Three died and hundreds were injured when two bombs exploded at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013 . A decade has passed since the attack, yet it remains salient at Boston College, which sits at Mile 21 of the marathon route. The Heights interviewed alumni who were impacted by the attack or involved in the on-campus response.
See A5
Rev. Thomas D. Stegman, S.J., a New Testament scholar and former dean of the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry (STM), died on April 8 after a battle with glioblastoma, according to a University release. He was 60 years old.
“It would be difficult to overstate just how loved and respected Tom was in the STM community and how centrally he figured in its life during the many years he served as a faculty
member and as dean,” STM Dean Rev. Michael C. McCarthy, S.J., said in the release.
Stegman previously served as dean for five and a half years before deciding to step down at the end of the 2022 spring semester to focus on his health.
“With the departure of Thomas Stegman, I feel one of my voices at Boston College is silenced because he is someone with whom I knew I could have a … genuine conversation,” said Rev. Marcel Uwineza, S.J., one of Stegman’s former students and
dean of the Jesuit School of Theology at Hekima University College in Nairobi, Kenya. “With the departure of Father Thomas Stegman, the Society [of Jesus] loses one of its key members.”
As a leader, Stegman remained true to BC’s Jesuit Catholic values by devoting himself to supporting STM students and faculty, according to Colleen Griffith, professor of the practice of theology and faculty director of spiritual studies.
See Stegman, A2
On a day meant to honor seniors and graduate students, Boston College lacrosse went above and beyond.
The Eagles notched 25 goals in their final home regular season game of the year, matching the program’s single-game scoring record—a high that dates back to 2019.
See Lacrosse, A12
Columnist Makayla Hickey shares her chaotic journaling habits and how she has learned to make writing a safe, free way to express her thoughts.
INDEX
Vol. CV, No. 9
© 2023, The Heights, Inc. Chestnut Hill, Mass. Established
A few hundred feet beyond the Green Line’s Amory Street T stop in Boston’s Allston neighborhood, Boston University is set to open a new LGBTQIA+ student resource center at 808 Commonwealth Ave.
The center is the result of an eight-month campaign from the LGBTQIA+ BU Student Task Force, which first submitted its proposal to create a space specifically for queer students in November.
Opening at the beginning of
the 2023–24 academic year, the new center will aim to “offer programming, dialogues, intersectional community building, and other resources.”
Just a few miles down the road in Chestnut Hill, UGBC’s Student Assembly (SA) passed a resolution on Tuesday night reaffirming its support of proposals to create an LGBTQ+ resource center at Boston College.
This is only the latest effort in a long history of students advocating for such a space.
See Resource Center, A3
Arts Staff writer Erin Pender analyzes the evolution of Lana Del Rey’s old Hollywood persona and the songwriting prowess she displayed on four of her albums. A11
Stegman, from A1
“We talk about cura personalis … care for the full person, and certainly he had a deep commitment to seeing to it that our programs reflected that for students,” Griffith said. “[And] I think he also had a really big interest in seeing that embodied in terms of care for faculty and staff as well.”
Associate professor of the Old Testament Andrew Davis, who first met Stegman as a master’s student at the Weston Jesuit School of Theology, also noted his commitment to both his students and staff.
“One thing that stands out to me about Tom is how dedicated he was to his own teachers, and I think he fostered that same love and affection in his own students,” Davis said. “And so there’s something about Tom—it wasn’t just that he was a good teacher … he saw the value in his own teachers, and he gave credit to them also.”
Rev. Richard J. Clifford, S.J., professor emeritus of the Old Testament, said Stegman was unique in his ability to be strategic and objective in his duties as dean while also continuing his efforts
to form meaningful connections with those around him.
“He was extremely friendly, and people had enormous respect and they liked to spend time with him because he paid attention to them, and he knew them well and accepted them,” Clifford said. “He was remarkable in his ability to put those two things together.”
During his tenure as dean, the STM rose to 10th overall in theology, divinity, and religious studies in the QS World University Rankings, according to the release.
The release also said the STM established the Committee on Race and Ethnicity to advance racial justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion; Formación Continua, a program offering continuing education courses and webinars in Spanish; and the spirituality studies program during his time as dean.
“[Spiritual studies is] one of his legacy pieces, in terms of a direction and a further direction for the school,” Griffith said. “The school has some marvelous degree programs as is but this focus and concentration and coming to it with more development is definitely something that I think was his
Stegman, who previously served as dean of STM, died at the age of 60 after a battle with
vision, and he left that with us.”
According to Uwineza, Stegman remained committed to his students and staff even after stepping down as dean due to his illness.
“Recently, this past September, I was appointed the president of Hekima University College, here in Nairobi, and I do vividly recall that Tom Stegman heard about it, and he immediately
wrote me an email,” Uwineza said. “In his last months he was still sick, but he wrote me a … message to celebrate me and said ‘I knew the Society [of Jesus] can count on you.’”
And during his last months as dean, Griffith said Stegman remained committed to his work despite his fight with glioblastoma. She recalled him coming to work even on days he
had received radiation treatment that same morning.
“Most people, I think, would probably take the day off after that, but … he had made up his mind to live life to the fullest,” Griffith said. “I always think he was a big sports fan, and … when the ball dropped into his court, Tom Stegman was always going to be ready to play with it.” n
B y A lexis T hom A s Heights Staff
Nearly three centuries after his death, Adam Smith continues to influence socioeconomic thinking and academia, according to Jerry Muller, professor emeritus of history at the Catholic University of America.
“The reason that Adam Smith has been read and ought to be read is because he is probably the greatest social scientist ever—greatest in the range of topics to which he applied his mind and to the acuity and subtlety with which he explored these topics,” Muller said.
Muller spoke at an event on Thursday that was the first part
of a two-day conference co-sponsored by the Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy and the Institute for the Liberal Arts. Speakers discussed Adam Smith, author of The Wealth of Nations , and the state of capitalism today.
In addition to Muller’s keynote address, the event also involved
a roundtable discussion moderated by Boston College political science professor Ryan Hanley. Participants also included Emma Rothschild, a history professor at Harvard University, and Amartya Sen, a Harvard professor and Nobel Prize–winner in economics.
In his speech, Muller said Smith’s continued impact on socioeconomic theory can be attributed to his extensive contributions to the field of public policy.
“It is because of its demonstration of the variety of unintended consequences of social action that The Wealth of Nations is the great training manual of public policy— for the role of intellectuals who seek to influence public policy is to try to anticipate the unintended results of proposed measures,” Muller said.
Muller said recent scholarship in the United States also still continues to study Smith’s views on social and economic inequality.
“Smith was deeply committed to alleviating poverty, but he didn’t
emphasize equality,” Muller said. “He thought a certain degree of social hierarchy was inevitable.”
According to Muller, Smith argues in The Wealth of Nations that the poor in a rich society can be materially better off than the rich in a poor society, pointing to the developed market economy of the United States as an example.
“Without the assistance and cooperation of … thousands made possible through the web of exchange in an advanced capitalist economy, even a very average person would not have many of the possessions and services that they take for granted,” Muller said.
According to Muller, however, Smith also states that this model of capitalism can have unintended consequences, including current environmental issues.
“Today, we might point to environmental damage as another example among many of such unintended, but anticipated double-effects of market activity,” Muller said. n
Historians and geologists view natural and human history from two differing perspectives, according to Dipesh Chakrabarty, a professor of history and South Asian languages and civilizations at the University of Chicago.
“Recent history seems to challenge one of the very fundamental assumptions on which historical thinking rested, which is that human history is different from natural history,” Chakrabarty said. “And the way that natural scientists view history is different from the historians.”
Chakrabarty spoke at Boston College on Thursday in a talk titled “The Planetary Turn in Human History,” analyzing humans’ effects on the environment as a part of the Lowell Humanities Series and Park Street Corporation Speaker Series.
According to Chakrabarty, though climate change has been a public issue since the 1980s, it was not emphasized in historians’ narratives of human history. Chakrabarty said that geologists, however, highlighted the large impact humans have had on Earth’s history.
“I came across geologists describing humans as a geolog -
ical agent,” Chakrabarty said.
“They said that humans, with their numbers and consumption and technology, have become a thing that has the same impact on the planet as the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs.”
Human history and natural history were traditionally separated, according to Chakrabarty, because nature is subject to its own laws, while humans have basic necessities that impact their decisions. He added that geologists say this distinction is collapsing.
Chakrabarty continued by discussing his research into the distinction between human history and natural history. He said history typically contains two narratives: freedom from oppression and nature and a scientific narrative. These perspectives often blend together, as seen in the Cold War.
“The world is a history of differences,” Chakrabarty said. “This, coupled with World War II, left both the Soviet Union and the United States interested in the atmosphere. … That was mainly for three reasons, one that was they wanted to measure the fallout of nuclear explosions. Second was competition in space, and the third was the idea of weaponizing weather.”
During NASA’s competitive research amid the Cold War, Chakrabarty said NASA began to investigate how bacterial life is fostered, leading it to establish an Earth systems science subcommittee.
“This idea was that our life is coming from a much longer history of life, and that forms of life like bacteria had a lot to do with the persistence of life on this planet,” Chakrabarty said. “You can work out, first of all, that life itself is a geological force, but also that geology and biology in this planet are connected processes … that come together to create something that is system-like.”
Chakrabarty said human
development, which arose from these scientific processes, entered a heightened state since 1950. He said this increase in development is dubbed “The Great Acceleration,” as humans have seen an increase in population size but also in greenhouse gasses and other pollutants.
“It has become clear from the figures that have been collected that humans have now become the biggest geomorphological agent,” Chakrabarty said. “We’ve moved more Earth around than all of the rivers taken together.”
Humanity’s accelerated development comes with a sacrifice, according to Chakrabarty.
“The conundrum comes be-
cause the price of development is biodiversity loss, and this increasing planetary load from humans,” Chakrabarty said. “And it comes sometimes to the plight of the poor.”
Chakrabarty ended his talk by urging universities to tackle the problem of climate change with a holistic, united approach.
“We’re facing a problem that has so many dimensions that your diagnosis has to be holistic, like how Earth systems scientists are holistic,” Chakrabarty said. “Earth systems scientists imagine the planet as one, and they create a calendar of action to synchronize their action, and the humans are constitutively not one.” n
According to Wells Arkins, GLBTQ+ Leadership Council (GLC) chair and MCAS ’23, the University has rejected student calls for an LGBTQ+ resource center for reasons ranging from a lack of physical space to insufficient funds.
But the explanation most frequently given, according to Arkins, is not destinations or dollars: It’s doctrine.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that sexual relations between members of the same sex are contrary to natural law and cannot be sanctioned under any circumstances.
“The most common reasoning is, of course, citing Jesuit Catholic values: that it does not align with the Church’s view,” he said.
About Two Decades of Proposals In May of 2005, the UGBC Senate approved a resolution to convert its McElroy Commons satellite office into a student-run LGBTQ+ resource center.
By that September, however, the University abruptly halted UGBC’s plans for the center, citing a failure to seek approval from the Office of Space Management.
“Anyone that wants to use space has to go through a specific process,” former Dean of Student Development Robert Sherwood said to The Heights at the time. “They didn’t have the authority to assign that space.”
Initiatives for a resource center were not revived until 2010, when Kelsey Gasselling, former GLC president and BC ’11, introduced GLC’s 10-year plan that included the addition of an on-campus resource center.
After the initiative’s progress stalled, a group of graduating seniors and BC alumni launched the “For Here All Are One” campaign in April of 2015, calling on the University to provide more resources for LGBTQ+ students. The campaign included a petition signed by over 400 students and alumni pledging to withhold donations to BC until it established an LGBTQ+ resource center.
“It is time we address the troubling reality that students who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning or elsewhere on the spectrum are not properly supported by this institution,” wrote Nanci Fiore-Chettiar, BC ’15, in a letter included in the petition.
Tom Mogan, dean of students at the time and current interim associate dean of MCAS, said administrators within the Office of the Dean of Students were surprised that students decided to help create a petition rather
than continue conversations between the University and UGBC.
“In terms of the resource center, we do not feel that a dedicated center is necessary to demonstrate our support for students who identify as LGBTQ,” Mogan said in an email to The Heights in response to the petition.
A year later, UGBC’s Student Assembly voted 15–2 to call upon the University to establish an LGBTQ+ resource center and create a steering committee to advance the initiative with administrators. The resolution came a week after the letters of a parking sign in the Mod Lot were rearranged to partially read “NO F—S.”
The following month, Associate Vice President for University Communications Jack Dunn said in an interview with The Heights that while BC is dedicated to the needs of its students, it is still obligated to uphold the tenets of the Catholic faith.
“Sometimes those commitments can be unpopular and seem greatly out of touch with the times,” he said at the time. “As with any Catholic university in the United States, we grapple with how best to meet those dual obligations.”
By the time 2020 rolled around, initiatives to create a resource center still had not developed. Joy Moore, the former vice president of student affairs and current University vice president and executive director of the Pine Manor Institute for Student Success, stated in an email to The Heights at the time that establishing a center was “not a current university priority.”
A petition started that same year called for BC to establish an LGBTQ+ resource center and has received almost 1,700 signatures by this story’s publication, including those of former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, BC ’09, current Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, and other local politicians.
The 2021 Proposal
When Shawna Cooper Whitehead first joined BC as vice president for student affairs in the fall of 2021, Chris Rizzo, former GLC chair and BC ’22, said he saw a renewed opportunity to bring a resource center to campus.
