The Heights, September 14, 2020

Monday, September 14, 2020

BC COVID-19 Cases Concern Newton Mayor Fuller wants BC to increase testing and de-densify its campus.

By Julia Remick Metro Editor

EAMON LAUGHLIN / HEIGHTS EDITOR

*Data compiled from BC’s dashboard.

In Week 2, COVID-19 Cases Increase

This past week, 67 undergraduates tested positive for COVID-19.

By Scott Baker News Editor and Madeleine Romance Assoc. News Editor

Boston College has reported 21 additional cases of COVID-19 among undergraduates since Thursday. The positivity rate for undergraduates tested last week

dropped from 3.75 percent on Thursday to 2.5 percent on Saturday, according to BC’s COVID-19 dashboard. Between the Thursday and Saturday updates of the dashboard, BC said it has performed 1,419 undergraduate tests.

Sixty-seven undergraduates have tested positive out of the 2,647 tested since last Monday, Sept. 7.

The COVID-19 dashboard update contains a discrepancy in testing numbers, throwing into question the accuracy of the only source of regularly updated information about testing numbers that

SCOTT BAKER / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Students violate social distancing en masse outside Keyes Dorms on Friday night.

BC provides to the community. According to the dashboard, between Thursday and Saturday, the University conducted 1,419 undergraduate tests but only 1,234 community tests, though undergraduate test numbers are included in total community tests.

Senior Associate Director of University Communications Ed Hayward could not immediately be reached for comment explaining the discrepancy in numbers.

Eighty-two undergraduates were in isolation as of Saturday, with 42 recovering at home and 40 in University isolation housing. BC has leased 74 rooms at Hotel Boston for student isolation housing, and it has set aside additional rooms at Pine Manor College, and at other locations in Dover and Cohasset, according to the Pine Manor reopening website.

Twenty-two students had recovered as of Saturday, according to the dashboard. Since the University began testing on Aug. 16, it has conducted 25,084 tests with a total of 104 positives. Of the total amount tested, 15,084 were undergraduates, and all but two of the positives were undergraduates.

See Testing, A3

BC Faculty Strike for Racial Justice On Tuesday, scholars took part in a 48-hour, nationwide protest.

By Brandon Kenney Heights Staff and Hannah Murphy Heights Staff

University professors and scholars from across the country engaged in a 48-hour Scholar Strike on Tuesday in response to racism, police brutality, and mass incarceration. The movement made its way onto the Heights, prompting var-

ious professors to cancel classes or incorporate lessons on racism, social justice, and white supremacy into their courses.

University of Pennsylvania professor Anthea Butler and Grand View University professor Kevin Gannon wrote on their website that they were inspired to start the Scholar Strike after witnessing the racial justice activism of Colin Kaepernick and other professional athletes. The goal of the movement is to stand in solidarity with the communities that academics serve and to support the protests for racial justice, according to Butler’s Aug. 26 tweet that sparked the strike.

“We believe that it is long past time

for us to make a collective stand against police violence (particularly against communities of color) in the United States,” Butler wrote. “We will refrain from teaching and all administrative duties for this entire 48 hour period.”

Several BC faculty members took part in the Scholar Strike by canceling classes and withholding their labor from the University. Several faculty members told The Heights that they were inspired by the example set by professional athletes and that, in the face of racist violence, business cannot continue as usual, even

See Strike, A3

Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller said she is “gravely concerned” with the recent rise in cases on Boston College’s campus in a statement on Saturday. Fuller said that BC has agreed that contact tracing and oversight of positive cases for students residing in Newton be transferred to the City of Newton’s Health and Human Services Department in a meeting this weekend.

Fuller said that BC is almost at capacity for its designated space for isolation and advised reducing the number of students on campus instead of leasing additional space in Newton. She also said that if BC chooses to reduce the in-person student population, guidelines should be followed to prevent the spread of the virus to local communities.

Fuller also requested that BC increase the amount of testing. For isolation procedures, Fuller said she does not support BC leasing additional space in Newton for isolation or quarantine facilities.

The COVID-19 positivity rate for BC undergraduates was 3.75 percent as of Thursday, according to BC’s COVID-19

dashboard. The rate for undergraduates dropped to 2.5 percent when the dashboard was updated with new data this weekend.

Since reopening, 102 undergraduate tests were positive out of the 15,804 undergraduate tests conducted.

Fuller’s update follows a report in The Boston Globe Wednesday that at least 13 members of BC’s women’s and men’s swimming and diving team tested positive for COVID-19.

The COVID-19 positivity rate in the City of Newton is 0.16 percent. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health assigned Newton as a lower-risk area on the community data map. The positivity rate in Newton is lower than the statewide positivity rate, which is .97 percent.

As of Sept. 9, 13 students living on Newton campus tested positive, according to an update from Fuller. Students that reside in Newton, both on Newton campus or in off-campus housing in Newton, and test positive for the virus appear in Newton’s number of positive cases.

“Boston College must take swift, decisive and effective action now to contain the spread of this serious infectious disease,” Fuller said in the statement. “The data on the spike in positive Boston College cases demonstrates viral transmission. They must

See Fuller, A4

Josh Groban to Perform at Pops Off The Heights The grammynominated singer will perform remotely.

By Lily Telegdy Heights Staff

The 28th annual Pops on the Heights will be held online due to COVID-19 restrictions, according to a promotional email for the event.

The fundraising event, rebranded as Pops Off the Heights, will be headlined

by Grammy-nominated singer Josh Groban.

Boston College students Tiffany Brooks and Olivia Constantino, both MCAS ’21, will also perform as soloists, as will members of the Boston Pops Orchestra, led by conductor Keith Lockhart.

Groban is an American singer, songwriter, and actor with multiple platinum albums. Known for adult contemporary hits including “You

Raise Me Up” and “To Where You Are,” his music has also been featured on multiple movie soundtracks, including Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast and The Polar Express.

Groban has also been featured as an actor in The Office; Crazy, Stupid, Love; and Muppets Most Wanted. In 2017, he won a Tony Award for his role as Pierre Bezukhov in the Broadway production of Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812. Groban’s newest album, Harmony, will be released in November 2020.

Last year, Hamilton star Leslie Odom Jr. headlined the event, which raised $12.3 million toward 427 scholarships for BC students. Since its inception, Pops on the Heights has raised over $80 million for student scholarships, according to the promotional email.

This year, the event will be free to watch, although BC will still accept donations. Viewers must register in order to attend the event. n

Springsteen Speaks at First-Year Convocation

The musician spoke to freshmen online from a recording studio.

By Owen Fahy Special Projects Editor

The annual freshmen parade down Linden Lane to Alumni Stadium for freshman convocation was missing this year, as members of the Class of 2024 remained in their dorm rooms and were addressed by keynote speaker Bruce Springsteen over Zoom.

The award-winning musician spoke to Boston College freshmen remotely from a music studio, and encouraged the Class of 2024 to cherish their time at BC while sharing advice on how to live a fulfilling life.

“To be young in this beautiful and accommodating city and to be engaged in the life of this school is a great, great privilege,” Springsteen said.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

The freshman class has gained unique experience by living through the novel coronavirus pandemic, Springsteen said, as its members have already learned to “appreciate the underappreciated.”

Some members of the Class of 2024 said they were glad any kind of ceremony could be held, but wished it could have been in person.

“I was grateful that they went through all this effort to like make this thing happen with all the COVID regulations but it was sad that that we didn’t get to do the symbolic walk,” said Kelly Gardner, MCAS ’24, in an interview with The Heights. “I think [freshman year has been] pretty normal, we have normalized having everything online, these big events online. It did not seem abnormal or strange or anything.”

Jackie Doud, also MCAS ’24, said she would have liked to see Springsteen in person.

See Springsteen, A3

MAGGIE DIPATRI / HEIGHTS EDITOR

BC Eagles: 2020 Football Preview

What can BC fans expect from the most unusual football season to date?

MAGAZINE: Professors Adapt

ARTS: Lights, Camera, Zoom

Professors acclimate to teaching under unique circumstances...............A5

BC Theatre finds creative ways to attract virtual audiences with their online performances....A9

INDEX

NEWS......................A2 OPINIONS............. A6 Vol. CI, No. 8 © 2020, The Heights, Inc. METRO..................... A4 ARTS...................... A8 MAGAZINE.................. A5 SPORTS.................. A10 www.bcheights.com

The Heights

A2

TOP

3

things to do on campus this week

1

The first installment of a webinar series on Catholic Voters and the 2020 Election will be held on Tuesday at 4 p.m. The series will focus on how the Church will frame issues during the upcoming election and how the election will affect Catholic voters.

2

Monday, September 14, 2020

There will be a virtual Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month opening celebration on Thursday over Zoom. The Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center is organizing the event, which is set to begin at 6 p.m.

3

The Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy is sponsoring a virtual event on Friday to discuss the Equal Rights Amendment. The event, which begins at 12 p.m., will be hosted by Professor Mary Bilder of the BC Law School.

NEWS Conservative Paper, ‘Maverick,’ Forms BRIEFS

Haberman Zooms to BC

New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman spoke to Boston College students during a Zoom lecture on Wednesday about building her career as a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist.

Haberman said that she struggled as a fledgling reporter, but eventually landed a position as a newsroom clerk at the New York Post. Haberman has since since written for the New York Daily News, Politico, and The New York Times, among others.

When Haberman was working for Politico’s Washington newsroom in 2010, she got the chance to report on Donald Trump, who at the time was exploring a bid to contest then-President Barack Obama in the 2012 election.

Four years later, when Trump again began exploring a bid, he invited Haberman to break the news of his presidential campaign at a lunch with himself and some of his close aides—but after being fooled in 2010, Haberman didn’t believe it was anything more than a publicity stunt.

“Trump spent the lunch, where lots of Diet Coke was consumed, trying to sell me on the idea he was running, and I could tell he was getting frustrated that I was not believing it,” Haberman said. “In retrospect, that may not have been the smartest call, but it was certainly an understandable one and defensible one at the time.”

Given the current political climate, Haberman argued that calling Trump’s behavior and every new development “unprecedented” is dangerous, and it may work to glorify actions of previous presidents and undermine truly unprecedented moments.

When asked about reporting in a post-2020 world if Joe Biden is elected president, Haberman said she looks forward to the prospect of more free time.

“I’m looking forward to covering the confines of my bed for a solid

BC Deans Discuss Race The Boston College School of Social Work hosted a webinar on Tuesday to address racial equity and social justice in the field of social work. Featured guests SSW Dean Gautam Yadama and BC Law Dean Vincent Rougeau emphasized the importance of engaging in “Good Trouble” in order to cultivate supportive communities and contribute to the common good.

Yadama and Rougeau discussed the causes and the consequences of cyclical racial oppression, such as intergenerational poverty and barriers to social mobility, and noted that racism extends beyond personal actions.

“It doesn’t address the aggregation of history, cultural events, or the society in which we live that tends to oppress and subjugate people based on the category that they are assigned to in the system—and especially, the history of what that assignment has meant,” Rougeau said.

Rougeau said that racial discrimination stems from the original creators of U.S. institutions, who were all white European men arguing that a true democracy must strive for equal rights for all by empowering all voices.

“How we think about our legal system cannot change unless the architects of the system represent all of the groups within the society and are applying their experiences of living in this society to the structure and execution of the rules,” Rougeau said.

By Lauren Wittenmeyer Assoc. Metro Editor

Two Boston College students recently established The Maverick, an independently run conservative newspaper, in an effort to give conservative students at BC an outlet to voice their political beliefs, according to a post by co-editor-in-chief Taylor Morales in The Official Boston College Class of 2023 Facebook Group.

Hailing from California, Morales, MCAS ’23, said in an interview with The Heights that respectful political discourse has been ingrained in the way she views politics and is something she wants to bring to campus.

“I always grew up being told that the best way to really learn about somebody and somebody else’s opinions was to engage in a respectful dialogue rather than to try and force your views on them,” she said. “I don’t think that there’s a lot of conservatives who have that same mindset.”

Morales said she hopes The Maverick can serve as an outlet for conservative voices to address pressing issues such as climate change, racial and class inequality, and criminal justice reform.

She also explained how she believes many news outlets have overlooked the many issues young conservatives are passionate about.

“There was just like a lack of a Republican outlet that I think was having consciously productive conversations,” she said. “So to kind of foster an environment where you’re teaching young conservative-minded individuals to not yell and scream and push their beliefs on someone … news media was something that I thought would be really great to do.”

The Maverick, also founded by coeditor-in-chief Louis Gleason, MCAS ’23, will primarily focus on conservative policies, such as school choice, in order to destigmatize the common conception of what it means to be a Republican or conservative on campus. It will also work to counter the “excitatory and inflammatory” rhetoric often associated with conservatives, according to Morales.

The publication will focus on thorough fact-checking and citing sources, while being careful to do so in a respectful manner that will not pit young conservatives against each other, according to Morales.

“There’s so many things happening in the world right now, I think that it’s just going to be important to lend an open ear and to really be conscious and mindful about what we do,” she said. “I think that going into it, both myself and Louis are very considerate, courteous, and are aware of, you know, kind of the significance of starting a Republican newspaper in an election year.”

After an unsuccessful attempt to receive funding and recognition as an established student organization through the Office of Student Involvement in January, Morales and Gleason chose to move forward on their own, establishing The Maverick independently.

According to Morales, OSI’s decision not to grant the request was in part because other student publications operate independently. Additionally, Morales said OSI denied funding because of the publication’s similarities to other campus organizations, including the Boston College Republicans and the Boston College Network of Enlightened Women, neither of which The Maverick is affiliated with.

Because of difficulties associated with finding outside funding during the coronavirus pandemic, The Maverick will be publishing digitally for the time being, Morales said.

To Morales’ surprise, The Maverick had received over 20 responses to its staff application by the start of classes—a number that grows daily— though the founders are adopting a “quality over quantity” approach in staff selection.

“We aren’t trying to pick just anybody and everybody who wants to join,” Morales said. “I’m really not trying to get people who are going to be saying things that are racist, homophobic, [or] that are discriminatory.”

Morales said she hopes people will keep an open mind about The Maverick and at least look into it before forming judgments, and she said she thinks many readers will find themselves surprised by a “very palatable kind of conservatism.”

“I just hope that we can inform voters whether or not you decide to align yourself with what we believe in,” Morales said. “Maybe you’ll be informed about something that you really hate, but at least you’ll be informed.” n

Alumni Help Students, Fellow Alumni

By Haley Hockin Copy Chief Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Boston College alumni banded together to help BC students and other alumni search for jobs, acquire important career skills, and make connections with the greater BC alumni network. The alumni created Back to BC, a program in which alumni hosted workshops and panels as well as provided mentorship to students.

