bcchronicle2122025

PUBLISHED BY THE BOSTON COLLEGE OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

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MLK Scholarship

Project Life

Tainted Images, Stolen Lives

Lynch School’s Edwards to speak at annual Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Banquet.

A BC senior made a lifesaving decision.

Michalczyk studies life and career of Third Reich propagandist Julius Streicher.

PUBLISHED BY THE BOSTON COLLEGE OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

FEBRUARY 12, 2026 VOL. 33 NO. 11

Cann Chosen as VP for Information Tech. Services

BY JACK DUNN ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Members of the Facilities Services staff paused for a photo during their snow removal operations last week at 300 Hammond Pond Parkway. photo by caitlin cunningham

BIG CHILL

When winter came to the Heights with a vengeance, BC employees responded

BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER

Greater Boston escaped the February 1 bomb cyclone expected to bring heavy snow, hurricane-force winds, and coastal flooding, but Boston College, like the rest of the area, is still digging out following the city’s eighth snowiest storm on record, which dropped nearly two feet of winter’s confetti on January 25-26.

The University closed on January 26 and classes were canceled for the first time since 2018, but while students enjoyed the day off, the University’s snow removal team was hard at work clearing slush-choked sidewalks and slippery roads, exacerbated by nasty wind chills.

The late January storm was part of a far-reaching weather system that delivered heavy snow, bone-chilling temperatures, and icy conditions from Texas to Maine.

Though the precipitation eventually tapered off after two days, the bitter cold lingered through the first week of February.

According to Associate Director of Landscape Services Scott H. McCoy, between 500-540 loads of snow—transported

in 10-wheeler dump trucks (each holding between 10 to 15 tons apiece) over a fournight span during and after the storm— were unloaded at 300 Hammond Pond Parkway, the BC-owned property located south of the Main Campus. A 60-foot mountain of densely packed snowflakes now towers over the area, and it may take until May for the hill to fully melt.

“We have a core team of 32 employees, and anywhere from 50-100 custodial staff, plus contractors, so the entire snow removal crew may total as many as 175-200 people,” said McCoy, noting that the entire BC campus totals over 400 acres, which is more than 300 football fields. “The work never stops until all the roadways, sidewalks, and stairs are cleared. It can be grueling; we make every effort to make sure our workers are fed, rested, and dry, but some of the folks stayed on campus, sleeping on cots wherever they could find a space. It’s a very dedicated group.”

The BC Police Department provides critical assistance during snowstorms, explained McCoy, not only by assigning details to all large snow removal vehicles to

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Scott Cann, associate vice president for systems and services in Information Technology Services (ITS), has been named vice president for ITS, effective April 1. He succeeds Michael Bourque, who announced in November that he was retiring this March after 23 years of service.

A respected information technology executive with 25 years of leadership experience, Cann has earned a reputation at BC as a highly collaborative leader with broad technical knowledge and proven experience in strategic planning, supervising large-scale projects, and managing change in the ever-evolving world of information technology.

Executive Vice President Michael Lochhead said Cann was chosen after an extensive search that included chief information and technology officers at peer universities and for-profit and not-for-profit organizations.

“In preparing for the search process for the next vice president for Information

Scott Cann photo by peter julian

Technology Services, we knew we needed to find a leader who not only understood the mission of Boston College but could help advance it through their work and leadership,” said Lochhead.

“Further, it was paramount that we find someone who could help ensure stability

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‘The Face of BC in the Community’ Boston College Neighborhood Ctr. provides valuable outreach to Boston, offers students opportunities to help others—and learn about themselves

BY ELLEN SEAWARD SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

Boston College Neighborhood Center Director Maria DiChiappari likes to say that “you can get everything you need” when you visit the center.

That’s because unlike other offices at Boston College, the BCNC shares a building in Brighton with a lawyer, a chiropractor, a massage therapist, and a nail salon.

Although somewhat unusual, DiChiappari describes the location as a space integral to the University’s Jesuit ideal of service, intentionally enmeshed in the neighborhood.

“Our purpose has always been to be a presence in the neighborhood, for people to know us and to connect and to find resources,” DiChiappari said. “Allston-Brighton is a vibrant, diverse, and collaborative community.”

For over 30 years, the BCNC has helped Boston College students enhance their college experience while supporting the Allston-Brighton community. The center first opened its doors in 1995 with a mission to support the Allston-Brighton community by sponsoring programs, connecting residents to BC’s resources, and

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Chronicle

February 12, 2026

“Law, Conscience, and Migration Today”

Conference to Examine Migration Issues Through Different Lenses The conference continues the next day at 9 a.m. in Gasson 100 with remarks from Nguyen, who leads a department Against the current backdrop of United that works to advance stability, economic States immigration policy—and a sharp empowerment, civic ownership, and social rise in fear and uncertainty over enforceintegration for immigrants in Boston. She ment tactics—Boston College will host the will present “Moral Courage in Defense of interdisciplinary conference “Law, ConMigrants: A View from Boston.” science, and Migration Today” on February Additional conference speakers include 19 and 20 to explore the complex dynamscholars and graduate students from a vaics of contemporary migration with a focus riety of disciplines, policy experts, ecclesial on local and national contexts. and civic leaders, as well as representatives “We aim to address sweeping changes from community-based initiatives. In addiover the past year impacting migrants from tion to Heyer, other BC faculty scheduled interdisciplinary academic viewpoints as to participate include BC Law School well as ecclesial, civic, and grassroots perProfessor and Dean’s Distinguished Scholar spectives,” said Joseph Professor of TheolDaniel Kanstroom; Maryanne Loughry, ogy Kristin Heyer, who is co-convening the senior advisor on Jesuit Refugee Services in conference with Matthew Cuff, a doctoral the Office of Global Engagement; and BC candidate in systematic School of Social Work “We aim to address theology at BC. “Our Assistant Professor Alehope is that by conven- sweeping changes imjandro Olayo-Méndez, ing leaders from the S.J. Robert L. and Judith U.S.-Mexico border and pacting migrants from T. Winston Provost and city hall, scholars and Dean of Faculties David interdisciplinary acalawyers, advocates and Quigley and Morrissey artists, we can broaden demic viewpoints as well College of Arts and Sciand deepen the conences Dean Gregory as ecclesial, civic, and versation at this critical Kalscheur, S.J., will offer grassroots perspectime in U.S. history. introductions.