“We asked for a meeting with her and showed her our proposal,” Rizzo said. “She was really gung-ho, she’s like, ‘I’m gonna make things better for queer students, this proposal is really great, I’m absolutely going to talk to higher administrators and see why this was stopped.’”
Cooper Whitehead did not respond to an email requesting comment on the details of this alleged meeting with Rizzo and Aneesa Wermers, GLC vice chair and LSEHD ’24.
Rizzo said he and GLC received
no update on the proposal until a follow-up meeting with Cooper Whitehead and Vice President of the Division of Mission and Ministry Rev. Jack Butler, S.J., several months later.
“So it was [Butler] and Shawna, and, you know, within about five minutes of the meeting happening, Shawna was like, ‘Okay, so the Resource Center is not going to happen,’” Rizzo said.
According to Rizzo, Butler and Cooper Whitehead said the University was rejecting the proposal due to a lack of space and funds as well as BC’s Jesuit values.
Butler did not respond to an email requesting comment on the details of the alleged meeting with Rizzo and Wermers.
“They would rather a queer student receive counseling through University Counseling Services or be a part of Campus Ministry … as opposed to being in a space where our identities are recognized and where we can form relationships with each other and connect and discuss our experience that way,” Rizzo said.
Arkins said there is no paper trail of the administration’s rejections of these resource center proposals.
“The thing is, it’s never written— never a written rejection,” Arkins said. “It’s almost always verbal. And I’ve actually been pushing to get written responses on all of this, but that just hasn’t been happening.”
According to Arkins, University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J., likely has the final say regarding whether BC can establish a resource center.
“Usually these things go up to Father Leahy, and it’s ultimately his discretion whether or not these things happen,” Arkins said.
The University did not respond to an email request inquiring about Leahy’s role in resource center proposals.
A New Step Forward: The Integrated
Resource Center
Last spring, the University announced it would rebrand the Thea Bowman AHANA Intercultural Center (BAIC) as the Thea Bowman Intercultural Center starting the summer of 2022, dropping the AHANA acronym from the center’s name and incorporating resources for LGBTQ+ students under its umbrella.
Cooper Whitehead later paused the plan after hearing feedback from students, alumni, and members of color on BC’s Board of Trustees, according to a University release.
In an email to The Heights earlier this month, Dean of Students Corey Kelly and Cooper Whitehead shared that the integration of queer resources into the BAIC was ongoing and that the changes would bring more resources to campus.
“The BAIC has a particular focus on supporting students of color and LGBTQ+ students, and following a model used at many universities, the BAIC aims to be an integrated intercultural center that allows students to be served across their various identities,” the joint statement read.
As a part of the restructuring, the Division of Student Affairs is currently in the process of hiring an associate director of intercultural programming for the BAIC, a position specifically tasked with creating programming, providing support, and coordinating resources for LGBTQ+ students on campus.
“I think this is actually a good opportunity for queer students on this campus because even though we know we won’t get like an explicit Queer Resource Center, it is offering that space,” Arkins said.
Despite this, Arkins said he is concerned that integrating the resources for two different identity groups within the BAIC will take up an already limited space for students of color.
In the University’s initial an -
nouncement of the BAIC’s rebranding, Cooper Whitehead said that an integrated multicultural center—rather than one that just serves one identity group—is consistent with the model used by other universities.
BU utilized this model as well, housing multifaceted student support in the Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground before the LGBTQIA+ student resource center was approved.
But the benefits of that center, including providing students with a space to come together and discuss their different identities, do not outweigh the specific, individualized needs of identity groups on campus, according to Christa Rose, co-founder of the LGBTQIA+ Boston University Student Task Force.
“There’s also a further perpetuation of the invisibility of marginalized students who need and deserve that direct tailored support,” Rose said. “It also kind of creates a scarcity mindset, like, all the marginalized students are fighting to get support and resources from this one center.”
Paul Poteat, a BC professor of psychology whose research focuses on school-based experiences of sexual and gender minorities, said that a space exclusively designed for LGBTQ+ students poses some benefits.
“It’s often valuable to have a space that people know they can go to that’s reserved and constant and somewhere where they can access resources, connect with others, network, feel affirmed, and know that it’s explicitly an affirming space for them,” he said.
But, Poteat added that separating different identity-based groups into specific individualized spaces may limit solidarity.
By Olivia JOung
News Editor
The Student Assembly (SA) voted to pass a resolution expressing its support of continued proposals for an on-campus LGBTQ+ resource center at its meeting Tuesday night.
“The SA wishes to express our solidarity with the GLBTQ+ Leadership Council in an ongoing effort to enlighten the BC administration of the necessity of an LGBTQ+ resource center,” Jessica Orrell, SA representative and MCAS ’26, read from the resolution. “LGBTQ+ students exist on this campus and deserve the same opportunities to thrive as any other student here.”
The resolution is a written notice of support for the GLBTQ+ Leadership Council (GLC) that responds to a recent Boston Globe article about calls for BC to open an LGBTQ+ resource center.
“We wish to express our concern that while other institutions continue embracing diversity, inclusions, and acceptance, Boston College fails to meet nationwide and regional standards,” Orrell read.
Orrell—who presented the resolution alongside Ryan Milligan, SA
representative and MCAS ’26, and Buck Popolo, GLC policy coordinator and CSOM ’23—continued reading from the resolution, adding that other Jesuit institutions such as Fordham University and the University of San Francisco work toward LGBTQ+ inclusivity and that BC should follow suit.
“Why are their Jesuit values different from ours?” Orrell read. “In the words of our own president, President Father Leahy, during Boston College’s second annual Diversity Summit:
‘When individuals are not recognized or don’t feel at home or unable to contribute as they might, we all suffer.’”
During the period of questioning, Joshua Golden, Community Relations Committee chair and MCAS ’25, expressed concern about whether the resolution would enact concrete change.
“I don’t think it’s even a fear I have, it’s more of just an idea that this may seem as if … we’ll only take [the resource center] as an option and we won’t take a small expansion,” Golden said.
Meghan Heckelman—director of student initiatives, UGBC vice president–elect, and LSEHD ’25—said that while she understood Golden’s input, it is important for the SA to express its
support for building a center, even if change doesn’t happen right away.
“We know that everyone wants us to have a formal statement that’s out there in solidarity, like I think that’s very important, even if that’s not going to necessarily do anything immediately,” Heckelman said.
Orrell also emphasized the importance of publicly addressing the desire for a resource center at BC, especially after the Globe article.
“If we choose to stay silent at a moment like this, I think that that would almost speak louder than words and that would say that we’re okay with the
administration staying silent after all this pressure is coming in,” Orrell said.
Later in the meeting, Milligan said he, Daniel Wise, Dining Advisory Board representative and MCAS ’25, and Katie Garrigan, Montserrat Coalition representative and MCAS ’25, would be tabling for a survey measuring satisfaction levels with BC Dining this week.
Garrigan added that she recently spoke with Director of Dining Services Beth Emery, who informed her that BC Dining will be introducing three different dining plans—light, base, and premium—starting in the 2023–24
academic year.
“And so everyone is going to be opted into the middle meal plan, and you’ll have until like the end of the add/ drop period to either move up or move down your meal plan,” Garrigan said.
Garrigan said beginning next year, the minimum for each dining plan will also increase.
“They just kind of cited inflation, you know—costs to get food in, to get workers, things of that nature,” she said. “And also this year, the most amount of people ran out of their meal plan money than in previous years, and so they’re just trying to avoid that now.” n
The City of Newton’s COVID-19 state of emergency will end on May 11, according to an announcement from Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller in her newsletter on Monday.
“This decision comes at a time of hope, recovery and progress in public health,” Fuller’s newsletter reads. “While COVID-19 continues to circulate, we now have many ways to manage the virus. This includes vaccines and boosters, treatments and therapies, testing and masking, and support for staying home when ill.”
Along with lifting the state of emergency, Fuller announced that the vaccine requirement for city employees is also expiring, effective immediately.
Fuller initially announced the state of emergency on March 17, 2020, during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first Newton resident tested positive for COVID-19 on March 9, 2020, just a week prior to the announcement of the state of emergency.
The city experienced three spikes of the virus during the state of emergency—one in the initial months of the pandemic and two during the turn of the new year in 2021 and 2022, according to the city’s COVID-19 dashboard.
Over time, the city lessened its COVID-19 restrictions, including lifting the indoor mask mandate for public spaces on Feb. 18, 2022.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention categorized Newton
as a low-risk area for COVID-19 in March 2022.
A gradual reduction of COVID-19 restrictions in the city and around the country track with the trends of the pandemic, according to Matthew Leibowitz, chief of infectious diseases at Newton-Wellesley Hospital.
“We are in a different phase of the pandemic now,” Leibowitz said. “Much of daily life has returned to normal interactions, including work, school, shopping, travel, dining, entertainment and personal interactions.”
He said that the lifting of the public health emergency is more impactful on practices within hospitals, but reflective of the public sentiment regarding COVID-19.
Major changes as a result of
the decision to lift the public health emergency will be gaps in financial coverage for COVID-19 tests and vaccines by insurance payers, he said.
Uncertainty regarding future outbreaks of the virus remains a major issue in hospitals despite the emergence of vaccines, according to Leibowitz.
“We are likely to continue to see ongoing transmission that may establish more of a seasonal pattern, but there is much uncertainty about this,” he said. “New variants that escape individual and population immunity may yet have further serious impacts, especially on more medically vulnerable people.”
Leibowitz said that there is still hope among medical professionals that vaccines will render the virus less dangerous, as long as people adhere
to the most recent medical advice.
“Hopefully, at some time in the future, it will be a much more mild illness, similar to other ‘cold’ viruses,” Leibowitz said. “The development of new and more effective vaccines may have a major impact on the future of COVID, as long as people are willing to be immunized.”
Fuller’s newsletter expanded on Leibowitz’s hope, noting that lifting the state of emergency is a gesture that signals brighter days for the city.
“As blossoms and daffodils emerge in the spring of 2023, I remember the dark shadow of the pandemic,” the newsletter reads. “I thank the employees of the City and Newton Public Schools for helping so many endure so much. I am grateful that we can now lift the Emergency Declaration.” n
Rep. Jake Auchincloss, who represents Massachusetts’ 4th Congressional District, hosted a virtual roundtable with Newton residents on Tuesday.
Auchincloss began the session by speaking about some of the congressional bills he has been involved in passing, including a climate action and clean energy bill and a bipartisan gun safety reform bill.
“My first term in office was like aging in dog years in Washington, certainly I feel like I learned a lot,” Auchincloss said. “I was able to participate as your voice and vote in so much historic legislation.”
Internationally, Auchincloss said he hopes to continue to provide strong support for Ukraine and chart a long term path for U.S. competition with the Chinese Communist Party.
“I’m a member of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the Chinese Communist Party and the United States,” Auchincloss said. “We really try to think longterm strategy on how this defining ideological contest in the 21st century can be to the benefit of the American people and to people the world over who seek freedom and democracy.”
Newton resident Fred Gross asked
Auchincloss how he plans to bridge the steep partisan divide in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“I am one of the most proactive Democrats in the House and I think my colleagues would support me on this, in literally crossing over the aisle to spend time with Republicans,” Auchincloss said.
He said this tactic helps him to build relationships in Congress, which allows him to serve his constituents more efficiently.
“I spend a huge amount of time just walking across the aisle, sometimes for very specific policy things for very specific people, but sometimes just to sit next to a Republican and ask them questions about their districts, or how they got to that job, because the currency of effectiveness in my role is relationships,” Auchincloss said.
David Backer, a Newton resident, asked Auchincloss how he hopes to work against colleagues who oppose offshore wind development, such as Rep. Jeff Van Drew, who represents the 2nd Congressional District in New Jersey.
“He is such a headache,” Auchincloss said. “I am on a subcommittee with him, and I don’t know if an offshore wind turbine scared him as a kid or something but he hates offshore wind. We have a long roster of scientific
evidence refuting the bogus claims he’s putting forward about the degradation that offshore wind turbines impose on marine ecosystems and I’m absolutely fit and fighting.”
Karen Sherman, a social worker who does school-based counseling at Boston Public Schools for the last four years, asked what can be done to increase mental health resources for students as a result of increasing gun safety issues.
Auchincloss said this is a topic that is discussed at every roundtable he does, and he discussed the funding coming out of the American Rescue Plan as
well as increasing remote mental health services as possible solutions.
Tony Broh, a Brookline resident, asked Auchincloss about his pro-Israel stances, and how he hopes to stand up against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent political stances that endanger democracy.
“I think that an independent judiciary is critical for the health of a democracy, and while it’s within Israel’s right as a self-governing entity to choose its own laws, anything that takes it away from an independent judiciary would be to me something that would undermine our shared democratic ideals,” Auchin-
closs said.
At the local level, Auchincloss said he is working with Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller on fully upgrading the Newton commuter rail stations in West Newton, Auburndale, and Newtonville.
“I feel very strongly that those stations are not worthy of the city of Newton, or of the people who use them,” Auchincloss said. “They are not accessible, and they do not support either the housing that we want and are planning to build around the area, nor do they support the regional rail transportation network that the state envisions.” n
Located in Newton Upper Falls, Lynne’s Vintique offers customers a selection of vintage and antique finds, organic coffees, teas, honeys, and psychic readings.
The business started as a way for owner Lynne Robbins to pursue something new and exciting after retirement.
“After retiring from teaching, I found this current space at the Mall at Echo Bridge and set off on a new direction—a love for DIY and a lifelong fascination with finding and researching objects and books and
just about anything old and interesting,” Robbins said in an email to The Heights
The shop has a wide array of goods, which is encompassed under the term “vintique.”
