Columnist Matthew Ablondi discusses how the University should reinvigorate fan support for BC sports.
Past and present members of the Church in the 21st Century center reflect on its impact as it celebrates its 20th anniversary.
Newton resident Xiu Fang Ke pleaded not guilty to murder in Newton District Court Wednesday after a 65-year-old man was found dead in his Newtonville home Tuesday, according to Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan.
Police found Leonard Garber wrapped in a curtain and pressed under construction materials and other heavy items at his Mt. Vernon Terrace home at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Ryan said at a press conference.
Ke, charged with the murder of Garber, pleaded not guilty at her arraignment on Wednesday according to The Boston Globe. She is due for her next court appearance on Oct. 31.
Police determined that 43-year-old Ke, a former tenant of Garber’s, had allegedly stolen over $40,000 from Garber through forged checks and had allegedly been spending time with Garber in the days before his body was found, Ryan said.
Garber confronted Ke about the theft sometime between last Thursday and Sunday, according to the district attorney. Ke then allegedly struck and killed Garber, Ryan said.
Family reported Garber missing on
Monday evening.
Officials saw an individual identified as Ke enter and exit Garber’s home multiple times in the days prior to Tuesday in surveillance camera footage, according to Ryan.
Police had previously visited the home on Monday when Garber was first reported missing but did not locate him. They visited again early Tuesday before finding Garber’s body in the afternoon, the district attorney said.
Based on preliminary investigation, the body appeared to be hidden and left in the front hallway of the home for several days, Ryan said.
See Garber, A4
By erin Shannon News Editor
Boston College reported 16 rape cases in 2021, according to the University’s Annual Campus Security and Fire Safety Report, marking an increase from the nine reported offenses in 2020, but still not surpassing the 23 reported offenses in 2019.
The University published its crime statistics in accordance with the Clery Act, which requires all colleges that receive
federal funding to release an annual public safety report detailing crime on campus and the school’s efforts to improve campus safety by Oct. 1 of each year.
Associate Vice President for Student Health and Wellness and then-University Title IX Coordinator Melinda Stoops noted last year that the historically low number of reported rape offenses in 2020 could be due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have fewer people on campus, and with COVID measures, fewer gatherings or cases where we might see some
activities that sexual violence may be more likely to occur,” Stoops said. “So our numbers were down, and I think that makes sense given the context of the year.”
In 2021, students returned to campus, coinciding with BC’s rise in rape offenses and liquor and drug law violations—disciplanary referrals for liquor law violations rose from 646 in 2020 to 868 in 2021 and disciplanary referrals for drug law violations rose from 45 in 2020 to 103 in 2021.
See Clery, A2
Defensive back Elijah Jones hunted down Chibueze Onwuka as Boston College football players began to filter off the field. A small group of fans had gathered on the turf, having jumped the fence to the stands, and were congregating near the visitors’ tunnel.
“You may not realize, but you won us the game,” Jones said he told Onwuka.
The fifth-year defensive tackle had jumped over the line of scrimmage on a Louisville extra point try in the second quarter, and he made contact with the ball, sending it wide of the uprights.
BC won the game by one point.
The Eagles’ offense came alive in a 34–33 win over Louisville (2–3, 0–3), led by Zay Flowers. The rest of BC’s offense followed Flowers’ lead with explosive plays downfield, which have been hard to come by for the Eagles so far this season.
Behind Flowers and a staunch defensive effort, BC (2–3, 1–2 Atlantic Coast) battled its way to its first Power Five win of the season.
Meet Kevin Willer, a partner at Chicago Ventures, to learn about how his Boston College education prepared him for a career in venture capitalism. The discussion will take place on Monday at 3 p.m. over Zoom.
Gather with friends and classmates this Friday from 9:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. as CAB holds a homecoming dance at the Sheraton Boston, 39 Dalton St., Boston, Mass.
Other offenses listed in the report include stalking—which increased from five reported offenses in 2020 to 14 in 2021—and fondling—which decreased from 13 reported offenses in 2020 to 11 reported offenses in 2021.
BC also recorded three burglaries, one motor vehicle theft, one domestic violence offense, and four cases of dating violence.
The University reported no hate crimes, arsons, murders or manslaughters, robbery, aggravated assault, or arrests for weapons law violations in 2021, according to the report.
The public safety report is compiled from BC police logs, reports of campus security authorities, responses from public police agencies, and the database of the Office of the Dean for Student Development and Residential Life, the report said.
The offenses in the report include those that occur on cam-
pus, at non-campus properties, and on public property. Though in 2021, Stoops said the offenses listed in the report mostly occur on campus because the Clery Act has strict criteria for what qualifies as a non-campus offense.
According to the report, 13 of the 16 reported rape offenses occured at on-campus housing facilitiies and nine of the 11 reported fondling offenses occured at on-campus housing facilities, but only five of the reported 14 stalking cases occurred at on-campus housing facilities.
The report also listed five fires that occurred in BC housing in 2021. The causes of the fires— which occurred in Gabelli Hall, the Mods, St. Thomas More Apartments, and Vanderslice Hall—were cooking-related, the report said.
One of the five fires left $2,135 in damages, while the others caused no property loss.
The report also detailed the University’s Campus Sexual Violence Response and Misconduct
Prevention Program, including confidential resouces for students such as the BC Sexual Assault Network (SANet).
“Sexual violence or sexual misconduct of any kind is antithetical to the mission of Boston College
and the values it espouses and will be responded to accordingly,” the report reads. “The University strives to eliminate sexual misconduct on campus, prevent its occurrence, and address its effects.”
If you or anyone you know has
experienced sexual assault or sexual violence, you can reach out to BCPD at 617-552-4444, the Sexual Assault Network at 617-552-2211, the SANet Care Team at 617-5528099, and the Office of Student Conduct at 617-552-3470. n
institute’s first core faculty members.
“The Schiller Institute is going to be the centerpiece of the University’s vision,” Ming said. “From my position as a core faculty member, I hope to contribute to the further growth of the institute and
contribute to the building of the University’s future.”
Laura Steinberg, the executive director of the Schiller Institute, said the institute focused on finding faculty at the top of the climate change and energy transition fields during the hiring process, but also on fostering an interdisciplinary approach toward addressing public issues.
“We wanted these faculty to not only be excellent researchers and teachers, but we also wanted them to be people who would want to reach beyond the discipline they were primarily active in,” Steinberg said. “We wanted faculty who wanted to do scholarly work and work with students and also wanted their work to have a major impact for the public.”
Steinberg also said that, over time, she hopes that Ming and Tian will create new interdisciplinary courses to address unique aspects of climate change.
“They’ll be jointly appointed in the Schiller Institute and the department of earth and environmental sciences,” Stein-
berg said. “We expect that they’ll create new courses, interdisciplinary in nature, that will touch on various important aspects of climate change.”
Global collaboration is necessary in responding to climate change, as not all nations can adapt to the changing climate, according to Tian.
“The U.S. can respond quicker to climate change, while developing countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, or South America don’t have the infrastructure to do so,” Tian said. “So we need global collaboration, such as the Paris Agreement.”
Tian said that the Paris Agreement—an international treaty surrounding climate change—is a collaborative effort. Establishing an integrated sciences approach at Boston College allows a similar collaborative effort between various academic departments, he said.
“The mission is really trying to solve a common problem: the sustainable development challenge,” Tian said. “So I think it allows faculty and students to work together within the college com-
munity, within Boston, and beyond.”
Tian then explained the integrated system approach, which addresses issues by using unique perspectives to tackle different parts of the systematic problem. Schiller’s goal, he said, is to educate students on tackling such systemic problems.
“In the system approach, we view the Earth as a whole and link it up to different aspects of society,” Tian said. “You could be a business major, biology major, or computer science major, but you’ll all come together in this integrated approach to target this complex problem.”
Tian ultimately said that action must be taken soon, as environmental problems affect not only the present, but the future as well, making timely, integrated solutions critical.