“The scholars and Madeline Jarrett, a tives,” says co-convenor practitioners gathering BC doctoral candidate Kristin Heyer. are well poised to help in systematic theology participants understand and graduate research the origins and impact of new immigration assistant at the Boisi Center for Religion policies and tactics. Conference offerings and American Public Life, is overseeing the will also highlight ways participants can graduate student portion of the conference, take action, whether on campus, locally, or which will feature panelists giving papers, nationally.” poster presentations, and art displays. OthPlenary speakers will be Most Reverend er BC graduate students participating in Mark J. Seitz, bishop of El Paso, Tex., and the conference include Ingrid Bustos AleMonique Tú Nguyen, executive director of man, Armando Guerrero Estrada, Andrew the Boston Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Hall, Sarah Hansman ’18, Eryn Reyes LeAdvancement. ong, Jaret Ornelas, S.J., Molly Snakenberg, The conference will begin on February and Yves Tassi.

19 at 4 p.m. in Gasson 100, where Bishop “Law, Conscience, and Migration ToSeitz will explore the realities of immigraday” is co-sponsored by the Institute for tion through the lens of Catholic social the Liberal Arts, Provost’s Office, Jesuit Inteaching and lived pastoral experience at stitute, Morrissey College of Arts and Scithe U.S.-Mexico border. Drawing on his ences, Theology Department, Boisi Center ministry in one of the nation’s most active for Religion and American Public Life, border regions, he will discuss the moral, Gloria L. and Charles I. Clough School of spiritual, and human dimensions of migra- Theology and Ministry, and Boston Coltion in a moment of mass deportation, lege Law School. and reflect on how the Catholic Church is The conference is free and open to the pubcalled to respond to current immigration lic. For registration and the full schedule of realities with faith, compassion, and a com- events, see https://bit.ly/BC-Law-Consciencemitment to human dignity.

Migration-Today-event

BY KATHLEEN SULLIVAN STAFF WRITER

ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Jack Dunn

SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Patricia Delaney EDITOR

Sean Smith

CONTRIBUTING STAFF

Office of University Communications Director of Photography Caitlin Cunningham and Senior Photographer Matthew Healey. photo by ariana cho

OUC Photography Team Is Set Veteran photographer Matthew Healey has joined the photography team in the Office of University Communications, assuming the role of senior photographer in January.

Healey, who had worked as a freelance photographer for Tufts, Harvard, and Northeastern universities, Boston College, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, among other schools, had also worked as a freelance photojournalist for major media outlets ranging from the Wall Street Journal and New York Times to UPI and the European Pressphoto Agency.

He joins Director of Photography Caitlin Cunningham, who was appointed to the top position this fall. Cunningham succeeded Lee Pellegrini, who had photographed University events great and small for close to five decades before his death in August.

Healey said he was honored to join the team at Boston College given the unique opportunity it provides in working at a liberal arts, research university with Division I NCAA sports and a vibrant arts scene on what he described as one of the nation’s most beautiful college campuses.

“I draw inspiration from seeing so many people fully committed to teaching and learning in such an energetic and close-knit community,” said Healey. “I have really enjoyed taking in all that BC has to offer and learning things every day just by being engrossed in this environment.”

Cunningham, whose association with BC first began in 2010 under the tutelage of Pellegrini and retired Director of Photography Gary Gilbert, said that Healey

Phil Gloudemans Ed Hayward Audrey Loyack Rosanne Pellegrini Kathleen Sullivan

Chronicle

PHOTOGRAPHERS

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

Caitlin Cunningham Matthew Healey

had a level of talent and experience that aligned perfectly with OUC’s needs.

“I was drawn to Matt’s work because of his strength in composition and also because he shows empathy and thoughtfulness in his subject matter, whether he is filming a class, a portrait, or a football game,” said Cunningham. “I was mentored by a team that demonstrated mutual respect and kindness while producing work of the highest quality. I look forward to carrying that tradition forward with Matt.”

In their respective roles, Cunningham and Healey serve all nine of BC’s schools and colleges, as well as its administrative offices. Their photos populate print publications ranging from Boston College Magazine and the Chronicle newspaper to the viewbooks, brochures, and pamphlets used for undergraduate and graduate student recruitment. Their work is also used extensively on BC’s website and social media channels and in dozens of e-newsletters created on behalf of schools, academic departments, and outward-facing administrative units.

“Photography has always been a significant strength at Boston College, and it is central to our task of storytelling,” said Associate Vice President for University Communications Jack Dunn.

“Matt is a terrific addition to the Office of University Communications, and having Caitlin and Matt working together gives us a level of talent unrivaled among peer institutions. I am pleased to have them engaged in this important effort on behalf of Boston College and the University community.”

—University Communications

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.

Distributed free to faculty and staff offices and other locations on campus.

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POSTMASTER: send address changes to The Boston College Chronicle, Office of University Communications, 3 Lake Street, Brighton, MA 02135.

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Send requests to chronicle@bc.edu.

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Chronicle

February 12, 2026

MLK Scholarship Banquet Will Take Place February 23

BY AUDREY LOYACK STAFF WRITER

Lynch School of Education and Human Development Assistant Professor Earl Edwards ’10, a researcher of structural racism and homelessness among K-12 students, scholar of educational leadership, and human rights advocate, will be the keynote speaker at the 44th Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Banquet taking place on February 23 at 5:30 p.m. in the Yawkey Center Murray Function Room.

At the event, University President William P. Leahy, S.J., will present the MLK Scholarship, awarded annually to a Boston College junior who has demonstrated superior academic achievement, extracurricular leadership, community service, and involvement with the African American community and African American issues on and off campus.

This year’s finalists are Carroll School of Management students Brian Davids, Kaitlyn Gyamfi, and Gabrielle Keeley, and Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences students Mohamed Yassir Dirar and Timileyin Faba. The scholarship provides up to

Lynch School Assistant Professor Earl Edwards, a 2010 alumnus, will be the featured speaker at this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Banquet.

$35,000 toward the winner’s senior-year tuition and an additional $1,000 gift certificate to the Boston College Bookstore.

Edwards, who graduated BC with a

bachelor’s degree in sociology, joined the Lynch School faculty in 2023 after completing a master’s degree in school leadership and a doctorate in urban schooling from Columbia University Teachers College and the University of California-Los Angeles Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, respectively.