“The word ‘vintique’ was created to define ‘vintage’ antique and retro goods,” her website reads. “Lynne would define it as: Savoring the present, and creating the future.”
Robbins said she enjoys engaging with the people who come into the shop and does so despite being born completely deaf.
“[I’m] not culturally deaf, but deaf meaning just about zero hearing,” she said.
Robbins is able to understand what people are saying through lip reading. During her interactions with customers, she said she makes those who come into her store feel welcomed and appreciated with her warmth.
Robbins said that she does not have to look too hard to find vintage and antique items for her store.
“People will come in … and drop them at my feet and say ‘Here, I don’t want this anymore,’” she said. “That’s how I find them, it just happens.”
Yet, despite the obstacles that have come with being deaf, Robbins was accepted to all three of the colleges she applied to. She attended
Bennington College with scholarships as a double major in art and writing.
“I was told that because I’m deaf I wouldn’t get into any of the colleges that I applied to,” she said.
Robbins later pursued a master’s degree in art education (MSAE) at Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt), where she continued to face challenges.
“The administrator at MassArt told them that I shouldn’t be allowed to finish my MSAE because I was deaf, and they wouldn’t hire deaf teachers,” she said.
The head of the art education department, however, advocated for Robbins to stay at the school and finish her degree, which she did.
After graduating from MassArt, Robbins worked in the education field. She said one of her most fond experiences was working at the Campus School at Boston College, a special education day school.
“It was quite an experience because the kids were unbelievable,” Robbins said. “That class has a place in my memory till the day I die.”
For two years, Robbins worked as an art teacher and assistant teacher at the Campus School while simultaneously working toward completing her master’s degree in education from BC.
“I remember I set up an art project for them in the corridor with the paint … and they painted the floor with all different things, different colors,” she said.
When she retired from teaching, Robbins said she relished the opportunity to open her own store when she had heard about an available space at the Mall at Echo Bridge.
“I wanted to create in this 180 square foot space an experience where I could share what I was finding and learning about,” Robbins said in an email. “Things like antiques or retro items or books and that included an interest in organic, healthy teas, coffees, honey.”
Those eager to check out Robbins’ store also now have the opportunity to book a tea leaf reading with her through her website. Robbins said the ancient tradition allows readers to discern fortunes from tea leaves.
“The system of tea leaf reading is called tasseography,” Robbins said. “It’s basically when you put the leaves in a cup of hot water and you drink them, they’re supposed to pick up some of your energy, and they form symbols.”
Danielle Ellerbe was seconds away from crossing the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon when a bomb detonated in the distance.
“I saw it but it was still far enough away,” said Ellerbe, a sophomore at the time and BC ’15. “I looked at a police officer who was standing along the race, and they didn’t respond or react. So I just went right back into go mode, like ‘Alright, let’s sprint. Let’s finish.’”
The second bomb went off about 10 seconds later, Ellerbe said.
“I was half a block away,” Ellerbe said. “I immediately lost my hearing. To be honest, my very initial reaction was, ‘Are you kidding me?’”
In milliseconds, Ellerbe said she saw debris flying all around her and realized everyone was in a panic. Alongside other runners, she trampled over the gates enclosing the race route and clutched the sides of a building.
“People were hysterically crying, calling for their loved ones,” she said. “After a few more seconds, I realized I had to run. I ran only about a block or so away, just to the first door that I could find. I spent about five minutes crouched under the bar at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.”
As she waited, Ellerbe said she repeated Isaiah 41:10, the bible verse she had memorized to keep her motivated during the race, over and over in her head.
“I remember praying,” Ellerbe said. “I said ‘I’m not afraid to die, but I don’t want to die like this.’”
Ellerbe was eventually ushered out of the hotel, and she found the parents of another Boston College student.
“I walked them to try to find their son … eventually we went to Uno’s Pizza in Kenmore Square,” Ellerbe said. “That was when I first saw on the TVs, I saw the news headlines. That’s when I first realized, oh my gosh, the gravity of what happened, and that it was an actual bomb.”
Ellerbe said she broke down crying. The gravity of the situation had finally hit her.
At 2:49 p.m. on April 15, 2013, during the 117th Boston Marathon, two domestic terrorists detonated two pressure cooker bombs near the finish line in downtown Boston. Three people were killed and more than 280 were injured.
In the moments following the bombing, BC students and community members rushed to contact runners, friends, and family who were in the area. Less than an hour after the bombing, volunteers from BC’s Campus School created a Google Doc listing the names of over 300 undergraduate students running the marathon and asked members of the BC community to update the document once they knew a runner was safe. By 7 p.m., almost all of the runners were accounted for.
Meanwhile, hundreds of runners who were near BC when the race stopped soon flooded Lower Campus. Students, administrators, and the BCPD quickly responded to support the influx of people.
Alex Warshauer, MCAS ’14, was the president of Eagle EMS (EEMS)—a student-run, emergency medical care provider—at the time. That day, Warchauer and other EEMS workers were stationed around campus to offer both students and runners typical support. When EEMS heard news of the bombing downtown, Warshauer and other workers had to act fast.
“The first thing that happened was that all the local EMS resources immediately left campus and went into the city,” Warshauer said. “So we were kind of left alone to be the sole providers for campus and the surrounding areas.”
The impromptu shutdown left hundreds of runners unexpectedly stranded at BC. While the finish line was set up and staffed to aid runners after they completed the marathon, Warschauer said these resources were not available at the Mile 21 mark near BC’s campus. EEMS quickly spoke with the BCPD chief of police to set up a response, he said.
“The finish line has enough water, warming blankets, medical tents, all ready to take care of runners,” Warshauer said. “The challenge there was that all of our normal EMS resources were pulled into the city. So we had to stabilize those patients ourselves.
As an EMT we’re not set up for IVs and things like that, so it was a lesson in applying our skills and stretching them past what our normal scope of care is.”
Runners sought shelter in the Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola on Lower Campus, Warshauer said. By working with the Office of Emergency Management, EEMS ensured food and drinks from the dining hall got to the runners.
“We’re just keeping the runners safe and warm until we know more about what’s going on,” said Catherine-Mary Rivera, then–as -
sociate director of the Office of Residential Life, at around 3:30 p.m. on the day of the bombing. “We just needed to get them into the church after they stopped running so abruptly.”
Michael Padulsky, LSEHD ’15 and BCSSW ’17, had just reached BC’s campus and Mile 21 of the race when a police officer told him the race was over. During his sophomore year, he decided to run the 2013 marathon to honor his brother Tim, who passed away from cancer in 2008. Padulsky said he and his sister, who ran alongside him, were shocked to hear they could not finish the race.
“At the top of Heartbreak Hill, that’s when really my heart broke because they said ‘Your race is over’ and I just remember kind of sitting down in the road just being like ‘Wow, I trained for months and months for this,’” Padlusky said.
Padlusky said he did not know exactly what was going on, but he began to worry—he had friends who were also running the marathon and his family members were waiting for him near the finish line. His aunt, who was also running the marathon, met him at his dorm room in Walsh, and they tried to contact their family members.
“The cell towers were overactive,” Padulsky said. “Things weren’t going through, so trying to send texts or calls wasn’t always the most reliable thing. Just trying to get a hold of everyone to make sure everyone was safe was really what the afternoon was.”
Once the Boston Police Department (BPD) said downtown Boston was safe enough for runners to return, buses provided by the Boston Athletic Association began transporting runners downtown, and by 7:30 p.m., most of the runners had left BC’s campus.
On a day when Warshauer and his team usually would have helped the occasional runner with shin splints or students who drank too much alcohol, EEMS ended up caring for about 500 stranded runners.
“Everything was moving so fast,” Warshauer said. “You have to kind of take yourself out of the chaos so you can focus on being effective and efficient. I don’t think it really hit me and the rest of the team until after everything had been cleared up.”
When Ellerbe got back to campus, she, Padulsky, and a few other friends recounted the events of their days.
“That’s when Michael had the idea to do something to commemorate this evil that’s happened,” Ellerbe said. “We didn’t get to
finish our marathon, so why don’t we make something, and so that’s when we created a Facebook group called ‘The Last 5.’”
Ellerbe and Padlusky planned to hold a commemorative walk to honor all who were affected by the tragedy. They called it “The Last 5,” referencing the last five miles of the marathon route between BC and the finish line.
“I think that our slogan was, in a way, ‘We decide when our marathon ends,’” Padulsky said.
At first, Ellerbe and Padulsky were worried not enough people would show up at the event.
“We were trying to get all of our friends to tell their friends,” Ellerbe said. “But the next morning, we had 20,000 people join our Facebook group, and it grew in insanity from there.”
The support Padulsky and Ellerbe received online was overwhelming and exciting, they said. To Padulsky, it was clear there was a demand for a commemorative event.
“There was such a need for people to process what had happened and that there wasn’t really a space for people to kind of understand what had happened,” Padulsky said. “So there was a clear need, but of course, you know, 20,000 people coming to a college campus during an event like that is, you know, something that wasn’t safe.”
BC’s dean of students and a representative from the BPD then called Ellerbe and Padulsky into a meeting.
“They said ‘We think it’s amazing, this thing that you have created, but it was growing by the thousands every hour,’” Ellerbe said. “They said, ‘Our city just went through an incredible tragedy, and we don’t have the infrastructure to support what ended up being a group of 47,000 people.’”
So, Ellerbe and Padulsky worked with the University’s administration and BCPD to plan another event.
“So I changed it from a walk to a vigil and had kind of started creating shirts and figuring out who’s going to speak and getting a stage and all of that and planning that process,” Padulsky said.
But Ellerbe and Padulsky’s new event was postponed again after BC’s campus went into lockdown for over 12 hours on Friday as the BPD and the FBI searched Boston and surrounding towns for the suspected perpetrators of the attack.
Then-Governor Deval Patrick issued a “shelter in place” order for all of Boston, Watertown, New -
See Marathon, A6
2:49 p.m. Two bombs detonate near the 117th Boston Marathon finish line in downtown Boston. Three people were killed and more than 280 were injured.
3:30 p.m. Hundreds of runners seek shelter in the Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola.
5:30 p.m. BC issues a statement about the bombing, stating
vigilant.
7:30 p.m. Buses transport runners from the Mile 21 area to downtown Boston. By this time, Lower Campus had cleared.
there was no immediate threat to BC campus and asking everyone to remainPHOTOS COURTESY OF HEIGHTS ARCHIVES
-ton, Cambridge, Belmont, and Waltham. At 6:28 a.m. on Friday, the BC community received a text from BCPD instructing everyone to stay inside.
“Due to public safety concerns, BC is closed and classes are canceled until further notice,” the text read. “Remain indoors.”
Joseph Citera, a BC campus minister and BC ’13, was a residential assistant (RA) in Cheverus Hall at the time. During the lockdown, he said the University tasked RAs with keeping students indoors and safe.
“People were just stuck inside their environment, in their dorm rooms or in their residence halls, and our responsibility was to make sure that people were following that, but also, more importantly, be there for them if they needed something,” Citera said.
He distinctly remembers RAs leading residents to and from the dining halls. Citera also said he and another RA tried to lighten the mood during the lockdown by making pancakes for their residents.
“He and I had a bunch of food leftover from a whole program that we did where we were making pancakes,” Citera said. “We had all this pancake batter left over, so we took the griddles out and started making pancakes, and that was cool.”
At 6:30 p.m., BCPD sent out an alert saying the lockdown was lifted, and around 8:45 p.m., BPD announced that a suspect was in custody. Citera said the student body’s immediate response was to celebrate.
“I think that BC students will find any excuse to celebrate something, and I think that BC students did that,” Citera said.
Immediately after the news broke, students rushed out of their dorms. Students in the Mods waved American flags around as they chanted “USA, USA.”
On Friday, May 3, Ellerbe and Padulsky finally held their Last 5 Walk event. Padulsky said around 1,000 people came to the Chestnut Hill Reservoir to show their support and join the walk. They
designed blue and yellow t-shirts for the event and donated the funds to BC alumni who were affected by the bombing.
Through the event, Padulsky said BC community members were able to connect and talk about the
and Kensky pay for care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, prosthetic legs, and renovations to make their home more accessible, he said.
“When we started to become more conscious of what had hap-
Stowe Fennell, BC ’05—in honor of Downes and his wife.
“It wasn’t really about the money at first, it was more just about wanting to take the Boston strong spirit that Jess and I had received and pay it forward to students with
in the ways that they become their own advocates,” Downes said.
It is hard to imagine that the bombing happened 10 years ago, Padulsky said.
“I can’t believe it was 10 years ago, honestly, and in a way it feels longer, but then also like it was just yesterday,” Padulsky said. “I think that has to do a lot with trauma. I mean, when you go through something like that you separate yourself.”
Warshauer said the marathon bombing had a significant influence on his life—he is currently finishing up his fifth year of general surgery residency at the University of Pennsylvania, with plans to become a trauma surgeon.
“I definitely came to BC knowing I wanted to go into medicine, specifically trauma surgery, but this experience sort of solidified that for me,” Warshauer said. “An experience like that puts into perspective how much of an impact you can have.”
bombing.
“I think that when you’re a college student, there’s not always a space and the opportunity to come together as a big group to really process a tragedy, and our hope was to do that,” Padulsky said.
Ellerbe said she feels both a sense of gratitude and pride for the way the BC community and Boston came together following the attack.
