In 1825, Benedict Joseph Fenwick, S.J., a Jesuit from Maryland, became the second bishop of Boston. He was the first to articulate a vision for a "College in the City of Boston" that would raise a new generation of leaders to serve both the civic and spiritual needs of his fledgling diocese. In 1827, Bishop Fenwick opened a school in the basement of his cathedral and took to the personal instruction of the city's youth. His efforts to attract other Jesuits to the faculty were hampered both by Boston's distance from the center of Jesuit activity in Maryland and by suspicion on the part of the city's Protestant elite. Relations with Boston's civic leaders worsened such that, when a Jesuit faculty was finally secured in 1843, Fenwick decided to leave the Boston school and instead opened the College of the Holy Cross 45 miles (72 km) west of the city in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he felt the Jesuits could operate with greater autonomy. Meanwhile, the vision for a college in Boston was sustained by John McElroy, S.J., who saw an even greater need for such an institution in light of Boston's growing Irish Catholic immigrant population. With the approval of his Jesuit superiors, McElroy went about raising funds and in 1857 purchased land for "The Boston College" on Harrison Avenue in the Hudson neighborhood of South End, Boston, Massachusetts. With little fanfare, the college's two buildings—a schoolhouse and a church—welcomed their first class of scholastics in 1859. Two years later, with as little fanfare, BC closed again. Its short-lived second incarnation was plagued by the outbreak of Civil War and disagreement within the Society over the college's governance and finances. BC's inability to obtain a charter from the anti-Catholic Massachusetts legislature only compounded its troubles.
On March 31, 1863, more than three decades after its initial inception, Boston College's charter was formally approved by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. BC became the second Jesuit institution of higher learning in Massachusetts and the first located in the Boston area. Johannes Bapst, S.J., a Swiss Jesuit from French-speaking Fribourg, was selected as BC's first president and immediately reopened the original college buildings on Harrison Avenue. For most of the 19th century, BC offered a singular 7-year program corresponding to both high school and college. Its entering class in the fall of 1864 included 22 students, ranging in age from 11 to 16 years.[18] The curriculum was based on the Jesuit Ratio Studiorum, emphasizing Latin, Greek, philosophy, and theology.
Boston College's enrollment reached nearly 500 by the turn of the 20th century. Expansion of the South End buildings onto James Street enabled increased separation between the high school and college divisions, though Boston College High School remained a constituent part of Boston College until 1927, when it was separately incorporated. In 1907, newly installed President Thomas I. Gasson, S.J., determined that BC's cramped, urban quarters in Boston's South End were inadequate and unsuited for significant expansion. Inspired by John Winthrop's early vision of Boston as a "city upon a hill", he re-imagined Boston College as a beacon of Jesuit scholarship. Less than a year after taking office, he purchased Amos Adams Lawrence's farm on Chestnut Hill, six miles (10 km) west of downtown. He organized an international competition for the design of a campus master plan and set about raising funds for the construction of the "new" university. Construction began in 1909.[18]
By 1913, construction costs had surpassed available funds, and, as a result, Gasson Hall, "New BC's" main building, stood alone on Chestnut Hill for its first three years. Buildings of the former Lawrence farm, including a barn and gatehouse, were temporarily adapted for college use while a massive fundraising effort was underway. While Maginnis's ambitious plans were never fully realized, BC's first "capital campaign"—which included a large replica of Gasson Hall's clock tower set up on Boston Common to measure the fundraising progress—ensured that President Gasson's vision survived. By the 1920s BC began to fill out the dimensions of its university charter, establishing the Boston College Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, the Boston College Law School, and the Woods College of Advancing Studies, followed successively by the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work, the Carroll School of Management, the Connell School of Nursing, and the Lynch School of Education and Human Development. In 1926, Boston College conferred its first degrees on women (though it did not become fully coeducational until 1970). On April 20, 1963, an address by President John F. Kennedy, the nation's first Catholic president who had received an honorary degree in 1956, was the highlight of a week-long centennial celebration.[19] With the rising prominence of its graduates, Boston College and its powerful Alumni Association had established themselves among the city's leading institutions. At the city, state and federal levels, BC graduates dominated Massachusetts politics for much of the 20th century. However, cultural changes in American society and in the church following the Second Vatican Council forced the university to question its purpose and mission. Meanwhile, poor financial management lead to deteriorating facilities and resources, and rising tuition costs. Student outrage, combined with growing protests over Vietnam and the bombings in Cambodia, culminated in student strikes, including demonstrations at Gasson Hall in April 1970.