Alumni also hosted “Conversations with Alumni,” a virtual event series featuring successful alumni in media and communications careers, and paired BC alumni with job opportunities via a Google Sheet.

Hannah Say, BC ’18, created Back to BC with the goal of supporting students personally and professionally, specifically with recent BC graduates in mind. More than 800 students and alumni have signed up so far, according to Say. “The Back to BC initiative was really a grass roots type, young alumni movement effort to really help current BC students whose personal and pro-

fessional development were impacted

by COVID-19,” she said. “Young alumni, like people who graduated in the past few years, aren’t really in the position to … donate a ton of money to BC or make new jobs and internships available at our companies that we work at.”

The program offered students small group mentorship, professional virtual events, and a skill-building project.

Small mentorship groups held weekly Zoom meetings, and though each group would receive an agenda every week, mentors and mentees were free to discuss other topics, Say said. The professional virtual events featured people from many different industries, and held one to three events, which Back to BC promoted on its Instagram page.

Say’s program also offered a skill-building project, which students could sign up for on a Google Sheet.

The project was tailored for students, who may not have been able to secure an internship for the summer, to give them an opportunity to work on a project alongside a mentee—something they could include on their

resumes.

Chris Russo, BC ’19, had the motivation to start the “Conversations with Alumni” series shortly after he graduated from BC. A marketing and communications major, he noticed a lack of support for BC students in the media industry.

“I saw all my friends in CSOM had very structured recruiting, they got their jobs [and] there were alumni resources, but for Media Communications, not so much,” he said.

Russo also founded the BC Media Alumni Network in July 2019. The independent alumni affinity group now has over 700 members spanning from New York to Los Angeles and who are involved in various fields including public relations, TV production, journalism, and marketing.

The BC Media Alumni Network’s “Conversations with Alumni” video series featured individuals such as Marvin Chow, Google’s Vice President of Global Marketing, and Joe Sabia, the creator and voice of Vogue’s “73 Questions” series.

Russo said that throughout the pandemic, the BC alumni network has gone beyond merely providing jobs for

students and other alumni.

“Not everything was a job conversation,” he said.

“I’m sure people really formed friendships outside of it and had happy hours or virtual coffee dates and these are things that are going to last outside of this for years to come.”

The Google Sheet was put together

by David Frankel, BC ’93, to connect BC alumni who were hiring with other graduates looking to be hired during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of Friday, around 300 BC alumni have added their names to the Google Sheet and 22 indicated that they have been hired as a result.

Frankel said he has received positive feedback from alumni, thanking him for putting it together and saying they were impressed with the list of impressive candidates, many of which have been hired.

Frankel also spoke on the tight knit relationships he’s observed between BC alumni and students.

“Once you graduate from BC, and it doesn’t matter if it’s undergrad or grad ... it’s once an Eagle always an Eagle,” he said. “Everybody kind of comes together and helps each other out.” n

Recruiting Moves Virtual This Season

By Eric Shea Editorial Assistant In an effort to address the concerns of students whose job and career plans may have been thrown into flux by the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing economic downturn, Joseph Du Pont and Joanne LaRosee from the Career Center hosted a virtual event Tuesday evening to update students on the upcoming career fair and recruiting season.

The Career and Internship Fair will be held virtually this year on Sept.

17, and information about the fair’s schedule and activities can only be accessed through Boston College’s new online platform Handshake.

Du Pont and LaRosee said that this year most job recruiting has turned virtual due to COVID-19 concerns.

Acknowledging the unconventional nature of virtual recruiting, they em-

phasized that navigating the job market will require students to be creative and resilient.

LaRosee said that there may be more opportunities in the spring than the fall with the uncertain economic climate.

“Your job search will probably be a bit longer than your graduates, you know, from a year or two ago who were telling you about their cycles that are wrapped up maybe in August,” LaRosee said. “That won’t be the case for most of you. That’ll probably require you to be a little bit more creative, and we’re here to help you with that.”

Du Pont and LaRosee said that many firms in finance and consulting, specifically, have shifted their recruiting to the spring given uncertainty in hiring projections for these industries.

“What they don’t want to do is have students applying for opportuni-

ties and then you’re put in limbo because they can’t act on you,” LaRosee said.

LaRosee assured students that many employers that regularly hire BC students are continuing to work with Career Services. Du Pont added that it is now more important for BC students to maintain a robust presence online through websites such as LinkedIn and BC-specific platforms such as Eagle Exchange and Handshake, as companies are currently more inclined to directly recruit using these mediums.

“They’ll target you more because they now, on the recruiting side, have a very interesting way of matching your experiences to skills that you have written down in your profile,” Du Pont said. “I would really encourage you to think about completing your LinkedIn, Eagle Exchange, and Handshake profiles not just as networking opportunities but actually as

POLICE BLOTTER: 9/4/20 – 9/7/20

Friday, Sept. 4

Sunday, Sept. 6

Monday, Sept. 7

12:06 a.m. - An officer filed a report regarding a medical incident at Corcoran Commons.

11:36 p.m. - An officer filed a report regarding a medical incident at Duchesne West.

12:19 a.m. - An officer filed a report regarding a medical incident at Gonzaga Hall.

10:37 p.m. - An officer filed a report regarding a medical incident at Claver Hall.

1:28 a.m. - An officer filed a report regarding a medical incident at Kostka Hall.

3:22 a.m. - An officer filed a report regarding a medical incident at Vouté Hall.

11:39 p.m. - An officer filed a report regarding a fire alarm activation at Hardey Hall.

11 p.m. - An officer filed a report regarding a medical incident at Health Services.

—Source: The Boston College Police Department

part of the actual recruiting process to help distinguish yourself from other candidates.”

Du Pont and LaRosee said that the biggest change in recruitment this year is the increased number of opportunities to meet with hiring firms, as the absence of physical events allows for more flexibility.

Du Pont said he noticed a shift toward employers favoring their applicants to demonstrate that they are comfortable with working remotely.

Firms respond really well, he said, to applicants who can demonstrate their comfort with technology.

“It’s fascinating to me that employers are looking for you to elaborate a little more on skill sets that relate to working autonomously and taking direction really well,” Du Pont said.

“They are looking for people who can function independently—well that’s always been the case—I think it’s amplified more now.” n

CORRECTIONS Please send corrections to eic@bcheights.com with ‘correction’ in the subject line.

The Heights

Monday, September 14, 2020

A3

Freshman Convocation Features Springsteen Springsteen, from A1

Some Campus Social Gatherings Continue Unimpeded by University

SCOTT BAKER / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Testing, from A1 Vice President for Student Affairs Joy Moore emailed students on Friday afternoon reminding them that they must abide by the Eagles Care Pledge, which includes University and state guidelines regarding gatherings, testing, quarantine, and isolation. She also reminded students of the “no party” policy both on and off campus, and that violators of the policy may be subject to suspension and loss of on-campus housing.

Moore urged students to follow University protocols for wearing masks and social distancing.

Associate Vice President for University Communications Jack Dunn told The Boston Globe that BC had 30 positive cases among student athletes, many of which can be linked to an off-campus gathering.

Dunn also said that the University has suspended dozens of students for violating social-distancing restrictions.

Moore’s Friday email reminding students to follow social-distancing protocols was the first email from the University about the state of COVID-19 cases on campus since Sept. 4, though the Friday email did not provide any information about the scale of the cases or the locations of any clusters on campus.

Despite Moore’s admonition, large groups of students gathered outside freshman residence halls on Upper Campus

and Newton Campus just hours after the email was sent, many of whom were not social distancing or wearing masks.

No University officials were seen on site to enforce the University’s restrictions this past Friday night as dozens of students gathered adjacent to residence halls, many not wearing masks while standing in close proximity.

On both Saturday and Sunday night of Labor Day weekend, a week prior to Moore’s email, groups of students outside freshman residence halls on Upper Campus could be seen in close proximity, with some not wearing facial coverings.

That Saturday, two Boston College Police Department squad cars could be seen near the gatherings, though the gatherings continued unimpeded, and one of the squad cars later drove away. On one University bus en route to Newton Campus, a group of students could be seen sitting in close proximity without facial coverings.

The next morning, after a night of large student gatherings on the basketball court on Upper Campus, the University removed the rims and nets and placed a sign notifying students that the court was closed. Still, students gathered on the court that night and the next weekend. BC usually contracts Boston Police Department officers to patrol off campus and is continuing to hire the same number of BPD officers this year as it has in previous years.

Moore cited recent student gatherings as being largely responsible for the uptick in cases. Though many students have abided by the rules, she wrote, those who have not have put the BC community at risk and “jeopardized the successful semester that we have all worked hard to achieve.”

Chief of BCPD William Evans and the Office of Transportation did not respond to interview requests, and Dean of Student Conduct Corey Kelly was not available to speak with The Heights before press time.

Students began circulating a Change. org petition on Saturday calling on the University to place all students in a mandatory two-week quarantine to contain the current outbreak, and to test all students twice a week. The petition, which was created by Morgan Finnegan, CSON ’22, and has 239 signatures at the time of publication, also demands that athletic teams without fall seasons stop training.

It also criticized BC for testing at lower rates than other Boston universities, and it said the University has placed too much blame on students for the outbreak given its “extremely inadequate testing and policies.”

One week after its reopening in August, the University of Notre Dame temporarily moved classes online and further limited gatherings to contain an outbreak of 147 positive cases, including a rise of 102 cases in one day. Most cases being linked to off-campus gatherings.

Student Groups Call for Divestment

By Madeleine Romance Assoc. News Editor Climate Justice at Boston College joined with students, various organizations, and alumni from 29 other colleges in the Atlantic Coast and Big Ten conferences to release a joint statement calling for divestment from fossil fuels on Tuesday.

The letter demands that universities immediately freeze any new direct investments of fossil fuels, that they divest from direct holdings by 2025, and that they achieve full divestment by 2030.

“This is just part of our continual, elevated calls for divestment and demonstrating that more and more students and universities are not only interested in this, but want to push for it,” said Kyle Rosenthal, member of CJBC and CSOM ’21. “[We’re] looking forward to kind of using this as a jumping off point to continue our conversations around divestment and climate justice issues on our campus.”

Rosenthal, who spearheaded the coalition alongside CJBC, co-wrote the letter with other groups in the coalition.

While BC keeps its investments private, it has opposed previous student demands for divestment. Senior Associate Director of Communications Ed Hayward declined to comment on the recent letter.

CJBC also announced that over student groups across the 30 universities as well as athletes, alumni, and faculty from every college in the ACC have now joined together in the ACC Climate Justice Coalition, calling on colleges in the ACC to divest from fossil fuels and other “systems of oppression.” “[W]e recognize the power of our institutions to provide a valuable education and opportunities for success,” the letter reads. “However, we also recognize that our institutions have had profound devastating consequences in our local communities as well as around the world through the present and looming climate crisis.”

Although BC has cited Catholic values as central to its decision-making, the University rejected the Vatican’s call on all Catholics to divest from companies and industries

social ecology” and the environment. BC said in July that it welcomes the Vatican’s document calling for divestment but as a private institution, BC’s decisions on investment and governance are made by University leadership and the Board of Trustees.

Students have recently called attention to the subject of divestment, including through protests in response to the proposal of funding from the Charles Koch Foundation for a security studies program housed in the political science department.

Armani Arellano, a student at Florida State University who works to push FSU to transition to renewable energy including through divestment in his capacity as a leadership intern at Environment Florida, is one of the letter’s signatories.

“I thought it would be a powerful statement to send a unified call for divestment to all the ACC schools,” Arellano said in an email to The Heights. “I think it highlights the power of our schools as institutions of change, and I think the competitive aspect of the sports world should be extended to the environmental arena, fighting for our better future.”

Grace Jennings, a student at Duke University and vice president of Duke Climate Coalition, said the organization recognizes the negative effects Duke has caused on the local community through investing in fossil fuels.

“Signing this petition is a declaration of our commitment to fostering a better relationship with the people who have been negatively affected by the wake of Duke’s influence through divestment,” she said in a Facebook message to The Heights. “We believe that coming face to face with the ugly truths in our university’s administration and financial investments is a vital step towards shifting the kind of impact we want Duke to have on its greater community.”

The joint statement, addressed to endowment managers, trustees, and administrators of the ACC, called upon the universities and the NCAA to evaluate the ethical implications of their endowments.

The letter called for each institution to divest

of students, staff, and alumni and to invest instead in areas that provide benefits for all communities.

“We also expect immediate steps for greater transparency and accountability, including conducting full audits to expose the percentage of the endowment in the aforementioned industries and the creation of socially responsible investment committees involving students,” the release said.

While the ACC coalition calls for action by the ACC and Big Ten institutions specifically, it also said it encourages every university to take “swift action to achieve climate justice,” and halt sports until action is taken.

“We call on the entire ACC to divest from fossil fuels and systems of oppression while reinvesting in our communities,” CJBC wrote in a Facebook post with the announcement.

The letter calls on universities to reevaluate investments in industries of exploitation and those that perpetuate environmental and racial injustice, including private prisons, Puerto Rican debt, weapons manufacturers, mining, and those that exploit Indigenous land.

“Recognizing the power and influence that sports have in our society as well as the opportunity the pandemic has offered to reimagine sports and better utilize athletes’ and teams’ platforms for good, we know that the ACC can be the conference that leads the way, but it is up to all of our universities to take action,” Rosenthal said.

CJBC also released a pledge on Tuesday calling on the Class of 2021 to refrain from donating to the University until it divests.

“Due to the current financial state of the fossil fuel industry, it would be both careless and wasteful to donate to our university when our hard-earned money will soon be swallowed up by an endowment that invests disproportionately in a failing fossil fuel industry,” the petition reads.

The pledge was created in response to an email BC sent to the senior class asking for contributions through donations or through products and services for sale, including face masks, that BC would in turn record as a

“It was nice that they [BC] did something but it definitely would have been cool to see him in person, especially him because he is such a performer.” said Jackie Doud, also MCAS ’24.

Casey Beaumier, S.J., the director of the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies, was the first administrator to speak, leading a prayer for the new class.

“We believe the Class of 2024 is a blessing for our Jesuit, Catholic University,” Beaumier said. “These young women and men will become part of the solution for the many challenges that the world, the nation, that our faith faces at this time.”

Other administrators relayed the famous Jesuit motto of “go forth and set the world on fire,” and urged the freshman class to grow throughout their education.

