Boston College Chronicle

Ukraine Ambassador to Address Class of 2023

BY THE OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Oksana Markarova, who as Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States has been the resolute public face of her country’s desperate struggle against Russian aggression, will address the Boston College Class of 2023 at the University’s 147th Commencement Exercises on May 22.

University President William P. Leahy, S.J., will present Markarova with an honorary degree—which she will accept on behalf of the people of Ukraine—at the ceremony, which will take place at 10 a.m. in Alumni Stadium, rain or shine.

In addition, the University will present honorary degrees to: Sister of Saint Joseph Jeanne McGowan M.Ed. ’90, president of La Salle Academy in Philadelphia; Herb Scannell ’79, a leader in broadcast media and diversity advocate; Katrina Shaw M.S.W. ’98, a nonprofit leader and force for social justice in Boston and beyond;

and retired BC men’s hockey coach Jerry York ’67, one of the most successful coaches in NCAA history.

More on the 2023 honorary degree recipients:

Oksana Markarova

Honorary Doctor of Laws

Oksana Markarova was appointed as the Ukraine ambassador to the U.S. on April 20, 2021, only months before the beginning of Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine created a grave humanitarian crisis for her country and heightened global tensions. Since then, thousands of civilians have been killed or injured, and some eight million Ukrainians—about a fifth of the population—are refugees.

Markarova has embraced her role as a senior Ukrainian diplomat and spokesperson abroad, making media and public appearances, including at the State of the Union Address last year and this year, to convey the devastation of her country as well as to make the case for international

Thomas D. Stegman, S.J., an eminently respected New Testament scholar and beloved former dean of the School of Theology and Ministry (STM) at Boston College, passed away on April 8 after a courageous battle with glioblastoma. He was 60.

Visiting hours will be held on April 20, from 10 a.m.-noon at St. Ignatius Church in Chestnut Hill, followed by a funeral Mass at 12:15 p.m.

From 2016 to 2022, Fr. Stegman led the School of Theology and Ministry—an internationally renowned institution for theological scholarship and the intellectual and pastoral formation of priests, religious, and lay women and men. He stepped down from the deanship at the end of the 2021-2022 academic year to focus on his health.

During his tenure, the STM rose to the upper echelon of the global rankings in theology, divinity, and religious studies, placing in the top 10 in the prestigious QS Global Survey. The school also established

the Spirituality Studies Program; the Committee on Race and Ethnicity (CORE) to advance racial justice, diversity, equity and inclusion; and Formacíon Continua, which offers continuing education courses and webinars in Spanish for tens of thousands of learners worldwide. He also helped to establish two endowed chairs at the STM: the Clifford and Kitz Chair in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and the Henry R. Cavalieri Visiting Jesuit Professorship, to attract and retain the best faculty in the

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assistance and intervention. She also has highlighted the courage and resilience of the Ukrainian people—not just soldiers but everyday citizens—and responded to skepticism among some lawmakers and media about U.S. support for Ukraine.

Markarova’s effectiveness as an ambassador reflects her extensive public and private sector experience. She served for five years in high-level capacities at Ukraine’s Min-

Woodruff to speak at BC Law Commencement

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istry of Finance, including as minister of finance. She co-authored Ukraine’s macroeconomic revival program, conducted unprecedented fiscal consolidation, and structured and coordinated two International Monetary programs. Before that, Markarova spent 17 years working in private equity and financial advisory senior management

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Mulling the Good Friday Agreement, 25 Years On

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

When Boston College held its Commencement Exercises on May 18, 1998, the occasion was not just a graduation ceremony, but a view of history in the making.

Addressing the Class of 1998 and the Alumni Stadium audience, Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern made a public appeal for the recently signed Good Friday Agreement (GFA), which within days faced a referendum in both the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland. As Ahern explained, the GFA had halted the three decades of conflict and tragedy in Northern Ireland known as “the Troubles,” offering hope for the troubled region.

“Just as you graduates are starting on a new journey in life,” he said, “we in Ireland are looking forward to our own new beginning. For the first time since 1918, the people of the whole of Ireland will have the opportunity to vote for a common, shared vision of their future together.”

By the end of that week, the GFA had

been overwhelmingly ratified, and a new era in Northern Ireland began with the prospect of restoration of self-government with power sharing, a focus on civil and political rights, police reform, and demilitarization.

Twenty-five years later, the GFA and its legacy is the subject of much reflection throughout Northern Ireland and beyond, including among Boston College’s Irish scholars [The Irish Studies Program will host a two-day conference this month, “Writing the Troubles: A Perspective on the 25th an-

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INSIDE

3 Romero Scholarship For the first time, two chosen to receive the annual award.

8 Arts Festival Campus event hits 25 years.

photo by tony rinaldo

Thomas D. Stegman, S.J.

Fr. Stegman

Dies; Was STM Dean for 6 Years

Oksana Markarova was appointed as the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States only months before the Russian invasion of her country.

Sister Jeanne McGowan, Herb Scannell, Katrina Shaw, and Jerry York also will receive honorary degrees

Around Campus

A Cold Day to Take the Plunge

“Be Bold and Get Cold for Special Olympics Massachusetts in 2023!”

That rallying cry—which launched Boston College’s inaugural collegiate Polar Plunge fundraiser—drew 74 registered participants and eight teams to brave ice-cold water on a raw and rainy day, in support of a good cause.

Participants plunged into a 9,000 gallon above-ground pool set up for the event outside of the Margot Connell Recreation Center. Many of the hardy souls—among them BC students, parents, staff and their family members, athletic teams, and others in the community—wore colorful and imaginative costumes as is the tradition in Polar Plunges held across the state, with related prize categories. The event also included music, food, and fun.

Though held on April Fool’s Day, the event on behalf of Special Olympics Massachusetts was no joke. Hosted by the Boston College Police Department, in conjunction with Special Olympics Boston College (SOBC) and the Law Enforcement Torch Run (LETR) Special Olympics Massachusetts, the plunge raised nearly $24,000, exceeding its original goal.

Every year, Special Olympics Massachusetts’ supporters gather together to plunge—whether into oceans, lakes, or pools. Polar Plunge proceeds directly support year-round sports training and competition for Massachusetts athletes with intellectual disabilities. Each participant

committed to raising at least $100 to support the 14,000 Special Olympics athletes throughout the state (those who met the $100 goal earned an official Boston College Plunge tee shirt). These funds help provide athletes with the opportunity to participate in sports training and competition programs that help them live longer, happier, healthier lives, according to organizers.

BCPD Detective Kevin Christopher, who spearheaded the initiative—and is longtime staff advisor to the 75-member SOBC student organization—called the Polar Plunge “a huge success.”