“Today’s environmental problems affect us, but also use the next generation’s resources,” Tian said. “We must consider the ecological interface and how it can be improved not only through sustainable development, but also economic development.” n
Keeping up with one’s faith is hard in the modern digital world, especially as a college student, according to Alejandra Aquino.
“I think it’s very hard to kind of understand what Christianity really is about and how it’s relevant to you as a young person,” Aquino, BC ’17, said.
Boston College’s Church in the 21st Century Center hosted three alumni, Aquino, Kevin O’Brien, BC ’20, and A. Taiga Guterres, BC ’21, on Wednesday night to discuss their personal and professional experiences with faith and service. This is one of many events for the 10th Espresso Your Faith
Week, a celebration of faith that aims to highlight the gift of God in students’ lives.
The three panelists started by touching on their faith and service journeys in college and after graduation.
Guterres said that he did not even know he was at a Catholic university when he was a freshman at BC, but he later became more involved with the church.
“I ended up doing the RCIA, or the Rite for Christian Initiation for Adults, and joining the Catholic Church my senior year of college,” he said.
Guterres said he spent time in Mexico along the border serving refugees and deportees, where he realized
the importance of helping those in need and spreading Christian values like hope, faith, and love.
His work in Mexico inspired him to complete more Jesuit service work in Belize and then return to the United States to pursue a master’s degrees in theology and ministry and social work at BC, he said.
Aquino also spoke on her work at Ascension, a company that produces Catholic media, where she helped produce the popular podcast “The Bible in a Year” with Rev. Mike Schmitz, which had over 142 million downloads in November 2021.
“I wanted to use the kind of modern communication platforms to continue spreading the gospel …
helping young people really encounter the story because I think it’s very hard to kind of understand what Christianity really is about and how it’s relevant to you as a young person,” Aquino said.
O’Brien discussed his work in the Peace Corps and in the Dominican Republic, where he said he gained valuable insight about social justice.
“I think awareness, understanding and service, seeking to help make things better in whatever way you can, [is] really meaningful,” O’Brien said.
The three panelists then shared advice they would give to current undergraduates seeking guidance for their futures in service, their faith, and life beyond college.
Guterres described how he deals
with anxiety surrounding his future, encouraging attendees to consider their futures through a Jesuit perspective.
“I think what, for me, has been helpful is that Jesuit sense of the process. What is my way of proceeding?” Guterres said. “Like what should I pray versus how do I be prayerful? How should I help or what should I do to help versus how can I be helpful?”
Aquino then expanded on Guterres’ advice, emphasizing the importance of love and faith.
“We feel like we have to do this big thing. We have to go abroad or like this huge thing. And sometimes it’s just loving the person in front of you, loving your roommate, loving your parents, [or] loving your friend,” Aquino said. n
the Provost and Dean of Faculties, one recent alumni, and a Board of Trustees member selected the 10 seniors who comprise BC’s first homecoming court.
Boston College is completely transforming homecoming weekend, announcing its first homecoming court and themed spirit week to celebrate BC and revamp its traditions.
“I knew this was something [Shawna Cooper Whitehead] was interested in doing to start a new tradition, to make homecoming weekend less just a football game and more something to celebrate BC’s community,” said Julia Spagnola, a member of the court and MCAS ’23.
Cooper Whitehead, vice president for Student Affairs, spearheaded the changes for homecoming this week, which include the return of the Homecoming Dance on Friday after three years and a new format for spirit week with themed dress-up days.
Six representatives from Mission and Ministry, BC Athletics, the Division of Student Affairs, the Office of
These seniors will help bolster school spirit by attending various events throughout the week, according to Cooper Whitehead, Colleen Dallavalle, senior advisor to the vice president of Student Affairs, and Abigail Czerniecki, graduate assistant in the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs.
Spagnola, who is also the vice president of UGBC, said she is very excited to be a member of the University’s first homecoming court.
“I wanted to be a part of that process and [set] the tone for hopefully something that will become a really good tradition here at BC, something that people acknowledge and celebrate,” she said.
Jack Leary, MCAS ’23, first learned about homecoming court about a month ago when the applications were emailed to the senior class. He said he decided not to apply because he did not feel comfortable nominating himself.
“I think it’s so dumb,” he said. “The self-nomination aspect of it really confuses me because I think the whole point of a homecoming court is that you want it to be the people that are most respected by the student body and the most well-liked, and I think that the self-nominations kind of get rid of that.”
Quinn Wilson, one of Leary’s roommates and CSOM ’23, said he agreed that nominating people would be more fun, but he does not really understand homecoming court in general.
“I literally just learned about this a couple hours ago,” Wilson said. “I don’t really understand the point of it.”
Ishaan Kaushal, however, said he likes the new initiative, as it aims to get all students involved on campus.
“I really think this year they really honored the idea of meeting people where they’re at when it came to their BC experience,” said Kaushal, a member of this year’s homecoming court and WCAS ’23.
As a Woods College student, Kaushal said it can be difficult to be immersed on campus—clubs often host events at night when Woods classes occur.
He hopes to use the position to show people there are more unconventional paths at BC.
“I think for a lot of people there’s this expectation of like one way to experience BC, but I wanted to be able to … show people that there isn’t this set definition of what the BC experience looks like,” Kaushal said.
According to Cooper Whitehead, Dallavalle, and Czerniecki, homecoming is designed to encourage BC community members to come together and celebrate BC.
“In creating a Homecoming Court and aligning our Homecoming Week of events, we want to encourage the campus to come alive and take part (in large ways and small ways) in building community while also celebrating our school,” the three said.
One way of encouraging this school spirit is through themed dressup days, the three said.
“The different themes are ways to have fun and celebrate different elements of the Boston College community,” Cooper Whitehead, Dallavalle, and Czerniecki said. “The different spirit days will add a bit of [flair] to the week that will set it apart from the rest of the semester.”
Leary and Wilson were not aware of the different events and themes for spirit week. Both said they like the idea of showing BC spirit, but were a bit confused about the dress-up days.
“I feel like something like a maroon and gold Monday makes sense, but a twin day feels like it would make a lot more sense in a high school setting when you’re all in the same building at all times,” Wilson said.
Maura Letendre, CSON ’23, also did not know much about the homecoming week events and thought the idea of a homecoming game pep rally seemed more like a high school event.
“[The pep rally] feels a little high school but again … we’ve never experienced that,” she said. “It would definitely be interesting to see what it’s like and how involved the student body gets into it.”
Letendre said she was skeptical at first about the return of the Homecoming Dance, but she grew more open to
it.
“I saw that it was at a hotel in Boston, and everyone seemed pretty excited about it,” Letendre said. “I guess I got more excited about it. I don’t know if I’m going to go.”
Both Leary and Wilson said it would be fun to dress up and attend the dance, but neither of them could justify the price.
“Who doesn’t love dressing up and going out with their friends?” Wilson said. “It’s actually a really fun thing to do. It’s just that $56 was a little steep for me personally.”
Cooper Whitehead, Dallavalle, and Czerniecki said Student Affairs looks forward to homecoming weekend and hopes to build on the tradition for years to come.
“People seem to be excited about this new enhancement to our traditions and are looking to rally around the themed days, events, and embrace the school spirit Boston College is known for,” they said.
Both Leary and Wilson said they are most looking forward to the football game and their last homecoming at BC.
“Pretty much every kind of event like this as a senior definitely comes with a bit of bittersweetness,” Leary said. n
The Student Assembly (SA) unanimously passed a bill intended to combat bias-motivated speech on the anonymous social media app Herrd in its meeting on Tuesday.
“The Student Assembly of the Undergraduate Government of Boston College … hereby creates a working group to collaborate on resolving the issue of posts including bias motivated speech and language on Herrd, as well as researching a proper response by administration in accredited universities similar to BC,” the act reads.
Buck Popolo, policy coordinator of the GLBTQ+ Leadership Council and CSOM ’23, worked with the Intersectionality Committee to draft the legislation—titled “An Act Concerning Research at Accredited Universities in Response to Bias Motivated Incidents on Social Media and Across Campus.”