While an undergraduate at BC, Edwards was president of the AHANA Leadership Council and NAACP chapter and was awarded the title “2010 Person of the Year” by BC’s independent student newspaper The Heights. He is also an alumnus of the Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center’s Options Through Education Transition Program.

Edwards’ expertise and research interests encompass educational leadership and policy, equity and social justice, urban education, and educational policy. He also leads the Housing and Educational Equity Lab (HEEL), a collaborative research initiative between the Lynch School and the Psychology Department at the College of the Holy Cross. His lab has published papers in the Journal of Trauma Studies in Education; Social Sciences; Journal of Children and Poverty, and Sage Journals.

In 2024, under Edwards’ directorship, HEEL released a policy report titled “Who are Serving the Unseen? An Analysis of the Student Homeless Population in Massachusetts Charter Schools.”

“It is a profound honor to return to Boston College and deliver the keynote at the MLK Scholarship Banquet,” he said.

“As someone who was an MLK Scholarship finalist nearly two decades ago, this moment feels deeply full circle. I’m especially grateful to celebrate the remarkable students whose leadership and commitment to justice carry forward Dr. King’s legacy and remind us of the transformative role education and service can play in building a more equitable world.”

Edwards is a board member of California-based housing nonprofit Brilliant Corners and Higher Ground Boston, a Roxbury-based nonprofit that connects families in Greater Boston communities like Dorchester, Mattapan, and Roxbury with resources to address the interconnected issues of education, health, and housing.

For more information on the MLK Scholarship, go to bc.edu/mlk, or email mlkjr@bc.edu.

BC Introduces Accelerated MHA Pathway for Undergrads Initiative offers students a head start toward leadership in healthcare administration

driving innovations that strengthen care delivery and improve health outcomes.

“Even more exciting for students,” Amador added, “is the opportunity to pursue careers with purpose—improving lives, transforming health systems, and making a meaningful, lasting impact on the health of individuals, families, and communities.”

For more information about the Accelerated MHA Pathway, email tristen.amador@ bc.edu. Additional information about the Master of Healthcare Administration degree is available on the program website [bit.ly/ BC-Master-of-Healthcare-Administration]

BY PATRICIA DELANEY SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Boston College students will now be able to earn significant credit toward a Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA) degree while still completing their bachelor’s degree, thanks to a collaboration between the University’s Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good (GPHCG) and the Woods College of Advancing Studies.

The new Accelerated MHA Pathway is designed to prepare students who are passionate about public health, healthcare innovation, and social justice to become the future of healthcare leadership, administrators say.

“Healthcare is a complex field,” said Professor of Biology Philip Landrigan, M.D., a pediatrician, public health physician, and founding director of GPHCG. “Successful healthcare leaders must be knowledgeable in multiple areas that include medicine, nursing, administration, law, finance, population health, and politics. This program will give our students all of the technical skills they will need to meet and overcome the challenges of modern healthcare, and it will provide this technical training in a context that emphasizes formative education and prepares them for ethical, morally responsible leadership.”

The Woods College MHA, which is

Philip J. Landrigan, M.D., director of the Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good, and Tristen Amador, director of the Master of Healthcare Administration degree program. photos by caitlin cunningham

fully online, has an industry-aligned curriculum developed in collaboration with healthcare professionals. The program readies leaders to drive ethical organizational change within a rapidly changing healthcare landscape—making this pathway especially valuable for BC’s public health students, according to Landrigan.

“They will graduate from Boston College with sound foundational knowledge in population health, epidemiology, biostatistics, public health law, and public health ethics, and so will enter the healthcare field with a huge head start,” he said.

GPHCG majors and minors can earn up to 14 graduate credits toward an MHA, facilitating their admission to the Woods College program following graduation, after which they may potentially complete

their degree in as little as one year.

The accelerated pathway will help BC students to compete successfully in one of the nation’s fastest-growing fields. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics projects stronger-than-average job growth in healthcare administration through 2034, driven by factors such as care for an aging population and the advent of modern technologies, among others.

“Healthcare administration offers an exceptional range of career opportunities across virtually every health care setting and specialty,” said MHA Program Director Tristen Amador. “Our MHA students and alumni are in high demand, working within complex, rapidly evolving health systems nationwide—leading organizations, serving diverse populations, and

Boston Archbishop to Speak on Campus Feb. 17 Archbishop of Boston Rev. Richard G. Henning, S.T.D., will present “A Conversation on Reconciliation” on February 17 at 4:30 p.m. in the Corcoran Commons Heights Room, an event sponsored by the Church in the 21st Century Center.

Since his 2024 installation, Archbishop Henning has embarked on a “listening and learning” tour, which included a Eucharistic procession by boat along the North Shore, and visited area colleges while remarking on students’ increased interest in Catholicism. He has focused on strengthening parishes, promoting transparency, and continuing his work with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on doctrine and scripture.

Space is limited; to register, go to forms. gle/1hoHPCzahNfEmcgv6

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Chronicle

February 12, 2026

Neighborhood Center Seeks to Be ‘Presence’ in Community Continued from page 1

providing funding to local nonprofits.

DiChiappari has been building community partnerships by collaborating with local social, health, and educational services since she became the center’s director in 1997; today, the BCNC supports 29 local nonprofits with 150-200 students mobilizing in the community each semester. The Brighton office offers a central location where visitors can attend community meetings and connect directly with DiChiappari.

Anyone who lives or works in AllstonBrighton is eligible for the BCNC’s services, all of which are free. BC students volunteer in four signature programs: conducting weekly English conversation classes with adult immigrants through English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL); tutoring at Faneuil Gardens After School Program, Saint Columbkille Partnership School, and the Steppingstone Foundation through the Literacy Partnership Program (BLPP); providing one-on-one tutoring to AllstonBrighton residents through Volunteer Tutoring; and mentoring eight- to 11-year-old girls in BC’s Girls Inc. chapter (formerly known as Strong Women, Strong Girls).

Each program is led by a student coordinator who helps manage logistics and volunteers, from ensuring participants can attend tutoring sessions to creating lesson plans.

BLPP coordinator Isabella Bernaldo ’26 considers community to be continuous outreach; BCNC, she says, is outreach in practice. She remembers a poignant moment returning to the BC campus after a tutoring session and seeing her student with their family on a bus.

“We waved at each other, and it was an experience that was flipped for me.

Growing up, it was sometimes strange to see teachers outside of school. However, at that moment, I saw the impact of BLPP in action. Though I work with students at the school, their lives go beyond the school walls.”