Gasson Hall in spring
Gasson Hall in summer
Gasson Hall in autumn
Gasson Hall in winter
The Monan era
By the time J. Donald Monan, S.J. began his presidency on September 5, 1972, BC was approximately $30 million in debt, its endowment totaled just under $6 million, and faculty and staff salaries had been frozen during the previous year. Rumors about the university's future were rampant, including speculation that BC would be acquired by Harvard University. After Monan's appointment, the Boston College Board of Trustees was reconfigured. The board was broadened beyond its historic membership of members of the Society of Jesus, as lay alumni and business leaders were brought in, bringing new business models and an ability to raise funds. A similar restructuring had been accomplished first at the University of Notre Dame in 1967 by Fr. Theodore Hesburgh, CSC, and Edmund Stephan,[20] with many other Catholic colleges following suit in the ensuing years. In 1974, Newton College of the Sacred Heart was merged into BC, allowing expansion of Boston College to the Newton College 40-acre (16 ha) campus. 1.5 miles (2.4 km) away. Boston College Law School moved to the campus, and its dormitories provided needed housing for a student population that was increasingly residential, for which the school had to lease off-campus apartments and even motel rooms. Monan was credited with turning around the school's financial position, leading to an improved reputation and increasing attention from around the world. In 1996, Monan's 24-year presidency came to an end when he was named University Chancellor and succeeded by President William P. Leahy, S.J.
Recent history
Gasson Quadrangle
Since assuming the Boston College presidency, Leahy's tenure has been marked with an acceleration of the growth and development initiated by his predecessor, as well as by what some critics see as abandonment of the college's initial mission to provide a college education for residents of Boston. It has expanded by almost 150 acres (610,000 m2), while dramatically reducing the greenery of its middle campus, although portions of the college's legendary "Dustbowl" were removed to accommodate additional expansion of its buildings. During this period, undergraduate applications have surpassed 31,000. At the same time, BC students, faculty and athletic teams have seen indicators of success—winning record numbers of Fulbrights, Rhodes, and other academic awards; setting new marks for research grants; and winning conference and national titles. In 2002, Leahy initiated the Church in the 21st Century program to examine issues facing the Catholic Church in light of the clergy sexual abuse scandal. His effort brought BC worldwide praise and recognition for "leading the way on Church reform."[21] Recent plans to merge with the Weston Jesuit School of Theology were followed by an article in The New York Times claiming "such a merger would further Boston College's quest to become the nation's Catholic intellectual powerhouse" and that, once approved by the Vatican and Jesuit authorities in Rome, BC "would become the center for the study of Roman Catholic theology in the United States."[22] On February 16, 2006, the merger was authorized by the Jesuit Conference.[23]
Campus Green
In 2003, after years of student-led discussions and efforts, and administrators' repeated rejection of pleas from students, the school approved a Gay-Straight Alliance, the first university-funded gay support group on campus. In 2004, between 1,000 and 1,200 students rallied behind a student-led campaign to expand the school's non-discrimination statement to include equal protection for gays and lesbians.[24] Earlier that year 84% of the student body voted in favor of a student referendum calling for a change in policy.[25] After several months of discussion the university changed its statement of nondiscrimination to make it more welcoming to gay students in May 2005, but stopped short of prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.[26]
Stokes Hall amphitheater
On December 5, 2007, Boston College announced a master plan, a $1.6 billion, 10-year plan to revamp the campus and hire new faculty. The plan includes over $700 million for new buildings and renovations of the campus, including construction of four new academic buildings, a sharp reduction in the size of the legendary "dustbowl" campus green, a 200,000 sq ft (19,000 m2) recreation center to replace the Flynn Recreation Complex, a 285,000 sq ft (26,500 m2) university center to replace McElroy Commons (which is slated for destruction), and the creation of 610 beds for student housing, as well as many other constructions and renovations.[27][28] The plan has been criticized by Boston city officials. On February 21, 2008, Boston MayorThomas M. Menino warned the school to construct new dormitory building on its main campus, rather than on property acquired from the Archdiocese of Boston. The school was long an institution that targeted commuter students from the Boston area, however in the school's pursuit of a national legacy, that function has been forgotten as the number of commuter students enrolled dropped from well over 50% to a mere three students, according to statistics published by the alumni magazine.