Christopher credited “the support and partnership that I had from many Boston College departments across campus and the students, facility, staff, and the Boston College community as a whole who contributed in a variety of ways—especially those who raised the funds that they did, and braved the freezing water.

“We couldn’t have done it without them all,” Christopher said of the plungers. “The ‘BCPD Frozen Flatfoots’ team plunged into the water in their police uniforms, adorned with donut life preservers,” but the team decked out as yellow ducks took the costume prize.

Boston College has a long history with the Special Olympics, Christopher explained. BCPD has hosted the final leg of the LETR Cruiser convoy annually for the last few decades. “When I started partici-

pating in this event over 20 years ago, the convoy only had about 25 police vehicles in the parade. Last year we topped over 250 police vehicles. LETR continues to grow each year, as does the money that we raise for Special Olympics.”

The BC event “was the last plunge of our season, and we managed to raise [a total of] $864,654 in Polar Plunges alone,” Christopher noted. That amount does not include the funds raised from the other initiatives.

“We hope this will be the beginning of many more Polar Plunges and other

Walsh at the Center of Attention

Boston College hosted a celebration on April 5 for the Mary E. Walsh Center for Thriving Children, named through the generosity of an anonymous donor in honor of retired Kearns Professor in Urban Education and Innovative Leadership Mary Walsh (right), executive director of the center and the City Connects program, both within the Lynch School of Education and Human Development.

Speakers at the event included Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley; Stanton E.F. Wortham, the Charles F. Donovan, S.J., Dean of the Lynch School; Richard Murnane, Harvard Graduate School of Education; Leah Blake McKetty ’98, Ed.D. ’16, principal of the Winthrop Elementary School of Boston; and Lynch School Professor Eric Dearing.

ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Jack Dunn

SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Patricia Delaney

EDITOR

Sean Smith

CONTRIBUTING STAFF

Phil Gloudemans

Ed Hayward

Rosanne Pellegrini

Kayla Roy

Kathleen Sullivan

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Caitlin Cunningham

Lee Pellegrini

www.bc.edu/bcnews chronicle@bc.edu

LETR/Special Olympics events on the Boston College campus,” he said. “We are planning to host a Truck Pull and a Glowball Dodgeball competition. These events are very important to all of our athletes and the programs they are involved in. It’s what allows these programs to continue and grow as we do as an organization.”

Using sports as the catalyst, Special Olympics promotes inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities in all areas of life. For more on Special Olympics Massachusetts, see specialolympicsma.org.

—Rosanne Pellegrini

Lactation Rooms Booking Upgrade

The Human Resources Health and Well-being Office has launched a new and improved reservation system for booking campus lactation rooms.

Reservations can now be made via the web at https://bit.ly/BC-lactation-rooms. The new system provides real-time availability and follow-up with a confirmation email and room  code  within 24 hours with a Google calendar invitation.

Administrators said the new system allows HR to manage the number of users and ensure Boston College guidelines are followed.

For questions or concerns regarding the new reservation system, contact Anthoula Gounalakis at lactation@bc.edu or by phone at 617-552-2323.

—University Communications

Campus Security Officer Douglas Judge, a member of the Boston College Police security unit, went all-out—and all-in—during the April 1 BC Polar Plunge.

photo by Erin fish/spECial olyMpiCs

photo by lEE pEllEgrini

Mora and Lopez Share Romero Scholarship Award

BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER

For the first time in its 31-year history, Boston College’s Saint Oscar A. Romero Scholarship has been awarded to two students.

Class of 2024 members Kevin Lopez and Jonathan Mora will each receive approximately 75 percent of their senior-year tuition in acknowledgement of their superior academic achievement, extracurricular leadership, community service, and involvement with the Hispanic/Latino community and Hispanic/Latino issues both on and off campus.

The pair were officially recognized at the recent Romero Scholarship Ceremony held in the Yawkey Center Murray Room.

Human Resources Senior Employee Relations Officer Marcela V. Norton, co-chair of the scholarship committee, characterized their shared achievement as “a great accomplishment” that “demonstrates the commitment of service and values of Saint Oscar Romero.”

The archbishop of El Salvador, shot and killed by an assassin while celebrating Mass in 1980, spoke passionately about the need for Christians to strive for justice and remains a source of strength and hope for the poor and oppressed of his country.

Worcester, Mass., native Mora is the son of immigrants from Pueblo, Mexico, a life experience that has motivated him to plan to apply to law school with the goal of becoming an immigration attorney serving undocumented Latino immigrants. A McNair Scholar, Mora conducted a nationwide study analyzing the particular circumstances that forced some Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals students out of college, while others persevered and graduated. As a freshman, the Lynch School of Education and Human Development stu-

dent co-founded Free Tax Prep, Inc., a nocost tax preparation and translation service for non-English-speaking communities in Greater Boston.

“To recognize my hard work to serve the Latino community is to acknowledge the countless sacrifices my parents made to nurture my sisters and me,” said Mora. “I memorize the sacrifices my parents made for me, and cherish them every day because they believed that I could create generational change. I listened to their requests to do better in my academic life, because I was always reminded that many members of my community do not have the same access and opportunities to thrive in school as I did. My mother would say ‘Tota, por favor, haz tu tarea (Tota, please do your homework),’ while my dad would say ‘Echale ganas (Give it your all).’

“I am on track to become the second

person in my family to receive a college degree. Continuing my educational journey in law school is essential to receive the credentials I need to advocate for the Latino community, especially for undocumented immigrants during the naturalization process. As someone who has the privilege of being a United States citizen, I want to utilize my skills to uplift immigrants who want a better future for themselves and their families.”

Lopez, a first-generation college student from Los Angeles, worked in the Thea Bowman AHANA Intercultural Center for the express purpose of mentoring incoming students like himself. His motto, “Share the love,” reflects his dream of forming a non-profit organization that would pair high school seniors with mentors to guide them through the college application process and during their college

experience. A sociology major in the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, Lopez plans to become a physical therapist.

“I proved to my community back home, specifically the Pico-Union neighborhood, that someone like ‘us,’ who is systematically disadvantaged, can thrive in a predominately white institution like BC,” said Lopez. “I will continue to give back to my community and to prevent my peers from dropping out of college. Lastly, too many people worldwide feel forgotten, lonely, and in pain, and I will continue to bring awareness to these global issues.”

Sebastian Cota, a first-generation student in the Morrissey College with a deep commitment to medical care for the underserved, was the other Romero Scholarship finalist.

