Boston College (
BC) is a
privatePrivate universities are not operated by governments though they may or may not receive funding . Depending on the region, private universities may be subject to government regulation...
research university located in the village of
Chestnut Hill, MassachusettsChestnut Hill is a suburban village located six miles west of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Like all Massachusetts villages, Chestnut Hill is not an incorporated municipal entity, but unlike most of them, it encompasses parts of three separate municipalities, each of which is in...
. Its name reflects its early history as a
liberal arts collegeLiberal arts colleges are primarily colleges with an emphasis upon undergraduate study in the liberal arts. The Encyclopædia Britannica Concise defines "liberal arts" as a "college or university curriculum aimed at imparting general knowledge and developing general intellectual capacities, in...
and
preparatory schoolA university-preparatory school or college-preparatory school is a secondary school, usually private, designed to prepare students for a college or university education. Some schools will also include a junior, or elementary, school...
in
BostonBoston is the capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is considered the economic and cultural center of the region and is sometimes regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England"...
's
South EndThe South End is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts.-Geography:The South End lies south of the Back Bay, northwest of South Boston, northeast of Roxbury, north of Dorchester, and southwest of Bay Village...
. It is a member of the
568 GroupThe 568 Group is a consortium of American universities and colleges practicing need-blind admissions. The group was founded in 1998 in response to section 568 of the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994.-History:...
and the
Association of Jesuit Colleges and UniversitiesThe Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities is a consortium of the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities and two theological centers in the United States committed to advancing academic excellence by promoting and coordinating collaborative activities, sharing resources, and advocating and...
. Its main
campusA campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...
is a
historic districtA historic district in the United States is a group of buildings, properties or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...
and
featuresBoston College Main Campus Historic District located at 140 Commonwealth Avenue in the village of Chestnut Hill in Newton, Massachusetts was added to the National Register of Historic Places on .-National Register listing:...
some of the earliest examples of collegiate gothic architecture in
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
.
Early history
In 1825,
Benedict Joseph FenwickBishop Benedict Joseph Fenwick was the second Roman Catholic Bishop of Boston, Massachusetts.Fenwick was born in Maryland, and on June 11, 1808 was ordained a priest in the Society of Jesus....
,
S.J.The Society of Jesus is a Catholic religious order of clerks regular whose members are called Jesuits.Jesuits are the largest male religious order in the Catholic Church, with 18,815 members—13,305 priests, 2,295 scholastic students, 1,758 brothers and 827 novices—as of January 2008, although the...
, a Jesuit from
MarylandMaryland is a state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia to the south and west, Pennsylvania to the north, and Delaware to the east. It is comparable in size to the European country of Belgium. According to the U.S...
, became the second
BishopA bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
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
cathedralA cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
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 eliteWhite Anglo-Saxon Protestant, commonly abbreviated to the acronym WASP, is a sociological and cultural ethnonym that originated in the United States and Canada ....
. 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 CrossThe College of the Holy Cross is an undergraduate Roman Catholic liberal arts college located in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA...
west of the city in
Worcester, MassachusettsWorcester is a city in the state of Massachusetts in the United States of America. Having a population of 172,648 in the 2000 census, Worcester is ranked the second or third largest city in New England. It is the county seat of Worcester County....
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.John McElroy, SJ was born in Ireland in 1782, and came to the United States in 1803. Fr. McElroy enrolled in Georgetown University in 1806, the same year in which he joined the Society of Jesus as a lay brother. His brother Antony also became a Jesuit. Fr. McElroy assumed the management of...
, who saw an even greater need for such an institution in light of Boston's growing 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 Street in
Boston's South EndThe South End is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts.-Geography:The South End lies south of the Back Bay, northwest of South Boston, northeast of Roxbury, north of Dorchester, and southwest of Bay Village...
. 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 WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
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 , 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
MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Most of its population of...
and the first located in the Boston area.
Johannes BapstJohannes Bapst was a Swiss Jesuit missionary and educator. He became the first President of Boston College.-Life:...
, S.J., a Swiss Jesuit from French-speaking
FribourgFribourg , is the capital of the Swiss canton of Fribourg and the district of Sarine. It is located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss plateau, and is an important economic, administrative and educational center on the cultural border between German and French Switzerland...
, 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. The curriculum was based on the Jesuit
Ratio StudiorumThe Ratio Studiorum often designates the document that formally established the globally influential system of Jesuit education in 1599...
, emphasizing
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
,
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
,
philosophyPhilosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing these questions by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on reasoned...
, and
theologyThe term "theology" literally means the study of God, deriving from the Greek word theos, meaning 'God', and the suffix -ology from the Greek word logos meaning "discourse", "theory", or "reasoning"...
.
Move to Chestnut Hill
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 SchoolFounded in 1863, Boston College High School is an all-male Jesuit Roman Catholic college preparatory secondary school with historical ties to Boston College. It has an enrollment in grades 7-12 of approximately 1,550 students and is located on a campus on Morrissey Boulevard in the Dorchester...
remained a constituent part of Boston College until 1927 when it was separately
incorporatedIncorporation is the forming of a new corporation . The corporation may be a business, a non-profit organization, sports club or a government of a new city or town. This article focuses on the process of incorporation; see also corporation.-Legal benefits:*Protection of personal assets...
. 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 WinthropJohn Winthrop led a group of English Puritans to the New World in 1630, and joined the Massachusetts Bay Company later that year, and then was elected their governor in October 1639. Between 1639 and 1648 he was voted out of governorship and re-elected a total of 12 times...
's early vision of Boston as a "
city upon a hillCity upon a hill is a phrase derived from the metaphor of Salt and Light in the Sermon on the Mount of Jesus given in the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew 5:14 states "You are the light of the world...
," he re-imagined Boston College as world-renowned university and a beacon of Jesuit scholarship. Less than a year after taking office, he purchased
Amos Adams LawrenceAmos Adams Lawrence , the son of famed philanthropist Amos Lawrence, was a key figure in the United States abolition movement in the years leading up to the Civil War, and instrumental in the establishment of the University of Kansas and Lawrence University in Appleton,...
's farm on
Chestnut HillChestnut Hill is a suburban village located six miles west of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Like all Massachusetts villages, Chestnut Hill is not an incorporated municipal entity, but unlike most of them, it encompasses parts of three separate municipalities, each of which is in...
, six miles (10 km) west of the city. He organized an international competition for the design of a
campusA campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...
master plan and set about raising funds for the construction of the "new" university. Proposals were solicited from distinguished architects, and
Charles Donagh MaginnisConsidered the father of American Gothic architecture, Charles Donagh Maginnis was born in County Londonderry, Ireland on January 7 1867. He was educated in Dublin, emigrated to Boston at age 18 and got his first job apprenticing for architect Edmund M. Wheelwright as a draftsman. In 1900 he became...
' ambitious proposal for twenty buildings in English Collegiate Gothic style, called "Oxford in America", was selected. Construction began in 1909.
By 1913, construction costs had surpassed available funds, and as a result
Gasson HallGasson Hall is an iconic building on the campus of Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. It is named after the 13th president of Boston College, Thomas I. Gasson, SJ, considered BC's "second founder."-History:...
, "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 & SciencesThe Graduate School of Arts & Sciences is the graduate faculty of humanities, natural sciences and social sciences at Boston College.-About:Founded in the early 1920s, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is the oldest of Boston College's seven graduate and professional schools...
, the
Boston College Law SchoolBoston College Law School is one of the six professional graduate schools at Boston College. Located approximately 1.5 miles from the main Boston College campus in Chestnut Hill, Boston College Law School is situated on a wooded campus in Newton, Massachusetts...
, and the
Woods College of Advancing StudiesThe Woods College of Advancing Studies is one of the eight constituent schools of Boston College and offers both undergraduate and graduate degree programs...
, followed successively by the
Boston College Graduate School of Social WorkThe Graduate School of Social Work is one of the professional schools of Boston College, located in Boston, Massachusetts. GSSW is central to Boston College's mission of social justice. Its major goal is to assist and empower the disadvantaged members of society...