“Boston has grit and tenacity unlike any other city,” Ellerbe said. “It was an incredible time of seeing the city band together around something that was so traumatic.”
Beyond The Last 5 walk, the BC community united to support the BC alumni who had been injured at the site of the bombing through several online crowdsourcing fundraisers. One of those individuals was Patrick Downes, BC ’05, who was with his wife, Jessica Kensky, cheering on runners near the finish line when the bomb went off. Both became amputees after—Downes lost one leg and Kensky lost both.
Before he and his wife knew the extent of their injuries, Downes said the BC community already started to raise money to help them. This support helped Downes
pened in our injuries, and then realized how people were springing into action to help us,” Downes said. “It frankly wasn’t even about the money at the time. I just couldn’t believe that people were responding in the way that they were, that they were doing so much to care for us.”
As Downes and Kensky processed what had happened and came to terms with their injuries, Downes said he felt an abundance of support from the BC community and beyond.
“I’ve always been someone who has been loved by his parents and brother and family and friends, but this was the love like I had never experienced before, and it was a really overpowering feeling despite all the other really powerful feelings that were present at the time,” Downes said.
After participating in a running program for amputees at Walter Reed, Downes ran the Boston Marathon in 2016. He fundraised for the BC Strong fund, a scholarship started by four of Downes’ friends—Michael Hundgen, BC ’05, Kevin Collins, BC ’05, Grace Simmons Zuncic BC ’05, and Liz
disabilities on the campus of BC,” Downes said. “It has grown into that and then some”
When Downes and his friends contacted BC to share their idea, Downes said BC explained they could raise $25,000 and give a one-time gift to a student, but his friends were committed to raising more.
“They were really determined to make it more of a sustainable scholarship fund to be able to give gifts to students in perpetuity, and so they committed to raising at least $250,000 to endow the scholarship,” Downes said.
Since 2017, BC has awarded the scholarship annually to a BC student with a permanent physical disability who has overcome adversity. Downes said the BC Strong movement has pushed the community to be more thoughtful about accessibility and support students who advocate for increased accessibility.
“So for Jess and me it’s been an incredible gift that keeps giving back to us every year for us to be able to meet these students, get to know them, support their time at BC and really learn a lot from them
The past 10 years have proved to Downes that the friendships he formed while at BC are lifelong bonds, he said.
“When I got into BC, it was one of the best days of my life, but I still had no idea about the kind of impact that it would have on my life,” Downes said. “It makes me realize that those friendships that were born out of those experiences at BC really did turn into lifelong friendships that transcend parties in the Mods or tailgates.”
Although the tragedy and fear that struck Boston 10 years ago was intensely dark, Downes said he has witnessed just how much humans can step up for each other in times of need. This ferociously supportive spirit should be extended to all types of people in all of their struggles, he said.
“In this weird twist of fate, out of something that was so evil and destructive, I got this glimpse into the really compassionate depths of humans,” Downes said. “It has supercharged me at times when I would otherwise have been really quite down and out. So I would love to find a way to bottle that all up and be able to give it to other people in their times of need as well.” n
Gabrielle Fitzpatrick was the go-to bartender for her roommates throughout their senior year at Boston College, serving drinks to friends who yearned to drink something more exciting than whatever beer was on sale at the nearest liquor store.
“I just remember my senior year, you know, obviously once we were all 21, I was able to get my bartending license and make cocktails for my girlfriends,” Fitzpatrick, BC ’17, said. “I thought, you know, it would be so great if I could just can this or bottle this and sell it but, but alas, you know, school got in the way.”
As someone whose alcohol of choice is tequila, Fitzpatrick said she realized there was a gap in the canned drinks market. So in 2020, she started Damn Right Cocktails, the first specialty beverage company to sell an organic, 100 percent agave tequila cocktail in a can.
“I soon realized that there were really no products that were a convenient, organic tequila-based premium product, and that’s kind of what I searched for when I was buying alcohol,” Fitzpatrick said.
But Fitzpatrick did not immediately enter the alcohol business after graduating from BC. She first tried her hand working at a law firm and then transitioned into the event plan-
ning industry. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the entire industry was shut down, she returned to her bartending hobby with a new perspective and decided to pursue her passion full time.
“I reverted back to my hobbies of making cocktails and that’s when I was thinking this is going to be what I want to do next,” Fitzpatrick said.
“And, you know, the rest is history.”
Though Fitzpatrick was confident in her bartending skills, she said navigating the alcohol industry as a first-time business founder was challenging.
“Entering into the alcohol industry, I didn’t realize the complexity of all the legal requirements,” Fitzpatrick said. “There’s so much more than just selling the product.”
To familiarize herself with this new space, Fitzpatrick said she relied on her network within the BC community.
“I think community is the biggest thing, and having a network of people that can support you, where you can go to ask questions about certain topics,” Fitzpatrick said. “BC as a whole taught me about the power of your community and your network of people. We’re all not gonna know everything, and you’ll be surprised about how many people actually want to talk about their job.”
Through asking questions and building connections, Fitzpatrick said
she developed a successful business and a strong network of professional support.
“Fear is such a thing that holds a lot of people back,” Fitzpatrick said. “Someone who I’m really close with told [that I was] fearless. And I was like, ‘Yeah. I guess that is what honestly drove me’ because I didn’t have the fear of failing.”
Alicia Vargo, Fitzpatrick’s sales consultant and a partner at Speakeasy Wine & Spirits, LLC, said she saw the determination in Fitzpatrick’s eyes when they first spoke about Damn Right Cocktails. She took her on as a client because of it.
“There are peaks and valleys to this industry,” Vargo said. “This industry is not friendly at all, and it’s very, very competitive. And she’s just dug her nails and and just, you know, kicked and screamed and clawed to make sure that she can continue to do this.”
As the CEO and founder of Damn Right Cocktails, Fitzpatrick said her main focus is bringing in sales and raising capital from investors. Yet, in between days packed with business meetings, she still finds time to connect with her customers.
“My favorite part [of my job] is going out in the market and having customers try the product in front of me,” Fitzpatrick said. “That’s the funnest part [because] they don’t know that I own the company. I try
not to tell people because I want to get their genuine reactions. 100 percent of the time people enjoy it, which I’m so grateful for.”
Because Damn Right Cocktails is part of a saturated market, where there are many canned drink options to choose from, Fitzpatrick said it is important to distinguish her product from the myriad of other drinks. Part of the appeal behind her beverages is how unique they taste in comparison to other options, she said.
Vargo was persuaded to work with Damn Right Cocktails for this very reason.
“I avoid ready-to-drink products like the plague in my portfolio, and that’s because there’s so many, they’re a dime a dozen,” Vargo said. “But when she came to me with the bullet points of ‘I’m female owned, I have a female distiller, I’m the only 100
percent organic 100 percent de agave brand on the market, and 5 percent of proceeds go back to a rural education,’ and boom. She had all the makings to be successful.”
Fitzpatrick said she intentionally works to distinguish her product from other popular brands such as High Noon. Damn Right Cocktails is fundamentally a unique product because it provides a more specialized drink to the customer, she said.
“I am a niche brand that is catered to a demographic that is so unique, and unlike anything that a mass-produced High Noon could accommodate to and be appealing to,” Fitzpatrick said. “I don’t have their foundation but what I do better than High Noon, obviously is my branding, my taste, and also we’re organic. We’re a premium high-quality product.” n
When Jake Ottiger and his friends received their study abroad program acceptances this February, they rushed to figure out which other Boston College students would attend the same programs as them. Once Ottiger noticed there was no simple way to access that information, he decided to build one.
“I’m going abroad to Singapore, and I just noticed a lot of people were talking about it [through] word of mouth, figuring out where people are going from the different programs,” Ottiger, CSOM ’25, said. “I was kind of bummed that I couldn’t see where everyone else was going. I heard that we were going to have an orientation meeting at some point, but I was kind of impatient.”
So on Feb. 23, Ottiger published his website, Eagles Abroad. The site enables BC students who are studying abroad to view other class members enlisted in their schools. Once Ottiger verifies that the student goes to BC and was accepted to a study abroad program, they can click on any BC abroad program, view the list of future attendees, and access their emails to reach out and form connections.
“It’s just a way to make sure BC students feel comfortable going abroad,” Ottiger said.
As a finance and computer science
double major, Ottiger said he taught himself to code during his freshman year at BC.
“I actually came into college thinking I wanted to do investment banking and stuff, and then that quickly changed,” Ottiger said. “I’d say I started really heavily focusing on the computer science stuff in November 2022, and then just kind of ran with it.”
While Ottiger has only taken a few computer science courses so far, he said his Computer Science II course with former BC professor Rafael Ubal Tena sparked his interest in web design.
Ottiger also said he is loosely involved in BC’s competitive programming club and is a part of the BC Computer Science Society.
When programming, Ottiger said he has learned to problem solve and utilize any available information.
“The most important thing is just being able to figure stuff out,” Ottiger said. “So like, go to Google, ChatGPT, whatever—use the resources that you have, be resourceful, and figure out how to do it.”
Ottiger said he worked as a software engineer intern at the startup RiskAverse last summer, but he emphasized that internship experience was not essential to creating his website.
“It wasn’t like I had any super strong past experience that led me to be able to do this all, you know,” he said. “It was just kind of being curious and
following wherever that took me.”
Crediting a past backpacking trip where he journeyed through Europe, Ottiger said he believes travel is crucial to character growth. Yet, unfamiliarity with foreign locations often deters students from studying abroad, he said.
“I think the main thing I’ve noticed in talking to people about traveling to foreign countries is that sometimes it can be scary or isolating if you’re going on your own or in a smaller program,” he said. “So I kind of wanted to help ease that process because like I said before, I think travel is extremely important.”
Rev. James Keenan, S.J., vice provost for global engagement, said the Office of Global Education (OGE) encourages students to apply to more geographically diverse programs.
“I’m interested in a BC student body that is really global and not just European,” Keenan said.
Because convincing students to study in non-European programs is difficult, Keenan said Eagles Abroad serves as a great step in the right direction.
“One of the things that we’ve been trying to do is make students more and more informed about their choices,” he said. “And in a similar way, Jake is making it helpful for people who are going to different places to know who else is going there. And my thing is—any bridge building like this makes for better travel.”
About a week or two after OGE
released abroad decisions, Ottiger began developing the idea behind Eagles Abroad. After building the site in just one weekend, Ottiger said he posted a link to the new website on Herrd, BC’s anonymous social media platform. Although his Herrd post gained some support, Ottiger said he also received some initial backlash.
“I had to follow up on the Herrd post because someone said, like, ‘Oh, they’re probably taking data or something,’” he said. “And I was like, ‘No guys, I’m not doing anything with your data.’”
Once about 200 students had registered for Eagles Abroad, Ottiger sent a message in the BC Class of 2025 GroupMe, a group chat where students in the same year at BC can send messages to each other, to further spread the word.
“I just said, ‘Hey guys, made this website to connect kids that are going abroad, there’s like 200 people that are already on there,” he said. “And then that just skyrocketed growth.”
Aside from posting on social media, Ottiger said he tried to avoid promoting the website too aggressively.
“I didn’t want to be the guy that’s like, you know, slipping stuff under people’s dorm doors and stuff like that,” he said.
Ottiger’s strategy paid off—the site has already reached over 71,000 views across at least 3,000 unique devices, he said. Ottiger said that of the estimated 800 BC students who go abroad each year, 570 have registered to use the site and approximately 470 have verified their study abroad placements and are now listed under their respective program.
“It’s pretty crazy because again, I was not expecting it to like, blow up or whatever,” Ottiger said. “I wasn’t doing it for the clout. It’s just pretty cool that people are using it and hopefully it eases the study abroad process.”
The site’s popularity has also instigated some unusual run-ins on campus, Ottiger said.
“Two people came up to me in the Addie’s line, and were like, ‘Oh my gosh, I love the website,’ which is pretty cool,” he said. “I think at something in Vandy or Ruby, some people were like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s the website guy,’ which is really weird because it’s like, I don’t know, I just like building stuff and connecting people.”
Before he was getting recognized as the “website guy” on campus, Ottiger was a student in Charles Wiseman’s
Computer Systems course. According to Wiseman, Ottiger always displayed an excellent grasp of the material.
“Jake was a phenomenal student,” Wiseman said. “He worked on several different projects and did well on all of them. He’s a top notch programmer, a top notch engineer.”
Now, Ottiger works as a teaching assistant for Wiseman’s Computer Science I course, where Wiseman said he also excels.
“Jake is just an easy guy to get along with,” Wiseman said. “He’s the kind of person I think that others feel comfortable coming to either ask for help or if someone has an idea, you know, they might come to him because I think they know that he’ll treat them with respect and give their idea a fair shot.”
Although Ottiger did inform a couple friends and professors about his project, Eagles Abroad was primarily a solo mission. Wiseman said he simply served as Ottiger’s cheerleader throughout the process.
“This is 100 percent his thing, from beginning to end, and I’m really happy that I’ve been able to watch him as he goes through it,” Wiseman said.
Ottiger did not seek any assistance from OGE either, according to Keenan.
“He did the whole project and told us all afterwards,” Keenan said.
This solo process of actually constructing Eagles Abroad was pretty seamless, Ottiger said.
“A lot of it is just like, going to Google or ChatGPT now, and figuring out how to do stuff,” Ottiger said. “The running joke is software engineers are like, really good at being able to Google things and find the answer to a problem.”
New developments from OpenAI, an artificial intelligence research laboratory that includes softwares like ChatGPT and GPT-4, helped synthesize much of the information needed for the site, Ottiger said. In particular, he used the softwares to help generate facts about all 180 abroad programs that BC offers.