On June 10, 2009, Mayor Menino and Boston's zoning commission approved the Boston College Master Plan, signaling an end to the long approval process, while allowing the school to enter design and planning phases.[29]
On October 18, 2017, hundreds of students walked out of class in a protest against racism and to demand the college officials pay more attention to the school's racial climate. The walk out was sparked by the defacing of two Black Lives Matter posters and an offensive photo was circulated on social media sites.[30] On December 8, 2018, walls, furniture, and a bathroom in the Welch Hall were vandalized with racist, anti-black graffiti.[31] Also, over the previous months, pro-refugee and Black Lives Matter signs were repeatedly removed around campus.[32]
Boston College's main campus in Chestnut Hill, 6 miles (9.7 km) west of downtown Boston, is 175-acre (710,000 m2) and includes over 120 buildings set on a hilltop overlooking the Chestnut Hill Reservoir. A "Boston College" streetcar station on Boston's MBTA public transit system, is located at St. Ignatius Gate; it is the western terminus of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line's B branch (also known as the "Boston College" line) and connects the school to Boston's city center and to other destinations in the city. Due largely to its location and presence of buildings featuring gothic towers reaching into the sky, the Boston College campus is known generally as the "Heights" and to some as the "Crowned Hilltop".[33] The main campus is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[34]
Gargan Hall, Bapst Library
Boston College's eight research libraries contain over two million printed volumes. Including manuscripts, journals, government documents and microform items, ranging from ancient papyrus scrolls to digital databases, the collections have some twelve million items. Together with the university's museums, they include original manuscripts and prints by Galileo, Ignatius of Loyola, and Francis Xavier as well as collections in Jesuitana, Irish literature, sixteenth-century Flemish tapestries, ancient Greek pottery, Caribbean folk art and literature, Japanese prints, U.S. government documents, Congressional Archives, and paintings that span the history of art from Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Opened in 1928, Bapst Library was named for the first president of Boston College (Johannes Bapst, S.J., 1815 to 1887) and it was one of the few structures built according to Charles Donagh Maginnis' original "Oxford in America" master plan. Bapst served as the university's main library until 1984. A guide to the building's stained glass windows is available online.[35]
Newton Campus
In 1975, Boston College merged with Newton College of the Sacred Heart. The Centre Street campus of the Newton College has since become housing for freshman of Boston College and the current location of the Boston College Law School.[36] Athletic fields for some of Boston College's teams have also been constructed on Newton Campus. The campus is located 1 mile west of the main campus and is serviced by the university bus system.[37]
Brighton Campus
Between 2004 and 2007, Boston College acquired 65 acres (260,000 m2) of land from the Archdiocese of Boston.[2][38][39] This included the archdiocese's former headquarters, sold to the university in 2004 for $107,400,000.[40] This land holds a variety of buildings for the school of theology, along with facilities for the men's baseball and women's softball team.[41]
Simboli Hall, School of Theology and Ministry
McMullen Museum of Art
Other properties in Chestnut Hill
In 2017, the university purchased the 24-acre Mishkan Tefila Synagogue property in Chestnut Hill. When purchased, the property was only used for administrative services and event parking.[42] The former synagogue's 806-seat auditorium has since been opened as a new rehearsal and event venue for Boston College's Robsham Theater Arts Center. It is currently the largest venue for theater at the university. Additionally, the building houses a large, ballroom-style, multi-purpose room and a hexagon-shaped meeting room for performances, events, and conferences. An outdoor quad is also available to be used for events and the performing arts.[43]