The evening’s keynote speaker, BC Trustee Associate Juan Alexander Concepcion ’96, M.Ed. ’97, J.D./M.B.A. ’03, received the Rev. John A. Dinneen, S.J., Hispanic Alumni Community Service Award, which recognizes a BC alumnus whose work and service reflects both Saint Romero’s ideals, and the late Fr. Dinneen’s commitment, leadership, and service to the Latino community. Concepcion, a director and senior legal counsel at biomedical/ biotechnology engineering firm Boston Scientific, is a co-founder of BC’s AHANA Alumni Advisory Council and a tireless social justice advocate, serving on the board of Lawyers for Civil Rights, which raised more than $30 million for the New Commonwealth Fund to combat systemic racism in Massachusetts.

Concepcion echoed Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in his remarks, quoting Matthew 23:11: “Tonight, we celebrate community. We honor excellence, leadership, and our commitment to one another in community service. As King reminded us, ‘He who is greatest among you shall be a servant.’”

BC Will Host Conference on the Four Day Week

Boston College will host a major conference on April 21 to discuss a global research trial—for which BC is the lead academic institution—centered around the four-day workweek.

The daylong “Conference on the Four Day Week” will take place in the Heights Room of Corcoran Commons, and is free and open to the public.

More than 150 companies with some 2,500 employees have implemented fourday, 32-hour schedules as part of the research trial. At the conference, company representatives and researchers will discuss findings and share other impressions of the four-day workweek. Attendees will hear from participating companies about the advantages and challenges of instituting reduced work time, how they prepared to make the shift, and lessons learned.

Researchers will speak about the effects of a shortened workweek on company productivity and performance, employee impact (stress, work-life balance, well-being, and time use), and the environmental im-

pact of reduced work time.

Among the conference speakers are three Boston College faculty members who have played a leadership role in the research trial: Professor of Sociology Juliet Schor, Associate Professor of Sociology Wen Fan, and Economics Associate Professor of the Practice Matt Rutledge. Other BC-affiliated speakers include Haub Vice President for University Mission and Ministry Jack Butler, S.J.; and Associate Professor of Sociology C. Shawn McGuffey, former director of African and African Diaspora Studies.

A highlight of the conference will be an appearance via Zoom of Andrew Barnes, considered the pioneer and architect of the global four-day week movement, and his partner Charlotte Lockhart, who along with Barnes founded 4 Day Week Global (4DWG)—a locus for information and resources on the four-day week and the impetus behind the clinical trials in which BC is involved. In addition, United States Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), who recently introduced a bill that would officially re-

duce the standard workweek from 40 to 32 hours, will provide a pre-recorded video.

Experts from several sectors—such as academia, human resources, health care, and nonprofit—also will offer their perspectives on the four-day week at the conference.

“This will be the first conference that we know of devoted to research on the four-day week, as well as participation from companies who have adopted this new schedule,” said Schor, who along with Fr. Butler will provide an introduction at the outset of the conference. “Our findings from the first four trials, as well as findings from other speakers at the conference, are showing that reduced worktime can benefit not only employees, but also employers and the climate.

“It’s a multi-dividend innovation that speaks to urgent needs in our workplaces, communities, and on our planet. We think it’s important because this is a movement with growing momentum, including at the legislative level.”

Rutledge, noting the important role

BC researchers have played in the four-day workweek trials, said, “It’s great when research can be put into action, to see if we can help workers and their employers to find mutually beneficial changes to work practices. I’m looking forward to moderating a session of researchers evaluating these trials, and to participating in the small group sessions at the end of the conference day.”

The Conference on the Four Day Week is funded by the Boston College Institute for the Liberal Arts and co-sponsored by the BC Center for Work and Family, BC School of Social Work, Lynch School of Education and Human Development, the departments of Economics, History, Sociology, and Theology, and the Irish Studies Program.

Registration and other event details available at bc.edu/content/bc-web/academics/sites/ ila/events/the-four-day-workweek-conference. html

—University Communications

Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences Dean Gregory Kalscheur, S.J., with Romero Scholarship co-winners Kevin Lopez, left, and Jonathan Mora.

photo by frank Curran

CoMMEnCEMEnt 2023

Ambassador to Speak

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positions with the ITT investment group, Western NIS Enterprise Fund, and World Bank, among others.

Sister Jeanne McGowan, S.S.J. M.Ed. ’90

Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters

Sister of Saint Joseph Jeanne McGowan is founding president of La Salle Academy in Philadelphia, a Catholic grade school that serves the “poorest of the poor.” For 20 years, her leadership and vision has guided La Salle Academy, which provides every child, regardless of their families’ resources or circumstances, with a high-quality education and an opportunity to reach their full potential.

The 2022-2023 academic year will be her final one as president of La Salle.

Prior to leading La Salle, Sister McGowan was a teacher and principal of Our Mother of Sorrows Catholic School in West Philadelphia. She earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Chestnut Hill College and a master of education degree from Boston College in 1990. She was presented with an honorary degree from La Salle University in 2013.

In 2019, the Catholic Philopatrian Literary Institute honored her with the Father Sourin Memorial Award, which recognizes a Catholic who by achievement and exemplary life has made noteworthy contributions to Catholic ideals; she is one of only three women, and the first woman religious, to receive the award in its 57-year history. In 2022, she was named a Distinguished Lasallian Educator from the District of Eastern North America.

Herb Scannell ’79

Honorary Doctor of Journalism

During a distinguished media career spanning four decades, Herb Scannell has been a leader in advancing diversity, on-air and behind the scenes. Born in Huntington, NY, to an Irish-American father and Puerto Rican mother, Scannell has demonstrated a strong connection to his Hispanic roots through his commitment to elevating Latino voices.

Currently CEO and president of Southern California Public Radio (SCPR), Scannell took on his first media leadership role at Boston College, where he managed WZBC radio. After graduating in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in English and history, he returned to New York, working in various positions in marketing and programming before joining Nickelodeon, where he developed award-winning children’s TV favorites including “Blue’s Clues,” “SpongeBob SquarePants,” and “Clarissa Explains It All”—the first Nickelodeon series with a female lead—and programs showcasing Hispanic characters, including “Dora the Explorer” and “The Brothers Garcia.”

In 1996, Scannell was named Nickelodeon’s president, as well as vice chairman of its parent group, Viacom’s MTV Networks. He grew Nickelodeon into a media

powerhouse that topped cable ratings for a decade. In 2004, Amnesty International honored him for promoting “activism, tolerance, and social responsibility.” Today, in his role at SCPR, he is working to enhance diversity in its workforce as well as its programming.

He comes from a family of BC alumni, including his father, uncle, brother, and wife, Sarah Reetz ’80, with whom he has two daughters.

Katrina Shaw M.S.W. ’98

Honorary Doctor of Social Science

A 1998 graduate of the Boston College School of Social Work, Katrina Shaw has made numerous contributions to Greater Boston’s community and the advancement

of equity and social justice.