“On Monday September 12, a post was made by a Boston College student on the app Herrd that used
biased language toward a student with a disability,” the act reads. “Posts using biased language have been a recurring problem on the app.”
In a period of questioning prior to the SA’s vote, Jonah Kotzen, the Council for Students with Disabilities’ (CSD) SA representative and Intersectionality Committee chair, specified that only UGBC members would be a part of the working group.
“We thought it might be most beneficial to limit [the working group] to just UGBC [members] because if we open it up to the whole student body, it might get out of our control, and our opinions as representatives of the student body might get lost in the chaos that ensues from that,” Kotzen, MCAS ’24, said.
Kotzen then discussed possible ways the larger community could be informed and involved throughout the process.
“I think this would be beneficial to put on Instagram to say that this is what we’re working on or even a newsletter and to ask for any suggestions,”
Kotzen said. “I think it’s necessary to do this especially because these students are the ones being affected by these responses.”
In addition to passing the act surrounding Herrd, Julia Spagnola, UGBC vice president and MCAS ’23, discussed the possibility of creating a survey to address student concerns about BC Dining.
“There’s currently fears about a $3,000 meal plan not being able to cover students through the semester, but in a greater proportion than usual because of increased prices,” Spagnola said. “What we would be doing is putting together a survey to ask students, either halfway through or at the end of the semester, how much money they have left on their meal plan.”
According to Spagnola, there is a sense of urgency to conduct the survey because students have a limited amount of money for the semester.
Jake Kauffman, junior class SA representative and CSOM ’24, later addressed student concerns regarding the study abroad program’s application
process.
“One issue that I found with the application process, after hearing from other students, is that it’s not very transparent in terms of what it looks for and how you have your outcome,” Kauffman said.
According to Kauffman, he plans to address these issues in an upcoming meeting with the Office of Global Ed-
ucation.
Spagnola concluded the meeting by discussing the benefits of a tightknit SA with about 30 members.
“I think it will set a good tone for us to be collaborative this year, and in doing so we won’t only set a good example of student groups coming together, but also hopefully achieve some of our goals,” Spagnola said. n
Newton’s Zoning and Planning Committee discussed potential requirements for electric vehicle (EV) charging station infrastructure at a Wednesday night meeting.
The Newton EV Task Force presented updates on its examinations of EV charging stations in residential and commercial lots.
The City Council adopted EV-related sustainability measures in 2017, requiring that at least 10 percent of parking spaces in new green developments bigger than 20,000 square feet be equipped with EV charging stations.
It also requires that another 10 percent of parking spaces must be compatible for EV parking spaces in the future.
The maximum number of required chargers per project is currently 40.
But nearby communities have implemented even stricter requirements.
In Boston, for example, 25 percent of spaces in larger developments must have an EV charger, while 75 percent must be adaptable for EV parking spaces in the future.
Massachusetts’ adoption of Advanced Clean Cars II standards means residents will not be able to purchase a new gas-powered car in Massachusetts after 2035.
Five percent of vehicles currently registered in Newton are EVs, and
this number is expected to reach 10 percent by 2025.
“Newton is an early adopter, or stronger adopter, of [electric] vehicles,” said Ward 6 Councilor-at-Large Alicia Bowman. “And so for that reason, we probably want to stay ahead of the curve on this.”
Task Force member George Kirby said changes to requirements would have implications for new developments in the city.
“One of the first things that developers do is to sign up for a certain amount of power to be allocated to the development, and once that’s done, it’s very difficult to change later on,” Kirby said.
The new Massachusetts Stretch Energy Code allows for EV charging stations powered by an Automatic Load Management System (ALMS) to fulfill state requirements, making charging less load-bearing while supplying electricity to multiple stations.
The committee, however, was divided as to the practicality of relying on ALMS moving forward.
“I don’t have a complete understanding of how [ALMS] work and how they would interface with what we’re trying to do with this ordinance,” said Energy Project Manager Bill Ferguson. “They provide for a lot of charges on one circuit. … I believe the charge is gonna be a lot slower, and I just want to make sure we understand how it would affect the percent of spaces that we should be recommending.” n
NICOLE VAGRAGarber, from A1
Police arrested Ke Wednesday morning without incident, according to Ryan.
Mt. Vernon Terrace is a no-through street with only a handful of houses. Patrick Hamilton has lived across the street from Garber’s home for nearly 25 years. Hamilton said Garber had been a good neighbor. He also said that before Garber moved in, college students and other random groups of people rented the property.
“When he came in here, the house across the street was kind of run down,” he said. “He bought it, fixed it up a lot.”
The Mt. Vernon Terrace home sits in the Newtonville Historic District and was built in 1880.
Sounds of muffled conversation and soft jazz intermingle in the main dining room of Café St. Petersburg. The cozy restaurant has specialized in Russian fare since it opened in Newton Centre in 2005.
“In general for me, [Russian food] is very homey food,” manager Dan Mataiev said. “The best way to describe it is like food cooked by your grandmother. It’s very homey, very warm. We love our potatoes. We love our vodka.”
Those are no understatements.
Cafe St. Petersburg’s potatoes are covered in herbs that give them a rich flavor. A bite through the golden crust unveils the tender filling inside.
Of course, diners can wash their meals down with one of the many seasonal infused vodkas available, including garlic and lemon, cranberry, horseradish, pineapple, and strawberry.
The family-owned business opened in Brookline in 1994. After 10 years, Café St. Petersburg moved to the current location nestled in Newton’s Piccadilly Square. Off of Union Street, a red brick path leads to the venue’s distinctive terrace and entrance.
A satisfying appetizer is indispensable to a good full meal, and Cafe St. Petersburg offers many traditional Russian dishes that serve the role perfectly.
Pirozhki are pastries that come hot to the table for a price of $2.50. Guests can choose between meat or cabbage as the filling beneath a flaky crust.
Some of the restaurant’s most popular dishes are Borscht for $8.95, Siberian Pelmeni for $18.50, and the Sturgeon “Tzar” for $25.95.
The Sturgeon “Tzar” comes either steamed or pan fried, as the fish swims in a white spinach and dill sauce with fried potatoes on top. The soft Sturgeon meat contrasts the crunchy potato, and interplay between the two consistencies makes every bite interesting.
Diners can also find Georgian dishes at the restaurant. The Chicken Tabaka, a pressed and fried cornish hen, and the Chicken Shashlik, skewered and covered in plum sauce, are two standouts.
The restaurant, however, is not just a place to eat—it is also a social hub for the local community.
It is nearly 4,000 square feet, and the city assessed its value at $1.22 million in 2022. Garber bought the home in 1999. When Hamilton heard Garber was missing, he said he hoped the neighbor had taken an unannounced trip. He felt shocked when he found out Garber had died, he said.
“You don’t think it’s going to happen to someone across the street,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton said the police became less communicative with neighbors as time went on after Garber had been reported missing.
“The police didn’t tell us much of what was going on,” Hamilton said.
“The first officers that came here we talked to, and they were looking for him as a missing person, but as it went on, they would say less and less. But I
don’t blame them for that.”
The Globe reported this is the first homicide in the City of Newton since 2009.
“To say that just says a lot about Newton as, you know, a pretty calm place to live,” Hamilton said. “And we’re lucky with that.”
Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller said the hearts and prayers of the people of Newton are with Garber’s family.
“Mr. Garber was a member of our community,” Fuller said at the Wednesday press conference. “He attended synagogue here. He had friends and neighbors who knew him and cared about him.”
The Heights requested the Newton Police Department for an incident report on Garber’s death and Ke’s arrest report via email. n
Among the plentiful cafes, upscale eateries, and boutique shops decorating its streets, Newton Centre plays host to Ding’s Kitchen, a Chinese restaurant with a vast offering that stretches from traditional Cantonese delicacies to classic Chinese American dishes.
