Commencement Edition 2026

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The heighTs

Class of 2026 CommenCemenT ediTion

Letter From The Editor: What's Worth Repeating As your student newspaper, we try to stay on top of what's current. We're the first on the scene when news breaks on campus, and we pride ourselves on the speed at which we get fresh information out to you, our readers. Instead of parroting press releases or regurgitating common knowledge, our goal is to tell you what you don't already know. Our Commencement Edition is something of an exception to that rule. In this edition, you'll find a compilation of all the biggest stories we reported during the Class of 2026's time at Boston College. Think of it as a collection of all the moments when The Heights met the news of the day, repackaged so that you might rediscover something you might have read months, or even years ago. And what better moment to do this than this one? As the year winds down, all of us students can't help but look back at what's already taken place. Seniors are crying at Mod parties, juniors are savoring the first-time-freedom of off-campus living, and sophomores are coalescing, before semesters abroad fragment their friend groups. Hell, even freshmen are seeing the Newton bus' silver linings. I think we can all realize that now is the time to slow down and look back. So we're right there with you. Enjoy this special edition of The Heights, your look at the last four years at BC.

Genevieve Morrison President & Editor-in-Chief For A Greater Boston College

VIKRUM SINGH / HEIGHTS ARCHIVES

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Editorial

The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College Genevieve Morrison, Editor-in-Chief Aidan Gravina, Managing Editor Charlie Phillips, General Manager Laney McAden, Dept. Managing Editor

Ali Zahm, Creative Director Nanati Getachew, Digital Director Annika Engelbrecht, News Editor Maria Stefanoudakis, Sports Editor Elizabeth Maher, Magazine Editor Riley Del Sesto, Newton Editor Milo Priddle, Arts Editor Reetu Agnihotri, Opinion Editor Anna Lauinger, Projects Editor Ellie El-Fishawy, Photo Editor Kaylee Dunleavy, Video Editor Ashi Jindal, Graphics Editor

Rebecca Mackinnon, Podcast Editor James McDowall, Online Manager Olivia Malina, Social Media Editor Toni Idowu, Games Editor Alexa Allers, Newsletter Editor Nikita Osadchiy, Assoc. News Editor Sebby FitzGerald, Assoc. Sports Editor Evie Oosting, Assoc. Magazine Editor Nathan Yarnall, Assoc. Newton Editor Lillian Kelly, Assoc. Arts Editor Lucia Hernandez, Assoc. Opinion Editor Trishna Condoor, Assoc. Photo Editor Peyton Alch, Assoc. Social Media Editor

Saige Joseph, Assoc. Video Editor Connor O'Brien, Assoc. Graphics Editor Peter McDermott, Assoc. Podcast Editor Danica Bergen, Asst. News Editor Willy Connors, Asst. News Editor Mac Cobb, Asst. Sports Editor Laney Halsey, Asst. Sports Editor Celine Bell, Asst. Magazine Editor Grace Duffy, Asst. Newton Editor Caroline Ko, Asst. Arts Editor Jack Pettigrew, Asst. Photo Editor Elena Rodriguez, Asst. Graphics Editor Elaine Kim, Copy Editor

Ollie Lloyd, Copy Editor Charlie Lukens, Copy Editor Caroline Mohler, Copy Editor Geo Elasmar, Editorial Assistant

Business and Operations Asha Woerner, Advertising Director Charlie Macken, Strategy Director Margo Rawlings, Asst. Advertising Director Brian Lippman, Operations Assistant Nicole Murphy, Outreach Coordinator Ava Sjursen, Alumni Director

News

The heighTs

Class of 2026 CommenCemenT ediTion

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Editor’s Note: Annika Engelbrecht, Nikita Osadchiy, Willy Connors, and Danica Bergen—our news editors—have compiled the biggest news stories from the Class of 2026’s time on the Heights. From student protests to the announcement of a new University president , our campus has witnessed a range of important events over the last four years.

2026: BC Foundations Program Offers Back-Door Admission This story was originally published on Feb. 25, 2026.

BY ANNIKA ENGELBRECHT News Editor DANICA BERGEN Asst. News Editor AND WILLY CONNORS Asst. News Editor As competition for admission to elite colleges intensifies, many high school seniors battle for perfect GPAs, strong test scores, and robust extracurriculars—just

to get rejected from their dream school.

For one student applying to Boston College, though, a rejection letter wasn’t the end of the story.

“I got denied, and then a few days later, I got called by my admissions counselor at BC,” said Olivia.

BC offered an alternative path to admission—the Foundations Program—a back door for 15 of the University’s most connected applicants.

That back door takes the shape of a 30-credit transitional year at BC’s Messina College, an associate’s degree pro-

gram “designed to help first-generation and low-income students transfer into a bachelor’s degree program or launch their careers,” according to the Messina website.

Foundations students then transfer to the Chestnut Hill campus, provided they maintain a 3.4 GPA or receive a recommendation from the dean of Messina College.

Editor’s Note: In reporting this story, The Heights interviewed 27 percent of the current Foundations Program class and one former Foundations student.

The Heights has given these students fake names in order to protect their privacy.

“They Kind of Set Our Applications Aside”

NICOLE VAGRA /

Foundations is a 15-student program housed at BC's Messina College.

Students do not apply to the Foundations Program. Rather, the Admission Committee selects applicants from the traditional bachelor’s degree pool, according to Dean of Undergraduate Admission and Financial Aid Grant Gosselin.

“They told us that when we applied, they kind of set our applications aside,” said Zach. “They were like, ‘We really want to get this person into BC, if there’s room, we’ll put them in with the normal class.’ And then if there’s not, they really

wanted to find a way for us to get in, so they have this Foundations Program.”

Gosselin said in a statement to The Heights that most students are accepted into the Foundations Program from the early decision stage, in part because they have “articulated a strong desire to pursue a Jesuit education at Boston College.”

When asked what distinguishes a Foundations student from those rejected from or accepted to the Chestnut Hill campus, Gosselin said they would “benefit from a smaller first-year experience,” and have a “desire to live in community with our associates degree students.”

He did not provide information on why Foundations students particularly fit this description after repeated requests to elaborate further.

“Foundations students are competitive applicants who are selected for the values they espouse through service commitments and other factors that align with BC’s mission,” Gosselin wrote.

Through interviews conducted by The Heights, however, some students shared that they were either deferred or rejected before later receiving a phone call with an offer of admission from their admission counselors. Other students were directly accepted to Foundations without a prior rejection or deferral.

“Beginning in Fall 2024, Foundations students’ offers of admission are extended at the same moment in time as other admitted students,” Gosselin said.

Olivia was rejected in December 2024, prior to her acceptance into Foundations.

Multiple Foundations students reported confusion when searching for further information about the program.

“My initial response was to, like, look it up and kind of research it and see what it was, and there really wasn’t anything on it,” said Jane, a current Foundations student. “I honestly didn’t really know what I was getting into.”

A student admitted to the 2024 inaugural class, after having been deferred, was told by a University admission counselor to “be prepared to go into this blind.”

“She said that she doesn’t really know that much about it, just because it’s the first year, and nothing like this has really ever existed,” said James. “She said, ‘If you say yes to this, be prepared to not have a lot of questions answered.’”

Because prospective students don’t apply directly to Foundations, the admission office doesn’t advertise the program to high schools or applicants.

Read the full story online.

2022: Bat Found in

Walsh Hall, Released by Facilities Management This story was originally published on February 19, 2022.

BY AMY PALMER Assoc. News Editor JULIA KIERSZNOWKSI Special Projects Editor SOFIA LABOY Asst. News Editor AND BETH VERGHESE Asst. News Editor Sofia Megale jolted awake in her dorm room in Walsh Hall to something repeatedly brushing against her shoulder.

“I woke up to Sofia screaming her head off,” said Caroline Shannon, Megale’s direct roommate and MCAS ’24. “I thought it was like a terrible, terrible nightmare.”

Hearing the commotion, one of Megale’s suitemates burst through the door and identified a flying creature—a bat.

Megale, MCAS ’24, said she and her roommates left their suite on Feb. 10 and waited in the hallway as Shannon got their RA, who then made calls to the Boston College Police Department (BCPD) and BC’s Facilities Management. Around 20 minutes later, Megale said facilities arrived and captured the bat.

“The guy was holding the bat in a towel, and you could see its fangs and everything,” said Avery Boniface, one of the suitemates and MCAS ’24.

The roommates told facilities the bat should be tested for rabies, since Shannon was asleep in the room with the creature and it touched Megale repeatedly, Shannon said.

“I made it clear to them … that I was touched by it, and that it’s not safe to let it go because we would just have to get rabies shots then,” Megale said.

A Walsh RA said facilities agreed to place the bat in a bucket and later bring it to BCPD after the Walsh 8 residents and their parents—who the students were speaking with on the phone during the incident—expressed concern about getting the bat tested for rabies.

“Their parents wanted to make sure that their kids were safe, and they really thought that getting it checked [for rabies] was the best thing to do,” she said. “The girls were very adamant about getting the bat tested, and I don’t know what ended up happening, but I really hope they were able to.”

The following morning, Shannon said she went to BCPD’s office in Maloney Hall but was told it had no record of what happened and to call facilities. According to Shannon, facilities told her to call back later. Megale said another roommate called

facilities later that day, which said it had released the bat.

“We were … a little bit shocked they did that because we had been so adamant the night before that [they] could not let it go,” Megale said.

Jack Dunn, associate vice president for University communications, said that the students informed facilities they had not been bitten by the bat.

“They were offered support from their RA and told to contact University Health Services, which instructed the students the following morning to get tested for rabies,” he said in an email.

According to Philip Landrigan, director of BC’s global public health program, if a bat is found in a room, you must presume it is infected with rabies.

“Especially if it’s a situation where people are asleep, or semi-asleep, you have to presume that they have had contact with a bat and perhaps even a bite,” Landrigan said.

Facilities’ decision to release the bat aligned with its standard wildlife protocol—though BC is now changing this policy, according to Dunn.

“Admittedly, Facilities has not had a lot of experience in dealing with bats inside of the residence hall rooms,” he said. “Moving forward, Facilities will make it their policy to contact Animal Services in Boston or Newton should a similar incident occur in the future.”

Facilities did not respond to a request for comment.

Landrigan said that standard protocol for a potential rabies contact is to capture the bat and notify public health authorities.

“It’s standard protocol with a potential rabies contact to capture the bat and get it into the hands of public health authorities,” he said. “It doesn’t always happen for practical reasons, but that’s the ideal protocol.”

Any contact with a bat has to be taken seriously, as even the most minute scratch from a bat can potentially transmit rabies, Landrigan said.

“This is a very serious situation,” Landrigan said. “You have to presume in this circumstance that both of these students had contact with the bat, and if they have not immediately started … postexposure prophylaxis [treatment], they must begin it ASAP—this is a real medical emergency.”

Shannon and Megale are now receiving rabies vaccines at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center for their potential exposure.

Read the full story online.

COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

2025: Fr. Jack Butler To Serve as Next University President of BC This story was originally published on February 18, 2025.

By Nikita Osadchiy Asst. News Editor

By Will Martino Editor-in-Chief Rev. John “Jack” Butler, S.J., Haub vice president for University Mission and Ministry, will serve as the 26th president of Boston College, Board of Trustees Chair John Fish announced in an email to the BC community Tuesday afternoon.

“I’m humbled, I’m a little bit overwhelmed, I’m excited, I’m very grateful, and I’m looking forward to taking care of a community that’s cared for me for 23 years,” Butler said to The Heights.

Butler will succeed Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J., who became the University president in 1996 and held the longest tenure of any president in BC history.

“Fr. Butler has served the University

admirably as a respected administrator and Jesuit priest for the past 22 years, partnering closely with faculty and administrators at BC to promote the distinctive mission, culture, and heritage of Boston College, especially the integration of intellectual excellence and religious commitment as well as Jesuit, Catholic dimensions,” the announcement reads.

Butler said he found out he had been selected as the next University president just 10 to 15 minutes before the rest of the BC community was notified.

“I just want to continue our trajectory,” Butler said to The Heights. “I want to continue our momentum, our continuity, and our stability.”

Butler came to BC in 2002 as a campus minister and was promoted to his current role in University Mission and Ministry in 2010. That same year, he was tapped to join Leahy’s senior leadership team and to serve as chaplain to the BC

football team.

He later joined an effort to renew BC’s Core Curriculum and sat on search committees for all senior administrator positions, according to the announcement.

Butler earned a degree in religious studies from St. Thomas University in 1987 before obtaining a master’s in theology from Providence College. He joined the Society of Jesus in 1991 and later earned both a master’s and a doctorate in pastoral counseling from Loyola University Maryland.

He was ordained to the priesthood in 2000 and took his final vows as a Jesuit in 2015.

Before joining the higher education ministry, Butler worked within the prison system, serving as the assistant director and counselor at St. Joseph Prison Ministry.

Read the full story online.

SARAH FLEMING / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Butler found out he had been selected as University president just 15 minutes before the BC community did.

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Class of 2026 CommenCemenT ediTion

2023: BC Announces Integration of LGBTQ+ Resources Into BAIC This story was originally published on April 21, 2023.

By Olivia Joung News Editor Natalie Arndt Assoc. News Editor And Lucy Freeman Asst. News Editor

director and graduate assistant whose roles will explicitly include LGBTQ+ student programming and support,” the email reads.

The email emphasized that integrating LGBTQ+ resources into the center will not take away from the support the BAIC already offers to AHANA students.

“This transition will not detract in any way from the existing programming

Boston College will officially inte-

and support for AHANA students of-

grate its LGBTQ+ programming and

fered through the BAIC, but will add

support into the Thea Bowman AH-

to and augment existing programs,” the

ANA and Intercultural Center (BAIC)

email read.

this summer, according to an email

The administrators wrote in the

sent to the BC community on Friday

email that their ultimate goal is for all

afternoon.

students to feel welcomed in the BC

Vice President for Student Affairs

community.

Shawna Cooper Whitehead, Associate

“It is our hope that the creation of

Vice President and Dean of Students

a more integrated intercultural center

Corey Kelly, Associate Dean for Student

that intentionally serves students of col-

Outreach and Support Caroline Davis,

or and LGBTQ+ students and actively

and BAIC Director Yvonne McBarnett

engages the whole BC community, will

all signed the email.

cultivate and promote a more inclusive

“Yvonne McBarnett and Caroline Davis are collaborating to ensure that

environment throughout campus,” the email reads.

the LGBTQ+ student support and

To ensure this, McBarnett will host

programming that has occurred during

small conversations where students

the last 10+ years out of the Dean of

can express any concerns or thoughts

Students Office will officially be transi-

surrounding the changes, according to

tioned to the BAIC office this summer,”

the email.

the email reads.

“Given our desire to work together

This announcement comes after

to understand, address, and support

Cooper Whitehead said in spring 2022

students’ needs, Yvonne McBarnett,

that the University planned to add

in collaboration with the Office of the

LGBTQ+ resources to the BAIC’s pro-

Dean of Students, will be hosting small

gramming. A month after that, Cooper

group conversations and listening

Whitehead paused these plans after

sessions for all students to share their

receiving feedback from students, alum-

thoughts, experiences, and ideas,” the

ni, and members of color on Boston

email reads.

College’s Board of Trustees.

According to the email, the BAIC is currently working to hire specific staff to provide LGBTQ+ resources and support.

The administrators concluded the email by discussing their hopes for a more inclusive campus.

“We look forward to working with you in our shared effort to create the

“The BAIC leadership team is in

most welcoming and inclusive campus

the process of hiring a new associate

community possible,” the email reads. n

CHRIS TICAS / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The BAIC has since hired Ira Kirschner to facilitate LGBTQ+ resources.

2024: Tom Holland Pays Visit to Campus School After Family Foundation Gives $25,000 Grant COURTESY OF THE CAMPUS SCHOOL AT BOSTON COLLEGE

This story was originally published on Nov. 24, 2024.

BY JACK BECKMAN Asst. News Editor Tom Holland swapped slinging webs for swinging the tambourine in the classroom on Thursday, bringing star power—and a $25,000 grant from his family’s nonprofit—to the Campus School at Boston College.

“He really was coming just to connect with the kids,” said Jennifer Miller, marketing and outreach manager at the Campus School. “It was a very student-focused visit. He was so generous with his time, and he was so wonderful with the students, and interacting directly with each student.”

Holland toured the Campus School, which educates students from ages 3 to 22 with extensive support needs, during the unadvertised visit last week.

Holland dropped by all six classrooms, mingled with students, posed for photos, and even joined a music class, where he played the tambourine and sang along to Don McLean’s “American Pie,” Miller said.

“We got to experience music therapy in one of the classes, and he was singing along to ‘American Pie’ and a tambourine going—just totally engaged, having a great time,” Miller said.

The Brothers Trust, a nonprofit established by Holland’s parents in 2017, awarded the grant to the Campus School last month, according to Miller.

The organization provides funding to charities that effectively assist those in need but “struggle to be heard” and leverages the Spider-Man

star’s celebrity status to fundraise and organize events, with Holland’s three younger brothers also involved in its operations.

Miller said the grant will be used to purchase new assistive technology and a new lift for students to use during physical therapy sessions.

“We’re going to put in a new ceiling lift in our physical therapy office … we’re also going to use it towards accessible technology, so communication devices, and they’re very expensive,” Miller said.

The mother of a former Campus School volunteer—who ser ved as a trustee for the foundation and was a childhood friend of Holland’s parents—called the school and first encouraged staff to apply for a grant, according to Miller.

From the initial application to approval, the grant process was thorough and took around a year, Miller added.

“Lots of calls with Tom Holland’s parents and other people and other trustees to learn more about our school,” Miller said Upon learning that Holland was in Boston while his girlfriend, Zendaya, was filming a movie, Miller said she could not pass up on the opportunity to invite him to visit the Campus School.

To her surprise, a representative from the foundation quickly contacted Holland and said he was enthusiastic about the idea.

“I said ‘Listen, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that I saw Tom has been in town, and if he would like to come over and see the school, we’d love to have him,’” Miller said. “And I heard back almost instantly that they’d

contacted Tom, and he was like, ‘I’d love to come by.’”

For someone so famous, Miller said Holland struck her as humble and unassuming.

“He’s a normal guy,” Miller said.

“He was really just happy to spend time and chat.”

During the visit, Holland tried to keep a low profile, so staff were asked not to use their phones or take photos while he was at the school, Miller said.

In addition, they decided not to post any photos on social media or make an official announcement about the visit until the next day.

“He’s a very down-to-earth guy and does a lot of philanthropic work very quietly,” Miller said. “He didn’t want any press around or any of that.”

Miller said Holland was generous with his time, making an effort to connect with every student—even those who communicate non-verbally—and pose for photos so their parents could share in the experience.

“By the end, he kept saying to me, ‘Shall we take a picture?’” Miller said.

“He wanted pictures with the students so that their parents could see it, which is really sweet.”

Although the visit centered primarily around the students, Miller said she took a moment to show Holland how the grant funds would be used.

“I showed him where the equipment was going to go and talked about the technology that it will fund, and we had just a really wonderful conversation about that,” Miller said. “He’s just so happy to help make a difference at our school.” n

2024: Decline in Black Student Enrollment Post Affirmative Action This story was originally published on Sept. 17, 2024.

BY ANNIKA ENGELBRECHT News Editor During the first year of admissions since the ban of affirmative action, Boston College’s Class of 2028 experienced a slight dip in Black student enrollment and slight increases in Hispanic and Asian American student enrollment.

The percentage of Black students

in the Class of 2028 fell to 6 percent this year, a dip from 7 percent in the Class of 2027, according to a BC News release.

The percentage of Hispanic students rose to 14.4 percent, up from 13 percent the year prior, and the percentage of Asian American students rose the most, from 14.6 percent last year to 16.2 percent this year.

“The University’s mixed enrollment results were consistent with many highly selective colleges and universities in the wake of the 2023 United

States Supreme Court ruling that ended the consideration of race as a factor in college admissions decisions,” the release reads.

In the Boston area specifically, the Class of 2028 marked a dip in racial diversity.

Nearly every minority racial group experienced a decline at Harvard University and Tufts University, with the percentage of Black students experiencing the sharpest drop at both.

At Harvard, the share of first-year students who identified as Black

MADDY ROMANCE / HEIGHTS ARCHIVES

dropped from 18 percent to 14 percent.

Like BC, both of these universities obtained their data through self-reported racial identification by their students.

According to the release, BC attributes its “relative stability” in admitting a diverse group of students to its strong ties with community-based organizations and QuestBridge, which matches low-income, high-achieving students to top universities.

The University also turned a special focus to socioeconomic factors for this year’s admissions cycle, the release states.

“Boston College’s increased focus on socioeconomic factors in admission helped it to attract a class composed of 14 percent first-generation students, an increase of 23 percent from last year,” the release reads. “Its percentage of Pell-eligible students (individuals with the highest level of financial need) rose by 50 percent to an all-time high of 18.8 percent, reflecting the University’s continued commitment to meeting the full demonstrated need of all accepted students.”

BC’s Class of 2028 is its first admitted since the Supreme Court banned the use of affirmative action in college admissions.

The University utilized affirmative action for decades, aiming to admit

more women and minority students.

After the Supreme Court banned affirmative action in June 2023, University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J., released a statement condemning the ruling.

“Today’s Supreme Court ruling banning the inclusion of race as a factor in the college admission process is a frustrating departure from a decades-long judicial precedent,” Leahy wrote in the statement.

The University would continue, he wrote, on its mission to enroll talented and diverse students within the new parameter of the court.

The University’s admissions process this year focused on factors of diversity beyond racial demographics, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Grant Gosselin said in the release.

“Our office reviewed applications and made decisions in a race-blind environment while enhancing our focus on race-neutral factors that align with Boston College’s mission,” Gosselin said in the release. “Expanding our commitment to ensuring a wider range of socioeconomic representation among our student body was critical to our work.”

The Class of 2027 marked BC’s most diverse freshman class ever, comprised of 38 percent AHANA students and 11 percent first-generation students.n

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the heights

Class of 2026 CommenCement edition

2025: Controverial BC Republicans Speaker Triggers OSI Investigation This story was originally published on Oct. 23, 2025

BY NIKITA OSADCHIY Asst. News Editor The Boston College Office of Student Involvement (OSI)—which oversees student organizations on campus—has launched an investigation into the BC Republicans for hosting an unapproved speaker event that drew backlash within the University community.

“The speaker event hosted by the BC College Republicans on Monday, 10/20, was not approved by the Office of Student Involvement,” Kyle Neary, associate director of organizations and programs in the OSI, wrote in a statement to The Heights. “The University is aware of concerns raised regarding the event and is investigating the matter further to determine if any violations of the Student Code of Conduct or University Speaker Policy occurred.”

On Monday night, the BC Republicans hosted Nick Solheim, CEO of the conservative organization American Moment, for a talk, during which he made several politically inflammatory remarks.

In response to the Solheim event, multiple student organizations issued public condemnations of both the event and Solheim’s remarks. The Col-

lege Democrats of Boston College were the first to speak out, with a statement on Instagram that has since garnered over 850 likes.

“Our campus community should be a space for debate grounded in truth, intellectual curiosity, and mutual respect,” they wrote. “Instead, this event spread conspiracy theories and extremist ideas that put members of the BC community – particularly LGBTQ+ and immigrant students and staff – at risk.”

The Gavel, the progressive student newspaper on campus, echoed these concerns, describing Solheim’s remarks as fear-mongering. “ We recognize and encourage difficult conversations and productive discourse, but Solheim’s rhetoric employs fear-mongering techniques and places marginalized individuals

on campus at risk,” The Gavel wrote in a social media statement. “Statements such as ‘they will kill you and everyone you love to get what they want’ have no place anywhere, let alone on a college campus.”

According to the University speaker policy, all registered student organizations must consult with OSI before inviting a guest speaker to campus.

“Before any invitation to a potential speaker or guest to campus, student leaders must consult with their assigned representative in the Office of Student Involvement or the Bowman Center,” the policy reads.

If found responsible for policy violations, the group could face sanctions ranging from a general warning to probation, loss of privileges, or disbandment, according to the Student Code of Conduct. n

NICOLE VAGRA / HEIGHTS ARCHIVES

BC Republicans hosted Nick Solheim, CEO of the organization American Moment.

COURTESY OF ZARA VALENCIUS

2025: ICE Vehicle Spotted at St. Ignatius This story was originally published on Sept. 7, 2025.

BY NIKITA OSADCHIY Asst. News Editor Students spotted a marked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vehicle on the perimeter of Boston College’s Lower Campus on Saturday afternoon, though no operations occurred on campus.

“BC Police confirmed that a marked ICE vehicle was seen off campus on Fr. Herlihy Way and St. Thomas More Road,” University Spokesman Jack Dunn wrote in a statement to The Heights. “The vehicle did not enter the BC campus and had no interactions with anyone from the campus community.”

The sighting comes as federal authorities carry out a weekslong immigration

crackdown across the city of Boston. Over the weekend, ICE agents conducted raids in the city and surrounding communities, resulting in dozens of arrests.

Saturday marks the first confirmed sighting of immigration officials around BC’s property since President Trump took office and launched an extensive immigration crackdown on undocumented immigrants.

Zara Valencius, MCAS ’28, first noticed the idling vehicle outside St. Ignatius Church on her way to Richdale Food Shops.

“I was cutting through the parking lot, and I looked up from my phone, and I saw that car, and it said ‘ICE,’” Valencius said. “I was like, ‘There’s no way that an ICE car actually says ‘ICE’—that’s whack.’”

Read the full story online.

2025: BC Enforced Speech Restrictions and Thorough Approval Process for Pro-Palestinian Demonstration This story was originally published on Feb. 21, 2025.

By Nikita Osadchiy Asst. News Editor Boston College administrators required organizers of a Feb. 13 pro-Palestinian demonstration to revise and remove portions of their speeches, disclose speakers’ identities, and refrain from using amplified sound and “public facing” advertising before granting approval to demonstrate on campus, according to email exchanges obtained by The Heights.

