Boston College Chronicle

BC EMS: Grateful for a Chance to Serve

Student organization to be recognized at Nov. 4 football game

BY ROSANNE PELLEGRINI STAFF WRITER

Seven days a week, a squad of trained and committed Boston College student volunteers—operating on foot crews and via a non-transporting ambulance—are available on the Heights to provide quickresponse emergency medical care to com munity members and visitors.

“Chances are, if you’ve been to any BC sports events this year, you’ve seen one of our crews there,” said Boston College EMS (Emergency Medical Services) President Brian Coyne ’23, who joined as a fresh

Welcoming the World

Hosting

BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER

The Lynch School of Education and Human Development recently hosted two major conferences for deans of education, elevating its global profile and bolstering its leadership in formative education on both the international stage and among domes tic Jesuit universities.

The Global Education Deans’ Forum (GEDF) resumed in-person meetings after a two-year, pandemic-driven hiatus on October 19-21 when the Lynch School welcomed the international organization of schools of education leaders. Twenty-four deans from Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America, and the United Kingdom, as well as the Lynch School’s Thomas More Brennan Chair in Education Lin Goodwin, former dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong, attended. The three-day event was led by GEDF co-founder Rick Ginsberg, dean of the School of Education and Human Sciences at the University of Kansas.

“It was unusual but positively striking to have such broad international represen tation and attendance by so many highly ranked schools of education at this annual convening, achieving organizational goals,” said Stanton E.F. Wortham, the Charles F. Donovan, S.J., Dean of the Lynch School. “The appetite to meet in-person was clearly

enabled

spurred by COVID restrictions and the ongoing desire to share best practices, seek collaborations, and address universal chal lenges.”

Of particular interest was a presentation by the Lynch School’s Gerardo L. Blanco, academic director of the Center for Inter national Higher Education, and Rebecca Schendel, the center’s managing director, who outlined three critically important, worldwide trends: the “massification” of college enrollments; the proliferation of non-degree certifications; and the rise in populism and authoritarianism.

The increasing availability of higher education has resulted in overwhelming numbers of students entering universities, and a corresponding rapid increase in the quantity of higher education institutions catering to them, noted Blanco. The esca lation of student mobility, driving more study abroad from all countries, has also contributed to this trend. The researchers cautioned that demographic changes al ready on the horizon indicate that by midcentury, the worldwide population will

Grant Will Support NDBC Initiative

Collaboration aims to bolster a new generation of Hispanic Catholic leaders in the US

BY KATHLEEN SULLIVAN STAFF WRITER

Lilly Endowment Inc. has made a $7.9 million grant to the University of Notre Dame to support a collaboration with Boston College designed to grow the next generation of Hispanic Catholic pastoral leaders in the United States.

The grant is funding the creation of Haciendo Caminos, an initiative that will bring together 16 other Catholic institu tions to address a critical disparity in the U.S. Catholic Church: Hispanic Catholics are the faith’s largest growing population, yet the number of U.S.-born Hispanic lay ministers, women and men religious, seminarians, priests, and deacons serving in Catholic faith communities is relatively small.

Haciendo Caminos’ goals are to reduce barriers and increase support for gradu ate theological education for U.S.-born Hispanic Catholics; increase knowledge of, and interest in, ministerial profes sions among this population; and create a consortium of Catholic higher education institutions forming pastoral leaders at the graduate level in collaboration with local ecclesial organizations.

“This groundbreaking partnership has the potential to redefine how we think about theological and ministerial formation of Hispanic Catholic leaders,” said School of Theology and Ministry Associate Profes sor of Hispanic Ministry and Religious Education Hosffman Ospino, chair of the Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry Department, who will lead the project along with Timothy Matovina, professor and chair of the Department of Theology at Notre Dame.

Boston College administrative offices will close at 3 p.m. on Friday, November 4, due to the BC-Duke football game taking place at 7 p.m. The University asks that all vehicles be removed from campus that day as close as possible to 3 p.m.

Boston College was the starting and finish line for the 18th annual Red Bandanna 5K last Saturday, held in memory of 9/11 hero Welles Crowther ’99. Additional photo on page 4. photo by frank curran

Around Campus

A display of vibrant mixed-media paint ings depicting saints will open at Boston College on All Saints’ Day, November 1.

“Saints,” which will be on display through December 9 in the O’Neill Li brary Reading Room, features 17 works by artist, author, and illustrator Nancy Marek Cote, including the debut of a new work of Society of Jesus founder St. Ignatius Loyola, which she created for the BC ex hibit.

“The work of Nancy Marek Cote mod ernizes the life of the Saints in a most in spiring way,” said Roche Center for Catho lic Education Executive Director Melodie Wyttenbach. “While whimsical and joy ful—these mixed-media paintings are cre atively made with everyday materials, from newspaper clippings to necklaces—this artwork challenges us to consider how we

BC

Exhibit Offers New Look at Saints

as ordinary people are called to lead saintly lives.”

The collection of paintings in this ex hibit connects Marek Cote’s personal and professional endeavors, which “in a unique style capture the person and moment of the presence and relationship with God,” according to her biography. Her hope is that “‘Saints’ will inspire women, men, and children of all ages and backgrounds to a heightened appreciation of the beauty, courage, and passion that led the 17 on their own faith journeys.”

In her work, Marek Cote—who in 2018 studied at BC’s School of Theology and Ministry with renowned artist Brother Michael O’Neill McGrath, O.S.F.S., in the course Wise and Holy Women and a Few Good Men—said she “explores and renders subjects enabling all to think more deeply

about the human/God experience.”

Campus events will be held in con junction with the exhibit, which is hosted by the Lynch School of Education and Human Development’s Roche Center in collaboration with the Church in the 21st Century Center. On November 2, All Souls Day, a STM student-led Liturgy of the Hours will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the Simboli Hall Chapel on Brighton Campus.

