” Lynn Gumpert, co-curator of the exhibit and director of the Grey Art Gallery, said in a video on display at the exhibit.

The exhibit emphasizes that

traditional conceptions of abstract and modern art often center around European notions, yet artists from the Middle East, West Asia, and North Africa have such diverse artistic ranges and revolutory contributions to the modern art scene to offer to audiences.

Although multiple ethnicities and religious backgrounds are connected in the Middle East, West Asia, and North African regions alone, the exhibit is coherently organized. The pieces, however, are not organized by these geographical divisions, which better allows spectators to create the thematic connections across that diaspora themselves. Some featured artists, like Yvette Achkar, are considered to be leading Arab modernists, yet they hail from other regions across the world. Achkar, for example, was born in São Paulo, Brazil to Lebanese parents.

The viewing experience feels very personalized as a result, yet still didactic and intriguing. Some artists play with color, geometry, and calligraphy while others might employ a single shade and manipulate its opacity.

One fiercely red-orange canvas is sure to catch the eye. Unaccompanied by other neighboring pieces, the isolated painting, “Body Parts” by Huguette Caland (1971), draws the eye while walking through the exhibit.

It’s not simply provocative because of the content itself, but also because of

the artist’s ability to identify specific objects and depict images in modern art that are warped by abstraction.

Nevertheless, Caland’s abstract interpretations of sensuality challenge our understanding of the human form.

This approach pushes Caland, and viewers, to redefine sexuality.

It becomes more obvious that even human imagination is grounded in some familiarity, and making space to accept other people’s imaginative, abstract creations is an important aspect of the entire Taking Shape exhibit.

Pieces like Lebanese artist Nabil Nahas’ Untitled (Kitty Hawk) also vi-

sually support the multi-layered theme of abstract art from the Arab world.

This acrylic on canvas painting evokes plenty of dimension and balances structure with simple geometry. Its blue backdrop greatly emphasizes the shapes and lines that are layered on top of the piece.

In addition to displays of the art, Taking Shape also features interviews with some of the actual artists to round off the globally engaging experience.

According to a press release from McMullen, the 1950s through the 1980s was a pivotal time for Ar-

ab-based artists to develop their own criticisms toward Western political and military involvement, decolonization, and migration, among other socio-economic factors.

During this time, increasing globalization and international travel allowed artists to share their work with others around the globe through circulating exhibitions to learn about modern artistic movements outside of their regions.

With increasing international reach, artists began to consider how their work functioned and influenced in a global context. n

PHOTO BY IKRAM ALI / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The McMullen Museum of Art sparks conversations about modernism with a new exhibit featuring Middle Eastern artists.

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

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2021-22 Student Grant Opportunities The Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy offers a variety of grants for undergraduate, graduate, and professional students.

available grants Graduate Fellows Program Receive $6,000 Deadline: April 12, 2021

Law School Fellows Program Receive $6,000 Deadline: April 12, 2021

Undergrad Civic Internship Grants $1,500 – $4,000 Deadline: April 12, 2021

Public Interest Law Scholars Receive $6,000 Deadline: April 12, 2021

The Clough Center is still accepting applications for 2021. In light of the rapidly evolving global situation, however, we are implementing the following restrictions on funding eligibility for this year’s fellowships: Due to University travel restrictions, the Clough Center will not fund internships that require U.S. students to travel to internships outside of the United States.

how to apply Visit www.bc.edu/cloughgrants to view application requirements and apply online.

apply at www.bc.edu/cloughgrants

The Heights

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

EDITORIAL

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With COVID-19 Cases At A Record High, Community Must Work Together

The number of students in isolation and quarantine at Boston College due to COVID-19 infection and contact tracing is rapidly approaching a breaking point.

The University attributes this rise to students’ failure to abide by the Eagles Care Pledge. Students feel that the University has not provided them with sufficient resources to safely engage in a residential campus community amid the pandemic.

Both students and the administration need to stop pointing fingers and take more responsibility for the health and safety of the community of which they are a part.

The administration’s commitment to keeping the University open is commendable and should be recognized.

That being said, sending students an incendiary email that alludes to ending the semester early because of a failure on their part is not the way to grab students’ attention. The email was followed by mandatory Zoom meetings that effectively communicated the importance

of the Eagles Care Pledge and opened dialogue between administrators and students. The meetings should have been the first step.

In order to assist students in the effort to reduce transmission on campus, the administration should provide students with environments in which they can socialize safely. Heated outdoor seating areas would allow students to take advantage of BC’s campus more effectively. In addition, students have expressed concern that the indoor dining halls fail to safely physically distance students—even if they do follow Massachusetts guidelines allowing for six people at a table.

Reorganizing the dining halls to ensure more distance between students would alleviate some of the anxiety students feel about eating on campus.