, the
Carroll School of ManagementThe Carroll School of Management is a graduate and undergraduate business school and one of the professional schools of Boston College.The School provides undergraduate and graduate management education attuned to the needs of today's business world...
, the
Connell School of NursingThe Connell School of Nursing is a graduate and undergraduate nursing school and one of the professional schools of Boston College.-See also:*List of nursing schools in the United States...
, and the
Lynch School of EducationThe Lynch School of Education is a professional school of Boston College. Joseph O'Keefe, S.J. is the current dean.The Lynch School of Education offers graduate and undergraduate programs in education, psychology, and human development. The mission of the school is to improve the human condition...
. In 1926, Boston College conferred its first degrees on women (though it did not become fully coeducational until 1970). With the rising prominence of its graduates, this was also the period in which Boston College and its powerful Alumni Association began to establish themselves among the city's leading institutions. At the city, state and federal levels, BC graduates would come to dominate Massachusetts politics for much of the 20th century. Cultural changes in American society and in the church following the
Second Vatican CouncilThe Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, or Vatican II, was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October, 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI on 8 December, 1965...
forced BC 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
VietnamThe Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975...
and the
bombings in CambodiaOperation Menu was the codename of a covert United States Strategic Air Command bombing campaign conducted in eastern Cambodia from 18 March 1969 until 26 May 1970, during the Vietnam War...
, culminated in student strikes, including demonstrations at
Gasson HallGasson Hall is an iconic building on the campus of Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. It is named after the 13th president of Boston College, Thomas I. Gasson, SJ, considered BC's "second founder."-History:...
in April 1970.
The Monan era
By the time J. Donald Monan, S.J. assumed the 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 UniversityHarvard University is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and currently comprises ten separate academic units...
. Monan's first order of business was to reconfigure the Boston College Board of Trustees. By separating it from the
Society of JesusThe Society of Jesus is a Catholic religious order of clerks regular whose members are called Jesuits.Jesuits are the largest male religious order in the Catholic Church, with 18,815 members—13,305 priests, 2,295 scholastic students, 1,758 brothers and 827 novices—as of January 2008, although the...
, Monan was able to bring in the talents of lay alumni and business leaders who helped turn around the university's fortunes. This same restructuring had been accomplished first at the
University of Notre DameThe University of Notre Dame du Lac is a private Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, Indiana, USA....
in 1967 by Fr.
Theodore HesburghThe Rev. Theodore Martin Hesburgh, CSC, STD , a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross, is President Emeritus of the University of Notre Dame. He is the namesake for TIAA-CREF's Hesburgh Award....
, CSC with many other Catholic colleges following suit in the ensuing years. In 1974, Boston College acquired
Newton College of the Sacred HeartNewton College of the Sacred Heart was a small women's liberal arts college in Newton Centre, Massachusetts. It opened in 1946 and merged with Boston College in June 1974....
, a campus away that enabled it to expand the law school and provide more housing for a student population that was increasingly residential and geographically diverse. No less than the university's rescue is credited to Monan who set into motion the university's upward trajectory in finances, reputation, and global scope. In 1996, Monan's 24 year presidency, the longest in the university's history, came to an end when he was named
University ChancellorA Chancellor is the head of a university. Other titles are sometimes used, such as President or Rector.In most Commonwealth nations, the Chancellor is usually a titular non-resident head, often with a Pro-Chancellor as practical Chairman of the governing body ; the actual chief executive of a...
and succeeded by President
William P. LeahyWilliam P. Leahy, SJ is the 25th President of Boston College, a post he has held since 1996. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska and raised in Imogene, Iowa, he joined the Society of Jesus in 1967, and is a member of the Jesuit's Wisconsin province...
, S.J.
Recent history
Since assuming the Boston College presidency, Leahy's tenure has been marked with an acceleration of the growth and development initiated by his predecessor. BC's endowment has grown to $1.83 billion, it has expanded by almost , and undergraduate applications have surpassed 31,000. At the same time, BC students, faculty and athletic teams have seen unprecedented success — winning record numbers of
FulbrightsThe Fulbright Award is a scholarship awarded as part of the Fulbright Program to foster international research and collaboration. The program also awards a fellowship to Ph.D.'s to lecture and teach in foreign universities...
,
RhodesThe Rhodes Scholarship named after Cecil Rhodes is an international award for study at the University of Oxford and was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships...
, 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- Foundation and History :Initiated by President William P. Leahy, S.J., in September 2002, the Church in the 21st Century initiative was originally conceived as a two-year project to examine the underlying issues raised by the sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church...
program to examine issues facing the
Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
in light of the clergy sexual abuse scandal. His effort brought BC worldwide praise and recognition for "leading the way on Church reform." Recent plans to merge with the
Weston Jesuit School of TheologyThe Boston College School of Theology and Ministry in Brighton, Massachusetts is a graduate divinity school of Boston College and an ecclesiastical faculty of theology that trains men and women, both lay and religious, for service, especially for the Roman Catholic Church...
were followed by an article in
The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded in 1851 and published in New York City. The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, "The Gray Lady"—named for its staid appearance and style—is regarded as a national newspaper of record...
claiming "such a merger would further Boston College's quest to become the nation's Catholic intellectual powerhouse" and that, once approved by the
VaticanThe Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Roman Catholic Church, together with the Pope...
and Jesuit authorities in
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
, BC "would become
the center for the study of Roman Catholic theology in the United States." On February 16, 2006, the merger was authorized by the
Jesuit ConferenceThe Jesuit Conference is the name of the governing body of the Society of Jesus in the United States. The Conference is comprised of the provincial superiors of the ten Jesuit provinces in the US , known collectively as the US Assistancy...
.
In 2003, after years of student-led discussions and efforts, the University 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. Earlier that year 84% of the student body voted in favor of a student referendum calling for a change in policy. After several months of discussion the university's policy was changed in May 2005.
On December 5, 2007, Boston College announced the 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 recreation center to replace the outdated Flynn Recreation Complex, a 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. The plan has been criticized by Boston city officials. On February 21, 2008, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino warned the school to construct new dormitory building on its main campus, rather than on the former
St. John's SeminarySaint John's Seminary, located in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, serves the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, and other dioceses of New England including, the Diocese of Springfield, the Diocese of Burlington, the Diocese of Manchester, the Diocese of...
property acquired from the Archdiocese of Boston. Student misbehavior in the neighborhoods around the school has been a problem for area residents.
On June 10, 2009, Mayor Menino and Boston's zoning commission approved the university's Master Plan, signaling an end to the long approval process, while opening up the opportunity for the university to enter design and planning phases.
Chestnut Hill
Boston College's main campus in Chestnut Hill, west of downtown Boston, is and includes over 120 buildings. Set on a hilltop overlooking the
Chestnut Hill ReservoirChestnut Hill Reservoir is a reservoir created in 1870 on existing marshes and meadowland to supplement the city of Boston's water needs. It is surrounded by the unincorporated village of Chestnut Hill which, itself, consists of parts of Boston, Brookline, and Newton...
the campus creates an almost rural setting. A "
Boston CollegeThe Boston College station is the western terminus of the MBTA Green Line's B-branch . It is located at St Ignatius Square on the Boston College campus in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, near the intersection of Commonwealth Avenue and Lake Street...
" "T"-station, located at St. Ignatius Gate, is the western terminus of the
Massachusetts Bay Transportation AuthorityThe Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, often referred to as the MBTA or simply The T, is "a body politic and corporate, and a political subdivision" of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts...
(MBTA)
Green LineThe Green Line is a light rail/streetcar system run by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in the Boston, Massachusetts area of the United States. It is the oldest line of Boston's subway, which is known locally as the 'T'. The Green Line runs underground downtown and on the surface in...