As senior program officer for the Liberty Mutual Foundation, she oversees charitable investments and partners to support communities and individuals in Boston and across the nation. Shaw was previously CEO of Freedom House, Inc., a nonprofit organization that has been a hub of support and advocacy for Greater Boston’s diverse communities since 1949. During her tenure, Freedom House built a new learning facility and expanded programs that helped more than 2,000 underrepresented students access postsecondary opportunities.

In addition, Shaw has served as executive director of City Year Louisiana (an effort to increase the academic achievement and graduation rate of students in Baton Rouge

and New Orleans public schools), assistant vice president for community affairs at the State Street Corporation, and director of community impact at the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley. She is a founding member of New England Blacks in Philanthropy and the Gertie Pie Foundation, named in memory of her mother. The granddaughter of an Alabama sharecropper, she traces her commitment to giving back to the selfless example of her parents and grandparents.

Jerry York ’67

Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters

Jerry York spent 28 years coaching the men’s ice hockey team at his alma mater and retired last year as the winningest (1,123 games) coach in NCAA hockey history, a five-time NCAA champion, and a National Hockey League and U.S. Hockey hall-offamer.

He led BC to four national titles, becoming one of only three coaches in NCAA history to win an NCAA championship at two different schools (he also did so at Bowling Green). York coached the Eagles to nine Hockey East Tournament titles and 12 regular season championships. He was named Hockey East Coach of the Year five times and won the Spencer Penrose trophy as NCAA Division I Coach of the Year in 1977.

Known as a caring mentor ever willing to support his players during and after their time at BC, York coached four Hobey Baker Award winners (given to college hockey’s best player), 17 NHL first-round draft picks, 12 Stanley Cup champions, and scores of players who went on to successful careers in the NHL. He also coached multiple Olympians and mentored dozens of individuals who went on to serve as NHL coaches and executives. His reputation for treating all of his players equally and holding them to the highest standard on and off the ice solidified his standing throughout the sporting world and endeared him to generations of hockey players and their families.

For details on the 2023 Commencement Exercises, go to bc.edu/commencement

Woodruff to Appear at Law Commencement

Judy Woodruff, a veteran broadcast journalist who has spent more than 50 years in the upper echelons of the national political media, will be the keynote speaker at the Boston College Law School Commencement on May 26 in Conte Forum.  Woodruff, who recently stepped down as anchor and managing editor of “PBS NewsHour” after 11 years at the helm, continues to serve as senior correspondent for the program. Her next major project, “America at a Crossroads,” will find her traveling the country to better understand the current political divide.

A giant of public broadcasting, Woodruff has interviewed heads of state and moderated numerous presidential debates with her steady, even-tempered delivery. Most recently, she sat down with President Joe Biden for an exclusive interview after February’s State of the Union address. Woodruff first rose to national promi-

nence as a White House Correspondent for NBC News, and eventually became Chief White House Correspondent for “The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour” on PBS. After a decade with PBS, Woodruff moved to CNN, where she served as an anchor and senior correspondent. Woodruff has earned a Peabody Journalistic Integrity Award, the Poynter Medal, an Emmy for Lifetime

Achievement, the Radcliffe Medal, and the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism.

“I am deeply honored to have been asked to speak to the 2023 graduates of the exceptional Boston College Law School, with its storied, almost century-old history and its urgent commitment to inclusion and diversity,” Woodruff said. “I look forward to congratulating each one!”

“Boston College Law School is honored to welcome Judy Woodruff as our 2023 commencement speaker,” said BC Law Dean Odette Lienau. “She is a standardbearer for the rights and principles embedded in the First Amendment and for the importance of reportorial integrity to democracy and the rule of law.”

Information about the BC Law Commencement is available at bc.edu/lawcommencement.

—Boston College Law School

Clockwise from top left: Katrina Shaw, Jerry York, Herb Scannell, and Sister Jeanne McGowan, S.S.J., will receive honorary degrees at Commencement.

photos by kEvin thai (shaw), pEtEr julian (york)

Veteran journalist Judy Woodruff

Scholars Reflect on the Good Friday Agreement

niversary of the Good Friday Agreement”; see separate story on this page]. Disappointments and setbacks, some due to unforeseen circumstances and events—notably Brexit— have diluted the hoped-for impact of the agreement, say faculty members. Socially, politically, and economically, Northern Ireland still has a long way to go to shake off the Troubles’ effects.

But does that mean the GFA failed? Not at all, according to the scholars: Above all else, it stopped a bloody civil war that seemed almost impossible to resolve and provided at least a pathway to prosperity and equality.

“The agreement ended what many considered an unsolvable conflict,” said Robert Savage, professor of the practice in the History Department. “The Troubles witnessed 30 years of bloody mayhem that destroyed the lives of many people. What is most remarkable and should not be overlooked is that the violence has ended.”

“Despite periods of interruption, the GFA has restored devolved government to the country in a dynamic and creative way, so that there is genuine power sharing between people who, prior to 1998, would scarcely speak to one another,” said Professor of History Oliver Rafferty, S.J. Getting to “yes” required bitter foes to put aside longstanding, fervently-held views, he added: Republicans/nationalists who opposed the very existence of Northern Ireland accepted the reality of the state, as well as the police service—a particular source of controversy—and that Northern Ireland’s status “could not be changed without the consent of the unionist majority”; unionists/loyalists “realized that government would have to be shared to a meaningful degree with the Catholic nationalist minority.”

Retired Associate Professor of History Kevin O’Neill, co-founder of BC’s Irish Studies Program, cites the courage of John Hume (a regular visitor and occasional

visiting faculty member at BC) as crucial to the GFA. As Northern Ireland’s leading Catholic politician and head of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, Hume was aware “that by creating the new political institutions of the agreement, he was likely consigning his own party to marginalization. But he considered the end of destructive violence worth the risk.”

The Good Friday Agreement established a power-sharing structure “between people who, prior to 1998, would scarcely speak to one another,” says History Professor Oliver Rafferty,

faculty experts, the GFA has had its vulnerabilities, not least in the formulation of the Northern Ireland Assembly, which has endured numerous interruptions and suspensions mainly because of conflicts between the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin, which represents the Irish nationalist community and is now the assembly’s largest party. The assembly has not met in nearly a year, in part because the DUP refused to assent to the election of a Sinn Féin first minister.

unionist community for so long assumed it was the dominant one in Northern Irish society.

Boston College proved to be a locus of relevant activity during this transition period in Northern Ireland. In the fall of 1998, the University’s Irish Institute— which for years had offered “cross-border” programs for both Northern Irish and Irish professionals—launched a series of seminars and discussions to help members of the newly created Northern Ireland Assembly prepare for their responsibilities as leaders in government; BC Political Science faculty members Marc Landy, Dennis Hale, and John Tierney were among those involved in the program.