“We couldn’t have any speech that wasn’t at least summarized before,” said TJ Smith, one of the organizers of the demonstration and MCAS ’26. “Our speeches have to be in line with the outline they’ve approved. Our chants have to be approved verbatim. Our signs have to be approved verbatim, and if we deviate from this it would result in further action.”

Pro-Palestinian organizers cited a Feb. 6 email from Associate Vice President for Student Engagement and Formation Colleen Dallavalle as evidence of their concerns about potential disciplinary action if they did not stick to their pre-approved speeches.

“Please also note that any deviation from content as outlined and/or speech that does not align with our student code of conduct may result in further action,” Dallavalle’s email reads.

Dallavalle asked organizers to submit an itinerary that underwent five revisions before the University approved it. These documents

detailed the specific contents of speeches, chants, flyers, timelines, and names of event organizers and speakers.

According to an email exchange obtained

by The Heights, it took the University 80 days to grant approval for organizers to demonstrate on campus following their initial request on Nov. 18.

Organizers resubmitted the itinerary four times, with the final six-page version incorporating multiple University-mandated revisions.

“They took out one of our chants: ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,’” Smith told The Heights. “They told us, according to the Anti-Defamation League, it’s classified as hate speech.”

Itineraries obtained by The Heights confirm that the chant was removed following a Jan. 16 meeting between organizers and University representatives. The organizers said they removed the chant to comply with the University’s requirements.

In a statement to The Heights, University administrators said they follow procedures outlined in the student code of conduct when approving campus demonstrations.

“The University carefully follows its own policies and expects all students to abide by the Student Code of Conduct at all times, including during registered demonstrations,” Dallavalle wrote. “Input or guidance provided to students seeking to register demonstrations is based on the requirement that students abide by all standards in the Student Code of Conduct.”

When The Heights asked administrators

whether they required changes to speeches or chants as a condition for approval, they did not explicitly deny having done so.

Organizers said University administrators repeatedly asked them to revise itineraries and remove specific words from their speeches following joint meetings. Emails confirm that administrators often followed up with modifications that needed to be made to the itineraries before the demonstration could be approved.

“As we discussed in our meeting, we need additional detail regarding the content of the program itself including but not limited to the identities of those involved,” Dallavalle wrote in a Dec. 2 email.

Unlike BC, universities like Harvard require students to obtain approval to reserve space for protests but do not require prior approval of protest content to the same extent BC does.

When asked whether BC would approve a demonstration without first reviewing its content and speech, administrators did not directly respond to The Heights’ inquiry.

Emily Ternynck, MCAS ’25 and a co-president of Climate Justice at Boston College, said she has previously been through the process of registering a demonstration and agreed that organizers on BC’s campus face a restrictive approval process. “[The process] was pretty tedious and it was very clear that we were limited in what we could do,” Ternynck said.

Read the full story online.

SHANE SHEBEST / HEIGHTS STAFF

Organizers resubmitted the protest’s itinerary four times to incorporate revisions.

2024: BC Removes a Lead Pipe From Beneath Greycliff Hall This story was originally published on March 27, 2024.

BY ANNIKA ENGELBRECHT Asst. News Editor

WILL MARTINO Managing Editor On March 6, Boston College removed a lead pipe servicing Greycliff Hall from beneath the sidewalk on Commonwealth Avenue.

The pipe was one of many lead pipes in and around the Brighton area, according to the Boston Water and Sewer Commission (BWSC), but it was the only one on BC’s campus.

“BC Facilities regrets that due to an oversight, a six-foot underground section of lead pipe at 2051 Commonwealth Avenue was not removed as scheduled in the summer of 2019,” University Spokesman Jack Dunn wrote in a statement to The Heights.

But according to Boston city officials, BC was notified of the pipe nearly 15

years ago.

In a recent article by the Boston Globe, Irene McSweeney, chief of operations for the BWSC, said the commission reached out to BC about removing the pipe in 2009, 2016, 2017, and 2021.

According to Dunn, these claims are unfounded.

“BC Facilities has found no evidence of receipt of BWSC notices and was informed by BWSC staff that they were not able to verify addresses for their reported correspondence with BC,” Dunn said in his statement.

BSWC, however, remains adamant that the University was alerted of the lead pipe on multiple occasions since 2009.

“In addition to a meeting between BWSC and BC officials in 2018 to discuss solutions, BWSC records show letters of notification about the property in question were sent periodically,” BWSC wrote in a statement to The Heights.

When Tia Guay, a Greycliff resident and MCAS ’26, was first notified about the lead

pipe via email in February, she grew worried about her regular use of the kitchen and its water supply.

“I was a little concerned about it because we use the kitchen a lot—my roommate and I both do,” Guay said.

The Perils of a Pipe According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), lead exposure can cause cardiovascular disease, reproductive disease, kidney disease, and high blood pressure.

Lead exposure can also accumulate over time, being stored in bones alongside calcium.

Dunn said BC hired a firm to conduct an independent water test at Greycliff Hall in February, which concluded that lead levels in the building’s water were below the EPA’s action level.

“The test showed a lead level of 0.0008 milligrams per liter, which translates to 0.8 parts per billion (ppb)—well below the

CHRIS TICAS / HEIGHTS ARCHIVES

City officials said they first informed the University about the pipe in 2009.

EPA’s action level of 15 ppb,” Dunn said in the statement.

BC also ran a test in 2016 that showed lead levels in the building’s water to be 3 ppb—also below the EPA standard.

“These tests show that the water in 2051 Commonwealth Avenue is safe by the standards set by the EPA and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” Dunn said in the statement.

Despite this standard, the World Health Organization states that the ideal level of lead in drinking water should be zero,

as even low levels of exposure can cause harmful side effects.

The EPA also states that the level of lead at which no adverse health effects are likely to occur is zero.

But according to Philip Landrigan, director of the global public health and the common good program, the age of residents living in Greycliff make the risk of adverse health consequences low.

Read the full story online.

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The heighTs

Class of 2026 CommenCemenT ediTion

2023: Pipes Burst Across BC Campus This story was originally published on Feb. 4, 2023.

BY NATALIE ARNDT Newsletter Editor AND OLIVIA JOUNG News Editor By the time Haraden Bottomley and his roommates woke up in their Mod Saturday morning, none of their showers were turning on. “ We were like, ‘ That’s pretty strange,’” Bottomley, MCAS ’23, said.

“And then we realized that only cold water was coming out of our bathroom sinks and then no water out of our kitchen sink at all, so we’re like, ‘Ah, pipes are frozen.’”

Bottomley said their shower upstairs soon started working again. Upon walking downstairs, however, he and his roommates saw water pouring out of an electrical outlet mounted on the ceiling.

And the events at Bottomley ’s Mod are not an anomaly—pipes froze throughout Boston College’s campus due to dangerously low temperatures from the arctic blast that swept the Greater Boston area this weekend.

On the other side of campus, Carney Dining Hall temporarily closed due to flooding caused by frozen pipes this morning, according to an Instagram post

from BC Dining.

“It’s crazy,” Nicolas Farrell, LSEHD ’25, said. “I really didn’t know what was going on … but then I saw the water, and I heard people talking about the break, and I don’t know how it happened. I guess with the cold weather, maybe they just weren’t prepared for it or something.”

Upper Campus resident Olivia Gaibor, MCAS ’26, also described her surprise upon first seeing steam and water spewing out of the floor.

“I think Mac had a few fires and other technical difficulties before, so it’s not totally out of the blue, [but] it caught me by surprise a little bit on Saturday morning, first thing,” Gaibor said.

Also on Upper Campus, residents of Claver, Loyola, Xavier, and Fenwick Halls received an email from the Office of Residential Life on Saturday notifying them of a leaking pipe on Loyola’s fourth floor.

“On the 4th floor of Loyola, significant water from a ceiling pipe has leaked into the 4th floor, and there is potential water damage throughout several floors,” the email reads. “As of now water is off for the building, and we will notify you when we are able to return water to the building.”

Read the full story online.

PHOTO OBTAINED BY THE HEIGHTS

2022: Masked Individual Attempts To Break Into Off-Campus House This story was originally published on Oct. 14, 2022.

BY ERIN SHANNON News Editor NATALIE ARNDT Newsletter Editor A masked individual attempted to break into an off-campus house on Kirkwood Road on Thursday night at around 10:15 p.m., according to a Boston College Police Department (BCPD) bulletin.

“The victim reported that an uniden-

tified male, thin build, approximately 6 foot tall, wearing a white REI zip-up rain hoodie, light-colored cloth mask and black gloves had attempted to gain access into the residence on two different occasions this date,” the bulletin reads.

The bulletin states that both BCPD and the Boston Police Department responded to the incident. The suspect was observed leaving the area in what appeared to be a dark-colored Jeep Wrangler or a similar vehicle. For students like Tierney Wold, MCAS ’24, living close to the house where the attempted break-in occured is

nerve-wracking.

“I don’t live in the house that had the attempted break-in,” Wold said. “I live three doors down from it, and I know a couple of people in there vaguely, so that was kind of scary because like they are people that I know of, and it seemed very real.”

Wold said that the attempted breakin made her more aware of the safety measures she takes to protect her house.

Read the full story online.

2023: Students Report Fraud Charges Following Ticket Purchases This story was originally published on Sept. 18, 2023.

BY OLIVIA JOUNG News Editor NATALIE ARNDT Assoc. News Editor The Boston College Police Department (BCPD) is currently investigating reports of fraudulent credit card activity following purchases of online tickets for campus events, according to an email University administrators sent to the BC community on Friday.

“The reports concern transactions involving online tickets purchased through AudienceView’s website in January and February of 2023, and do not pertain to tickets purchased in person at the Robsham Theater Box Office, or for tickets sold

by BC Athletics,” the email reads.

The tickets were purchased through the University ticketing website, which is hosted by the third-party vendor AudienceView, according to the email.

AudienceView said the fraudulent activity resulted from a security issue that occurred within the company.

“In a notice to Boston College, AudienceView confirmed that a security incident involving consumers’ credit card information had occurred at their organization, which affected individuals at several colleges and universities that use their service,” the email reads.

Britton Smith—whose credit card information was stolen after buying an online ticket—woke up the morning of Feb. 14 with two texts from his billing provider, alerting him to a charge at Walmart as well as a series of other purchases he did not make.

“One was like a $400 purchase at Viasat … that got declined and then a $2000

purchase at Lowe’s, which was declined,” Smith, CSOM ’24, said. “And then I received an email as well on my BC email, saying that I’d been signed up for like a Milo’s membership or something like that.”

Looking back at his prior purchases, Smith said the only one that stuck out as a potential cause of the suspicious card activity was a recent charge from the Robsham Box Office for a ticket to the ALC Ball on Feb. 1.

“But that didn’t really click until my mom saw on the BC parents Facebook that a bunch of other BC students have apparently gotten their credit card info stolen,” Smith said. “So, I looked through Herrd, and, yeah, I saw a bunch of other people who had the same experience.”

Emily Hyder, MCAS ’23; Maddy Mitchell, CSOM ’23; and Kayla Vidal, MCAS ’23, were all notified of fraudulent charges to their credit cards after purchasing tickets to the 100 Days Dance from Robsham Box Office.

“The Wednesday after [the dance], I got a notification from my credit card that said that someone was trying to spend $375 at Walmart.com,” Hyder said. “So I called, and I canceled the card, and then I went on to my statement online, and it said that someone had just spent $50 on Amazon and also bought an Amazon Prime membership.”

Mitchell first noticed a fraudulent charge on Feb. 16 for an $180 purchase in a Walmart in Bentonville, Ark. “Obviously, I was not in Arkansas,” Mitchell said. “So I texted my mom and basically just ended up … reporting the charge as fraud and canceling my debit card because it said it came through my debit card … and issued myself a new one.”

By Tuesday, Mitchell said she began hearing about students who had similar experiences.

“A lot of other people were also saying charges from Walmart in Arkansas and obviously like various other ones as well … so I realized that it was connected to a bigger thing and not just a personal thing that I had dealt with,” Mitchell said.

Vidal received texts from her bank account notifying her of the fraudulent charges on the night of Feb. 22, two weeks after she bought a ticket for the 100 Days Dance.

“I got a text overnight that was like please verify these claims,” Vidal said. “A couple of them were the ones … that I have made but the last couple were the ones from Walmart. And I think it was $152 that they charged on my card on my account to Walmart.”

Vidal said she realized the charges were related to her purchase through Robsham after hearing how other students were affected.

“I didn’t really use my card much,” Vidal said. “So like the common denominator in terms of what people have been thinking, for me, would just be the dance. I didn’t charge it anywhere else.”

According to the email, AudienceView is currently in the process of identifying a list of those potentially impacted by the security issue and will communicate directly with them either through letter or email.

For the time being, online ticket sales through AudienceView will be suspended until the issue is resolved.

“We regret that some members of the BC community who purchased online tickets for campus events through this vendor’s platform have been affected by this security issue,” the email reads.

“We encourage you to look out for correspondence from AudienceView in the coming days, and follow the company’s recommendations to protect yourself from fraudulent activity.” n

OLIVIA CHARBONNEAU / HEIGHTS EDITOR

2022: SOFC Runs Out of Funds for Fall Semester This story was originally published on Sept. 18, 2022.

BY ERIN SHANNON News Editor AMY PALMER Assoc. News Editor SOFIA LABOY Asst. News Editor When the Student Organization Funding Committee (SOFC) informed club leaders that it had already allocated its entire budget for the semester, Hollywood Eagles President Dominic Floreno said the news spread like a shockwave through campus.

“SOFC point blank is the lifeline,” Floreno said. “It’s like the IV drip … for all clubs on campus. … It is the only thing that keeps all the clubs alive because it’s where all the money comes from.”

The chairman of SOFC emailed club leaders on Thursday that the organization reached its maximum allocation after approving over 170 budget requests. As a result, SOFC will no longer be accepting any appeals or line item requests for the semester, the email states.

According to SOFC Chairman Ethan Guell, the club is composed of 17 to 20 undergraduate students that make decisions on proposed club budgets before they are

sent to the Office of Student Involvement (OSI). The organization is overseen by a graduate advisor and a full-time advisor.

During his three years on SOFC, Guell said he has never seen the club commit all of its funds for one semester. Running out of money in September is unusual, he said, but it indicates that SOFC is funding a lot more than before.

“I think while I didn’t expect this to happen, it’s a great thing for a lot of clubs since they’re getting to spend more money than they have in the past,” Guell said.

Lexie Arteaga, co-vice president of Boston College’s dance club Phaymus and MCAS ’23, said she was shocked SOFC had run through its funding so quickly and worried about how it would affect her club.

The news from SOFC also caught Will Manzi, treasurer of the German Club and CSOM ’23, completely off guard.

“It almost was like a, ‘Oh shit, I don’t know what we’re gonna do,’ feeling because we had two events that we had yet to submit budgets for and now there was no funding left,” he said.

The German Club waited to submit two requests instead of including them in its pre-semester budget because it wanted to fully work out the details, according to Manzi.

Read the full story online.

2025: White Mountain Creamery To Close Its Doors This story was originally published on Nov. 15, 2025.

BY NIKITA OSADCHIY Assoc. News Editor

WILSON BAKER / HEIGHTS ARCHIVES

White Mountain sold its last scoop on Nov. 23, then transferred ownership to a regional chain.

After more than three decades as a family-run fixture on Comm. Ave., White Mountain Creamery—the go-to ice cream spot for generations of Boston College students—will close under its current ownership on Dec. 1.

“I wanted to thank you for the hard work and dedication you have shown during our time together at White Mountain,” outgoing owner Peter Coufos wrote in a message to employees Friday afternoon. “Our business is transitioning to new ownership effective December 1st, 2025.”

New City Microcreamery, a regional Massachusetts chain with locations in

Arlington, Cambridge, Hudson, and Sudbury, will assume management and operations of the shop.

White Mountain will close its doors for the final time under its current ownership on Nov. 23, ahead of the transition, and will reopen on Dec. 2 under new management.

In the wake of the announcement, many current and long-time employees were taken by surprise.

“I was really shocked to hear that White Mountain decided to transfer ownership,” said Madeline King, MCAS ’26, who has worked at White Mountain since 2022. “There were absolutely no warning signs—it was just so unexpected.”

King said she formed many of her first college friendships behind the counter and that the shop holds a special place in her heart.

“It’s been a family business for so long, and it means so much to current BC students, BC alums, and a lot of other people in the community,” she said. “The fact that it’s closing will be sad for many.”

William Balerma, a junior at Newton North High School and fellow employee, echoed those sentiments.

“It’s been a great place to go for many people,” he said. “It’s the only White Mountain, it’s been here for so long, everybody knows it’s a special place. So it’s sad—it’s sad to see that it’s going to be closing.”

Located across Comm. Ave from Lower Campus, White Mountain opened in 1983, according to the shop’s website, under a set of previous owners. Coufos purchased the business in 1993.

Read the full story online.

Newton Class of 2026 CommenCemenT ediTion

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Editor’s Note: Newton editors Riley Del Sesto, Nathan Yarnall, and Grace Duffy have compiled the most prominent stories of Newton reported during the Class of 2026’s time at Boston College. The following local news stories shaped the community in which the University resides during the last 4 years.

2022: Former Tenant Pleaded Not Guilty to Murder After Newtonville Man Found Dead

NICOLE VAGRA / HEIGHTS EDITOR

This story was originally published on Sept. 28, 2022.

BY VICTOR STEFANESCU Metro Editor

GAVIN ZHANG Assoc. Metro Editor Newton resident Xiu Fang Ke pleaded not guilty to murder in Newton District Court Wednesday after a 65-year-old man

was found dead in his Newtonville home Tuesday, according to Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan. Police found Leonard Garber wrapped in a curtain and pressed under construction materials and other heavy items at his Mt. Vernon Terrace home at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Ryan said at a press conference.

Ke, charged with the murder of Garber, pleaded not guilty at her arraignment on Wednesday according to The Boston

Globe. She is due for her next court appearance on Oct. 31.

Police determined that 43-year-old Ke, a former tenant of Garber, had allegedly stolen over $40,000 from Garber through forged checks and had allegedly been spending time with Garber in the days before his body was found, Ryan said.

Garber confronted Ke about the theft sometime between last Thursday and Sunday, according to the district attorney.

Ke then allegedly struck and killed Garber, Ryan said.

Family reported Garber missing on Monday evening.

Officials saw an individual identified as Ke enter and exit Garber’s home multiple times in the days prior to Tuesday in surveillance camera footage, according to Ryan.

Police had previously visited the home on Monday when Garber was first reported missing but did not locate him. They visited again early Tuesday before finding Garber’s body in the afternoon, the district attorney said.

Based on preliminary investigation, the body appeared to be hidden and left in the front hallway of the home for several days, Ryan said.

Police arrested Ke Wednesday morning without incident, according to Ryan.

Mt. Vernon Terrace is a no-through street with only a handful of houses. Patrick Hamilton has lived across the street from Garber’s home for nearly 25 years.

Hamilton said Garber had been a good neighbor. He also said that before Garber moved in, college students and other random groups rented the property.

“When he came in here, the house across the street was kind of run down,” he said. “He bought it, fixed it up a lot.”

The Mt. Vernon Terrace home sits in the Newtonville Historic District and was built in 1880. It is nearly 4,000 square feet, and the city assessed its value at $1.22 million in 2022. Garber bought the home in 1999.

When Hamilton heard Garber was missing, he said he hoped the neighbor had taken an unannounced trip. He felt

shocked when he found out Garber had died, he said.

“You don’t think it’s going to happen to someone across the street,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton said the police became less communicative with neighbors as time went on after Garber had been reported missing.

“The police didn’t tell us much of what was going on,” Hamilton said. “The first officers that came here we talked to, and they were looking for him as a missing person, but as it went on, they would say less and less. But I don’t blame them for that.”

The Globe reported this is the first homicide in the City of Newton since 2009.

“To say that just says a lot about Newton as, you know, a pretty calm place to live,” Hamilton said. “And we’re lucky with that.”

Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller said the hearts and prayers of the people of Newton are with Garber’s family.

Read the full story online.

2023: Newton Residents Voice

Opinions for and Against Override This story was originally published on Feb. 13, 2023.

BY CONNOR SIEMIEN Newton Editor

ELLA SONG Asst. Newton Editor

WILL MARTINO / HEIGHTS EDITOR

2024: Alleged Newton Shooter Gains Support This story was originally published on Sept. 18, 2024.

BY GENEVIEVE MORRISON Newton Editor Donors have raised more than $250,000 as of Tuesday night for the legal defense of Scott Hayes, the alleged shooter in a violent altercation that took place at a pro-Israel protest in Newtonville on Thursday.

Video footage of the altercation shows Newton resident Caleb Gannon exchanging words with the protestors across Washington Street in Newtonville, then eventually charging across the street and tackling Hayes.

In the footage, the protestors attempt to subdue Gannon before he is shot.

Hayes said he will plead not guilty to charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on Friday. Gannon has not yet been charged with a crime, though District Attorney Marian Ryan said she applied for a criminal complaint against him for assault and battery.

Gannon was hospitalized but is expected to survive, according to Ryan.

Since the incident, Hayes’ story has reached a national audience and an outpouring of support through the GoFundMe page set up for his legal defense.

Yael Magen, the lawyer who represented him at his arraignment, said she set up the fundraiser because she believes Scott acted in self-defense.

“He was violently attacked from behind, his life was at risk, and he had no choice but to act in self-defense,” Magen said.

Among the thousands who donated, many agreed that the shooting was an act of self-defense.

“I saw the video,” wrote Maura Cousar, who donated $50. “His gun fired by accident in the chaos. Scott is being vilified by the media. I stand with Scott and I also Thank You for serving our

country.”

But the outpouring of support hasn’t just been domestic.

“Support from Panama City, Panama,” wrote Gabriel Gavrilov, who donated $306. “Thank you for your service in Iraq. God Bless. Stay Strong.”

At the time of publication, the fund has more than 3,780 donors with an average donation of $67—though 20 individuals have contributed more than $1,000.

Steve Yanovsky, Republican candidate for one of Newton’s state representative seats, is among the donors to Hayes’ fund. He also advertises the donation link for Hayes on his campaign website’s landing page.

Yanovsky said it is unfair that Hayes was immediately charged with a crime while Gannon has yet to receive a criminal charge.

“We seem to have some kind of a double standard here,” Yanovsky said. “I felt that an arraignment like this requires a contribution, because there may be legal repercussions for a law-abiding citizen.”

One Newton resident, Susan Mirsky, said she doesn’t believe Hayes was acting in self-defense.

“That it was portrayed that Caleb was the aggressor and that Scott was just shooting him in self-defense made absolutely no sense,” Mirsky said.

Mirsky is a member of a Newton anti-war group called Sawa, which aims to “advocate for equality and justice for Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, and inclusion for all,” according to its description on Substack.

Both Magen and Hayes belong to a Facebook group called “God Bless America and Israel,” a group that organizes “public counter-protests” in support of Israel in the Boston area.

Read the full story online.

On March 14, Newton residents will vote on three ballot questions regarding Mayor Ruthanne Fuller’s proposed $15 million tax increase in compliance with Massachusetts’ Proposition 2 ½ procedure. According to the proposition, Massachusetts municipalities cannot raise property taxes by more than 2.5 percent annually without community approval via an override vote. Newton’s present ballot includes one operating override question, which will permanently increase Newton’s taxes by $9.175 million a year for general operating and capital expenses. The other two ballot questions are regarding debt overrides, which would temporarily raise taxes by $2.3 million and $3.5 million, respectively, to cover the reconstruction of Countryside Elementary School and Franklin Elementary School. Residents will vote on all three questions separately, allowing for the passage of one, two, all, or none of the questions.

Supporters of the Override With the March 14 special election date drawing closer, Newton residents supporting an override vote have become more determined to make their case heard.

“This is the place that we live, and this is a moment where we can make the investment … that we need,” Kerry Prasad, Newton resident and co-founder of Vote Yes for Newton, said. “It’s like sometimes, you have to replace your roof, and no one can see it and no one even thinks you did it, and it costs money, but you have to do it to keep everything in order.”

Vote Yes for Newton is a pro-override campaign working to garner support for the tax override ahead of the special election.

Christine Dutt, another co-founder and Newton resident, said her and Prasad’s frustration with the city’s underfunded schools motivated the project.

“There’s been a structural deficit in the [Newton Public Schools] budget for a couple of years, and it does predate the pandemic,” Dutt said. “And so Newton needs to find a renewable and reliable source of funds for its operating expenses.”

Newton Public Schools (NPS) needs the override money to avoid more budget cuts, according to Dutt. Even if the override passes, NPS predicts a $2 to 4 million budget shortfall, compared to the predicted $6 to 8 million shortfall should the override fail.

Two of the three ballot questions are debt exclusion questions regarding the funding

of reconstruction for two elementary schools within the city. A debt exclusion override is a tax raise that expires when the city-proposed funding for the project is achieved.

Prasad, whose children previously attended Countryside Elementary School, which would receive funding from the override, expressed frustration with the building.

“Countryside was built in a floodplain, so the basement is always flooded,” Prasad said. “It just depends on how deep the water is, which is not healthy for people to be working or going to school.”

The Countryside Elementary School Building Project—the city’s initiative for Countryside’s reconstruction—is in the feasibility design phase in partnership with the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), but the MSBA will review the project if the override fails, a document from the organization reads.

Franklin Elementary School—which is the other school included in a debt exclusion question—is also in need of repair, Prasad said.

“It’s 85 years old, and it has problems with the heating, there’s flooding problems,” Prasad said. “My favorite fun fact about it is there’s a little room that was built as a bicycle storage space in 1938. Just like so quaint, pre–World War II, and that is the art room now. So there’s not enough room.”

Beyond renovation, Mike Zilles, president of the Newton Teachers Association, said the passage of the override would provide the funding needed for educator pay.

“We’re in the middle of a contract negotiation,” Zilles said. “If the override doesn’t pass, they’re not going to offer us much money in contract negotiations.”

The Newton Teachers Association said one of the reasons it is advocating strongly for the override and other initiatives that would dedicate more funding to the school system is that the budget deficit is detrimental to teachers.