ESOL coordinator Daniela Bello ’26

shared a similar sentiment, noting that BCNC has taught her that community isn’t built through grand gestures but through genuine connection created by consistently showing up.

“From freshman through sophomore year, I worked closely with a student named

Letters to BC senior Clare Donnelly from former mentees in the Strong Women, Strong Girls program (now Girls Inc.): “This experience has been especially meaningful because while I am supporting my mentees’ academic and personal growth,” she says, “I am also gaining perspective, empathy, and a deeper understanding of the communities that make up Boston.”

Maria. At the beginning of every class, we would spend a few minutes catching up.

She would tell me about what was going on in her life, and she always made sure to ask about mine, too. Over time, it felt like two friends having a conversation.”

For Girls Inc. co-director Clare Donnelly ’26, working at the BCNC has shown her that community is built through commitment and trust—and that taking the time to understand who mentees are and what they need as individuals allows real relationships to develop over time.

“I’ve seen how access to encouragement and support can shape a young person’s confidence and sense of possibility,” said Donnelly. “This experience has been especially meaningful because while I am supporting my mentees’ academic and personal growth, I am also gaining perspective, empathy, and a deeper understanding of the communities that make up Boston.”

BCNC’s work is twofold: In addition to connecting BC students to the community

Scott Cann to Lead ITS Continued from page 1

and continuity and maintain the momentum of the ITS organization. Scott Cann was the logical and strong choice and someone whom I have great confidence in to help sustain the customer-focused community within ITS. I look forward to working with Scott in this new capacity in the coming years on many important projects and issues affecting Boston College.”

As AVP of ITS since 2023, Cann led a team of 225 and was responsible for a broad portfolio of technologies and services in functions ranging from applications and systems operations to support services and research computing. He oversaw a portfolio of 300 applications, including PeopleSoft and Eagle Apps Student Information System, while supervising ITS’ systems and network teams. He also worked closely with cybersecurity partners within the division and with community partners to

through the center’s four signature volunteer opportunities, DiChiappari also serves on community boards, task forces, and focus groups. She uses her plugged-in neighborhood insight to partner BC volunteers with community members, such as when she connected part-time Music Department

advance artificial intelligence innovation at Boston College.

In addition, he worked extensively with faculty across the University with the Faculty Technology Contacts group and as a member of the Academic Technology Advisory Board.

Prior to his appointment as AVP, he served as ITS technology director from 2012-2023, directing services in research, computing, and statistics and analysis, as well as technology consultation and multimedia creative services.

Cann said he was honored to be named vice president and to lead a division that touches every aspect of University life at Boston College.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the University in this new capacity, and I am so appreciative of the dedicated and talented ITS team that I have worked

faculty member Barbara Gawlick with a local school. Gawlick was looking to include a service-learning component to her class and ultimately raised money to tune instruments for the school; 15 years later, that connection has become the Music Outreach Program, a self-sustaining partnership that helps more Allston-Brighton students access the arts.

Among the many organizations to which DiChiappari brings the BCNC’s resources is the Allston-Brighton Adult Education Coalition. There she met Jo-Ann Barbour, executive director of Charlesview Inc., an Allston-Brighton organization dedicated to providing affordable homes and accessible community spaces, and funding community-based programs. According to Barbour, the BCNC’s partnership is extensive and enduring, from supporting advocacy and education around substance abuse to serving as a community representative on a charitable fund that awards grants within Allston-Brighton.

“We absolutely love Maria and the work she does through the BCNC for our community,” said Barbour.

Michelle Duval is the director of the Gardner Pilot Academy’s Adult Education Program, which provides free English classes for speakers of other languages.

Duval, who also works with DiChiappari on the Allston-Brighton Adult Education Coalition, emphasized DiChiappari and the BCNC as the face of Boston College within the community.

“Maria is instrumental in finding support for folks living in Allston-Brighton. I encourage students to visit BCNC and use the services there if our ESOL classes have a waitlist.”

For DiChiappari, that’s the whole goal.

“The BCNC is designed to be in the community, for the community,” she explained. “We want to be easily accessible so that we can be a true neighbor and provide resources.

“It’s not about going in and changing things. It’s about asking, ‘How can we make an impact together?’ and being a presence in the community as men and women for others.”

“Boston College is proud of the over 30-year record of community engagement, outreach, and support that the BCNC provides to residents and non-profits in the Allston-Brighton community through their tutoring, mentoring, ESOL, student service, and grant programs,” said Director of Community Affairs Bill Mills.

“They truly are the face of Boston College in the community, helping match BC resources to community needs.”

DiChiappari encourages anyone interested in getting involved with the BCNC to reach out, from faculty looking for ways to connect their classes with the Allston-Brighton community to students who want to volunteer. Visit https://bit.ly/neighborhoodcenter to learn more.

Ellen Seaward is a senior digital content writer in the Office of University Communications

Executive Vice President Michael Lochhead called Cann (left) “the logical and strong choice and someone whom I have great confidence in to help sustain the customer-focused community within ITS.” photo by lee pellegrini

with these past 13 years,” said Cann.

“Since I arrived at Boston College, my focus has been on providing the essential technology and services to our incredible faculty, students, and staff. I look forward to strengthening our relationships and working together to fulfill the University’s mission.”

Before joining Boston College, Cann worked in Information Services at Northeastern University and at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington. He began his career as a general manager at Kashmir Studios, a New Hampshire-based music

and software distribution firm.

A graduate of the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, Cann received a master’s degree in higher education administration from Boston College. He lives in Sudbury with his wife, Raquel, and four children.

“Boston College has been such a central part of our family life,” said Cann.

“More than anywhere else in my career, I have derived a real sense of purpose working at BC. I feel privileged to be a part of something so meaningful and important and look forward to the work that lies ahead.”

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Chronicle

February 12, 2026

Nanoparticles Seen As Helping Body Battle Disease BC researchers seek to develop a new method of cancer-fighting therapy

BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER

Piezoelectric nanoparticles deployed inside immune cells and stimulated remotely by ultrasound can trigger the body’s disease-fighting response, an interdisciplinary team of Boston College researchers recently reported in the journal Scientific Reports.

The use of piezoelectric particles to activate macrophages, cells central to the body’s immune response, could potentially allow for the precise, on-demand activation of cells specifically at an infection or tumor site, avoiding the toxicity and side effects associated with systemic administration of drugs, according to the co-authors of the study.