University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J., spoke, welcoming the freshmen once again. “[BC] is a community of caring, it is a community that is clearly engaged in developing talents and gifts, we need you as individuals who desire to develop your gifts and to receive from others,” Leahy said. “We are serious about individuals developing their talents and giving them to others.”

Springsteen spoke about never getting a college degree, noting he learned by growing up in the music industry.

“I am 70 years old, but I do not and will never have a college degree,” Springsteen said. “I have grown up in the music business which is filled with many odd and unusual creatures and one learns experientially and not from the book.”

He went on to discuss how he regrets never having a college expe-

rience, and urged the class to take advantage of their time on the Heights in order to set themselves up for the rest of their lives.

Satisfying work is an important component of a happy and successful life, Springsteen said, as he mentioned that he worked in a bar in his hometown where he loved playing music.

“Don’t just do well, as they say, ‘do good,’” Springsteen said. ”Choose something that makes you happy, that makes you want to get up and go to work in the morning and that allows you to rest easy at night.”

He told students that they needed to love and allow for others to love them which would position them to be of value to their families and communities.

The Grammy Award-winner then encouraged the freshman class to be active citizens. He said that not voting is a “sin,” as it is such an important privilege given to citizens.

“Learn how to be an informed, active, and engaged citizen,” Springsteen said. “Your country needs you, your vision, your energy, and your love.”

He concluded by telling the class to “heal thyself.” He remarked that there are a lot of struggles in life, but that good times will be sure to come as well.

“There will be plenty of laughter to come and love,” Springsteen said.

“Love is all there is, love your neighbors, love your friends, love your family, love your partner, and love yourself.”

The Liturgy Arts Group then closed the ceremony with a performance of Alma Mater. The convocation concluded as yet another event, including orientation, the involvement fair, and the Mass of the Holy Spirit, that has been moved online as a result of the coronavirus. n

University Professors Join in #ScholarStrike Strike, from A1 at the university level.

“Racism isn’t going to disappear on its own; we need serious structural change to bring an end to white supremacy, and organized collective action is key to making this happen,” BC history professor Priya Lal said in an email to The Heights. “I want my students to know that I believe in the urgency and power of such action at this particular historical moment.”

Theology doctoral candidate Andrew Vink, who participated in the strike, said the strike provided the opportunity to practice liberation theology—a branch of Catholocism Vink studies focused on social justice—in a concrete way. Vink added that his participation was intended to convince many of his first-year BC students to consider questions about racial justice.

“I explained to my students that I was striking,” Vink said. “I connected them to the website for the strike that had resources for videos on racial justice, dealing with questions of defund the police, police abolition, [and] the issue of mass incarceration.”

BC history professor Sylvia Sellers-García said that leveraging work is one of the most effective ways to protest endemic violence against people of color in the United States.

“I may not be the person who has anything unique to teach about on this subject—on the contrary, I have a lot to learn,” Sellers-Garcia said in an email to The Heights.

“But I can teach something by example, by demonstrating that a strike is worthwhile and has a purpose.”

Kyle Johnson, another doctoral candidate in theology, chose to do a teach-in for the theology class he teaches, rather than participate in a traditional strike.

The strike’s organizers encouraged people to participate in a way that made sense for them, and Johnson said that as an educator, the most anti-racist action he could make was to facilitate a conversation with his students about racism.

“Anti-Black racism in North America and around the world is not something that we can ignore, [something

that] too many of us, especially those of us who are white, have ignored for a long time and continue to ignore in lots of different ways,” Johnson said. “[My students’] academic work should be engaging with what is going on in the world and how people are being treated around them.”

Manothini Dupee, MCAS ’24, and MC Daly, Lynch ’22, both participated in Johnson’s teach-in.

The teach-in was a positive experience, they said, and they appreciated the opportunity to engage in conversations about race, especially since students can feel that faculty and administration are not as open to conversations about inclusivity and diversity as the student body is.

“I was very happy to know that he was taking the time to teach people, and throughout the entire class he was very inclusive,” Dupee said. “And you could tell he was trying to get the point across that this was not the end of this conversation—it’s just the beginning—and that it’s a conversation that needs to be had even though it makes people uncomfortable. So I’m very proud to go to a school where professors do that.”

The Scholar Strike’s creators’ website provides more resources for those looking to become more informed on topics relating to anti-racism and racial justice.

The resources include short lectures from striking scholars as part of the teach-in portion of the strike, as well as resources for further reading and viewing.

More than 5,000 preregistered to join in the strike, according to Inside Higher Ed. Professors were encouraged to participate in the movement—which pushed for professors to withhold their labor and not teach or complete administrative work—in a variety of ways.

“Professors who are not able to strike will be doing other actions with their students to help people, and the public, learn about racism, social justice, policing, and the kinds of racial injustices that have happened against Black, Indigenous, and other people of color in America,” Butler and Gannon wrote in an op-ed for CNN. n

The Heights

A4

Monday, September 14, 2020

Mayor Fuller Concerned About BC COVID-19 Cases Fuller, from A1 act now to protect the health of their BC community and all our Newtonians.”

Some residents of the Newton community are also concerned by the increase in cases at BC. Steve Bookbinder has been a Newton resident for 40 years.

He is involved in volunteer organizations in Newton and his children attended Newton Public Schools.

He said he taught a class for one semester in BC’s graduate school of management.

“I don’t assume that you can prevent every single clase,” Bookbinder said. “But I am concerned that there are certain indications that the BC administration is not doing all it could to prevent the outbreak of cases nor all they could do to mitigate

the impact of the outbreak of cases.”

Bookbinder also expressed frustration with BC’s decision to move forward with the football season.

Other universities in Boston have decided not to play football this year such as Harvard and UMass.

“I would rather see students be tested more frequently than spend tens of millions of dollars on a football program,” Bookbinder said.

As of Saturday, the positivity rate at Boston University is 0.05 percent, according to BU’s COVID-19 dashboard.

For undergraduates living in university housing or living off campus and attending in-person class, testing is conducted twice a week.

Tufts also reported a positivity rate of 0.07 percent on Saturday, according to Tuft’s COVID-19 dashboard. Undergraduates attending

in-person classes, living both on campus and off campus, are tested twice a week.

“This is a community that is concerned about health,” said Bookbinder. “We have a significant number of people over 65. We are concerned about the institution. We do not want to restrict BC students. We wish BC would address these issues in the most rigorous way possible.”

Bookbinder said that there has been a lack of communication between the BC administration and Ne w ton re sident s . He said that although BC releases community announcements, he does not feel that BC is concerned with the thoughts or feelings of Newtonites.

“I don’t see BC as a college that particularly pays attention to the City of Newton and is concerned with the 100,000 people that live in the city,”

Bookbinder said.

Bookbinder acknowledged that BC students spend money at local businesses and restaurants, which has a positive economic impact on the community.

“For a religious institution, or a religiously affiliated institution, the only conclusion one can have is that you have put money over the sanctity of life,” Bookbinder said.

Peter Klapes is also a resident of Newton and a BC graduate. He grew up in Newton and attended Newton Public Schools. Klapes is currently a graduate student at BC. “Honestly, I’m really worried,” said Klapes, BC ’19 and GMCAS ’21. “And I think it’s clear that the increase in cases is a result of the lack of asymptomatic testing.”

Klapes was tested in early August, as testing was available to graduate

students before the y arrive d on campus.

“I know at other universities they are testing two to three times a week.

So, I’m concerned that testing is not being brought to the right level,” Klapes said. “I think that BC is doing everything correctly in terms of quarantining and isolating, but I am worried about testing.”

Last week, BC conducted 2,954 tests for the whole BC community.

The week before, it conducted 4,322 community tests.

Klapes said that BC students returning to campus have had a positive impact on the businesses in Newton.

“But , I am worried about the spread in Newton, especially here in Newton where we have low cases relative to the state,” Klapes said. n

Newton Artists Transform Barriers at Restaurants

By Eric Shea Editorial Assistant

Restaurants in Newton have taken a creative approach to keep their doors open and their customers safe in the COVID-19 era. Some Newton restaurants have utilized jersey barriers to safely create outdoor seating in parking spaces outside of their establishments.

The Newton Al Fresco project was created by the Newton Cultural Development Office of the Parks, Recreation, and Culture office in an effort to help, support, and revitalize restaurants that have been shut down by COVID-19 regulations.

Outdoor seating became an avenue for restaurants to increase capacity while adhering to the state’s safety guidelines for dining.

“Working with our Health and Human Services Department, the Planning Department , and local restaurants found that outdoor seating became vital to their ability to continue to sur vive through the pandemic,” Paula Gannon, director of Newton Cultural Development, said.

The only problem was that many restaurants in Newton do not have outdoor seating— enter the barriers.

Using concrete jersey barriers, Thistle & Leek, Sycamore, House of Tandoor, Baramor, Farmstead Table, Buttonwood, LeDu Thai, Cook., Grapeleaf, and G eorge Howell Coffee were able to add outdoor seating to their restaurants.

While the barriers provide a safe outdoor space for restaurant guests to enjoy their food, they were not aesthetically pleasing.

“Some folks reached out to me and said do you think you could coordinate something to make it look better?,” Gannon said. “I reached out to a couple of different groups, we are very fortunate to have many, many arts organizations from performing arts, to visual arts, and were just a very vibrant, artistic, and cultural community, it was pretty easy for me to tap into this and get people to come forward to help and I’ll tell you they came running, it was really great to see how everyone was willing to support our community.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF GREY HELD

Artists Grey and Leslie Held led their team in painting four brightly colored barriers outside of a resturant in Newtonville as part to enhance the outdoor dining experience and ensure safety.

Gannon assembled 23 local artists to paint 10 local businesses and divided them into smaller groups assigned to each paint site. One painter at each site was responsible for the overall design of that particular site’s barriers.

When deciding how the barriers would be painted, Newton Cultural Development tried to “keep things nice and cheery, using geometric shapes and something that may tie into the overall theme of the restaurant if that was possible,” Gannon said.

Supplies for the project were donated by Schwartz Ace Hardware— Nonantum, Sherwin Williams Paint— Newton Centre, and Councillor Alicia Bowman. The supplies were gathered

by Newton Community Pride and were distributed to each team of artists at a Newton Parks and Recreation facility.

Two Al fresco painters were Grey and Leslie Held who painted two sets of barriers in Newtonville. Leslie is a costume designer and Grey is a poet and visual artist. Grey has been involved in Newton public arts projects

in the past, such as the “Make Poetry Concrete” project to stamp poems in the sidewalks of Newton.

Since the paint was donated, only certain colors were available, which Leslie said created a challenge. The barriers that the Helds painted feature Leslie’s doodles, including colorful dots, striped patterns, and flowers.

“Those jersey barriers are pretty ugly, and especially since they have been used many times before,” Leslie said. “So, it just makes a nice little enclosure that you actually feel like you’re sitting in a restaurant and not in the middle of the street.”

The process of painting the barriers took three days. In order to maintain social distance, the barriers were painted during hours that the restaurant was closed. Since both sides of the barriers were painted, the artists also had to be mindful of traffic.

“I think it’s a way to involve the community and bring a smile to people’s faces,” Grey Held said. “When you’re driving along and see something bright in the street, it’s a real

pick- me- up.”

Christina Hasjoy is another artist who painted one set of four jersey barriers located outside of the restaurant Grape Leaf. Hasjoy is involved in the Newton Arts Alliance and is a mixe media artist and photographer.

Hasjoy worked with a team of other artists to paint an image of grape leaves and vines on the barriers. The painting process took them five days.

“The people that work at this restaurant and the people in the stores are totally pumped to have something prettier than a jersey barrier sitting there,” Hasjoy said.

Hasjoy talked about the therapeutic nature of the art process. She said she enjoyed the sense of accomplishment from the opportunity to create art with others.

“One of the really cool things that has come out of this project is the notion that the residents of Newton at large are really excited about community based public arts projects,” Hasjoy said.

Hasjoy said that Newton Cultural Development is now looking to expand public art projects in the community due to the positive feedback from residents in the community. n

Monday, September 14, 2020

A5

The Heights

Back on BC’s Campus, Professors Adapt Before the beginning of the semester, ‘The Heights’ interviewed professors about returning to campus.

Here’s what they said.

By Maeve Reilly Magazine Editor Owen Fahy Special Projects Editor and Danny Flynn Assoc. Magazine Editor For the past two weeks, students have been adapting to their new way of life on campus by attending online classes and adhering to social distancing rules. But they aren’t the only ones who’ve had to adapt—faculty members spent the summer reworking classes to comply with Boston College’s hybrid model.

Suntae Kim, professor of management and organization in the Carroll School of Management, is teaching his class, organizational behavior, in a hybrid style. His class is split into two groups—Group A comes in every Monday, and Group B comes in every Wednesday, with the respective groups joining in on Zoom on the days they aren’t there in person.

Mara Willard, a professor in the international studies program at BC, is teaching two smaller classes this fall. One is a senior seminar, and the other an international studies course that only intended majors enroll in.

She’s wary to immediately believe that class will be the same when everyone is wearing a mask, she said before the semester began. Nonetheless, she feels like she’s facing an important task by being in the classroom.

“I feel that I’m taking up the challenge that BC has given of teachers needing to lean in and create these ways of learning in the classroom with masks. … I think we need to have some humility about it,” she said.

“We’re doing our best, but it’s not an ideal circumstance.’

Willard almost wishes she had closed captions following her around the classroom, she said. But she recognized that being in person gives her an advantage this semester—saying it’s hard to blame someone for being distracted

by Nordstrom sales during class if they’re staring at a computer all day.

Communication Department Chair Matt Sienkiewicz, one of the administrators behind the reopening effort, said he hopes that students and faculty will have more success with online learning this semester.

“It was fully understandable during the first semester where we were dealing with this, to be a little bit shy of a Zoom session and not know how to raise your hand,” Sienkiewicz said.

“I’m hoping that we see students more comfortable with sort of a greater level of awareness to get the most out of the educational experience.”

The Center for Teaching Excellence has resources for professors to help them teach through the pandemic.

But communication professor Mike Serazio said his main worry about teaching is being heard well in the entire classroom with a mask on. The University has “enhanced” the microphones in classrooms, according to its reopening webpage.

Sienkiewicz shared concerns about wearing a mask while teaching.

“It also has to do with facial expressions and sort of more subtle cues that can be lost at the microphone. So that’s true for students in addition to professors,” Sienkiewicz said. “Obviously, we need to [wear masks] for safety, but there’s a real potential there for miscommunication for people having to, you know, speak things in slightly different ways.”