“I think BC does a really good job of having a lot of info, so I was just formatting it in a different way,” Ottiger said.
While many undergraduates may balk at the idea of creating a website
In my head, I used to imagine that the girl who journals is the girl who has everything figured out. She wakes up early to meticulously jot down to-do lists. Each page of her leather-bound notebook is dotted with delicately scribbled flowers and headings written with perfect penmanship. As much as I have always wanted to be this girl, she simply isn’t me.
Anyone who knows me would tell you that organization is certainly not absent from my life. But despite my incredibly intentional habits, my thoughts are a jumbled, never-ending stream of chaotic consciousness. And so too is my writing process.
Most of my writing starts out as a confusing list of sentences and key words. I then make an outline, inserting bits and pieces of the list into each paragraph before adding additional prose. I edit draft after draft written in this fashion until I am able to finally articulate my point exactly as I imagined. Although my writing may start out as a collision of seemingly disconnected ideas, the editing process allows me to meticulously arrange my thoughts into a cohesive piece that reflects the order I try to maintain in my life.
The opinions and commentaries of the op-ed columnists appearing on this page represent the views of the authors of those particular pieces and not necessarily the views of The Heights
So, you might expect someone who puts such time and effort into their words to jump at the opportunity to journal. But it just never came naturally to me and, even after trying for years on end, I could never figure out why.
Now, I have finally realized the problem wasn’t that I had nothing to write about. It was that I compared myself to prolific writers, even in my personal work. The whole idea behind journaling, at least in my understanding, is that it’s supposed to create an environment free from expectations. A journal entry is like the first draft of an essay that never gets edited. The idea of leaving my thoughts in their pure, unfiltered initial state seemed so foreign to me.
And yet, despite my inability to commit to journaling in the past, I decided I would try again this year. So, on Jan. 1, 2023, I picked up the notebook that had sat blank in my bedroom for nearly a year and started writing about anything and everything that came to mind. I set no expectations, had no rules, and made no plans for how to tweak my words to convey some perfectly crafted message.
Journaling, once the pressure of perfection was off, came with a sense of security—nobody would have the ability to judge my thoughts. As my pen danced freely across the page, I realized that my entries didn’t have to be written like novels. They were simply a place to displace my thoughts to paper, hoping to gain clarity. Unlike essays or opinion columns, I was the only person who could judge my own writing. In realizing this, I began to learn how to be less critical of myself. I knew I could write an introspective examination of
my future goals or a list of words I find beautiful and it would make no difference to anyone but me. I gave myself the freedom to write anything I wanted, and I loved it.
I’m not saying that journaling has become a daily habit, but I now know that it is always there when I need to step away from my seemingly endless list of assignments. Journaling has helped me find freedom in writing and limit the rules I place on myself. So, as sappy as this pitch might sound, I encourage everyone to try writing—even just a few sentences about a lingering fear or something that fills you with joy. Give it a chance and see if it helps you better understand yourself.
If you decide to take my recommendation, I suggest you take a step back from your typical world and give yourself the space to be free from distractions. Go get a cup of tea, queue up your favorite Gracie Abrams song, and put pen to paper. Empty the thoughts that plague your mind. Write about your deepest desires and delusions. Sometimes writing out your thoughts makes you more attuned to the ones you’ve been ignoring.
anonyMous
Many of you recently endured the trickiest part of college: housing. Whether you’re off-campus apartment hunting or scrambling to find an eighth person for a suite, lots of students fear the thought of not having an ideal place to go (especially if you have a late pick time). Housing is especially complicated for me: I’d like to share my experiences with the housing process as a transgender woman.
I came out as transgender during the COVID-19 pandemic, and I was able to start medically transitioning (through hormone replacement therapy) just a few months before college. I was nervous about college like any other freshman. What should I get for my room? What clothes should I bring? How am I going to navigate Boston College?
But this is where other freshmen and I differ in terms of nervousness. I was able to medically transition and be perceived as a woman, yet I applied and was accepted to BC under my deadname and sex assigned at birth. How was I going to navigate BC and my life with this situation in mind? My first plan was a compromise—present femininely but hide my gender identity, allowing myself to be deadnamed and misgendered. That plan quickly failed.
First semester of freshman year I met new people, explored Boston, and attended many campus events. One of my fondest memories was having dinner with my friends at Mac and enjoying our time together. After sharing a few laughs, we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways to our respective dorm buildings. I left with a smile on my face, but as I approached my dorm building my smile disappeared and was replaced with fear. I would go back to my single … that was on an all-male floor. I was so paranoid that I would rush in and out of my dorm: What would my hallmates think of me? Did they clock me? It was hard enjoying freshman year because of this.
What made it worse was bathrooms. How the hell was I supposed to use a male communal bathroom? I would wake up at 4:30 a.m., gather my things, and peer through the peephole to see if anyone was up. I then bolted to the bathroom. I would take the quickest showers ever. I did this for a few weeks, but I was able to go home on weekends as I live about an hour away from BC. Going home on weekends gave me a break from 4:30 a.m. showers, but because I was home I would miss out on going to a party or exploring the city with friends. Each weekend at home, I started to get more and more lonely. I also re-
alized how much my situation and my identity hindered me from having fun and living my life. Being deadnamed or misgendered didn’t stress me out as much as brushing my teeth or putting in my contacts in the communal bathroom did.
One week I finally gave up. I was fortunate to know people that could point me to a solution. I got into contact with Caroline Davis, BC’s associate dean of student outreach and support, who is known to help queer students like myself. I remember sitting down with her and pouring all of my problems onto her. We came up with a solution, and because of her, I moved into a different room with my own bathroom a few weeks later.
I gained more confidence in my spring semester: I stopped hiding my gender identity and came out as a transgender woman. I talked to Davis about my plan for housing next year, which was to room with my girl friends. I was optimistic, so I was hoping that something could be worked out. She connected me with the director of housing operations.
I knew to keep my expectations low, and I was right. During my meeting with the director of housing operations, they told me that due to BC’s institutional policies, people of the opposite sex assigned at birth cannot room with each other—bummer. One compromise they offered was rooming in the male suite next to my friends. Obviously, I said no.
I’m a sophomore now, and I’m currently living in my own single. I share a private, single-stall bathroom with my male floor, but I make the best of it. It’s like I’m living in my own apartment! But, my paranoia persists. The stares from my hallmates make me wonder if they know what’s up—that I’m transgender, and that’s the reason why a girl is on the boy’s side of the floor.
I don’t think I’m “visibly trans.” You can’t clock me on campus because I’m like any other girl. My friends and I overanalyze boys’ actions, I party, and I freak out because of upcoming exams. You can sometimes find me in a bathroom at a party complimenting the other girls in there with me. I get called ma’am or miss— my favorite is the chef at Lower working the grill who says, “What can I get for you young lady?” to me. Trying to find the trans girl living on a male floor would be difficult because I make it difficult: I do not want random people clocking me because I don’t want to be treated any differently than a cis person would. I hide my identity for my safety. I know how vile this campus could be. I hear slurs being thrown around like they’re footballs tossed around by
I have learned that the girl who journals is far from perfect. She writes to clear her mind and she has no intention of manufacturing her life into something it isn’t. Her sentences don’t always flow together beautifully, but they’re honest and meaningful to her. She’s learning to accept imperfection because it’s what makes us human. This is the girl I am now trying to be, and I invite you to join me, one page at a time.
With the first glimpse of summer at the end of last week, Boston College students emerged from their dorm rooms and flooded the quads. Shorts and skirts were pulled out of hiding and smiles were big. Everything from meals to meetings took place in the shade of a tree. When the days are this nice, the only thing we can do is drag our friends outside and enjoy the sun. Whether you’re reading, chatting, or taking a well-deserved nap, there is nothing quite like lying in the grass in the middle of a stressful weekday.
Yes, we said it—cleaning is good! Even if your dorm room isn’t completely trashed, there is nothing quite like heading into the last few weeks of school with a clean slate (literally)! Spring allergies also heighten the importance of dusting and scrubbing. So, blast your favorite upbeat music, grab your vacuums, and get to work. Perhaps you will even be inspired to buy some fresh flowers or room decorations. Trust us, brightening your environment will brighten your day too.
white guys on the field in front of Maloney.
Due to recent anti-trans laws and anti-trans rhetoric, I feel obligated to share on behalf of the transgender community a sliver of what I go through on campus and the lack of support BC’s queer community receives from the University.
I’m fortunate enough to know a network of people to connect with and help me with my situation. But unlike the Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center, a resource center I use, I can’t walk to an LGBTQ+ resource center and get help with my situation. Why? Because it doesn’t exist. I mostly had to figure out this situation by myself and with the help of Davis.
Yes, there are LGBTQ+ resources like the GLBTQ+ Leadership Council or the outdated bulletin board on the second floor of Mac, but I wish there was a space created by BC where I could feel comfortable expressing my gender identity and just existing. I feel like I have to fend for myself when it comes to queer issues here on campus as there isn’t a space created by BC dedicated for me to go.
Queer students at BC are left to their own devices, and even though we are able to turn to Davis and other queer students for our problems, I just wish that we were able to turn to a resource center exclusively for LGBTQ+ students and our concerns. It would put me at ease knowing that if any other trans person has a similar issue with housing, they would be able to turn to a resource center and rely on this institution to help them out, and hopefully not have to go through what I did my freshman year. But, judging from this institution’s poor track record of mishandling bias-related incidents and its constant rejection of a LGBTQ+ center, I don’t think a resource center is coming anytime soon.
BC has made it very clear that it does not want to help its queer students, as it continues to deny the LGBTQ+ resource center and allow students whose gender identity does not match their sex assigned at birth to be assigned floors based on their sex assigned at birth. Still, other queer people and I will continue to exist at BC. The University lacks the compassion to realize that even if it’s set in its own values, it still needs to provide support for BC’s diverse student population.
This is unfortunate—but hey, if I get a boyfriend on campus, I can room with him!
With housing for next year finally settled, we are feeling relief but also a little bit of sadness about the room rearrangements. Whether you’re a freshman leaving your first BC friends, a sophomore dividing their group between on- and off-campus housing, or a senior saying goodbye, change is hard. And even if your roommates are staying the same, there is nothing happy about a summer apart from them. These are the people that shape our lives at school, so hold your BC family close for the next few weeks and have one last hurrah.
In the age of digital everything, it is a pain to turn Canvas-assigned work in on paper. Late night and early morning treks across campus are long enough without mandatory stops at the library to print. That’s not to mention the inevitable typo caught at the last second that becomes impossible to correct now that your paper is in physical form. Unless you have a secret portable, mini-printer, the whole ordeal is a quite avoidable and wasteful hassle. And don’t get us started on the stress of being sick on a day with an in-person paper submission. So please professors, at least provide us the option to turn things in online!
Following its disorganized supervision of this year’s UGBC presidential and vice presidential election, the Boston College Elections Committee needs to overhaul its sanctioning process and reassess its election day protocols.
In this year’s UGBC presidential election, Jonah Kotzen, MCAS ’24, and Meghan Heckelman, LSEHD ’25, defeated Jordan Nakash, MCAS ’24, and Yosan Tewelde, MCAS ’24 by a margin of only 11 votes. Had the Elections Committee not deducted 25 votes from Nakash and Tewelde, the two candidates would have won by 14 votes. The deduction changed the result of the election.
The 25-vote sanction Nakash and Tewelde received was “for violating campaign policy by posting a video endorsement from two Division I lacrosse players on Instagram,” according to a statement the Elections Committee gave The Heights following the election.
But in the 2022–23 Elections Committee UGBC Campaigning Code, no rule explicitly bans endorsements from student-athletes. Clause 1.B.ii states that “candidates may not be endorsed by recognized BC student organizations (RSOs) within OSI, or University Programs.”
By sanctioning Nakash and Tewelde on the basis of an endorsement from two student-athletes, the Elections Committee is effectively making the assumption that two athletes speak on behalf of the entire University lacrosse program. The policy— almost improvisationally applied to both this election and the 2022 UGBC election—limits athletes’ freedom of expression as students at BC. The committee should permit individual athletes to make endorsements.
Moreover, the size of the sanction
did not make sense. Aside from setting a baseline sanction of negative five votes for endorsement policy violations, the Elections Committee does not provide a predetermined standard for vote deductions. These deductions and the reasoning behind them are not easily accessible to students, and they are only made public after The Heights requests them.
The committee set a precedent in 2022’s UGBC presidential election, deducting 15 votes from one ticket after it posted a student-athlete endorsement with former starting quarterback Phil Jurkovec. In ballooning the sanction by another 10 votes during this year’s election, the committee disregarded this precedent.
Its justification for the higher sanction was that the two lacrosse players had a “heavier influence on students” than Jurkovec. This conclusion was in part based on the fact that the video of the lacrosse players featured only them—they identified themselves as lacrosse players and supporters of the campaign, specifically stating the team’s slogan. In comparison, the Jurkovec video featured both him and the presidential candidate, and he did not explicitly state he was a football player. The Elections Committee also stated that this year’s endorsement violation was posted on the day of the election, while last year’s was posted a few days prior.
Overall, this distinction is slim, and the impact of the two videos is debatable. Jurkovec played a very public role at BC and has thousands more social media followers than the two lacrosse players combined. As such, the committee’s justification for docking more votes this year is not entirely logical.