The campus also hosted many of the key figures in the GFA negotiations, including Hume and his co-Nobel Peace Prize recipient David Trimble (both were awarded honorary degrees from BC), Martin McGuinness, David Irvine, Gusty Spence and Mo Mowlam. Hume also helped teach a course with Savage and other BC faculty. Despite the optimism it generated, said

Frustrating as it may be that the assembly can be so readily disrupted by one party—and by extension the particular community it represents— O’Neill said that this flaw was actually necessary in achieving the GFA: “Without the ability to boycott or veto,” he explained, “the very real insecurities of the major parties would have prevented the agreement.”

Not to be overlooked, say the faculty members, are the deep wounds in Northern Ireland left from the Troubles, and other scars that go back for generations. Society is still divided, Savage noted, with Catholic children attending Catholic schools and Protestant children going to state schools generally viewed as “Protestant”; many young people, especially from working-class backgrounds, struggle to find decent jobs.

O’Neill pointed to the failure to establish a “truth and reconciliation process” that, among other things, could aid in addressing the legacy of violence.

Meanwhile, according to Fr. Rafferty, Protestant unionists think Catholic nationalists were given an advantageous position from the GFA—a psychological response in part, he added, because the Protestant

Then there’s Brexit, note the faculty members: It’s caused difficulties in the relationship between Northern Ireland, Ireland, and Great Britain, and in particular exacerbated the stand-off in the assembly, as the DUP and other unionists criticized efforts by the Irish and British governments, along with the European Union, to resolve the complex Brexit-related customs and immigration issues known as the Northern Ireland Protocol. Within Northern Ireland itself, the majority of voters—including most Catholics and nationalists—opposed Brexit, while unionists felt their connection to the United Kingdom threatened by the EU.

Yet for all the pessimism about postGFA Northern Ireland, it’s possible to find hope, according to Savage. When he first began working and researching there many years ago, “there were soldiers everywhere, the police traveled in armored cars, and there was a sense of dread in places such as Belfast. That is no longer the case.” While Belfast and Derry still have issues with unemployment, poverty, and segregated neighborhoods, “the cities have come back to life—the Lagan River that runs through Belfast has seen the type of development that brings people, including tourists, back into the city.” The pubs and restaurants are filled with people and music, he added, “a sharp contrast to what they were like even in the 1990s.”

Hume, who died in 2020, gave what might be the definitive summary of the GFA’s raison d’être when he spoke at BC in 1999: “In many ways, we are all victims in this conflict. The best we can do for the dead is to make a new Northern Ireland as a monument for them and to leave the past behind us.”

Irish Studies Event Offers Different View of ‘the Troubles’

As part of the commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) in Northern Ireland (see separate story on page 1), the Boston College Irish Studies Program will present a twoday symposium this month that offers a less explored outlook on the milestone event.

“Writing the Troubles: A Perspective on the 25th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement,” which takes place April 28 and 29 at Connolly House (300 Hammond Street), will feature conversations on the Northern Irish conflict and the post-GFA era as depicted in women-authored fiction and journalistic writing. The event is free and open to the public.

The symposium will begin on April 28 with a talk and reading from 4-6 p.m. by Louise Kennedy, who last year published her first novel, the Troubles-themed Trespasses, and has also authored the short-story collection The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac. Kennedy, who grew up near Belfast, has written for The Guardian, The Irish

Times, and BBC Radio 4; prior to becoming a writer, she worked as a chef for almost 30 years. Trespasses takes place in and around Belfast in 1975, and recounts a love story between a young Catholic woman and a much older—and troubled—Protestant man.

Highlighting the second day will be appearances by two other prominent female journalists/authors with considerable experience writing about Northern Ireland. Susan McKay was appointed as Ireland’s press ombudsman last October, her latest achievement in a career that has seen her publish her work in the New Yorker, London Review of Books, New York Times, Field Day Review, and Irish Times. A native of Derry, she also was northern editor of The Sunday Tribune and, prior to her appointment as ombudsman, was a columnist for The Guardian. McKay’s books include Northern Protestants—On Shifting Ground and Sophia’s Story.

McKay also has experience in the NGO

sector, having founded the Belfast Rape Crisis Centre and later served as CEO of the National Women’s Council of Ireland.

Freya McClements, also a Derry native, is The Irish Times northern correspondent. She was a reporter with the Derry Journal before going to work for the BBC: She was a journalist and producer in Northern Ireland for nine years as well as a documentary producer and presenter for BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Radio 4. In 2019, she and Joe Duffy published Children of the Troubles: The Untold Story of the Children Killed in the Northern Ireland Conflict, portraits of young lives lost as a result of the Northern Irish conflict based on original interviews with nearly 100 families. McClements also is the author of a short story collection, The Dangerous Edge of Things, in which characters deal with the various consequences of love or lust.

“In this 25th anniversary year of the Good Friday Agreement, there will be many reminiscences and remarks from poli-

ticians, most of them elderly and male, and these will certainly offer many interesting and valuable insights,” said Sullivan Professor of Irish Studies Guy Beiner, director of Irish Programs at BC. “But we feel it is also important to hear from different voices. The Troubles, the Northern Irish peace process, and the Good Friday Agreement affected at least as many women as men, and women played key roles throughout, including as chroniclers of the events.

“‘Writing the Troubles’ offers us the opportunity to see history from a different vantage point. How have women writers looked at this period? What stories did they feel compelled to tell? What were the everyday experiences that, for them, summed up what the Troubles and its aftermath were all about? We look forward to hearing Louise, Susan, and Freya give us their perspectives.”

The BC Irish Studies website is at bc.edu/ irish.

—Sean Smith

S.J.

photo by lEE pEllEgrini

Fr. Stegman

Continued from page 1

field.

Fr. Stegman’s distinguished teaching career began at the former Weston Jesuit School of Theology in 2003. He was one of the original faculty members to teach at the STM when the school opened in 2008, serving as a professor of New Testament and Professor Ordinarius. He also served as chair of the ecclesiastical faculty at STM prior to being named dean.

Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley praised Fr. Stegman for his leadership and unwavering dedication to the students, faculty, and staff of the STM.

“Working alongside and learning from Tom Stegman during his six years as dean will long remain one of the great blessings of my time as provost,” said Quigley. “He was an exemplary colleague, committed to his work as teacher, administrator, and priest. Tom’s fellow deans and I came to admire him greatly, and we will all continue to treasure the lessons he taught us about leadership, service, and faith.”

A much-admired figure in Simboli Hall—which houses the school’s administrative offices and classrooms—Fr. Stegman drew praise and gratitude from his STM colleagues for creating a close-knit, caring, and welcoming community.