Customers should not be deceived by the red awning that reads “Jumbo Seafood” located just a few steps off of Centre Street. It belonged to the venue’s former occupant, which has since moved to Chinatown.
Beneath the awning is Ding’s Kitchen, and its claim to the space comes from its delicious and sprawling bill of fare.
“Cantonese food is number one in [all of] China because everything we make is so fresh, no canned food,” said Alan Wu, the restaurant’s manager. Wu said the restaurant maintains this standard of freshness with daily deliveries of ingredients ranging from seafood to produce. A quick glance at its extensive menu gives context to the variety of the deliveries.
2005.
GAVIN ZHANG / HEIGHTS EDITORShock waves reverberated throughout the Catholic Church on Jan. 6, 2002 when The Boston Globe ’s Spotlight team published its investigation into a pattern of clerical sexual abuse and a resulting coverup within the Archdiocese of Boston.
The Globe reported that although members of the archdiocese knew of the assault allegations against then-Father John J. Geoghan continued to move him between parishes within the Greater Boston area. After the investigation broke, hundreds more victims came forward, alleging that they also experienced clerical sexual abuse.
In the summer of 2002, University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J., announced the creation of the Church in the 21st Century (C21) Center, which he designed to address issues facing the modern Catholic Church, including the priest sex abuse scandal. Though he initially intended it to be a twoyear initiative, C21 still remains an active part of campus life at BC 20 years later, and its mission has spread worldwide.
Karen Kiefer, director of C21 and BC ’82, said there was a general feeling of hurt and confusion toward the church in the aftermath of The Globe ’s investigation.
“At the time, [there were] a lot of people just leaving the Church,” Kiefer said. “I’m Catholic, and I feel like that was a gift that I was given. … We could choose to just walk away, [and] that might be the easy thing, but staying is harder sometimes.”
Just months after the initial story broke, Leahy answered the call on behalf of Boston College to be a catalyst for renewal for the Catholic Church, Kiefer said.
At the time of Leahy’s announcement, BC was the only Catholic university in the country to have an in-depth project exploring the crisis in the hurch.
“While the initiative was instantly praised by the media and Catholics coast-to-coast who were eager for someone to address the crisis and offer insights on how to revitalize the Church, no one could have envisioned its profound and lasting impact,” said Associate Vice President for University Communications Jack Dunn in an email to The Heights
Before holding its first event, Leahy emphasized that the program would not just look into sexual abuse in the church—no topic was off limits, he said, though it would always remain respectful to
the church.
“The project will address more issues than just sexual abuse, such as priest celibacy,” Leahy said at the time. “The project calls for the inclusion of alumni, administrators, faculty, and students in its committees. Students will also be able to take classes connected with the project, although none are scheduled for the start of the fall semester.”
The program initially focused on three main areas of the church:
Spotlight reporters who uncovered the abuse scandal.
At the end of C21’s first year, 8,500 people attended almost 60 lectures, 20,000 people visited the website, 4,000 scholars visited the scholarly paper section, 3,500 people requested to be on the mailing list, and 160,000 people were set to receive C21’s new magazine called Resources
C21’s second year saw much growth with a variety of confer-
After the first two years, Leahy officially announced C21 would transform into a permanent University structure, meaning it would need a different leadership structure.
A steering committee and advisory board had previously led the center, so Leahy began the search for its first director.
In April 2005, Leahy hired Tim Muldoon, BC ’92, as C21’s first director.
Before stepping into the position, Muldoon said he wanted to focus on the relationship between the church and young
was something that was just very close to my heart.”
Muldoon also said he tried to tackle that question by focusing on programs geared toward the student body.
One program that launched under his direction is Agape Latte, a monthly reflection series where C21 hosts a speaker from the BC community to facilitate conversations about faith among students while enjoying coffee and a selection of desserts.
The idea for the program came from wanting to foster a reflective, yet non-academic, environment for BC students, inspired by a similar initiative within the Catholic Church called Theology on Tap.
“The model was … Theology on Tap, which still exists all over the country now, [which was] a way for young professionals [to] raise those kinds of questions in an informal way,” Muldoon said. “And so my colleague Dawn Overstreet and I kind of put our heads together and said, ‘Well, why can’t we do just something like that?’ Obviously, we can’t make it on tap. You can’t be in a bar, right? It’s undergrads—but aha, coffee.”
C21 held the first Agape Latte event on Oct. 3, 2006, and around 150 students attended the inaugural event.
Muldoon was the event’s first speaker and gave a lecture about how young people who consider themselves spiritual should take religion seriously, he said.
At first, Kiefer said many of the Agape Latte talks were more lecture style and less storytelling.
After forming a student board and shifting the formatting, the event grew in popularity, Kiefer said.
“We just thought, we do not need lectures, we need people— faculty members, staff members, administrators—getting up and sharing a piece of who they are and shar[ing] a story about a time or times in their life—20 minutes, just short—where they saw God working,” Kiefer said. “So, once we pivoted, it just took off, and then the students got behind it, and then they became the marketing ambassadors, and then we just had a whole lot of fun.”
In 2015, C21 announced BC had enfranchised Agape Latte, expanding the program to other schools. Since then, the event has spread to over 120 colleges, high schools, and parishes nationwide, according to the C21 Center.
Agape Latte has remained a popular monthly event on BC’s campus.
C21 hosted a variety of events and panels in the fall 2002 semester on topics from Catholic teachings on homosexuality to whether the role of women in the church should be expanded as well as hosting the group of Boston Globe
ences and speakers.
After hosting more than 100 events, C21 partnered with the archdiocese to host a conference for mental health professionals on how to treat victims of clergy abuse.
great hopes was to foster some extended reflection on the question, ‘What ought the church be for young people?’” Muldoon said.
“And so, you know, the focal area of … dealing with young people and even their role in the church
Katherine Schoenberg, MCAS ’24, said she frequents Agape Latte events because they serve as a time for weekly reflection.
“I really like [Agape Latte] because it feels like an hour in the week where it’s almost like a mini retreat in a way,” Schoenberg said. “It kind of reminds me [of] in high school when I’d go to retreats and things and you’d have speakers, and their stories would prompt you to reflect on your own life.”
Muldoon said spearheading Agape Latte was one of his proudest accomplishments as director, along with overseeing the publication of the C21’s book series in the late 2000s. Aside from creating programing such as Agape Latte, in 2008, C21 worked in conjunction with the theology department and the School of Theology and Minis -
in a casual setting playing cornhole, just trying to get to know them on a more personal level,” said Amy Guggenberger, LSEHD ’24.
Espresso Your Faith Week events range from mass, confession, and eucharistic adoration to cornhole with the Jesuits and God Loves You S’more in order to create an inclusive atmosphere, Kiefer said.
“Espresso Your Faith Week is really sacramental in so many ways, but it’s also engaging so that a student that’s like ‘I don’t go to mass’ or ‘I’m not Catholic,’ or whatever— everyone’s included,” Kiefer said. “I would never want anyone to feel like that just because we are a Catholic center, that we’re not taking care of the students and the people around.”
Another C21 program called
community and our country, leaving too many Catholics hurt, angry, and questioning their continued involvement in the church,” Leahy said.
In addition to the center’s determination to address nationwide issues, it later on-boarded BC students in an effort to connect more with the student body.
Dennis Wieboldt, BC ’22 and GMCAS ’23, is one of the student representatives on the advisory committee for C21.
He became involved with the center during his freshman year and joined the advisory committee as a sophomore. He said the advisory committee helps C21 understand and hear from student perspectives.
“Between all of us, we’re able to get a pretty good sense of how things are on campus, and then the next step that we do is offer recommendations and ideas. We bounce all kinds of ideas off of each other,” Wieboldt said.
Wieboldt described the center’s role on campus as making discourse and discussions on faith more accessible to students.
right now the challenge is just … be inviting and be like, ‘Hey, this isn’t like some scary thing that you have to sign up for. It’s just like an opportunity to meet people [and] engage in things bigger than yourself.’”