's B-branch (also known as the "Boston College" line) and provides transit to the city center. Due largely to its location and architecture, the Boston College campus is known affectionately as the "Heights" or the "Crowned Hilltop". The
main campusBoston College Main Campus Historic District located at 140 Commonwealth Avenue in the village of Chestnut Hill in Newton, Massachusetts was added to the National Register of Historic Places on .-National Register listing:...
is also listed on the
National Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Designed by
Charles Donagh MaginnisConsidered the father of American Gothic architecture, Charles Donagh Maginnis was born in County Londonderry, Ireland on January 7 1867. He was educated in Dublin, emigrated to Boston at age 18 and got his first job apprenticing for architect Edmund M. Wheelwright as a draftsman. In 1900 he became...
and his firm
Maginnis & WalshMaginnis & Walsh is an architecture firm started by Charles Donagh Maginnis and Timothy Walsh in 1905. It was known for its innovative design of churches in Boston in the first half of the twentieth century. Maginnis was born in Derry, Ireland. He emigrated to Boston at age 18 and got his first...
in 1908, the Boston College campus is a seminal example of Collegiate Gothic architecture. Combining Gothic Revival architecture with principles of
Beaux-ArtsBeaux-Arts architecture denotes the academic neoclassical architectural style that was taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. The style "Beaux Arts" is above all the cumulative product of two and a half centuries of instruction under the authority, first of the Académie royale...
planning, Maginnis proposed a vast complex of academic buildings set in a
cruciformCruciform means having the shape of a cross.- Cruciform Plan :This is a common description of Christian churches. In Early Christian, Byzantine and other Eastern Orthodox forms of church architecture this is more likely to mean a tetraconch plan, a Greek cross, with arms of equal length or, later,...
plan. Maginnis's design broke from the traditional
OxbridgeOxbridge is a composite, or portmanteau, of the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge in England, and the term is now used to refer to them collectively, often with implications of perceived superior intellectual or social status...
models that had inspired it — and that had till then characterized Gothic architecture on American campuses. In its unprecedented scale,
Gasson TowerGasson Hall is an iconic building on the campus of Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. It is named after the 13th president of Boston College, Thomas I. Gasson, SJ, considered BC's "second founder."-History:...
was conceived not as the
belfryA bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
of a singular building, but as the crowning
campanileCampanile is an Italian word meaning "bell tower" . The term applies to bell towers which are either part of a larger building or free-standing, although in American English, the latter meaning has become prevalent.The most famous campanile is probably the Leaning Tower of Pisa...
of Maginnis' new "
city upon a hillCity upon a hill is a phrase derived from the metaphor of Salt and Light in the Sermon on the Mount of Jesus given in the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew 5:14 states "You are the light of the world...
". Though Maginnis' ambitious Gothic project never saw full completion, its central portion was built according to plan and forms the core of what is now BC's iconic middle campus. Among these, the Bapst Library has been called the "finest example of Collegiate Gothic architecture in America" and Devlin Hall won the
Harleston Parker MedalThe Harleston Parker Medal was established in 1921 by J. Harleston Parker to recognize “such architects as shall have, in the opinion of the Boston Society of Architects. ....
for "most beautiful building in Boston". The 1895
Louis K. LiggettLouis K. Liggett, , was an American drug store magnate who founded Rexall and was later chairman of United Drug Company.-Early life:...
Estate was acquired in 1941 and developed into a Tudor style upper campus, while an architecturally eclectic lower campus took shape on land acquired by filling in part of the
Chestnut Hill ReservoirChestnut Hill Reservoir is a reservoir created in 1870 on existing marshes and meadowland to supplement the city of Boston's water needs. It is surrounded by the unincorporated village of Chestnut Hill which, itself, consists of parts of Boston, Brookline, and Newton...
. Modernism had an enormous impact on development after the 1940s, though most modernist buildings at BC maintained decidedly un-modern rough stone facades in keeping with Maginnis's original designs.
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 LoyolaSaint Ignatius of Loyola , was a Spanish knight, who became a hermit and priest, founding the Society of Jesus and becoming its first Superior General. Ignatius and the Jesuits became major figures in the Counter-Reformation, where the Catholic Church worked to reform itself from within and...
, and
Francis XavierSaint Francis of Xavier, born Francisco de Jaso y Azpilcueta was a Kingdom of Navarre pioneering Roman Catholic missionary of Basque origin. He was a student of Saint Ignatius Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits who dedicated themselves to the service of God at Montmarte in 1534...
as well as world renowned collections in Jesuitana,
IrishIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
literature, sixteenth century
FlemishFlanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France, and the Netherlands...
tapestries, ancient
GreekAncient Greece is the civilisation belonging to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth. It is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the...
pottery,
CaribbeanThe Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts...
folk art and literature,
Japanese printsJapanese art covers a wide range of art styles and media, including ancient pottery, sculpture in wood and bronze, ink painting on silk and paper and more recently manga, cartoon, along with a myriad of other types of works of art...
, U.S. government documents,
CongressionalThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election....
Archives, and paintings that span the history of art from
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
,
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
, and the Americas. Opened in 1928, Bapst Library was named for the first president of Boston College (
Johannes BapstJohannes Bapst was a Swiss Jesuit missionary and educator. He became the first President of Boston College.-Life:...
, 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 famous stained glass windows is available online. The Burns Library of Rare Books and Special Collections is home to more than 150,000 volumes, some 15 million manuscripts and other important works, including a world-renowned collection of Irish literature. A rare facsimile of the
Book of KellsThe Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. It was transcribed by Celtic monks ca. 800...
is on public display in the library's Irish Room, and each day one page of the
illuminated manuscriptAn illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations...
is turned. It also houses the papers of prominent Boston College alumni. The library is named after the Honorable John. J. Burns (1901 to 1957), Massachusetts Superior Court Justice and a member of the Boston College Class of 1921.
Located in Devlin Hall, the McMullen Museum of Art houses a prominent permanent collection and organizes exhibits from all periods and cultures of
art historyArt history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and look. This includes the "major" arts of painting, sculpture, and architecture as well as the "minor" arts of ceramics,...
. Recent exhibits and acquisitions, including works by
Edvard MunchEdvard Munch was a Norwegian Symbolist painter, printmaker and an important forerunner of expressionistic art...
,
Amedeo ModiglianiAmedeo Clemente Modigliani was an Italian artist who worked mainly in France. Primarily a figurative artist, he became known for paintings and sculptures in a modern style characterized by mask-like faces and elongation of form...
,
Frank StellaFrank Stella is an American painter and printmaker. He is a significant figure in minimalism and post-painterly abstraction.He was born in Malden, Massachusetts...
,
Françoise GilotFrançoise Gilot is a French painter and bestselling author living in New York City and Paris. She is known for being the lover and artistic muse of Pablo Picasso from 1944 to 1953, and the mother of his children, Claude Picasso and Paloma Picasso. She later married the American vaccine pioneer,...
,
John LaFargeJohn La Farge was an American painter, muralist, stained glass window maker, decorator, and writer....
, and
Jackson PollockPaul Jackson Pollock was an influential American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. During his lifetime, Pollock enjoyed considerable fame and notoriety. He was regarded as a mostly reclusive artist. He had a volatile personality and struggled with alcoholism all of...
. Admission to the Museum is free and open to the general public.
Other properties
In addition to the main campus at Chestnut Hill, BC's Newton Campus is located to the west and houses the law school and residential housing for roughly one third of the freshman class. Other BC properties include a seismology research observatory and field station in
Weston, MassachusettsWeston is a suburb of Boston located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States in the Boston metro area. The estimated population, according to 2007 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, is 11,698....
, an retreat center in
Dover, MassachusettsDover is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,558 at the 2000 census.Located about southwest of downtown Boston, Dover is a residential town nestled on the south banks of the Charles River. Almost all of the residential zoning requires or larger...