Marek Cote will be on campus on No vember 7 at 6:30 p.m. for a “Social and Conversation” event at the exhibit venue, which is open to all. On the exhibit’s opening day, she will meet with some 100 fourth-grade students from St. Joseph School in Needham and Saint Columbkille Partnership School in Brighton, who will visit campus and view the exhibit.

For more information on the artist and

the exhibit, see www.mareksaints.com.

* * *

Another upcoming campus art event will be the Boston College Art Club Fall Art Show, on display in Carney Hall Gal lery 203 and the Carney 104 hallway. The exhibit will feature works by student artists and will open with a reception on No vember 1 at 7:30 p.m.; it will run through November 30.

Gallery 203 aims to promote student expression and exposure of the visual arts across campus. The exhibit space provides a public venue for artists in the BC com munity to share their work with the com munity.

For more information, email artclub bostoncollege@gmail.com.

The Boston College Chronicle (USPS 009491), the internal newspaper for faculty and staff, is published biweekly from September to May by Boston College, with editorial offices at the Office of University Communications, 3 Lake Street, Brighton, MA 02135 (617)552-3350.

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Send requests to chronicle@bc.edu.

Christine Balquist

Phil Gloudemans

Hayward

Pellegrini Kathleen Sullivan

Pellegrini

—Rosanne Pellegrini

Selections from the “Saints” exhibition featuring works by Nancy Marek Cote, on display in O’Neill Library beginning on November 1.

photos by caitlin cunningham

BC to Hold ‘First-Gen Week’

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

Beginning November 4, Boston College will hold a week of activities and events to recognize and honor its first-generation students and alumni, highlighted by the na tional observance of First-Generation Col lege Celebration Day on November 8.

Organized by the Learning to Learn program, BC’s First-Gen Week will include a Kick-Off Classic Tailgate on November 4 at 3 p.m. prior to that evening’s BC-Duke football game; a First-Gen Study Break Cel ebration at the Connell School of Nursing at noon on November 7; and a First-Gen Alumni Panel on November 10 from 6-8 p.m. in the McElroy Faculty Dining Room. BC’s National First-Gen College Celebra tion Day on November 8 will be from 5-7 p.m. in the Heights Room of Corcoran Commons.

In addition, Learning to Learn is spon soring a photo campaign through its Insta gram page to create more visibility for firstgen members of the University community.

Information on all First-Gen Week-relat ed programming will be available at bc.edu/ learning-to-learn.

Organizers say the week is an opportu nity to highlight first-gen achievements and contributions, as well as the University’s commitment to those who are the first in their families to attend college, for which BC has been nationally recognized by the Center for First-Generation Student Success.

“Celebrating First Generation College week puts the spotlight on students who are trailblazers, and who have a strong desire to go for their dreams,” said Learning to Learn Director Rossanna Contreras-Godfrey. “They have so much to offer and much to achieve, and their path to get into and graduate from college marks an important milestone in their lives and the lives of their families exponentially. Being the first to at

tain a college degree changes the trajectory of first-gen students’ lives and the lives of generations to come.

“There is a plethora of first-gen suc cess stories that include lawyers, doctors, business executives, and prominent public figures such as senators and members of Congress.  The numbers are growing at BC and Learning to Learn is here to support students through our various programs and celebrate these important steps that first-gen students take to make a brighter future for themselves.”

Being a first-generation student “serves as a direct contradiction to the status quo,” said Kae’la Powell-Cobbs ’25, a psychology and neuroscience major from Brockton, Mass.

“With my intersectionality as an AfricanAmerican, first-generation student, and woman, I’ve been assigned traits from a so ciety that has contributed to the normaliza tion of people of color not achieving higher education. Over time this has created a gap between many marginalized groups and college success. I oftentimes imagine myself as one of the many bricks added to the continuation of a path that will eventually bridge that gap.”

Powell-Cobbs said her time at BC has been enriched through the “transformative relationships” she has cultivated with other first-gen students.

“It is very easy, especially at an institution like BC, to feel like I am the only person who struggles to navigate the tips and tricks of college. However, when I realized that there were so many accomplished students, staff, and other members of the BC com munity who either are experiencing, or have experienced adversity through inexperience, I feel welcomed—and most importantly, empowered.”

A look at statistics, programs, and re sources related to first-generation students at BC:

•The current first-gen undergraduate population is 1,040, with an average of about 250-260 enrolling each year; first-gen students make up 10 percent of the Class of 2025, 10.5 percent of the current freshman class.

•The BC F1RST College Transition Pro gram—a free, two-week, residential summer program that originated in 2001—serves approximately 40 first-gen students a year.

•Sixteen students are currently partici pating in the BC F1RST Living Learning Community, based in Hardey Hall on Newton Campus, which provides a variety of programs, activities, and services to help members connect with fellow first-genera tion, first-year college students, staff, faculty, and administrators.

•The University’s Pine Manor Institute for Student Success (PMI) was established in 2020 to enhance educational opportunities for underrepresented and first-generation students. PMI is an umbrella organization for Learning to Learn (established in 1978) and other academic support and student volunteer initiatives, including Options Through Education and Montserrat. This year, PMI launched The Academy, a sum mer enrichment program and school-year

tutoring service for students in grades 8-12, and in 2024 is slated to open Messina Col lege, a two-year college division of BC that will grant associate degrees.

•Learning to Learn hosts the Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program, which prepares low-income and first-gen students as well as underrepresented populations for graduate studies in a variety of fields. This past sum mer, BC received a five-year $1.3-million McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Grant to assist aspiring graduate students, with emphasis on attaining a doctoral de gree.

Atlanta native Angeles Cruz ’23, who majors in theology and applied psychology and human development, said being a firstgen student is “a huge accomplishment” that carries with it many challenges, such as “navigating college alone or questioning your own potential.” She cited campus re sources such as Learning to Learn, the Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center, and Montserrat as invaluable: “These offices have provided me with faculty, mentors, and peers—a community—that continuously support me through my undergraduate ex perience.”