Serazio also noted that he usually likes to “wander” the classroom when he teaches, so he will need to be conscious to stay within the designated

zone within each classroom for the professor.

“I think there’s a lot of guidance [from the University], but you can’t guide people through the psychological part of it,” Sienkiewicz said. “You can tell them where it’s safe to stand.

You can tell them what the flow of traffic is, and all. But we’re all going to have to learn how to get our head around the fact that things are different.”

Theology Department Chair Richard Gaillardetz also took on the responsibility of managing an entire department revamp.

“In our department, we’ve really taken on the challenge. … All of our faculty have recognized that what we did in the spring isn’t going to work going forward,” Gaillardetz said.

He said his summer was significantly busier than most. While most of the professors who requested online teaching received accommodations, Gaillardetz had to work out accommodations for the few who didn’t.

“I think for faculty with serious concerns about their own safety and the safety of their loved ones, we’ve been able to arrive at a satisfactory accommodation for them,” he said.

Gaillardetz knows he and his colleagues have to re-imagine their entire approach to teaching this semester.

W h i l e h e ’s a s k e d them

to adapt to hybrid and online teaching, he also has pushed them to incorporate pertinent social injustices into their syllabi. He said it’s important for the theology department to take on that responsibility.

“Because we’ve got to do some things differently, while you’re at it, why not also ask yourself if there are ways that you can address, in your courses, some of these larger questions about systemic racism and white privilege, and so on,” he said.

Away from the classroom, Willard, as well as many other professors, is facing yet another challenge—figuring out what to do with her kids in the fall. As of now, Arlington, her family’s district, will be using a hybrid model. Willard, who has had her class schedule set with the registrar for a year, teaches on Wednesdays. In the days leading up to BC reopening, Willard asked herself— what happens if her kids aren’t in the classroom on a Wednesday?

On top of her own availability, Willard worries about child care. She can’t ask her parents, she says, as their age puts them at risk. While the administration has been supportive the entire time when it comes to planning student arrival with professors, Willard would embrace more help on the child care front.

Willard heard the news that the University was going online in the spring the same day that her kids, ages 9 and 13, were told they would no longer be learning in person. She scram-

bled to appease both her students’ panicked worries and her children’s confusion at the same time.

“My kids came home and school was closed, and they didn’t have their Spanish book, or they had taken out a library book on how to make cupcakes and we couldn’t return it,” she said, recalling the pandemonium.

Willard grew up in Newton—having the opportunity to raise her kids in the environment she loved so much in her youth is a privilege, she explained.

Her experience as an undergraduate at Swarthmore College has driven her love of a liberal arts education. At BC, she said she has found a really intense intellectual place.

So when the University announced in the spring that learning would transition online, Willard’s class of mostly seniors felt a unique pain.

“I was with these amazing students who were ready to go on to the next phase of their life and to go on to internships and jobs, and instead were back in their childhood bedroom,” she said. “Or [they were] like really ripening in so many ways, and then also struggling to be under these conditions of high school all of a sudden.”

Serazio said he wanted to be a journalist after he completed his ed-

at home, and financial struggles likely all contributed to an adverse learning environment, according to Serazio.

“One of the biggest challenges with going emergency remote in the spring was just the dynamics of the conversation are not yet replicable via Zoom as opposed to in person,” Serazio said. “I tried to plow ahead and approach in the same way and create opportunities for feedback and conversation and debate.”

Kim described the transition online in March as chaos. He said BC isn’t to blame—after all, no one could have been prepared for what was coming.

Still, it was hard for him to see students struggling to stay engaged on Zoom, he said.

Kim obtained permission to teach on campus in the spring due to both poor quality internet connection and having two kids in the house, ages 5 and 9. But being in a nearly completely empty building was creepy, he said.

Like Willard’s, Kim’s children also found themselves learning through a screen. He said the teachers worked hard at catering to online education— almost too hard. The build up of his kids’ assignments forced him to leave campus and come home to an entirely new task.

“I was being a

ucation, but when he discovered his passion for book-length articles, he began to pursue teaching. Ten years after this realization, he is navigating an unprecedented teaching situation.

“What I didn’t realize was how much fun teaching is,” Serazio said.

“I knew I would enjoy researching and writing and that aspect of it, but I don’t think I knew how much joy the teaching part would be.”

Serazio designs his classrooms to be engaging and interactive, making it fun for both students and himself.

But in the era of social distancing, this teaching style is harder to implement.

“The teaching is without a doubt the most enjoyable, invigorating, memorable part of the job, and particularly the interactions of the students,” Serazio said. “I try to design my classes to be as interactive as I humanely can make them.”

Last semester, like millions of students and professors across the country, Serazio struggled to cultivate the same classroom environment on Zoom that he had enjoyed in person.

“I don’t want to put it all on the technology, but definitely, it’s limiting, and definitely, it’s frustrating,” Serazio said. “I think one thing that helped a little bit was that we did have half the semester in person, and so I think that builds a little bit of the rapport.”

Serazio said that there were a variety of factors contributing to the challenges that remote learning posed for students in the fall. The impact of being evacuated from campus, challenges

teacher in my office and at home as well,” he said.

But helping his own kids through online learning has helped him understand how to better adapt to the platform.

“I learned that I should not give too much [work]—people are already overwhelmed,” he said. “I learned I have to articulate better when I was in Zoom. And I learned I have to be slower, be more patient. If I were not on the receiving side of that … online education, then I would not have learned those things.”

Serazio said he is not worried about contracting the virus himself, but that he sympathizes with any professor who is. Professors were able to apply to teach online if they were concerned for their own safety or the safety of someone in their households.

“For me, the upside of being able to be in class and the joy of in-person class experiences with students is worth the risk because I think based upon the way I understand the virus, I feel grateful and fortunate that I am not in a high-risk category,” Serazio said. “My wife and my daughter are not going to be at high risk. I’ll be taking every precaution.”

The University does not have a policy for dealing with cases of professors who need to teach remotely after beginning the semester in person—instead, they will be handled by the appropriate dean and chair as they arise, according to Sienkiewicz.

Kim’s wife has an underlying health condition, which influenced his thought

process around going back into the classroom. He went back and forth, ultimately deciding he owed it to his students to be partially in person.

“I debated a lot. I debated within myself a lot,” he said. “ … I was debating between, you know, my responsibility as a father and my responsibility as a teacher, and I think I was looking for the ways to balance these two.”

Kim said he has faith in BC and its effort to minimize the risk. Though he is anxious about himself and his kids potentially posing a threat to his wife by interacting with other people, he is confident that he can safely provide his students with an in-person education.

His main hope is that people comply with BC’s regulations and that BC minimizes cases. He also wants to try to recreate a normal semester for his students as best as he can.

Willard said that at the end of the day, she wants people to keep a light approach toward the inevitable difficulties that come with online and hybrid teaching.

“We need to not be chastising ourselves for the ways this is going to be awkward or frustrating,” she said. “We should not be pointing fingers. We should instead be encouraging ourselves to do the best we can.”

This situation comes with an opportunity, Willard said, to think about what success means in a broader sense—it’s not just about the grades that go with an individual.

As for an entire student body, faculty, and staff heading back to campus, she had mixed feelings in the days before the University welcomed students back. BC needs to continue to hold itself accountable by prioritizing its own workers, she said.

“That means to be there, foremost, in terms of people at the campus, including the dining service and the cleaning service and not just the students who may be pretty healthy in their early 20s, but the whole world behind them that generates their college experience,” she said.

Serazio is worried about his students, saying that the pandemic and its economic fallout, racial injustice, and the upcoming election could all weigh on them.

“I’m going to be aware constantly that there’s multiple major catastrophic things unfolding outside of the classroom, and you have to be aware of that, you have to be empathetic,” Serazio said.

“For me, the biggest challenge in all that is I want to be there for my students, and I can’t be there, because the virus quite literally makes it difficult, and in some cases, impossible to be there.”

Gaillardetz spoke candidly about what professors can and can’t do this semester.

“Not to put too fine a point on it,” he said. “We have no control over student behavior. We have no control over whether something happens here like happened in North Carolina or [at] Notre Dame.”

Like Willard, Gaillardetz said that this time can be used for creative growth. It’s new territory for everyone, meaning perhaps a burst of creativity from the faculty will emerge.

As BC was approaching its first day, Serazio said he was pleased with the job that the administration did to position the University to reopen, but similarly to Gaillardetz, he said the outcome of the semester will be dependent on student behavior.

“I really do think BC is doing everything possible to try to pull off this semester given the impossible conditions,” Serazio said. “Ultimately, I don’t think BC decides whether or not we make it through the semester. It’s going to be the students who decide collectively.” n GRAPHIC BY ALLYSON MOZELIAK / GRAPHICS EDITOR

The Heights

A6

EDITORIAL

Monday, September 14, 2020

Boston College Must Increase COVID-19 Testing

Colleges and universities across the country spent months forming plans to bring students back to campus. Testing measures, social distancing guidelines, and plans for housing students testing positive were just some of the factors administrations considered. One of the most important measures to take when striving to keep a large community of people safe, however, is early and routine detection of the virus.

A study published in July by researchers at Harvard and Yale recommends colleges test all students every two days, combined with extensive social distancing measures and robust plans for isolation and quarantine when necessary.

Many universities in the Northeast are testing students at least twice per week if those students live or attend class on campus. By doing so, these colleges have a fairly accurate picture of the number of cases within the student body as a whole.

They can be reasonably certain that infected students can be effectively accounted for. The same is not true at Boston College.

Last week, from Sept. 7 to Sept. 13, BC administered 2,954 tests—2,647 of which were for undergraduates. The week before, BC administered 4,322 tests, with 3,837 of those being undergraduates.

BC began asymptomatic surveillance testing on Sept. 2 and has said that it will be conducting at least 1,500 of these tests per week. BC has said that community members in “high-contact” groups, such as employees at BC Dining or the Margot Connell Recreation Center, are being selected for these tests at a higher rate.

BC also required students from high-risk states and countries to be tested twice during the first week.

Still, there are some students living on

campus who have not been tested since their initial test in August during move-in.

The University has stated that it’s conducting contact tracing for people who may have come into contact with someone who tested positive, and it is requiring students to wear masks at all times when outside of their rooms. Classrooms are arranged for distancing, and dining halls have been modified to protect both workers and students. These practices, however, do not make up for how infrequently all students are being tested.

Boston University is testing all students who attend in-person classes or live on campus twice per week. Northeastern University is requiring students who live on campus or off campus in the surrounding area to be tested every three days.

Northeastern’s seven-day test positivity rate is 0.06 percent, and Boston University’s is 0.05 percent, as of Sunday night.

Harvard, which only welcomed back a fraction of its students this semester, is testing each student between one and three times per week depending on housing and number of times per week an off-campus student has in-person classes.

As of Sunday, Harvard has a seven-day positivity rate of 0.09 percent.

Tufts is testing undergraduates twice a week, regardless of whether they live on campus, and it has a test positivity rate of 0.09 percent, also as of Sunday. The University of Massachusetts Amherst has a weekly positivity rate of 0.04 percent, as of Sunday night, and it also tests on-campus undergraduates and off-campus undergrads with on-campus classes twice per week. All of the aforementioned schools, with the exception of Boston University, use the Broad Institute for testing, just as BC does.

As of Sunday, BC jumped to a 2.53 percent positivity rate among undergrads for the previous week after holding relatively steady low numbers, and The Boston Globe reported that at least 13 members of the swimming and diving team had tested positive. The the total number of current cases is 67.

But because not all students are tested twice per week, that number does not account for the entire student population.

The Broad Institute—the MIT and Harvard joint initiative that BC and over 100 universities currently use—has completed over 1,600,000 tests. The institute charges schools $25 for each test, meaning testing twice per week would cost $50 per student per week. It’s a cost the University should and must incur.

It should be noted that more testing is not fail-safe. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign requires all students to test twice-weekly. It locked down its campus two weeks ago after cases spiked, mostly due to students who had tested positive, had knowledge of those positive results, and attended or even hosted parties.

To be fair, there’s only so much a university can do if students commit short-sighted and selfish acts. But the university was able to quickly identify a problem because all of its students were tested so frequently.

It’s possible that BC’s positive test rate would be lower if all undergraduates were tested twice per week. Maybe the influx of tests would result in a higher negativity rate.

There’s only one way to know for sure.

To ensure the community is staying safe, Boston College needs to substantially increase its testing.

A group of Heights editors who are committed to participating in the consistent writing of editorials comprise the editorial board. Editors who report on topics discussed in editorials are not permitted to participate in the discussion or writing of the editorial.

Members: Colleen Martin, Abby Hunt, Maddie Haddix, Brooke Kaiserman, Meegan Minahan, Jillian Ran, Danny Flynn, and Rachel Phelan.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK “Your story is what you have, what you will always have. It is something to own.”

- Michelle Obama

CUSTOMER SERVICE Clarifications / Corrections The Heights strives to provide its readers with complete, accurate, and balanced information.

If you believe we have made a reporting error, have information that requires a clarification or correction, or questions about The Heights’ standards and practices, you may contact Colleen Martin, Editor-in-Chief, at (617) 552-2223, or email eic@bcheights.com.

Delivery To have The Heights delivered to your home each week or to report distribution problems on campus, contact Sophie Lu, General Manager

The Heights reserves the right to edit for clarity, brevity, accuracy, and to prevent libel. The Heights also reserves the right to write headlines and choose illustrations to accompany pieces submitted to the newspaper.

Editorial

The

Established 1919

Heights

The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College

Colleen Martin, President, Editor-in-Chief Sophie Lu, General Manager Abby Hunt, Managing Editor

Brooke Kaiserman, A1 Editor Meegan Minahan, Visual Director Scott Baker, News Editor Emma Healy, Sports Editor Jillian Ran, Arts Editor Maeve Reilly, Magazine Editor Julia Remick, Metro Editor Maddie Haddix, Opinions Editor Owen Fahy, Special Projects Editor Maggie DiPatri, Photo Editor Haley Hockin, Copy Chief Emily Rosato, Layout Editor

Gretchen Haga, Social Media Director Maddie Phelps, Online Manager Éamon Laughlin, Multimedia Editor Stephanie Liu, Outreach Coordinator Madeleine Romance, Assoc. News Editor Megan Kelly, Asst. News Editor Olivia Charbonneau, Assoc. Sports Editor Asa Ackerly, Asst. Sports Editor Grace Mayer, Assoc. Arts Editor Nathan Rhind, Asst. Arts Editor Danny Flynn, Assoc. Magazine Editor Anna Lonnquist, Asst. Magazine Editor

at (617) 552-0547 or email gm@bcheights.com.