, and the Centre for Irish Programmes: Dublin on
St. Stephen's GreenSt Stephen's Green is an city centre public park in Dublin, Ireland. The park is adjacent to one of Dublin's main shopping streets, Grafton Street, and to a shopping centre named for it, while on its surrounding streets are the offices of a number of public bodies and the city terminus of one of...
in Dublin,
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
. In a new building opened in 1996, the Law Library is located on the
Boston College Law SchoolBoston College Law School is one of the six professional graduate schools at Boston College. Located approximately 1.5 miles from the main Boston College campus in Chestnut Hill, Boston College Law School is situated on a wooded campus in Newton, Massachusetts...
campus in Newton.
In June 2004, Boston College acquired of land from the
Archdiocese of BostonThe Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the New England region of the United States. It comprises several counties of the state of Massachusetts...
. The new grounds, adjacent to the main campus (on the opposite side of
Commonwealth AvenueCommonwealth Avenue is a major street in the cities of Boston and Newton, Massachusetts. It begins at the western edge of the Public Garden, and continues west through the neighborhoods of the Back Bay, Kenmore Square, Allston, Brighton and Chestnut Hill...
), include the historic mansion that served as the
CardinalA cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually a bishop, of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and making themselves available...
's residence until 2002. The new grounds are referred to as Brighton Campus, after
BrightonBrighton is a neighborhood of the City of Boston, Massachusetts, located in the northwest corner of the city. It comprises land covered by the zip code 02135.-History:...
, the area in Boston where it is located.
Sustainability
Boston College utilizes
sustainable energySustainable energy is the provision of energy such that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. A broader interpretation may allow inclusion of fossil fuels and nuclear fission as transitional sources while technology develops,...
,
water efficiencyWater efficiency can be defined as:# The accomplishment of a function, task, process, or result with the minimal amount of water feasible;# An indicator of the relationship between the amount of water required for a particular purpose and the amount of water used or delivered...
,
local foodLocal food or the local food movement is a "collaborative effort to build more locally based, self-reliant food economies - one in which sustainable food production, processing, distribution, and consumption is integrated to enhance the economic, environmental and social health of a particular...
,
recyclingRecycling involves processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower...
, and
green computingGreen computing or green IT, refers to environmentally sustainable computing or IT. It is "the study and practice of designing, manufacturing, using, and disposing of computers, servers, and associated subsystems—such as monitors, printers, storage devices, and networking and communications...
. Since February 2007, Boston College has
submeteredUtility Submetering is the implementation of a system that allows a landlord, property management firm, condominium association, homeowners association, or other multi-tenant property to bill tenants for individual measured utility usage...
electricityElectricity is a general term that encompasses a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge...
in 24 of its residence halls and since 2008 the college holds an annual energy competition between residential halls. During that time and throughout the year, students can track their energy consumption in real time on their computers using an
Energy DashboardA home energy monitor provides prompt, convenient feedback on electrical or other energy use. Devices may also display cost of energy used, and estimates of greenhouse gas emissions...
application built by Lucid Design Group Inc. Looking forward, Boston College is considering the potential of
geothermal powerGeothermal power is power extracted from heat stored in the earth. This geothermal energy originates from the original formation of the planet, from radioactive decay of minerals, and from solar energy absorbed at the surface...
, solar panels, and
combined heat and power plantsCogeneration is the use of a heat engine or a power station to simultaneously generate both electricity and useful heat...
. A student-run organic garden was started in spring 2008. The college is also looking into implementing the practices and ideology of
xeriscapingXeriscaping and xerogardening refers to landscaping and gardening in ways that reduce or eliminate the need for supplemental irrigation. It is promoted in areas that do not have easily accessible supplies of fresh water, and is gaining acceptance in other areas as climate patterns shift.The word...
and
sustainable landscape architectureSustainable landscape architecture is a category of sustainable design concerned with the planning and design of outdoor space. This can include ecological, social and economic aspects of sustainability...
to minimize water use on campus grounds.
Organization and administration
At
US$The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents .The U.S...
1.3 billion, BC's
endowmentA financial endowment is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution, usually with the stipulation that it be invested, and the principal remain intact in perpetuity or for a defined time period...
is among the
largest in American higher education, which represents a 25% percent drop from the start of the 2008-2009 academic year. Its annual operating budget is approximately $667 million. The most recent and ongoing fundraising campaign, dubbed "Light the World", was announced on October 11, 2008. The 7 year campaign aims to raise $1.5 billion in honor of the 150th anniversary of the college. Funds raised will be used to support the strategic priorities of the University, including academic programs, financial aid, Jesuit Catholic identity, athletics, student programming, and capital construction projects.
Jesuit Catholicism
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. The unofficial
chapelA chapel is a building used as a place for fellowship and of worship for Christians. It may be attached to an institution such as a large church, a college, a hospital, a palace, a prison or a cemetery, or may be an entirely free-standing building, sometimes with its own grounds...
for the university is the Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. The church is named after Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order. Although not technically the university's church, St. Ignatius enjoys a special relationship with Boston College through which the university provides the parish with Internet access, e-mail service, telephone and voice mail service, parking, and dormitory space for the
religious educationReligious Education is the term given to education concerned with religion. It may refer to education provided by a church or religious organization, for instruction in doctrine and faith, or for education in various aspects of religion, but without explicitly religious or moral aims, e.g. in a...
program. Each year, several Boston College students teach in the religious education program. Jesuits priests from Boston College occasionally preside at the church's liturgies. On their part, St. Ignatius provides a spiritual home for many students during their time at Boston College and for many alumni on their
weddingA wedding is the ceremony in which two people are united in marriage or a similar institution. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes...
day. The church building is also used by the college for some of their larger events.
Affiliated institutions
St. Columbkille's is a
Roman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
and
elementary schoolAn elementary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America...
in
BrightonBrighton is a neighborhood of the City of Boston, Massachusetts, located in the northwest corner of the city. It comprises land covered by the zip code 02135.-History:...
,
MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Most of its population of...
which has made an alliance with BC. Under the agreement, the school is to be governed by a North American board of members and a board of trustees comprising representatives from the Archdiocese of Boston, Boston College, St. Columbkille
ParishA parish is a territorial unit that was usually historically served by a local church. This administrative unit is typically found in Roman Catholic, Anglican Communion, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Church of Sweden, United Methodist, and Presbyterian churches...
and the
greater BostonGreater Boston is the area of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts surrounding the city of Boston. Due to ambiguity in usage, the size of the area referred to can be anywhere between that of the metropolitan statistical area of Boston to that of the city's combined statistical area which includes...
community. The board of trustees will authorize an audit of the school's curriculum, faculty, finances, and facilities before creating a strategic plan to guide the school in the future.
Lynch School of EducationThe Lynch School of Education is a professional school of Boston College. Joseph O'Keefe, S.J. is the current dean.The Lynch School of Education offers graduate and undergraduate programs in education, psychology, and human development. The mission of the school is to improve the human condition...
faculty will work directly with the school's teachers on faculty and curriculum development, presenting new approaches to education and working to establish best practices in the classroom. The agreement, announced in March 2006 by University President William P. Leahy, S.J., and Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley,
OFM, Cap.The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin is an order of friars in the Catholic Church, among the chief offshoots of the Franciscans...
, represents the first such collaboration between a Catholic university and a
parochial schoolParochial school is one term used to describe a school that engages in religious education in addition to conventional education. In a narrow sense, parochial schools are Christian grammar schools or high schools run by parishes, but this distinction is not universally made.-United Kingdom:In...
in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Academics
Boston College is a research university and comprises nine schools and colleges:
- Boston College College of Arts & Sciences
- Boston College Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
The Graduate School of Arts & Sciences is the graduate faculty of humanities, natural sciences and social sciences at Boston College.-About:Founded in the early 1920s, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is the oldest of Boston College's seven graduate and professional schools...
- Carroll School of Management
The Carroll School of Management is a graduate and undergraduate business school and one of the professional schools of Boston College.The School provides undergraduate and graduate management education attuned to the needs of today's business world...
- Lynch School of Education
The Lynch School of Education is a professional school of Boston College. Joseph O'Keefe, S.J. is the current dean.The Lynch School of Education offers graduate and undergraduate programs in education, psychology, and human development. The mission of the school is to improve the human condition...