Other C21 parish-wide programming include Faith Feeds, which launched in 2019, and Breakfast with God, which started during the pandemic.
Establishing and sustaining the center, he said, has shown the rest of the country that BC made a commitment to addressing pertinent issues within the Catholic Church.
try to create the BC Symposia on Interreligious Dialogue, a series of lectures which took place over five years to promote commonalities between different religious traditions and the open exchange of ideas between peoples of varying faiths.
In 2012, C21 started Espresso Your Faith Week, which the center hosts every year alongside campus ministry, Kiefer said.
“One of the students years ago had said to me, ‘I wish we could do a whole week of Agape Lattes, just storytelling and because it gets everyone kind of excited,’” Kiefer said. “And then we thought, ‘Well, why don’t we do Espresso Your Faith week and work with Campus Ministry and then we have an opportunity to showcase a lot of the work of Campus Ministry and all the good
GodPods launched in 2016 under the leadership of Thomas Groome, the director of the center at the time. GodPods, which still runs today, began as a podcast about lent and now discusses various topics in the church. Groome said he leveraged the rise in technology and aimed for the podcast to reach a younger audience, as young people are more apt to use their phones as a way to connect with C21.
About two years later, in the summer of 2018, a two-year investigation by the Pennsylvania grand jury uncovered sexual abuse allegations that implicated over 300 priests throughout six Catholic dioceses.
In response, C21 hosted a forum titled Why I Remain a Catholic: Belief in a Time of Turmoil.
“I really do think that the service center’s biggest service to the campus community is making faith and conversations about faith accessible to students, no matter where they are on their journey,” Wieboldt said.
Wieboldt was heavily involved in creating the center’s Student Voices Project, which surveyed BC students between 2000 and 2022 about their hopes for the Catholic Church and their view on the challenges the church is facing now.
“We spoke with over 550 students through short online surveys, focus groups, online and in person,” Wieboldt said. “And then at the conclusion of that, we came up with a couple kinds of conclusions about students’ faith at BC based on our survey data.”
After the initial success of the Student Voices Project at BC, Kiefer and Wieboldt decided to launch a second phase of the project where they spoke to over a thousand students nationwide.
From both phases of the project, he said they learned that students are looking for approachable settings in which they can talk about their faith.
“One thing that students always are looking for when it comes to faith conversations is hospitality and invitation,” Wieboldt said. “When students are having conversations about faith sometimes, which can be difficult, they always want to feel like they’re being invited into the conversation.”
Though both programs started on a small local scale, they have now spread to parishes across the country.
newest C21 initiative, Pray
“My sense is that the lasting impact is that people recognize that the University has made this commitment,” he said. “Father Leahy, his … kind of legacy here [is] to ensure that there is something at Boston College that stays attentive to the kind of on-the-ground reality of the church in the United States.”
University Vice President and Secretary and Director of the In -
things that are happening on campus to students early in the year.’”
This year marked the 10th anniversary of the program, which has become known across campus for its free coffee and opportunities to engage with religion.
“I’m a resident assistant at BC, and for part of our programming, we wanted to engage with Espresso Your Faith Week and take our residents to this event and just kind of engage more with … Jesuit traditions by meeting these Jesuits
Leahy directly addressed the grand jury report at this event, recognizing the disillusionment within the Catholic community.
“The Pennsylvania grand jury report of earlier in the summer about decades-old cases of clerical sexual abuse, the alleged misconduct by former Archbishop McCarrick, and the inability of the American hierarchy and Vatican officials to agree on new policies to address sexual abuse by priests and bishops have taken a serious toll on the Catholic
Veronica Gasowski, a workstudy student for C21 who helps with the center’s visual design and LSEHD ’25, said she enjoys C21 initiatives, as they can help guide students through tough questions.
Moving forward, Gasowski said she hopes to see the center improve student engagement and willingness to participate in faith-based conversations, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I feel like right now, the big challenge is just trying to get people interested in church again,” she said. “Especially [after] COVID, I feel like a lot of people are like, ‘Eh, I don’t need to go to mass’ … so I think
It Forward, started in 2022 and provides participants an opportunity to pray via Zoom for 15 minutes every Wednesday afternoon with the BC community, Kiefer said.
When the program first launched, it was held during lunchtime. After tweaking the program and relaunching it in June to be later in the afternoon, it now has 500 members.
The program has now spread to other parishes, high schools, and colleges nationwide, Kiefer said.
In addition to launching many of the center’s first initiatives, Muldoon said he is proud of his efforts in enhancing the engagement of the BC community with the center.
When reflecting on his time as director, Muldoon said he is proud of his efforts in enhancing the engagement of the BC community with the center.
“I take great pride in … the fact that there was a fairly wide consultation around the University, that we brought in a lot of members of the University, in the various committees … so we really were launching sustained conversations and that was a good thing, too,” he said.
Along with its on-campus growth, Muldoon said one of the biggest impacts of the center is its mere existence.
stitute for Advanced Jesuit studies Rev. Casey Beaumier, S.J., said that the efforts of Leahy to integrate Jesuit Catholic values into the center is one of the major reasons for its success.
“Father [Leahy] takes very seriously the Jesuit Catholic mission, that’s a priority for him,” Casey said. “So I see him as one of the more important leaders in the history of Catholic higher education in the United States for his effort in bringing University resources to the assistance of the permission of faith. And I think the world needs that. I think the United States needs that.”
After witnessing the center grow over the last 20 years—first from the perspective as a BC alumna and now as the director of the center—Kiefer said its focus on young people as the future of the church has been its most important factor.
“I’m also really proud that the center is really looking to the future of the church being young people, with a particular focus,” Kiefer said. “Our commitment to having big conversations about roles and relationships in the church and the Catholic intellectual tradition … and constantly creating new opportunities to engage more people in important conversations about the importance of God.” n
In a Cinderella-esque transformation, Conte Forum changed from a rowdy sports arena into a decadent gala for the 30th annual Pops on the Heights. Twinkling lights hung from the ceiling, and the stage was rimmed with flowers for the event, bringing Boston College students and their families together for an evening of BC spirit.
Pops, also called the Barbara and Jim Cleary Scholarship Gala, is BC’s largest fundraiser that goes toward providing financial aid for BC students. Since 1993, the Boston Pops Orchestra,
conducted by Keith Lockhart, and a special guest have performed at the gala for the extended BC community during Family Weekend.
This year, Grammy and Oscar-winning musician Jon Batiste performed at the sold-out gala. Past years’ stars included singer-songwriter Lionel Richie, Broadway performer Kristin Chenoweth, and the band Train.
In a recorded video, Patti and Jonathan Kraft announced that the event broke its fundraising record this year, raising more than $14.5 million. According to the event’s website, the gala has raised more than $115 million for financial aid over the course of 30 years.
The BC Screaming Eagles Marching Band warmed up the crowd. The student musicians played from seats at the back of the stage with their uniforms and polished instruments illuminated under the lights.
More student talent was on display as the University Chorale of BC, sitting behind the Pops Orchestra and led by director of Chorale John Finney, performed John Williams’ “Call of the Champions.”
The crowd then welcomed conductor Keith Lockhart to the stage with a round of applause. The Pops Orchestra played “It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing),” originally by Duke Ellington, as dramatic lights shone on the walls of Conte Forum. Illuminated orbs floated over the crowd as the dramatic brass crescendos filled the arena, adding a magical feel to the evening.
Lockhart then welcomed the night’s student soloist Maxwell Korman, MCAS ’23, to the stage to perform “Corner of the Sky” from the musical Pippin. Korman let his powerful voice and expressive movements shine. The crowd exploded into applause when Korman hit the final high note and gave him a standing ovation.
The magical aura of the evening continued as the Pops moved on to play selections from the Harry Potter films. Shots of Gasson Hall and Bapst Library—two of BC’s most Potter-esque buildings—appeared on large screens as the Pops played.
Lockhart recognized Finney for his decades of work at BC. Finney, who will
Finney then conducted both the chorale and the Pops for a rendition of “O Fortuna.” When the final note rang out, Finney took a deep bow and the audience gave him a standing ovation.