“Next Tuesday and Wednesday, we’re going to be holding standouts in front of all of the school buildings in the city of Newton,” Zilles said. “They will be educator community standouts—every building, 22 buildings.”

According to Newton resident Laura Towvim, budget problems pose a threat to her children’s education.

“You don’t just find money, it doesn’t grow on trees,” Towvim said. “I’m worried for my own children in terms of availability of courses they can take in high school, if there are less spaces for AP classes, for example, or honors classes. Or electives getting cut, or athletics might be impacted.”

In addition to education, the override will also bolster Newton’s sustainability efforts, incorporating sustainability into the reconstructed school buildings, Prasad

said.

“It is our stated purpose in the city that we will achieve carbon neutrality by 2050,” she said. “So the new school buildings … are going to be carbon neutral, zero carbon footprint buildings.”

Other areas—such as senior services, streets and traffic safety, and green spaces—also require more funding through the override, according to Prasad.

“The amount that the city has been able to raise taxes has just, hasn’t kept up with the cost of everything else over the past 10 years,” Prasad said.

Towvim said her prior experience with a failed tax override in Newton is a reminder of the upcoming vote’s pressing nature.

“There was an override in 2008 that failed, and what they said was that the libraries would all close,” she said. “We had, I think, like four to six branch libraries, and we have a main library. The main library stayed open, but all the branch libraries closed. And people were shocked.”

An override is not without its individual financial downsides, according to Prasad.

She said to mitigate the difficulties of a tax raise, residents can look to city resources.

“There are tax assistance programs that the city has—seven tax assistance programs … for injured veterans, and for elderly—for people over the age of 70 who are on fixed incomes,” Prasad said.

Ultimately, according to Towvim, the proposed override is about paying for the features Newton residents want.

“People want first-rate education for their children,” Towvim said. “People want nice roads, and streets, and trees, and all these things, and you have to pay for it. It doesn’t just happen.”

Opponents of the Override Newton’s proposal to override Proposition 2 ½ is misguided, according to some political and business leaders in the city.

“I have said to everybody that this proposal for an override is way premature, and doesn’t reflect what the current conditions are, and the current monies that are there and set aside for reducing the tax rate,” Paul Coletti, a Ward 5 alderman—the previous title for city councilors in the city—for 32 years and chair of Newton’s finance committee from 1984 to 2009, said.

Randy Bock, president of the Newton Taxpayers Association, said the city should examine the funds it already has.

“Right now we have a current budget in excess of a half a billion dollars, and at least $30 million in unspent cash at the end of 2022 and $35 million in unused federal funds,” Bock said. “This mayor insists on an additional $15 million in taxes.”

Read the full story online.

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Class of 2026 CommenCement edition

2023: Mount Alvernia’s Closure Prompts Outcry From Alumni This story was originally published on March 19, 2023.

By Connor Siemien Newton Editor

HEIGHTS ARCHIVES

2025: Former Mayor Setti Warren Dies at 55 This story was originally published on Nov. 2, 2025.

By Genevieve Morrison Newton Editor Setti Warren, the former Newton mayor whose storied political legacy sprouted from Boston College’s student government, died Sunday at 55, according to an email from Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller.

Before Warren was Newton’s—and the state’s—first popularly elected Black mayor, he was UGBC president.

In 1991, Warren took on an uphill campaign for the UGBC presidency. He was a sophomore running against juniors, and Black students only made up 3.3 percent of the undergraduate population at the time.

“No one thought I could win that race,” Warren told The Heights in 2019.

So Warren knocked on the doors of dorm rooms, talking his way to a landslide win in 1991.

“I knocked on virtually every dorm room door I could,” Warren said. “When I had conversations with people, the sort of dismissiveness came down, and we were able to relate to each other as two kids at BC that just wanted to see a better campus.”

During his tenure, Warren brought film director Spike Lee to Conte Forum to discuss his film, Malcolm X, and instituted the Book Tuition Fund, which offered $50 book vouchers to students with the highest level of unmet financial aid.

After college, Warren embarked on a busy political career. He worked in Bill Clinton’s administration, served as the New England Regional Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and then joined U.S. Senator and BC Law ’76 John Kerry’s presidential campaign.

In 2001, Warren spent a brief stint back on campus at the BC University Development Office as the assistant director for leadership gifts.

“It was fantastic and it reminded me

of why I wanted to go there,” Warren said in the 2019 Heights interview. “I loved coming back to campus.”

Warren enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 2002, then served in Iraq as an intelligence specialist in 2007. When then-Newton-Mayor David Cohen announced he wouldn’t seek reelection, Warren filed his papers to run for Newton mayor while still deployed.

Eyeing the mayoralty in 2009, Warren faced similar hurdles as he did in that 1991 UGBC campaign. He was young—40 years old—and low on political experience. And just like at BC, Warren sought to lead a largely white constituency, as Newton was only 2.5 percent Black at the time.

But the 2010 election brought a new challenge—he got a late start on campaigning because he had to wait until his tour was over.

So when he arrived back in Newton, he relied on old strategies. Warren knocked on doors—more than 11,000 of them. He beat Massachusetts State Representative Ruth Balser to win the mayoralty, kicking off a two-term tenure.

As mayor, Warren pushed through an $11.4 million tax override package that sought higher taxes from local nonprofit institutions, like BC, to bolster teachers’ salaries and support the rebuilding/renovation of Angier Elementary School and Cabot Elementary School.

He also led a 2016 initiative called “Economic Growth for All,” in which BC faculty collaborated with city officials to develop research and policy that would counteract economic inequality in the city.

“The issue of our time, I believe, is the issue of income inequality,” Warren said in 2016.

He stepped down in 2018, launching a run for governor to challenge Republican Governor Charlie Baker.

He lost in the Democratic primary.

Read the full story online.

HEIGHTS ARCHIVES

Mount Alvernia High School, an all-girls Catholic school in Newton, will close at the conclusion of the 2022–23 academic year, according to a release from the school’s board of directors and the Missionary Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, who own the property at 790 Centre St. Following the announcement, several alumni of the school spoke out against the decision on Facebook, calling it detrimental to the education of young women. A petition on Change.org has gathered 3,548 signatures by the time of publication.

“We do believe in the life and mission of St. Francis of Assisi, and all-girls education gives girls the chance to learn, and grow, and become the person they were created to be, and losing another all-girls school is really unfortunate for women’s education,” said Mary Kate Feeney, former director of communications at the school and Mount Alvernia ’01.

Another alumna, Kathleen Joyce, former chair of the board of alumni and Mount Al-

vernia ’92, said the school lent itself well to creating strong friendships and connections.

“We were a very small class ourselves, we graduated 26 girls, and some of my best friends to this day are from high school,” Joyce said. “We had outstanding faculty, a real, true sense of community, and to this day we all get together because of our friendships that developed.”

The Missionary Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception said the school will close because the sisters are no longer able to live on the property where the school is located.

“As they move, it will be unsustainable for MAHS to continue alone, and the property on which the school sits will be sold,” the release reads. “The MAHS Board of Directors worked tirelessly to explore all options, including maintaining the MAHS community in a new location, if at all possible.”

Enrollment in the school has steadily decreased in the last 15 years, according to an article from The Boston Globe. Membership in the sisters’ mission has also gone down, something they discussed at a forum last month, according to The Boston Globe.

Currently, the school plans to merge with another all-girls school, Fontbonne

Academy in Milton, Mass., allowing all students in good academic standing and applicants who have already been admitted to Mount Alvernia to automatically enroll at Fontbonne for the 2023–24 academic year.

“Fontbonne is aligned with our culture and commitment to developing the full person, and the school believes deeply in cultivating women of courage who are ready to create their own individual future,” the release reads.

Joyce said she has questions about the sisters’ approach to selling the school.

“I believe the sisters could have been more creative—they could have shown more leadership,” Joyce said. “I believe the sisters could have shown more leadership, and be more creative and could have brokered a deal—a future deal—that included the school, not just the sale of the land for money.”

The Missionary Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception did not respond to three requests for comment.

Both the City of Newton and Boston College have shown interest in buying the land where the school currently resides.

Read the full story online.

CHRIS TICAS / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Mount Alvernia High School, which sits across the street from BC’s Newton Campus, announced it will close in 2023.

2025: Newton Tobacco Ban Worries Businesses In The City This story was originally published on March 30, 2025.

By Riley Del Sesto Asst. Newton Editor In Januar y, Newton City Council banned tobacco and e-cigarettes for people born on or after March 1, 2004, and local vape shops and gas stations are apprehensive of its potential effects.

“I have customers who will come in who have just turned 21, and I’ve had to turn them away, obviously, because I can’t sell to them,” said Devlynne Loder, manager of Lake Smoke and Vape.

The City of Newton’s website highlights the 2022 Newton Public Schools Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance data, which found that 8 percent of Newton high schoolers vaped and 3 percent frequently smoked cigarettes.

The Newton City Council refers to the ban as a “Nicotine-free Generation Or-

dinance” intended to create a generation of people who never start using tobacco products.

Charlie Hova, manager of the Mobil gas station on Beacon Street, strongly opposes the ban.

“I think it’s bullshit,” Hova said. “I don’t believe in it at all … It’s just very stupid.”

Hova said he disagrees with the ban’s strict cutoff date.

“If they banned them 100 percent, I still wouldn’t like that, but I would understand,” Hova said. “But for them to just pick a date and go with it, I think it is pretty arbitrary.”

Loder said she believes the decision to use nicotine or tobacco should be up to the individual, not the government.

“I feel as though, if, like, you’re 21 years old, you’re grown enough to make your own decisions,” Loder said.

Loder manages one of the two vape shops in the city. Newton tobacco and nicotine regulation allows for two retail tobacco or nicotine delivery product

stores. The sale of e-cigarettes is restricted to adult-only stores, so gas stations and convenience stores are only permitted to sell tobacco.

Loder expects this ban to pose an issue for Lake Smoke and Vape in the future.

“I think it is going to have, like, a detrimental effect on the smoke shop in the long run,” Loder said. “Right now, I don’t see that much of a problem, but I definitely do foresee it in the future.”

Hova assumes he will need to adjust his tobacco inventory.

“I’ll probably either, you know, stop selling as much or not have as much in stock because it’s just wasted money on a shelf,” Hova said.

While it is too soon for Hova and Loder to see the ban’s effects on their stores’ revenues, towns that enacted similar bylaws have felt the impact.

Read the full story online.

2024: Newton Teachers Association Reaches Contract, Ends Strike This story was originally published on Feb. 3, 2024.

By Genevieve Morrison Assoc. Newton Editor After a strike that closed all Newton Public Schools for 11 days, the Newton Teachers Association (NTA) reached a contract with the Newton School Committee (NSC) and announced schools will reopen Monday.

“We are … thrilled to settle a new fouryear contract that honors the tremendous work our teachers do – a contract the city can afford – a contract that serves our students,” Mayor Ruthanne Fuller wrote in an email announcement Friday night.

The new teachers’ contract includes higher cost-of-living adjustments, up to 60 days of parental leave, and a side deal that promises a social worker in all but three school buildings by 2025.

“This contract reflects our values including respect for our educators,” the NSC said in an email.

Newton teachers had been working without a contract for the 2023–24 school

year thus far, and had been in tense contract negotiations with the NSC since 2022.

By Friday, the union accrued $625,000 in fines for violating a state law that prohibits public employees from striking.

Two parents in the district have filed

suits against the teachers’ union, claiming emotional damages to their children as a result of the extended school closure.

“The increase in screen time and disruption to their education, as a result of this illegal strike, has caused major concern on behalf of these parents for the

mental well being of their children,” Newton parents Allison and David Goldberg wrote in their filing.

A lawyer for the NTA countered by arguing the intervention by parents in the court proceedings is not valid.

“It is not the appropriate vehicle for

GENEVIEVE MORRISON / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The Newton Teachers Association’s strike lasted 14 days, making it the longest Massachusetts strike in the last 30 years.

third parties to seek to pursue outside legal theories or damages,” staff counsel Laurie Houle wrote. “The parents here have no right to intervene.”

On Thursday, the NSC voted to cancel February vacation, a week-long break that was scheduled to begin the 19th of the month, to make up for instruction lost due to the strike. The school committee said it would be too difficult to make up the days at the end of the school year.

As the Monday of the scheduled vacation week is Presidents’ Day, canceling the break only returned four school days to the calendar. State law requires the district to complete 180 days of school before June 30.

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey also stepped in on Thursday, asking a Middlesex Superior Court judge to appoint an arbitrator for the contract negotiations, had the parties not reached an agreement

by Friday afternoon.

According to Fuller’s email announcement, the NSC and the NTA will vote to ratify the new contract next week.

Read the full story online.

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2024: BC Sweethearts Serve Up Sandwiches and Community This story was originally published on April 18, 2024.

By Genevieve Morrison Assoc. Newton Editor Mara and Jeff DeBonee’s love story started as student coworkers in Stuart Dining Hall on Boston College’s Newton Campus. It blossomed into a different kind of partnership after graduation.

They now co-own Sandwich Works, a homey Newton Centre staple serving breakfast and lunch since 1991.

After 33 years in business, their food is tried and true—the eggs are fluffy, baked goods are dense and sweet, and the coffee is chilled with coffee-flavored ice cubes to ensure that the drink doesn’t water down.

But at Sandwich Works, the food is not the only thing that draws people back again and again.

“My favorite thing is the people that work behind the counter,” customer Ricardo Sousa said. “They make the

atmosphere really good here, really welcoming.”

For Mara and Jeff, the feeling is mutual. At the counter, Mara greets customers like friends, while Jeff cooks at the grill just a few feet away, chiming into conversations and catching up with the familiar faces. The two of them know everyone’s names and usual orders.

“We have the best customers,” Mara said. “Kind and understanding people.”

When the two met at Stuart Dining Hall in 1986, Mara was a senior and student manager, and Jeff was a freshman employee.

“I did whatever she said, but she wasn’t really a very good manager,” Jeff said, laughing. “She didn’t like telling people what to do.”

Mara said she looks back on her time in Stuart fondly.

“It was just fun,” Mara said.

While Jeff ’s college job as a freshman led him to his future wife, it was his junior year job that led him to his future career.

“I had to get a job so I could afford to go out and do those kinds of things kids like to do, so I got a job downtown at a bar, first waiting tables, then at a bar,” Jeff said.

When Jeff ’s boss at the bar opened a new location for a restaurant, Sandwich Works—based in West Newton at the time—he offered Jeff a position as its manager after he graduated in 1989.

Later, Jeff took over the franchise, which has since consolidated into a single location in Newton Centre.

“I had nothing planned, and I said, you know, if I’m ever going to do a business, now would be the time,” Jeff said.

Mara, who studied education at BC, worked as a teacher after her graduation in 1985, then joined the business full-time after the couple had children.

“It was just better to come here,” Mara said. “Even when I worked, I would come here in the mornings and do stuff, then go to work and come back. I’m always here.”

Jeff, who was an English and economics double major at BC, said that because

GENEVIEVE MORRISON / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Mara and Jeff, the co-owners of Sandwich Works, met while they worked at Stuar t Dining Hall in 1986.

GENEVIEVE MORRISON / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Sandwich Works of fers catering ser vices to the New ton community. he hadn’t initially planned to enter the restaurant business, his culinary skills are self-taught.

“I’ve never had any formal training,” Jeff said. “I just learn as I go, which is a lot easier now with YouTube and Instagram and all that stuff.”

Sandwich Works spans far beyond its cozy Newton Centre location, with its catering that serves Newton’s community and government offices.

“It’s so busy now, we do lots of catering, formal catering, lots of stuff at BC, at the city, schools, the health department, the mayor’s office, all of that,” Jeff said.

The catering side of the business has grown over the years, according to Jeff.

“It’s spread over time,” Jeff said.

“People will go somewhere and have a sandwich during a meeting and [ask], ‘Oh where did you get that,’ and they’ll tell them and they’ll order it, so it kind of grows like that.”

They also gained new customers during the pandemic, when few other restaurants were open.

“In that time, we got a bunch of new customers who maybe were going somewhere else, like going to Starbucks,

before,” Jeff said. “That was closed, so they came in.”

One such customer, Newton resident Patrick Knight, said he became a regular during the pandemic. “ Th e y s t ay e d o p e n a l l th ro u g h COVID,” Knight said. “I came in every day, got my lunch and breakfast. These folks: awesome.”

Sandwich Works’s menu has grown with time as well, Jeff said.

“When we first started, people would just come in and get tuna on wheat or turkey on a sub roll,” Jeff said. “That was most of it. Now people want, like, mozzarella tomato basil with pesto—a lot of stuff.”

Now, Sandwich Works boasts everything from a classic reuben to the specialty “Newton Centre Gobbler,” which is a turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce and stuffing.

Customers like Sousa said some of these new additions to the menu are their favorites.

“They do a grilled cheese with meatballs—that’s good, that’s my top,” Sousa said.

Read the full story online.

2023: BC Purchases Mount Alvernia High School Property This story was originally published on Oct. 3, 2023.

BY WILL MARTINO Asst. News Editor Boston College purchased Mount Alvernia High School’s closed-down campus for $40.5 million, according to Massachusetts Land Records.

“Boston College has purchased the 23-acre Mount Alvernia High School campus and convent property at 790 Centre Street in Newton from the Missionary Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception,” read a University release published on Tuesday The University plans to use the newly acquired property, which is located across from BC’s Newton Campus, for “educational and administrative purposes,” according to the release.

Last March, Mount Alvernia High School’s board of directors and the Missionary Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception sent a release announcing the school would close

after 88 years. “[The Francisican Sisters] reached out to Boston College, with which they have maintained close ties for more than 85 years, with the goal of keeping the property in the hands of a Catholic educational institution,” the University’s release read.

The Francican Sisters’ decision to close the school was controversial among Mount Alvernia alumni. A petition that challenged the closure garnered 3,615 signatures.

“This recent move to sell the property is not a [reflection] of those same values that were instilled in each student,” reads the petition, started by Mira Robinson. “There was no opportunity given to Mt. Alvernia students, faculty, and staff to work toward a vision that the MFIC had in mind.”

Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller said in a statement to The Heights that Mount Alvernia High School was an important part of the Newton community.

“We learned from Boston College officials yesterday of their purchase of

CHRIS TICAS / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The University purchased the closed-down campus, which is across from the Newton Campus, for $40.5 million. this important parcel,” she said in the 23-acre property.” release, the property contains three statement. “We look forward to hearing BC’s purchase of the property was buildings and a garage, spanning 73,850 more about their future plans for the finalized on Oct. 3. According to the gross square feet. n

2026: Newton Mayor Marc Laredo Limits City’s

Cooperation With Federal Immigration Enforcement

STEVE MOONEY / HEIGHTS EDITOR

This story was originally published on Feb. 11, 2026.

BY RILEY DEL SESTO Newton Editor In his first executive act, Newton Mayor Marc Laredo signed an order on Feb. 5 limiting local government cooperation with federal enforcement, joining

the effort of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and other leaders from communities across Greater Boston.

“I really do feel that in a time when our democracy and our rights under the federal state constitutions are being threatened, I think it’s very important for elected leaders to speak out,” Laredo said in an interview with The Heights.

The order, which did not require

city council approval and is binding, regulates local government cooperation with federal enforcement, setting clear protections for protesters and restricting the use and access of city property.

The order reaffirms Newton’s 2017 Welcoming City ordinance and solidifies the city as a sanctuary city. In May 2025, President Donald Trump announced he would place increased pressure on sanctuary jurisdictions, including Newton.

This move follows Newton’s support for an amicus brief defending Minnesota’s lawsuit against Trump’s mass deportation campaign and a statewide bill furthering protections for local law enforcement.

Laredo clarified that while Newton police will support federal immigration’s pursuit of violent criminals, local officers will not have to engage in immigration enforcement.

“As interpreted by our state’s highest court, we do not have to act as enforcement agents of ICE,” Laredo said. “We are not engaged in civil immigration enforcement here in Newton.”

Laredo couldn’t confirm if there has

been any Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in Newton.

“You know, I would not be at all surprised if there was ICE activity in the city of Newton, as there is probably throughout the country, and we can’t prevent that,” Laredo said.

In the event of a potential confrontation between ICE officers and protesters in Newton, the order is meant to establish protections for residents.

“What we’re trying to do is really focus,” Laredo said. “If there’s a surge in activity—like you’ve seen in Minnesota or Maine—that’s what we’re really trying to make sure we set up appropriate procedures for.”

The order’s first section affirms that police officers will follow the city’s protocols during peaceful protests and mandates that officials must immediately contact emergency services in the case of injury.

Laredo said he hopes that his actions will empower Newton residents to protest.

“Let me be clear: I think residents can and should feel free to speak out in

Newton,” Laredo said. “I think it’s actually very important that residents continue to speak out in a peaceful manner against the actions that we’re seeing elsewhere in the country.”

Wu signed a similar order on the same day in a joint effort among Greater Boston area leaders.

“I’ve been working closely with a group of mayors in the Greater Boston area … and others to make sure that we were sending out consistent messages regarding the actions of ICE,” Laredo said.

Laredo explained that this order will serve as one of many efforts to reinforce the rule of law and uphold democratic values.

“We’ve seen really a lot of strong support for the positions I’ve taken, which is gratifying,” Laredo said. “I think they’re the right positions from a legal point of view. I frankly think they’re the right positions from a moral point of view. And as I have repeatedly said, I think this is a very difficult time for our democracy.

I want to make sure that we continue to protect our democracy and protect the rule of law, and I will do that.” n

Opinion

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Class of 2026 CommenCemenT ediTion

Editor’s Note: Opinion editors Reetu Agnihotri and Lucia Hernandez have compiled the most notable editorials and op-eds published during the Class of 2026’s college career. Inside are the opinions voiced by the BC community.

2025: Advice for the Next President of Boston College: Don’t Give Up on the Conversations This editorial was originally published on Feb. 23, 2025.

BY THE HEIGHTS EDITORIAL BOARD The appointment of Rev. Jack Butler, S.J., as Boston College’s next president marks a critical turning point for the University. With only two presidents in the past 52 years, this transition offers a rare opportunity for BC to embrace change and growth.

The Heights believes that Butler is well-positioned to be an effective University president and usher in a new era for BC. At the end of the academic year, Butler will take a sabbatical from his current role as Haub vice president for University Mission and Ministry. The Heights offers one simple suggestion for when he officially takes the reins in the summer of 2026: keep it up.

Butler should continue connecting with the student population, as he has throughout his career.

In his 22 years at BC, Butler has

COURTESY OF BOSTON COLLEGE INSTAGRAM

continuously offered himself as a resource to students. From guiding them on their career paths as director of Manresa House to standing by their side during difficult times with crisis response, Butler has proven he is devoted to the student body. This commitment to students is essential for his new position.

Butler’s career not only reflects his commitment to students, but also his ability to have difficult conversations

with them.

“You’ve got to be honest,” Butler said in his recent interview with The Heights. “Sometimes people don’t want to hear what the truth is, or what you see it as. But I also have to make the space to listen to what other people are saying.”

Amid an ever-evolving and fraught higher education landscape, Butler effectively conveys the value of a BC education in a way that reso-

nates with students, faculty, alumni, and donors alike. This skill is critical to making sure the community is well-informed about the mission and progress of the University.

Butler consistently brings a friendliness and engagement to his public speaking that leaves a memorable impression. He is frequently trusted with articulating the University’s mission, speaking at events across the country.

Translating these skills into the duties of the University president will require a conscious effort.

We believe it is imperative that he continues to make these public appearances during these next six months and throughout his tenure as University president to foster a culture of open communication at BC. Butler should, for example, connect with the student population through regular meetings with student leaders, such as the UGBC president.

In a 2016 Heights op-ed titled “Leahy’s Detachment Will Be His Legacy, Former UGBC President Says,” former UGBC president Nanci Flore-Chettiar wrote, “As UGBC president, I found it much more difficult to organize a meeting with Fr. Leahy. If you thought that he valued the insight of student-elected representatives, you would be wrong.

It took nearly a year for us to schedule our first and only meeting.”

Read the full story online.

2026: BC Is Teaching Its Students to Cheat This editorial was originally published on Feb. 8, 2026.

BY THE HEIGHTS EDITORIAL BOARD Sitting in Devlin 008, you feel the pen slip from your sweat-slicked palm. You try to get your heartbeat into a normal rhythm, struggling to remember the answer to question six.

You’re halfway through calculating the potential drop in your GPA when your classmate pulls out their phone.

They take a picture of the exam.

No one notices.

They write an AI-generated answer and turn the page. Your phone feels heavy in your pocket. Suddenly, you’re aware that you, too, could get the question right.

Every college student has confronted this moral dilemma—but they shouldn’t have to.

Boston College needs to crack down on its test-taking environments so students don’t feel forced to choose between their grades and their morals. The University should ensure that professors stay vigilant during their exams and take active steps to prevent cheating.

Of course, students are ultimately responsible for their actions, but a range of circumstances could influence someone’s decision to cheat.

“The fear of failure, disappointing others, and risking future opportunities due to poor grades has scared me into cheating before,” one student said.

When BC’s average SAT score is 1471 and average ACT score is 34, every student studies hard, pushing the standard for an A higher and higher in curved classes. The Carroll School of Management (CSOM) is the most obvious example. No more than 15 percent of students in any CSOM course can get an A and no more than 35 percent can get

an A- or higher. As studying feels increasingly insufficient, cheating is becoming commonplace.

It feels easier every day to find loopholes mid-exam. Maybe you wrote the answers into your TI-84 or peeked at your neighbor’s screen. The ways we cheat change with each class, professor, and student.

“I’ve met people who talk openly about cheating, even coming close to bragging about it sometimes,” one student said.

While some students appear proud of their ingenious cheating methods, others are scared shitless of the potential consequences. But, at the end of the day, the pressure to keep up with their AI-supported peers often exceeds these anxieties.

“BC is a high-pressure school,” one student said. “When facing these high expectations, students are willing to go to great lengths to achieve academic success.”

But, how great are these lengths? Because they seem to get shorter every day.

The chances of getting caught seem slim, and BC puts minimal effort into enforcing its academic integrity rules.