Advertising The Heights is one of the most effective ways to reach the BC community. To submit a classified, display, or online advert i s e m e nt , c a l l o u r a d v e r t i s i n g o f f i ce at (617) 552-2220 Monday through Friday.

The Heights is produced by BC undergraduates and is published on Mondays during the academic year by The Heights, Inc. (c) 2020. All rights reserved.

Letters and columns can be submitted online at www.bcheights.com, by email to editor@bcheights. com, in person, or by mail to Editor, The Heights, 113 McElroy Commons, Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02467.

Lauren Wittenmyer, Assoc. Metro Editor Ikram Ali, Assoc. Photo Editor Jess Rivilis, Asst. Photo Editor Sophie Ragano, Asst. Multimedia Editor Julia Kiersznowski, Copy Editor Rachel Phelan, Copy Editor Eric Shea, Editorial Assistant

Business and Operations

Ashley Yoon, Operations Manager Amy Vanderschans, Alumni Outreach Coordinator Emily Qian, Collections Manager Mac McGee, Local Accounts Manager Christine Zhang, On-Campus Accounts Manager Gina Frankis, National Accounts Manager

The Heights

Monday, September 14, 2020

LIBERAL

In Primary, Progressive Voters Win could learn from Markey’s ability to take accountability for his mistakes and pivot to proactively supporting and even championing popular left-wing policies such as Medicare for All and the Green New Deal.

Since both Markey and Kennedy entered their current positions in 2013, they have taken governing 69

standpoints that are, frankly, fairly similar. There is

Sophie Carter

little daylight between the two policy-wise—they both

The progressive left has heard the same refrain

supported Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren

time and time again from moderate and conservative

in the Democratic presidential primary, support the

commentators—that young, left-wing voters ask for

Medicare for All bill, and identify strongly with the pro-

too much from their candidates, refuse to compromise,

gresssive wing of the Democratic Party. Given this lack

and demand unreasonable “purity tests”. In the Massa-

of ideological difference coupled with Markey’s relative

chusetts Senate primary, it was certainly an uphill bat-

obscurity vis-a-vis a Kennedy in Massachusetts, the

tle for an old, white man who voted in favor of the Iraq

Markey campaign found an edge to distinguish itself.

War to gain the support of young voters, progressives, and activists, but Ed Markey managed to pull it off.

The final results from the Sept. 1 primary showed

As the original Senate sponsor of the Green New Deal, Markey made the smart decision to rebrand himself in ads as “The Green New Dealmaker,” taking on a

theincumbent senator, Markey, pulling off a 10-point

forward-looking tone and focusing much of his messag-

blowout of Rep. Joe Kennedy III, a result that hardly

ing on progressive youth outreach. Accountability and

anyone could have predicted when Kennedy entered

left-wing conceptions of progress became hallmarks of

the race last September with a 14-point lead. Much

the Markey campaign, inspiring symbolic and powerful

of Markey’s unprecedented success resulted from his

endorsements from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and

deliberate outreach and rebranding efforts directed at

the youth-led Sunrise Movement.

the young, progressive wing of the Democratic Party.

In return for his concerted efforts toward cham-

Markey’s strategy of fostering a massive, organic, and

pioning the issues most important to today’s young,

self-sufficient digital and grassroots organizing net-

progressive left, Markey was rewarded with contagious

work ultimately paid off for him.

enthusiasm and a robust, entertaining, and unique digi-

From the standpoint of the left, Markey has taken

tal grassroots operation. By tapping into the enthusiasm

bad votes in the past. He opposed desegregation of

and savvy of the online left, Markey was able to build

Boston Public Schools in the 1970s, he voted for the

a massive online presence through an organic network

1994 crime bill that constructed mass incarceration as

of Ed-themed Twitter fan accounts, notably including

we know it today, and he voted in favor of the Iraq War.

“Gingers for Markey,” “Theater Kids for Markey,” and

The skeletons in his closet are similar to that of the

my personal favorite, “Ed’s Reply Guys.” So many of

current Democratic nominee for President, Joe Biden,

these accounts accumulated that the campaign even-

who has been hammered for his controversial votes on

tually dubbed the phenomenon of unofficial campaign

these issues by both the left and the right. But Biden

accounts the “Markeyverse.”

CONSERVATIVE

BC’s Laundry List of Problems

A7

A coalition of young campaign fellows and students used their coding skills to create the Markey Map, an interactive map where voters click on their town to find a list of local endorsements and how much money Markey has procured for that specific community over the course of his career. Students organized Zoom phone bank parties attended by hundreds of volunteers on any given night. Finally, the Sunrise Movement assisted in building far-reaching enthusiasm for the campaign, creating nostalgic and inspiring ads and boosting Markey’s name recognition among Massachusetts voters.

Markey’s reinvention and outreach strategy was Doug Girardot a resounding success, as was clearly reflected in the election results. A larger question remains after all is When it comes to doing laundry at Boston College, said and done: Is this campaign strategy replicable and the one perennial stain that no one’s been able to get scalable? out is the administration’s negligence of its students’ Biden’s campaign can and should evaluate Markey’s wants and needs. campaign as a blueprint for driving the enthusiasm of The topic of laundry sounds quite myopic in a time the youth vote and inspiring talented and savvy young when the CDC projects that over 200,000 people in people to build an authentic digital infrastructure. The this country are slated to die from a pandemic by next progressive left, which is largely composed of young month, and people like me are tardily waking up to and working-class voters, does not require candidates the full realization that Black people’s lives are under to have decades of flawless political service to feel truly sustained attack. seen and represented. All it takes is accountability for But I think that laundry is a valuable gateway for past mistakes; an honest commitment to key issues seeing how BC’s administrators uncharitably and that will disproportionately affect young people, such unproductively deal with concerns, even on a small as climate change; and humility in courting key allies, scale. And the fact of the matter is, if you can’t deal with such as the Sunrise Movement. Building enthusiasm washing clothes, you can’t deal with racial justice or and trust among voter groups is a two-way street, but COVID-19. as evidenced by the Markey campaign, it can truly The most obvious impact that BC’s laundry systems prove invaluable in a tight race. have on students is on their wallets. A single load of laundry costs $1.75 to wash and another $1.75 to dry.

God help you if you actually want to wash your clothes Sophie Carter is an op-ed columnist for The in different batches according to temperature and Heights. She can be reached at sophie.carter@ colors. bcheights.com.

In the grand scheme of things, $1.75 is but a drop in the bucket for most BC students: According to an analysis reported by The New York Times in 2017, Boston College is one of 38 colleges and universities in the United States where more students come from the top one percent of income than the entire bottom 60 percent.

Assuming one single load of washing and drying per week, students must allocate more than $50 toward laundry each semester. Using the 7,408 undergraduates who lived on campus in fall 2019 as a representative count, that comes out to a conservative total of $777,840 per year that gets suctioned away from the student body off the bat.

For a fair number of BC students who come from low-income backgrounds, that price tag has the potential to disrupt academics as it forcibly redirects money away from books and school supplies.

Surely, though, the University must have some fund that it can draw from to reimburse the laundering costs of students from less privileged backgrounds? Surely some fraction of our nearly $80,000 cost of attendance must go toward supplementing such a cause, which aligns with being “men and women for others”?

The answer, of course, is “no,” written dispassionately in BC’s signature Scala typeface. A representative for the longer civil.” That saying is manifesting itself in the Montserrat Office informed me via email that such a U.S. government today. program does not exist anywhere across the University.

Consequently, I argue that we have a gov(At the time of writing, representatives from the Office ernmental system in which is is very difficult for of Residential Life had not responded to requests for someone who is new to the political sphere or who comment.) is of lesser financial means can succeed in creating On BC’s campus, the problem starts with laundry an influential or authoritative campaign—regardfacilities themselves: They’re cramped, humid, and have less of the fact that he or she may be the better minimal ventilation. Besides that, virtually everyone in candidate. Without fame or years of power under residence halls is guaranteed to use laundry facilities at their belts, candidates have no feasible means to least once during the term. This alone would make conchallenge politicians like Markey. tact tracing a nightmare, if any such procedures existed Today’s America seems to have forgotten in dorms to begin with. Unlike spaces such as O’Neill or about the precedent set by our first chief of state. classrooms that have been designated as areas for virtual After serving as the president of the United States classes, there are no forms for students to provide their for eight years, George Washington willingly name, contact information, and the time in which they surrendered his power and in his Farewell Address entered a dorm building. warned the American people that “the disorders Normally, this would be a problem for student and miseries which result [from party conflict] government. However, over many decades, the student gradually incline the minds of men to seek security government’s profile has been whittled down to an and repose in the absolute power of an individual; impotent sounding board that administrators can freely and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing ignore with no consequences other than exasperated faction, more able or more fortunate than his comsighs from students. All the while, those with authority petitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of in the University nod their heads in faux sympathy and his own elevation, on the ruins of Public Liberty.” elocute two-dimensional platitudes that have grown This admonition did not die with Washington. threadbare with overuse.

For centuries, others have warned of the dangers of What’s most frustrating is that I have beheld an unlimited and unchecked power, and yet our repinstance when a university’s student government at St resentatives allow the nation to continue to spiral Andrews, was able to work with administrators to solve downward without term limits. this exact problem.

One would think that the nation’s centuHere in Chestnut Hill, administrative engagement ries-long inability to create term limits would with students is harder to come by than an actual Boston necessarily mean that the initiative has gone accent. unsupported by the public. But interestingly, a When an Instagram account shared students’ expe2013 Gallup poll showed that 75 percent of Amerriences of racism on campus, BC refused to do anything icans support the establishment of term limits. except merely acknowledge the existence of the account.

Yet, members of Congress have been unable or BC refuses to listen to students’ calls to divest from fossil unwilling to successfully pass a bill creating them, fuels (and, incredibly, chooses to explicitly ignore papal abandoning the desires of those they are meant to guidance in order to justify that position). BC refuses represent. to weigh the option of providing contraception to its Without term limits, elections like the one students, which a majority of student voters supported between Kennedy and Markey will continue to be in a 2018 referendum. the status quo. But with them, we will see a more It would be foolish for anyone to think that students diverse and efficacious government and a freer might ever form some sort of democracy at Boston America.

College overnight through which every student’s complaint—such as a change to the costs of laundry—would Sophie Hoeltgen is an op-ed columnist for The get addressed. But it’s not so unreasonable to ask for Heights. She can be reached at the bare minimum: honest and frequent discussions between student representatives and University officials, sophie.hoeltgen@bcheights.com. more than the superficial talks that BC periodically caves into for the sake of good public relations.

Primary Shows Only Elite Run

Sophie Hoeltgen Boston College alumnus Ed Markey defeated challenger Joe Kennedy III in the Democratic Primary for a Massachusetts Senate seat—making Markey the first man ever to defeat a Kennedy in a congressional vote on Massachusetts soil. Markey will be going head-to-head with Republican challenger Kevin O’Connor on Nov. 3 and is currently expected to easily take the election.

Despite Markey’s status as a long-time incumbent, the outcome of the election was unpredictable as both candidates had been endorsed by household names—Markey by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Kennedy by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Ultimately, Kennedy couldn’t convince voters that Markey, an incumbent endorsed by progressives, should be ousted for the similar, but younger, challenger.

At first glance, one might have seen virtue in this primary election, which looked like an exchange of ideas between an old sage and a young reformist—a race to see who was the better candidate. But in reality, it was just another tooth-andnail fight in the old boys’ club, which unfortunately, happens ad nauseam in today’s America.

Without term limits, we see the same people—Democrats and Republicans—wielding power year after year, and the only people who can challenge these candidates are others who already wield power and fame. They’re men like Kennedy, Markey, and Rep. Don Young, a Republican who has served in the house since 1973. With each year that the same individuals control the government, the U.S. Congress becomes increasingly totalitarian and decreasingly diverse. This is seen as career politicians—whose leadership becomes increasingly questionable as the years go on—become servants of their opinion rather than their people, as the governing body begins to lose variety in opinion, background, and age.

Both Kennedy and Markey are what can only be described as American royalty. Their well-known names and years spent in the political spotlight have afforded them an unfair advantage in the campaigning world.

Here is an idea of what Markey and Kennedy’s political legacies look like: Kennedy is the great-nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy, the grandson of the former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, and the heir to a long line of elected officials. The Kennedy family’s overall fortune, which spans almost three different last names and multiple branches of the family, was estimated by Forbes to be around $1 billion. At the young age of 39, Kennedy has already spent seven years as a congressman, and in the recent Massachusetts Democratic Senate primary, Kennedy was able to successfully gain a high-profile following and challenge an incumbent senator despite having no good reason for running.

Markey, at age 74, has served in the House of Representatives and the Senate for a combination of more than four decades, and prior to that, he served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

And while Markey’s adeptness as a candidate has been questioned by pundits, his myriad of years of fundraising, campaigning, and networking has allowed him to create an unbeatable political machine.

Arguably, Markey and Kennedy have been able to succeed in the political arena over others in part due to their notoriety and ample access to funding rather than their political aptitude.

The Markey vs. Kennedy debate on Aug. 11 further highlighted the corruption that accompanies a political system that only allows the elite few to succeed. Rather than level-headedly discussing the topics salient to their constituents and elucidating their visions for the Senate, should one of them be elected, Markey and Kennedy wasted time slandering each other and arguing over where the other man got his money.

This primary election is just one of many examples of the corruption that results from a lack of term limits. The issues that come with unchecked power are ubiquitous and non-discriminatory in nature.

They occur on both sides of the fence: left-wing and right-wing. As the saying goes, “After a time, civil servants tend to become no longer servants and no

The opinions and commentaries of the op-ed columnists appearing on this page represent the views of the author of that particular piece, and not necessarily the views of The Heights.

Douglas Girardot is an op-ed columnist for The Heights. He can be reached at doug.girardot@bcheights.com.

The Heights

A8

‘Mulan’ Adaptation Takes Cues From Tradition

By Shannon Carmichael Heights Staff With theaters still dark and vacant, Mulan premiered Sept. 4 on Disney+ to counter the silence of the movie world and offer a long-awaited remake to fans.

The film’s streaming eligibility serves as one of the first major examples of how the arts world is adapting to life in a pandemic: The cost of a movie ticket and an Uber have necessarily been traded for $30 and a subscription to Disney+ (or at least access to your roommate’s).

The $200 million budget film has faced substantial boundaries leading up to its release, in terms of both pub-

lic health and social controversy. The film’s hefty budget makes Mulan the priciest of Disney’s live action remakes.