“We wanted to find out if we can use physics, in the forms of piezoelectricity and ultrasound, to control biology—by directing differentiation of immune cells—in such a way as to control inflammation and, in a broader sense, discover how cells coherently respond to a diverse set of biophysical stimuli,” said Ferris Professor of Physics Michael J. Naughton, a co-author of the report.

Piezoelectric materials generate an electric charge when subjected to mechanical

stress, such as by ultrasound, and they can also deform when an electric field is applied. Common examples include certain crystals, ceramics, and biological materials such as bone and DNA. In this case, the researchers used barium titanate.

The team used the nanoparticles to study mammalian macrophage cells, which are particularly sensitive to biological and biophysical stimuli, according to the report, titled “Barium titanate piezoelectric nanoparticles induce M1 polarization in mouse macrophages via ultrasound in vitro.”

The immune cells that had taken up the nanoparticles and were subjected to the bioelectric effect of ultrasound became activated to a form that can fight infection, attack tumors, and potentially enhance current therapeutic approaches, according to the report.

The researchers also made a surprising discovery.

“We found that too high an ultrasound power could kill nanoparticle-loaded cells, so we lowered the power to avoid this,” said Naughton. “Upon second thought, we realized that we could kill cells by deploying this method. This led us to think: What about cancer?”

The team began testing the nanoparticle plus ultrasound method as a therapy against cancer. Since then, they have obtained funding from the Mathers Foundation to develop the method as a cancer-

Ferris Professor of Physics Michael J. Naughton is a co-author of a recent report describing how piezoelectric nanoparticles can trigger the body’s immune response. photo by lee pellegrini

fighting therapy, said Naughton.

The team is collaborating with Yale School of Medicine researchers, who have added a radioactive “tag” to the nanoparticles so they can be tracked inside cancer cells via PET imaging, Naughton said.

That could potentially find use as a focused ultrasound cancer therapy combining diagnostic imaging and therapeutic treatment

at the same time.

Immune cells are particularly responsive to biophysical as well as biochemical cues, so an important next step is to understand how cells respond to such cues, said Research Professor of Biology Timothy Connolly, another co-author of the study.

“With what we have learned, we suggest that biophysical regulation of immune cells involves the formation of little droplets inside the cells that sequester certain genes and support key cellular activities, ultimately controlling genes essential to life,” Connolly said. “If so, this could represent a new, universal biophysical code of biology.”

Such a code could help to explain how biological cells coherently respond to a wide range of physical or environmental conditions that influence a diverse set of cellular phenotypes, from cancer and aging to immune cell activation, Connolly added.

To investigate this, the team plans to undertake single cell genetic sequencing to look for commonality between biophysically and biologically regulated cells.

In addition to Naughton and Connolly, co-authors of the report included Professor of Physics Krzysztof Kempa, and Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences graduates Camille Johnson ’25 (Biology), Allison Chen ’25 (Neuroscience), and Dylan Hatt ’24 (Physics).

To read the study, go to www.nature.com/ articles/s41598-025-23364-6#citeas

BC Staffers Keep Up the Good Fight Against Winter Continued from page 1

ensure public safety, but stationing officers ishment and their emotional well-being. at each campus to safeguard the commu“We need to nurture their bodies just as nity. the faculty nurtures their minds,” he said.

“Our entire focus is safety,” said Deputy “We simply cannot run out of food and Chief Kevin Buckley. “Ideally, we can water.” prevent storm-related injuries through inRogan echoed that theme, noting that tervention, but when they do occur, we can the dining halls are important gathering respond quickly by having officers nearby.” places during times of duress.

Storm preparation and advance plan“They are always very busy during ning are crucial for all campus departments closures, so our goal was to keep as many impacted by both severe weather and options available as possible, including our transport-inhibiting snowfall, but Dining markets and late-night programs, which Services often requires were mostly kept open Dining Services administrator an extra dose. both days of the storm “We spring into due to our student Rebecca Rogan says students planning mode and workforce,” she said. express gratitude to BCDS start our prep several But while stustaff. “We frequently get a lot days out, as soon as dents can return it becomes clear that to their dorms, the of ‘thanks’ for being open and there may be a signifiDining Services staff providing a comfortable place cant snow event,” said members—includfor them, which is very satisfyAssociate Director of ing approximately 80 Restaurant Operations front-line employees, ing. Our employees literally Rebecca Rogan. “We 30 managers, and 50 brave the storm to ensure that anticipate that food destudent employees—are food, care, and community liveries can be delayed often landlocked, since or simply not make it, traveling to and from never miss a beat.” so we develop a plan to their homes may be consolidate our supplies hazardous or, in the if necessary.” case of public transportation, delayed or Associate Director of Food and Bevercompletely shut down. age Frank Bailey underscored that the team “We have some ‘sleepovers’ during understands that campus is students’ home storms with employees sleeping on cots in away from home and feeding them during quiet spaces,” explained Bailey. “We underthese storms is crucial both for their nourstand that our team makes significant sac-

rifices, and it can be very tough on their families, but their ongoing commitment is truly reflective of the BC culture. Through careful planning, creative problem solving, and an all-hands-on-deck spirit, we deliver on our promise, despite the conditions.”

Dining Services’ efforts to be present for the students during storms are regularly acknowledged by the undergraduates, noted Rogan.

Snapshot

“Students are often very complimentary,” she said. “We frequently get a lot of ‘thanks’ for being open and providing a comfortable place for them, which is very satisfying. Our employees literally brave the storm to ensure that food, care, and community never miss a beat. Their pride in serving our students turns even the toughest days into moments of teamwork and joy.”

photo by matthew healey

Deans and Donuts

The Office of the Dean of Students continued its “Deans and Donuts” series on January 30. In addition to free donuts, these regularly occurring events offer students opportunities for conversation and to learn about campus resources.

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February 12, 2026

Another Life Saved

Thomas Gregory ’26 (right) and Luke Kuechly ‘15, national ambassador for nonprofit Project Life, flank Randall Ingram, who was able to have life-saving surgery thanks to a donation of stem cells from Gregory through Project Life.

Thomas Gregory ’26 stepped up to help cure someone else’s cancer. Now he encourages others to do the same.