- Connell School of Nursing
The Connell School of Nursing is a graduate and undergraduate nursing school and one of the professional schools of Boston College.-See also:*List of nursing schools in the United States...
- Boston College Graduate School of Social Work
The Graduate School of Social Work is one of the professional schools of Boston College, located in Boston, Massachusetts. GSSW is central to Boston College's mission of social justice. Its major goal is to assist and empower the disadvantaged members of society...
- Boston College Law School
Boston College Law School is one of the six professional graduate schools at Boston College. Located approximately 1.5 miles from the main Boston College campus in Chestnut Hill, Boston College Law School is situated on a wooded campus in Newton, Massachusetts...
- Boston College School of Theology and Ministry
- Woods College of Advancing Studies
The Woods College of Advancing Studies is one of the eight constituent schools of Boston College and offers both undergraduate and graduate degree programs...
Rankings
BC ranked 16th on the Forbes.com 2009 edition of "America's Best Colleges" and 34th among national universities in
U.S. News & World ReportU.S. News & World Report is an American newsmagazine published in Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek, it was for many years a leading news weekly, although it focused more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...
s "America's Best Colleges 2009" rankings. Boston College was added to the "25 New Ivies" list in 2006 by KaplanKaplan, Inc. is a for-profit corporation headquartered in New York City, and was founded in 1938 by Stanley Kaplan. Kaplan provides higher education programs, professional training courses, test preparation materials and other services for various levels of education.-Company:Kaplan is a for-profit...
/
NewsweekNewsweek is an American weekly newsmagazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
. BC placed 11th in a ranking of national universities (published in Forbes Magazine
) by the Center for College Affordability & Productivity, a research group in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
. The undergraduate school of business, the Carroll School of ManagementThe Carroll School of Management is a graduate and undergraduate business school and one of the professional schools of Boston College.The School provides undergraduate and graduate management education attuned to the needs of today's business world...
, placed 14th in an annual survey of US undergraduate business schools by BusinessWeekBusinessWeek is a business magazine published by McGraw-Hill. It was first published in 1929 under the direction of Malcolm Muir, who was serving as president of the McGraw-Hill Publishing company at the time. BusinessWeek is a business magazine published by McGraw-Hill. It was first published...
, which noted that "Alumni and professors love helping students find jobs, making BC's campus networking an invaluable resource." A study by Carnegie Communications in 2004 ranked BC 17th among national universities. The same study cited BC as the 8th "most popular" choice among U.S. high school seniors. A 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. In 2008
U.S. News & World ReportU.S. News & World Report is an American newsmagazine published in Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek, it was for many years a leading news weekly, although it focused more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...
ranked the full time BC MBA program 34th in the nation, and the evening MBA program climbed to 15th, the 5th year it has been in the top 20 nationwide. Furthermore, BC also has commendable graduate programs in the Arts and Sciences. The U.S. News and World Report
rated its economics, sociology, and psychology programs 31st, 41st, and 66th in the nation, respectively. Its sociology program, specifically, is the second best program in the Boston area behind Harvard.
Admissions
The middle half of the class of 2012 had test scores that ranged from 1950-2220 on the SAT and 30-33 on the
ACTThe ACT is a standardized test for high school achievement and college admissions in the United States produced by ACT, Inc. It was first administered in fall 1959 by Everett Franklin Lindquist as a competitor to the College Board's Scholastic Aptitude Test, now the SAT Reasoning Test...
. Admission to Boston College is among the most selective in the United States. For the class of 2012, BC received a record 31,000 applications from prospective undergraduates, admitting 26%, making it the most selective class in the school's history. BC ranks fifth (after
NYUNew York University is a private, nonsectarian, research university in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
,
USCThe University of Southern California is a private, nonsectarian, research university located in the University Park neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, USA...
,
BUBoston University is a private nonsectarian university located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Although chartered by the Massachusetts Legislature in 1869, Boston University traces its roots to the establishment of the Newbury Biblical Institute in Newbury, Vermont in 1839...
, and Northeastern) among private American universities in the number of applications it receives annually, though the four schools that rank above it are 50% larger.
Presidential Scholars Program
The Presidential Scholars Program is a competitive undergraduate program offered to a subset of early action applicants of Boston College. Students who accept an invitation to apply for the program are asked to spend a weekend at Boston College, where they complete several interviews and a timed essay. The Presidential Scholars Program is very competitive; out of the Boston College applicants invited to apply to the PSP program, 15 are awarded the scholarship. Since the entire early application pool is evaluated in determining who to grant application invitations to, the overall admissions rate of the program is less than 1% . The scholarship includes several summer programs, among them a month-long cultural study in France and "high-level" internships. Students who have completed the Presidential Scholars Program have often gone on to attend prestigious graduate schools and have successful professional careers. They have been the recipients of some of the highest awards including Rhodes Scholarships and Marshall Scholarships .
Scholarly publications
- C21 Resources, a progressive journal of contemporary Catholic issues, published by BC's Church in the 21st Century
- Foundation and History :Initiated by President William P. Leahy, S.J., in September 2002, the Church in the 21st Century initiative was originally conceived as a two-year project to examine the underlying issues raised by the sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church...
Center.
- Guide to Jesuit Education
- Journal of Technology, Learning and Assessment
- Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review
- Boston College Law Review
The Boston College Law Review is a journal of legal scholarship and student organization at Boston College Law School. It has been continuously published since 1959. Up until 1977, it was known as the Boston College Industrial & Commercial Law Review...
- International & Comparative Law Review
- Third World Law Journal
- Uniform Commercial Code Reporter-Digest
- New Arcadia Review
- Religion and the Arts Journal
- Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations, the official journal of the Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations (CCJR) 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
Student life
AHANAAHANA is a term that refers to persons of African-American, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American descent. The term was coined at Boston College in 1979 by two students, Alfred Feliciano and Valerie Lewis, who objected to the name "Office of Minority Programs" used by Boston College at the time...
is a term coined (and trademarked) by BC students in 1979 to refer to students of African-American,
HispanicHispanic is a term that historically denoted a relationship to the ancient Hispania . During the modern era, it took on a more limited meaning, relating to the contemporary nation of Spain....
,
AsianAsian people or Asiatic people is a demonym for people from Asia. However, the use of the term varies by country and person, often referring to people from a particular region or subregion of Asia...
, or Native American descent. In 2006-07, AHANA students comprised 24% of BC undergraduates. International students make up an additional 5.3% of the student population.
Athletics
The mascot for all Boston College athletic teams is the
EagleEagles are large birds of prey which are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa...
, 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
BaldwinBaldwin the Eagle, an anthropomorphized bald eagle, is the mascot of the Boston College Eagles.The nickname "Eagles" goes back to 1920 when Rev. Edward McLaughlin, unhappy at seeing a newspaper cartoon which represented Boston College as a cat after a track victory, wrote to the college newspaper...
, derived from the "bald" head of the American bald eagle and the word "win". The school colors are
maroonMaroon is a dark red color.-Etymology:Maroon is derived from French marron .The first recorded use of Maroon as a color name in English was in 1789.-Shades:-Dark red:Displayed at right is the web color dark red....
and
goldGold, also called golden, is an orange-yellow color which is a representation of the color of the element gold.The web color gold is sometimes referred to as golden in order to distinguish it from the color metallic gold...
. The fight song,
For Boston"For Boston" is the traditional fight song of Boston College. It was written and composed by T.J. Hurley, a member of the Boston College Class of 1885. It was modified in the 1980s to reflect coeducation: the 5th line, "For here Men are Men" and the 16th line, "Shall thy sons be found," were...
, was composed by T.J. Hurley, class of 1885. The Eagles compete in NCAA Division I-A as members of the
Atlantic Coast ConferenceThe Atlantic Coast Conference is a collegiate athletic league in the United States. Founded in 1953, the ACC's twelve member universities compete in twenty sports in the Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...
in all sports offered by the ACC. The men's and women's ice hockey teams compete in
Hockey EastHockey East Association is a college athletic conference which operates in New England. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference....