Annual BC Veterans Day Commemoration Is Nov. 11

Boston College will commemorate Vet erans Day with the 22nd annual Veterans Remembrance Ceremony on November 11 at 11 a.m. at the Veterans Memorial on the Burns Library Lawn, where retired Colonel April D. Skou ’96 will deliver the keynote remarks.

During her tenure in the United States Army, Skou served as a member of the Joint Staff within the Directorate for Intelligence, an Army War College Fellow commanding the Army’s only aerial intelligence brigade, and commander of the 3rd Military Intel ligence Battalion, among other roles. She was recognized as an Army Master Aviator with combat aviation tours to Iraq and Afghanistan as well as three tours to Korea where she flew imminent-danger missions.

The ceremony—at which ROTC and NROTC cadets will read the names of all those from BC who have died in combat— will be preceded by the annual Veterans Mass at 9:30 a.m. in St. Mary’s Chapel. The day’s events will conclude with a luncheon in Gas son 100 at noon.

During the ceremony, a special tribute will be paid to Sergeant First Class Gerald F. Scott, whose name will be the latest added to the Veterans Memorial, which lists all BC alumni who have died in the line of duty. Scott was

drafted into the Korean War in 1950, two days before he was to start his second year at BC with plans to join the priesthood. The Wakefield, Mass., native served as a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 9th Infantry

Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was tak en as a prisoner of war while fighting in South Korea on February 12, 1951, and died during a six-week march from Bean Camp to Camp 1 on May 13. His remains have not been re covered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

“The Veterans Day events at BC are a way to bring all military-connected members of the community together at one time,” said BC Assistant Director for Veterans Programs and Services Michael Lorenz. “No matter the branch, when you served, if you have a military family member, or if you are just someone paying respects, it’s so meaningful to come together and offer support to each other on this day.”

The Veterans Day events are sponsored by the Boston College Alumni Association, Bos ton College Veterans Alumni Network, Bos ton College Veterans Programs and Services, and the BC Army ROTC Program.

Register to attend at alumni-events. bc.edu/d/f9qcjj/.

—Christine Balquist

(L-R) Kae’la Powell-Cobbs, Ricardo Mora, Sebastian Cota, and Angeles Cruz are among the 1,040 Boston College undergraduates who are the first in their families to attend college. Being a “first-gen,” according to Powell-Cobbs, “serves as a direct contradiction to the status quo.”

photo by caitlin cunningham

April Skou ’96 will be the keynote speaker at the Veterans Remembrance Ceremony, which will include a tribute to BC student Gerald Scott, who was killed in the Korean War.

$7.9 Million Grant Will Fund ND-BC Partnership

Continued from page 1

“The evangelizing outreach of young leaders to their peers is our most effective means as a Church to inspire healing and faith among our younger sisters and broth ers today,” said Matovina. “The present and future of Catholicism in this country will largely depend on how we engage and support young Latinas and Latinos in their faith journeys. If we desire a more vibrant and youthful Church, we need to person ally invite young people to leadership and prioritize our collective support for them in their formation. That is why we are so grateful to Lilly Endowment and our part ners in the Haciendo Caminos project.”

The institutions working with BC and Notre Dame on the initiative are Aquinas Institute of Theology, Barry University, Catholic Theological Union, Catholic University of America, Fordham Univer sity, Franciscan School of Theology (San Diego), Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University, Loyola Marymount Uni versity, Loyola University Chicago, Loyola

University New Orleans, Mexican Ameri can Catholic College, Mount St. Mary’s University, Oblate School of Theology, Santa Clara University, St. John’s Seminary (Camarillo, Calif.), and University of the Incarnate Word.

Notre Dame will oversee the manage ment of the Haciendo Caminos grant, which is being funded through the third and final phase of Lilly Endowment’s Path ways for Tomorrow Initiative. Pathways is designed to help theological schools across the U.S. and Canada as they prioritize and respond to the most pressing challenges they face in preparing pastoral leaders for Christian congregations both now and into the future.

Notre Dame is one of 16 theological schools that have received grants through the Pathways initiative to fund large-scale, highly collaborative programs. Lilly En dowment believes these programs have the potential to become models for other schools as they seek to strengthen the way

they educate pastors and other congrega tional leaders.

“Theological schools play an essential role in ensuring that Christian congrega tions have a steady stream of well-prepared leaders to guide their ministries,” said Christopher L. Coble, the endowment’s vice president for religion. “Many theologi cal schools believe that their paths to the future depend on their abilities to form strategic partnerships with other schools and church agencies. These grants will help seminaries develop innovative and collab orative approaches to theological education that we believe will strengthen their efforts to prepare and support excellent leaders for Christian communities into the future.”

Lilly Endowment launched the Path ways initiative in January 2021 because of its longstanding interest in supporting efforts to enhance and sustain the vitality of Christian congregations by strengthen ing the leadership capacities of pastors and congregational lay leaders.

Lynch School Hosts Two Major Education Forums

shrink, resulting in fewer enrollees, a trend already experienced in North America.

Schendel focused on the development and expansion of non-degree certifications, or “micro credentials,” an increasingly popular educational alternative for many college-age young adults who don’t have the resources or inclination to complete a college degree. This shift has posed a di lemma for universities worldwide: Reshape their programs to meet changing consumer desires but diminish course complexity, or maintain the status quo and risk irrelevance and empty classrooms.

One participant noted that, given the increasing popularity of TikTok videos and their one-minute duration, today’s stu dents expect their education to resemble or mimic that brevity.

Participants expressed concern over the increase of populism and authoritarian ism, resulting in anti-immigrant, antiinternational student stances, and threats to free speech and the validity of science, which has severely undermined universities’ societal role.

Johnny Go, S.J., dean of the School of Education and Learning Design at the Philippines’ Ateneo de Manila Univer sity, noted that his country—previously ruled by strongman and populist Rodrigo Duterte—elected Ferdinand Marcos Jr., son of the late dictator, in June. While the younger Marcos’s impact on the nation’s education remains to be seen, Fr. Go has pinned his hopes for a retreat from educa tion-diminishing nationalism on Duterte’s daughter and new vice president, Sara, who was also named secretary of education, characterized by a fellow university profes sor as “a woman of her own character.”