Approximately 17 wooded acres of the property, however, have been taken by the City of Newton under the power of eminent domain in December 2019.[44]
In 2020, Boston College bought Pine Manor College, a small liberal arts college in Chestnut Hill with a high amount of first generation college students and inner city students that was undergoing financial struggles.[45]
Organization and administration
Its annual operating budget is approximately $1.02 billion.[46] The most recent and ongoing fundraising campaign, dubbed "Soaring Higher", was announced on September 28, 2023. The campaign aims to raise $3 billion, double the last campaign's goal. Of this goal, $1.1 billion is earmarked for student financial aid, $750 million is for student life initiatives, and $1.15 billion is for academic programs.[47]
Catholic and Jesuit
St. Ignatius of Loyola statue by Bolivian-born artist Pablo Eduardo.
The 112 Jesuits living on the Boston College campus make up one of the largest Jesuit communities in the world and include members of the faculty and administration, graduate students, and visiting international scholars.[48]
The chapel for the university is located in St. Mary's Hall, the Jesuit residential facility. Additional BC chapels are Trinity Chapel on the Newton Campus, St. Joseph's Chapel in the Basement of Gonzaga Hall on Upper Campus, Simboli Hall Chapel on the Brighton Campus, and St. Catherine of Sienna Chapel in Cushing Hall.[49] Over 70 Catholic Masses are celebrated on Campus each week during the Academic Year. The college also maintains close relations with the nearby Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola.[50]
For the Class of 2027, Boston College received 36,525 applications, of which it admitted 15%, a record low for Boston College.[52] The interquartile (middle 50%) of admitted students of the class of 2025 who submitted test scores under Boston College's test-optional policy possessed scores between 1450 and 1520 on the SAT and 33–34 on the ACT.[53] The accepted class includes students from all 50 states and 75 foreign countries. The college is need-blind for domestic applicants.[54]
Boston College tied for 39th among national universities and tied for 625th among global universities in U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best Colleges 2023-2024" rankings[68] and 88th in the Forbes 2023 edition of "America's Top Colleges".[69] In 2016, the undergraduate school of business, the Carroll School of Management, placed 3rd in an annual ranking of U.S. undergraduate business schools by Bloomberg Businessweek.[70] A 2007 Princeton Review survey of parents that asked "What 'dream college' would you most like to see your child attend were prospects of acceptance or cost not issues?" placed BC 6th.[71] Boston College is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education.[72]
Order of the Cross and Crown
The Order of the Cross and Crown, founded in 1939,[73] is the College of Arts and Sciences honor society for seniors who have achieved an average of at least A−, as well as established records of unusual service and leadership on the campus. The selections committee, composed of the deans, faculty members, and administration, appoints specially distinguished members of the Order to be its officers as Chief Marshal and Marshals. Induction into the Cross and Crown Honor Society is one of the highest and most prestigious honors that BC students can receive.[74][75]
Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations,[85] the official journal of the Council of Centers of Jewish-Christian Relations (CCJR)[86] and is published by the Center for Christian-Jewish Learning at Boston College and the Boston College Libraries.