Its inability to premier in theaters served as a blow to expected opening weekend profits, though its accessibility on a popular streaming platform may prove to counter traditional methods of production and offer a glimpse at the potential future of the industry.

Besides the obvious dysfunctionality of finding a financially feasible way to release a multimillion-dollar blockbuster in a time when the world is mostly shut down, #BoycottMulan trends on Twitter further stifled the film’s opening week. The hashtag refers to the controversy surrounding the

FILM

MULAN NIKI CARO DISTRIBUTED BY WALT DISNEY STUDIOS RELEASE SEP. 4, 2020 OUR RATING

WALT DISNEY STUDIOS

film’s Mulan, Liu Yifei, as Twitter users around the world have been quick to call out the actor’s past expression of support for Hong Kong police amid pro-democracy protests.

Though the movie’s casting choices have been called into question, the process for depicting the core values and culture of Mulan was the top priority during the making of the film. Director Niki Caro sought to cast actors of Asian descent to fill the roles of the characters of the ancient Chinese ballad, though she herself is from New Zealand. Caro injects her own sense of home within the piece by choosing to film in both New Zealand and China, ensuring picturesque scenery throughout the entirety of the film that in itself is enough motive to split the cost of the movie with your roommates.

Mulan’s feminist undercurrent shines through in Caro’s live action adaptation of the 1998 animated version.

Love is not the end goal of the story, unlike most female-led films within the Disney Princess franchise and beyond.

Instead, the remake focuses on portraying the strength and will of Mulan to fight for her family and country within a patriarchal society. The 2020 vision of Mulan is more on key with the modern woman, and the film’s disinterest in love enables this version to pass the

Bechdel-Wallace test with flying colors.

Modern twists continue throughout the film beyond its depiction of Mulan herself. If you’re expecting to watch the screenplay of the beloved 1998 animation performed scene-by-scene, prepare to be disappointed. The updated film departs from its past Disney narrative, a decision Caro consciously made in order to be more faithful to the traditional storyline of the Chinese ballad. Mulan’s beloved dragon sidekick, Mushu, sadly does not make it into the 2020 adaptation. A new character, Xian Lang (Gong Li), is added to the story instead. She serves as a sorceress working alongside the invading enemy, though her character development is very representative of Caro’s feminist approach to the film.

True to Caro’s realistic approach, she also eliminates comedic and musical elements from the film. Mulan and the soldiers regretfully do not break into song while training for battle, though the melodies from various hits from the 1998 soundtrack—like “Reflection” and “Honor To Us All”—do make the cut, if only for a few seconds.

With Mushu gone, the lively commentary of Eddie Murphy is bitterly missed, though understandably in an effort to better reflect the original story of Mulan. n

Flaming Lips Explore Loss on Latest Album

By Charley Conroy Heights Staff Most bands would struggle to come up with new and interesting ideas 25 years after their debut. Even more would struggle to make two competent projects in one year. But it seems that The Flaming Lips have proven that they are not like most bands with their new album, American Head.

While not innovating too much musically, The Flaming Lips have created an effective and emotional reflection on growing up and losing one’s innocence that only really stumbles toward the end.

The story American Head tells is simple but effective. The opening track, “Will You Return / When You Come Down,” sets the reflective, regretful tone of the album.

Dreamy vocals, a playful xylophone, and heavy synth bring the listener in, while the lyrics ponder why “now all your friends are dead.” It’s an ethereal and warm song that subtly prepares listeners to look back on their lives and the ones they’ve lost.

“Flowers of Neptune 6” focuses on coming of age. Childish lyrics about light bugs being spaceships, followed by a track entirely about dinosaurs, paint a picture of the album’s young protagonist. Meanwhile, lines like “Oh my god, now it’s me” show that he’s slowly realizing that the need to start growing up. While musically, “Flowers of Neptune 6” feels more grounded

than the previous tracks, “Dinosaurs on the Mountain” does everything it can to sound childish and dreamy, which helps the lyrics paint a picture of the naive protagonist.

“At the Movies on Quaaludes” marks a shift in the album toward the very strange motif of drugs and drug use that sticks around for most of the album. While “Flowers of Neptune 6” has a line about doing acid, five of the next six tracks deal with drug use.

It’s a strange concept to bring in, but as the protagonist evolves, so does his perception of drugs. Sonically, these songs each match fairly well with their respective lyrics, going from naive to serious depending on the track.

The lines about drugs sound playful and ignorant of consequence right up until “Mother I’ve Taken LSD,” where he claims, “Now I see the sadness in the world” and talks about two friends who have had their lives radically changed by their recklessness. After taking a track off to deal with the death of a brother, “You n Me Sellin’ Weed” tries to return to the playful ignorance of the past, but before the song ends, that illusion is broken once again with the sound of sirens and the revelation in “Mother Please Don’t Be Sad” that the protagonist has been killed.

This ultimately leads to what should have been the final song on the album.

“Assassins of Youth” is not only one of the better tracks on the album, but also a solid

conclusion for all of the themes of the album. The protagonist reflects on his death and realizes what killed him—his drug use and feelings of invincibility. The song feels almost frustrated with its answer, and it is much more grounded than the rest of the album. The only issue with this song is that it isn’t the final track. There are still two more left on the album.

“God and the Policeman” and “My Religion is You” feel out of place because “Assassins of Youth” wraps everything up thematically. “God and the Policeman” tangentially relates to the narrative set up by the album, and Kacey Musgraves’ voice works well with Wayne Coyne’s, but it feels forced when compared to the consistency

of the rest of the album. “My Religion is You” is not related at all to the rest of the album, and its chorus drags on. The solid pacing of the album grinds to a halt so that Coyne can think of ways to rhyme the names of religions. The mediocre track only drags the album down.

American Head is a beautiful reflection on the mistakes of a life ended too early that is easily on par with The Flaming Lips’ previous masterpieces of The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. Had it ended a few tracks sooner and experimented a little more, it might have surpassed them.

As it stands, The Flaming Lips are finally back on top with a thoughtful and warm reflection on growing up and death. n

For The Heights In recent years, the word “quirky” has acquired a negative connotation.

The “I’m not like other girls” trope has become a popular internet meme, poking fun at the desire to stand out and revealing the inherent misogyny that exists within alternative creative circles. This strain of subculture has left more traditional indie films like 500 Days of Summer and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World in the dust, paving the way for a new era of alternative media spurred by the New Age politics and online antics of Gen Z. DIY musicians, filmmakers, artists, and various other creatives litter the internet as young adults take their collective frustration with mainstream versions of quirkiness into their own hands.

Despite this confusing mix of aversion to conventional quirkiness and simultaneous desire for originality, veteran “alt girl” Miranda July delivers a new indie darling with Kajillionaire that might just be her best (and quirkiest) project to date.

Evan Rachel Wood stars as Old Dolio Dyne, a tracksuit-wearing, decidedly Amish-looking 26-year-old trained con artist residing in the Los Angeles area with her oddball, anti-capitalist parents Robert Dyne (Richard Jenkins) and Theresa Dyne (Debra Winger).

The trio leads an unconventional life, spending their days pulling notably small-time cons, cleaning up the excess bubbles from the unspecified industrial building where they live in exchange for a lower rent, and evading their overly emotional landlord, Stovik (Mark Ivanir).

FILM

KAJILLIONAIRE MIRANDA JULY DISTRIBUTED BY FOCUS FEATURES RELEASE SEP. 25, 2020 OUR RATING

FOCUS FEATURES

ERIN PENDER

‘NOBODY GETS ME’ WALLOWS

The age of heavy rock influences in Wallows’ music seems to be, at least temporarily, on hold. The band—consisting of Dylan Minnette (known for his role as Clay Jensen in 13 Reasons Why), Braeden Lemasters, and Cole Preston—released its new single, “Nobody Gets Me (Like You),” on Sept. 9, following the release of their single “OK” in March and their cover of “With A Little Help From My Friends” in May. “Nobody Gets Me” keeps in line with the style embraced in “With A Little Help From My Friends.”

The band has certainly pivoted away from heavier rock and punk influences—one example being “Treacherous Doctor” (remarkable for its intense guitar and nearly eight-second-long drum solo— thanks, Cole)—toward a more pop and psychedelic-based sound. In terms of lyrics, the new single is much more upbeat than many of Wallows’ other songs.

It offers a less cynical and more positive and hopeful perspective on a relationship, and it focuses less on the difficulties young people face and more on a romanticized view of life that is often present in pop songs. While it is impressive to see Wallows take on new genres and sounds in their music, one can’t help but hope for a return to a somewhat grittier sound in their upcoming October EP. n

MUSIC MUSIC VIDEO JOSIE MCNEILL

BLACKPINK & SELENA GOMEZ

AMERICAN HEAD THE FLAMING LIPS PRODUCED BY WARNER RECORDS RELEASE SEP. 11, 2020 OUR RATING

WARNER RECORDS

When their money runs out and Stovik tearfully demands their $1,500 rent, Old Dolio forges a larger con in which they fly to New York (on a free airline coupon, of course) and “lose” her luggage in order to collect travel insurance money. This is where the film gets truly interesting—this is when we meet Melanie (Gina Rodriguez).

Rodriguez plays perhaps the most “normal” character in Kajillionaire.

We’re introduced to her as a talkative and bright physician’s assistant who aids Robert and Theresa with their flight anxiety and eventually assists with the Dynes’ various cons, elevating them from smaller jobs to more lucrative scams. Rodriguez’s past projects (Jane the Virgin, Deepwater Horizon) have tended to veer more on the mainstream side of the film industry, but her turn as Melanie proves her ability to play truly complex and human characters. In one particular (and surprisingly hysterical) scene during which Melanie and the Dynes are both robbing a lonely old man as he dies two rooms over and also pretending to be his family to ease his loneliness, Rodriguez gives a performance so intoxicating and realistic, you feel as though you’ve waded directly into the character’s consciousness.

This, however, is the mark of every Miranda July project. From her acclaimed 2007 collection of short stories No One Belongs Here More

SINGLE REVIEW

‘ICE CREAM’

MUSIC

‘Kajillionaire’ Boasts Unexpected Depth

By Grace McPhee

Monday, September 14, 2020

Than You to her star-making directorial debut Me and You and Everyone We Know, July consistently crafts both intensely intimate characters and original situations. Heavily inspired by the riot grrrl movement of the ’90s, she depicts the female psyche as wildly complex, genderless, and at certain times even mythical, giving special attention to the concept of motherhood and often exploring the underbelly of life. Old Dolio Dyne is no exception. Wood portrays Dyne as a closed-off, odd, detached, and, well, quirky young person with deeply rooted emotional issues resulting from her unconventional upbringing. It’s not until Melanie and Old Dolio begin to interact with each other that we see Old Dolio start to heal from and explain her childhood trauma, starting with the revelation at a parenting class that Old Dolio was named after an ailing lottery winner in the hopes he would put her in his will. This sort of whimsical backstory is typical of a July project, but that doesn’t make it any less poignant for the audience.

Is Kajillionaire a pink-filled Los Angeles dreamscape of quirk? Yes. Does it pack the same emotional punch of July’s other work? Also yes.

Kajillionaire is July’s reinvention of her own quirkiness, and though she’s still the same offbeat artist she was 10 years ago, she has adapted appropriately. She may not be like other girls, but Miranda July knows how to make a movie. n

After teasing its return over Twitter in June, K-Pop group BLACKPINK is back with two chart-topping hits.

“Ice Cream,” the latest single off its forthcoming album, The Album, is the group’s highest-ranking release yet.

Featuring Selena Gomez, this bubblegum pop song with a correspondingly sweet music video is a great start to BLACKPINK’s official comeback.

As the first few beats of the 808 drum hit, viewers are instantly transported into a vibrant candy colored world, reminiscent of the one created

by Taylor Swift in her “ME!” music video. Full of pastel color changes and high waisted shorts, the dreamlike ’80s summer vibe of the set perfectly matches the carefree lyrics of the song.

The chart-topping group and Gomez sing about snow cones , Free Willy, and “jeans like Billie,” further emphasizing the retro influences of the song and its music video. At one point in the video, Gomez sports a red bandanna and hairstyle similar to that of Rosie the Riveter. An icon for working women during World War II, Rosie was repopularized in the 1980s.

The video takes a journey from gingerbread-style houses to a cherry wonderland, and finally to an ice cream themed inflatable house. Each of these mini-worlds within the candyland of the “Ice Cream” music video are enhanced by BLACKPINK’s sweet voices and iconic dance routines. The girls “look so good, look so sweet” as they dance in front of the gingerbread-style houses, singing about how they melt their cool exterior only for the one person who knows they are worth it.

The video is complete with adorable outfits sported by the girls to match each little world, and of course, delectable ice cream cones in almost every frame.

“Ice Cream” represents a change in style for the first K-pop group to perform at Coachella, a change that paid off. The single’s sweet video promises a taste of what’s to come for BLACKPINK. n

ARTS

A9

Monday, September 14, 2020

@BCHeightsArts

Lights, Camera, Zoom Without a live audience, BC Theatre is reimagining its craft.

By Jillian Ran, Arts Editor Grace Mayer, Assoc. Arts Editor Nathan Rhind, Asst. Arts Editor Spring semester’s abrupt end hit the Boston College Theatre Department hard. Two plays that were in the works, City of Angels and The Wolves, were canceled, and acting classes had to be reimagined to fit an online format.

“At the time, it was really sad,” BC Theatre Department Chair Luke Jorgensen said. “The musical got canceled, there were students who were so excited, they had just got the lead, they had been to one rehearsal.”

“It was very devastating,” City of Angel’s former assistant director Ally Lardner, Lynch ’21, said of the cancellations.

But now, as students and faculty members reconvene on campus , the department is ready to start anew. Producing a play in the age of COVID-19 means striking an innovative balance, finding ways to stay true to the art of theatre while following public health guidelines.

the fall, would have to be postponed because of the logistics of singing while wearing masks. Even the idea of putting on a full-scale production in Robsham Theater had to be abandoned. There was simply no way to work around the issue of actors having to stay 6 feet apart, or for that matter, the difficulty of giving an expressive performance while wearing a mask.

Those hurdles eventually led to the decision to turn both plays into socially distanced productions.

In the wake of these changes, Lardner, now the stage manager for Twelfth Night, has found herself taking on more tasks than a stage manager’s usual job description.

“I think the most important part is making sure that the actors are all safe and they feel advocated for,” Lardner said. “But it’s also going to be a bigger responsibility with making sure that everyone’s 6 feet apart at all times— if not more than 6 feet because they’re moving or they’re speaking loudly— disinfecting surfaces, and making sure that everyone is going to be okay.”