Earlier in the conference, Wortham and the Lynch School Gabelli Faculty Fellow Dennis L. Shirley outlined the emerging

trend of whole-person education, a BC hallmark, and the underlying ideas and research findings related to student wellbeing, arguing that it should supersede traditional priorities such as scores on highstakes assessments.

On October 5-7, the Lynch School hosted deans and professors of education from 15 American Jesuit institutions at tending the annual Association of Jesuit Colleges & Universities (AJCU) Educa tion Deans Conference. Led by St. Louis University School of Education Dean Gary W. Ritter, the event provided opportuni ties for peer-to-peer learning; discussions on current national issues facing schools of education; and occasions to collaborate on initiatives that advance the field of Catholic education.

The opening session served as a show case for the Lynch School’s programs, including presentations by Roche Center for Catholic Education Executive Director Melodie Wyttenbach; Assistant Professor Andrew F. Miller, who discussed a variety of topics, including the school’s lab school designation with Brighton’s Saint Co lumbkille Partnership School; and Charles Cownie, director of the Urban Catholic Teacher Corps, and of Catholic Teacher Formation.

Wortham outlined the recently an nounced Department of Formative Educa tion, an unprecedented academic discipline in American higher education that will serve as a hub for Lynch School and cam pus-wide efforts to understand and advance formative instruction.

The national teacher shortage took center stage in a subsequent discussion, as Loyola Marymount School of Education Dean Michelle D. Young noted that this crisis impacts 80 percent of the districts across the nation, leaving thousands of

classrooms without a qualified teacher.

“The leaders of AJCU schools and departments of education are addressing this problem head-on, not just in our own universities but also through several AJCUwide collaborations,” she explained. “The first tactic is an AJCU-produced public service announcement designed to attract talented individuals to the teaching profes sion, and to highlight the ‘value-add’ of preparation through a Jesuit institution. The second involves a multi-university, grant-funded diverse teacher pipeline proj ect, which would result in the development of more than 700 highly prepared, cultur

Snapshot

ally responsive teachers per year.”

Ritter underscored the benefits of regu larly meeting with colleagues who face the same daily challenges, despite their diverse locations and enrollment contrasts.

“Building relationships with committed leaders who can empathize and appreciate our struggles, victories, and aspirations is terrific,” he said. “But we can do more. Our organizational vision is to find oppor tunities for innovation and collaboration so that we can better pursue our Jesuit mission of serving with and for the people in our communities across the country.”

Hosffman Ospino: “This groundbreaking partnership has the potential to redefine how we think about theological and ministerial formation of Hispanic Catholic leaders.”

photo by caitlin cunningham

Hundreds of runners turned out Saturday for the annual Welles Crowther Red Bandanna 5K. The event supports the Welles Remy Crowther Charitable Trust, which aids organizations committed to assisting young people in becoming exemplary adults through education, health, recreation, and character development.

Red Bandanna Run

PHOTO BY FRANK CURRAN

BCSSW Team Seeks to Address Latinxs’ Vaccine Hesistancy

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States laid bare the health-related systematic disparities faced by some racial and ethnic groups, especially Latinx popu lations. As various researchers and advo cates have noted, Latinxs have consistently borne the brunt of COVID’s impact: They are more likely to become infected with the virus, more likely to be hospitalized, and more likely to die from COVID.

While the numbers are even higher for Latinxs with mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, and addiction, their vaccination rates—for COVID as well as influenza—lag behind other groups. But a project to be launched in coming months by the Boston College School of Social Work and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health aims to address this vaccine hesitancy by working with health care pro fessionals at the community level.

BCSSW’s participation is led by Dona hue and DiFelice Professor Kirsten Davi son, the school’s associate dean for research, and Associate Professor Rocio Calvo, assistant dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Also working with the team are Connell School of Nursing Associate Pro fessor Nadia Abuelezam and Assistant Pro fessor Brittney van de Water; and Kimberly O’Brien, clinical social worker and research scientist at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Sebastien Ha neuse, a professor and expert in biostatics, is coordinating the Chan School’s role and serves as principal investigator. The project has received a five-year, $2.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.

At the core of this study is a longstand ing partnership between BCSSW’s nation ally acclaimed Latinx Leadership Initiative (LLI) directed by Calvo and the East Bos ton Neighborhood Health Center, which serves more than 20,000 registered behav ioral health (BH) patients with a mental

health diagnosis, more than 70 percent of them Latinx. EBNHC has served as a field practice placement site for LLI students since 2016 and LLI alumni have been part of its core BH staff. The project with EBN HC seeks to ameliorate the effect of struc tural racism and intersectional trauma on Latinxs with mental illness—particularly in their efforts to seek health care—by testing a BH intervention that is culturally and linguistically appropriate and, it is hoped, will reduce vaccine hesitancy.

“Rather than presuming we know what to do and how to do it,” said Calvo, “we are responding to the distinctive needs of the community. We spoke with people who are served by EBNHC, we heard their stories, and we also spoke with the staff at the center to get their perspectives because they are the ones who serve this commu nity day in and day out.”

Davison said, “The frequency with which vaccination came up in these discus sions, both with patients and staff, was striking. On vaccine hesitancy, the cen ter’s social workers told us, ‘They trust us enough to bring up the issue. But we don’t

want to be seen as “persuaders.”’ So, what we are trying to do here is to create a safe space for the patients to talk about vac cines in a way that is helpful and enlight ening for them.”

The intervention to be utilized involves motivational interviewing (MI), in which the clinician uses discrete, accommodating language to discuss a patient’s vaccination status, views, and concerns, such as:

“If it is OK, I’d like to shift our conver sation to talk about vaccination.”