Regardless of students’ feelings about the University’s plan to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 on campus, it is their responsibility to take the plan seriously. The increase in cases is an indi-

cation of a collective disregard for social distancing and mask-wearing. Student behavior is also part of the problem. We all want to see our friends, we all want life at BC to go back to normal. But, for now, if we don’t want to be seeing our friends exclusively through Zoom screens, we all need to honor the Eagles Care Pledge.

Colleges and universities are currently listed under Phase 3 of Massachusetts’ vaccine distribution plan, which could begin as early as April—six weeks from now. This sets a short timeline of serious commitment from both students and the administration before more vaccinations and fewer cases decrease the need for such stringent mitigation efforts.

Both parties recognize that this pandemic has been exhausting. We’re all tired, and we’re all tired of being tired.

But, there is a finish line in sight, and we all need to do a little bit better. Instead of accusing one another of a lack of caring or capability, we need to work together to push through these last few weeks.

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

Members: Owen Fahy, Maddy Romance, Lauren Wittenmyer, Maggie DiPatri, Emma Healy, Grace Mayer, Rachel Phelan, Eric Shea, Olivia Franceschini, and Gabriel Wallen.

Week in Photos

IKRAM ALI / HEIGHTS EDITOR

A “BLACK LIVES ARE PRECIOUS” sign outside Maloney Hall and the BAIC. Friday, Feb. 12, 2021.

IKRAM ALI / HEIGHTS EDITOR

A painting from Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, an exhibit in the McMullen Museum of Art. Friday, Feb. 12, 2021.

IKRAM ALI / HEIGHTS EDITOR

A piece from the McMullen exhibit that explores 20th-century art from North Africa, West Asia, and the Arab diaspora.

Friday, Feb. 12, 2021.

IKRAM ALI / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Campus Ministry put up signs on the academic Quad with quotes from former President Barack Obama and others.

Friday, Feb. 12, 2021.

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The Heights

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Quarantine Kitchen: French Dip Sandwiches

By Alexandra Morin Heights Staff The Crock-Pot might have to be my favorite invention, especially

beef create a sensation that words can’t quite describe. With minimal effort involved and a flavor profile that is sure to wow, this hearty sandwich is everything you need and more.

PHOTO BY ALEXANDRA MORIN / HEIGHTS STAFF

Spicy horseradish mayo cuts through the richness of the pot roast. when it comes to the winter months. I absolutely adore the art of slow cooking—the flavor derived from simple ingredients when they are left to steep is simply unmatched. They are also a wonderful tool for college students, busy parents, or anyone on the go, as you don’t have to spend all day in the kitchen to make something truly refined and delicious. Simply add your ingredients and let the magic happen!

French dip sandwiches are a classic slow cookers meal that I have been perfecting this January. A toasted bun, melted provolone cheese, the kick of horseradish mayo, and tender, juicy

INGREDIENTS: 2 lbs chuck beef pot roast 8 provolone cheese slices 8 hoagie rolls ⅓ cup soy sauce 2 tablespoons freshly chopped rosemary 1 tablespoon fresh sage 1 tablespoon dried thyme 3 cups beef stock 2 tablespoons garlic powder 2 teaspoons lemon juice 2 tablespoons butter (plus additional for toasting the bread) 1 tablespoon horseradish ½ cup mayonnaise

RECIPE: Start out by trimming the 2 lb roast of any excess fat and then place it into a slow cooker.

Add the beef stock, soy sauce, rosemary, sage, thyme, and garlic powder into the slow cooker with the roast.

Set the slow cooker to low heat and let it cook for 6-7 hours. (You can do this on high for 3-4 hours, but I find the flavors to be much deeper when you allow it to go slowly).

After about 3 hours, turn the roast and add in the 2 tablespoons of butter on top of the meat to keep it as moist as possible.

Allow the roast to cook until tender and then remove it from the slow cooker onto a wooden board for slicing. Let it stand for 7 minutes before cutting.

In the meantime, slice the hoagie rolls in half and line them up on a sheet tray. Coat one side with melted butter to get the perfect crisp and the other side with a slice of provolone cheese.

Set the oven to broil and allow the rolls to toast for approximately 3 minutes or until golden brown.

After removing the rolls from the oven, move on to slicing the beef.

Make sure to slice against the grain (cut against the direction of the lines on top of the beef ).

To make the horseradish mayonnaise, combine ½ cup mayonnaise, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, 1 tablespoon horseradish, fresh-cracked black pepper, and a pinch of salt.

You are now ready to assemble.

Take the slices of the beef, dip them back into the au jus in the slow cooker, and place them on the bun with the melted cheese. Spread the horseradish mayonnaise on the buttered, toasted side.