Students rarely have to give up their phones before an exam. Professors often leave the room mid-evaluation. A single instructor may even be tasked with proctoring a room of 300 students.

Many shape their schedules around courses with historically lenient professors or with exams that have been previously distributed among their peers.

BC has seemingly lost the art of instilling fear in its students. Right now, there are so few obstacles to cheating, students feel pressured—or almost incentivized—to do so.

It is BC’s responsibility to make cheating hard, so students must rely solely on their knowledge to earn their grade. n

CHRIS TICAS / HEIGHTS EDITOR

CHRIS TICAS / HEIGHTS EDITOR

2023: BC Should Update Demonstration Policy To Protect Speech This editorial was originally published on Feb. 26, 2023.

BY THE HEIGHTS EDITORIAL BOARD Boston College needs to ease its policies and restrictions on student demonstration to better support its students’ free speech rights.

Section 11.10 on student demonstrations in BC’s Student Code of Conduct forbids students from hosting any demonstrations without approval from the administration in advance. Students are also not allowed to disturb any day-to-day operations of the University through their demonstrations or hold events that “adversely impact the mission of Boston College, especially its Jesuit, Catholic dimensions.”

These statutes contradict BC’s self-defined “longstanding commitment” to its students’ freedom of expression. These rules should be amended to provide a more welcoming environment where students feel comfortable voicing dissent.

BC has a long history of hosting controversial student protests. In the late 1960s, BC community members held protests and counter-protests against Dow Chemical Company’s efforts to recruit BC students, as the company provided napalm to the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. And in the 1970s, UGBC organized a schoolwide class strike in response to the U.S. bombing campaign in Vietnam, in which approximately 60 percent of arts and sciences students did not show up to their classes for days.

BC would not allow these protests under its current Code of Conduct, which prohibits any demonstrations from “disrupting the ordinary operation of the University.”

Protests did not stop after the nationwide unrest of the Vietnam era. In the late 1980s, students worked with recent alumni to protest BC’s denial of full professorship to prominent feminist theologian Mary Daly. Since then, BC students have protested subjects ranging from the Iraq War to racial injustice.

But things are different now. In Oct. 2021, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education ranked BC at 151 out of 154 in a list comparing free speech climates on university campuses.

Interim Associate Vice President for Student Engagement and Formation Claire Ostrander said in an email to The Heights that only one student demonstration was registered with the office in the last year.

Yet, there are a variety of student organizations—registered or otherwise—that regularly and openly oppose BC’s institutional choices.

Climate Justice at BC (CJBC), for example, opposes BC’s investment in fossil fuels. When the group hosted a protest where pro-divestment messages with vulgar language were sent to University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J., the University sanctioned the group.

On the other hand, BC does not even recognize Students for Sexual Health (SSH) as an official University organization, and it has routinely banned the group from distributing contraceptives on campus. As an independent organization, it would not be allowed to host student demonstrations on campus.

Groups such as CJBC and SSH show that there are dissenting student voices that want to change the University for the better. But protest policies shielded by a veil of cherry-picked “Jesuit Values”

undermine students’ abilities to advocate for themselves and others. As such, the policies set out by the University may deter student attempts to register a protest if they do not want to sit down to a meeting with a BC administrator.

To get a protest approved by the University, students must meet with the associate vice president for student engagement and formation and provide detailed plans about the event. Organizing and conducting an unregistered demonstration can result in the University punishing student demonstrators.

Section 11.10 on Student Demonstrations in the BC Student Code of Conduct further prohibits demonstrations that go against the Jesuit, Catholic mission of Boston College.

But these same Jesuit, Catholic “dimensions” that BC cites in its Student Code of Conduct do not limit student activism at peer institutions. Unlike BC, the demonstration policies of Georgetown University, Marquette University, and Loyola University Chicago—all institutions founded in the Jesuit, Catholic tradition—possess no explicitly Catholic restrictions on student demonstrations.

In fact, the demonstration policies of Georgetown University and Loyola University Chicago cite their Jesuit, Catholic traditions to justify students’ rights to free expression.

Georgetown University’s Speech and Expression Policy explicitly states that “to forbid or limit discourse contradicts everything the university stands for” and that “Georgetown’s identification with the Catholic and Jesuit tradition, far from limiting or compromising the ideal of free discourse, requires that we live up to that ideal.”

Read the full story online.

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2023: Navigating BC Housing as a Transgender Woman This op-ed was originally published on April 14, 2023.

By Anonymous Many of you recently endured the trickiest part of college: housing.

Whether you’re off-campus apartment hunting or scrambling to find an eighth person for a suite, lots of students fear the thought of not having an ideal place to go (especially if you have a late pick time). Housing is especially complicated for me: I’d like to share my experiences with the housing process as a transgender woman.

I came out as transgender during the COVID-19 pandemic, and I was

able to start medically transitioning (through hormone replacement therapy) just a few months before college.

I was nervous about college like any other freshman. What should I get for my room? What clothes should I bring? How am I going to navigate Boston College?

But this is where other freshmen and I differ in terms of nervousness.

I was able to medically transition and be perceived as a woman, yet I applied and was accepted to BC under my deadname and sex assigned at birth.

How was I going to navigate BC and my life with this situation in mind? My first plan was a compromise—present femininely but hide my gender identity,

allowing myself to be deadnamed and misgendered. That plan quickly failed.

First semester of freshman year I met new people, explored Boston, and attended many campus events. One of my fondest memories was having dinner with my friends at Mac and enjoying our time together. After sharing a few laughs, we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways to our respective dorm buildings. I left with a smile on my face, but as I approached my dorm building my smile disappeared and was replaced with fear. I would go back to my single … that was on an all-male floor. I was so paranoid that I would rush in and out of my dorm: What would my hallmates think of me?

Did they clock me? It was hard enjoying freshman year because of this.

What made it worse was bathrooms. How the hell was I supposed to use a male communal bathroom? I would wake up at 4:30 a.m., gather my things, and peer through the peephole to see if anyone was up. I then bolted to the bathroom. I would take the quickest showers ever. I did this for a few weeks, but I was able to go home on weekends as I live about an hour away from BC. Going home on weekends gave me a break from 4:30 a.m. showers, but because I was home I would miss out on going to a party or exploring the city with friends.

Each weekend at home, I started to

get more and more lonely. I also realized how much my situation and my identity hindered me from having fun and living my life. Being deadnamed or misgendered didn’t stress me out as much as brushing my teeth or putting in my contacts in the communal bathroom did.

One week I finally gave up. I was fortunate to know people that could point me to a solution. I got into contact with Caroline Davis, Boston College’s associate dean of student outreach and support, who is known to help queer students like myself.

Read the full story online.

2023: BC Should Name

245 Beacon After Fr. Monan This editorial was originally published on Feb. 12, 2023.

By The Heights Editorial Board

STEVE MOONEY / HEIGHTS ARCHIVES

2025: Mac Is Not Sweetgreen This editorial was originally published on Nov. 18, 2025.

BY The Heights Editorial Board Paying $15 for a salad might make sense if it were from Sweetgreen. But it’s not—it’s from Mac. This is the reality Boston College students encounter in their dining halls, which charge restaurant-level prices.

The University should subsidize BC Dining and make food more affordable for students.

Financially independent from the University, BC Dining aims to break even. As of 2017, 37.1 percent of its

budget goes toward food costs, 32.4 percent toward labor costs, 10.7 percent toward fringe costs, 7.7 percent toward rent, alongside additional facility maintenance and operating costs.

BC Dining charges astronomical amounts for basic items.

For breakfast, you can grab a banana for $1.65 (they’re $0.29 each at Trader Joe’s), pay more than $8 for a Core Power (or head to Richdale Food Shops to get one for $4.49), or get a cup of pre-sliced honeydew for $5.65 (a whole honeydew costs $4.99 at Star Market).

When lunch comes around, the costs do not go down. A grab-and-go sandwich will cost you almost $10,

a 24-ounce salad is $14.95, and an Eagles’ Bowl is $14.75. These costs quickly begin to add up.

How are students on the default plan supposed to navigate these prices when their daily budgets are set at $33?

We understand that BC Dining’s pay-per-item system dodges a common issue surrounding all-you-can-eat meal plans: that students who take less food with their swipes end up paying the same price as those who take more.

We’re not saying the a-la-carte model is the wrong one, just that its meals don’t have to be so pricey.

Read the full story online.

Through his 24 years at the helm of Boston College, former University President Rev. J. Donald Monan, S.J. saved BC from financial ruin and bolstered the University’s status as a top institution of American higher education.

Now, regardless of its financial interests, the University should honor Monan’s transformative presidency by naming 245 Beacon Street after him.

Monan arrived at BC in 1972 at a time when the University faced financial debt. It was also predominantly male and largely a commuter college. But from the beginning, Monan saw BC’s potential.

“I would like to ask that all of us not only always pursue excellence and always achieve excellence by others’ standards,” Monan said at a gathering at the start of his presidency. “I want to ask something more, because I think we have the opportunity and the resources for more. I ask that we create new standards of excellence, and that we be the first to achieve those standards. I believe we can do it.”

And by the time he finished his tenure leading BC, the University exceeded those high-reaching standards.

The University’s endowment was

among the highest in the nation, application numbers had more than doubled, and the school was ranked in the top 40 among national universities according to the U.S. News & World Report in 1996.

Almost 30 years later, Monan’s legacy is impossible to avoid. During his presidency, Monan facilitated the construction of Robsham Theater, O’Neill Library, Conte Forum, Merkert Chemistry Center, the McMullen Museum of Art, the John J. Burns Library, and Newton Campus’ Law Library. He also oversaw immense renovations to Bapst Library and Alumni Stadium. But Monan’s impact extends beyond these physical markers of growth. The Jesuit embodied BC’s principles of educational advancement by striving to put students first.

“I will try and give all the time I can to students because after all students are what we are all about,” Monan said in his first interview with The Heights in 1972.

Despite Monan’s immense contributions to the University, he is not honored with any major physical memorial on campus. As of 2023, BC’s tributes to Monan are minimal—chief among them are a visiting professorship title in the theatre department and a general University fundraising tier level.

Read the full story online.

2024: The Boston College Republicans’ Statement to the BC Community After Trump’s Second Election This op-ed was originally published on Nov. 10, 2024.

targeted on social media and on

both on campus and in the greater

campus, being told that they condone

BC community.

BY The Heights Editorial Board

“ism” in the English dictionary.

rape, sexism, racism, and every other We will no longer sit idly by while

Dear fellow students, faculty, and staff: The last few days have seen escalating attacks on conservative

unhinged people openly defame the character of students who voted for President Trump.

This intimidation and hate speech

In the words of President Joe Biden: “You can’t love your country only when you win. You can’t love your neighbor only when you agree.”

Debate and dialogue are always welcome, but ad hominem attacks on people who support a certain politi-

students at Boston College in the

should not be tolerated and we call

cal candidate are unbecoming of the

wake of President Donald Trump’s

upon all students, faculty, and staff to

BC community.

reelection.

reflect on their harmful words.

Conservative students have been

Let this message be a call for unity

A lack of discussion across the aisle leads directly to this sort of

animosity, and we believe it is the responsibility of political groups on campus to work alongside the faculty and staff to foster respectful interactions.

We attend BC with a calling to be “men and women for others.”

Being men and women for others requires us to be open to growth, loving, and committed to justice. In the wake of the election results, there is a growing disconnect between this mission on

campus and the actions and words promulgated within the community.

We as the leaders of the BC Republicans call upon everyone in the BC community to avoid shutting each other out and dehumanizing those who disagree.

Instead, we encourage respectful political discussion.

The country has spoken, and it is time for our community to come together around our shared values as Americans. n

2024: BC Should Justify Home-Tuition Abroad Policy This editorial was originally published on Feb. 19, 2024.

BY The Heights Editorial Board Two weeks ago, 1,033 Boston College students received their 2024–25 study abroad placements.

When considering the opportunity of studying abroad, a key factor for many of these students and their families is the financial burden. Students often must find their own housing in their program’s respective city, budget food costs, fund travel expenses, and more.

But above all these expenses is the glaring first cost of every abroad program: tuition.

No matter which program a student enrolls in, BC requires them to pay $33,205 in tuition, the same price they would pay for classes in Chestnut Hill.

Students who receive financial aid through the University receive the same aid packages while abroad.

Some abroad locations are considered “BC in” programs, at which BC has a direct partnership with the host university. The rest of the locations are at “approved external programs,” which

have no direct BC affiliation.

Similar to BC, Duke University offers students the opportunity to study abroad through either an external program or a “Duke-In” program. Like at BC, “DukeIn” programs require students to pay home-university tuition. But the cost of external programs—which are the majority of the abroad locations offered by both BC and Duke—is a different story.

The DIS Stockholm is an external program available to both BC and Duke students. BC requires students who attend this program to pay a full BC tuition of $33,205. Duke only requires students who attend this program to pay the host-school’s tuition of $22,050.

For the same experience, BC students pay $11,155 more.

Like DIS Stockholm, the majority of the external programs BC students are approved to study abroad at have lower tuition rates than BC. Larry Pickener, director of BC’s Office of Global Education (OGE), said BC’s home school tuition policy makes abroad more equitable by allowing students on financial aid to receive aid while abroad.

“By paying tuition directly to Boston

College, students who are on financial aid may apply their financial aid to any program approved by the Office of Global Education,” Pickener wrote in a statement to The Heights. “Home school tuition also allows OGE to better exercise its duty of care with all students who are abroad.”

While this may seem like a noble line of reason, why is a fairly priced tuition payment mutually exclusive with students’ ability to receive financial aid during their time abroad? Duke, for instance, provides the same financial aid to students who study abroad at external programs. Regardless of whether a student is paying Duke tuition or the tuition of their host university, they can still receive financial aid.

BC also emphasizes the efforts it makes to provide vast services to students while abroad, which are factored into the tuition pricing. This ranges from resident directors to safety monitoring to ensure students remain out of danger.

Does the expense of these services justify the additional cost that a full BC tuition creates?

Perhaps. Unfortunately, there’s no way for students to know. In the case of

DIS Stockholm, for example, where does the extra $11,155 go? The breakdown of where surplus funds gathered from the tuition of students studying abroad are being allocated must be issued transparently.

Of course, one could theorize that this surplus helps subsidize the attendance of international exchange students to BC. When international exchange students come to the Heights, they pay the tuition of their home university, which is often less than the tuition of BC. This prevents international students

from being deterred by an increase in tuition cost. But BC sends roughly 1,200 students abroad per year while only hosting roughly 200 international exchange students.

But BC sends roughly 1,200 students abroad per year while only hosting roughly 200 international exchange students. Does BC need to charge 1,200 of its students their home-tuition to cover the cost of attendance for 200 international exchange students?

Read the full story online.

ANNIE LADD REID / HEIGHTS ARCHIVES

Arts

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Editor’s Note: Arts editors Milo Priddle, Lillian Kelly, and Caroline Ko pulled together some of the most memorable Boston College arts stories from the last four years. The Class of 2026 witnessed a range of developments in the arts at BC, from celebrity performances to the rise of new artists on and off campus.

KATIE MA / HEIGHTS ARCHIVES

2024: Looking Behind the Scenes of ‘Living in Color’ This story was originally published on Feb. 25, 2024.

BY SOFIA TORRES Arts Editor

JACK WEYNAND Assoc. Arts Editor Inspired by Kendrick Lamar’s “We Cry Together” and director Sam Levinson’s Malcolm & Marie, Angus Williams, singer-songwriter and MCAS ’25, birthed the theme for this year’s Living in Color showcase—the tensions of inter and outer relationships within and surrounding the Black community.

In comparison to last year, Williams, also known by his stage name CARAMEL, decided Living in Color would run during the span of one evening, merging different types of artistic talent

into a single event. Williams gathered two poets, two dance performers, four vocalists, Waaw Waaw Boston College, a violinist, a bass player, and two pianists to make Living in Color an experience that will convey the different stages of racial tension through multiple forms.

“I’m excited to have all the different parts come together,” Williams said. “To see that art come together in one space, all those different genres of art.”

Williams emphasized how every member behind the making of Living in Color is united by their passion for doing what they love and the message they aim to deliver, whether this be through dancing, singing, managing the team, writing poetry, or playing instruments.

The evening will be composed of five thematic chapters—dissonance, realization, anger, healing, and continuation—

each followed immediately after the other as narratives flowing in conversation with each other and each featuring Black talent through poetry, dance, singing, improvisation, and more.

Williams has brainstormed this event since last year, discussing his ideas with his manager and co-producer, Brian Kazinduka, MCAS ’25, ultimately shaping a concrete plan for the ambitious evening.

With the event coming up this Thursday, Feb. 29, Williams and his performing team are fleshing out the last details for the day they have prepared for since the beginning of the semester.

“I think this is gonna be a production unlike anything BC has seen before,” Isiaah Clark, pianist and MCAS ’24, said.

During rehearsals, Williams fosters a sense of family and community by directing every performer and witness

to gather in a circle to introduce themselves and share their concerns and hopes for the event.

“I’m stressed about how it’s going to look on stage,” Jaylen Keller, Sexual Chocolate member and MCAS ’25, said.

Keller will dance alongside Caitlyn Gibb, member of F.I.S.T.S. and LSEHD ’26, in the show’s third act, which will focus on anger. The creation of a dance that reflected anger in its various forms was a collaborative effort between Keller, Gibb, and Williams.

“It definitely felt weird at first,” Keller said. “We were trying to figure out sort of like what we would do just to even start it off with.”

Sexual Chocolate and F.I.S.T.S. have inherently different dance styles, so blending the unique signatures of each group was part of the creative process.

Their dancing is also meant to pair with a poem read before leading directly into the dance, so a close lyrical and rhythmic analysis of the poem was helpful in deciding how to craft their movement.

“Once we got into a groove, it was a lot easier,” Gibb said. “Making a step from scratch is actually very hard, and especially when pairing it with like a poem or like music.”

The poetry elements are the core of the show, and are what Williams ultimately uses to anchor the rest of the performing arts. The words from Benedita Zalabantu, MCAS ’25, and Alioune Diba, LSEHD ’25, drive the five-stage process followed throughout Living in Color.

Read the full story online.

2023: Meet the Artists in BC’s Best This story was originally published on April 25, 2023.

BY SOFIA TORRES Arts Editor Once a year, Boston College brings together its student musicians, from hard rock to indie arts, to determine who is BC’s Best.

BC’s Best is an annual competition during Arts Fest that determines the opening act for Modstock, a concert that takes place on the last day of classes.

The competitors of BC’s Best are the top three winners of both Music Guild’s Battle of the Bands and singer-songwriter competition. Here’s a closer look at the artists and groups competing.

after watching him perform at an openmic event. He found Jack Daggenhurst, drummer and MCAS ’24, through the recommendation of a Music Guild e-board member. Finally, Alexandra Bates, lead singer, main songwriter, and MCAS ’26, joined the band through an audition the band held in search of a singer.

Reigning Scarlet is the new kid on the block at BC. It is a band with no fixed genre, mainly mixing hard rock, alternative, and even blues, which Cui summed up as a “beautiful mess.”

With suggestions ranging from In-

finite Blue, inspired by Kabanovsky’s obsession with the color, to Infinite Head, Bourgin said the band brainstormed a set of names until settling on Reigning Scarlet during a dinner on campus.

According to Cui, the name Reigning Scarlet reflects the band’s neo-classical focus.

“Expect very loud drums, very loud music, definitely a lot of energy that hopefully the crowd will reflect as well,” Cui said about the band’s upcoming performance at BC’s Best.

This story was originally published on Feb. 15, 2026.

BY MILO PRIDDLE Arts Editor

COURTESY OF BROOKE OLSEN AND ARTS COUNCIL

Boston College brings together its student musicians for the BC’s Best competition.

2025: Dan + Shay Energizes Audience This story was originally published on Sept. 28, 2025.

BY GENEVIEVE MORRISON Newton Editor The 33rd annual Pops on the Heights fundraiser brought Boston College students and their families a rousing performance from Dan + Shay, Boston Pops, and impressive student groups.

The Barbara and Jim Cleary Scholarship Gala is an annual fundraiser that has raised over $160 million over its lifetime for financial aid scholarships for BC students. This year’s Pops on the Heights raised $12.3 million.

“It brings up the best in who we are and what we represent as a Jesuit, Catholic institution,” said John Fish, chair of the BC Board of Trustees.

The night began with performances from BC’s a cappella groups, including The Sharps, The Bostonians, the BC Dynamics, and the BC Acoustics. The Heightsmen capped off the a cappella

2026: Timi O Levels

Up Massachusetts Rap

Reigning Scarlet In September of 2022, Daniel Kabanovsky, bassist and MCAS ’24, and Ian Bourgin, rhythm guitarist and MCAS ’25, met in a music class at BC. They connected due to their similar music taste and mutual desire to start a band, Bourgin said.

Soon after, Kabanovsky recruited Colin Cui, lead guitarist and MCAS ’25,

COURTESY OF TIMI O

set with a lively mash-up that featured Boston’s “More Than A Feeling” and Toto’s “Africa.”

Then, the Boston Pops took over, with conductor Keith Lockhart leading a rendition of “You Will Be Found,” a song from the Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen. The performance featured student vocalists Elena Skirgaudas, MCAS ’27; William Bollbach, MCAS ’27; and Veronica Wells, MCAS ’26. Their clear tones drove home the song’s inspiring message.

The Boston Pops finished off with a light-hearted Beatles medley to which Lockhart said he hoped audiences would sing along.

“We got a 70-year age range in the audience, so we thought, what music does everyone know?” Lockhart said.

“The Beatles. Ever yone knows the Beatles.”

The medley danced from “Hey Jude” to “Twist and Shout” to “With a Little Help from My Friends,” prompting the crowd to wave their hands and add their own voices to the already-harmonious

blend of the orchestra and BC Chorale.

Three-time Grammy-winning duo Dan + Shay then took the stage. The singers, Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney, each sported BC merch and a wide smile. Mooney, gesturing at his black BC crewneck, cracked a joke.

“It looks like I actually went to college,” Mooney said. “I did not go to college. But tonight, I feel like an honorary Boston College student.”

The pair started with their first number-one hit, “Nothin’ Like You.” From the first note, Mooney’s leading vocals shot across Conte Forum, twisting around riffs and striking high notes.

“Boston College, I ain’t never seen nothing like you,” Mooney crooned.

Leading up to their lovey-dovey, 2016 hit, “From the Ground Up,” Smyers invited couples to slow-dance on the floor. And sure enough, the song sent clusters of couples waltzing across Conte Forum.

Read the full story online.

A few places immediately spring to mind when you think of the United States’ hotbeds for hip-hop: New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Detroit—maybe even Baltimore. But when it comes to Boston’s rap scene, there is a notable lack of mainstream commercial successes. And as for greater Massachusetts? Forget about it.

But, Olutimileyin Ogunjobi, a young, emerging, Massachusetts-born artist who goes by the stage name Timi O, is making a real effort to shift that narrative—away from the mistaken assumptions and away from the numbers.

Timi O was born and raised in Worcester, Mass., in a Nigerian household. Living in a diverse community with strong ancestral traditions at home, his upbringing was culturally bountiful.

“I didn’t realize, until I moved to Boston, how many people of color I was around all the time [before],” Timi O said.

Timi O, who started professionally pursuing a career in hip-hop in 2020, never listened to the genre during his early childhood. His love for music was first anchored in Fuji, a variation of Yoruba music which emerged in Nigeria during the 1960s.

By his adolescence, however, Timi O had gotten hooked on artists like Ab-Soul, Kanye, and Kendrick Lamar.

With his interest in rap growing, he began experimenting with making his

own music, eventually releasing some songs on YouTube in his early teens.

“I was 14. Like, it wasn’t the best,” Timi O said.

What really formed Timi O’s personal artistry and musical consciousness was the SoundCloud era: a time between 2014 and 2019 when the platform became a breeding ground for young, novice rappers to experiment with new sounds without the formal rigidity of releasing under a label.

“The people who define the sound of hip hop right now were in that SoundCloud era,” Timi O said.

SoundCloud, and social media in general, allowed Timi O to connect with people who shared his interests and appreciated different types of music— sounds that may not have been popular in his local environment.

“The music I’m making is not what people wanted to hear when I lived [in Worcester], and lived in Massachusetts,” Timi O said.

On SoundCloud, Timi O built a strong, loyal fanbase and met some of his closest friends in music. The community he created there was more than willing to follow him over to Spotify when he started professionally pursuing music.

But, in an increasingly digital age, Timi O also emphasized the importance of fostering connections in person. He attended UMass Lowell and studied mechanical engineering, which is where he met l.ucas, who, along with Timi O, is a member of the Junto Music Club, a music collective that aims to support authentic artists from Massachusetts.

Read the full story online.

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2025: Are the Arts Still Alive At BC? This story was originally published on Oct. 30, 2025.

BY MADDIE MULLIGAN Arts Editor MARIA BEATRIZ SALDANHA Assoc. Arts Editor MILO PRIDDLE Asst. Arts Editor

2024: Goo Goo Dolls

SARAH FLEMING / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Perform With The Pops This story was originally published on Sept. 29, 2024.

By Ashley Valenzuela Heights Staff The 32nd annual Pops on the Heights brought students, family, friends, and alumni together in Conte Forum for a celebration of performing arts. The jaw-dropping and stunning performances from Boston College’s very own student groups provided strong openers for the Boston Pops and the headlining Goo Goo Dolls.

Also known as the Barbara and Jim Cleary Scholarship Gala, Pops on the Heights raises money for BC’s students to provide greater financial aid.

The event raised $12.8 million according to a video message from this year’s Pops on the Heights co-chairs, Paul and Sandra Edgerley, and Patti and Jonathan Kraft. The funds raised will go to the “Soaring Higher” campaign.

At Pops, the Krafts announced their campaign has reached the halfway point to their goal, having raised $1.5 billion so far.

Since its founding, “Soaring Higher” aims to grant a formative experience to all students

and plans a legacy of accessibility to a college education for all students called to BC’s mission of “men and women for others.”

Starting off the night, the Screaming Eagles were joined by the BC University Chorale to play “Burning Love” by Elvis Presley.