“I’m not here to try and make you get the COVID vaccine; I want to try my best to understand your situation and help you consider if you want to be vaccinated. I can help you with that. But that’s up to you.”

“What would be the not-so-good things about getting the COVID vaccine? What worries you about it? What would be the good things? What do you think would happen if you don’t get it?”

The clinician also uses MI to assess and enhance patients’ readiness to be vaccinated, asking him or her to rate from 0 to 100 percent how ready they are to get the vac

cine and then discuss their response (“What would it take for you get a 100 percent rat ing?”). Depending on a patient’s response, the clinician can provide information on walk-in or scheduled appointments, offer to give vaccine information, services, or resources at a later date, or help the patient consult a nurse for medical questions.

Calvo and Davison emphasized, however, that for the MI to be successful, clinicians must build a rapport and trust with Latinx patients, who often have negative health care-related experiences because of profes sionals’ lack of appreciation for cultural and language variations. Grasping the diversity within the Latinx population is vital to develop individualized therapeutic relation ships, they said.

The MI intervention states the impor tance of identifying and respecting cultural values: “respeto”—how the patient would like to be addressed (Don? Señor? Doña? Se ñora?); “personalismo”—whether the patient seeks to maintain harmonious relationships by not expressing disagreement directly; “confianza”—essentially the cross-cultural construct of trust.

A strong fluency in Spanish, and an awareness of its subtleties, affords the best opportunity for a BH professional to con nect with a Latinx patient, Davison and Calvo said: Common words used in Span ish to express emotional distress do not have equivalent meaning in English, and Latinx also use Spanish “dichos” (sayings) to describe feelings and symptoms embedded with cultural meaning.

“My grandmother had a dicho that translates to ‘Now peace and then glory,’” explained Calvo. “When you say that in Spanish instead of English, though, it has much more of an impact. Of course, there are certain words and phrases in English that don’t precisely translate into other lan guages. These may seem like little things, but they’re very important to how a clini cian can effectively communicate with a Latinx client.”

CSON Alumna Peters-Lewis Will Give Pinnacle Lecture

The Connell School of Nursing will welcome back to campus alumna Angel leen Peters-Lewis, chief operating officer and chief nurse executive at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, who will deliver the Fall Pinnacle Lecture on November 1 at 5 p.m. in the Yawkey Center Murray Room.

As the Dr. Maureen P. McCausland Pinnacle Keynote Speaker, Peters-Lewis will present “Seizing the Momentum: El evating Nursing Post-Pandemic.”

Each semester, the Connell School brings a widely recognized nurse leader to campus to speak on an issue at the fore front of health care. Peter-Lewis’s lecture is free and open to CSON students, staff, faculty, alumni, as well as preceptors, practitioners, and the wider community.

Peters-Lewis is considered a transfor mational leader who has demonstrated an ability to create a positive, vibrant culture. She has a strong passion for professional

nursing practice and building relation ships with the entire health care team. Deeply committed to underserved popu lations, Peters-Lewis has a track record of success in academic medical centers in urban settings.

At Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Peters-Lew is is responsible for oversight of nursing operations, patient experience, respiratory care, rehabilitation, care management, social work, diagnostic services, patient transport, courier services, laboratories, Barnes Lodge (a residence for families and patients who travel to St. Louis for medi cal treatment), and patient progression and throughput. She maintains a collabor ative leadership role with leaders in neuro sciences, perioperative services, transplant, and Siteman Cancer Center.

Prior to joining Barnes-Jewish Hospi tal, Peters-Lewis served in several leader ship roles, including as senior vice presi

dent of patient care services and system chief nurse at Women & Infants Hospital Rhode Island, and associate chief nurse of women and newborn’s nursing and clinical services at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

She earned a doctorate from the Con nell School in 2006 and was the recipient of the school’s Dorothy A. Jones Award. She holds a master’s degree in nursing from Northeastern University and a bach elor’s degree in nursing from Simmons College.

Peters-Lewis has been inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. In 2020, she was named one of Modern Healthcare’s Minority Leaders to Watch.

To register for the lecture or learn more about the Pinnacle Lecture Series, go to bc.edu/pinnacle.

Angelleen Peters-Lewis Ph.D. ’06

Boston College School of Social Work Donahue and DiFelice Professor Kirsten Davison, left, and Associate Professor Rocio Calvo.

photo by lee pellegrini

BC EMS Marks 25 Years

man and cited the strong bonds formed among members through hundreds of hours spent together on shifts. “BC EMS has a responsibility to keep the campus safe, and I am proud of how we step up to answer that call.”

With a typical volume of 300-400 calls during the academic year, the 54 BC EMS members donate thousands of hours an nually—giving up Friday nights, football game days, Marathon Mondays, and much more. Its EMTs are trained and certified at the national and state levels, and each se mester the group hosts on-campus training by top Boston-area paramedics.

On November 4, when the BC Eagles take on Duke University in football, mem bers of BC EMS—founded in 1997—will be at the game for another important rea son: to be recognized on the Alumni Sta dium field by BC Athletics for a quartercentury of service to the University.

“Over the last 25 years, countless volunteer hours have been completed by members who have chosen to give of themselves,” said Office of Student Involve ment Associate Director of Student Pro gramming Matthew Razek, who serves as BC EMS liaison in the Division of Student Affairs.

“To observe the community, leadership, and legacy of the organization is inspir ing; it truly is a student-run and operated organization. The members can be seen at campus concerts, athletic events, and each night as they respond to those in need with genuine care and interest in providing those individuals comfort and assistance,” he added.

“We respond when our community

members need us the most,” Coyne ex plained. “It could be something simple: Perhaps you cut your finger while cooking, or sprained your ankle playing an intramu ral. Perhaps it’s something more serious— an allergic reaction, or a diabetic emer gency. Whatever the call, there are students trained and able to respond. Being peers and classmates, our EMTs connect with our patients in a way that no other pro vider or first responder can, allowing for improved trust.”