The Heights recommends that the committee build a rubric that better outlines sanction sizes for certain types of prohibit-
ed endorsements. A section should also be added to the Code of the Elections Committee explaining how it operates on election day. This should include an explanation of how the committee responds to appeals, as well as the addition of a standard procedure for the way in which winners will be announced.
After initially learning about the 25-vote deduction, Nakash and Tewelde were told that the penalty would be lowered to 10 points following an appeal. That did not happen. This serves as one of several examples of the tone of disorganization and lack of consistent communication that characterized the committee on election day.
This marks the second time in the last four years that an Elections Committee sanction changed the results of a UGBC presidential election. The last flip occurred in 2020, when Christian Guma, BC ’21, and Kevork Atinizian, BC ’22, were elected UGBC president and vice president after the committee deducted 65 votes from their opponents. After the election, The Heights’ Editorial Board called on the Elections Committee to create clearer guidelines. In the three years since, the committee has not moved far enough.
Finally, the faculty adviser of the Elections Committee, Matt Razek, also oversees UGBC. This is a clear conflict of interest. The Elections Committee should be an entirely independent organization with a distinct faculty adviser.
As two of the last four UGBC elections have shown, the Elections Committee can and will change the results of UGBC elections through its vague and inconsistent campaign sanction rules. The Elections Committee would better serve the student body if it reframes its sanctioning process and election day protocols.
By SouraBh Gokarn
Copy Editor
On the verge of his first-career Oscar nomination for Uncut Gems in 2019, Adam Sandler made a promise.
“If I don’t get it, I’m going to f— king come back and do one again that is so bad on purpose just to make you all pay,” Sandler said. “That’s how I get them.”
Though Netflix’s Murder Mystery 2 doesn’t quite reach those lows, it certainly comes close.
Murder Mystery 2 follows 2019’s Murder Mystery—a movie so vapid and uncomfortably mediocre that it is difficult to see why it warranted a sequel. The movie returns Sandler and Jennifer Aniston, who play Nick and Audrey Spitz, respectively. Picking up after the events of the first film, the couple seeks to reinvigorate
their stale marriage by taking up a new career as a pair of detectives.
After the Maharajah (Adeel Akhtar) is kidnapped during his lavish wedding, Nick and Audrey awkwardly stumble toward cracking the case.
The bare minimum for these sorts of movies is to amuse its viewers.
Murder Mystery 2 only just passes this test, offering its viewers an adequately enjoyable, albeit unexceptionable, mystery experience.
But while Murder Mystery 2 slightly improves upon its predecessor, the movie ultimately falls flat and fails to justify its existence as a sequel.
Laziness permeates much of the film, infecting everything from its plot to its jokes. Not even the movie’s title is safe from its creators’ laziness.
Around midway through the movie, Audrey points out a certain cliché of the genre in an attempt at
fourth-wall-breaking humor. Murder Mystery 2’s reluctance to break from such clichéd mystery-movie tropes, however, is where the film’s laziness is most apparent.
From its past-their-acting-prime leads to its uninventive storyline, Mur - der Mystery 2 joins a long line of forgettable, generic films that Sandler and Netflix churned out in the past few years as part of his production contract with the streaming giant.
Its familiarity, though, is where Murder Mystery 2 draws one of its few strengths and is what will generate its commercial success. Its brisk 89-minute runtime makes it a safe, low-investment choice for viewers. For better or worse, Murder Mystery 2 feels like a watchable-enough movie that you’ve already seen.
The film’s bland action sequences
feel out of place and downright unnecessary. Sandler—who has made a career out of playing silly, yet lovable, characters—is an awkward fit in the movie’s fight scenes.
Sandler’s inability to capture the unique charm shown in his previous comedies is a particularly glaring struggle for the movie. Instead of building on an arguably career-best
performance four years ago playing Howard Ratner in Uncut Gems Sandler chose to turn in a mailed-in performance as a plain, thinly written character.
Sandler was not the only one who fell short of expectations, ei-
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After finding a semi-mauled pigeon in her bathroom one night, Showing Up ’s protagonist Lizzy (Michelle Williams) tries to push it out the window, telling it to “die somewhere else.” Those three words sum up the attitude at the hearts of the characters of the film: a desire to put the suffering and misery of their world out of sight.
In the film Showing Up, directed by Kelly Reichardt and released on April 7, Lizzy works at an art school in Portland, Ore., where she is stifled by peers who make her feel inadequate.
Her landlady and sometimes best friend Jo (Hong Chau) avoids her to try to ignore the house’s disrepair.
Lizzy’s divorced parents refuse to acknowledge each other—or her brother’s mental health struggles— and Lizzy, an artist, doesn’t feel able
to work on her art projects without a break once in a while.
But there is joy and happiness in this difficult artistic world. The pigeon survives the night to be found by Jo, who asks Lizzy to take care of it. Initially annoyed by the task, Lizzy soon bonds with the bird and feels a new light in her creative and personal life. No one else can understand this bond. After she takes it to get medical attention, her bemused co-worker Eric, played by Outkast’s André 3000, criticizes her actions.
“Where I come from we shoot pigeons with BB guns, we don’t take them to the vet,” Eric says.
But the strangeness of the situation doesn’t make any difference to Lizzy, and her new worldview drives her to take risks. She spends the money she had held on tightly to and begins to confront Jo on her living situation.
Showing Up is a funny, thoughtful, and tender depiction of an artist’s
world. Despite the avoidance and denial that the characters direct toward their problems, the emotions they feel are honest and genuine.
This is a film that lingers over an Oregonian artist’s studio and the quiet houses of her neighbourhood, with no interest in looking anywhere else. It takes a while to settle into this minimalist style, but once viewers do, the intelligence is impossible to ignore. This is a movie which does not go off to die somewhere else, but lives in amazing color.
The prevailing sound of the movie is a deep silence—a silence which may make viewers too afraid to crinkle their popcorn bag in a theater so quiet, they can hear the movie playing one screen over. Lizzy is alone for most of her screen time, without any companion but her pigeon. The film’s genius is how it deals with this silence and tells the audience everything it needs to know without any words.
Colors, scenery, and facial expres-
sions mean everything in the absence of noise. And the minimal sounds throughout the movie are carefully selected. Every line of dialogue and every note of music is put in its essential place, dragging viewers’ attention to it. Lizzy may rarely speak about her anger and disappointment, but the close shots of her facial expressions among the gray houses beside her car tell the audience all it needs to know.
Despite the difficult topics it deals with, there is a great deal of humor in the film. Lizzy has a laid-back sarcasm, while her friends and family have a comical madness. The jokes may not elicit much loud laughter from the audience, but they will likely stick with viewers long after the film’s end.
At the conclusion of Showing Up, a mesmerising clip of rope braiding plays alongside the credits. It is the perfect match for the detailed artworks that line the scenes with an intelligent, subtle humor. n
Evil Dead Rise is undoubtedly a family film before anything else—and no, not the family film that you can take your kids to.
Between the impressive costumes and makeup, the mix of jump scares, and the unnerving plot, Evil Dead Rise is a show of horror in its prime.
Evil Dead Rise is the latest entry in the cult-classic Evil Dead franchise, but it works as a standalone film as well as a franchise addition. The new film follows Beth (Lily Sullivan), who finds out she is pregnant and seeks out her sister Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) for advice. On arrival at her sister’s Los Angeles, Calif. apartment, Beth is quickly forced to protect her nieces and nephew when Ellie is possessed by a demon.
The idea of motherhood is a
The
“Your
central theme of the movie, and it is a concept that Evil Dead Rise capitalizes on to leave the audience uncomfortable and a little spooked. Mothers are often associated with safety, and many people turn to their moms for comfort, help, or advice. That is why once Ellie gets possessed, the movie becomes creepier to watch.
“In this case, mom being the leader in the home, and the home being the place of sanctuary, if you pull the strength of that mother apart and turn her into something that’s dark, I think everybody starts to get pretty creeped out pretty quickly,” director Lee Cronin said in a roundtable interview with The Heights and other college publications.
Ellie’s kids expect their mother to return to them unscathed, as if the possession is just a bad dream. Instead, their reality is that their mother was replaced with an unsympathetic, manipulative, and vicious demon who
Sad girl fall pioneers The National and Phoebe Bridgers teamed up for this haunting track about mental health. While Bridgers’ vocals only shine through in the chorus, they combine beautifully with the piano and the voice of Matt Berninger.
would kill the kids without a second thought.
One scene that was difficult to watch was between Ellie and her young daughter Kassie (Nell Fisher).
A possessed Ellie is locked out of the apartment, and Kassie is left alone near the door while the other family members try to find a way to expel Ellie’s demon. Ellie calls to Kassie and tries to convince her that she is no longer possessed.
To the viewers, Ellie is clearly
unwell—her body is distorted, her voice is demonic, and her eyes are not even the right color. To young Kassie, however, the crazed creature before her is still her mother. It is torture to watch Kassie slowly but surely believe that the demon is Ellie. It’s a psychologically thrilling sequence mixed in with jump scares that keep the audience on the edge of their seats.
Some of the highlights of the film are the shots and angles that director Lee Cronin incorporates
to elevate the violent and scary sequences. One instance is the use of the apartment door’s peephole, which is used to give the family inside a view into the chaos in the hallway.
“I love sometimes like a set piece where your view is restricted, because then your imagination gets to run wild left and right of what you can see,” Cronin said. “Yes, you see things but also you hear things at the same time. And I really liked … to give the audience an opportunity for their imagination to start to work on top of mine, to feed on my ideas and kind of think a little further. It’s great for creating tension.”
Another impressive point for the film was the special effects that shone through in the form of hair and makeup.
Alternative band Rainbow Kitten Surprise released its newest single on April 10, melding a relaxed and wistful tone with the cryptic lyrics of an old memory. The pulsating percussive beat remains with the listener after the song abruptly comes to an end.
pop artist Sarah Kinsley’s new single is about transitioning abruptly out of childhood. Her unique low vocals contrast with the upbeat melody of the song and result in an intriguing and multi-layered single.
As winter comes to an end, it is time to trade in the Canada Goose, North Face, and Super Puff jackets for a brighter and lighter springtime wardrobe.
Push your neutral-toned clothing to the back of your dresser and bring out your bright colors to complement the joyful atmosphere of spring. Lighter materials like lace, knit wear, and mesh will be staples of wardrobes in spring 2023.
Here are five of my pre dictions about what fashion trends Boston College stu dents will follow this spring.
Skirts
Nothing screams spring like the lightweight fashionable piece of clothing that is a skirt.
After a long stretch of time devoted to jeans and pants, skirts are re-emerging, and I’ve seen an increasing number of students walking through Stokes Lawn in maxi skirts. I think that this spring we will see a lot of denim, specifically mini denim low-rise skirts and denim maxi skirts.
Popular brands for denim such as Levi’s, Calvin Klein, and Madewell are selling denim mini skirts in a va riety of shades and styles. Reformation, Free People, and Urban Outfitters, among other clothing brands, are selling different styles of maxi denim skirts.
Reformation’s collection of silk maxi skirts is perfect for the upcoming season as it contains a range of pastel colors and floral prints. trends, expect to see knit shrug sweaters this spring. These are the perfect transition item to move away from thick winter sweaters to the more airy pieces of spring wardrobes.
Part garment and part accessory, these shrugs are perfect for layering as they don’t hide
ers often worn in the fall, spring cardigans are a lighter layer and complement patterned or textured tops well. This spring, cropped v-neck cardigans in any color will be trending.
Headbands & Sunglasses
Instead of beanies and earmuffs, in spring, headbands and sunglasses will return as fashionable accessories to accompany students as they travel through Both accessories are practical, fashionable, and simple.
Headbands never go out of style. As lingering winter winds blow across campus early this season, headbands are a perfect option to help keep BC students’ hair out of their
perfect accessory for students to wear when sitting on Stokes Lawn with friends in the warm sun or traveling into the city on a weekend.
Jorts
You either love them or you hate them. This spring, jorts will make a comeback once again as BC students embrace the warm sun. I have heard several mixed reviews about jorts, but the conclusion is always that you’re either someone who can pull them off, or someone who really cannot. up on this trend, jorts are jean shorts that often hit between
want to own one, or hope to never own a pair of jorts, this spring they will be back and styled in exciting new ways.
Brighter, More Colorful Footwear
Throughout all of fall and winter, I repeatedly saw students around the residence halls, and This comfortable choice of footwant to bundle up and be cozy. dents will slowly start to switch out their UGGs for brighter and
during mer
Personally, I love the Adidas Gazelle sneakers as a new fashionable choice for footwear. The sneakers are suede and come in a variety of different bright springtime colors to compliment any and all outfits.
The shoes are one solid color with the classic white Adidas stripes and a matching white midsole.
outfits.
can also throw on their favorite cardigan as they walk out the door for a light layer this spring. Unlike the heavy oversized cardigan sweat-
Last year rectangle sun glasses were popular, whether they were worn traditionally or on the top of the head as a hair accessory. I predict that oval sunglasses will be popular among BC students this year. They are the
this spring season. They can be styled in several ways for a baggy clothing look, or their bagginess can be balanced out with a tighter top. They can be accessorized with a belt or worn by themselves.
Whether you own a pair,
A classic spring choice, colorful converse high tops, are a trend carrying over from spring 2022.