. (Skiing, fencing, and sailing are also non-ACC.) Boston College is one of only 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.
In hockey and (less famously) baseball, Boston College participates in the annual Beanpot tournaments held at
TD Banknorth GardenTD Garden is a sports arena in Boston. It is named after its sponsor, TD Bank, N.A. and is often simply called The Garden, or the traditional Boston Garden. It was formerly known as the FleetCenter and the Shawmut Center . TD Bank, N.A...
and
Fenway ParkFenway Park is a baseball park near Kenmore Square in Boston, Massachusetts. Located at 4 Yawkey Way, it has served as the home ballpark of the Boston Red Sox baseball club since it opened in 1912, and is the oldest Major League Baseball stadium currently in use...
, respectively. Boston College competes in the Beanpot against the three other major sports colleges in Boston: the Northeastern University
HuskiesThe Northeastern University Huskies are the athletic teams representing Northeastern University. They compete in thirteen varsity team sports: men's and women's hockey ; men's baseball, men's and women's basketball, football, women's field hockey and volleyball, swimming, and men's and women's...
,
Harvard UniversityHarvard University is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and currently comprises ten separate academic units...
Crimson, and
Boston UniversityBoston University is a private nonsectarian university located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Although chartered by the Massachusetts Legislature in 1869, Boston University traces its roots to the establishment of the Newbury Biblical Institute in Newbury, Vermont in 1839...
TerriersThe Boston University Terriers are the nine men's and twelve women's varsity athletic teams representing Boston University in NCAA Division I competition. The men compete in basketball, cross country, ice hockey, rowing, soccer, swimming, tennis, indoor and outdoor track, and wrestling...
. BC has reached the championship game 29 times and has won the Beanpot 14 times, including the 2008 championship. The less renowned baseball tournament, was first played in 1990 and out of seventeen baseball Beanpots, Boston College has won nine, last winning in 2008. The baseball team also plays an exhibition game against the
Boston Red SoxThe Boston Red Sox are a member of the Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Since , the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park. The "Red Sox" name originates from the iconic uniform feature....
at
City Of Palms ParkCity of Palms Park is a stadium in primarily used for baseball, although the City of Fort Myers uses the venue for the occasional concert. Former Boston Red Sox left fielder Mike Greenwell is from Fort Myers, and was instrumental in bringing his team to the city for spring training. The stadium...
in
Ft. MyersFort Myers is the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. Its population was 48,208 in the 2000 census. According to 2008 estimates, the population is 68,689....
,
FloridaFlorida is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the north. It was the 27th state admitted to the United States...
during
Major League BaseballMajor League Baseball is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball. Specifically, Major League Baseball refers to the organization that operates the National League and the American League, by means of a joint organizational structure that has developed gradually between...
's
spring trainingIn Major League Baseball, spring training is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to audition for roster and position spots, and gives existing team players practice time prior to competitive play...
. The men's hockey team won the 2008 NCAA Championship on April 12 with a 4-1 victory over the University of Notre Dame in
DenverThe City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the state of Colorado, in the United States. Denver is a consolidated city-county located in the South Platte River Valley on the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
,
ColoradoColorado is a U.S. state located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States of America. It may also be considered to be part of the Western and Southwestern regions of the United States. Colorado entered statehood in 1876 and was nicknamed the “Centennial State”...
.
Principal athletic facilities include
Alumni StadiumAlumni Stadium is a football stadium located on the campus of Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, approximately sixmiles west of downtown Boston. The stadium lies within the city limits of Boston, although its postal address is Chestnut Hill. It is the home of the Boston College Eagles...
(capacity: 44,500),
Conte ForumThe Silvio O. Conte Forum, usually known as the Conte Forum is an 8,606-seat multi-purpose arena on the campus of Boston College in a portion of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts that lies within the Brighton neighborhood of Boston...
(8,606), Kelley Rink (7,884),
Shea FieldShea Field is a baseball stadium in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. It is the home field of the Boston College Eagles college baseball team. The stadium holds 1,000 people and is named after Commander John Joseph Shea U.S.N., a former football player at Boston College.Shea Field is also home to many...
(1,000), the Newton Soccer Complex (1,000), and the Flynn Recreation Complex. The Yawkey Athletics Center opened in the spring of 2005. BC students compete in 31 varsity sports 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 athletic programs by
U.S. News & World ReportU.S. News & World Report is an American newsmagazine published in Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek, it was for many years a leading news weekly, although it focused more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...
.
Although a founding member of the
Big East ConferenceThe Big East Conference is a collegiate athletics conference consisting of sixteen universities in the northeastern, southeastern and midwestern United States. The conference's 17 members participate in 23 NCAA sports...
, the Eagles left the Big East and joined the
Atlantic Coast ConferenceThe Atlantic Coast Conference is a collegiate athletic league in the United States. Founded in 1953, the ACC's twelve member universities compete in twenty sports in the Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...
on July 1, 2005. Boston College athletes are among the most academically successful in the nation, according to the NCAA's
Academic Progress RateThe Academic Progress Rate is a metric established by the NCAA to measure the success or failure of collegiate athletic teams in moving student-athletes towards graduation . It was instituted in February of 2005...
(APR). In 2006 Boston College received Public Recognition Awards with fourteen of its sports in the top 10% of the nation academically. The Eagles tied
Notre DameThe University of Notre Dame du Lac is a private Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, Indiana, USA....
for the highest total of any Division I-A university. Other schools having ten or more sports honored included
NavyThe United States Naval Academy is an undergraduate college in Annapolis, Maryland, United States, that educates and commissions officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps. The Academy often is referred to simply as "Annapolis". It is also called "The Academy", "The Boat School", or "Canoe...
(12),
StanfordThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university located in Stanford, California, United States...
(11), and
DukeDuke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892...
(11). Teams honored were football, men's fencing, men's outdoor track, men's skiing, women's rowing, women's cross country, women's fencing, women's field hockey, women's indoor track, women's outdoor track, women's skiing, women's swimming, women's soccer, women's tennis, and women's volleyball. Boston College's football program was one of only five Division I-A teams that were so honored. The other four were
AuburnAuburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, U.S. With more than 24,100 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 1, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts school...
, Navy, Stanford, and Duke.
Football
The Boston College Eagles have achieved much success in college football. On November 16, 1940, BC's
Frank LeahyFrancis William Leahy was an American collegiate football coach. He was born in O'Neill, Nebraska and died in Portland, Oregon.-Early career:...
-coached championship team took a win from two-season undefeated Georgetown in the final seconds in a game that renowned sportswriter
Grantland RiceGrantland Rice was an early 20th century American sportswriter known for his elegant prose. His writing was published in newspapers around the country and broadcast on the radio.-Biography:...
called the greatest ever played. The Eagles completed their only undefeated season with a bowl victory over Tennessee that year, and many historians argue that the Eagles deserved a share of the national championship. In 1942, the team spent three weeks ranked at #3 in the nation and one week at #1, but they were upset by a then-dominant
Holy CrossThe College of the Holy Cross is an undergraduate Roman Catholic liberal arts college located in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA...
, 55-12. As a result, the team canceled a party at the
Cocoanut GroveCocoanut Grove may refer to:Places:*Coconut Grove, Miami, Florida*Coconut Grove , serving the above location*Coconut Grove, Northern Territory, suburb of Darwin, AustraliaNightclubs:...
, which ended up as a wise thing to do because that night the club
caught fireThe Cocoanut Grove was a nightclub in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. On November 28, 1942, the fashionable nightclub burned in what remains the deadliest nightclub fire in United States history, killing 492 people and injuring hundreds more. It is also the second-worst single-building fire...
.
Boston College's two most famous football victories came in dramatic fashion, on the final play of the game. On the day after Thanksgiving, November 23, 1984, before a national audience on
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American television network, one of television's original "big three", which also include NBC and ABC. Like NBC, CBS started out as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System...