The group’s genesis followed the death of then-freshman Kevin Eidt, who died of a cardiac arrest during a 1997 intramural basketball game. His friend Mark Ritchie ’00, an EMT, saw an opportunity to bring rapid defibrillation and resuscitation capa bilities to campus, and that fall founded BC EMS.

“I am very grateful that the Eidt fam ily has continued to be involved in our organization; the support they provide is unparalleled,” Coyne said. “We keep Kevin at the heart of everything we do. For our anniversary, we updated our [uniform] patches to include his initials and gradua tion year. Continuing his legacy and ensur ing that every student has access to lifesaving emergency medical care are two of the top priorities of our organization.”

The group is fortunate, Coyne said, to work alongside the Boston College Police Department “to supplement the respond ing officers. Our EMTs have the capabili ties to treat a variety of calls; BCPD makes sure we can do so safely.”

BCPD Deputy Chief of Police Kevin Buckley serves on the BC EMS advisory board. Razek and other members, who

meet monthly with its executive board, are Director of University Health Services and Primary Care Sports Medicine Dr. Doug las Comeau, Associate Vice President and Dean of Students Corey Kelly, and Direc tor of Emergency Management John Tom maney, who conducts training exercises with the group.

Call volume fluctuates on a weekly ba sis, according to Coyne, and the members’ time commitment varies based on rank: “Our most senior members work 12 hours a week whereas newer members work about two shifts a month.” The BC EMS ambulance can respond within minutes and is in service 46 hours a week, totaling 138 weekly man-hours on a shift, supple mented by special event coverage.

Coyne is pleased with the BC EMS evo lution over the past quarter-century. “We continue to expand our presence on and off campus, serving as the University’s larg est CPR education provider and conduct ing community education courses both oncampus and at local elementary schools.”

Though appreciative of the upcoming public honor, Coyne said, “At the end of the day, we don’t do what we do for recog nition. We are here to honor Kevin’s legacy, not our own. We love the work and feel as though it is work worth doing. When I look back on my four years here, my time will undoubtedly be defined by running this service. I am grateful for this organiza tion, the people in it, and the job we get to do together.”

BC Delegation Prepares for Climate Change Conference

BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER

For the second year in a row, Boston College will send a delegation of faculty and students to observe the United Na tions Climate Change Conference, also known as COP27, to be held next month in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

The group will attend events organized around the negotiations among parties to the United Nations Framework Conven tion of Climate Change. This year, the University has had almost a full year to plan and prepare for the trip, a sharp con trast to last year when formal approval was received just prior to the start of the fall term.

COP27—technically the 27th meet ing of the Conference of the Parties to international climate accords dating back to 1992—brings together nations to nego tiate and coordinate governmental efforts to combat climate change. Most of those proceedings are closed. BC attendees will be able to attend the many public-facing events and exhibits.

The COP27 delegation will include eight undergraduate students, six graduate students, and five faculty members, said

Jim West, an assistant director with the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society, who has been coordinating many aspects of the trip and will also at tend.

“The excitement level is very high,” said Professor of Political Science David Deese, another attendee. “This year we are much better organized, focused, and supported by the University. The Schiller Institute has picked it up and they have appropriate ad ministrative resources. We have had much more time to prepare and I think the stress level is lower and people can focus on be ing part of the group.”

Students and faculty were selected from a pool of applicants. Student attendees and

alternates enrolled in a one-credit seminar organized by the Schiller Institute and coor dinated by Associate Professor of the Prac tice of Philosophy David Storey, who was part of the delegation that went to COP26 last year in Glasgow, Scotland.

The delegation will travel in two groups, with Deese leading the group attend ing November 6-13 and BC Law School Professor David Wirth leading the second group from November 14-18.

Schiller Institute Seidner Family Execu tive Director Laura Steinberg said taking the lead in organizing the delegation fits with the institute’s work to advance re search, teaching, and interdisciplinary col laboration, particularly in areas of energy,

health, and the environment. Funding for the delegation was provided by the Office of the Provost, Schiller Institute, Mor rissey College of Arts and Sciences, Carroll School of Management, Connell School of Nursing, BC Law School, BC School of Social Work, Theology Department, and the Office of University Fellowships.

“Climate change is one of the core areas for the Schiller Institute and we were eager to help the delegates prepare for their trip and then come back to campus to share stories and reflections on their Sharm El Sheikh experiences,” said Steinberg.

Storey said the seminar course sought to give students background on the many is sues and disciplines that go into climate sci ence and policy, as well as bring the group together as a team.

“We wanted to prepare students intellec tually for what they are going to encounter at COP27. They are coming from a range of majors, undergraduate and graduate stu dents. We wanted everybody to be on the same page,” said Storey. “We also wanted to build a team. COP can be a 300-ring circus—there is so much going on. The bet ter coordinated they are, the better the rap port they have with each other, the better the delegation as a whole is going to do in terms of fulfilling its mission.”

“The excitement level [for COP27] is very high,” says Professor of Political Science David Deese. “We have had much more time to prepare and I think the stress level is lower and people can focus on being part of the group.”

photo by lee pellegrini

(L-R) BC EMS members Brian Coyne ’23, Lucas Flanagan ’23, and Gracie Meijer ’23.

photo by lee pellegrini

OBITUARY Kenneth Craig, 75, Art Historian

A memorial service was held Monday on Brighton Campus for Associate Profes sor of Art and Art History Kenneth Craig, 75. Dr. Craig, who taught at Boston Col lege for 45 years, died on August 1.

A native of Columbus, Ohio, Dr. Craig joined BC’s Fine Arts Department in 1977 when the art history major was relatively new. As one of a few art historians in the department, he was critical to the early development of the program. He served as department chair (1985-1988) and assis tant chair (1988-1996), and was director of undergraduate studies of art history from 2014-2018 and 2021-2022.