Stylish and comfortable, these shoes remain a springtime trend each year. With a wide array of colors offered, they have the ability to brighten up every outfit. n
GRAPHICS BY ALYSSA ANDERSON / HEIGHTS EDITORWith her larger-than-life persona and genre-bending music, Lana Del Rey is one of the most well-known artists of the current music scene with over 43 million listeners on Spotify. Beneath her cult-like following and mesh mask controversy, however, lie deeply philosophical and thoughtful lyrics. Del Rey, whose real name is Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, was called the greatest songwriter of the 21st century by Rolling Stone, a sentiment echoed by Bruce Springsteen, who has also been lauded by Rolling Stone for his own songwriting.
Del Rey’s songwriting has evolved over the years. Her songs range from those from her first album Born to Die, which she described in her Rolling Stone interview as “for the boys,” to her most recent album, Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, which is incredibly personal and conversational.
On Born to Die, Del Rey explores money, sex, and love, and the power each of these has on a person. In “National Anthem,” the narrator describes the trajectory of a relationship she enters into for money.
“Money is the anthem of success / So before we go out, what’s your address?” Del Rey sings.
Del Rey weaves references to old money families, Americana, and Old Hollywood into much of her music, but especially on Born to Die. She idealizes a fast lifestyle and a relationship that can provide this for her.
“Take me to the Hamptons, Bugatti Veyron / He loves to romance ’em / Reckless abandon / Holdin’ me for ransom, upper echelon / He says to be cool, but I don’t know how yet,” Del Rey sings.
Her relationship with this man has introduced her to how the top one percent lives. She is entranced
by this kind of life, and desperately wants to fit in, but does not yet know how to do so. The shift in her attitude as the relationship progresses and as she becomes more comfortable being among the social elite.
“See what you’ve done to me, King of Chevron? / He said to be cool, but I’m already coolest / I said to get real, don’t you know who you’re dealing with? / Um, do you think you’ll buy me lots of diamonds?” Del Rey continues on “National Anthem.”
Del Rey’s persona has taken her place among the elite and now holds her boyfriend to the standard of providing her with all of the perks of that life. Del Rey’s second album Ultraviolence builds off the cinematic vibe she established with Born to Die
“Brooklyn Baby” focuses on a character who, like in “National Anthem,” has learned the ways of the elite and feels comfortable moving among them. But now she has developed the ego to go along with that confidence. The beginning of the song establishes the state of the narrator’s relationship with an older man.
“They say I’m too young to love you / I don’t know what I need / They think I don’t understand / The freedom land of the seventies / I think I’m too cool to know ya / You say I’m like the ice, I freeze / I’m churning out novels like / Beat poetry on amphetamines,” Del Rey sings.
Del Rey knows she’s cool, and despite disapproval from others, she knows who she is. She does not give any weight to people’s negative opinions, but instead remarks that she is in touch with the artistic and free world of the ’50s and the ’70s. The song is full of references to the communities of musicians that were prevalent in the ’60s and ’70s, and the lifestyle associated with those artists.
“Well, my boyfriend’s in a band
I get down to Beat poetry /And my jazz collection’s rare / I can play most anything / I’m a Brooklyn baby / I’m a Brooklyn baby,” Del Rey sings.
Del Rey connects her artistry and coolness to the city where she was born: New York City. Her mentions of Lou Reed, Beat poetry, and jazz harken back to New York’s role as a center for the arts and for music. Brooklyn, in particular, is the birthplace and home of many notable artists and movements. By the end of the song, Del Rey has successfully argued that her status is well above others, including her boyfriend.
“Yeah, my boyfriend’s pretty cool / But he’s not as cool as me / ’Cause I’m a Brooklyn baby / I’m a Brooklyn baby” Del Rey sings.
Del Rey’s lyrics have become somewhat more reflective over the years, and she uses stories to explore her own feelings and motivations as well as those of the people around her. “Love,” from her album Lust for Life sounds like a movie. It turns the lens outward. Del Rey focuses on young people, perhaps reflecting on her own teenage years while looking at those of others. “Love” is a reflection on what it means to be young and to be in love as well as the confusion that comes with figuring out one’s identity.
“Look at you, kids, with your vintage music / Comin’ through satellites while cruisin’/ You’re part of the past, but now you’re the future / Signals crossing can get confusin’ / It’s enough just to make you feel crazy, crazy, crazy / Sometimes it’s enough just to make you feel crazy” Del Rey sings.
The chorus is evidence of Del Rey’s degree in metaphysics and philosophy from Fordham University, as she muses on the seeming insignificance of regular life.
“You get ready, you get all dressed up / To go nowhere in particular / Back to work or the coffee shop
/ Doesn’t matter ‘cause it’s enough / To be young and in love / To be young and in love,” Del Rey sings.
Del Rey reflects on the power of emotions here. Despite the seeming insignificance of going to a coffee shop, being in love with a person or with life is more than enough to make it significant. Norman F—king Rockwell! continues Del Rey’s exploration of emotional power. It is certainly Del Rey’s best album and perhaps one of the greatest albums ever written. Del Rey masterfully paints stories in her music and challenges her listeners to reflect on their own lives and loves. On the title track of the album, she tells the story of a painful relationship that she can’t bear to tear herself away from.
“You’re fun and you’re wild / But you don’t know the half of the shit that you put me through / Your poetry’s bad and you blame the news / But I can’t change that, and I can’t change your mood / ’Cause you’re just a man / It’s just what you do / Your head in your hands / As you color me blue,” Del Rey sings.
The namesake of the album and song is Norman Rockwell, a famous American painter whose work is associated with depictions of American culture. Del Rey seems to view her lover as some kind of version of Rockwell, coloring her and her relationship in blue with his childish behavior.
“Goddamn, man-child / You act like a kid even though you stand six foot two / Self-loathing poet, resident Laurel Canyon know-it-all / You talk to the walls when the party gets bored of you / But I don’t get bored, I just see it through / Why wait for the best when I could have you? You?” Del Rey sings.
Del Rey characterizes her boyfriend as being egotistical, pretentious, and loquacious, but for some reason, she cannot or will not look for someone else.
Did
Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd is Del Rey’s most recent album, released on March 24. It continues the trajectory of somewhat softer and mellower instrumentation that began with Norman F—king Rockwell! Del Rey’s lyrics are as poignant as ever, inspiring introspection in her listeners. One song with standout lyrics—though many on this album are beautifully written, including “Taco Truck x VB,” which samples “Venice B—h” from Norman F—king Rockwell!—is “Fishtail.” Del Rey reflects on a relationship in which her partner expected her to be constantly melancholic, like many of her songs.
“Don’t you dare say that you’ll braid my hair, babe / If you don’t really care / You wanted me sadder, you wanted me sadder / Fishtail, what’s the matter with that?” Del Rey sings.
Del Rey realizes that her lover does not really care as much about her as he may have said, or maybe as he used to. His refusal to “braid my hair” demonstrates his loss of love for her. One particularly heartfelt line is when Del Rey sings, “not that smart, but I’ve got things to say,” which is a reference to negative criticisms of her intelligence. Instead of giving in, Del Rey says that she will continue to speak out and express herself through her music. Lana Del Rey has cemented herself in the upper reaches of songwriting royalty. Through her lyrics, Del Rey has crafted a largerthan-life old Hollywood persona but is still able to connect with real life people with themes of love, heartbreak, and loneliness. The introspective and philosophical musings in her songs are timeless.
Her poignant and beautiful explorations of life and love have only become more thoughtful over the years, and listeners can expect her lyrical genius to be discussed and enjoyed for years to come. n
On a weekend in which Boston College baseball doubled its previous attendance record, lacrosse tied its all-time scoring record, and football was nationally televised, there was no shortage of entertainment on the Heights.
“I just think they’re on a mission right now,” BC head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein said. “And I think, you know, we knew that a couple weeks ago that it was time for us to start to really improve each week. And I’m hoping that we’re continuing to do that because heading up to Syracuse is, you know, again like today, the biggest game of the year.”
With a packed crowd in Alumni Stadium on Saturday afternoon, the No. 7 Eagles (12–3, 7–1 Atlantic Coast) put on a show against No. 12 Virginia (10–5, 5–3), taking the game by a final score of 25–13.
“I think they’ve just upheld a legacy for this program that is incredibly difficult to do,” Walker-Weinstein said of BC’s 10 seniors and graduate students.
“And I think, you know, getting to the top is really hard, but staying there is harder and these guys are responsible for that and I think that’s going to be something I hope they hold close to their heart for the rest of their life because it may feel normal to them, but it’s not normal to go to five consecutive championships.”
After the win, dozens of fans flocked to the turf of Alumni Stadium to get autographs from their favorite BC players.
Jenn Medjid said inspiring these
young fans is the legacy she will leave behind at BC.
“I mean, it was a dream come true for me to get the chance to come to Boston College and play lacrosse here and it was exactly as I had hoped and dreamed it would be,” Medjid said. “So just inspire these kids and let them know that they could do the same thing.”
In a constant back-and-forth battle between the two high-powered offenses on Saturday, the Eagles closed out the win with a 10-goal advantage in the second half. Eight different Eagles scored in the win.
“Definitely a lot of emotions, happy,” Medjid, who scored five goals, said of playing in Alumni Stadium. “I mean, it was such a good one and a little sad. It’s so much fun to play in here and such a privilege to get to play in the stadium. So definitely a little bit sad, but, you know, excited for the rest of the season. We still have a long way to go.”
It did not take long for the Eagles to send the crowd into a frenzy, as Kayla Martello potted her 36th goal of the season less than three minutes into play.
The Cavaliers, however, quickly responded, and at the 9:24 mark they slipped the ball past Shea Dolce to take a 2–1 lead. Virginia’s scoring did not stop there, as with just 19 seconds remaining in the first quarter, the Cavaliers took a commanding 5–2 lead.
But the Eagles didn’t put the remaining 19 seconds to waste, as Cassidy
Weeks, who finished with a season-high six points, swiftly potted a goal with seven seconds remaining.
BC wasn’t finished, though, as Medjid sent the ball into the five-hole in buzzer-beater fashion to bring the Eagles back to within one goal to close the quarter.
The momentum continued into the second quarter, and just over a minute into play, Andrea Reynolds knotted the game at five apiece with a free position goal. But the Cavaliers ended the 3–0 run with a free position goal of their own to regain the lead and start a period of back-and-forth action.
BC finally broke the cycle with three straight goals from Cassidy Weeks, Martello, and Courtney Weeks, which gave the Eagles a 10–7 advantage.
To end the quarter, Lizzie O’Neill slipped through Virginia defenders and sent a bounce shot into the back of the net with just one second remaining to put the Eagles up 11–9 entering halftime.
Virginia struck first in the third quarter, but the Eagles bore down and recorded three straight goals in the span of 1:28 to take a commanding 14–10 lead. And despite Virginia defenders’ best efforts, the Eagles’ offense opened the floodgates and piled on the goals, at one point going on an 8–0 run to make it 23–12.
The Eagles capped off the game with a goal from Belle Smith, her fourth, with two seconds to play, and the crowd gave a final cheer as the clock ran out.
Dolce, whose name was chanted by fans throughout the game, recorded eight saves on 22 shots on goals, allowing just 12 goals. Backup Rachel Hall made an appearance in the final minutes, recording one save.
“Everyday at practice, all that matters, get a little bit of improvement, commit a little bit deeper and be better in time for Syracuse,” Walker-Weinstein said. n
Despite boasting a record 13 games above .500, it’s rarely been smooth sailing for No. 11 Boston College baseball this season.
“I think not many of them have just been smooth sailing … it doesn’t seem like there were many, like, wire-towire, we’ve got the lead all the way through wins,” BC head coach Mike Gambino said.
The Eagles have seen everything from early deficits, midweek slugfests against nonconference opponents, and stunning comebacks. By weathering this adversity-ridden storm, a distinct identity, characterized by resilience, has emerged for this BC team.
BC’s resiliency was again tested this past weekend against Duke, as the Eagles fell into early holes in both of their weekend contests. While BC (24–11, 9–9 Atlantic Coast) overcame a five-run deficit on Saturday to beat the Blue Devils (23–12, 9–8) 9–6, the Eagles couldn’t muster enough offensive firepower on Sunday, falling by a final score of 6–2.
Sunday’s loss marked BC’s first
home series loss of the season, but the weekend came with another milestone. On Saturday, underneath a pristine spring sky, 2,535 fans packed the stands and lined the outfield hill, setting a Harrington Athletics Village attendance record, according to BC Athletics.
“This has never happened here before,” Gambino said on Saturday. “Their head coach talked about [how] this was a great college baseball atmosphere yesterday, and that it affected and rattled their players. There’s never been a real crowd home field advantage in the history of this program. And that’s because of the student body and alumni coming out. The students need to know how special and important that is.”
The Blue Devils wasted no time offensively on Sunday, as Alex Mooney launched a leadoff double. Alex Stone drove him in two at-bats later via an RBI groundout for a 1–0 Duke lead.
BC starter John West ran into some more trouble in the fourth inning, surrendering a pair of runs to put the Blue Devils ahead 3–0. Duke’s starter Ryan Higgins, meanwhile, cruised through five innings
Boston College football head coach Jeff Hafley was not lying when he said the Eagles’ defense was ahead of its offense at the start of the 2023 spring season. BC’s defense forced six turnovers and registered six sacks in its annual Jay McGillis Memorial Spring Game at Alumni Stadium on Saturday, doubling the touchdown count of the offense that was playing with no pressure of real tackles or real scoring.
But Hafley was also transparent about BC not showcasing much of its new offense under offensive coordinator Steve Shimko due to the game being televised.
“Today was going to be vanilla,” Hafley said of the offense.