Fill a small ramekin with additional au jus from the crock pot. Serve the ramekin on the side of the sandwich for those who wish to dip their sandwich into the juice. n

PHOTO BY ALEXANDRA MORIN / HEIGHTS STAFF

After a few minutes under the broiler, the cheese becomes melted.

PHOTO BY ALEXANDRA MORIN / HEIGHTS STAFF

A light salad on the side balances well with the sandwich’s heartiness.

Welcoming and Delicious, Soleil Cooks Up Community

By Maggie Leahy Assoc. Metro Editor For the month of Februar y The Heights will be highlighting Black-owned restaurants and businesses throughout Boston.

Nestled in a corner of Nubian Square, Soleil, a local breakfast-lunch spot in Roxbury, fosters a sense of community alongside its homestyle food. After opening in May 2018, the restaurant, under the leadership of chef and owner Cheryl Straughter, has gained a loyal following within the community.

In 1996, Straughter opened her first restaurant called Keith’s Place, serving soul food, which became popular at its Grove Hall location and remained open for 10 years. Following this, Straughter enrolled in Johnson and Wales University’s culinary arts program in Providence, R.I., became a recruiter for the school, and eventually returned to Boston to take care of her mother while simultaneously taking night classes at Simmons University in Fenway, pursuing a master’s in social work.

Opening Soleil has in many ways brought her full circle, and according to Soleil’s website, “Straughter is returning both to the food business and to Nubian Square, a commercial district that figured prominently in her childhood.”

Soleil’s atmosphere is warm and welcoming, with hearty soul food and family-style meals. According to Keith Allyn Motley, Cheryl’s son and the co-owner of the restaurant, Soleil serves up “Southern-style food with a twist.” Motley, who also works at Northeastern University’s African American Institute, said that when he is not working at the university, he can usually be found at Soleil.

“For breakfast, we do a lot of different specials—fried chicken and waffles, a whole bunch of different types of omelets, [and] breakfast sandwiches,” Motley said. “For lunch, that’s more of the soul food. That’s fried chicken, barbecue beef ribs, beef brisket, macaroni and cheese, yams, collard greens, things like that.”

As for a signature dish, Motley said that Soleil is known for its shrimp po’ boy sandwich and barbecue ribs. The Louisiana Classic, Soleil’s name for its

shrimp po’ boy, is a sandwich featuring fried shrimp, lettuce, tomato, and a homemade remoulade sauce.

“My favorite thing is the po’ boy Shrimp sandwich, the one they got over there,” said customer Queen Gloria Johnson. “And, I always get it with extra shrimp ’cause I’m greedy.”

Another customer, Yvette Wilks, said she had been waiting two weeks to come and get the Louisiana Classic.

“I’m just coming off of a two week, so to say, diet, and I’ve been looking forward to this sandwich for the last two weeks,” Wilks said. “And, in this little bag [are] my little sides—my mac and cheese [and] my collard greens.”

When choosing the restaurant’s name, Straughter thought back to her first restaurant, Keith’s Place, which was named after Motley. The name Soleil has a similar significance.

“The first thought in naming my business was to call it Keith’s Place, which was my first restaurant in Grove Hall from 1996 to 2006,” Straughter said on Soleil’s website. “Believing in legacy led me to name this restaurant after my granddaughter. Her name is Maya Soleil. In French, Soleil means Sun. Maya is warm and loving. Soleil is a tribute to her.”

In accordance with its name, Soleil fosters a warm and welcoming environment for both newcomers and regulars alike. Wilks came to enjoy her Louisiana Classic over more business-like discussions about plans for the Boston Jobs Coalition with her friend and colleague Angela Williams-Mitchell, while Johnson said she came to Soleil to meet with her friend Jeffrey Gilliare.

“I’ve been coming here for two years,” Gilliare said. “ … Honestly, to be true to myself, I come here five days a week. I come Monday through Friday. The only days [they’re] closed [are] Saturday [and] Sunday.”

The family-like ambiance of Soleil makes it easy to understand why the restaurant has such a loyal customer base, and according to customer Danielle Ruffen, that is one of the things Straughter is known for.

“What I’ve noticed about her is that she cares about the community as a whole,” Ruffen said. “She doesn’t just care about specific groups, she cares about

PHOTOS BY MAGGIE LEAHY / HEIGHTS EDITOR

With its central location, Soleil’s diner-style interior paired with its welcoming atmosphere is a community favorite. the total community … and she helps whenever she can. She cooks meals for [the] elderly, for organizations where women are in shelters, so she does a lot of, like, stuff away from the restaurant for

the community.”

Soleil is currently open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., offering socially-distanced in-house dining as well as takeout and delivery options

through Grubhub. Be it its welcoming environment, its delicious soul food, or the inclusive community, it is safe to say that Soleil is a bright spot in Nubian Square. n