After the Pops played “Sing, Sing,
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Former President Barack Obama, the first Black U.S. president, and former first lady Michelle Obama’s time in the White House was historic. It is only fitting that the Obamas’ official portraits are just as groundbreaking.
Immediately when visitors enter the gallery, they can read an overview of the portraits and the artists who created them: Amy Sherald and Kehinde Wiley. Wiley and Sherald are the first African
American artists to create the official portraits of a president and first lady since the founding of the National Portrait Gallery in 1962.
In the Lois B. and Michael K. Torf Gallery of Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), the historic portraits of the Obamas now hang on the walls, marking their final stop on a national tour. The paintings are on display at the MFA until Oct. 30 before heading back to the National Portrait Gallery.
The first president to appear in the National Portrait Gallery was George H.
W. Bush, and Hillary Clinton the inaugural first lady to appear.
The exhibit highlights the composition of both portraits and the artists who created them. Hanging beside Michelle Obama’s portrait is a biography of Sherald describing the artist’s roots in Columbus, Ga. and New York City. Sherald specializes in portraiture and is inspired by old photographs of Black Americans, according to the sign accompanying the portrait.
Sherald employs a technique called grisaille for the skin color of her subjects—a nod to the limited representation of Black Americans in portraits— paired with a monochrome background.
In the oil painting, Michelle Obama is seated against a blue background in a geometric-patterned dress, her head resting on her hand and her eyes stoically looking out at her audience. According to the sign, the artist painted Michelle Obama to highlight her “knowing look.”
Wiley’s painting of Barack Obama hangs beside the striking, seated figure of Michelle Obama. A New York–based
artist who specializes in portraiture, Wiley frequently places people of color in front of “lively, luscious backgrounds,” according to the museum’s description of the artist.
Drawing inspiration from artists such as Thomas Gainsborough, Joshua Reynolds, and Titian, Wiley often adds a sense of aging or antiqueness to his portraits of modern people. But his portrait of Barack Obama does not do this, revealing that the former president is not imitating any kind of history—instead, as the sign says, he’s making history.
The oil-on-canvas painting features the former president seated in a wooden chair, leaning forward as if to have a conversation with the viewer. He is dressed relatively casually, and the flowers behind him represent Chicago, Kenya, Indonesia, and Hawaii—all places of personal significance for the president, according to the painting’s description.
Obama’s portrait gives the impression that he is ready to listen to anyone who stands before him, according to the description.
The MFA asked people to submit sketches or photographs of someone in answer to the question, “Who is a leader to you?” The portraits cover a whole hallway, and visitors can immerse themselves in these images of everyday and well-known heroes.
Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman captivated the Robsham Theater audience as they shared how comics are a form of underground energy that ignite their audiences and immediately connect individuals with a story.
“What's the use of comics?” Spiegelman said. “Well, they can tell
you a story. It’s clear, very often, they encourage you to laugh sometimes.”
“The idea was to make some kind of explosion and think about it when thinking about comics,” Mouly said.
Boston College’s Lowell Humanities Series kicked off its fall programming by hosting Mouly, art editor of The New Yorker, and Spiegelman, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of the graphic novel Maus, on Wednesday.
The married couple spoke about
their collaboration on Raw magazine, which aimed to embody the rebellious energy and artistic freedom of comics, in the ’80s and early ’90s.
“I wanted something that held its post on the coffee table and something people would want to reread,” Mouly said.
During a gathering at the American Alternative Comics exhibit in the McMullen Museum of Art before the lecture, students had the chance to ask the two artists questions in advance. Both artists emphasized comics' unique ability to communicate with their audience.
“Comics are intimate by nature,” Spiegelman said. “It allowed me to use the syntax in comics to tell a story I couldn't imagine getting told any other way.”
During the lecture at 7 p.m., the couple answered questions from John McCoy, co-curator of the exhibit and assistant director of multimedia and design service at the McMullen Museum, about their early careers and the history of comics, which grew as an underground genre.
Spiegelman and Mouly warned against the idea that comics are only for children, instead advocating that comics are for people of all ages.
“Juveniles have haunted comics ever since they were born,” Spiegelman said. “The comic books themselves were just a marital thing for misfits for the most part. Weirdo and Raw and other cartoons all put up a broader spectrum.”
After finding that engaging with comics fostered her own children’s reading skills, Mouly decided to found her own publishing company, TOON Books. She now works with advocacy groups that help improve children's education.
Spiegelman spoke about his creation of Maus, the book that presents the Holocaust in graphic-novel style and is now taught in literature courses in high schools and colleges.
Using mice as a symbol for the Jewish community and cats as a symbol for Nazis, Spiegelman creates a metaphor for the Holocaust largely based on his father’s experiences. Uncovering the past connected him with his father and
helped him reconcile with his mother's death, Spiegelman said.
“I wanted to figure out how I was born when both my parents should have been dead before I got here,” Spiegelman said.
Inspired by old Mickey Mouse cartoons, Spiegelman said that the creation of Maus was based on his personal desire to authentically realign his father's memories with what the history books say about the period.
Audience members had the opportunity to ask questions to Mouly and Spiegelman at the end of the event.
When asked about his motives for creating Maus, Spiegelman explained he never meant to unleash a social movement with his book. He referred to the banning of Maus in some Tennessee school districts.
“I just wanted to find out what happened and why it happened and to make that clear, not to make it more horrific than it was or less,” Spiegelman
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down FSU while the offense turned on and scored three touchdowns to get the game within three points. Even though BC still lost the game, it was nonetheless an exciting finish that most people chose not to witness.
When the COVID-19 pandemic put the world on pause for a year, it felt to me that enthusiasm for Boston College athletics reached an all-time low. Combine that with lukewarm performances in some of the major sports last year, and you end up with a student body that stays for an hour and then dips after mumbling its way through “For Boston.” Let’s not pretend like this is an issue caused by students alone. I mean sure, a lot of us don’t know the fight song, but is that our fault? Or is it the school’s for not trying to teach it to anyone, beyond a onetime crash course at the start of freshman year? There are administrative actions that could be made to re-energize the University’s population.
Boston University, another college whose athletic event attendance was impacted by COVID-19, introduced a policy where anyone who attends eight home hockey games gets a free hockey jersey. This sort of practice would encourage BC students to show up to games even when our record isn’t stellar.
One of the most visible issues for BC Athletics is fans leaving games early. In our season opener against Rutgers, even though the game could’ve gone either way up until the final minute, it seemed like only half of the student section was there when the clock ran out. Last year, Florida State beat BC 26–3 midway through the third quarter, so droves of students left the stadium to attend to some other obligation that everyone apparently had at three o’clock on a Saturday. But soon after, the defense cracked the code and shut
But who would want to stand for three and a half hours in the sun or rain or cold, especially when everything starts to get repetitive and BC starts to lose? After the eighth or so “Go, BC! Put some points on the board!” it starts to become more of a chore. So what’s the solution? I think BC should start giving away little collectibles at the end of games, like game cards, posters, or small merch items. This would make watching the entirety of the uncomfortably close Maine football game feel worth it.
For sports that aren’t football, most people don’t show up to the games to begin with. A few times last year, BC set up a merchandise prize wheel in front of Mac to encourage people to attend hockey and basketball games. If these were set up at games instead, perhaps more people would go and watch the game rather than just take a free hat. Another move in the right direction last year was the special sickos shirt giveaway at a basketball game. The issues, however, were that there were only 200 shirts, most people who got the shirts didn’t stay to watch the game, and it only happened once—against the University at Albany and during finals week. If BC did this type of thing more often, with more shirts, and found some system to get people to stay at the game (giving them out during halftime or something similar) then attendance might rise for exciting and unexciting games alike.