Make that vanilla in an extra large
cup, as the Eagles didn’t score until the 9:33 mark in the second quarter when starting quarterback Emmett Morehead dropped an easy pass into the hands of Dino Tomlin for a wide-open 5-yard touchdown. That would be the only touchdown pass of Morehead’s day, and the signal-caller was also intercepted twice. Morehead finished 14 of 25 for 151 yards.
But according to Hafley, there is nothing to worry about.
“At the end of the day, I’m not gonna judge us off our spring game,” Hafley, who stood on the field behind the offense during the game, said.
“I think we ran four verticals like 10 times, we threw goal balls which we haven’t done much of all spring. We ran two different run plays out of the same formation. … If the defense didn’t have a better day, knowing the limita-
tions of what we were gonna run on offense, then something’s wrong with the defense.”
In a game where the final score is perhaps the least important aspect— Maroon won 69–42, tallying points from a modified scoring system— sophomore cornerback Amari Jackson stood out most among the rest.
Jackson picked off Morehead twice, one being an end zone takeaway. The McDonough, Ga. native even made a cameo on offense, catching a pass.
“Details,” cornerback Elijah Jones said about his teammate’s play. “He’s definitely improved from last year.”
There were five interceptions in total and one fumble recovery in the game, with three of the interceptions taking place in the red zone—in part due to the second half being a
33-minute, running clock, situational gameplay style. Hafley said he was particularly impressed with how his defensive backs played—they recorded eight pass breakups—with a highlight coming from Jones’ one-handed, acrobatic bat-down.
Besides Morehead, four other quarterbacks saw action. Jacobe Robinson, who joined the Eagles mid
Nearly 2,000 Boston College softball fans were in attendance for Saturday and Sunday’s games against Duke at Harrington Athletics Village. But the stands ran blue as the Blue Devils held strong in the crowd and on the field in both contests.
“The weather was great,” BC head coach Amy Kvilhaug said. “It was just a great environment for the student-athletes to play in.”
Duke (36–8, 13–5 Atlantic Coast) completed its sweep of the Eagles (19–22, 2–13) after BC dropped the first game of the series on Friday. Saturday’s game ended in a 3–0 loss, and Sunday’s contest ended with an extra-innings loss in the ninth. The Eagles did not go down without a fight, but stranded 13 runners between the two games which proved to be costly.
On Sunday, BC stayed in the game until the very end and then some, taking the Blue Devils to two extra innings.
Duke came out swinging in the first inning with a leadoff single from D’Auna Jennings. Deja Davis followed up with
a single of her own, as did Gisele Tapia, and the bases were quickly loaded for Abby Dunning. Dunning proceeded to walk Ana Gold which brought Jennings in for a run, and Aminah Vega sent the ball to shallow left which allowed Davis to score. Tapia was thrown out at third, though, and a strikeout and pop out let the Eagles escape the inning trailing 2–0.
BC responded with Aleyah Terrell reaching first on an error, and Abigail Knight walked an out later. Nicole Giery singled, and Duke’s Claire Davidson struck out Zoe Hines which left Meghan Schouten with two outs and the bases loaded. It looked like BC would leave three base runners stranded as the count reached 0-2, but Schouten crushed one deep off the left field wall to send Terrell and Knight home. Davidson got her third strikeout and ended the inning, but not before the Eagles knotted the game at 2–2.
“I mean, they punch with two runs, we punch right back,” Kvilhaug said. “I thought that was great.”
Neither team scored in the next six innings, but not without drama, as BC left a runner stranded on third base three times.
Duke had opportunities as well, loading the bases in the top of the fourth, but Dunning battled back and left three
stranded. The Eagles had a chance to win in the bottom of the eighth inning, loading the bases on two walks and an error with Maddy Carpe stepping up and hoping to end the game.
“I had a really good feeling Maddy was going to come through, you know?” Kvilhaug said. “Those are the opportunities that we need to capitalize on and we didn’t and that’s the difference in the ballgame, Maddy capitalizes and the game’s over.”
But a shallow flyout left all three stranded.
Duke broke through the stalemate in the top of the ninth inning after Dunning hit Jennings with a pitch and Davis singled past third. The runners advanced after a wild pitch, and Tapia sent a line drive directly at Dunning which bounced off of her body and allowed Jennings to score and take the lead. Dunning was pulled for Susannah Anderson, who quickly struckout Gold. But Vega singled to right, which sent Davis home for a 4–2 lead.
BC couldn’t come up with anything in the bottom of the inning and Duke completed the sweep.
In Saturday’s game, Duke struck first in the top of the third inning, as Jennings made it to second base on an error by Erika Andal, and then made it
to third on a passed ball. Tapia helped Duke convert on the Eagles’ mistake with a flyout to shortstop for an RBI. BC got out of the inning but trailed by one run.
The Eagles’ mistakes caught up to them, however, as Duke took over in the top of the sixth inning with Tapia hitting a leadoff single. Anderson walked Gold, Vega, and pinch hitter Kamryn Jackson for another run, which triggered a mound visit by Kvilhaug.
“Generally I go out there as a reset,” Kvilhaug said.
The mound visit seemed to pay off as Anderson struck out pinch hitter Sarah Goddard, but Duke wasn’t done, as a flyout to left field allowed Gold to tag up and score. The inning would end there with Duke leading 3–0.
Giery breathed life into the offense
in the bottom of the seventh inning with a leadoff double off the centerfield wall. An out later, Schouten was walked which put the tying run at the plate. Duke opted to change pitchers and relieved Cassidy Curd for Lillie Walker.
Carpe put the ball in play with a line drive to left field and Giery sprinted to third, seemingly loading the bases. But after a bobble by the left fielder, Giery ran home. It proved to be a costly decision as Giery was thrown out at the plate which left pinch hitter Gianna Sarlo with two outs, two runners on, and a chance to keep the game alive. But a flyout to center field ended the game with an Eagles loss.
“You’ve got to convert at key moments,” Kvilhaug said. “We just, for whatever reason are not getting those key hits.” n
Four men up, only one baserunner. Three men up, three men down. Three men up again, three men down again. Statistically speaking, the first three innings of at-bats for No. 11 Boston College baseball in its series opener against Duke weren’t pretty. But once the bottom of the fourth inning hit, all of BC’s hitting woes turned around. But it wasn’t pretty either.
After Travis Honeyman flicked a single up the middle to kick the inning off, a passed ball allowed him to steal second base. Joe Vetrano grounded out, which advanced Honeyman to third and forced Duke’s starter, Jason White, out of the game. Facing relief pitcher Charlie Beilenson, Patrick Roche knocked in BC’s first run of the game with a chopper to Alex Mooney. The shortstop failed to convert the throw to first, allowing Roche to safely reach and score the runner.
After cutting the deficit to 3–1, Leary advanced Roche to second with a single, igniting some fire into BC’s crowd, and Duke’s mistakes only added up from there.
Nick Wang reached first base on a fielder’s choice, and Barry Walsh put the icing on the cake with a single, scoring Roche and advancing Wang to third. Just one pitch later, Wang trotted home on a passed ball to tie the game. And then just one batter later, Vince Cimini dribbled a grounder right through Andrew Fischer’s glove, sending Walsh home to put BC ahead 4–3 lead after four innings.
Although BC (23–10, 8–8 Atlantic Coast) took a lead in the fourth inning, it was the Eagles’ last lead of the game and they relinquished it quickly. In the top of the fifth inning, Duke’s Jay Beshears stamped a solo home run to tie the game, and the Blue Devils (22–11, 8–7) ran away from there. Using just two pitchers with sub-1.00 ERAs for the final four innings of the game, Duke pulled away for a 6–4 win.
Despite the loss, BC head coach Mike Gambino remained committed to his lineup and said it was a matter of the pitching BC faced.
“We talked about trying to find one at-bat that somebody gave up—that you would have considered a bad atbat,” Gambino said of his discussion with his players after the game. “And we couldn’t find one. A couple guys chased up against [Fran] Oschell, but that fastball has crazy [vertical break]
on it, really good fastball. … But I thought our bats were good.”
Beilenson didn’t allow a single run in the bottom of the fifth inning, and reliever Fran Oschell III replaced him in the bottom of the sixth. Oschell, who nearly pitched into triple-digit speeds with his fastball and complemented it with a high-arching breaking ball, pitched all the way through the bottom of the eighth inning, notching five strikeouts, zero earned runs, zero hits, and just one walk.
“High-spin fastball with crazy vertical break,” Gambino said of Oschell. “22, 25 inches of VB on that. And I will tell you this. [Cimini] chased the fastball up, [Vetrano] chased the fastball up, and I thought our plans against him were awesome. I mean the guys executed, executed their plan. But, he’s good. He’s talented, I mean they both give up half a run a game.”
By both, Gambino also meant James Tallon, who collected his seventh save of the season, striking out two BC batters in the bottom of the ninth inning to secure the win. Other than Duke’s Kassius Thomas, who’s only pitched 4.1 innings this season, Oschell and Tallon contribute the two best ERAs on the Blue Devils’ roster.
Duke jumped out to an early 3–0 lead through the top of the fourth
inning, but it didn’t faze BC, according to Gambino.
“We did what we’ve been doing all year,” Gambino said. “When we were down, it was like there was never any real threat. … You know, it’s just, the numbers say it’s gonna be hard to score runs against those two guys. But like I said, the bats were great, and there was a true belief we’re gonna win that ball game, all the way through.”
Despite giving up runs here and there—four in total—starting pitcher Henry Leake did just about everything he could on the mound, posting seven strikeouts in five innings.
“He’s gonna give us five to six with a chance to win the ball game every time out there—you can’t ask for more than that,” Gambino said. “He did it. He was five, we thought about trying to steal one more, and you know, could we have stolen one more? Possibly if it turned into a three-spot, but he was pretty out of gas.”
And down the line, it just got tougher and tougher for the Eagles’ lineup. In comparison to the Blue Devils’ three combined runs in the last five innings of the game, BC didn’t score in a single inning other than the fourth in the 6–4 loss.
“You know, the league is gonna be
With DeMarr Langford Jr. and TJ Bickerstaff hitting the transfer portal, 1,000-point scorer Makai Ashton-Langford graduating, and ACC Most Improved Player Quinten Post potentially leaving for the 2023 NBA Draft in June, Boston College men’s basketball was in need of an addition—a scoring addition.
The Eagles got the addition on Tuesday when 17.4 point per game scorer Claudell Harris Jr. committed to BC. The sophomore transfer from Charleston Southern University is head coach Earl Grant’s first acquisition of the 2023 offseason.
“There was a lot of schools calling, a lot of schools contacting me, but I took the BC visit first because I built the best relationship with the coaching staff, and Coach Grant, especially,” Harris said. “And honestly, it just felt right. I trust them. I trust what they got going on. And I love the culture. And so I feel like I made the right decision.”
Harris, who goes by “MJ,” took a visit to BC’s campus over Easter weekend, and he spoke with Grant and the rest of
the staff, who showed Harris the new practice facilities at the Hoag Basketball Pavilion, as well as the Boston area. Most players were away from campus for the long weekend—Harris only met freshman Armani Mighty—but he felt as if he had seen everything he wanted to see.
“The coaching staff still took that time out to reach out to me to let me know that I was more of a need than a want,” Harris said.
With the departures of the Langford brothers, BC is losing 19.4 points per game from those guards alone.
Harris said he is confident he can replicate their success—he was Charleston Southern’s leading points per game scorer by over six points and he also scored 30 points on two different occasions. Harris will likely pair with Jaeden Zackery as BC’s backcourt for the 2023–24 season.
“There’s gonna be a lot of exciting plays,” Harris said. “I’m very energetic, very passionate on the court. I’m gonna do stuff to get the crowd, you know, kind of into it. So they’re gonna be in for a fun one, fun season.”
The 6-foot-3, 190-pound Harris
shot 46 percent from the field and 78.6 percent from the free throw line last season, playing in 30 of the Buccaneers’ 31 games within the Big South Conference. He also earned Big South Second Team selection honors while leading Charleston Southern in scoring.
Harris acknowledged that there will be a learning curve but said he is confident his scoring will translate to the ACC.
“It’s gonna be tougher,” Harris said. “But that’s what I do. I score the ball playing inside the system. We’re gonna shock a lot of people.”
Harris said he is adamant he’s not just a scorer and will fit right in with Grant’s “gritty not pretty” mantra.
The Hahnville, La. native registered 28 steals last season for the most on Charleston Southern’s team and said that he truly believes he can defend at this level.
“I feel like I’m a great ball defender,” Harris said. “I feel like I have some stuff to work on, but I’m very athletic, long arms. … I feel like I could guard anybody in the ACC.”
Aside from individual skill, Harris said he sees himself clicking with his teammates right away, accrediting this
belief to his personality and willingness to win.
“I’m very vocal on the court,” Harris said. “I’m a good people-person. So, I feel like I’m gonna be able to come in and bond with my teammates right off the bat and build good chemistry fast and get in there and try to win games. I just really want to do anything that’s gonna help the team win honestly.”
Harris, whose Charleston Southern team finished with a 10–21 record last season, acknowledged the Eagles’ 9–11 conference record in the 2022–23 season, and said he can help finish what BC has already started. He’s still enrolled at Charleston Southern, but once classes end in May, he said he is looking forward to joining his new teammates in Chestnut Hill.
“They were closer than they think, so, like me coming in, it’s adding another piece to the puzzle, and everything’s gonna click,” Harris said.
But Harris said his ultimate goal is not just to win, but to win enough to bring BC back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009.
“That’s something everybody wants to experience,” Harris said. “And I feel like we’re in a position to do so.” n