“It would be difficult to overstate just how loved and respected Tom was in the STM community and how centrally he figured in its life during the many years he served as a faculty member and as dean,” said STM Dean Michael C. McCarthy, S.J. “In one of my last conversations with Tom, I told him how grateful I am that he left the STM in such wonderful shape. His legacy here is tremendous, but one of the greatest gifts he left us was an example of how a Christian may approach diminishment and death: with an abiding faith and trust in God and hope in the resurrection. At least for me personally, that is the greatest gift he gave me.”

Added Colleen Griffith, faculty director of spiritual studies and professor of the practice at the STM, “Dean Stegman’s love for the School of Theology and Ministry and his commitment to its flourishing were unwavering. His courage and faithful witness to the gospel were an inspiration to STM faculty, staff, and students. He led our school with integrity and fairness, embodying the highest of Jesuit ideals. His wisdom and grace are lasting gifts to our community.”

Michael Boughton, S.J., rector of the Saint Peter Faber Jesuit Community where Fr. Stegman resided during his years at Boston College, offered similar praise.

“In the many rich facets of Fr Tom Stegman’s life, his foundation has always been being a disciple of Jesus Christ,” said Fr. Boughton. “He learned this as a boy in Nebraska; it has nourished his Jesuit life and priestly ministry; it shaped his New Testament scholarship, writing and teaching; it taught him how to journey as brother, companion, and friend; it sustained him for over three-and-a-half years in his battle with brain cancer. As for so many other people, it has been a great privilege for me to come to know and love this good and faithful friend

of Jesus.”

Fr. Stegman’s scholarship was focused on the New Testament, with a specialty in the letters of St. Paul. An author and editor, Fr. Stegman’s publications include Opening the Door of Faith: Encountering Jesus and His Call to Discipleship; Written for Our Instruction: Theological and Spiritual Riches in Romans; Texts Less Traveled: Exploring Hebrews, the Catholic Epistles, and Revelation; The Paulist Biblical Commentary; and Opportunity for No Little Instruction: Biblical Essays in Honor of Daniel J. Harrington, S.J. and Richard J. Clifford, S.J.

Last April, the School of Theology and Ministry held an event celebrating Fr. Stegman’s leadership, research, teaching, and contributions to theological education. At the event, Chris Donovan M.T.S. ’06, Th.M. ’18, one of the hundreds of students he taught and mentored throughout his career, recalled what it was like to be taught by Fr. Stegman:

“Through Tom’s meticulous scholarship and extraordinary ability as a teacher, he guided us through the most challenging texts, revealing cultural contexts [and] the use of literary devices and metaphors, that once understood and appreciated, opened the door to an encounter in freedom with the spirit of love and faithfulness in Scripture,” said Donovan. “Like a beautiful icon, Tom reflects the image and draws us into the Spirit of Christ.”

Fr. Stegman said he never aspired to be dean, and that he agreed with his late friend, colleague, and former teacher Daniel Harrington, S.J., that they had “the best job in the world” studying, teaching, and writing about sacred Scripture. Fr. Stegman, however, said he grew to love the job much more than he anticipated, adding that he thought there was “nothing more important than being part of a school that trains Jesuits, those from other religious orders, and laypeople to do ministry work.”

After Fr. Stegman was diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2019, he spoke openly about his illness, including at a 2021 Agape Latte appearance and in a 2022 Boston College Magazine podcast.

In the BCM podcast, when asked if he ever gets angry with God about his health, he offered the following: “Not for one second. I have lived a blessed life. I have received so many blessings through the Society of Jesus in terms of the education I have

been given, the health care I have received through our benefactors. I have been able to travel as a Jesuit. I have so much to be grateful for. I can go back to many times where I can see God was leading me through circumstances, through people. If I had to go tomorrow, I would be able to look back at a very rich, full life. No, I’m not angry with God, because God has been so good to me.”

His grace and strong faith served as sources of inspiration and solace for many of his friends and colleagues.

“I want to bear faithful witness to our hope in the Resurrection from the dead,” he said in his Agape Latte address. “I have found our faith so consoling to me. We believe that death is not the end, but the beginning. As a priest, as somebody who teaches New Testament, the Resurrection is the fundamental tenet and belief. I want to bear a faithful witness to it in my life, not just my words.”

Fr. Stegman was raised in Holdrege, Neb. A talented high school baseball player, he was inducted into the Phelps County (Nebraska) Sports Hall of Fame and later coached junior varsity baseball at Creighton Preparatory School in Omaha. He remained an ardent sports fan his entire life, and particularly enjoyed following the St. Louis

OBITUARY

Cardinals and Green Bay Packers.

He studied mathematics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, but he left after his first year to attend St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, summa cum laude. He joined the Jesuits in 1985. He graduated with a master’s degree in philosophy from Marquette University, and both an M.Div. and S.T.L. from Weston Jesuit School of Theology. He earned a doctorate in New Testament studies from Emory University, under the direction of renowned theologian Luke Timothy Johnson. He was ordained in 1995.

A member of the USA Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus, Fr. Stegman represented his province at the 2012 Procurators Congregation in Nairobi and at the 36th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus in Rome, where he had the opportunity to meet Pope Francis.

Fr. Stegman is survived by his parents, Dennis and Kay, brothers Mike and Mark, and sister Patti.

A Dean Thomas D. Stegman, S.J., Financial Aid Fund has been established to honor Fr. Stegman’s legacy. Information is available at bc.edu/honorstegman.

—Jack Dunn and Kathleen Sullivan

Donald Brown, AHANA Director

Donald Brown, who served as director of Boston College’s Office of AHANA Student Programs for 27 years and led efforts to support first-generation, underrepresented students, died on April 2. He was 75.

In 1978, Dr. Brown came to BC as director of what was then the Office of Minority Student Programs. He changed the office’s name to incorporate “AHANA,” an acronym for “African-American, Hispanic, Asian, Native American” created by BC undergraduates Valerie Lewis-Mosley ’79 and Alfred Feliciano ’81 as an inclusive alternative to the term “minority.” The office is now part of the Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center.

Dr. Brown is credited with championing initiatives such as the Options Through Education Transitional Summer Program, the Thea Bowman Scholars Program, the Benjamin E. Mays Mentoring Program, and the Jaime Escalante Tutorial Program.

Interviewed by the Boston College Chronicle in 2004—the 25th anniversary of the “AHANA” acronym, which was adopted by other higher education institutions and programs, and eventually trademarked by BC—Dr. Brown said, “Dr. Martin Luther King talked to us about the need for people of good will coming together, and the need to launch coalitions. What Alfred and Valerie talked about back then was the need for Blacks, Latinos, Asians, Native Americans and progressive whites coming together. That’s what undergirds this AHANA concept.”