,
Doug FlutieDouglas Richard "Doug" Flutie is a retired American and Canadian football quarterback. Flutie played college football at Boston College, and played professionally in the National Football League, Canadian Football League, and United States Football League...
became a legend when his
Hail MaryA Hail Mary pass or Hail Mary play in American football is a term made famous when "Hail Mary" was used by the press to describe the game winning touchdown pass by Roger Staubach to Drew Pearson, in the 1975 wild card playoff...
found its way into the arms of Gerard Phelan for a 47-45 victory over Miami in the Orange Bowl. This was also the year Flutie won the
HeismanThe Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , named after the former college football coach John Heisman, is awarded annually by the Heisman Trophy Trust to the most outstanding player in collegiate football...
; the only Eagle to date so honored. (See also:
Flutie effectThe Flutie Effect or Flutie Factor refers to the phenomenon of having a successful college sports team increase the exposure and prominence of a university...
) Nine years later almost to the day (November 20, 1993), the Eagles went into South Bend and defeated top-ranked Notre Dame 41-39 on a 41-yard field goal by David GordonDavid Gordon is an American author and trainer and early contributor to the development of Neuro-Linguistic Programming.Gordon has helped create and shape the field of NLP since some decades yet. Gordon's main areas of contribution have been the use of therapeutic metaphors, inspired by his work...
as time expired. A win would have completed Notre Dame's season at 11-0 with a berth in the national championship game. (See also:
Holy War (Boston College vs. Notre Dame)The Holy War is a title used to describe the rivalry between Boston College and Notre Dame, primarily in college football. The series pits the "Eagles" against the "Fighting Irish" and derives its name from the fact that the two teams represent the only Catholic universities in the United States...
) An additional nine years later, BC again thwarted a potential Notre Dame perfect season, defeating the #2 Fighting Irish in South Bend, 14-7. Boston College ran their football winning streak over Notre Dame to five games in 2007 with a 27-14 victory, helping the Eagles rise to #2 in the BCS rankings.
Two of Boston College's alumni hold special places in the NFL record-books.
Mike WoicikMike Woicik is an American football strength and conditioning coach for the New England Patriots of the National Football League. He holds the record for Super Bowl rings won by a coach with six, winning three with the Dallas Cowboys and three with the Patriots...
, a history major, holds the record for most
Super BowlThe Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League, the premier association of professional American football. In most years, the Super Bowl is the most-watched American television broadcast. Many popular singers and musicians have performed during the event’s pre-game and...
ringsThe Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl....
won by a non-head NFL coach. Having gained (as a strength and conditioning coach) three with the
New England PatriotsThe New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the...
and three with the
Dallas CowboysThe Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team that plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . They are headquartered in suburban Irving, Texas, which lies between Fort Worth and Dallas...
.
Bill RomanowskiWilliam Thomas Romanowski is a former football player from the United States. He is commonly known by the nickname "Romo".He was born in Vernon, Connecticut...
, a business major, holds the defensive record as an NFL player for most consecutive games played at 243, is the only linebacker in history to start in 5 Super Bowls, and also shares a record as one of only three players in NFL history to win back to back Super Bowls with two different organizations, the
San Francisco 49ersThe San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team. The team plays its home games in San Francisco, California, while the club's headquarters and practice facility are located in Santa Clara...
and the
Denver BroncosThe Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently a member of the American Football Conference Western Division in the National Football League . The Broncos began play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League and joined...
. On October 21, 2007, Boston College received its highest ranking since 1942, coming in at #2 nationally in both the
AP PollThe Associated Press Poll typically refers to a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I college football and Division I college basketball teams, though other AP polls exist as well. The rankings are compiled by polling sportswriters across the nation...
and in the
USA TodayUSA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth...
/Coaches' Poll.
The Eagles beat
Virginia TechThe 2007 Virginia Tech Hokies football team represented Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University during the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season...
on October 25, 2007, led by
Matt RyanMatthew Thomas "Matt" Ryan is an American football quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. He was drafted by the Falcons third overall in the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at Boston College....
with two touchdown passes in the final 2:11 of the game. This win solidified their spot at #2 in both the AP and Coaches' Poll as well as the BCS rankings. The team faced Virginia Tech again on December 1, 2007 in
JacksonvilleJacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida, and is the county seat of Duval County. Since 1968, as a result of the consolidation of the city and county government, and a corresponding expansion of the city limits to include almost the entire county, Jacksonville became the...
,
FloridaFlorida is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the north. It was the 27th state admitted to the United States...
in the
2007 ACC Championship GameThe 2007 Dr. Pepper Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Game featured the Boston College Eagles and the Virginia Tech Hokies in a regular-season college football game that determined the conference's champion for the 2007 season. Virginia Tech defeated Boston College 30–16 to win the ACC...
as Atlantic Division champions, but lost 30-16. Boston College won the Atlantic Division for the second consecutive year in 2008 but would again fall to
Virginia TechThe 2008 Virginia Tech Hokies football team represents Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University during the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head coach is Frank Beamer. Prior to the season, the Hokies were expected to be in a rebuilding mode, recovering after the...
in the
conference championship gameThe 2008 ACC Championship Game was a college football game between the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Boston College Eagles. The game, sponsored by Dr. Pepper, was the final regular-season contest of the 2008 college football season for the Atlantic Coast Conference...
. The Eagles won the
2007 Champs Sports BowlThe 2007 Champs Sports Bowl, part of the 2007-08 NCAA football bowl games season, was played on December 28, 2007 at the Citrus Bowl stadium in Orlando, Florida....
over
Michigan StateThe 2007 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State University in the 2007–2008 college football season. Mark Dantonio began his first season as the Spartans' head coach. The Spartans play their home games at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan.-Schedule:...
, extending their bowl winning streak to eight consecutive victories—at the time the longest active bowl win streak in the nation. The streak ended the following year with their loss to
VanderbiltThe 2008 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represents Vanderbilt University during the 2008–09 college football season. The team's Head Coach is Bobby Johnson, who began his seventh season as the Commodores' head coach with a 20–50 overall record, and an 8–40 conference record at VU...
in the
2008 Music City BowlThe 2008 Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl was the eleventh edition of the college football bowl game played at LP Field in Nashville, Tennessee. The game started at 2:30 pm US CST on Wednesday, December 31, 2008. The game, telecast on ESPN, pitted the Vanderbilt Commodores against the Boston...
.
Ryan broke the Boston College single-season touchdown record previously held by
College Hall of FamerThe College Football Hall of Fame, located in South Bend, Indiana, USA, is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. It is situated in the renovated downtown district, near convention centers and not far from the campus of Notre Dame...
,
Doug FlutieDouglas Richard "Doug" Flutie is a retired American and Canadian football quarterback. Flutie played college football at Boston College, and played professionally in the National Football League, Canadian Football League, and United States Football League...
. He was awarded the 2007
Johnny Unitas Golden Arm AwardThe Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award is given annually in the United States to the nation's outstanding senior quarterback in college football. It was established in 1987 by a foundation named for Johnny Unitas , the Hall of Fame quarterback who played his college career at the University of...
, given annually in the United States to the nation's most outstanding senior quarterback in college football and was selected third in the
2008 NFL DraftThe 2008 NFL Draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on April 26 and April 27, 2008. For the 29th consecutive year, ESPN televised the draft; the NFL Network also broadcast the event, its third year doing so...
by the
Atlanta FalconsThe Atlanta Falcons are an American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are currently a member of the NFC South division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Falcons joined the NFL in 1965 as an expansion team...
, making him the highest-chosen BC player in
NFL DraftThe NFL Draft is an annual two-day event in which the 32 NFL teams select new players from the NCAA college system. It is the NFL's most common source of player recruitment.-Venue:...
history.
Student media
Newspapers
- The Heights
The Heights is the independent student newspaper of Boston College. The paper, published twice weekly during the academic year, is editorially and financially independent from the University. The paper's Editorial Board consists of 38 editors and managers who are responsible for the operations of...