Scenes in Twelfth Night that re-

will have to register for a ticket in order for the department to avoid Zoom bombers.

Adapting to new technology, while potentially troublesome, does come with its own set of advantages.

“Nothing compares to live theatre,” said Sweat stage manager Angela Salisbury, MCAS ’22. “I think we all miss it. I think it’s more about instead of figuring out how we can get as close as we want to be to what it used to be. We’re kind of discovering a new normal and new ways to be creative, given the circumstances, and new ways to connect.”

While conducting the play over Zoom isn’t anyone’s first choice, the technology’s film-like aspects could potentially lead to more nuanced performances, since the actors’ faces will be more visible, according to Salisbury.

The production is almost blurring the lines between theatre and film.

“If we do Twelfth Night like a movie, is it still theatre or is it becoming something else that we don’t have the language as theatre people to make?”,

the intricate script into 18 individual scenes. Each scene will be filmed on the mainstage of Robsham Theater in front of a large green screen.

The trick will be to ensure that the actors are at a safe distance from one another, while also in a position where they won’t cast shadows on the screen and will be visible to the camera.

Plum and Lardner plan to dedicate the month of October to filming. Yet with the future of the semester so uncertain, students and faculty members working on both plays have had to make arrangements in the event that campus will close once again.

“We’ve developed a few contingency plans,” Salisbury said. “We get sent home, we’re sending them home with a little care kit—Sweat care packages—that’s a green screen,

COVID is going to spark a lot of weird and cool art, and I think it’s cool to explore that in an academic setting.”

The industry as a whole has been racing to adapt to life during a pandemic . G e tting the rights to put on a pro duction of a play over Zoom w o u l d h av e been unheard of six months ago, according to Jorgensen. But now, it’s commonplace.

Even after life goes back to normal, the technical skills that theatre students have gained might come in handy for future productions.

“I guess just getting more well versed with that technology can definitely be applied to when you can start using more advanced projections and technology within the performances,” Salisbury said.

So far, students seem to be taking

This fall, BC Theatre is putting on two plays in two different formats.

Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night will be pre-recorded scene by scene in front of a green screen in Robsham Theater and stitched together using video editing. Lynn Nottage’s Sweat, on the other hand, will be performed live over Zoom, with actors working from the safety of their own rooms.

“We’re theatre people. We have one set of skills that we’re used to, and now all of the sudden we’re doing green screens and filming and camera angles and all this other kind of stuff,” Jorgensen said. “We are all learning a lot every day, trying to keep up with how to make this happen.”

Producing these plays means tackling a host of challenges, from keeping rehearsals socially distanced to learning how to use unfamiliar film equipment. It was decided that the student musical, usually held in

quire close contact among actors must be reworked entirely. In the final reunion scene, which features 14 characters, all of the actors can’t fit into the frame without bunching together.

And a fight scene must be altered so that the actors look like they’re sword fighting without actually getting close to each other.

“I’m curious to see how the fight choreographer is going to ask actors to manipulate their own bodies and to move in their own spaces in a way that still kind of is artistic and cool and doesn’t look like people just writhing around,” Lardner said.

Because of copyright restrictions, the theatre department cannot prerecord a performance of Sweat. Live performances will happen at the same times as a regular play would: Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night, and a Sunday matinee.

Attendance will be free, but viewers

Lardner said. “Because obviously, there is quite a lot of overlap between the two mediums, but they’re very different in technique.”

Jorgensen echoed this line of thinking, mentioning that without a live audience, both productions will be closer to film than theatre. The lack of an audience reaction, particularly in response to comedic moments, will be a challenge for students.

Luckily, Sweat is a fairly serious play, and Jorgensen thinks that the actors will be able to handle the new format without losing their concentration.

In fact, as the Theatre Department shifts from in-person performances to technology-assisted substitutes, it has begun working with the Film Department to ease the transition.

For Twelfth Night, the play will be recorded scene by scene using video equipment borrowed from the film department, and the cameraman is a student within the department.

“They’ve been really lovely in providing us stuff and support,” Lardner said.

Twelfth Night director Paula Plum, BC’s Monan professor in theatre arts for the 2020-21 year, has condensed

lights, props, anything they’ll need to put the show on from home.”

Salisbury has also had to take into account the impact that time differences would have on the production if students were sent home, and how all the equipment will fit into people’s homes.

In the case of Twelfth Night, filming would become more of a challenge. The actors would also receive take-home kits, and it would be up to the actors to film themselves in front of green screens. The resulting footage would have to be edited together to create the film, according to Lardner.

Jorgensen is more skeptical about the feasibility of the plan.

“If we’re not using the same camera, are we still trying to piece together my iPhone video camera with your camera?,” Jorgensen said. “I have a feeling if we get sent home that that will also become a Zoom performance.”

Whatever the future holds, there is a silver lining in the department’s exploration of new techniques.

“I do think it’s important to let art change with the times and to test what it can be,” Lardner said. “The era of

things in stride. Turnout was high for both plays’ auditions, according to Jorgensen and Lardner, and the actors seem genuinely excited to be a part of the cast.

While senior performers may be disappointed that they won’t get to appear in a traditional play during their last year, Lardner sees theatre as an essential way to welcome in freshman students.

“I think if the Theatre Department had decided ‘no theatre at all’ this semester or this year, it would have been kind of counterintuitive to what it means to be an artist,” Lardner said.

“I think there’s also that element of creating community for first years.

This kind of format might not be what the upperclassman actors might have wanted or expected for their senior year, but it’s so important to create spaces for first years to find their homes at BC.” This year, BC Theatre is taking on new forms, pushing the boundaries of what it means to put on a play.

Thanks to a knack for improvisation and a willingness to step outside the box, it’s looking like the show may go on after all, even if it’s over Zoom. n GRAPHICS BY ALLYSON MOZELIAK / HEIGHTS EDITOR

A10 Monday, September 14, 2020

SPORTS

@HeightsSports

2020 FOOTBALL PREVIEW

MAGGIE DIPATRI / HEIGHTS EDITOR

An entirely new coaching staff, a shortened schedule, and empty stands will highlight Boston College football’s 2020 season.

By Emma Healy Sports Editor

There’s no question about it: 2020 is the strangest year college football has ever seen. Two Power Five conferences have already postponed their seasons. Boston College football faces a pandemic, a shortened schedule, and on top of it all, a completely revamped coaching staff.

Last year, BC limped to a familiar 6-7 record, including a double-digit bowl game loss to Cincinnati. The

Eagles then lost star running back AJ Dillon to the second round of the NFL Draft and three-and-a-half-year starting signal caller Anthony Brown to the transfer portal.

But despite all of 2020’s challenges, the Eagles are on the hunt to break a familiar pattern of seven-win-andunder seasons. First-year head coach Jeff Hafley—and his slate of new faces at nearly every coaching position— brings a versatile, defensive-minded approach to a formerly narrowfocused Eagles coaching staff.

Is a new coaching staff just what the doctor ordered? Or are the Eagles

looking at another near-miss at bowl eligibility? We’ve got the answers to that and more in our 2020 Boston College football preview.

Uncharted Territory With so many unknowns surrounding the 2020 football season, one thing is for sure: Alumni Stadium will be a shell of its former self. There won’t be any yellow Superfan T-shirts in the stands, no tailgating in the Mod Lot. The BC faithful will just have to scream-sing “Mr. Brightside” from the comfort of their living rooms.

Game day will be an adjustment, for sure, but Hafley and his team have

been making adjustments all summer long. The Eagles are familiar with an unfamiliar season already, and they’ve spent months preparing for what’s to come.

The Eagles first ventured into uncharted territory in March, when spring football—and all other activity on campus—came to a screeching halt. As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, players scattered around the country with limited access to workout equipment, and they suddenly had to get creative. Hafley held meetings virtually, but nothing has the same effect as convening together in the Fish Field House.

After BC football players arrived back on campus after a three-month hiatus, they spent the summer isolated from the outside world in a bubble-like environment as the only students on campus. All football activities ramped back up on a much shorter timeline.

Luckily for BC, its first matchup with Duke comes a week later than most of its ACC opponents, and Hafley said he plans to use all of that extra time to his advantage.

Acquisitions/Departures

Though BC’s coaching staff saw a complete turnaround in the offseason, its core of starters on the field remained relatively unchanged.

The few personnel losses that BC did suffer, however, were huge.

First, long time Eagles starting quarterback Anthony Brown entered his name in the transfer portal. The graduate signal caller eventually made his move to Oregon, leaving a vacancy in the Eagles’ backfield. Just one day after Brown announced his decision to transfer, BC’s all-time leading rusher AJ Dillon announced that he would forgo his senior season in favor of the NFL Draft, where he was later selected at No. 62 overall by the Green Bay Packers.

BC also lost key players to graduation in tight end Jake Burt, offensive lineman John Phillips, and defensive lineman Tanner Karafa.

In the offseason, BC did its best to cut its losses with both a major recruiting push and a lot of activity on the acquisition side of the transfer portal. Hafley, known around the football community as a recruiting hotshot, has done most of his recruiting with the high school class of 2021, but a late start hasn’t stopped him from bolstering this year’s incoming freshman class.

BC’s early signing period brought two four-star recruits from the class of 2020: local products Ozzy Trapolio and Kevin Pyne, both of whom are offensive linemen. Last year’s early signing day brought just nine new players onto the roster—compared to 16 in 2018—but such a trend was to be expected during a coaching shift. BC’s freshman class now includes 16 total recruits, 15 of whom are three-star athletes or above.

Hafley and his staff have also been very active in the transfer portal, picking up five more experienced players for the Eagles’ roster. Most notably, Phil Jurkovec, a quarterback transfer from Notre Dame, enrolled at BC in January and was granted eligibility over the summer. Other major acquisitions include defensive lineman Luc Bequette, wide receiver Jaelen Gill, and defensive lineman Chibueze Onwuka.

Schedule

After a tumultuous few months in college football and three new editions of its 2020 schedule, BC finally has its games set in stone. The Eagles will play 11 games in total, all but one of which are against ACC opponents. The sole non-conference game comes in Week Two against Texas State, which showed it’s up to snuff in a narrow loss to SMU to open its season. n

Breaking Down BC Football’s Updated Schedule

By Olivia Charbonneau Assoc. Sports Editor Sept. 12 - Bye Week Sept. 19 at Duke (Durham, N.C.) With Ohio no longer playing in the fall, Duke will now be the Eagles’ opening matchup. While in the same conference, the Eagles have only faced the Blue Devils seven times since their first matchup in 1927. Boston College holds a 4-3 series lead over Duke after the Blue Devils took a 9-7 win against the Eagles in 2015.

Sept. 26 vs. Texas State (Chestnut Hill, Mass.)

The game against Texas State replaces both the former contest against Ohio and one of BC’s two bye weeks.

This will be the first time in program history the Eagles will play against the Bobcats, regular season or otherwise.

Texas State went 3-9 last year overall and 2-6 in the Sun Belt, their three wins coming against Georgia State, Nicholls State, and South Alabama.

Oct. 3 vs. North Carolina (Chestnut Hill, Mass.)

Similarly to Duke, the Eagles have only met the Tar Heels seven times in program history, with four of those games coming while BC was part of the ACC. This will mark the first competition between the two since 2013, when the Eagles suffered a rough 10-34 loss on the road. The last win for the Eagles came in 2004 when they pulled out a 37-24 win over the Tar Heels at the Continental Tire Bowl.

Oct. 10 vs. Pitt (Chestnut Hill, Mass.)

Pitt will return to Chestnut Hill for the first time since 2014 to play the Eagles for the second straight season. BC took a decisive win over the Panthers at the end of last season, securing its bowl eligibility.

This will be the 32nd competition between the two teams, with Pitt holding the alltime series lead at 17-14.

Oct. 17 at Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, Va.) The Eagles opened their season with a

bang last year, securing a solid 35-28 victory over the visiting Hokies. This year, BC will make the trip to Blacksburg to attempt a repeat of last season’s success. The Eagles trail Virginia Tech 10-18 in the all-time series, but have captured two consecutive wins during the 2018 and 2019 seasons.

Oct. 24 vs. Georgia Tech (Chestnut Hill, Mass.)

While the Yellow Jackets have a decisive 7-2 all-time series lead over the Eagles, the teams have not met since 2016, when BC narrowly lost to Georgia Tech, 14-17, at the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin. Only four of the teams’ nine games have come since the Eagles joined the ACC in 2005. This season, Georgia Tech and BC are two of the bottom three teams in many national rankings.

Oct. 31 at Clemson (Clemson, S.C.) The Eagles’ last game against the Tigers came during the 2019 season, when Clemson handed BC a devastating 59-7 loss in South Carolina. BC had been woefully outmatched by the then-undefeated Tigers,

so something needs to change if the Eagles want a chance of competing with Clemson.

Nov. 7 at Syracuse (Syracuse, N.Y.) The Eagles were supposed to open up their 2020 campaign against the Orange, per the first schedule that was released back in January. Instead, BC will be trekking up to Syracuse for the second straight season.

BC played the Orange close to the end of the 2019 season, securing a comfortable 58-27 win in a game that had been crucial for the Eagles’ bowl eligibility.

Nov. 14 vs. Notre Dame (Chestnut Hill, Mass.)

BC will host its longstanding rival just under a year after its crushing 7-40 defeat in Indiana last season. The Fighting Irish lead the all-time series 16-9 and have won the last seven matchups against the Eagles.

Alongside former Fighting Irish player and freshly eligible quarterback Phil Jurkovec, BC looks to get its first win over Notre Dame since it shut out the Fighting Irish 17-0 in 2008.

Nov. 21 - Bye Week

Nov. 27 vs. Louisville (Chestnut Hill, Mass.)

This will be the 13th meeting between BC and the Cardinals, and the seventh straight year the Eagles will compete against the ACC opponent. BC lost the matchup last year, falling 39-41 in Louisville, losing star quarterback Anthony Brown to injury in the process. The last victory over the Cardinals came in 2018, when the Eagles won the Homecoming game 38-20.

Dec. 5 at Virginia (Charlottesville, Va.) The Eagles close out their regular season in Virginia rather than at Wake Forest as was previously on the schedule.

The Eagles currently hold an undefeated record against the Cavaliers, including a decisive 41-10 victory in their last matchup in 2017. But on the other hand, Virginia went 9-5 last season and made it to the ACC Championship before losing to the eventual national runners up, Clemson. n

The Heights

Monday, September 14, 2020

A11

Eagles Have Legacies to Build and Comebacks to Make David Bailey will step in as BC’s primary

Isaiah McDuffie missed most of last

running back—a position with a storied past—but he’s looking to

season due to injury, but this year, he’s

create a legacy of his own on the field.

fully recovered and ready to play.