Teaching Exceptional Children / Teaching Exceptional Children Plus[87]
AHANA is the term Boston College uses to refer to persons of African-American, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American descent.[90][91] The term was coined at Boston College in 1979 by two students, Alfred Feliciano and Valerie Lewis,[92] who objected to the name "Office of Minority Programs" used by Boston College at the time. They cited the definition of the word minority as "less than" and proposed, instead, to use the term AHANA which they felt celebrated social cultural differences. After receiving overwhelming approval from the university's board of trustees, and UGBC president Dan Cotter, the Office of Minority Student Programs became the Office of AHANA Student Programs. The term, or one or its derivative forms, such as ALANA (where "Latino" is substituted for "Hispanic"), has become common on a number of other American university campuses. Boston College, which has registered the term AHANA as a trademark, has granted official permission for its use to over 50 institutions and organizations in the United States. Many more use the term unofficially. Other institutions that use the AHANA acronym include Suffolk University,[93]Cleveland State University,[94]Eastern Mennonite University,[95]Saint Martin's University,[96]Le Moyne College,[97] and Salem State University.[98] There have been cases of racist graffiti and vandalism on dorm walls.[31]
The Gavel,[100] an independent progressive student magazine; launched on October 27, 2009. The Gavel publishes most articles online, but brought back its print edition in the Spring of 2018.
The Torch,[101] an independent Catholic student newspaper that publishes stories covering Catholic news on campus and around the world as well as student faith reflections. It was established in 2013.
The New England Classic,[102] a satirical newspaper unrecognized by the university but regularly published and distributed on campus; launched in Fall 2007 and is independently funded.
Colloquium Political Science Journal,[103] The political science journal of Boston College that is sponsored by the Institute for the Liberal Arts at Boston College.
Broadcasting
WZBC, 90.3 FM,[104] the student-run radio station which provides independent and experimental music
Boston College Television (BCTV),[105] a student-run cable television station formerly featuring a show known as Now You Know,[106] but now reports on student life, sports, entertainment, and other subjects
Other notable publications
Sub Turri,[107] (Under the Tower) the Boston College yearbook, published since 1913
Elements Undergraduate Research Journal,[109] the premier undergraduate research journal of Boston College, published biannually
Al-Noor: The Boston College Undergraduate Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Journal,[110] one of the only undergraduate Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Journals in the world.[111][112]
Kaleidoscope International Journal,[113] the international relations and global studies journal of Boston College
Dianoia: The Undergraduate Philosophy Journal of Boston College[114]
Boston College teams are known as the Eagles. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) sub-level for football), primarily competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) for all sports since the 2005–06 season. The Eagles formerly competed as a charter member of the Big East Conference from 1979–80 to 2004–05. Up to that point, Boston College was the only Big East member affiliated with the Catholic Church that played football in the conference. All the football-playing members of the Big East are now secular (usually public) institutions. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, fencing (non-ACC), football, golf, ice hockey (non-ACC), sailing (non-ACC), skiing (non-ACC), soccer, swimming, tennis, and track & field; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, fencing (non-ACC), field hockey, golf, ice hockey (non-ACC), lacrosse, rowing, sailing, skiing, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track & field and volleyball. The men's and women's ice hockey teams compete in Hockey East; while the women's rowing team competes in the Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges (EAWRC) as well as the ACC; and the co-ed skiing, fencing and sailing teams are non-ACC/NCAA. Boston College is one of thirteen universities in the country offering NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly, I-A) football, Division I men's and women's basketball, and Division I hockey.
An ice hockey game played at "Kelley Rink", Conte Forum.
The mascot for all Boston College athletic teams is the Eagle, generally referred to in the plural, i.e., "The Eagles". The character representing the mascot at football, hockey, and basketball games is an American bald eagle named Baldwin, derived from the "bald" head of the American bald eagle and the word "win". The school colors are maroon and gold. The fight song, For Boston, was composed by T.J. Hurley, class of 1885.
Alumni Stadium, home of the Boston College Eagles.
