PUBLISHED BY THE BOSTON COLLEGE OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
FEBRUARY 26, 2026 VOL. 33 NO. 12
Embracing Service, Education, and Social Justice Student-led BC Coalition for the Homeless contributes to public health and policy research BY KATHLEEN SULLIVAN STAFF WRITER
A woman experiencing homelessness puts her tired, achy feet in a tub of warm, soapy water. That simple moment of care and comfort, offered by Boston College students in a local shelter, has quickly evolved into a new student-led program that not only provides direct care to the homeless in three Boston locations but also produces public health and policy research. The Boston College Coalition for the Homeless (BCCH) is dedicated to improving the lives of homeless individuals in Boston through service, education, and social justice. Its guiding principle is that health care for the unhoused should be dignified, relationship-centered, and trauma-informed. The program got its start as the sophomore social justice project for the Class of 2027 students in the Gabelli Presidential Scholars Program (GPSP). The scholars established a foot clinic at the Women’s
Lunch Place (WLP), a day shelter in Boston. Foot clinics provide essential care to unhoused individuals who often have foot health issues, such as fungal and bacterial infections and diabetic foot ulcers. Since its launch in September 2024, more than 600 foot-soaks have been administered by BC students at the weekly WLP foot clinic. In addition to inspecting and caring for feet, BC students often connect their patients to additional resources, such as health insurance or prenatal vitamins. “I found the most valuable thing we did was listen,” said BCCH Co-President Catherine May ’27, a neuroscience major. “What do these women talk about when they only have 20 minutes to reflect throughout their whole week? They talk about the people they love. That’s what we hear about more than anything. “I think of this one woman, Tammy, who I see at Women’s Lunch Place all the time. Tammy has a son who’s eight years old, and he lives with a foster family. Tammy never learned to read or write, but when she comes to the foot clinic, she asks our team to help her write letters to her son. So we get out a piece of notebook paContinued on page 5
The Emergence of Cooperation
Clough School Program Offers ‘Tools for Vocational Discernment’ BY KATHLEEN SULLIVAN STAFF WRITER
BC researchers look at how fairness, trustworthiness, honesty, forgiveness develop in children across diverse populations BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER
Children across the globe engage in a constellation of behaviors that support cooperation, an action critical to the survival of the human species, a team of Boston College researchers recently reported in the journal Science Advances. The team from Associate Professor of Psychology Katherine McAuliffe’s Cooperation Lab surveyed children in the urban United States, rural Uganda, Canada, and Peru, and the hunter-horticulturalist indigenous Shuar of Ecuador. The researchers found there are crosscultural regularities in some aspects of the development of cooperation—namely, that younger children tend to be self-interested,
Emily Magee ’28 tends to Reggie, a patient at a foot clinic established at the Women’s Lunch Place in Boston by undergraduates in the Gabelli Presidential Scholars Program. The clinic served as the launchpoint for a larger initiative.
Assoc. Prof. Katherine McAuliffe (Psychology)
and that as children get older their behavior starts to reflect local norms, according to the report. The researchers examined the development of four cooperative behaviors—fairness, trustworthiness, forgiveness, and honesty—in more than 400 children aged 5 to 13 from five societies. They also collected Continued on page 4
The Clough School of Theology and Ministry’s admission team accompanies prospective students throughout their graduate school discernment process. But what would happen if the team extended that accompaniment before then—to young people who were only beginning to contemplate a career in ministry or theological education at the graduate level? That was the idea behind Emmaus, a two-day experience that invites participants ages 19 to 29 to explore graduate theological studies through a particular encounter with CSTM students, faculty, and staff. Launched in 2024, Emmaus brings a small group of participants to campus in the fall for an immersive experience. They sit in on classes, attend the weekly schoolwide Mass and repast, and participate in a discernment workshop, among other activities.
“We introduce the participants to tools for vocational discernment and invite them to reflect on key moments from their own life story,” said CSTM Associate Dean for Graduate Enrollment Management Anthony Russo, who oversees Emmaus. “The goal is to help them locate where their gifts
Continued on page 4
INSIDE 2 Around Campus
Olympic glory; BC lends support to a monk’s walk for peace.
3 Laetare Sunday
Student Affairs VP to speak.
8 Going the Distance
BC junior sets marathon mark.