BY ALIX HACKETT SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

Last fall, Boston College senior Thomas Gregory sat down to dinner with Randall Ingram, a middle-aged man from Georgia whom he’d just met that day. They talked about Ingram’s grandchildren and the youth baseball team he coached, and as the conversation progressed, Gregory sometimes forgot what had brought them together in the first place.

“It was awesome just getting to know him and hear his story,” recalled Gregory, an engineering major. “I don’t think I totally grasped how cool it was that I was meeting someone whose life I had saved.”

A year earlier, Gregory had flown to Florida to donate stem cells that would be used in a life-saving transplant for Ingram, who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in 2023. The pair were matched by the Project Life Movement, a nonprofit dedicated to saving the lives of patients suffering from leukemia, lymphoma, and sickle cell disease.

Since 2019, more than 3,200 Boston College students—including Gregory— have signed up to join the Global Stem Cell and Bone Marrow Registry during

Project Life’s annual on-campus drives, run in partnership with the Undergraduate Government of Boston College. The registration process is simple: a cheek swab and a signature, all in under 10 minutes.

Only about one in 1,000 registrants will be called with a potential match, which is why Gregory was surprised to be contacted just a few months after signing up. After further testing, he agreed to go ahead with the donation.

“They made it really easy,” he said of Project Life and its clinical partner, Gift of Life. “They put us up in a hotel on the beach and the procedure was super chill, not painful at all. It was crazy to be sitting there watching movies thinking, ‘This is going to be what cures cancer for someone.’”

Blood cancers affect an estimated 1.7 million Americans, and someone is newly diagnosed every three hours. Stem cell transplants are a highly effective treatment method, but the donor and patient must share specific genetic markers for the cells to be accepted. To expand the donor pool, Project Life hosts more than 60 registration drives on college campuses every year, aided by national ambassador and former BC and pro football star Luke Kuechly ’15.

Gaelic Roots Begins Next Week The Boston College Gaelic Roots series, which features accomplished musicians, singers, and scholars of Irish, Scottish, American, and related folk traditions, will host a performance on February 19 by Irish fiddler Gerry O’Connor and a participatory Irish ceili dance event on March 27.

Gaelic Roots events, which begin at 6:30 p.m., are free and open to the public.

A native of Dundalk, Ireland, O’Connor comes from an extensive family music tradition going back generations.

Immersed in the highly ornamented, energetic Sligo fiddle style, O’Connor won numerous All-Ireland competitions in his youth and became involved in the groundbreaking Irish folk music revival that had begun in the late 1960s. Besides his solo work, O’Connor helped found highly regarded bands such as Skylark and Lá Lúgh, and toured and recorded with foundational groups that included Planxty, the Bothy Band, De Dannan, Boys of the Lough and the Chieftains. A qualified violin maker and restorer, he also has been part of collaborations exploring other music traditions including those of Brittany and Cape Breton and was involved in a tour and recording with the Irish Baroque Orchestra.

At the Gaelic Roots concert, which takes place in Connolly House (300 Hammond Street), O’Connor will be joined

by Kevin McElroy, a singer and multiinstrumentalist from Rowley, Mass., who has performed regularly with numerous Irish music luminaries including Seamus Connolly, former Sullivan Artist in Residence and director of Irish music programs

The two met for the first time last fall at a campus event.

Among them, Boston College stands out, said Executive Director Ann Henegar.

“There’s something different about Boston College,” she said. “The enthusiasm and the support for our events are just exceptional. BC students set the tone for what we wish all multi-day drives were like.”

In the past six years, eight students have answered the call to donate, helping to save the lives of complete strangers. Nationally, around 50 percent of potential donors who are matched with a patient end up following through, said Henegar.

“There’s a long way to go between a match and a transplant,” she said. “The thing we’ve noticed about BC students is that when they find out they’ve matched, they say yes.”

BC Scenes

Last fall, Kuechly and Project Life returned to campus for another two-day drive. On a Wednesday night, they held an event in the Heights Room where Kuechly introduced Gregory and Ingram for the first time. The whole thing was “surreal,” said Gregory, who remembers his time in Florida as more like a vacation than a medical procedure.

“Everyone’s like ‘Oh my gosh you’re such a hero,’ but when I describe it to people, they’re like, ‘I want to do that,’” said Gregory. “In general, I just want to keep telling people that I did it so that maybe they’ll do it too.”

Alix Hackett is a senior digital content writer in the Office of University Communications

PHOTOS BY CAITLIN CUNNINGHAM

Black History Month Opening Boston College celebrated the opening of Black History Month on February 3 in the Corcoran Commons Heights Room, with speakers including Thea Bowman AHANA & Intercultural Center Director Yvonne McBarnett, at left, a performance by student group BEATS (Black Experience in America Through Song), below, and other activities. For more on Black History Month events at BC, see bc.edu/bhm.

Renowned Irish fiddler Gerry O’Connor, who will be on campus February 19.

at BC. The March 27 ceili, to be held in Gasson 100, will be an evening of popular social dances from Irish tradition that are open to all—no experience is necessary.

The event will be led by Jackie O’Riley, a local Irish dance performer and teacher, and fiddler Sheila Falls Keohane, director of Gaelic Roots; local musicians also will take part.

At press time, plans for additional Gaelic Roots events were under discussion.

For updates and information, see events. bc.edu/group/gaelic_roots_series.

—University Communications

OBITUARY

David Gill, S.J., 91, Was Classical Studies Chair Retired Associate Professor of Classical Studies David Gill, S.J., a member of the Boston College faculty for almost four decades whose life and career encompassed social activism, ministering with the poor, and running marathons as well as a love of classical studies, died on January 25. He was 91.

A funeral Mass was held for Fr. Gill on January 30 at the Chapel of the Holy Spirit at the Campion Center in Weston, Mass.; it can be viewed at youtube.com/ watch?v=GPjDUIleb7k.

Fr. Gill joined the BC Classical Studies faculty in 1969, though his ties to the Heights began earlier: He earned a bachelor’s degree in Greek from the University in 1956. “But in another sense, I’ve been here since I was 13 years old,” he said in an interview with Boston College Chronicle upon his retirement in 2007, explaining that he had also attended Boston College High School and the Weston School of Theology, which had close ties to BC—at that time, Weston graduates received Boston College degrees, as was the case with his 1960 master’s in philosophy. He also held a doctorate from Harvard University and licentiate in theology from the St. Georgen theology faculty in Germany.