In 2007, the University established the Dr. Donald Brown Award, presented annually to a senior who, throughout his or her undergraduate career, has made extraordinary contributions to the BC community in ways that have benefited AHANA students in the

areas of leadership, service, and academic development.

After leaving BC in 2005, Dr. Brown was founder and president of Brown and Associates Education and Diversity Counseling, which aids in developing and facilitating diversity dialogues as part of strategies aimed at preparing young people for the challenges of the 21st century. He also developed Christian Soldiers Inc., an innovative education program that aims to improve the quality of life for young people by focusing on their academic, social, cultural, and spiritual growth and development.

“Don was a great friend and mentor to so many people, especially students at Boston College,” said Dan Bunch, a retired BC administrator and former director of BC’s Learning to Learn program who worked closely with Dr. Brown. “He was a consummate professional, excellent father, and devoted husband. We are going to miss him.”

AHANA Alumni Advisory Council Chair Robert Marshall ’88, P’17 issued a tribute to Dr. Brown, whom he described as a steady presence for many colleagues, AHANA students, and alumni who have passed through Chestnut Hill.

Dr. Brown “embodied what it truly means to be a person for others. [His] work was a calling, a mission, and a pursuit led by his abiding faith,” wrote Marshall. “All of us stand on his shoulders given the decades he spent advocating for members of the AHANA community.”

A memorial service will be held for Dr. Brown on May 13 at 11 a.m. at the Loveland Church, 17977 Merrill Ave., Fontana, Calif. —University Communications

Provost David Quigley described Fr. Stegman as “an exemplary colleague, committed to his work as teacher, administrator, and priest.”

photo by tony rinaldo

photo by flavio dEbarros

Shrayer’s Memoir a Tale of Losing ‘Immigrant Baggage’

BY ROSANNE PELLEGRINI STAFF WRITER

In his provocatively titled forthcoming literary memoir, Immigrant Baggage: Morticians, Purloined Diaries, and Other Theatrics of Exile, acclaimed Boston College author Maxim D. Shrayer recounts the poignant and humorous story of losing immigrant baggage and trying to reclaim it for his American future.

Shrayer, a professor of Russian, English, and Jewish Studies, will read from and discuss his witty and wise literary memoir at a Dean’s Colloquium sponsored by the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences on April 24 at 4 p.m. in Gasson 112.

Inspired by the plight of his JewishRussian family and their American assimilation and acculturation, the book explores both material and immaterial aspects of this baggage. Born in Moscow, Shrayer spent nearly nine years as a refusenik with his parents. They left the Soviet Union and immigrated to the United States in 1987, when he was a young man.

Through a combination of dispassionate reportage, gentle irony, and confessional remembrance, according to Boston-based publisher Cherry Orchard Books, Shrayer writes about traversing the borders and boundaries of the three cultures that have nourished him—Russian, Jewish, and American. The book’s six interconnected chapters are linked by the memoirist’s imperative to make the ordinary absurd and the absurd ordinary.

“Composed in the time of the pandemic, this book is a partial record of my immigrant discoveries, transgressions, and valedictions,” Shrayer said. “Much of it has to do with travel, with crossing boundaries and borders, with examining lived experiences both as a stranger looking in and as a resident peering out. When life came to a near standstill in the spring of 2020, and when movement across boundaries of cultures and countries became impossible, I began to reflect on some of my most memorable travel adventures—and misadventures.”

As Cherry Orchard Books noted, “Shrayer parses a translingual literary life filled with travel, politics, and discovery— and sustained by family love and faith in art’s transcendence. The spirit of nonconformism and the power of laughter come to the rescue when he faces existential calamities and life’s misadventures.”

Immigrant Baggage follows Shrayer’s Waiting for America: A Story of Emigration and Leaving Russia: A Jewish Story, memoirs about living in, and leaving, the Soviet Union, respectively. They form a dilogy to which he hopes to add a sequel about his early American immigrant years.

In contrast, “Immigrant Baggage does not have an overarching historical or political narrative,” Shrayer said. “It is a memoir of living within and without languages, of the translingual self that refuses to be trapped in culture and identity, and seeks greater freedom of self-expression.”

Each chapter recaptures a moment of

displacement and an item of the author’s immigrant baggage—material and immaterial. Hence the book’s title, Shrayer explained, and its cover which depicts “an old-fashioned valise stuffed with accoutrement of the three principal cultures that I call my own and carry with me on my trips.”

Calling the chapters “episodes,” Shrayer cited three examples. “Ribs of Eden,” the unraveling of a ski accident in the Dolomites, reminds readers of history’s many black holes. “Yelets Women’s High School”

2017 Alumna Named Pickering Fellow

Nazifa Subah, a 2017 graduate of Boston College, is a recipient of a prestigious Thomas R. Pickering Fellowship, which will support her career plans to become a foreign service officer (FSO) in the United States Department of State.

Funded by the State Department and administered by the Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars, the Pickering Fellowship Program provides undergraduate and graduate students with financial support, mentoring, and professional development to prepare them for a career in the State Department Foreign Service.

Subah was among 45 Pickering Fellows chosen from more than 600 applications. A first-generation Bengali American born in Chittagong, Bangladesh, and raised in Brooklyn, she attended Boston College as a recipient of the Chief Executives’ Club of Boston scholarship. While at BC, Subah served as a teaching assistant in the Carroll School of Management Portico program, an orientation leader for the Office of First Year Experience, and an internship recruiter with the Corcoran Center for Real Estate and Urban Action. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration with minors in International Studies and philosophy.

After working in the private sector for five years in management consulting and strategic planning, Subah entered the field

of foreign affairs and currently works at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.

Subah said the fellowship will enable her to enroll in the Georgetown University Master of Science in Foreign Service Program.

“I look forward to building a strong foundation in U.S. foreign policy and the relationship between diplomacy and international development,” said Subah, who cited the Pickering & Rangel Fellows Alumni Association as an important resource in her professional development.

“Learning from these accomplished individuals is a tremendous honor.  And I want to pay it forward by actively supporting Pickering’s recruitment efforts. I will take every opportunity to be a better professional, serve my country, and usher in a new

era of diplomats representing America.”

Subah noted that the Pickering program is part of a broader strategy to make diplomacy more representative of American demographics. “I am thrilled to be a role model for young South Asian girls who may be interested in diplomacy one day.

I will represent the great diversity of the United States while administering educational exchange opportunities, facilitating greater transparency and information exchange between the U.S. and its allies, and shaping the narrative around policies in my assigned country.”

Being able to attend BC through a generous scholarship “changed the trajectory of my life,” said Subah, who is grateful for the Jesuit values of serving others and caring for the whole person instilled in her at the Heights: “Those four years were instrumental in cultivating my commitment to service and opening the doors to opportunities most first-gen students coming out of Brooklyn don’t have access to.