Dr. Craig was an expert in Northern Renaissance and Baroque painting, and his scholarship on Dutch painter Pieter Aertsen (1508-1575) was regarded as semi nal to the field. His articles were published in principal journals such as Oud Holland, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Insti tutes, and Dutch Quarterly Review, Studies in Literature

According to colleagues, Dr. Craig relished his time in the classroom with his students and works of art. He spent numerous hours preparing his lectures and selecting the images, as he said, “to teach the best courses I can possibly teach.” His excellence in the classroom was present in every class he taught across his range of fields: Art from Prehistoric Times to the High Middle Ages; Art from Renaissance to Modern Times; Northern Renaissance Art; The Age of Rembrandt; Art and Ar chaeology of Egypt and the Ancient Near East; and Greek Art and Archaeology. Dr. Craig also was recalled as a generous men tor to his students, sharing his expertise and sage advice.

His devotion to students also was re flected in his lengthy association with the Boston College Phi Beta Kappa chapter, as historian from 1978-2014 and president from 2014-2022. As president, he oversaw

Phi Beta Kappa’s selection process and managed and hosted the annual induction ceremony attended by about 100 inductees and 400 to 500 parents and guests.

Dr. Craig’s other activities during his career at BC ranged from speaking at a panel discussion in 1986 about the future of the University’s core curriculum, giving a talk on Rembrandt’s still-life painting

“The Slaughtered Ox” to kick off a 1977 Fine Arts colloquia, and joining with other College of Arts and Sciences department chairs in creating a list of recommended books for “the interested student and seri ous academic alike,” The Heights reported in 1986 (his list included Giorgio Vasari’s The Lives of the Painters, Erwin Panofsky’s Early Netherlandish Painting, and Gisela M.A. Richter’s The Sculpture and Sculptors of the Greeks).

Dr. Craig attended The Ohio State Uni versity as an English literature major in the Pre-Medical Program and after receiving a bachelor’s degree in 1968 enrolled in Ohio State’s College of Medicine. But his love of art history, which he had discovered in an undergraduate class, caused him to change his plans: He left medical school and went on to earn a master’s degree in art history at Ohio State, then a doctorate in art history and archaeology from Bryn Mawr College.

While a graduate student at Ohio State, Dr. Craig met Lida Scurlock, who also was studying art history. They were married within six months.

In addition to his wife, Dr. Craig is sur vived by his son, Winfield Scott Craig, and daughter-in-law Megan; grandsons Easton and August; and his brother Gary.

The Art, Art History, and Film Depart ment posted a web page of testimonials for Dr. Craig by colleagues and former students: https://www.bc.edu/content/bcweb/schools/mcas/departments/art/people/ profiles/kenneth-craig.html

—University Communications

BC in the Media

Appearing on the MSNBC podcast “Ra chel Maddow Presents: Ultra,” Assoc. Prof.  Charles Gallagher, S.J. (His tory), author of  Nazis of Copley Square, discussed how the Christian Front plotted to violently overthrow the United States government in 1939-1940.

Biz Bracher, director of Cornerstone Seminar Programs in the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, talked about Boston College and the value of liberal arts education in 2022 as a guest on the popular podcast “Kelly Corrigan Won ders,” which recently visited campus for its “Live from College” series.

Many young people assume Social Secu rity won’t be around when they retire—a misconception, according to Anqi Chen, senior research economist at the Center for Retirement Research, who spoke with The New York Times. In a separate Times piece, she addressed the impact of the COLA adjustment on the program’s trust fund.

For adolescents, a subtle, but powerful, shift in perspective can lead to a healthier relationship with social media and its ex pectations, wrote part-time faculty mem ber  Robert J. Keane (BCSSW), co-author of an op-ed in The Boston Globe.

Assoc. Clinical Prof. Mary Holper (Law), director of the school’s Immigration Clinic, spoke with WGBH’s “Morning Edition” in response to the relocation of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Libby Professor of Theology and Law  Cathleen Kaveny published a piece in Commonweal on the Supreme Court and its decisions in Roe v. Wade and Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health.

Jobs

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

Assistant Director of the Volunteer & Service Learning Center

Staff Psychologist or Staff Clinician Career Services Assistant Director, Institutional Planning Auxiliary Systems Support Specialist Assistant Director, Continuing Educa tion

Staff Nurse Director, Cleanroom Facility Asst./Assoc. Director, Annual Giving Administrative Assistant, Law School Associate University Librarian

Since 1311, bond yields have fallen with metronomic regularity, according to research by Asst. Prof. Paul Schmelz ing (CSOM) and colleagues cited by  The Economist.

The New York Times highlighted the True North program and book How to Navi gate Life co-authored by Prof.  Belle Liang (LSOEHD) among efforts to help ease student stress. Liang and her co-author Tim Klein spoke with Forbes about ways to help young people develop a sense of purpose.

Iranian-born Asst. Prof.  Mohammad Ali Kadivar (Sociology) offered his perspective to several media outlets on the unrest in Iran. In an analysis for The Washington Post, he noted that broader swaths of soci ety are showing that they’re outraged, with grievances that won’t soon go away, and he spoke with The Los Angeles Times on politi cal symbolism Iranian women have ad opted in cutting their hair. He also offered comments to BBC Persia, the “Political Science of the Middle East” podcast, and The New York Times

The growing frequency of heat waves affects both energy costs and productiv ity, particularly among outdoor workers, according to Asst. Prof.  Tuomas To munen (CSOM) and colleagues, who dis cussed their research exploring the extent to which those costs are reflected in the pricing of stocks, corporate debt, and mu nicipal bonds with Bloomberg News.

Assoc. Prof.  Jaime L. Waters (STM) wrote an essay on the biblical call to confront ableism for  America magazine.