Perhaps most tragic is the shockingly small percent of the student body that has attended a women’s athletic game. The issue here is threefold: the games are often at a less-than-optimal time, some students hold the view that women’s sports are inherently less exciting to watch than men’s
sports, and the school does a poor job of incentivizing people to attend games. Last year, BC hosted No. 5 ranked NC State in women’s basketball and an impressive crowd attended the game, because attending the game was the only way to secure tickets to the men’s basketball game against Duke. If the school more widely adopted this practice, attendance for important women’s sports games would likely rise even more. For example, BC could give out free Beanpot tickets to people who go to an important women’s hockey game.
BC recently introduced a system (conveniently hidden behind a menu on the BC Athletics app), where you can get points that can be redeemed for BC merch by attending home games and keeping up to date with the Eagles. By arriving early and by attending the whole game bonus points are earned. This would be a great move in the right direction—if only the app worked, made any sense, and people knew that this was a thing. A simple step toward improving this idea would be to promote each game on social media and tell people how many points they can earn and how. A more complicated step would be to completely rework the BC Athletics app. In my experience, it is not user friendly and doesn’t display up-to-date scoring information.
When it comes to sporting events, what you put in is what you get out. We can’t just expect everything to magically improve around us. The only way we’ll start to see change is if more people start going to more games, staying for the whole game, and being enthusiastic members of the crowd.
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Matthew Ablondi is an op-ed columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at matthew.ablondi@bc.edu.
There’s no question that reuniting with parents and siblings during Family Weekend is one of the best feelings of fall semester. Still, the added furry friends that families bring to campus bring the smiles and wholesomeness of the entire Boston College community up a notch. Dogs wagging their tails and cozying up in BC sweaters at tailgates provide anxiety-reducing joy that makes us think that maybe, just maybe, we should start normalizing all pets coming to all weekends, all the time.
private institution, but just in terms of thinking about violations of conscience … why would they be required to, I guess, promote an orthodoxy that they fundamentally don’t believe in and fundamentally think violates their conscience or the character of their Catholic identity?” Sarrouf said.
is there to provide support. When I asked Cichello more pointedly about the prospect of an LGBTQ+ resource center, she showed approval.
Flannels are the perfect clothing article for anyone in the mood for cozy, autumnal vibes. The flannel is the chameleon of layers—versatile for any person, style, or event. When wearing a flannel, you are seamlessly dressed up and dressed down (see what we did there?). Plus, spotting flannels on campus is an exciting sign that it’s time for pumpkin spices, apple picking, and turning leaves. That alone leaves us feeling warm and fuzzy inside.
When my tour guide said that Boston College is “only as Catholic as you make it,” they may have been reflecting a true reality for many students. As a Jew and a member of the LGBTQ+ community, it has not always been true for me.
When I first learned that BC refused the creation of a student funded LGBTQ+ resource center on the grounds that doing so would compromise the University’s “Catholic values,” I was astonished.
While BC is a Catholic, Jesuit university, it is also a nationally ranked, flagship educational institution that ought to prioritize making all students feel welcome and supported.
Considering the historically tense relationship between the LGBTQ+ community and the Catholic Church, BC, a university at the crossroads of old and new ways of thinking, occupies an especially opportune position to right prejudice and set an example for acceptance.
Certainly some members of the BC community would say simply that I chose the wrong college. The former president of the BC Republicans, Thomas Sarrouf, BC ’22—a man who I certainly do admire for his resolve— seems to hold this view.
“I think when the University not only is a
I have struggled to contend with the true import of Sarrouf’s perspective—that a nationally recognized University in the 21st century could pass off homophobia as religious freedom. I have also struggled to invalidate his sentiment. BC does, after all, have the right to establish any policies it so wishes.
I do not mean to use “Catholic” as a pejorative synonymous with “intolerant” or “prejudiced.” I mean only that I hope BC will become a more welcoming, more accepting institution. After researching the issue, I have reason to believe that I am not alone in that hope.
I spoke to Christine Cichello, the campus minister for the Christian Life Community, a Campus Ministry LLC, to better understand the interaction between the LGBTQ+ community and the BC ministry. I was both surprised and delighted to learn of the widespread acceptance of LGBTQ+ students by the BC ministry.
“I would say all my colleagues—I mean, we have 14 campus ministers—I think we all individually are very supportive and walk with students along that journey, wherever they’re feeling called.”
Cichello’s office—a better word would be her “lounge”—consists of a small desk, a large and comfortable couch, and a few chairs. It seems that everything in the minister’s office
“I definitely think there should be a resource center for LGBTQ+ students,” she said. “I mean, it’s a marginalized group in the church, and the pain that I hear from students around that issue … it doesn’t reflect, to me, what God wants for us.”
St. Ignatius parishioner Father Joseph Costantino, S.J., echoed Cichello’s message. I found Costantino, a kindly man who speaks with a thick Brooklyn accent, to be quite knowledgeable about and supportive of the LGBTQ+ community. I was surprised when, almost in passing, he mentioned the LGBTQ+ group that has existed at St. Ignatius for nearly six years.
“When I came, we put in this Peace, Justice, and Reconciliation Commission, which has a racial justice committee, a green team on environmental issues, an immigration group, and a group on LGBTQ+,” Costantino said.
There seems to be support and affinity everywhere on and around BC’s campus. In total, there are upward of 12 organizations which provide support to the LGBTQ+ community at and around BC, some affiliated with Campus Ministry.
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Benjamin Burke is an op-ed columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at benjamin.burke2@bc.edu.
Like the arid hills of the Mojave Desert, the space between the washing machines and dryers in BC laundry rooms is a cold, desolate land—only suitable for the bravest of soldiers. Instead of tumbleweeds and scorpions, these cursed grounds are entrenched with questionable lint and old socks left behind by torn and forgotten souls. It takes laser focus and unquestionable zeal to transfer your laundry between cycles without anything hitting the ground. In the case something does descend to this sticky surface, take a deep breath, and assess your loyalty to the tainted article of clothing.
When you mentally associate BC Dining with morning starchy vegetables, what do you picture? Breakfast potatoes? Likely answer. Hash Browns? Maybe not. We’re not trying to bash the hash at all—hash browns are timeless partners in crime to scrambled eggs and bacon when early hunger strikes—but it is unfair to replace the beloved BC breakfast potatoes with their rectangular rivals. If you like hash browns more than breakfast potatoes, you’re definitely in the minority. That said, we won’t judge. Well, maybe a little bit.
from
“This wasn’t the best win we’ve ever had here,” head coach Jeff Hafley said in his postgame press conference. “It’s just stuff we had to do throughout the week to get it. … And then to finish like that, that’s a special moment for these guys.”
Two fourth-quarter field goals from Connor Lytton sealed the win.
“That’s the difference between winning or losing this game,” Hafley said.
The Eagles’ offense flashed shades of the explosive unit it became last season, ending the game with 13 plays of 10 yards or more. BC finished with 320 passing yards and a season high 160 rushing yards.
Flowers continued his highlight-reel play with a 57-yard touchdown catch in double coverage in the second quarter. It
throughout the game—including an errant backward pass that resulted in a loss of 31 yards and a turnover on BC’s 17-yard line—he looked much improved from BC’s 30-point loss to Florida State in Week Four.
The Eagles’ offensive line also fared better than it has this season, allowing just three sacks.
As strong as BC’s offense looked Saturday, the defensive unit looked even better. BC’s defensive players were playing “with their hair on fire,” Hafley said, and it showed up on the stat sheet. BC held dynamic quarterback Malik Cunningham to just 62 yards rushing—he was averaging over 100 entering the game—and 186 yards passing.
“The quarterback is their most electrifying player, and I thought we did an unbelievable job containing him,” Hafley said.
That hot-headed defense resulted in
By GraHam DiEtz Assoc. Sports Editor
Ever since Boston College football lost to Virginia Tech in Week Two, the team has had one constant: being the underdog. In two of its following three matchups, BC faced Florida State on the road and came home for Family Weekend to face Louisville. In both contests, BC’s opponents were the favorite. ESPN projected that Florida State had a 94.5 percent chance to win, and Louisville had an 82.8 percent chance to win.