, the principal student newspaperA student newspaper is a newspaper run by students of a university, high school, middle school, or other school. These papers traditionally cover local and, primarily, school or university news....
, published twice-weekly; established in 1919
- The Observer, a conservative student newspaper founded on the principles of the Catholic Church
- The Patriot, an independent progressive student newspaper
Broadcasting
- The BC, a widely-acclaimed parody of The OC featuring students, Jesuits, and administrators
- UGBC-TV, the student-run cable television station
A television station is a type of broadcast station that broadcasts video and possibly audio to television receivers in a particular area. Traditionally, TV stations made their broadcasts by sending specially-encoded radio signals over the air, called terrestrial television...
featuring the campus' longest running TV show, Now You KnowNow You Know is a solo album released by Doug Martsch of indie rock band Built to Spill. Unlike Martsch's rock-oriented work with Built to Spill, the album touches on blues, folk, and rock...
, a news-variety show occasionally including taped broadcast coverage of campus events
- WZBC
WZBC is a radio station broadcasting an Alternative format. Licensed to Newton, Massachusetts, United States, the station serves Boston and its western suburbs. The station is currently owned by Boston College....
, 90.3 FM, the student-run radio stationRadio broadcasting is an audio broadcasting service, broadcast through the air as radio waves from a transmitter to an antenna and a thus to a receiving device. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast common programming, either in syndication or simulcast or both...
which provides independent and experimental music
Other notable publications
- Sub Turri, the Boston College yearbook
A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a book to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school or a book published annually. Virtually all American, Australian and Canadian high schools, most colleges and many elementary and middle schools publish yearbooks...
, published since 1913
- The Stylus, the undergraduate art and literature magazine, founded in 1882
- Elements, the premier undergraduate research journal of Boston College, published biannually
Ensembles
- "BC bOp!", the Boston College jazz band
A jazz band is a musical ensemble that plays jazz music usually without a conductor. Jazz bands usually consist of a rhythm section and a horn section...
- Boston College "Screaming Eagles" Marching Band
The Boston College Marching Band, also known as the "Screaming Eagles" Marching Band or BCMB, is the marching band for the Boston College Eagles.-The Band:The Boston College Marching Band has over 180 members, under the direction of David Healey...
- "Pep Band", the ensemble that performs at Boston College Hockey and Boston College Basketball games
- "University Wind Ensemble of Boston College"
- "University Symphonic Band"
Alma Mater
Alma Mater
was written by T.J. Hurley, who also wrote For Boston"For Boston" is the traditional fight song of Boston College. It was written and composed by T.J. Hurley, a member of the Boston College Class of 1885. It was modified in the 1980s to reflect coeducation: the 5th line, "For here Men are Men" and the 16th line, "Shall thy sons be found," were...
(the Boston College
Fight SongA fight song is primarily an American and Canadian sports term, referring to a song associated with a team. In both professional and amateur sports, fight songs are a popular way for fans to cheer for their team...
) and was a member of the Class of 1885.
Hail! Alma Mater! Thy praise we sing.
Fondly thy mem'ries round our heart still cling.
Guide of our youth, thro' thee we shall prevail!
Hail! Alma Mater! Hail! All Hail!
Hail! Alma Mater! Lo, on the height,
Proudly thy tow'rs are raised for the Right
God is thy Master, His law thy sole avail!
Hail! Alma Mater! Hail! All Hail!
For Boston
"For Boston" is America's oldest college
fight songA fight song is primarily an American and Canadian sports term, referring to a song associated with a team. In both professional and amateur sports, fight songs are a popular way for fans to cheer for their team...
. It has two verses but the most commonly sung one is the first verse. Boston-based band
Dropkick MurphysDropkick Murphys are an Irish-American Celtic punk band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts, USA. First playing together in the basement of a friend's barbershop, they blended traditional folk rock and punk rock known as Celtic punk...
covered this song on their album
Sing Loud, Sing Proud!Sing Loud, Sing Proud! is the third studio album from Boston punk rock band the Dropkick Murphys. Before the album's release in 2001, guitarist Rick Barton left the band. He announced James Lynch of Boston punk band The Ducky Boys as his successor. As well as James, the band also recruited then...
.
For Boston, for Boston,
We sing our proud refrain!
For Boston, for Boston,
'Tis Wisdom's earthly fane.
For here all are one
And their hearts are true,
And the towers on the Heights
Reach to Heav'ns own blue.
For Boston, for Boston,
Till the echoes ring again!
For Boston, for Boston,
Thy glory is our own!
For Boston, for Boston,
'Tis here that Truth is known.
And ever with the Right
Shall thy heirs be found,
Till time shall be no more
And thy work is crown'd.
For Boston, for Boston,
For Thee and Thine alone.
Notable persons
"The Heights" is a nickname given to Boston College. It recalls both BC's lofty aspirations — the college motto is "
Ever to Excel"Ever to Excel" is the English translation of the Ancient Greek αἰὲν ἀριστεύειν . It has been used as motto by a number of different educational institutions.-History:...
" — and its hilltop location, an area initially designated as "University Heights". The name has lent itself to a number of campus organizations, most notably the principal student newspaper,
The HeightsThe Heights is the independent student newspaper of Boston College. The paper, published twice weekly during the academic year, is editorially and financially independent from the University. The paper's Editorial Board consists of 38 editors and managers who are responsible for the operations of...
. BC students were universally called "Heightsmen
" until 1925 when Mary C. Mellyn 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. Contrary to its occasional usage by misinformed sportswriters and announcers, the term "Golden Eagles" refers strictly to BC graduates who have celebrated their 50th anniversary reunion.
There are 143,000 alumni in over 120 countries around the world. Boston College students have enjoyed success in winning prestigious post-graduate fellowships and awards, including recent
RhodesThe Rhodes Scholarship named after Cecil Rhodes is an international award for study at the University of Oxford and was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships...
,
MarshallMarshall Scholarships are widely recognized to be among the most prestigious awards that American undergraduates can receive. The program was created by the Parliament of the United Kingdom when the Marshall Aid Commemoration Act was passed in 1953...
,
Mellon- People :* Ailsa Mellon Bruce , daughter of Andrew William Mellon, philanthropist* Alfred Mellon , British composer and conductor* Andrew W. Mellon , one of the longest serving U.S. Treasury Secretaries in history...
,
FulbrightThe Fulbright Award is a scholarship awarded as part of the Fulbright Program to foster international research and collaboration. The program also awards a fellowship to Ph.D.'s to lecture and teach in foreign universities...
,
TrumanHarry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice-president and the 34th Vice President of the United States, he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
,
ChurchillSir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC was a British politician known chiefly for his leadership of the United Kingdom during World War II. He served as Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer...
, and
GoldwaterBarry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. He was also a Major General in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. He was known as "Mr...
scholarshipA scholarship is an award of access to an institution, or a financial aid award for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
s, among others. BC's yield rate for Fulbright awards is the highest in the country. In 2007, the
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
department was awarded a record 13 Fulbright scholarships, five more than the previous number from a single department. Though formal numbers are not kept, the number of award winners from one department to study in a specific country is thought by academic scholars to be the largest in the 60-year history of the Fulbright program.
See also
- Boston College Coat of Arms
- Double and Triple Eagles
An Eagle, in general, is a nickname for a person who graduated from a Boston College school, typically Boston College High School, Boston College as an undergraduate, or Boston College Law School. The name is derived from the school's mascot; the eagle....
- Jesuit Ivy
The "Jesuit Ivy" is the title of a commencement speech delivered at and, subsequently, a nickname given to Boston College, a Jesuit university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. The term was coined in a 1956 commencement address by then-Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy...
- Presidents of Boston College
*Johannes Bapst, SJ *Robert W. Brady, SJ *Robert Fulton, SJ *Jeremiah O’Connor, SJ *Edward V. Boursaud, SJ *Thomas H. Stack, SJ *Nicholas Russo, SJ...
External links