The entire audience was on its feet, dancing to the music and showing off its school spirit.

Following the marching band were BC’s a cappella groups, including the Bostonians, the Sharps, the Heightsmen, the BC Acoustics and the BC Dynamics. The groups all sang popular songs such as “It’s Raining Men” by The Weather Girls and “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” by the Eurythmics.

The Boston Pops Orchestra, led by conductor Keith Lockhart, then took to the stage alongside solo performer Sofia Burke, MCAS ’25, as she performed “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” She was rewarded with a standing ovation at the performance’s finish.

After a short intermission, the Boston Pops Orchestra returned to perform a ’90s mashup of well-known hits that even the Class of 2028 would know.

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J.Crew sweaters, pressed khaki pants, and Birkenstocks are all common sights on Boston College’s campus, an indicator of the large suburban population and ubiquitous finance bros. And while fashion choices aren’t a direct reflection of creative expression, there is undoubtedly some correlation.

This can make the campus feel, well, a bit bland at times.

Though it might not be overtly visible among the flocks of finance majors, the small niche that is BC’s arts scene has been intently going about its business, cultivating a competitive and dense creative culture.

BC has a multitude of dance, a cappella, and comedy groups, as well as a successful theatre program. Yet, there are very few notable BC graduates who have gone on to work professionally in creative fields. Most alumni end up in conventional, white-collar professions—law, business, politics.

This prompts the question: Is BC doing enough for its arts scene?

Performing amateur bits in the customary My Mother’s Fleabag baseball shirt, a young Amy Poehler, BC ’93, could only have dreamed of the comedic and acting success she’s reached today.

From eight seasons of Saturday Night Live to her increasingly popular podcast, Good Hang with Amy Poehler, Poehler has established her place among the Hollywood elite.

Poehler is easily BC’s most famous alum of the past century. Though she has historically said little to The Heights or the University as a whole, Poehler maintains she is a “very” proud alumna.

“Boston College rules,” Poehler said in a statement to The Heights.

Poehler regards her decision to attend BC and her involvement with on-campus improv group My Mother’s Fleabag as the first dominoes tipped— the start of a series of events that would eventually take her from Chestnut Hill, Mass., all the way to Hollywood.

“If I had not gone to school at BC, I wouldn’t have discovered improv, and wouldn’t have decided to move to Chicago to be an actor,” said Poehler.

“Questioning my decision would be like playing with fire. We all remember what happened in Back to the Future.”

BC is an important part of what Poehler credits with her current success.

But among BC alumni, Poehler is the exception, not the rule.

BC ’s Jesuit values prioritize a well-rounded liberal arts education— the extensive core curriculum is just one example. Jesuit values are often regarded with a rigid, conservative

connotation, but Poehler believes this philosophy helped shape her creative instincts.

“The world and the business I am in has changed so much since I graduated many years ago, but I like to think the school and the overall Jesuit philosophy helped me figure out how to be a creative human in the world,” said Poehler.

While the Jesuit approach has benefits, it still undoubtedly discourages creatively inclined high school students, who want to immediately specialize in their art form, from considering the University.

That explains why for lots of BC’s creative alumni, the arts were not on their mind going into their freshman year—if the arts were their priority, they likely wouldn’t have come to the University.

Cameron Esposito, BC ’04, now a notable actress and comedian, made her choice to attend BC without any creative aspirations inhibiting her decision. Even during her freshman year, her passion was yet to be realized— she was a rugby player, not an entertainer.

Read the full story online.

COURTESY OF BRYCE PINKHAM

BC alumni including Amy Poehler and Bryce Pinkham spoke to The Heights.

2026: Showdown Electrifies Conte Forum With Talent This story was originally published on March 29, 2026.

BY MILO PRIDDLE Arts Editor LILLIAN KELLY Assoc. Arts Editor CAROLINE KO Asst. Arts Editor

EYLUL OKTAY / HEIGHTS STAFF

EYLUL OKTAY / HEIGHTS STAFF

KYLEE GREENE / HEIGHTS STAFF

Showdown, BC’s annual dance competition, pits 17 dance teams against each other.

Boston College’s ALC Showdown is perhaps the most anticipated non-sporting event of the academic year. As the University’s dance teams performed to a sold-out Conte Forum on Saturday, March 28, this anticipation proved to be thoroughly merited.

Showdown is hosted by the AHANA+ Leadership Council, and this year’s emcees were Director David Salazar and Assistant Director Fairuz Saleh. The pair entertained the Conte crowd while also explaining the event’s cultural meaning.

Showdown, BC’s annual dance competition, pits 17 dance teams against each other, with the prize money split between the winners’ charities of choice. The firstplace winner, Sexual Chocolate, donated its prize money to My Brother’s Keeper.

Second place went to Synergy, which donated its winnings to Hip Hop 4 Hope, and third place went to BC Irish Dance, which donated its winnings to Rosie’s Place. Crowd Choice, the only award determined by the volume of the crowd rather than the panel of judges, was awarded to Fuego del Corazón, which donated its prize money to La Colaborativa.

Each dance team explained its set’s theme in a preview video before the performance. The routines were imbued with cultural significance, promoting the ALC’s mission of supporting diversity and the inclusion of minority groups on campus.

The first team to take the stage was VIP. The group’s theme this year was inspired by the 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted in North America this summer—emphasis was placed on the unique, unitive cultural power of the tournament.

VIP danced a variety of vibrant Latin styles while dressed in custom soccer kits and shimmery silver dresses. The voiceover, which provided the interludes between dance routines, described the incredible chaos of “the beautiful game.”

Parts of the set had Conte clapping along on beat, and, in a spectacular finale, the entire team reached for the most coveted piece of silverware in sport: the World Cup trophy.

Phaymus had distinct confidence with its hair salon-themed performance, which aimed to highlight the importance of beauty across different cultures. Dancers moved with precision and attitude to a medley of upbeat hip-hop beats, showcasing impressive tricks and expressive movement.

Phaymus’ constant movement and seemingly endless amount of energy were both impressive and infectious—dancers used their entire bodies, evoking emotion through their movement and making their confidence known. Bold hairflipping, bass-boosted music, and sensual movement all conveyed Phaymus’ themes of beauty and self-love perfectly.

Phaymus’ red and black costumes, paired with scissor and apron props, as well as the set’s excellent choreography, made for a memorable performance.

Read the full story online.

2023: Flo Rida Excites the Heights on Marathon Monday This story was originally published on April 18, 2023.

By Elena Romero Editorial Assistant Boston College students woke up bright and early on Monday as music from Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny, among others, blasted throughout the residence halls. Students dressed from head to toe in eclectic outfits as they celebrated not only the 127th Boston Marathon, but a performance in the Mod Lot from Flo Rida as part of the University’s Mile 21 festivities for Marathon Monday.

From as early as 8:30 a.m., students gathered around the Mod Lot stage in anticipation of the Marathon Monday headliner.

Frank White, a Boston-based traveling DJ, entertained the growing crowd with popular hits from the likes of Drake and Miley Cyrus while the audience waited for the main act to start.

After the publicized 10 a.m. start time, Flo Rida finally made his entrance alongside DJ Fresh to an overflowing crowd. He immediately asked the crowd to chant his name before diving into a remixed version of his hit 2011 song “Good Feeling.” A pair of back-up dancers synchronized to the beat. The crowd cheered and jumped up and down, and some students climbed onto

their friends’ shoulders to get a better view.

The rapper continued to perform his greatest hits of the late 2000s and early 2010s while simultaneously showing a sense of BC pride, as he commanded the crowd to chant “let’s go Eagles” before jumping into “Right Round” and “In the Ayer.”

As he shouted out French DJ David Guetta and rapper Nicki Minaj before performing their collaborative track “Where Them Girls At,” Flo Rida also teased a gift for the audience. He then threw about 12 red roses and a stack of cash into the sea of students, many of which were eager to catch a memento from Marathon Monday.

The rapper continued to perform “Freaking Out” before introducing fellow rappers Oya Baby and Int’l Nephew on the stage and exclaiming his love for BC. “Boston College, you’re not my dayone fans, you’re my day-one family” Flo Rida said.

Flo Rida then segued into his moststreamed song on Spotify, “Low,” inciting cheers from the crowd. Students recited lyrics that have been ingrained in many of their minds since 2007. But in an unexpected move, the rapper stopped the song and invited a group of about 10 girls to dance on stage with him before resuming.

He then mixed in one of Oya Baby’s songs, “Back That Ass Up,” before return-

ALINA CHEN / HEIGHTS STAFF

From as early as 8:30 a.m., students gathered around the Mod Lot stage to watch the Marathon Monday headliner. ing to his own hits, including “Club Can’t Handle Me” and “GDFR,” during which he invited a group of boys to join him on stage.

Flo Rida later asked for a girl who was celebrating her birthday to come onstage with him and prompted the crowd to chant “happy birthday” before he transitioned to sing “Whistle.”

He then called the birthday girl’s friends onto the stage before calling out to her as

he began “Wild Ones.” Unexpectedly, the rapper stopped the song claiming the crowd was not excited enough for one of his greatest hits.

In retrospect, however, the audience may have been a little bit too excited for Flo Rida. People in the crowd fell on top of one another multiple times throughout the concert, prompting pauses in the performance.

Toward the end of the concert, Flo Rida spoke directly to the audience, commending students on the hard work and discipline they put in to attend a prestigious institution. He expressed his gratitude for performing at BC, a school that he said is “lit.”

Read the full story online.

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2024: The Common Tones Go Viral, Create Grammys Mashup This story was originally published on Feb. 11, 2024.

BY LEAH STITZEL Asst. Arts Editor When Boston College a cappella group Common Tones posted a TikTok of them singing an a cappella arrangement of “Carol of the Bells” in a stairwell one December morning on a whim, the last thing Programming Director Annabel Lee expected was for the video to go viral.

“That was kind of just, like, out of the blue,” Lee, MCAS ’25, said. “We were like, super tired on a Sunday morning and we were like, ‘Oh, let’s sing “Carol of the Bells,”’ and it just so happened to go viral.”

The video, which has amassed 73.8

million views and 12.6 million likes on TikTok, drew increasing attention to the group as the official Grammys’ TikTok page commented on the video.

“Can you do a mashup of the songs nominated for Song Of The Year at the GRAMMYs?” the comment reads.

“I think we just kind of ran with it,” Rachel Prendergast, CSON ’24, said.

“Just because we were like, ‘Of course we have to respond to that. That’s so cool.’

And then when BC reached out, we were like, ‘Of course we have to do it.’”

Common Tones worked with professional video, audio, and lighting organized by BC after University communications reached out to them asking if they would be interested in creating a video for the requested mashup.

This meant the group would have to make and learn a vocal arrangement of

COURTESY OF THE COMMON TONES

Common Tones worked with professional video, audio, and lighting organized by BC.

the eight nominees for Song of the Year in just a few weeks. Jacob Walker, MCAS ’25, is one of the group’s three arrangers.

He said the time crunch was difficult to work with, but the final product was worth it.

“We never really have done that before,” Walker said. “We made our own album last year, student-made, so it took us, like, the whole semester just to record, then mix. So having them record us in one day, and that was it, and then they got it out in less than a week.”

The process of arranging, learning, and then memorizing music typically takes months. Walker explained the three arrangers worked over Winter Break to make the nearly eight-minute-long mashup, and then the rest of the group had to learn it in just a week once they returned to campus. Natalie Bartell, MCAS ’27, said the process of learning the music was a little stressful, but paid off.

“I have no idea how they did it,” Bartell said. “If somebody asked me to do that I would’ve cried, and they did an amazing job. And it was difficult, we had some longer rehearsals, and some ‘Do it on your own time, figure it out.’ But it went smooth, I think it went as smooth as it could’ve possibly gone, and I think it’s because everybody was really interested in doing it.”

Read the full story online.

LEO WANG / HEIGHTS STAFF

2024: Pippin Comes to Life at Robsham This story was originally published on Nov. 22, 2024.

By Lucas Ferrara Heights Staff Boston College’s latest theater production of Pippin didn’t just tell a story—it made the audience a part of it. The show, directed by Luke Jorgensen, turned Robsham Theater into a living, breathing spectacle that combined humor, heart, and a touch of absurdity to remind the crowd that theater can still surprise and delight.

From the first number to the final bow, BC’s take on the classic musical offered a fresh spin on Pippin’s journey to find meaning. The production showcased BC’s students and their talent while emphasizing the play’s themes of self-discovery and the struggle for happiness.

When the cast kicked off the show by pulling an unsuspecting student from the front row to play the titular character, it was clear that this production would be interactive

and full of surprises. Pippin, played by Gabriel Biagi, MCAS ’25, began his journey with a passionate speech about his post-university plans.

Biagi brought an infectious energy to the role, making Pippin feel deeply relatable to the crowd. His comedic timing was impeccable, and his more serious moments of self-doubt revealed emotional depth.

Jack Krukiel, LSEHD ’25, delivered a charismatic portrayal of Charlemagne, Pippin’s egotistical, war-hungry father. Krukiel’s quick, witty display of the character’s arrogance made it clear why Pippin found himself unfulfilled.

Alessandro Cella, MCAS ’26, stood out as Lewis, Pippin’s effervescent half-brother, whose contortionist-like movements and nonstop moving feet delivered some of the night’s biggest laughs. During the tense war scene, Corey Schiz, MCAS ’27, gets his head chopped off but sparks chuckles when he returns to give Pippin advice as a floating head.

Read the full story online.

2025: Sexual Chocolate’s Rookie Showcase Rocks the Plex This story was originally published on Nov. 2, 2025.

By Vivienne Woodward Heights Staff Students flocked to the Margot Connell Recreation Center on Friday for Sexual Chocolate’s Rookie Showcase, an introductory performance for new members of Boston College’s dance teams.

The sold-out annual Halloween performance featured 17 of BC’s dance teams, guaranteeing a show that features a myriad of dance styles, music genres, and themes. As always, Sexual Chocolate provided a skit that acted as the framework for the show—this year, dancers played characters attending a dinner party that soon became a murder mystery.

BC on Tap opened the evening of performances with a routine to “Breakin’ Dishes”

by Rihanna. The rhythm of their shoes was almost drowned out by the audience roaring with enthusiasm. K-Pop Dance Crew followed with a three-part routine packed with expression. Group formations and small group moments combined to create a dynamic performance, capped off by a dancer donning a Duolingo owl mask for a cheeky finale.

The next performance came from UP-

rising, whose popular hip-hop mix paired with a frat theme and moves straight out of Magic Mike, got the crowd going wild.

Their chemistry, energy, and obvious passion added an extra layer of flair to a standout performance. VIP took the stage next with sleek black costumes that shimmered under the lights. Their choreography switched between group routines and sensual partner dances to a variety of music styles, blending bachata, merengue, and a mid-routine backflip that earned gasps and applause.

Between performances, Sexual Chocolate’s troupe returned to continue solving their murder mystery, combining witty commentary and popular culture references. The Detective looked for clues and questioned each character, including the Poolboy, the Heir, the Performative Male, Gordon Ramsay, and Ms. Caviar.

The BC Golden Eagles brought a burst of spirit in all-black outfits and pom-poms, performing to pop classics like “Evacuate the Dancefloor” and “Just Dance.” The two rookies had incredible stage presence—they split the stage and easily filled the space with their energy, clearly having a great time.

“C”apital Dance Ministry followed with a routine that fused emotion and praise. Clad in black leather jackets, the group began with a soulful ballad before transitioning into a bass-heavy Christian rap song that

transformed the stage into a celebration of movement and faith.

Next, AEROdynamiK rushed the stage with a dynamic performance featuring precise movements and several sections of complex choreography, including a small group dance to “Sports Car” by Tate McRae. Their performance concluded with a whole-group performance to “Your Idol” from the popular hit movie K Pop Demon Hunters, ending on a striking tableau with a circle of dancers on their knees making the AeroK symbol.

Another standout performance came from Masti, which made its mark from the beginning. Their choreography consisted of impressive jumps, sweeping arm movements, circular formations, and a tremendous amount of energy. Individual, pair, and group performances flooded the stage with energy and passion, getting the crowd on their feet and ensuring a truly memorable debut for these rookies.

Fuego del Corazón followed with a bright routine in blue, glittering costumes.

Their energetic choreography featured flips, lifts, and complex movements to fast-paced music. Phaymus switched it up with a The Purge-themed routine that stunned the crowd, packed with fierce energy and precise, passionate moves.

The Dance Organization of Boston College (DOBC) impressed with flips, acrobat-

ELLIE EL-FISHAWY / HEIGHTS EDITOR

ics, and fluid transitions that highlighted each dancer’s strength, mixing individual moments with group composition to show off the skills of each rookie.

BC Irish Dance brought a traditional flair to the night, wearing jerseys and dancing to “I’m Shipping Up to Boston.” Their rapid, percussive steps echoed through the auditorium, matching the beat of the crowd clapping and chanting.

Females Incorporating Sisterhood Through Step shifted the mood with a

hilarious ‘rehab center for compulsive steppers’ theme. Half patients, half nurses, the group’s thunderous stepping shook the stage and the audience alike, closing with a sharp and crowd-favorite routine to “Sticky.”

BC Dance Ensemble impressed with a polished mix of classical and hip-hop movements, showing refined technique and flow.

Read the full story online.

2026: Perchance Is Emerging as

One of BC’s Most Exciting Bands This story was originally published on Feb. 22, 2026.

BY MILO PRIDDLE Arts Editor Perchance the Band is one of the most popular student ensembles at Boston College, and the first group to perform on Live From The Newsroom, presented by Music Go Round Boston: a live performance show in which The Heights’ office will be the backdrop for short sets from some of the most talented musicians on campus.

After the students who made up Caltha—one of two bands that opened for Swae Lee at Modstock 2025—graduated last spring, a space opened up for a new face of BC’s music scene. Perchance, a group of sophomore musicians, may just be the one to take up the torch.

“Not only [was Caltha] inspirational, but they also provided us with advice and support on a personal level,” said Emma Ramirez, MCAS ’28 and Perchance’s lead singer.

Perchance, composed of Ramirez, guitarist and singer Charlie Stautberg, MCAS ’28, guitarist Teddy Seegers, LSEHD ’28, bassist Sophie Coté, MCAS ’28, and drummer Reine Lantin, CSON ’28,

was formed last year and has since performed in a host of settings, from house parties to 18+ nights at Boston bars.

But during its first gig, the band looked a little different. Seegers was on the drums, and Ramirez hadn’t yet joined the group.

“We did one gig and then realized I’m not a good singer, and [that] we needed another one,” Stautberg joked.

The band took shape after meeting one another through BC Music Guild and BC bOp!, two of BC’s preeminent groups for student musicians. Perchance credits these clubs with giving them the social space and logistical support to carve out their individual creative style.

“When I was touring colleges, I was like, the music scene needs to be great,” Coté said. “And then I got to BC, and Charlie was like, ‘Hey, do you play bass?’”

But unlike Coté and the rest of the group, vocalist Ramirez didn’t envision being in a college band. She was involved in musical theatre in high school, but had never been in a band before Perchance.

As BC students, members of Perchance must balance their band schedule with intense academic demands as well as other extracurricular commitments—Lantin, for instance, juggles

drumming for three bands with a nursing major.

Members are either in other bands in addition to Perchance or are a part of BC bOp!, which has performances regularly throughout the academic year.

But, according to Perchance, their group chemistry and “friends first” mentality means that committing time to the band never feels burdensome.

“Balancing comes pretty easy because we’re always supporting each other no matter what,” Coté said.

Not only has Perchance provided its members with meaninful relationships and a sense of on-campus identity, but it has also delivered some comical moments. The group recounted how, at their first Battle of the Bands performance, Stautberg broke two guitar strings, on separate guitars, in the span of around 20 minutes.

“It’s my favorite memory,” Lantin said. “That just doesn’t happen.”

Members of Perchance emphasized how, along with creating the community in which the band met, BC’s musical infrastructure remains crucial in enabling their existence as a band.

Read the full story online.

JACK PETTIGREW / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Perchance the Band is the first group to perform on Live From The Newsroom.

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Editor’s Note: Magazine editors Elizabeth Maher, Evie Oosting, and Celine Bell have chosen long-form stories about notable events and trends that took place during the Class of 2026’s time at Boston College.

2024: Students Take On Elections This story was originally published on Oct. 9, 2024.

BY ELIZA HERNANDEZ Projects Editor

SARAH FLEMING / HEIGHTS SENIOR STAFF

2025: The Enduring Spirit of the Mods This story was originally published on Oct. 22, 2025.

BY LUCY FREEMAN Projects Editor

MEI DASGUPTA Editorial Assistant On a hot, spring night in 1981, Rich Canning’s roommate took a deep breath and plunged headfirst down a makeshift water slide on the stairs, landing on a kitchen floor piled high with sand.

“They filled the Mod one time,” recounted Rich’s daughter, Maddy Canning, BC ’23. “It was Love Boat–themed, I think, and they filled the entire bottom floor with sand. Somebody slid down the stairs on something like a water raft.

Imagine pitching that to your roommates now—that would probably make news.”

Moments like these—absurd, chaotic, and distinctly communal—have long defined the Mods. Since their “temporary” installment in 1970, the maroon, pre-fab townhouses on Lower Campus have stood as both an architectural oddity and a cultural landmark at BC. But over the decades, the Mods’ wild reputation has collided with shifting student priorities and stricter University oversight.

For Patrick Vale, BC ’13, the Mods represented something mythical, a place where the wildest dreams—and parties—could come true.

“I remember freshman year was always trying to get down into the Mods,” Vale said. “Like, ‘Do you know people who have a Mod? Can you get invited?’ It was kind of like the holy grail of partying.”

Older alumni paint a picture of an even looser era, less saddled by rules and regulations.

“I think we might have been a little more wild back in the day,” said Henry King, BC ’84, who laughed while recall-

ing the days when students could leave Alumni Stadium at halftime, grab a few beers, and sneak them back in.

“Somebody once managed to sneak a whole keg into the parking garage under blankets,” King said.

Lauren Griffin, BC ’87, remembers her experience simply as an “excess period of time”.

“It was pretty wild,” Griffin said. “Like we weren’t like, ‘I’m never gonna study’, but it was pretty wild. We definitely went out every single Thursday night.

We definitely could go out every single night of the week—every night on the weekends, we were out.”

Griffin’s time on the Heights was marked by the raising of the legal drinking age from 18 to 21. There was, however, little stopping students from drinking, she said.

“For my particular grade, half of us had to wait till we were 21 depending on when your birthday fell, and then half of the people were legal at 18,” Griffin said.

“We were always working around it as a result.”

Despite the changing political atmosphere surrounding alcohol and the legal drinking age, Griffin said students treated rules more like suggestions during her time at BC. “There was always a party. And I don’t know what the rules were, but it did seem like it wasn’t that hard to register,” Griffin said. “[The] last thing you needed to do is throw a charcuterie board together. It was very bare bones, it was like ‘we’re getting a keg and that’s [it].’”

Today, kegs—prohibited in BC housing —are no longer a common sight, and the nights are quieter now, residents say, with many students choosing bars over backyard gatherings.

Read the full story online.

Just like the other roughly 16.6 million people who turned 18 since the 2020 presidential election, Onur Toper said this is the first presidential election that he can vote in.

Toper, campus chair of BC for Harris and MCAS ’25, said he felt a responsibility to do something as a first-time voter.

“This election is not about the next four years, it’s about the next 40 years,” Toper said.

Toper is a single player in the expansive game of political participation—left, right, and center—unfolding on campus this fall.

The autumn bustle of Boston College students this year is shadowed by the upcoming U.S. presidential election.

With November quickly approaching, the student body is tasked with finding its role in the next chapter of American history, walking the line between abstraction, activism, and apathy.

Ethan Folkman joined BC Republicans his freshman year, motivated to get politically involved in the wake of the 2020 presidential election. Today, Folkman, MCAS ’25, serves as the club’s president.

As BC’s primary conservative student group, BC Republicans hosts weekly meetings and student debates to foster political discussions and promote conservative ideology on campus.

“My goal with this club this year was to—as was kind of the goal of the Republican National Convention this year—was to open the tent to make this as welcoming to as many sorts of people as possible,”

Folkman said.

On the other side of the aisle is Spencer Daniszewski, president of the College Democrats of BC and MCAS ’25. According to Daniszewski, the overall goal of BC Democrats is to give students a space to discuss current events with people of like values and perspectives—especially in the build-up to Nov. 5.

“We’re very involved on the national, state, and local level,” Daniszewski said.

“This is a big campaign right now. It’s really important, and we’re doing a lot for it.”

But running a political club on campus is about more than echo-chamber camaraderie—Daniszewski and Folkman said they aim to put their respective parties’ platforms into action.

BC Democrats hosts phone banking sessions targeting swing states, voter registration drives, and events in collaboration with Democratic organizations at other universities, Daniszewski said.

When the club hosted a watch party for the presidential debate in Devlin Hall in September, the turnout far surpassed their expectations.

“Over 100 people showed up, not even just BC Dems regulars, but just people who were interested in wanting to watch the debate,” Daniszewski said.

BC Republicans took their pursuits off campus this month to knock on doors and canvas for Jesse Brown, a Republican candidate for Massachusetts state representative.

While he hopes to increase the presence of BC Republicans on campus, Folkman said he also wants students to know that there is a broad range of ideologies among club members.

“It’s not necessarily pro-Trump, you know,” Folkman said.

While many students who support for-

mer president Donald Trump are involved in BC Republicans, not all members support the same candidate, Folkman said.

“I think that breadth and diversity of opinion allows for us to be much more focused, and that allows us to be a little bit more open,” Folkman said.

But unlike BC Republicans, BC Democrats’s mission to evoke student engagement is closely tied to its affiliation with BC for Harris.

“Only 10 percent of Gen Z said they’re not planning on voting,” Toper said. “So part of BC Democrats is trying to change that, and that happens one college campus at a time.”

BC for Harris also registers voters on the Quad, reaches students on social media, and hosts phone banks to call voters in battle states, Toper said.