Principal athletic facilities include Alumni Stadium (capacity: 44,500), Conte Forum (8,606), Kelley Rink (7,884), Eddie Pellagrini Diamond at John Shea Field (1,000), the Newton Soccer Complex (1,000), and the Margot Connell Recreation Center. The Yawkey Athletics Center opened in the spring of 2005. BC students compete in 31 varsity sports[126] as well as a number of club and intramural teams. On March 18, 2002, Boston College's Athletics program was named to the College Sports Honor Roll as one of the nation's top 20 programs by U.S. News & World Report.[127]
On November 16, 1940, BC's Frank Leahy-coached championship team took a win from two-season undefeated Georgetown University in the final seconds, in a game that sportswriter Grantland Rice called the greatest ever played.
Two of Boston College's most famous football victories came in dramatic fashion, on the final play of the game. On November 23, 1984, before a national audience on CBS, Doug Flutie threw a 48-yard (44 m) Hail Mary to Gerard Phelan for a 47–45 victory over the University of Miami at the Orange Bowl. The Eagles finished the 1984 season with a 10–2 record, defeating the University of Houston in the Cotton Bowl. The team completed the season with a #5 rank in the AP poll.[128] Flutie was awarded the Heisman Trophy, the only Eagle to date so honored. On November 20, 1993, the Eagles beat undefeated archrival Notre Dame 41–39 on a 41-yard field goal by David Gordon as time expired, preventing the Fighting Irish a berth in the national championship game.
In 2007, the Eagles reached the #2 rank in both the AP and Coaches' Poll as well as the BCS rankings, led by Matt Ryan. Ryan was awarded the 2007 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, presented annually to the nation's most outstanding college senior quarterback.[129] He was selected third in the 2008 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons, making him the highest-chosen BC player in NFL Draft history.[130]
The Eagles annually wear red bandanna-themed uniforms in honor of fallen September 11, 2001 hero Welles Crowther, class of 1999. Crowther, who played on BC's lacrosse team, was an equity trader who died saving the lives of at least 10 people during the 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City. He used a red bandanna that he often carried to keep from breathing in smoke and debris.[131][132]
"For Boston" is claimed to be America's oldest college fight song, composed by T. J. Hurley in 1885. It has two verses but the most commonly sung one is the first verse. Boston-based band Dropkick Murphys covered this song on their album Sing Loud, Sing Proud!. Changes have been made to the song, including reworking the phrase "for here men are men" into "for here all are one" in the first verse.
BC students were universally called "Heightsmen" until 1925 when Caitlin Beckman became the first "Heightswoman" to receive a BC degree. "Heightsonian" was originally conceived as a way to gender neutralize the original term "Heightsmen", though "Eagles", once exclusively used for members of the university's athletics teams, is more commonly used.[48] The term "Golden Eagles" refers strictly to BC graduates who have celebrated their 50th anniversary reunion. "Double Eagles" refer to alumni received an undergraduate and graduate degree from the college and "Triple Eagles" are those alumni who are also attended Boston College High School.
There are over 179,000 alumni in over 120 countries around the world.[2] Boston College students have been recipients of Rhodes, Marshall, Mellon, Fulbright, Truman, Churchill, and Goldwaterscholarships. BC's yield rate for Fulbright awards is the highest in the country.[133] In 2007, students in the German department were awarded 13 Fulbright scholarships, five more than the previous highest number from a single department. Although formal numbers are not kept, and the claim cannot be confirmed, the number of award winners from one department to study in a specific country is considered by some scholars to be the highest in the 60-year history of the Fulbright program.[134]
^ abcdefBoston College Office of Institutional Research, Planning & Assessment (December 2020). "Boston College Fact Book 2020–2021"(PDF). bc.edu. Boston College. Archived(PDF) from the original on December 6, 2021. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
^ abVoosen, Paul. "DisambiguationArchived September 29, 2011, at the Wayback Machine." December 7, 2005, Boston College Magazine. Retrieved December 26, 2006.
^"About the Journal". Colloquium: The Political Science Journal of Boston College. Archived from the original on April 12, 2021. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
^"WZBC". wzbc.org. Archived from the original on December 23, 2005. Retrieved April 28, 2012.
^"UGBC TV". Undergraduate Government of Boston College. Archived from the original on June 30, 2006.
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