BC showed few bright spots in last week’s game, as the Eagles trudged through the mud in a 30-point loss in Tallahassee. But the loss had an impact that analytics can’t show.
Blocking out the noise is a major part of the college football experience, especially in the era of advanced statistics and metrics. The Cardinals were a
are four observations from the win.
In front of a rowdy crowd of 38,517 at Alumni Stadium, the anticipation for game time was building well before players had even made their way out onto the field. Crowds were gullied endto-end between the Mod and Maloney parking lots, tailgating away. When fans did eventually trickle through the iron gates at Alumni Stadium, BC’s players were welcomed with a grand ovation of applause and cheers.
The Eagles fought a hard three quarters, and the home crowd showed especially strong support from students and families. After three quarters, though, the Eagles were trailing 33–28, which kept BC alumni, students, and parents on the edge of their seats.
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With a Louisville
was about to hit the turf for a short loss of yards. Instead, he opted to throw a backward pass, but he missed Pat Garwo III wide, and Louisville jumped on it as the ball rolled back toward Boston College’s end zone—31 yards back, to be exact.
Jurkovec held his head in his hands as he knelt outside the hash marks—a familiar position for the fifth-year signal caller. He’s been sacked 17 times this season, but he still hasn’t gotten used to operating behind a struggling offensive line. He looked like he was praying, but for what was unclear. A second chance at that play? Fewer injuries to his offensive line?
Turns out, he was reciting the serenity prayer. For non-Catholics, it goes as follows:
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Jurkovec told the media in the postgame press conference he “made a horrible play” on that backward lateral and that he regularly repeats the serenity prayer to keep his mind focused. Jurkovec picked it up from a former teammate at Notre Dame and said he’s continued to recite it at BC.
It’s a pretty apt metaphor for BC football’s 2022 season.
BC can’t change the fact that it graduated four NFL-caliber offensive linemen, nor that four more offensive linemen have gotten hurt already this season. BC can’t change the fact that it allowed Rutgers to drive 96 yards to the house in the fourth quarter of its season opener, and it can’t change the fact that that drive resulted in a disappointing, one-point loss.
But BC can change how this season ends up—and it has history to prove that’s possible. After starting last season 4–0, things took a turn for the worse, and BC went 0–4 over its next four games. The Eagles split the last four games of their season, finishing 6–6, a familiar spot for the team.
“It’s hard to put that into words right now—feels like almost three different seasons that we played,” head coach Jeff Hafley said after losing last year’s regular season finale to Wake Forest.
Who’s to say BC can’t do that again, but in reverse? A win over Louisville is a step in the right direction. It’s not the solution to all of BC’s problems, but it could indicate progress.
What spells good news for the Eagles after a narrow win over Louisville on Saturday is that flashes of what went right for the Eagles last season—and
Boston College volleyball officially has a new home for the foreseeable future.
The Eagles welcomed fans to their new home court, located on the third floor of the Margot Connell Recreation Center, when they hosted Duke on Sept. 25.
For head coach Jason Kennedy, the relocation brings an improved gameday atmosphere, improved training facilities for players, and matches that are more accessible to the BC student body.
“It’s something we’re really excited about now that we’re starting to see the final product come together,” Kennedy said.
The Margot Connell Recreation Center—also known to students as “the Plex”— is available for free to all BC undergraduate students and is a hub for students to work out, play basketball, and engage in various other athletic activities.
“If you’re working out, I think it attracts a lot more community because you can hear it going on from the gym,” said Molly Abbott, MCAS ’25, during the BC’s Sept. 29 game against Bryant. “And from the fourth floor, you can see what’s going on, and it invites more fans.”
Due to the construction of Hoag Basketball Pavilion, BC was forced to leave its old facility, Power Gym. But the move has provided the Eagles with the opportunity to experience something they have never had before, according to Kennedy.
“It’s pretty fun to have a volleyball facility for the first time on this campus,” Kennedy said.
BC volleyball previously had to share Power Gym with the men’s and women’s basketball teams, who practiced there but played their games in Conte Forum.
“I think we’ve been a little bit behind from a facility standpoint,” Kennedy said. “This gets us a lot closer to what the rest of the conference has. A lot of the conference competes in volleyball-only facilities. This gives us a chance to have a space that’s our own and be able to work out of it.”
Having a volleyball-specific facility has enabled BC to utilize equipment more efficiently and have flexible access to its court. It’s also proving to be a boost from a recruiting standpoint, Kennedy said.
“I think it’s huge for recruits,” Kennedy said. “We’ve got a couple of practice courts. It’s a great setup for us.”
And while the move has been popular among students due to the convenience of its location, the smaller venue size has also changed the viewing experience of volleyball matches.
“I think it’s a little bit cooler than where it was before, just because it’s a little smaller of an environment,” said Alfonso De Vito, CSOM ’25, during the Bryant game. “It feels more crowded than before.”
Kennedy can already see the effect the new location has had on student attendance.
The Eagles boast a 13–4 record on the year, and three of their matches have ended in a thrilling fashion. BC’s ACC matchups against Syracuse and
Duke were highly competitive with the Eagles coming within a set of defeating Syracuse. Earning a win over Duke at home, however, was a season-defining moment thus far.
“[In] our first home match against Duke, the bleachers were full, students [were] up and around the track, and it was the best atmosphere for a volleyball match I’ve seen since I’ve been on this campus,” Kennedy said.
The new location, however, is not unanimously favored.
“Are you sure? Look at the location again,” Arella Kluvitse, MCAS ’24, asked when she was told by a friend that BC’s game would be played in the recreation center. “It
kind of looks like a high school.”
“People running around the top, it’s kind of distracting,” said Joanna Nie, LSEHD ’24, regarding the track open to students on the fourth floor.
The Eagles, however, look forward to more packed crowds, and it certainly envisions more and more fans packing the stands as the season progresses.
“You’re going to get a lot of people just walking into this building, not intending to come to a volleyball match, that swing by and maybe they fall in love with the sport,” Kennedy said. “Maybe they stick around for a little bit and learn a little bit about it.” n
Boston College volleyball is in the midst of a tough stretch. After falling to Virginia Tech Friday in three sets, BC head coach Jason Kennedy said that the Eagles needed to put the defeat behind them in anticipation for their match against Wake Forest Friday.
Against the Demon Deacons, the Eagles almost saw a repeat of Friday’s contest against Virginia Tech, dropping the first two sets in a competitive fashion. But BC (13–5, 1–3 Atlantic Coast) willed itself to a third-set win, only to drop the fourth set to the Demon Deacons (10–5, 2–2) for its second straight conference loss.
The set scores were 21–25, 20–25, 25–22, and 20–25.
The Eagles traded points with Wake Forest, tying the first set at 9–9 on an ace from Grace Penn. Wake Forest went on to rattle off six straight points, helped by the Eagles’ Alayna Crabtree’s two attack errors. Crabtree finished the game with 10 errors, the most on the Eagles’ roster.
Long scoring runs by Wake were detrimental to BC all game.
The Eagles stopped another Wake Forest run—this time of four straight points—with a Julia Haggerty kill.
A kill from Peyton Suess gave the Demon Deacons their first set win. Wake had the edge in total kills with 58 to BC’s 50.
The Eagles ran out of steam toward the end of the second set. Wake scored four of the last five points even without an ace the whole set.
The third set was a different story, though, as the Eagles came out on the attack. They held control and racked up a 17–13 lead. But Wake came storming back off of a kill and an ace from Olivia Franke, taking an 18–17 lead.
BC held on, as two straight Crabtree kills propelled them for the win, with Penn assisting on both. Penn led BC in assists, totaling 24. The Eagles also had 16 kills in the third set to Wake’s 15.
Old habits returned in the fourth set for BC. An even match set until the final four points, Wake won the game off an ace from freshman Rian Baker.
A strong start to the season has begun to fade for the Eagles, who have an opportunity to right the ship against ACC opponent Louisville on Friday. n