“Most of BC is not from Massachusetts, and they can’t just vote in person,” Toper said. “So making sure people get their ballots on time before the deadline and are registered before the deadline is crucial.”

Toper said he anticipates that maintaining the attention of students as they juggle other responsibilities will be a challenge to political organization at BC and beyond.

“I think part of a challenge that I’m foreseeing—and that probably every X-college for Harris chapter is foreseeing—is keeping students engaged and making sure they’re interested,” Toper said. “[The election] will come around quick.”

But that’s where on-campus political groups come into play, Toper said—to give students the push.

Read the full story online.

CONNOR SIEMIEN / HEIGHTS EDITOR

With November quickly approaching, the student body is tasked with finding its role in the next chapter of American history.

2023: BC Reflects 10 Years After Marathon Bombing This story was originally published on April 16, 2023.

BY ERIN FLAHERTY Magazine Editor

BETH VERGHESE Assoc. Magazine Editor AND SPENCER STEPPE

Asst. Magazine Editor Danielle Ellerbe was seconds away from crossing the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon when a bomb detonated in the distance.

“I saw it but it was still far enough away,” said Ellerbe, a sophomore at the time and BC ’15. “I looked at a police officer who was standing along the race, and they didn’t respond or react. So I just went right back into go mode, like ‘Alright, let’s sprint. Let’s finish.’”

The second bomb went off about 10 seconds later, Ellerbe said.

“I was half a block away,” Ellerbe said.

“I immediately lost my hearing. To be honest, my very initial reaction was, ‘Are you kidding me?’”

In milliseconds, Ellerbe said she saw debris flying all around her and realized everyone was in a panic. Alongside other runners, she trampled over the gates enclosing the race route and clutched the sides of a building.

“People were hysterically crying, calling for their loved ones,” she said. “After a few more seconds, I realized I had to run. I ran only about a block or so away,

just to the first door that I could find. I spent about five minutes crouched under the bar at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.”

As she waited, Ellerbe said she repeated Isaiah 41:10, the Bible verse she had memorized to keep her motivated during the race, over and over in her head.

“I remember praying,” Ellerbe said.

“I said ‘I’m not afraid to die, but I don’t want to die like this.’”

Ellerbe was eventually ushered out of the hotel, and she found the parents of another Boston College student.

“I walked them to try to find their son … eventually we went to Uno’s Pizza in Kenmore Square,” Ellerbe said.

“That was when I first saw on the TVs, I saw the news headlines. That’s when I first realized, oh my gosh, the gravity of what happened, and that it was an actual bomb.”

Ellerbe said she broke down crying.

The gravity of the situation had finally hit her.

At 2:49 p.m. on April 15, 2013, during the 117th Boston Marathon, two domestic terrorists detonated two pressure cooker bombs near the finish line in downtown Boston. Three people were killed and more than 280 were injured.

In the moments following the bombing, BC students and community members rushed to contact runners, friends, and family who were in the area. Less than an hour after the bombing, volunteers from BC’s Campus School created

a Google Doc listing the names of over 300 undergraduate students running the marathon and asked members of the BC community to update the document once they knew a runner was safe. By 7 p.m., almost all of the runners were accounted for.

Meanwhile, hundreds of runners who were near BC when the race stopped soon flooded Lower Campus. Students, administrators, and the Boston College Police Department quickly responded to support the influx of people.

Alex Warshauer, MCAS ’14, was the president of Eagle EMS (EEMS)—a student-run, emergency medical care provider—at the time. That day, Warshauer and other EEMS workers were stationed around campus to offer both students and runners typical support.

When EEMS heard news of the bombing downtown, Warshauer and other workers had to act fast.

“The first thing that happened was that all the local EMS resources immediately left campus and went into the city,” Warshauer said. “So we were kind of left alone to be the sole providers for campus and the surrounding areas.”

The impromptu shutdown left hundreds of runners unexpectedly stranded at BC. While the finish line was set up and staffed to aid runners after they completed the marathon, Warshauer said these resources were not available at the Mile 21 mark near BC’s campus.

EEMS quickly spoke with the BCPD chief

of police to set up a response, he said.

“The finish line has enough water, warming blankets, medical tents, all ready to take care of runners,” Warshauer said. “The challenge there was that all of our normal EMS resources were pulled into the city. So we had to stabilize those patients ourselves. As an EMT we’re not set up for IVs and things like that, so it was a lesson in applying our skills and stretching them past what our normal scope of care is.”

Runners sought shelter in the Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola on Lower Campus, Warshauer said. By working with the Office of Emergency Management, EEMS ensured food and drinks from the dining hall got to the runners.

“We’re just keeping the runners safe and warm until we know more about what’s going on,” said Catherine-Mary Rivera, then–associate director of the Office of Residential Life, at around 3:30 p.m. on the day of the bombing. “We just needed to get them into the church after they stopped running so abruptly.”

Michael Padulsky, LSEHD ’15 and BCSSW ’17, had just reached BC’s campus and Mile 21 of the race when a police officer told him the race was over. During his sophomore year, he decided to run the 2013 marathon to honor his brother Tim, who passed away from cancer in 2008. Padulsky said he and his sister, who ran alongside him, were shocked to hear they could not finish the race.

“At the top of Heartbreak Hill, that’s

when really my heart broke because they said ‘Your race is over’ and I just remember kind of sitting down in the road just being like ‘Wow, I trained for months and months for this,’” Padulsky said.

Padulsky said he did not know exactly what was going on, but he began to worry—he had friends who were also running the marathon and his family members were waiting for him near the finish line. His aunt, who was also running the marathon, met him at his dorm room in Walsh Hall, and they tried to contact their family members.

“The cell towers were overactive,” Padulsky said. “Things weren’t going through, so trying to send texts or calls wasn’t always the most reliable thing. Just trying to get a hold of everyone to make sure everyone was safe was really what the afternoon was.”

Once the Boston Police Department (BPD) said downtown Boston was safe enough for runners to return, buses provided by the Boston Athletic Association began transporting runners downtown, and by 7:30 p.m., most of the runners had left BC’s campus.

On a day when Warshauer and his team usually would have helped the occasional runner with shin splints or students who drank too much alcohol, EEMS ended up caring for about 500 stranded runners.

Read the full story online.

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2023: BC’s Future Without Race-Conscious Admissions This story was originally published on Aug. 22, 2023.

By Eliza Hernandez Projects Editor Erin Flaherty Magazine Editor Kenneth Beato works at the front desk of the Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center (BAIC) at Boston College.

By checking students in for appointments and informing them about BAIC resources, Beato, CSOM ’25, said he serves as a bridge between the rest of BC’s campus and what he describes as a safe haven for himself and other AHANA students.

Beato said his role at the BAIC has been an integral part of his college experience.

Not only because of the friendships he has made through the center, but as a Black person and first-generation college student at a predominantly white university, he said the BAIC lets him connect with others who understand his experience at BC. In this way, the state of diversity at BC is not a mere political hot button to Beato—he said it is a reality he endures every day at school, whether he is walking around campus or sitting in class.

“I would be a liar if I said it didn’t destroy me mentally, and I was looking around and I’m like ‘Do I fit in this space,

am I worthy to even be around all these kids?’ Beato said. “And like, it’s kind of drilling because they’re all white, and I’m the only Black person in that classroom.”

On June 29, the Supreme Court ruled to ban the consideration of race in college admissions. Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), an anti–affirmative action advocacy group, sued both the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Harvard University.

In the lawsuit, SFFA argued that UNC’s admissions policy violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. And in its case against Harvard, SFFA stated that Harvard’s admissions policy discriminates against Asian Americans and therefore violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The Supreme Court ruled 6–3 against UNC and 6–2 against Harvard. In the majority’s opinion, Roberts argued the way in which universities consider race in admissions violates the 14th Amendment.

“The Harvard and UNC admissions programs cannot be reconciled with the guarantees of the Equal Protection Clause,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote.

“Both programs lack sufficiently focused and measurable objectives warranting the use of race, unavoidably employ race in a negative manner, involve ra-

cial stereotyping, and lack meaningful endpoints. We have never permitted admissions programs to work in that way, and we will not do so today.”

Following these rulings, conversations surrounding racial representation and fairness dominated national media as the many communities impacted by affirmative action discussed what these rulings mean for them.

On a legal level, the court’s recent rulings created a new judicial precedent.

But these rulings will also have a direct impact on the way college admissions offices review applicants—without the ability to consider race in admissions, the diversity landscape on college campuses will likely change for universities such as BC. Raquel Muñiz, an assistant professor in Lynch School of Education and Human Development and an expert in law and education, said the national debate on racial equality in educational institutions traces back to the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case.

“Brown begins a new era in many ways, in helping us think about including race, whether we should, to what purposes,” Muñiz said.

While Brown v. Board of Education overruled the “separate but equal” principle set forth by the 1896 Plessy

v. Ferguson Supreme Court case, racial segregation did not effectively end in 1954. Rather, debate surrounding the desegregation of elementary, secondary, and eventually higher education schools surged in courts and around American society for decades, according to Muñiz.

“This conversation led to different efforts by education institutions to try to take what we would call action that is affirmative in nature to try to address racial segregation [and] the legacy of segregation,” Muñiz said.

With case after case regarding racial equality in education reaching the Supreme Court in the following decades, Muñiz said that universities’ ability to consider race in admissions decisions slowly narrowed under federal law,

ensuring that race alone could not be a deciding factor in admissions.

In the 2003 landmark case Grutter v. Bollinger, the Supreme Court upheld affirmative action, permitting the consideration of race for the purpose of promoting diversity within public educational institutions, according to Kent Greenfield, a BC law professor who specializes in constitutional and corporate law.

“Institutions of higher learning could use race as a factor in admissions, as a part of a holistic and individualized process of review of applications to a campus,” Greenfield said.

Read the full story online.

PAIGE STEIN / HEIGHTS ARCHIVES

2025: When Your Situationship Asks “What Are We?” This story was originally published on Feb. 14, 2025.

BY KATE KISSEL Assoc. Magazine Editor VERONICA PIERCE Magazine Editor “So what are we?”

It’s a question many Boston College students find themselves asking as they try to decipher a “situationship.” From dinner dates to hookups, situationships leave a lot open to interpretation.

This brand of casual, if not messy, relationship has taken the dating scene by storm. These days, you’re more likely to find students checking if they got a Snap back than twirling linguine on a night out in the North End. Traditional “dating” is quickly being replaced by this easier, low-commitment option—and neither students nor faculty are thrilled about it.

Four Years of Difference PARKER LEAF / HEIGHTS SENIOR STAFF

Traditional “dating” is quickly being replaced by this easier, low-commitment option.

Complicated and convoluted dating trends arise as soon as students start their

freshman year at BC. Bo Brainerd, MCAS ’25, experienced these trends firsthand and was not a fan.

“Freshman year, everyone is brand new to everyone,” Brainerd said. “Everyone’s hooking up—it’s giving the college experience. You’re on Snap, you’re on all the dating apps, you’re meeting people out at random parties and bars that you’re getting into.”

Some of the current BC freshmen feel the same way.

Megan Woods, MCAS ’28, and Ellie Poitras, LSEHD ’28, came into freshman year expecting a little bit more from the dating scene.

“I definitely thought it would be a bit better than it is,” Woods said. “We live on Newton, and we’ve heard a lot of people from Newton get married when they meet each other.”

Woods attributes the lack of relationships to students either not being ready to commit or still being caught up on their high school ex. By sophomore year, some BC students start to want more committed relationships.

Yet, many are met with the difficult reality that if they aren’t already in a rela-

tionship, they must revert to hooking up with peers.

“So, sophomore year, I was like, ‘OK, I want a boyfriend,’” Brainerd said. “And then I realized, it’s the same hookup culture, and it’s the same issue, and plus, you have all this cliquiness and all these groups that are adding so many different factors.”

Leo Frail, MCAS ’27, has sworn off situationship culture after giving it a try during his freshman year.

“I don’t like [situationships] very much, tried those out freshman year,” Frail said.

“Freshman year, I just knew like first few months people kind of went kind of crazy.”

For Frail, situationships offer little more than a new person on campus to avoid.

“You don’t get the emotional aspect, like someone you can count on,” Frail said.

“Usually you just get a campus opp.”

Between junior and senior year, Brainerd said students experience significant growth. Many students will study abroad and meet people outside of BC, making settling down all the more enticing.

Read the full story online.

2026: The Love Stories of Five BC Faculty Couples This story was originally published on Feb. 13, 2026.

By Elizabeth Maher Magazine Editor Evie Oosting Assoc. Magazine Editor Knowing your professors are married feels like a forbidden glimpse into their private lives.

The person who stands at the chalkboard proctoring tests with a menacing gaze couldn’t possibly be the same person who returns to their spouse and family at the end of each day—or could they?

The Heights spoke to five married couples who work at Boston College. Here’s what they had to say.

Meet-Cutes in Chestnut Hill On a summer day in 1990, Roderick Williams entered the BC Bookstore on the first floor of McElroy Commons, perhaps looking to buy a textbook for his classes as a political science Ph.D. student.

But Roderick left the Bookstore that day with something much more valuable than an overpriced textbook: he had met his future wife.

“We met in the Bookstore and were introduced by a mutual acquaintance,” said Lopa Williams, Roderick’s now wife.

Lopa and Roderick began dating soon after their first meeting and have been together ever since. This October, they’ll celebrate their 32nd marriage anniversary.

Over the years, both have worked as employees of BC Libraries—Lopa as a senior reference & tech support specialist and Roderick as a member of the scholarly platforms & discovery services department—until their respective retirements

in July 2025 and January 2026.

...And Beyond Although Roderick and Lopa met on campus, other BC faculty couples’ stories began a bit further away from Chestnut Hill.

Ashley and Matthew Herkins, both faculty members in the engineering department—Ashley as an assistant professor of the practice and Matthew as a part-time faculty member—met as freshmen at The Ohio State University.

“In our Intro to Engineering class, we were assigned the same project team, and we kind of knew each other all throughout undergrad, and we were partnered up in a lot of different classes,” Ashley said.

Matthew said he made a move their sophomore year, when the two were lab partners—but when he asked Ashley if she wanted to grab food, he got no response.

“I honestly did not hear him,” Ashley said, laughing. “And I would have absolutely said yes if I did hear him.”

Fortunately, Matthew didn’t lose hope.

Their senior year, he asked Ashley to go to Chipotle, and Ashley (who heard his question this time around) said yes. The two got married during graduate school in 2022, Ashley said.

Stephen Mendelsohn and Christine Rojcewicz, both assistant professors of the practice in the Portico program, also met as undergraduate students.

“We met at Providence College,” Stephen said. “Chrissy was a freshman. I was a junior there, way back in 2010.”

Stephen was a double major in philosophy and political science. Christine, a freshman, was a philosophy major but was debating a double major in political science, she said.

“Steve was working as a research assistant for this professor, and I had her as a professor too, and she was like, ‘Oh, you should meet my assistant. He’s also double majoring,’” Christine said. “And the rest is history.”

The pair’s similar trajectories continued up north in Chestnut Hill, where they attained their master’s degrees and Ph.D.s from BC. They married in St. Ignatius in 2019, in a ceremony presided over by one of their professors.

For Megan and Paul Ulishney, assistant professor and visiting professor in the theology department, shared academic interests as graduate students kept them in the same environment.

As Megan prepared to cede her leadership of the Graduate Theological Society at the University of Oxford, she met frequently with the incoming president: a student named Paul.

“We started meeting to kind of talk about handing over the reins of leading the society. And yeah, we just realized that we really enjoyed meeting each other for that, and kept meeting,” Megan said.

Megan and Paul began dating while in school, and the pair married shortly before the pandemic. They have been working together in the Theology Department since 2024, they said.

Sean and Julie MacEvoy, senior lecturer in the psychology department and associate professor in the Lynch school, met for the first time through Julie’s roommate while attending Brown University. Soon after, they began dating, and they married in 2002.

When it came time to hunt for jobs after graduation, they considered offers that might have stretched them as far as Dartmouth College and BC, but the impracticalities sent them back to the drawing board.

“We just knew we also didn’t want to live

JACK PETTIGREW / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Megan and Paul Ulishney are both professors in the BC Theology Department. apart the way that some couples who are in academia know that they’re willing to live apart for the sake of their jobs,” Julie said.

They were able to coordinate opportunities across their respective departments.

Since their hiring in 2009, Sean and Julie have made BC a family affair: their eldest daughter is a freshman this coming fall.

Shared Experiences, Shared Goals On paper, it isn’t surprising that many professors end up together. With an extensive background of shared knowledge and similar professional goals, the connection is all but fate.

“It’s very common that academics want to marry each other, because you often meet in graduate school, and the reason you fall in love is you have similar interests and similar goals that kind of come together,” said Megan.

In fact, nearly 36 percent of employees in academia are married to a fellow academic, according to a 2008 study published

by Stanford University. As Christine put it: “Academics kind of find each other.”

The couples emphasized the support that comes with having a partner who understands the stress associated with graduate programs—and the anxiety that comes with transitioning into a career in professional academia.

“It’s not like either of us were going through it alone, and so I think that that helped us to, you know, keep at it and work hard and stay positive throughout all the stress, all the various stressful periods that there have been,” Stephen said.

But couples connect over more than just the stresses of academia (or as Matthew jokingly referred to it, their “shared traumas”).

Working in academia, and particularly within the same academic field, creates a language of understanding.

“It’s good to be able to talk about stuff I’m passionate about and have [Ashley] understand,” Matthew said.

Read the full story online.

The heighTs

Class of 2026 CommenCement edition

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2023: Non-Catholic Students Build Their Own Traditions This story was originally published on Sept. 24, 2023.

By Eliza Hernandez Projects Editor The first statistic in the fact and figures tab on Clough School of Theology and Ministry’s (STM) website states that the school places 10th overall in a worldwide ranking of theology, divinity, and religious studies.

With a swift scroll down the page, anyone interested would find that 85 percent of the 371-person CSTM student body is Catholic, with 16 percent belonging to the Jesuit order.

Scroll farther, and there are no statistics about any other religious identities in CSTM. Boston College as a whole—founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus to educate Irish-Catholic immigrants—continues to promote a Jesuit, Catholic intellectual tradition.

But with 15,075 undergraduate and graduate students across nine schools and colleges, BC’s religious teachings are not single-dimensional, but they rather contain a vast range of theological thought, according to the University’s website.

“The Catholic intellectual tradition is not static traditionalism, but is constantly revolving, drawing from the riches of the past to give life to the future and, in its search for truth, engaged with every discipline and with all forms of belief and nonbelief,” the website reads.

While many BC students are Catholic, and the University is situated in Chestnut Hill—a town where residents’ primary reli-

gious affiliation is Catholic—non-Catholic students engage in spiritual dialogue and maintain a prominent presence within the University.

Rev. James Hairston, the campus minister of multi-faith programs at BC Campus Ministry, said there are 21 religious student groups on campus, including many that are non-Catholic.

From Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism to non-denominational Christianity, Protestantism, Orthodoxy, and more, Hairston said the myriad of religions represented through student-led groups demonstrates students’ individual ownership over how they approach their faith.

“They’re coming to their Catholicism at their own pace,” Hairston said. “They come into their Jewishness at their own pace and come into their Islamic identity at their own pace that is dictated by them, and they own it.”

As religious minorities on campus, non-Catholic students especially exemplify virtue and leadership by seeking to build their own religious communities, Hairston said.

“The groups that we do have here in terms of non-Catholic or religious groups are here by virtue of the students,” Hairston said. “So none of these groups could be here if it wasn’t for the students who desire to have them here.”

Hairston said he works with student faith groups when they need resources from the University. He manages finances for BC Hillel and the Muslim Student Association (MSA), for example.

“We’ve done bat mitzvahs on campus,” Hairston said. “And I think there’s a reason

why our Jewish students decide to come to a place like BC where they can approach their Jewish identity at their own pace and in a position which is comfortable to them.”

Avery Miller, MCAS ’24, is president of BC Hillel, a prominent club for Jewish students on campus. He said Hillel has consistently had a positive experience working with Campus Ministry to plan for events and holidays.

“I can’t speak for other clubs, but I can speak for Hillel and we definitely do feel supported,” Miller said. “And I’ve been in touch with Campus Ministry, and they’re all great.”

Hillel hosts Shabbats every week in the Gabelli lounge, Miller said, and it rents out the Thomas More Apartments and various chapels on campus through the University.

Campus Ministry also supports Hillel with funding for larger events and multifaith celebrations, Miller said. During Miller’s involvement with Hillel, the group hosted a dinner with MSA. Miller said that he also hopes to partner with a Christian student association.

“We want to make a solid multi-faith event, you know, we want to share our traditions with the rest of the people at Boston College rather than keeping it to ourselves,” Miller said.

Abdullah Sayed, MCAS ’24, said MSA focuses on representing Muslim students but shares Hillel’s enthusiasm for including students of all backgrounds. As president, Sayed has noticed that some of MSA’s most regular attendees at events are non-Muslim students.

“It provides religious services to Muslims, but it’s also a place for people of all backgrounds to have a discussion and con-

versation about things that are meaningful to them and for them to meet people who are like-minded,” Sayed said.

Sayed said that MSA hosts four to five weekly events. Some events are strictly religiously oriented, like the Friday prayers and halaqa, while others consist of open dialogue, games, and refreshments.

“For me, and I think for a lot of people in MSA, it’s a community that although it’s based on Islamic values and virtues, it more broadly offers a place for people to engage in a welcoming alternative to BC norms,” Sayed said.

Beyond renting rooms from the University for weekly prayers and dinners, Sayed said that coordination for larger celebrations rely on more complex accommodations from BC, especially from BC Dining.

For example, Sayed said that eating schedules for celebrations like Ramadan require meals during times outside of BC Dining’s typical hours. Although Sayed

said that getting proper accommodations has been difficult at times due to scheduling conflicts, he said MSA has continuous conversations with the University and BC Dining.

“The University is making an effort and there’s been a dialogue with BC dining, for example, for the last few years,” Sayed said. “They’ve been trying to improve their accommodations, and they’ve been listening to constructive feedback that we provided.”

Sayed also said the Women’s Center invited MSA to an event about women’s rights protests in Iran, but on the day the event was supposed to take place, an employee of the Women’s Center informed MSA that it had been canceled without any communication prior to that interaction. This moment, Sayed said, exemplified how BC can increase its attention to interfaith events.

Read the full story online.

REBEKAH CHE / FOR THE HEIGHTS

There are 21 religious student groups on campus, including many that are non-Catholic.

2023: BC Sex Culture 2022: Creating a Campus for All This story was originally published on Feb. 14, 2023.

By Erin Flaherty Magazine Editor Beth Verghese Assoc. Magazine Editor and Spencer Steppe Asst. Magazine Editor For Valentine’s Day, Boston College students can send their valentine a box of chocolates or a bouquet of flowers. Or, they could send them a bag of condoms.

Boston College Students for Sexual Health (BCSSH), an independent student group committed to providing students with sexual health and sex education resources, distributes “condomgrams” to members of the BC community every Valentine’s Day. At no cost, students can send their valentine a bag of condoms. But BCSSH does not just provide students with resources on Feb.14—the group also runs Rubber Hub, a program where stu-

dents can order condoms, lube, and dental dams throughout the year. To fund its services, BCSSH receives a grant from Planned Parenthood, a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive and sexual health care.

BCSSH is not associated with BC and is not officially allowed to distribute condoms on campus. On the 2018 UGBC election ballot, 94 percent of BC students voted in support of a referendum allowing BCSSH to distribute contraceptives on campus.

The University then doubled down on its disallowance of contraceptive distribution, citing other Jesuit schools’ policies and its commitment to BC’s Catholic identity.

Another policy stemming from BC’s Catholic identity is the University’s stance on sexual activity. The University prohibits students from engaging in intercourse outside of marriage in policy 11.8 of the Student Code of Conduct.

Read the full story online.

NICOLE VAGRA / HEIGHTS EDITOR

This story was originally published on Nov. 20, 2022.

BY STEPHEN BRADLEY Magazine Editor MC CLAVERIE Assoc. Magazine Editor ERIN FLAHERTY Asst. Magazine Editor Commonly referre d to a s “the Heights,” Boston College’s campus is known for its hilly topography. For some students with disabilities, BC’s many staircases and inclines impair their ability to get around campus.

In January 2014, the state of Massachusetts received a pair of complaints about the lack of campus accessibility at BC. In response, the Massachusetts Department of Safety Architectural Access Board (AAB) investigated BC’s campus for its compliance with the Code of Massachusetts Regulations Title 521, a collection of AAB codes. This investigation followed another inspection in 2015 after students and alumni filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights in 2013. Since the investigations, the University has made several strides to improve campus accessibility. General Counsel at BC Nora Field said advancements include building renovations, improved maintenance, and continued monitoring of campus and students’ needs in an email to The Heights.

“The improvements are too numerous for me to list, but include new ramps at Vanderslice, a new walkway and ramp between Maloney Hall and O’Neill library, a new ramp at Trinity Chapel, and improved signage throughout campus,” Field said. “In addition, all new buildings, including, most recently, 245 Beacon, are

compliant with accessibility standards.”

While the University has made an effort to meet state standards, students continue to push for increased accessibility on campus along with increased inclusivity of students with disabilities.

Most recently, UGBC’s Council for Students with Disabilities (CSD) is collaborating with BC Athletics to include closed captions for gameday videos and broadcasting on the jumbotron in addition to working with the University to create a more accessible pathway to Upper Campus, according to Jonah Kotzen, MCAS ’24 and the CSD policy coordinator.

As a student in the late ’90s, Adriana Mallozzi, BC ’00, she said she had a generally positive experience as a student in a wheelchair, relying on back doors and roundabout ways to get to her classes.

But in 2014, when Mallozzi revisited BC, she said the campus was much less accessible than she had remembered it to be due to several construction projects.

“When I did come in 2014, I just heard of horror stories that people were dropping out because they weren’t getting the services that they needed to be successful in school and to be able to live on campus to be able to get to class,” Mallozzi said.

“It was very disheartening because I had such a positive experience at BC even though it was so long before that, and to hear it getting worse instead of better was very disheartening for me.”