By the end of his first decade on the BC faculty, Fr. Gill had become Classical Studies Department chair, served as acting University chaplain, and been appointed to the Library Building Committee (whose work culminated in the construction of the Thomas P. O’Neill Jr. Library).

In 1980, Fr. Gill became director of the College of Arts and Sciences Honors Program, which then-A&S Dean William Neenan, S.J., noted was “central to the college’s mission of academic excellence.”

He said Fr. Gill’s “scholarship and serious concern for students will well qualify him for his new task.”

“The program is a great challenge getting the best students matched up with the best teachers,” he told Boston College Biweekly at the time of his appointment.

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February 12, 2026

Fr. Gill also directed the College of Arts and Sciences Honors Program.

As A&S Honors director, Fr. Gill’s job included selecting 90 students annually for the program, overseeing advisement for 350 honors students, and directing the honors curriculum. Mark O’Connor, who was a faculty member in the program at the time, recounted Fr. Gill’s efforts to revamp A&S Honors, such as replacing its “Modern Man” sequence with an overview of the Western Cultural Tradition.

“This was much more than a sign of the times,” explained O’Connor, who later served as program director. “It challenged the faculty to reimagine how our freshman and sophomore seminars represented ideas and their consequences: about what, for a modern man or woman, searching out a just and moral life means in the context of what living a just and moral life has meant over the centuries.”

Fr. Gill stepped down as director in 1986 and returned to his role as Classical Studies chair. Looking back on his tenure in a 1987 Biweekly interview, he said the honors program provided students with “the furnishings of the mind. How can an educated person not know Achilles and Homer and Dante’s Inferno?”

To Associate Professor of the Practice of History Thomas Murphy, S.J., Fr. Gill was the essence of a classicist—immersed in the culture, art, and literature of ancient Greece and Rome—and a Jesuit role model.

“David understood both the rich heritage of the Society of Jesus and its renewal in the aftermath of Vatican Council II,” said Fr. Murphy, who like Fr. Gill was a

Winthrop, Mass., native, and whose extended families knew one another. “As a classicist, a subject Jesuits have taught since the days of St. Ignatius Loyola himself, he was anchored in the earliest traditions of the society. But he also saw how the search for justice in the Scriptures and in the Classic could inspire pursuit of the Catholic Church’s modern day social teachings and our [Jesuit Superior General] Pedro Arrupe’s call after the Vatican Council for Jesuits to take a preferential option for the poor.

“David really embodied the proverb ‘The Church is always the same and is always changing as well.’”

Fr. Gill’s regard for the social justice aspects of the Church also was evident, and expressed in a perhaps unusual, but quite contemporary, manner. Around the time he joined BC, he began long-distance running and worked his way up to participating in marathons. In 1979, Fr. Gill ran the Boston Marathon to raise funds for Haley House, then a recently created social action center in Boston’s South End seeking to purchase a rooming house for low-income elderly, who were being priced out of the neighborhood.

His efforts were instrumental to the center’s success in creating affordable housing, wrote Haley House board member David Manzo ’77—who helped BC’s PULSE Program establish a partnership with Haley House that is 50 years old—in a remembrance of Fr. Gill, who continued to participate in the Boston Marathon for some years: “As St. Paul suggests, Dave has run the good race and kept the faith.

We are confident his reward awaits him in Heaven and we will be forever grateful to him.”

But Fr. Gill also looked well beyond Boston for opportunities to serve those in need while broadening BC students’ understanding of the wider world. In January of 1989, he co-led a cohort of 17 undergraduates to Haiti, where they visited

schools, hospitals, and orphanages, playing with children, feeding newborn babies, and holding the hands of the dying. They went a week without showering and availability of safe drinking water was at a minimum.

“I think there’s no way you can understand extreme poverty, extreme deprivation, and all that just from books,” he told Biweekly after the trip. “You have to have a face on it, names of people. And I think there’s no other way to do it other than to go walk around and talk with people.

If you’re interested and concerned about them, there’s no substitute for being there.”

In November of that year, Fr. Gill delivered the homily at a memorial Mass in St. Ignatius Church for the six Jesuit faculty members at the University of Central America (UCA) in El Salvador, who along with their housekeeper and her daughter were killed by government troops. He had befriended one of the slain Jesuits, Martin Baro, while they were students in Germany, and earlier in 1989 Fr. Baro had visited BC in hopes of establishing a network of social scientists who would study people enduring extended periods of poverty, political repression, and the threat of violent death.

Almost a decade after the UCA murders, Fr. Gill accompanied nine BC undergraduates to El Salvador to immerse themselves in peasant culture and, as he explained to Chronicle, “to put names and faces on the problem of poverty. Why is it that El Salvador is so poor and we are so rich? There’s no way to know what it’s like there unless you go.”

The son of the late Henry A. and Alice E. (Donovan) Gill, Fr. Gill is survived by his brothers Richard, Peter, and Henry Gill Jr., and predeceased by brother John Kevin.

He is survived by nieces and nephews as well as his many Jesuit brothers.

To read the full obituary, go to bit.ly/ David-Gill-SJ-obituary —University Communications

Jobs 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 or scan the QR code at right.

Research Systems Administrator Applications Developer Waitstaff Medical Informatics Administrator Assistant Director/Specialist, Financial Compliance & Audit

The Career Center held its annual Wall Street Networking Event on January 30, where students could speak with representatives from equity firms about summer internships and early-talent leadership positions.

photo by matthew healey

Network Systems Engineer

Laboratory Safety Specialist

Admissions Assistant, School of Social Work

Director for Major & Leadership Giving/Associate Athletics Director

Associate Director, Career Advising & Programming

Patrol Officer

Temporary Registered Dietitian

Associate Director, Practicum Programs and Internships

Associate Director, Academic Services

Associate Vice President, Schools, Units, and Organizational Giving

Assistant Program Director, So I Send You Program

Supervisor, Arena, Certified Ice Technician

Assistant Director, Business Services

Teacher Assistant

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Chronicle

February 12, 2026

The Story of a Purveyor of Hate and Fear Julius Streicher’s fellow Nazis couldn’t stand him, but he played a key role in the Third Reich. BC’s John Michalczyk explains why his legacy is important.

BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR

Almost every week, from 1923 to 1945, a four-page tabloid—sometimes larger for special editions—would circulate throughout Germany, offering inflammatory, virulently antisemitic articles and lurid, vulgar, often pornographic illustrations. Fourteen years after its launch, Der Stürmer would achieve a peak circulation of 486,000, its readership stretching well beyond Germany to Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and the United States.