By Emma Healy Sports Editor As the clock wound down on the first quarter of the 2019 season, Boston College found itself deep in its own territory on third down and 22. Prospects looked bleak.

“Down, set.”

Quarterback Anthony Brown collected the snap and flipped it to his running back over the heads of oncoming defensive linemen.

Head down, eyes forward, the 6-foot, 240-pound back caught the pass and side stepped his way through a pack of defenders, diving forward across the line to gain for a miraculous first down.

Without seeing it firsthand, it seems like the executor of such a play would’ve been BC’s go-to guy, AJ Dillon.

But Dillon spent that play on the bench. Instead, the glory went to the second stringer, David Bailey.

This year, Bailey is no longer the understudy. He’s got fire in his eyes and a whole lot to prove in his junior season.

Even while playing second fiddle to Dillon, Bailey made his way to an All-ACC Honorable Mention selection thanks to some clutch performances off the bench. He started just one game —BC’s crushing loss to Cincinnati in the Birmingham Bowl—but appeared

in all 13 en route to 844 yards on the ground.

More importantly, he established himself as a formidable back with the same kind of bruising style that made Dillon so successful. Bailey’s a big man, and his teammates and coaches have described him as “hard to tackle.”

With a solid offensive line in front of him—which BC has this year—and a powerful drive behind him, he has the potential for big gains.

“I don’t want to compare him to AJ [Dillon], but he’s big, strong, and he can move for a big guy,” Hafley said about Bailey’s potential.

“He moves laterally really well. He’s got good feet, good vision, and he can catch the ball out of the backfield.

He’s the type of guy who’s going to wear you down—he’s hard to tackle.”

Even though he’s been playing backup to Dillon for a few years now, Bailey said he is always ready for action.

“Every week, I am always ready— it’s the next-man-up mentality,” Bailey said in a post-game interview back in

2018. “Coach called my name today, and I went in and played ball like I always do.”

In that game, saying he “played ball” meant that he ran rampant around the Louisville defense, carrying the ball 28 times for 112 yards and a touchdown as a true freshman. Eighty-seven of those yards came in the second half. It was one of the first displays of Bailey as a ground-and-pound attacker. Since then, he’s only grown.

As a sophomore in 2019, Bailey’s career-high rushing yards ticked up and up, game after game. Last season was highlighted by 172-yard and 181yard performances against Syracuse and NC State, respectively.

Other than his physical stature, Bailey’s biggest strength is his versatility. As Hafley said, he’s a big guy, but he moves like he’s in zero gravity.

His pass catching stands out as well, which is often hard to find in a running back. To top it all off, Bailey’s even got a pretty solid arm—he threw a passing touchdown last season against Wake Forest.

Down by 10 against the Demon Deacons midway through last season, Bailey took the handoff from Brown, rolled out to the right, and tossed a 16-yard floater to a wide-open Chris Garrison in the endzone. Bailey’s pass was the crown jewel in what ended up being a disappointing loss for the Eagles.

BC fans are familiar with a run-first offense, as former BC head coach Steve Addazio’s offensive game plan revolved around the dynamic duo of Dillon and Bailey. It’s hard to say what Hafley’s offense will look like, but it’s a certain bet that Bailey will be a key factor in the Eagles’ ball movement this season. n

By Asa Ackerly Asst. Sports Editor It’s no secret that Boston College football’s defense struggled last year.

However you slice it, the numbers were bad. The defense’s challenges were especially pronounced when it came to stopping the run and putting pressure on the quarterback.

So what changed from a solid 2018 season when BC’s defense ranked 35th nationally in yards allowed per play?

The front seven was stalwart against the run, allowing 3.8 yards per rush, and got after the quarterback at an almost three-sack-per-game clip.

In addition to some major losses on the defensive line in 2019, BC suffered hits to its linebacking corps. Leading tackler Connor Strachan graduated, and though the Eagles returned two other starters in Max Richardson and Isaiah McDuffie, McDuffie missed most of the season with an injury sustained in spring practice.

It’s hard to overstate the significance of McDuffie’s loss for the Eagles last season, and simultaneously how much his return could mean for BC this year.

“When you’re injured, you don’t get to rest—it’s all mental,” McDuffie said in a media conference this summer.

“So when you get back, you’re ready to play.”

After playing sparingly as a freshman, McDuffie broke out as a sophomore, notching 85 tackles—5.5 for loss—and 3.5 sacks. He was a constant spark for the Eagles’ defense, flying around the field and continuously coming up with big plays when BC needed it most.

With the Eagles holding a 27-14 lead against Miami mid-way through the fourth quarter in 2018, McDuffie came flying around the edge and

stripped the ball away from an unsuspecting Malik Rosier.

The spring game is normally meant to be a safe affair, primarily designed to bring excitement for the following season. It was anything but that for McDuffie, who sustained a lower body injury in the game that cost him the first eight games of the 2019 season.

Despite his long stay on the sidelines, McDuffie did not miss a beat when he returned to the field, notching 30 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, and 2 sacks across the Eagles’ last four games.

“You have to just grind out mentally and know when you get back you gotta know what you’re doing,” McDuffie said in a recent press conference. “Cause you’re not physically able to do it, so mentally, just watch other people do it and then just put yourself in that position, so when you get back, you can execute.”

If McDuffie can continue to perform at the level he did in 2018 and the end of 2019, the Eagles will be poised to improve on defense.

McDuffie will have plenty of help from the rest of the linebacker room to make that improvement a reality.

Max Richardson announced soon after Hafley’s hiring that he would forego the NFL draft and return to the Heights for his final year of eligibility.

“That’s big,” said McDuffie about Richardson deciding to return.

“That’s my brother right there, so it’s always a pleasure and always fun playing with him.”

McDuffie and Richardson’s partnership and experience will be especially critical as the team adjusts to a new scheme. While numerous questions still loom over the Eagles’ season, the middle of the defense is in good hands. n

‘Heights’ Sports Editors Predict Season Outcomes

Emma Healy

Olivia Charbonneau

Asa Ackerly

Sports Editor

Assoc. Sports Editor

Asst. Sports Editor

Sports editors Emma Healy, Olivia Charbonneau, and Asa Ackerly each answer some of the biggest questions about the upcoming Boston College football season.

Who is BC’s most important player?

Emma Healy: Defense wins championships, so my pick is linebacker and captain Max Richardson. Last year, the All-ACC Second Team selection led the team with 108 tackles in 12 starts, including a team-high 14.5 TFLs. Even so, an inability to stop the run was one of BC’s biggest downfalls last year. Look at the record-breaking 2019 matchup against Clemson, for example, when BC allowed 302 yards on the ground. I expect Hafley and his staff to put a bigger focus on defense, giving Richardson a bigger hand in the season’s outcome. With his final year ahead of him and a captain’s patch on his uniform, Richardson should take on a bigger role this season.

Olivia Charbonneau: David Bailey had a breakout season in 2019 and is set to take on an even bigger role this year. The junior running back was one of six players to appear in each of BC’s 13 contests in 2019, and he proved he could handle the load. Second to AJ Dillon in most statistical categories, including rushing attempts, yards gained, and touchdowns, Bailey is the obvious starter this season. Because he was second to Dillon much of the year, his rushing yards and attempts were much less than Dillon’s. In order for BC to succeed this season, Bailey’s performance needs to grow with him.

Asa Ackerly: It’s hard for me to pick anybody here except Phil Jurkovec. With a commanding offensive line and explosive players in the backfield, BC has the potential to have a very solid offense. Still, none of that will matter without quality

play from under center. While Jurkovec has not yet been given the nod, it’s hard to imagine him not getting significant playing time. If Jurkovec doesn’t start, that will tell us all we need to know about how the Eagles’ season will go. Jurkovec will have his work cut out for him as a first-year starter learning a new offense.

Who is an underrated BC player who will have a big impact?

EH: Marcus Valdez was recently named one of five captains for this year’s Eagles, but even so, I think he’s gone under the radar the last few years. He’s an edge rusher with speed, agility, and strength to spare. His ability to change direction really sets him apart, and he can shed o-linemen with quick bursts of speed. Last year, Pro Football Focus named Valdez the No. 8 returning edge rusher in all of college football. The BC defense showed glimpses of success in getting to the quarterback in the back half of the season—including seven sacks in the last two games—so Valdez has a lot to build on.

AA: Luc Bequette will fly under the radar as a result of playing defensive tackle and transferring to BC so late in the offseason, but his presence on the interior could be transformational for the Eagles. Bequette was a dominant force on Cal’s defensive line for the last three years, racking up 126 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, and 10 sacks in his time there.

Given BC’s struggles on the defensive line last year, Bequette could very well be one of the unsung heroes of the season.

Bequette’s late arrival on the Heights could hinder his effectiveness early on, but Hafley said he is optimistic about Bequette’s ability to make an instant impact.

What’s the best-case scenario for the Eagles?

EH: Even though BC is facing unusual

opponents, the first half of the season is very winnable. The way I see it, BC could start out 6-0 heading into the matchup with Clemson. An upset over the 2020 national runners up is unlikely, but one over Notre Dame two weeks later isn’t completely out of the question. If Hafley and defensive coordinator Tem Lukabu can fill last year’s holes in the Eagles’ secondary, and the big men on the LOS click under new leadership, you’re looking at a formidable team. Honestly, I can see BC going 8-3 or better if everything lines up.

OC: After the season the Eagles had last year, any winning record is a success.

The best case scenario for this team would be defying expectations and becoming a real competitor in the ACC. Solid wins against opponents that the Eagles have struggled against—Louisville, for example—alongside wins in the more evenly matched games would put BC in a great position. But while wins over Clemson, Notre Dame, and UNC would be great for this team, it’s very unlikely for those to come as easily for the Eagles. With all that taken into account, a record of 8-3 would be incredible this year.

AA: I’m pessimistic about the season, but for the sake of argument, let’s make the glass-half-full case. In a true best case scenario, Jurkovec has to be BC’s starting quarterback. Grosel showed nothing last year that leads me to believe the Eagles can pose a serious threat in the ACC. With Jurkovec at the helm, a dominant offensive line protecting him, and offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti employing a more balanced approach, the Eagles’ offense proves to be one of the best in the ACC. On the defensive side of the ball, Hafley and Lukabu’s expertise brings at least a level of middling competence, and the young secondary

improves as it gains more experience. If all this happens, I could see the Eagles going as high as 8-3.

What’s the worst-case scenario for the Eagles?

EH: With an entirely new staff, it’s possible that the Eagles will flop all together. Plenty of national polls already have BC at the bottom of the barrel in the ACC. Although I want to believe that’s not true, all the BC hype around Hafley is based largely on feeling, since no one has seen him in a head coaching role before. Worst case scenario, BC’s quarterback struggles from last year resurface, and the young Eagles have a hard time adjusting. On defense, the secondary is still young, and though it improved over last year, that improvement was pretty marginal. If BC falls flat in its early games, followed by a loaded back half, the Eagles could go as low as 4-7.

OC: Under former head coach Steve Addazio, the Eagles struggled against ACC opponents, with his tenure ending with a rough 20-33 record in conference play. For this team to be a success, Hafley needs to show that he can turn that around. If BC is able to repeat last year’s performances against Syracuse and Virginia Tech this year, that’s two wins in the bag, but the rest are more uncertain.

Given Texas State’s 3-9 record last year, the Eagles could take an easy win in their single non-conference game of the season.

At their absolute worst, the Eagles could go 3-8.

AA: First-year head coaches do not have good track records. After the 2016 season, ESPN writer Bill Connelly analyzed the performance of every team led by a first year head coach, and he found that all 29 squads had underperformed their preseason predictions. That stat does not bode well considering that most national polls already have BC ranked near the bottom of the ACC. Let’s say that neither of BC’s potential quarterbacks find their stride and the defense fails to improve from last year. The Eagles will surely beat Texas State and a victory against Syracuse seems likely, but it’s tough to find clear wins. A record of 2-9 is on the table.

How do you see the season ending?

EH: It’s hard to tell how an entirely new coaching staff will affect the Eagles, so I’ll focus on what we know for sure.

Bailey is well equipped to fill the shoes of Dillon in the run game, and if the offensive line can live up to its expectations, he’ll have plenty of opportunity. The linebackers are abundant with experience, and so is the defensive line. Assuming the Eagles have no trouble with Hafley’s new playbook, they look like a pretty solid squad. A loss to Clemson is pretty much a sure thing, given BC’s history with the Tigers, but the rest of the games are still pretty up in the air. I expect a seven-win season, and 7-4 would be a huge improvement.

OC: Even though preseason polls have BC listed as one of the ACC’s bottom feeders, this team is going to be a dark horse this year. BC has both lost and gained some crucial pieces, but we still don’t know what will happen when the Eagles get on the field. The starting quarterback, along with the rest of the team’s depth chart, has yet to be released.

I think the Eagles could steal a winning record if they build momentum early.

The game against Duke is still questionable, but a solid win against Texas State could give BC the confidence it needs.

With the exception of Clemson and North Carolina as likely losses, BC could put up a solid fight, which leads me to anticipate a 7-4 record.

AA: BC is not in a full rebuild as many teams with first-year head coaches are. QB play should improve from last year, either as a product of better talent (Jurkovec) or more experience (Grosel), and it’s hard to see Bailey struggling behind a dominant offensive line. The defense will still struggle, but Hafley’s experience and the transfers should help. Still, the ACC is brutal right now, and BC’s schedule does the Eagles no favors. Texas State and Syracuse are near certain wins, and Notre Dame, Clemson, and UNC are almost certain losses.

The Eagles have a good shot in the other six, but I’m not ready to call any of them true toss-ups. I’m predicting 4-7 as my best guess for the season. n

@HeightsSports

Monday, September 14, 2020

2o2o FOOTBALL Preview

INSIDE SPORTS

SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN

EDITORS’ PREDICTIONS

BIG CLEATS TO FILL

COMEBACK KID

After lots of offseason changes and conference cancellations, BC has finally solidified its 2020 schedule, including a slate of unusual opponents.

The Heights’ sports editors give their takes on some of the biggest questions of the 2020 season. How will the Eagles fare under a new head coach and a shortened schedule?

Running back David Bailey is poised to take on a much larger role this year. The departure of star back AJ Dillon left a vacancy in BC’s offense, and Bailey is the next man up.

Isaiah McDuffie suffered an injury in the spring of his sophomore year, causing him to miss all but four games last year. This season, he’s back for revenge.