After the AAB—which “enforces regulations designed to make public buildings accessible to, functional for, and safe for use by persons with disabilities”— investigated the 2014 complaint, it found over 55 violations in or around 22 different locations on campus, such as Stokes S-195, Gasson Hall, and Cushing Hall.

The violations ranged from a lack of a listening system in a lecture hall to ramps with elevation rates above the maximum slope to inaccessible building entrances, according to documents obtained by The Heights.

Under Massachusetts state law, the AAB is authorized to act against violators of its regulations, including but not limited to taking legal action to prevent the further use of an offending facility.

The AAB also has the authority to impose fines of up to $1000 per day per violation for willful noncompliance with its regulations.

When she returned to campus in more recent years, Mallozzi noted some of the updates made since her 2014 visit.

“I have been on campus recently, and I saw, finally, an access point to the front door of O’Neill Library, which is really great,” she said.

Capital Projects Senior Designer Mark Lewis said in an email to The Heights that Facilities Management has a quality relationship with the AAB, as the two organizations often work together.

Lewis also said his office’s consulting architects take accessibility on campus seriously and follow the law to the full extent.

“Over the years any new buildings constructed on campus are required to be fully accessible,” Lewis said. “We have used these opportunities to be able to connect parts of campus that have previously been difficult to access. The newly completed 245 Beacon Street Science Building and new Residence hall at 2150 Comm Ave … are both very good examples of this.”

Read the full story online.

2025: The Landscapers That Keep BC Picture-Perfect This story was originally published on Oct. 26, 2025.

BY KATE KISSEL Assoc. Magazine Editor

The red and yellow tulips across the street from Robsham Theater don’t magically grow into their signature “BC” shape.

The mod lot doesn’t magically return to normal after Saturday tailgates, free of crushed cans and flying food wrappers.

And the reason students aren’t falling down the Million Dollar Stairs in the winter has nothing to do with heated steps.

Behind it all: Boston College Landscape Services.

This fall, Landscape Services is busy planting 45,000 tulips, clearing up fallen leaves from 7,500 trees, and mowing 110 acres of grounds to Quad-picnic perfection.

But for this crew, the work is about

more than just maintenance—students are at the heart of everything they do.

A Clear Objective Landscaping Services’ objective is simple: maintenance for the sake of student enjoyment.

Scott McCoy, associate director of landscape services, is leading the charge.

“It’s our objective to provide a safe environment for our students and the general campus community to enjoy the academic experience,” McCoy said. “ We have the overarching goal of creating a campus aesthetic that combines a safe environment with beauty.”

Benchmarking data against peer universities of similar size and stature has shown that the team has largely met its goal, according to McCoy. “People appreciate the aesthetic of the landscape,” McCoy said.

It’s hard to pin down exactly what makes the BC landscape so captivating.

For McCoy, it comes in the form of architecture, history, and conversation spaces.

“There’s an aspect to the aesthetic here that is unique to this place,” McCoy said.

“It has a lot to do with the Gothic style architecture as the basis for that. There’s great history with this property, and there’s been an evolvement that’s founded on our ability to provide open and beautiful spaces that people can enjoy and have conversations.”

When the weather is nice, students take advantage of outdoor spaces, flocking to O’Neill Plaza, Stokes Amphitheater, or any grassy patch they can find to catch a few UV rays between classes.

“If you go to walk to class on any given day, you see people out in outdoor spaces, and they’re sitting and talking,” McCoy said. “If it was mud or overgrown or not kept, I think people would be less apt to

utilize spaces like that.”

Maintaining these picturesque spots takes a village. According to McCoy, the Facilities Management team is composed of 35 people, with 29 landscapers divided among various roles.

Workers are classified into three levels based on their experience, McCoy added.

The first level has the most base level qualifications, while those in the second

level typically hold hoisting licenses that allow them to operate heavy equipment, such as frontend loaders, backhoes, and other machines. Most of the workers in the third level have advanced training as irrigation-certified technicians or pesticide applicators.

Read the full story online.

NICOLE VAGRA / HEIGHTS EDITOR

Sports A18

The heighTs

Class of 2026 CommenCemenT ediTion

Editor’s Note: Sports editors Maria Stefanoudakis, Sebby FitzGerald, Mac Cobb, and Laney Halsey have compiled the most memorable moments in BC sports during the Class of 2026’s four years at BC. Look inside to recount your favorite moments from Alumni Stadium, Conte Forum, and beyond.

2025: BC Lacrosse

Falls to Northwestern in NCAA Semifinal This story was originally published on May 23, 2025.

BY GENEVIEVE MORRISON Newton Editor With No. 3 Northwestern leading No. 2 Boston College 12–11 and four seconds left on the clock, Mia Mascone fired the final shot of the game with a chance to tie things up.

But Northwestern goalkeeper Delaney Swetizer grabbed it as the buzzer rang and Northwestern (19–2, 8–0 Big Ten) beat BC (19–3, 8–1 Atlantic Coast), keeping the Eagles from the national championship game for the first time since 2016 and crushing the Eagles’ hopes of back-to-back titles.

BC is no stranger to the semifinals— this was its eighth straight appearance.

But this time, the game was a little closer to home.

After playing in the national championship against Northwestern last year in Cary, N.C., this year’s semifinal rematch between the teams took place at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., just 24 miles from Chestnut Hill.

Despite the spitting-turned pouring rain in Foxborough, Friday’s game brought 10,080 fans to Gillette, marking the most fans of any women’s lacrosse semifinal since 2002. BC head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein attributed that turnout to the culture at BC and similar programs.

“I think the girls in our program play the right way,” Walker-Weinstein said. “They play unselfishly, they play really gritty, they play really tough, and I think they’ve captured the heart of a lot of young lacrosse players. I think that’s a tribute to the kind of people that we have in our program.”

The Eagles trailed early on in Friday’s loss, as the Wildcats went up 4–1 with 4:05 left in the first quarter. But as the rain quickened, BC began to gain ground, led by two first-quarter goals from the nation’s leading scorer Rachel Clark.

The Eagles hurdled their initial deficit to end the first half up one goal as Clark finished her first-half hat trick with a third goal with 12:19 left in the first half.

As the second quarter came to a close, Madison Taylor connected with Emerson Bohlig, who launched the ball towards BC’s net, where it came in contact with goalkeeper Shea Dolce’s stick.

Dolce lost track of it and the ball rolled into the net behind her, tightening the game and making it a 7-6 BC lead.

The scoring slowed at the start of the second half, with both teams’ defenses crowding the crease and fending off shots for the first eight minutes of the third quarter.

But Molly Driscoll broke the stale-

mate as she sent the ball sailing over Savannah Swetizer’s shoulder, giving BC a two-point lead.

That spark lit the flame for the Eagles in the third, as they notched four unanswered goals and silenced the Wildcats for the entire quarter.

It was only the fourth time that Northwestern had gone scoreless in a quarter, with the last time coming in a UNC matchup in late March.

It looked like Northwestern might have responded with a minute to play in the third as Taylor received the ball on a breakaway. But the Eagles got it back thanks to a ground ball pickup from Morgan Smith.

Those ground balls were a constant in the game—the Eagles finished with 21 ground ball pickups and 14 forced turnovers, something Shea Baker said was a product of practice.

“That’s who we are—we’ve been working on those, those stats all year,” Baker said. “We win those ground ball battles and those hustle plays. That’s BC lacrosse.’

McKenna Davis was left with an open goal with a minute left in the quarter, bringing BC’s lead up to five goals as the game headed into the final frame.

Defensively, Dolce guarded her team’s lead with 11 saves—her 12th game this season with double-digit saves and her second straight such game in the national tournament. Dolce also hit a career total of 200 saves, making her the second player in BC history to do so.

“She’s the greatest goalie I’ve ever seen,” Walker-Weinstein said.

But the Northwestern offense broke through despite Dolce’s heroics, burying two goals in 1:30 to start the fourth and shaving down the Eagles’ lead to a single goal with a score from Taylor with just under eight minutes to play.

Then, off a feed from Bohlig, Riley Campbell sent another goal behind Dolce with 7:21 left, earning herself a hat trick and tying the game 11–11.

Two minutes later, Sam Smith added another goal for Northwestern off a feed from Taylor, giving the Wildcats the lead and leaving the Eagles with just five minutes to find an answer.

With just over a minute left in the game, Clark ran to pick up a ground ball, but fell and let the ball loose. While the referees reviewed the call to clarify possession, BC players hyped up their fan section, waving their arms and jumping up and down to spur a roar from the sea of neon green in the stands.

Finally, the refs made the call: it was Northwestern ball.

Another turnover from Driscoll with 31 seconds left, followed by Mia Mascone’s miss to end the game, ended the Eagles’ season before the championship game—earlier than it has ended in eight years. n

GENEVIEVE MORRISON / HEIGHTS EDITOR AND ELLIE EL-FISHAWY / HEIGHTS EDITOR)

2026: The Deanpot Is No Joke This story was originally published on Feb. 1, 2026.

BY SEBBY FITZGERALD Assoc. Sports Editor “MUUUUUUTH” rains down from Acrisure Stadium when Pat Freiermuth makes a catch. Cowboys fans yelled “COOOOOOP” with every Amari Cooper reception. At Conte Forum, Boston College fans boom “DEEEEEEAN” any time Dean Letourneau comes within a loose vicinity of the puck.

“I definitely notice the fans,” Letourneau said. “Every time I’d touch the puck, they start chanting my name.”

Before playing a single game in front of the thousands of Eagles fans that fill up Kelley Rink, Letourneau’s looming presence quickly became known across Boston— probably because he’s pretty hard to miss.

Standing at 6-foot-7 and 228 lbs., Letourneau appeared on the scouting reports of every college and junior program, and even NHL teams. His frame, built for physicality, combined with his rifle of a shot, made him a generational prospect for any spectator to keep an eye on.

Not only were BC fans fixated on him when he hit the ice, but they kept a tight eye on Letourneau across social media, preparing for his first collegiate goal with “#TheGoal”, and nicknaming the Beanpot as the “Deanpot.”

This transformed itself into a mountain of pressure for an 18-year-old kid who was tasked with living up to the first-round hype the cruel New England fans expected him to meet.

“He gets drafted in the first round, and the hype machine starts, so it was always going to be a challenge for him,” David Manning, Letourneau’s prep school coach, said.

What’s worse is that New England fans are known for banking on high expectations being met immediately.

And simply put, the production wasn’t there—his three points freshman year

probably surprised even the biggest of his haters.

What started as an expression of fandom and appreciation for a future Boston sports star was quickly being perceived as Letourneau becoming a laughingstock. He was labeled as a bust—a waste of a firstround pick for their beloved Bruins. Only a select few were prepared for the 20-point leap Letourneau would eventually take, less than a year later.

Despite the negative commentary surrounding his play during his freshman season at BC, Letourneau never wavered on his decision to play for head coach Greg Brown.

“Right when I stepped foot on [campus], I kind of noticed right away and knew that this would be the spot for me,” he said.

And Brown never wavered about him either.

“We tried to tell everyone last year, but nobody believed us,” Brown said.

But before he was named a Hobey Baker candidate, before having his name called in Las Vegas for the NHL Draft, and even before he committed to BC, another coach bought his stock earlier than anyone else.

He Had How Many Points?!

For the past decade, the No. 1 ranking for Canadian independent prep teams on MyHockey Rankings—the universal site for mathematically-computed rankings of thousands of hockey teams across North America—has belonged to St. Andrew’s College (SAC).

While the best high schools in Massachusetts typically hover around a rating of 93, SAC’s top team consistently produces a squad with ratings upward of 98. The Ontario boarding school has had a hockey program since 1899, cementing itself as a staple of hockey prep schools throughout North America.

Since taking over as head coach of the Saints in 2008, Manning has seen several players become NHL draft picks and secure NCAA commitments. There are only a few

players that he could guarantee, even from a young age, would make it to the big stage.

“We had a league weekend [in Detroit], and I think that was probably the first time that I would say to myself, ‘Yeah, this is something different,’” Manning said about his perception of Letourneau early on in his junior year.

Despite growing up in the Ottawa area, about four hours away from SAC’s 126-acre campus, it was a no-brainer that Letourneau would make the trek west to continue his academic and athletic career.

Plus, being drafted later than expected to the Ontario Hockey League, he wasn’t guaranteed meaningful minutes if he were to immediately enter junior hockey.

“I went down for a visit, and I kind of just fell in love with the place,” Letourneau said. “They obviously had a great hockey program with getting guys to the next level and getting guys into the NHL, so I knew I’d be well taken care of there.”

Letourneau’s original commitment was to Northeastern in November of 2022, putting him on the map as recruiting began to heat up with the heart of the season around the corner. That season, Letourneau ended up recording 65 regular-season points, then added on 16 conference and playoff points across 70 total games.

“I saw the flash, and it continued on his second half of his grade 11 year—his dominance level kind of increased,” Manning said. “[I] knew that he would start on the NHL draft list in grade 12.”

Manning was high on Letourneau’s ability even before he committed to St. Andrew’s.

“When you’re [6-foot-3] and 15 on skates, there’s going to be moments where you’re probably a little bit awkward, but I thought he was amazingly athletic and had really good touch,” he said. “There were flashes there where you’re like, ‘Wow, if this kid starts playing big and using his frame to his advantage, we got something.’”

Read the full story online.

2026: Luke Murray Hired As

Men’s Basketball Head Coach

This story was originally published on March 26, 2026.

BY MARIA STEFANOUDAKIS Sports Editor

SARAH FLEMING / HEIGHTS EDITOR

The last time BC lacrosse missed the NCAA championship game was in 2016.

Boston College men’s basketball has hired UConn assistant coach Luke Murray as the program’s 14th head coach.

Murray has served as an assistant coach under Dan Hurley at UConn since 2021.

He helped lead the Huskies to back-toback national titles in 2023 and 2024.

“Today marks a turning point in Boston College Men’s Basketball,” BC Athletic Director Blake James said in a release from BC Athletics.

He began his college coaching career in 2007 at Quinnipiac and has served as an assistant coach at Post, Arizona (Graduate Assistant), Wagner, Towson, Rhode Island, Xavier, and Louisville before landing at UConn.

Murray has 19 total seasons of Division I coaching experience.

“In Luke Murray, we have found a leader who does not just understand the modern landscape of college basketball – he has helped define it,” James said. “His

COURTESY OF BC ATHLETICS

Murray has served as an assistant coach under Dan Hurley at UConn since 2021. role in building a national championship caliber program, his sophisticated offensive vision, and his relentless pursuit of excellence make him the perfect fit to lead our student-athletes.”

During Murray’s previous ACC tenure at Louisville (2018–21), Murray helped the Cardinals land a top-10 recruiting class and make one NCAA Tournament.

“I am deeply honored and incredibly grateful to lead the Boston College Men’s Basketball program,” said Murray,

according to the press release. “BC is a university with a prestigious academic reputation and a storied basketball tradition. Boston College alumni and fans will find our program defined by a standard of excellence, and our team will play an unselfish, tough, and highly competitive brand of basketball. I am excited to get to work to build this proud program. Go Eagles!”

Murray’s hiring comes after the firing of former head coach Earl Grant. n

The heighTs

Class of 2026 CommenCemenT ediTion

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2023: BC Swim and Dive Allegedly Forced To Consume Vomit This story was originally published on Sept. 21, 2023.

By Graham Dietz Sports Editor Attendees at a Boston College men’s and women’s swimming and diving freshman event were allegedly instructed to binge drink and forced to consume their own vomit, according to a letter from an administrator in the Office of the Dean of Students.

The letter, sent to a member of the team and obtained by The Heights, also states that members allegedly engaged in underage drinking at two additional events. At one of these events, members were allegedly encouraged to participate in drinking games.

The alleged incidents occurred at an off-campus house and two residence halls between Sept. 2 and Sept. 4. The letter explained that five Student Code of Conduct violations may have occurred, including hazing, alcohol policy, disorderly conduct, community disturbance, and complicity, according to the letter.

“The adjudication process will include an investigation of the reports, followed by a hearing, after which a determination of responsibility will be issued,” the letter reads.

The Heights cannot immediately confirm how many other student-athletes received the letter.

On Wednesday, BC Athletics announced it indefinitely suspended the program after administrators determined that hazing occurred.

In a statement to The Heights, lawyers from Nesenoff & Miltenberg, a law firm specializing in campus disciplinary defense and representing more than 30 BC swim and dive program members, said BC Athletics falsely suggested that allegations of hazing had been substantiated.

“To be clear, the university’s conduct office has just only begun and certainly has not completed an investigation into such claims, nor have any findings been made,” the statement from lawyers Andrew Miltenberg and Tara Davis said. “The issuance of this statement prematurely, and without having gathered all of the relevant facts, was not only negligent but also extremely harmful and damaging to the members of the Swimming and Diving program.”

The law firm sent a statement to BC’s general counsel on Thursday calling on the University to immediately lift the suspension of the swimming and diving program and issue a public retraction for the statement issued by BC Athletics on Sept. 20.

“It is distressing that the College has been so irresponsible in its public messaging,” the statement continues. “We are hopeful that the College will take all necessary and appropriate steps to rectify the substantial

KAIT DEVIR / HEIGHTS ARCHIVES

The alleged incidents occurred at an off-campus house and two residence halls between Sept. 2 and Sept. 4.

and ongoing damage caused to the student athletes,” the statement continued.

Associate Vice President for University Communications Jack Dunn explained BC’s position on the alleged hazing in an email to The Heights, writing that BC has suspended the activities of the men’s and women’s swimming and diving program after receiving credible reports.

Dunn also noted that in accordance with Massachusetts state law, the allegations of hazing will be referred to law

enforcement.

“Based on the information known at this time, Athletics has determined a program suspension is warranted, pending a full investigation by the University,” Dunn wrote.

“Consistent with University policy, the matter will be investigated by the Office of the Dean of Students and adjudicated fairly and impartially through the student conduct process. Once the investigation and adjudication process is complete, Ath-

letics will reassess the status of the teams.”

BC’s letter detailing the alleged conduct violations, sent from Associate Dean of Student Conduct Melissa Woolsey, also mentioned that the recipient can request that one or more investigators interview other witnesses of his or her choice and consider any other relevant information they may have.

Read the full story online.

2023: BC Baseball Reacts to First NCAA Tournament

Appearance Since 2016 Despite Missing Out on Hosting

SOURABH GOKARN / HEIGHTS EDITOR

This story was originally published on May 31, 2023.

BY SOURABH GOKARN Copy Editor Less than 24 hours after the NCAA Selection Committee passed on Boston College baseball as a regional host, the mood inside the locker room at the Pete Frates Center was surprisingly light.

Sure, occasional jeers broke out when Indiana State—who barely edged out the Eagles for a hosting slot—or Clemson—who eliminated BC from the ACC Tournament—flashed across the TV screen. NCAA baseball committee chair John Cohen, who appeared on ESPN2 following the nationally televised bracket reveal, didn’t receive an espe-

cially warm reception either.

But on Monday afternoon, in a room filled with players and lined with key BC figures such as Director of Athletics Blake James and John and Nancy Frates, the mood remained spirited and celebratory for BC baseball’s NCAA selection show watch party.

And for good reason.

Culminating in its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2016, BC boasted multiple All-ACC members, picked up wins over perennial championship contenders, and reached a program-high No. 9 national ranking.

And now, the Eagles will head to Tuscaloosa, Ala. as a No. 2 seed to take on a regional pool consisting of Alabama, Troy, and Nicholls State, first facing Troy on Friday at 3 p.m.

“It’s huge,” catcher Peter Burns, BC’s longest-tenured starter, said. “Not only for the guys in the locker room, but for the alumni, the donors, the coaching staff. It’s been a long time coming.”

Underneath the disappointment of not hosting lies months worth of confidence, built by this nearly unprecedented list of accomplishments. In a season that began with the Eagles ranked at the bottom of the ACC Atlantic Division, according to a preseason coaches poll, BC has soared past expectations. But proving doubters wrong is nothing new for these Eagles.

“I think we’ve played with a chip on our shoulder the whole year, especially from the predictions at the beginning of the year,” senior infielder Vince Cimini said. “Nobody had us even making a regional. So to be a No. 2 seed—you know, it would have been great to host here.

That would have done a lot of good for the program, but I think we have just as good of an opportunity as a No. 2 seed.”

Following a 19–34 slog of a 2022 season, head coach Mike Gambino believes his squad has risen to national prominence because of this underdog mentality.

“The things that people see from the outside of our program as disadvantages, we believe are advantages,” Gambino said. “The reasons why people say we can’t win will be the reasons why we can.”

Gambino also credited his team’s culture for its success.

“If you’re around this group, every single one of them, you can feel how much they love each other,” Gambino said. “You feel how much they care about each other. And you feel every single one of them will tell you, whatever this team needs or this program needs, that’s what comes first. And that’s something we take pride in.”

Critical to BC’s dramatic turnaround is improved pitching. Led by ace starter Chris Flynn and high-leverage reliever Andrew Roman—both Division III transfers—the Eagles have lowered their team ERA from 7.25 in 2022 to 5.42 this season.

“The staff did a really good job of finding, identifying guys that we thought had skills, traits that—with some adjustments—would be transferable to the highest level of college baseball,” Gambino said. “And then you combine that with tremendous makeup, character, toughness—that’s kind of the model.”

Burns, who has witnessed this turnaround firsthand behind the plate, echoed these sentiments.

“Those guys got something to prove,” Burns said. “They got that ‘it-factor’ and that chip on their shoulder. They want to come in here and show them who they really are … They just got that dog in them, for sure.”

John West, whose ERA sat at 10.36 a season ago, has also emerged as of late.

Amid a resurgence headlined by seven stellar innings at Fenway Park against Notre Dame and 5.2 shutout innings in the ACC Tournament against Clemson, West’s ERA has dropped to 4.52, giving Gambino another strong pitching option heading into the weekend.

“With Flynn and West, we really do feel like we have—whether it’s two number ones, or 1 and 1A, or however you want to say it,” Gambino said. “It’s going to be something we’re going to have to look at and decide what we’re going to do for the rotation … It’s a great problem to have.”

Centered around junior slugger Joe Vetrano, whose 18 home runs is good for fifth in the ACC, BC’s bats have done damage this season as well.

Sophomore Holy Cross transfer Nick Wang has made his presence known via countless clutch hits this season while senior Barry Walsh has provided a steady and reliable presence at the top of the order.

And with the potential return of outfielder and MLB draft prospect Travis Honeyman, who’s been injured over the past month, BC’s offense threatens to grow even more formidable.

Read the full story online.

2024: Gaudreau Brothers Killed in New Jersey Car Accident This story was originally published on Aug. 30, 2024.

BY LUKE EVANS Sports Editor CHRIS TICAS / HEIGHTS EDITOR

2024: Jeff Hafley Leaves BC for Green Bay Packers This story was originally published on Jan. 31, 2024.

BY LUKE EVANS Sports Editor

Boston College football head coach Jeff Hafley is leaving the Heights after four seasons with the program to become the next defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers, according to a BC Athletics press release.

“I loved my four years at Boston College,” Hafley said in the release. “This is an exceptional place to coach given the caliber of student-athletes we recruit, the facilities, and the support from the University and BC fans. I will miss the players who gave so much of themselves these past four years, and my wife Gina and I will certainly miss the BC community and the many friends we

have made here.”

BC has not yet appointed an interim head coach and is immediately beginning a national search for the next head coach, according to Director of Athletics Blake James.

“As a world-class institution with a strong tradition and a commitment to excellence, we are confident that we will find an exceptional new leader for our football program, and we will continue to do everything we can to support our student-athletes,” James said in the release.

After previously working in various assistant defensive coaching roles in the NFL and as Ohio State’s co-defensive coordinator, Hafley was hired as head coach by then-Director of Athletics Martin Jarmond on Dec. 14, 2019.

Read the full story online.

Former Boston College men’s hockey players Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Gaudreau died on Thursday night after being hit by a suspected drunk driver while biking near their hometown in New Jersey.

The driver of the Jeep Grand Cherokee that struck Johnny and Matthew made a passing move around a slower-moving sedan and fatally hit the brothers as it re-entered the lane.

The brothers were reportedly expecting to be groomsmen at their sister’s wedding the next day.

Johnny was 31 and Matthew was 29.

“The Boston College Athletics Department and its men’s hockey program are devastated and mourn the tragic loss of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau on Thursday night,” the Athletics Department said in a statement Friday morning.

Johnny, who earned the nickname of “Johnny Hockey” during his time at BC, spent three years on the Heights.

Johnny burst onto the scene as a

freshman—despite standing at just 5-foot-7 and weighing 150 pounds, his skill made up for his smaller size.

In the 2011-12 season, his first year as an Eagle, Johnny finished second on the team with 44 points.

BC ultimately went on to win the Hockey East Tournament that season, with Johnny earning Tournament MVP Honors.

Later that season, Johnny played a pivotal role in winning the Eagles their fifth national championship, delivering the final score that gave BC a 3–1 advantage over Ferris State in the waning minutes of the game.

In his second year, Johnny tallied 51 points, led Hockey East in pointsper-game, and ultimately finished second in voting for the Hobey Baker award.

Johnny saved his best performance for last.

As a junior, Johnny led the NCAA with 36 goals and 44 assists in just 40 games played.

Johnny won the Hobey Baker Award, and after the Eagles lost to Union in the Frozen Four, Johnny joined the Calgary Flames.

Johnny went on to have a successful NHL career, recording 243 goals and 500 assists in 763 games played and being named an All-Star seven times.

He spent nine years with the Calgary Flames and two years with the Columbus Blue Jackets throughout his NHL career.

Read the full story online.

COURTESY OF BC ATHLETICS

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A20

Class of 2026 CommenCement edition

2023: Eagles Claim First-Ever ACC Championship, Defeat North Carolina This story was originally published on April 30, 2023.

By Luke Evans Asst. Sports Editor NICOLE VAGRA / HEIGHTS EDITOR

2023: Unranked Eagles Stun No. 6 Virginia This story was originally published on Feb. 23, 2023.

By Jack Bergamini Assoc. Sports Editor Entering Wednesday night’s contest against No. 6 Virginia, Boston College men’s basketball had not won three games against ranked opponents in a season since the 2008–09 season.