Lynch School of Education and Human Development Research Professor Philip Altbach and Professor of the Practice Emeritus Hans de Wit published an op-ed on how U.S.-China relations affect Massa chusetts universities in The Boston Globe

Senior Network Systems Engineer Systems Librarian Development Assistant

Assistant Manager, Dining Services Production Manager

Resident Director

Assistant Director, Student Affairs Report Developer

Staff Assistant, Lynch School Auditor/Senior Auditor

Member Services & Operations Coordi nator

Assistant Supervisor, Plumbing Opera tions

Senior Research Associate, Connell School of Nursing

Post Doctoral Research Fellow (multiple positions)

Walking on the Healthy Side

photo by caitlin cunningham

Employees participated in a “pre-kick-off walk” on September 30 to mark the start of Boston College’s Walk Across Campus program, a popular feature of the University’s Healthy You initiative.

BC Arts

Murray Feeling ‘Energized’ as Burns Scholar

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

Like most any author, Paul Murray is grateful for the praise he’s received for his work. He only wishes it would come earlier in the process.

“As a writer, the time you really want af firmation is in the middle of things, when you’re trying to put the book together and you’re struggling and you’re on the point of losing faith. That’s when you could really use someone giving you a round of applause and a bottle of champagne,” quipped Mur ray, who is the Burns Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies at Boston College this semester, in an interview earlier this month at his Connolly House office.

A Dublin native, Murray has written three acclaimed novels: An Evening of Long Goodbyes, shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Irish Book Award; the bestseller Skippy Dies, shortlisted for various honors including the National Book Crit ics’ Circle Award and named one of Time magazine’s Best Books of 2010; and The Mark and the Void, which won the Bollinger Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction and made Time’s Best Books of 2015 list. Ban shee Press has described his work as “urbane, dense, funny, brainy, [and] unpretentious.”

Murray will read from his forthcom ing novel, The Bee Sting, and share his thoughts about the creative process when he presents “How to Write a Novel,” the fall Burns Scholar Lecture, on November 9 at 5:30 p.m. in the Burns Library Thompson Room. The event, preceded by a 4:30 p.m. reception, is free and open to the public.

A collaboration between the Center for Irish Programs and University Libraries, the Burns Scholar program brings outstanding academics, writers, journalists, librarians, and other notable figures to the University to teach courses, offer public lectures, and work with the resources of the Burns Li brary in their ongoing research, writing, and creative endeavors related to Irish history,

BC

The Robsham

art, and culture.

Murray is teaching a writing workshop in fiction for BC undergraduates, cover ing character development, point of view, voice, setting, imagery, sentence design, plot, pacing, and the use of time in a narrative. Students in the class commit to intensive writing, both in class and out, and full par ticipation in the workshop editing process.

“As a writer, it’s easy to feel isolated when you’re working on a book,” he said.

“So to be among students who are excited about writing feels very energizing. I was concerned whether undergraduates might need more infrastructure, but broadly speak ing, they’re quite sophisticated. Some have been writing a long time, some are just try ing it out. I talk to them about their lives, I hear their stories, and some of these are crazy or agonizing. There’s so much going on behind ordinary facades. Writing can be a way for them to make sense of what they’ve experienced.”

Along those lines, The Mark and the Void can be viewed as Murray’s effort at process ing the “Celtic Tiger,” Ireland’s boom-and-

bust period from the mid-1990s to the late 2000s. As a self-confessed “contrarian,” Murray—then in his early 20s—observed the Celtic Tiger’s onset with skepticism and a certain distaste. The transition in Ireland was certainly profound, he recalled: Where in pre-Celtic Tiger Ireland, talented, edu cated young people typically pined for their green cards so they could seek better pros pects abroad, now many of them found lu crative jobs with tech companies in Ireland, enabling them to accumulate property and other trappings of wealth.

“Something about it creeped me out,” said Murray. “There was an ambient nega tivity about it all: People got rich but also materialistic; no show-offery was too much. It all seemed so empty.”

It wasn’t all bad, he added. The Celtic Tiger seemed to spark a diversity in ideas and social mores in Ireland, and general optimism: “Even after the crash, there was a sense that ‘things could be done.’”

But the revelations of (at best) unethical behavior within the financial industry, with little or no repercussions for those exhibiting

it, left a sour taste in many mouths. After owning more property overseas per capita than any other country, as Murray notes, suddenly Ireland owned less of its own property per capita than any other nation. He found himself compelled to learn more about the practices and policies that led to this reversal of fortune, and his self-educa tion informs The Mark and the Void—full of peculiar characters and improbable events revolving around a Dublin investment bank that survived the 2008 global market crash.

“Being a writer is a good job for a con trarian: You can’t be fired from it,” said Murray, who earned a bachelor’s degree in English and philosophy at Trinity College and a master’s degree in creative writing at the University of East Anglia. “I always wrote. As a kid, it was comics, later it was songs and film scripts. But writing fiction felt like the only thing I could do where I had complete control. I was lucky in that I met people on the way who pointed me in one direction or another.”

One such person was Joseph Nugent, a professor of the practice in English and member of the Irish Studies faculty, who at tended Murray’s reading of Skippy Dies in an Irish bookstore, which led to a conversation between the two—and, a few years later, an invitation for Murray to speak at BC (he also has appeared on “The Irish Influence,” a webinar series launched by Nugent and Boston College Ireland Academic Director Michael Cronin).

And now, Murray is set to join the list of distinguished personalities—among them Mary McAleese, Maurice Harmon, Paul Bew, Margaret Kelleher, Diarmaid Ferriter, Kevin Barry, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, and Guy Beiner, now the Sullivan Professor and director of BC’s Center for Irish Programs— who have presented the Burns Lecture.

“No, I’m not really going to tell people how to write a novel,” laughed Murray.

“What I want to talk about are the special twists of fate that can occur in our lives, and where they can take us. I’ve had more than a few of these myself, and I’d say on the whole it’s worked out pretty well.”

Paul Murray on his upcoming Burns Lecture: “What I want to talk about are the special twists of fate that can occur in our lives, and where they can take us. I’ve had more than a few of these myself, and I’d say on the whole it’s worked out pretty well.”

photo by lee pellegrini

PHOTOS BY LEE PELLEGRINI