Editor’s Note

The Sights and Sounds of Hope

It was a beautiful early June day on campus when I parked above Easy Street and took a detour to Smith Hall to run an errand before heading to my office in Hogan. I walked down between Clark and Hanselman, and had just spied the Jesuit Cemetery when I realized: It had been a long time since I’d walked anywhere on campus, other than from my car to Hogan and vice versa.

As I headed west, I noticed things that, perhaps, I may not have thought twice about prior to March 2020. When I passed above the Jesuit Cemetery, I saw a bright red, white and blue wreath standing at the grave of Rev. Joseph T. O’Callahan, S.J., the first Navy chaplain to win the Medal of Honor. With Memorial Day having just passed, I surmised it was new, as that wreath tends to fade dramatically in the sun, and this one was fresh and vibrant.

Getting closer to Smith, I saw small groups walking and stopping, then walking and stopping again. I remembered that campus tours had just restarted, prospective Crusaders and their families getting their first inperson look at the place that might be home someday.

Exiting Smith I saw employees walking, happily maskless, as the College had announced that, for the summer, those vaccinated were not required to wear masks outside. I could see a person’s entire face as they smiled – not just their eyes.

Circling the Hoval were flower beds bursting with color, and the two-yearold St. Peter Faber statue had been joined by St. Ignatius and St. Francis Xavier, the bronze trio finally united and complete after an installation delay of more than a year. Now, instead of a solo St. Peter Faber walking alone, you’ll see the trio in conversation, frozen in time yet on the move. Once inside Hogan, I heard voices and the sounds of a kitchen at work echoing out from Crossroads.

These were the sights and sounds of hope, and the upcoming debut not of campus life as we knew it but, rather, a new beginning. By fall, students, faculty and staff will return, full in-person classes and activities will resume, and campus life will start anew. And, poetically timed, the College welcomes its new president, Vincent Rougeau, who will lead Holy Cross into its 18th decade.

This is the time to move forward with hope, never forgetting and always respecting the challenges, heartbreak and losses of the past year and a half. ■

Melissa Shaw

Editor hcmag@holycross.edu

MELISSA SHAW

Editor is an award-winning writer and editor who has led newspapers and magazines in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.

STEPHEN ALBANO

Art Director / Designer has been a part of the HCM team for 10 years this August; this is his 40th issue! Stephen earned his degree in studio art at Clark University. He would like to congratulate his husband, David (above at Fenway Park), for graduating from Northeastern University with his master’s degree in bioinformatics. He looks forward to starting tennis and travel this summer.

AVANELL CHANG

Multimedia Producer and her husband, Daniel, are having a funpacked summer. She celebrated a very-belated bachelorette on Cape Cod with her bridesmaids, visited family in Florida and is looking forward to camping in Maine in August.