Letter from the Editors

By Patrick Carpenter and Dorothy Cucci

None of us knew what a ‘pandemic semester’ would look like, but we’re here, and we’re making the best of unprecedented circumstances.

Boston College students thrive on connection. Sure, you could say that about college students in general, but there’s something special—or strange, depending on how you look at it—about how close we are.

We voluntarily live on campus for most, if not all, of our four years here. We meet our best friends in student orgs instead of sororities. There are well over 9,000 of us, and you’re still likely to bump into someone you know in the Maloney elevator on any given day.

This semester at BC looks different. We’re taking classes from our dorms and trying our best to recognize masked faces on the quad. Students are learning their way around an entirely new campus: one without packed Devlin 008 lectures, tailgates, or The Chocolate Bar. None of us knew what a “pandemic semester” would look like, but we’re here, and we’re making the best of unprecedented circumstances.

The university’s decision to hold an in-person fall semester without first developing a comprehensive testing plan drew deserved criticism from the BC community. Still, many of us were just happy to be back in Chestnut Hill with our friends for roommates instead of our parents. And even though the responsibility of keeping ourselves and those around us safe from COVID-19 inevitably leads to distance, BC hasn’t lost its sense of community.

Our fall print edition, Concatenation, takes a look at how students—whether they’re living on campus or taking classes from home, finding solidarity on the volleyball court or on Tik Tok—are keeping it alive.

As a student publication, one of The Gavel’s goals this semester has been to help to facilitate that connection. On a campus with constant breaking news, rumors can spread like wildfire. Timely and accurate reporting on everything from a COVID outbreak among the swim team to a new guest policy can help keep us grounded and the university accountable.

Like most students, we’ve been slowly adjusting to this new, hand-sanitizer-fueled chapter of college. We’ve traded in packed parties in the Mods for movie nights with our roommates and Saturday tailgates for socially-distanced game days at Cityside. The nature of this semester has made staying connected much trickier—but it’s also made it more intentional.

Who do you see, or not see, face-to-face these days? If you live on campus, do the same two allowed guests knock on your door most Friday nights? Maybe the answers aren’t what you thought they’d be back in August, and maybe that’s not a bad thing.

This is new territory for all of us, and trying to manage classes and maintain friendships while adapting to life in a global pandemic has proven to be rocky terrain. But we’re glad to be navigating it here, and after reading the pages that follow, we think you’ll understand why.