“I come from a family of civil servants and educators. I am a fierce advocate for education because it is an enabler for financial mobility at the individual level, and a precursor to a growing economy. The fellowship and its opportunities bring my background, passion, and expertise together to give me a chance at a lifelong vocation.”

—University Communications

begins with a Soviet-era theatrical affair, continues as a journey to Russia’s literary past, and finally pushes the émigré protagonist and his preteen daughter to the brink of disaster in a provincial Russian town. In closing, “A Return to Kafka,” recounts a failed attempt to collect overdue royalties from a Moscow publisher, which causes the author to reassess the genius of the Jewish modernist from Prague.

Shrayer completed the book three weeks prior to the start of the war in Ukraine, timing significant to him. “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine placed—for the second time since my family’s emigration/ immigration—a demarcation line between my past and present. Finishing this book in spring 2022, I kept thinking of the bloodshed in Ukraine not only as an attempt by Putin’s regime to murder the land where three of my grandparents had been born, but also as a neocolonial war aimed at the restoration of the Soviet past. So, in a sense, Immigrant Baggage is also a story of separating from Russia’s present and future while remaining culturally Russian.

“Three-and-a-half decades after emigrating, feeling less of a stranger among American writers, I am still discovering the pleasures of writing in tongues,” Shrayer added. The war in Ukraine brought into sharp focus what I have known for some time and tried to practice in my work: writers are not only products of their origins but also creative re-makers of their identities.”

For more information on Shrayer’s work, see www.shrayer.com

Jobs

Staff Psychologist or Staff Clinician

Assistant/Associate Director, Alumni Regional Engagement

Fiscal & Operations Specialist Programs and Events Specialist

Patrol Officer

Staff Nurse Development Assistant

Associate Director, First Year Experience Laundry Attendant

Head Librarian, Social Work Library

Assistant Director, Athletics Annual Giving

Administrative Assistant, University Advancement

Associate Director, Student Affairs Title IX

Resident Director, Residential Life Transitions & Summer Operations Assistant

Principal Data Architect

Manager, Financial Reporting

Quality Assurance Lead

The following are among the recent positions posted by the Department of Human Resources. For more information on employment opportunities at Boston College, see www.bc.edu/jobs.

Nazifa Subah ’17

Maxim D. Shrayer says his book is a memoir of “the translingual self that refuses to be trapped in culture and identity.”

photo by lEE pEllEgrini

Arts Festival to Celebrate 25 Years

BY ROSANNE PELLEGRINI STAFF WRITER

The Boston College Arts Festival marks its 25th anniversary April 27-29 with a celebration that includes the return to campus of talented BC graduates who will be honored with Distinguished Alumni Artist Awards.

More than 800 University artists will participate in the festival, which features more than 40 events and showcases the diverse talents of BC students, faculty, staff, and alumni. The Arts Festival features creative achievements and highlights music, theater, dance, creative writing, film, painting, sculpture, and more.

The 25th anniversary event both honors the festival’s traditions and expands offerings to increase arts representation. New programming includes a Culture Showcase of 14 dance and musical performances; a Sustainability Gallery of works that focus on the environment; a Short Film Festival to present BC student productions; a World Fair featuring participants from 30 of BC’s intercultural clubs; and a Children’s Art Gallery with works by students in the BC Children’s Center, Campus School, and St. Columbkille Partnership School.

The Arts Festival is open to the public (most events are free); members of all ages from surrounding communities are invited to take part.

This year’s Distinguished Alumni Award winners include: award-winning comedian, author, actor, and host Cameron Esposito ’04; celebrated founder and director of the nonprofit Urbanity Dance Betsi Graves ’04; filmmaker and storyteller Lulu Wang ’05, most famously known for her critically acclaimed, award-winning movie “The Farewell”; and prolific composer, trumpet player, and educator Jim Centorino ’71. Boston College Arts Council’s highest honor, the awards recognize graduates who have demonstrated creativity, innovation, leadership, and vision through their contributions to the arts, and are advocates and activists in their communities.

“Every year I am so impressed by our alumni award recipients,” said BC Arts Council Chair and Professor of Theatre Crystal Tiala. “Not only do they excel artistically, but as humanitarians as well.”

The award winners will appear at “The

Artists Journey” on April 28 from 3-6 p.m. in Gasson Hall: Esposito, Graves, and Wang will participate live in a panel discussion, “Laughing, Moving, and Sharing,” at 3 p.m. prior to the awards ceremony at 4 p.m. Centorino will appear virtually to receive his award.

“The panel discussion will provide a fascinating look into their formation as artists and why the arts are critical to living fully. This is a perfect way to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Arts Festival,” said Tiala.

The ceremony also will recognize faculty and student Arts Council award winners. Faculty honorees are Sandra Hebert, associate professor of the practice in the Music Department and Chamber Music Ensemble director, and Allison Adair, associate professor of the practice in English and an award-winning poet. This year’s student winners are seniors Catie Constas, Robert D’Alessandro, Lauren Foster, Tyler Gollin, Zachary Jekanowski, Kristen Lee, Haley Lombardo, Gia Mitchum, Aidan O’Neill, and Lily Telegdy; senior Josephine Kim will receive the Jeffery Howe Art History Award.

Other events and activities at the festival include:

•Performances by popular music ensembles such as the Liturgy Arts Group, University Wind Ensemble, Waaw Waaw BC, the University Chorale, BC bOp!, and Boston College Symphony Orchestra

•A “BC’s Best” competition featuring student bands and songwriters

•Family activities

•A maker and craft sale

•“Candide,” directed by Bryce Pinkham ’05, April 26–30, Robsham Theater (tickets at bcpa.universitytickets.com)

This year’s Distinguished Alumni Award winners include (clockwise from top left) Cameron Esposito ’04, Lulu Wang ’05, Jim Centorino ’71,

The schedule, alumni bios, and other Arts Festival details, including advance registration for “The Artist’s Journey Events” (requested by April 24) are at bc.edu/artsfestival.

Organized by the Arts Council, BC Arts Festival sponsors include the offices of the President and the Provost, the Arts Council committees, Student Affairs and the Dean’s Office of the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, with support from the Alumni Association, the Boston College Police Department, the Boston College Bookstore, and BC Facilities and grounds crew members.

Student artists and performers will once again take center stage at the annual Boston College Arts Festival, including BC Dance Ensemble, shown at last year’s event.

photo by Caitlin CunninghaM

and Betsi Graves ’04.

photos by liza voll (gravEs), raChEl shErloCk (Esposito), and susan CEntorino (CEntroino)

arts fEstival filE photos by lEE pEllEgrini and Caitlin CunninghaM