Der Stürmer—its English translation is “the stormer,” meaning someone who attacks or storms forward—was the brainchild of Julius Streicher, a longtime devotee of Adolf Hitler and the subject of a recent book by Professor of Art, Art History, and Film John Michalczyk. His publications and films have frequently dealt with subjects related to social justice and conflict, World War II, and the Holocaust, including antisemitism.

In Julius Streicher—Tainted Images, Stolen Lives: The Anti-Semitic Tabloid ‘Der Stürmer’ and Children’s Readers, Michalczyk studies the life and career of the man considered the Nazi Party’s second most established propagandist after the notorious Joseph Goebbels, the party’s minister of propaganda and public enlightenment. Michalczyk also places Streicher, and the cause he served, in a larger historical perspective on antisemitism through the ages, notably 19th- and early 20th-century Germany. He concludes by studying the rise of antisemitism in current social media.

Since World War II, Hitler and the Third Reich have become an oft-used standard by which to evaluate, and criticize, the actions and policies of contemporary governments—and leaders—regarded as authoritarian. This tendency has generated backlash: Critics say the Holocaust was such an unprecedented historical phenomenon that present-day comparisons are inadequate and thus serve to diminish social and political discourse.

Michalczyk believes it is possible to draw Third Reich parallels, if on a limited basis—using Hitler to illustrate how autocratic leaders seek to control the minds of their people, for example. The context in which to view Streicher, he said, is how coordinated, broad-based strategies are developed to demonize a select group of persons based on such characteristics as race, ethnicity, and faith. Streicher also sought to make Der Stürmer and his other publications accessible to what he and the Nazi leadership believed would be a receptive audience: the German working class.

“The bigger picture here is how we ex-

John Michalczyk photo by peter julian

clude one part of our society on a grand scale, because we believe they are ruining our lives, and therefore, they are an enemy that needs to be eliminated. Streicher was capturing the spirit of the times, but he pushed it to ever greater dimensions, notably via his appearance in Leni Riefenstahl’s propaganda film ‘Triumph of the Will,’ when he declares: ‘A people which does not hold with the purity of its race will perish!’”

What makes Streicher an especially compelling—and chilling—subject, according to Michalczyk, is that he disseminated his propaganda beyond adults, publishing three antisemitic books for children. Streicher’s publications employed numerous historical, religious, and cultural elements in the text and illustrations to reinforce stereotypes and stoke anxiety, hatred, and fear of “the other” among readers. Jews were portrayed as greedy and wealthy, living off Germans, a depiction that drew on animus against the Rothschild banking dynasty of the 19th century; as ridden with disease and lusting after impressionable young German women; and as less than human, comparable with hyenas, snakes, insects, bacteria, and other organisms.

Michalczyk gives examples of suggestive symbols and references in the first children’s reader produced by Streicher, its title trans-

BC Scenes

lated in English as “Trust no fox on his green heath and no Jew on his oath.” The fox is widely perceived as sly, intelligent, and adaptable, Michalczyk notes, and early Greeks considered it devious. In addition, the title echoes ideas expressed by 16thcentury German theologian Martin Luther in his antisemitic writings late in his life.

A decorated World War I veteran, Streicher had been in Hitler’s inner circle as far back as the notorious 1923 “Beer Hall Putsch.” Ironically, Michalczyk notes, Streicher’s Third Reich associates were so appalled by his work, and by him personally, that they wanted nothing to do with him.

As time went on, the Führer, who read Der Stürmer religiously, sought to insulate his former acolyte from disputes. But in 1940, following clashes with other high-ranking Third Reich officials as well as numerous episodes of excessive personal behavior, Streicher was stripped of his party offices, though he was allowed to continue publishing Der Stürmer until February 1945,

instrumental to the Holocaust, because he was aware that Jews were being murdered.

Essentially, they found that Streicher aided and abetted in the tragedy of the Holocaust.”

At the end, there was no remorse on Streicher’s part. He cried out “Heil Hitler!” as he mounted the gallows, mocked Jewish scripture, and declared that his punishers would be killed by Bolsheviks one day.

While his name may be less familiar than others of the Third Reich, Streicher’s legacy lives on, as Michalczyk notes: In 2013, NeoNazi and white supremacist Andrew Anglin resurrected Streicher’s tabloid’s mission and founded the controversial website The Daily Stormer.

“It’s stating the obvious to say that the deaths of Streicher and his fellow war criminals did not end efforts to incite hatred against Jews, or other peoples deemed to be less than human,” said Michalczyk, who plans to retire as a full-time faculty member following this academic year but continue teaching on part-time basis while writing and filming with his wife Susan, an associate professor of the practice at BC.

“The bigger picture here is how we exclude one part of our society on a grand scale, because we believe they are ruining our lives, and therefore, they are an enemy that needs to be eliminated,” says Michalczyk. “Streicher was capturing the spirit of the times, but he pushed it to ever greater dimensions.”

shortly before his capture by the Allies.

The ultimate judgment on Streicher’s work came from the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, which found him guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to death. This is no small matter, according to Michalczyk.

“Streicher didn’t take part in any military actions, nor in the direct administration of operations to exterminate Jews. But the tribunal believed that his attempts to shape Germans’ views and treatment of Jews was

“I’ve devoted a lot of my career, through books and filmmaking, to examining how and why this has happened—and continues to happen. The purpose of this book is to use reasoned analysis, rather than polemics, to challenge Streicher’s grotesque use of lies, myths, and historical stereotypes about Jews.

“We must utilize history to learn how negative influences that encourage such hatred of a specific group, religion, caste, or gender arise and take hold—and how to dispel them.”

PHOTOS BY CAITLIN CUNNINGHAM

‘A New American Day’

Boston College students performed at “A New American Day” Saturday in New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, a concert celebrating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the United States’ Declaration of Independence, featuring works by contemporary American composers.

Right, the BC Symphony Orchestra played Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring Suite for Full Orchestra,” conducted by BCSO Director Anna Wittstruck. Left, in his farewell appearance, Ensemble Director Sebastian Bonaiuto—retiring after 36 years at BC—led the BCSO, University Wind Ensemble, and University Chorale in a performance of an excerpt from Kevin Day’s “American Pastorale.”