Wednesday night—for the first time in 14 years—the Eagles did just that. BC (14–15, 8–10 Atlantic Coast) defeated the Cavaliers (21–5, 13–4) 63–48 behind a defensive masterclass and an all-around gritty performance, sending shockwaves through the college basketball world. Just as the final whistle blew, Eagles fans stormed the hardwood of Conte Forum amid a sold-out crowd.

“Honestly, I thought it was like a dream come true,” Jaeden Zackery said. “Because when you’re a little kid, that’s what you always

think about, beating a ranked team, seeing everyone storm the court for you. It’s just a special moment for us and this program.”

The victory also marked the Eagles’ first win over a top-10 opponent since Dec. 9, 2017, when BC took down No. 1 Duke in Conte Forum. BC’s eight conference wins this season are its most since the 2010–11 season.

“We’re in pursuit of being a good program,” BC head coach Earl Grant said. “That takes a lot of belief, blood, sweat, and tears and commitment and time.”

The Eagles took a double-digit lead for the first time when Quinten Post hit a jumper in the paint at the 15:05 mark of the second half, and BC never let Virginia get back into the game for the remainder of the night. Just over five minutes later, Gardner hit a jumper to make it 44–37, but BC stayed in command, holding the Cavaliers to their least amount of points all season.

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off the Tar Heels (14–4, 7–2) while battling a downpour of rain in Charlotte, N.C., ultimately coming out on top 11–9.

“It’s for everyone that came before us,”

Hunter Roman caused a North Carolina turnover and the Eagles marched down the field.

point, have come so far and to finally bring it home to Boston College, it means the world.

biggest foes, No. 6 North Carolina, before

We’re so pumped.”

“You know, having those painstaking

We came out fast.”

that have worked so hard to get us to this 6–22. That was No. 4 Boston College

game.

“We shifted our mindset in the second half, new half,” Dolce said. “We came out hot.

Andrea Reynolds said. “Like all the alumni

lacrosse’s all-time record against one of its Sunday’s ACC Tournament Championship

41 seconds.

North Carolina struck first at the 12:36 mark, as a Tar Heel free-position goal slipped past Shea Dolce.

Reynolds notched the first goal of the second half at the 13:15 mark. Martello added to BC’s total with a goal of her own to make it 7–6.

“Yeah, so obviously we talked some X’s

losses in other years can be a part of the pro-

After aggressive defense from both teams,

and O’s and stuff and got that out of the way,”

cess for this year, too,” BC head coach Acacia

Mckenna Davis found Cassidy Weeks on the

Reynolds said of the message at halftime. “But

Walker-Weinstein said. “It doesn’t have to be

run, and she knotted the game at one just

we just knew that we had to dig deep and

the end all be all when you lose, it’s part of it.

under seven minutes later.

believe in each other. We knew that we’re

And I think those girls carry those memories with them, and it leveraged them today.”

On a quest for its first-ever ACC title, the No. 1-seed Eagles ran into none other than

But North Carolina took control, as the Tar Heels potted a whopping three goals in under two minutes to establish a 4–1 lead with just four shots on goal.

all capable of it, it was a really confident and composed atmosphere.”

But North Carolina responded with two goals of its own, and the lead was back up to

No. 3-seed North Carolina in the cham-

Davis cut the lead to two at the 2:26

pionship game. The holder of six straight

mark, but the Tar Heels’ Melissa Sconone

“We knew what we had to do to win, and

ACC Tournament titles, the Tar Heels had

responded, beating Dolce with just 11 sec-

we honestly felt like even though we were

taken down BC in four of the last five ACC

onds remaining in the quarter to put North

down that we had the momentum and like

Tournament Championship games and

Carolina up 5–2.

we’ve been in this situation before,” Reynolds

entered the game on a four-game win streak over the Eagles.

The second quarter was a classic call-andresponse affair as BC and the Tar Heels each

three at the 7:56 mark.

said. “We had been in worse situations before so we felt pretty good.”

But BC snapped the streak Sunday, as it

exchanged two goals apiece. On a player-up

Over six minutes passed before the

came back from a three-goal third-quarter

opportunity, it looked as though the Eagles’

Weeks twins brought BC within one goal.

deficit and held the Tar Heels scoreless in

notched their third goal of the quarter, but

Cassidy Weeks circled the goal and went

the final quarter of play to hoist the ACC

Courtney Weeks’ goal was called back after

low to bring the Eagles back within two with

Championship trophy for the first time in

review.

1:44 left in the third quarter, and Courtney

program history.

“I mean, I instantly cried because now it’s theirs,” Walker-Weinstein said. “And it’s just so inspiring. They made history.”

BC (16–3, 8–1 Atlantic Coast) knocked

“I respect the officials,” Walker-Weinstein

scored with just 20 seconds

said. “I know they have a tough job, but I think

remaining to make it 9–8

that ball was in.”

before the final quarter.

BC entered the third trailing by three, but cut the lead to just one goal in a span of

Read the full story online.

2024: BC Shuts Out Michigan, Advances to National Championship This story was originally published on April 12, 2024.

By Luke Evans Sports Editor ST. PAUL, MINN. — With just under eight minutes left in the second period of No. 1-seed Boston College men’s hockey’s Frozen Four semifinal matchup against No. 3-seed Michigan, neither squad had scored a goal since Will Smith gave BC a 1–0 advantage just over a minute into the opening frame.

Both offenses seemed to have stalled as netminders Jacob Fowler and Jake Barczewski refused to give an inch. That is, until BC’s two leading point scorers brought the drought to an end.

Within a minute, the Eagles lead jumped from one goal to three. Smith ricocheted the puck off a skate and into the net with 7:35 left in the period and Cutter Gauthier joined the scoring with an unassisted wrister 49 seconds later to break the game open.

“They have four elite, elite, elite players,” Michigan head coach Brandon Naurato said of Gauthier, Smith, Leonard, and Gabe Perreault. “Those guys are special and they won that game. They broke it open.”

Perreault added to BC’s total in the final frame, and thanks to a shutout performance from Fowler, the Eagles (34–5–1, 20–3–1 Hockey East) handily knocked Michigan (23–15–3, 11– 11–2–0–2 Big Ten) out of the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles advanced to their 12th national championship with a chance to win their first national title since 2012.

“I said it earlier in the year,” Gauthier said. “Anytime someone commits to Boston College, it’s to win championships, and we have an opportunity to do that on Saturday.”

The Eagles paved their path to Saturday’s matchup via offensive dominance while putting on a defensive clinic, becoming the only team to shut out Michigan in the 2023–24 season.

Smith started the scoring early, wasting almost no time putting the Eagles out in front.

It took just 1:20 for the No. 4 draft pick in the 2023 NHL Draft to give BC the lead—one it never relinquished.

Ryan Leonard slid a pass to a wide open Smith on the rush, who launched the puck into the top right corner of the net.

On the other end of the ice, Fowler maintained BC’s lead, racking up save

after save to keep the Wolverines at bay. Fowler picked up nine saves in the opening frame alone, but his 17 saves in the third period kept Michigan from mounting a comeback, and kept BC comfortably in the lead.

“He’s probably the calmest goalie I’ve ever played with,” Gauthier said.

“Super pumped for him and the game he had today.”

Fowler ended the night with 32 saves, while also locking down the Wolverines’ power-play chances. Anchored

by Fowler, BC contained Michigan’s best-in-the-nation power-play unit, despite the Wolverines racking up four opportunities.

“We knew Fowler was a great goalie,” Michigan forward Rutger McGroarty said. “Kudos to him, he had a great game. But I don’t think we took away his eyes enough … I just don’t feel like we made it hard enough tonight.”

Despite a combined seven power-play chances, neither team scored a power-play goal, due partly to a number of offsetting penalties leading to fouron-four chances.

“It’s always nice when the power plays end quickly like that,” BC head coach Greg Brown said.

The over 30-minute scoring drought

PHOTO COURTESY OF BC ATHLETICS

The Eagles paved their path to Saturday’s matchup via offensive dominance

since Smith’s goal was finally snapped when Smith completed his brace, giving him his 71st point of the season. Gauthier quickly followed suit with a wrister that flew past Barczewski to make it a 3–0 BC advantage and increase his total goal tally to 38.

Perreault iced the game in the third by taking matters into his own hands.

He corralled the puck at center ice and coasted his way around the net, eventually potting a wraparound goal to make it 4–0.

“Those guys are studs, studs,” Naurato said of BC’s four NHL first-round

draft picks. “And all credit to their team, it’s not taking away credit from anybody else.”

Despite its best efforts, Michigan could not come back from the deficit, and the Eagles skated their way into Saturday’s championship game against Denver.

“If you told me this as a kid it would be kind of crazy,” Smith said. “I mean, I remember the days I was watching Johnny Gaudreau, the same Frozen Four, so it’s a dream come true. And I mean it would be unbelievable to get that trophy just like he did.” n

2023: Baltimore Ravens Select Zay Flowers in 2023 NFL Draft This story was originally published on April 27, 2023.

By Graham Dietz Sports Editor Before Thursday, Boston College football had not had a wide receiver taken in the NFL Draft since 1987, when the Dallas Cowboys selected Kelvin Martin with the 95th overall pick. In almost 90 years of the NFL Draft, BC has never had a wide receiver taken in the first three rounds of the draft.

But on Thursday night, Zay Flowers changed that narrative forever. The Baltimore Ravens selected the former BC wide receiver and Fort Lauderdale, Fla. native—who owns the school record for total receiving yards, total receptions, and total touchdown receptions—with the 22nd overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Flowers declared for the NFL Draft on Dec. 1, 2022.

“This is what I expected—this is what I worked for,” Flowers said of his preparation for the NFL Draft at BC’s Pro Day on March 24, 2023.

For the first time since Luke Kuechly and Anthony Castonzo were selected in back-to-back NFL drafts in 2011 and 2012, BC boasts a first-round selection in the

NFL Draft in back-to-back years. The Los Angeles Chargers took Zion Johnson 17th overall in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Ever since the 2022 season, in which BC went 3–9, ended, Flowers said he has only had one mindset: prepare.

“I’m gon’ always just try to have my expectation high because I put the work in for it,” Flowers said. “It’s a moment I’ve been waiting on, just being able to train, don’t really have school, put work in, and play football, and, like, prepare for my dream.”

And he did just that—accomplish his dream.

During his training for the draft, Flowers combined private workouts with multiple NFL wide receivers, performed at the NFL Combine, fine-tuned his skills for Pro Day in Chestnut Hill, worked out for multiple NFL teams, and made his case to be at the top of his wide receiver draft class. Flowers was Mel Kiper Jr.’s topranked wideout heading into the draft, and had a prospect grade of 6.46, according to NFL.com.

But without a stellar season in 2022 amid a quarterback change and offensive line inconsistencies, as well as stepping stones in years prior at BC, his case would not have been as solidified.

The Chestnut Hill product took a big step forward after teaming up with No-

tre Dame transfer and quarterback Phil Jurkovec in 2020, garnering First-Team All-ACC recognition with a team-high 892 receiving yards and nine scores on 56 receptions during his sophomore season.

An injured Jurkovec decreased his production in 2021—Flowers registered just 746 receiving yards on 44 receptions—but he was still named Third-Team All-Conference. BC won six games in both seasons.

Despite reports that Flowers was offered six figures in NIL deals to leave BC after 2021, Flowers stayed his course with the Eagles, and said he did so with pride for the program. Flowers took off in his final season on the Heights as a senior.

In 2022, Flowers amassed 1,077 receiving yards on 78 receptions—tying BC’s single-season receptions record—and 12 receiving touchdowns, a BC program record and tied for fifth in FBS that season.

Flowers earned Third-Team All-American honors by the Associated Press, All-ACC First Team honors for the second time, and was named a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award, given to the top wideout in the nation. By all measures, Flowers undoubtedly cemented himself as the best wide receiver in program history.

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2026: Kuechly Chosen for Pro Football Hall of Fame This story was originally published on Feb. 6, 2026.

By Mac Cobb Asst. Sports Editor

with the ninth overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. He made an immediate impact at the professional level, winning the 2012 Defensive Rookie of the Year Award.

He won the 2013 Defensive Player of the Year Award and began a seven-year streak

Former Boston College football line-

where he was named to every Pro Bowl

backer Luke Kuechly was elected into the

team and five First-Team All-Pro Teams.

Pro Football Hall of Fame (HOF) Class

The Cincinnati native also led the league

of 2026, becoming the second-youngest

in tackles twice and set a league record for

player to ever earn the honor.

single-game tackles.

He will be officially inducted into the

Kuechly’s career was cut short when

HOF on Aug. 8 during the Pro Football

he retired after the 2019 season at just 29

HOF Enshrinement Ceremony in Canton,

years old due to a series

Ohio.

of concussions and other

Kuechly spent his entire NFL career in Charlotte, playing eight seasons for the Carolina Panthers after they selected him

health issues.

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2024: Eagles Shut Out by Denver 2-0 This story was originally published on April 13, 2024.

BY LUKE EVANS Sports Editor ST. PAUL, MINN. — Ahead of No. 1 Boston College men’s hockey’s 2024 National Championship game against No. 3 Denver on Saturday, BC’s leading goal scorer and Hobey Baker Memorial Award Hat Trick Finalist Cutter Gauthier spoke to the media regarding the Eagles’ rematch against Denver.

“It’s gonna be epic,” Gauthier said.

“There’s gonna be a lot of emotions, you know, and a lot of tears for that team over there, so we’re happy and we’re excited to get after it.”

But things did not shake out that way for the Eagles on Saturday in the Xcel Energy Arena, largely due to the 35 save performance from Denver’s Matt Davis, who handed BC its first shutout of the 2023-24 season.

“I commend their goalie,” Jack Malone said. “He did a tremendous job for them, and they have a great team. They know how to win, and I think that they just used their experience to their advantage.”

Unable to break through Davis’ seemingly impenetrable defense, BC (34–6–1, 20–3–1 Hockey East) came up one game short of winning the 2024 National Championship, and the Pioneers (32–9–3,

15–7–2 NCHC) hoisted the NCAA trophy with a 2–0 victory.

“Congrats to Dave and the Pioneers,” BC head coach Greg Brown said. “They played a heck of a game tonight. And it was a championship battle, and they were as stingy and as tight defensively as we’ve seen this year. They did a great job.

Played a lot of winning hockey. Played like a championship team.”

Despite the Eagles outshooting Denver 35 to 26, Davis refused to let the Eagles find the back of the net.

The Eagles had multiple high-quality chances to get on the board in the opening period including an almost completely wide open opportunity for Andre Gasseau that rang off the post and a one-on-one chance for Will Smith that was shut down

by Davis.

At the 13:29 mark of the second period the Eagles completed their kill of Mike Posma’s boarding penalty, and avoided giving the Pioneers an early power-play goal.

The scoring drought was brought to an end soon after, though. Just over 3:00 later, Denver snapped the tie when Jared Wright unleashed a shot that bounced off of the post, then off of the back of Jacob Fowler and past the goal line to make it 1–0 with 10:18 left in the second period.

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BRODY HANNON / HEIGHTS STAFF

2022: Eagles Beat Drake, Win NIVC This story was originally published on Dec. 18, 2022.

By Luke Evans For The Heights Up 24–20 in the fourth set of its contest with Drake in the finals of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC), Boston College volleyball looked like it was just about ready to secure the win.

In a turn of events, the Bulldogs rattled off five straight points, taking command of the set.

Drake needed just one more point to send the match into the fifth set, but the Eagles put the pressure on the Bulldogs again, taking a 26–25 lead.

After two more points, the Eagles faced a 27–26 deficit, but Kate Brennan and Alayna Crabtree executed on three straight kills

to defeat Drake in the NIVC. “This has, by far, been the most enjoyable season I’ve had as a coach,” BC head coach Jason Kennedy said. “Because this is the most selfless group that I’ve ever had a chance to do it with … To wake up and still be excited to see that group and know we’re getting better, and knowing that we’re gonna go out winning our last match, you can’t ask for much more than that as a coach. It’s a good deal.”

The Eagles (24–13, 7–11 Atlantic Coast) capped off a historic season during which they earned a program-first 24 wins with their four-set victory over Drake (30–8, 16–2 Missouri Valley) Wednesday night in Des Moines, Iowa. BC won by scores of 25–22, 21–25, 25–18, and 29–27.

The victory marked Kennedy’s 82nd career win, a program-best number. Kennedy eclipsed the all-time wins record after BC’s

semifinal win over Southern Mississippi Saturday.

The game’s momentum shifted toward BC early in the first set, as the Eagles went on a 9–0 run—led by three kills from Katrina Jensen—to go up 13–4.

The Bulldogs rallied back, cutting their deficit to just four points and forcing the Eagles’ first timeout.

Drake got as close as 24–22 before an attack error from the Bulldogs gave BC the first-set win.

“I think my role, especially as a person with more experience and being older, and being in those situations a lot in my career, I think my role specifically was just to make sure that everyone stayed calm and had confidence in themselves,” Brennan said.

Read the full story online.

2024: Eagles Win First Hockey East Title Since 2012 This story was originally published on March 24, 2024.

By Luke Evans Sports Editor BOSTON, MASS. — On Saturday night, No. 1 Boston College men’s hockey and No. 2 Boston University met for the 295th time and the fourth time in 2024, but this time, the rivals were fighting for a Hockey East Championship trophy.

Under the lights of TD Garden and in front of packed student sections supporting both sides of the Battle of Comm. Ave., the longtime rivals went head to head.

And under the brightest lights, one player stood above the rest. The Lexington, Mass. native and No. 4 overall draft pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, Will Smith, lit up the scoresheet, picking up four goals en route to the Hockey East Tournament MVP Award.

“I’ve been dreaming to come to BC for my whole life,” Smith said. “Like I said, just being around school is just amazing.”

Behind Smith’s performance, the No. 1-seed Eagles (31–5–1, 20–3–1 Hockey

East) handled No. 2-seed BU (27–9–2, 18–4–2) in a 6–2 win and earned their 12th Hockey East Tournament Championship, the most of any school in the conference.

The win clinched the Eagles’ first Hockey East championship in 12 years.

“We know we had expectations coming into this year and, I mean, 12 years is a long time and like I said, we knew that coming into this game and it’s amazing that we finally got one back to Chestnut Hill,” Smith said.

Penalties proved to be detrimental to the Terriers in the opening frame, and throughout the entire game. BC scored four of its six goals on the power play.

“Clearly we didn’t get it done on the penalty kill,” BU head coach Jay Pandolfo said. “Didn’t have an answer for it, so that was really, I guess, the biggest difference in the game.”

At the 15:24 mark, referees called a slashing penalty on BU’s Shane Lachance, giving the Eagles, who rank fourth in the nation for power-play percentage, their first man-advantage of the night.

BC did not let it go to waste. Just over a minute into the power play, the Eagles con-

verted when Smith sent a wrister toward the net that ricocheted off Case McCarthy’s skate and past Mathieu Caron to make it 1–0 BC with 14:14 left in the first period.

Less than three minutes later, Smith struck again. This time, a tripping penalty on Lane Hutson gave the Eagles another advantage. On the rush, Gabe Perreault sent a cross-ice pass to Smith, who unleashed a rocket into the top right of the net to double the Eagles’ lead with 11:23 remaining in the opening frame.

The Terriers, who rank second in the nation power-play percentage, failed to capitalize on their two power-play chances, and BC took its two-goal lead into the second period.

“It was a heck of a hockey game,” BC head coach Greg Brown said. “Special teams were obviously a big part of it. Both our power play and penalty kill had very good nights.”

Less than five minutes into the second frame, Gavin McCarthy chopped the Eagles lead in half, though, when he fired a shot past Jacob Fowler’s glove and found the back of the net for the first goal of McCarthy’s collegiate career.

After an intense stretch of play resulting in no scoring, the Eagles were given their third power-play opportunity of the night with 2:09 remaining in the second.

Perreault sent a pass from just in front of the crease that found the stick of Cutter Gauthier, who fired it past Caron to make it 3–1 BC. Gauthier picked up his 35th goal of the season with the score, the most in the NCAA since 2016.

With 13:14 remaining in the third period, Smith delivered another goal and completed his hat trick to give the Eagles a three-goal lead and send the upper-deck BC fans into an uproar. Smith received the feed from Ryan Leonard and slammed it home, dropping to a knee in the process.

Read the full story online.

KELLEN DAVIS / HEIGHTS STAFF

Under the lights of TD Garden, the longtime rivals went head to head.

2024: Bill O’Brien Hired as

BC’s 37th Head Football Coach This story was originally published on Feb. 9, 2024.

BY LUKE EVANS Sports Editor

NICOLE WEI / HEIGHTS STAFF

2023: BC Scores First

Top-10 Win Since 2010 This story was originally published on Jan. 6, 2023.

By Brassil Moran Heights Staff Boston College women’s basketball has not beaten an AP top-10 ranked team since 2010, when the Eagles defeated No. 8 Florida State in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament in Greensboro, N.C. Things were a bit different for the Eagles back then.

“I was a stay-at-home mom,” BC head coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee said.

Dontavia Waggoner was nine. Freshman Taina Mair was still in preschool.

About 13 years later, Mair’s 15 points and 10 rebounds Thursday night—her fourth double-double of the year—along with Dontavia Waggoner’s season-high 23 points and 10 rebounds—her second 20-10

game of the year—helped the Eagles (12–5, 2–2 Atlantic Coast) upset No. 10 NC State 79–71 (12–3, 2–2) in a nearly sold out crowd in Raleigh, N.C. And there was no shortage of celebrations afterwards.

“There’s a lot of tough parts about our job,” Bernabei-McNamee said. “But this is really why we put up with all the tough, to have this feeling and to get to be together and celebrate this, so it makes it all worth it.”

The two sides traded points early, with success in the transition game. JoJo Lacey swished two 3-pointers to give BC a 12–11 lead midway through the first quarter.

Back-to-back buckets in the second quarter from Diamond Johnson—who finished with 18 points—and Saniya Rivers gave the Wolfpack a 10 point lead.

Read the full story online.

Boston College football has hired Bill O’Brien as its next head coach, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel and a press release from BC Athletics.

“I am thrilled to welcome Bill O’Brien, his wife Colleen, and his sons Jack and Michael to Boston College,” Director of Athletics Blake James said in the release. “When we embarked on this search, we prioritized finding a coach who believes in our mission and vision, who has a plan for greatness on and off the field, and who will work tirelessly to elevate BC Football.”

O’Brien takes over the program just nine days after former head coach Jeff Hafley left BC to become the Green Bay Packers’ next defensive coordinator. Hafley’s final season with the Eagles ended with a 7–6 record and was capped off with a 23–14 win in the 2023 Fenway Bowl over No. 17 SMU. “Bill is a gifted leader who has had a tremendous amount of success as a head coach and coordinator at both the collegiate and NFL levels,” James said. “His passion for teaching football and developing young men make him a great fit to lead Boston College to greater heights.”

Hafley leaves O’Brien with the nation’s 69th-ranked recruiting class and the 44th-ranked transfer portal class ahead of the upcoming 2024 season, according to 247Sports.

O’Brien comes to the Heights with a high-level NCAA resume. O’Brien started his coaching career in 1993 at Brown, his alma mater, as a tight ends coach. After a string of other college football coaching stints—including offensive coaching roles at Georgia Tech, Maryland, and Duke—O’Brien ultimately made the jump to the NFL in 2007.

O’Brien, an Andover, Mass. native and St. John’s Prep alumnus, joined the New England Patriots in 2007.

He served as an offensive assistant on the Patriots squad that finished the regular season with an undefeated 16–0 record en route to a Super Bowl appearance.

In 2008, O’Brien became the wide receivers coach, before shifting roles once again in 2009 when he became the quarterbacks coach. In 2010, O’Brien served as the offensive coordinator, in addition to the quarterbacks coach, on another Patriots team destined for the Super Bowl.

Following the conclusion of the 2011 season, O’Brien left the NFL and returned to college football to take over a disheveled Penn State program.

In the 2012 and 2013 seasons, O’Brien led the Nittany Lions to a 15–9 re-

cord before again making the leap to the NFL to take over as the Houston Texans’ head coach, a position he held from 2014–20.

Over his first six full seasons, O’Brien coached the Texans to a 52–44 overall record and four playoff appearances.

After Week Four of the 2020 NFL season, O’Brien was fired by the Texans as both head coach and general manager after an 0–4 start.

In 2021, O’Brien teamed up with Alabama head coach Nick Saban as the Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, helping Alabama make a national championship appearance in 2021 and earn a Sugar Bowl win in 2022.

O’Brien returned to the Patriots after over a decade of time apart as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Under his command, however, the Patriots ranked among the worst offenses in the NFL. Most recently, O’Brien joined Ohio State as its offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in January 2024.

O’Brien, however, never called a play for the Buckeyes.

A sk i l l e d o f fe n s i v e s ch e m e r, O’Brien brings serious potential to attract offensive talent from across the country, especially given his experience working with NFL players such as Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Rob Gronkowski, and Bryce Young. n

Grayson, we are so proud of you! Your hard work, perseverance, and strong friendships have defined your years on the Heights.

Watching you grow as a leader has been one of our greatest joys. Keep soaring - your next chapter will continue to be extraordinary.

Congratulations, Class of 2026 … and BC Club Baseball!

All of our love, Mom, Dad & Amelia.

Congratulations Isabella!!!

We love you!!! Mom, Dad,

Nicholas, we are incredibly proud to Congratulate you on your graduation from BC. Your hard work, dedication and commitment to academic excellence have genuinely paid off. We celebrate this milestone with overflowing pride and joy.

BC was extremely lucky to have you - we cannot wait for you to make your mark on the world!

WLYSM Mom and Dad

Once an eagle, always an eagle!

Congratulations, ladies! We are so proud of you!

With love, The Beckham, Cherra, Kincaid, Madden, Moran and Quinn Families

Congratulations, ISABELLA BERNALDO —what an incredible milestone, graduating from Boston College.

We are beyond proud of you and the intelligent, kind, witty, and brave person you’ve become. Watching you grow into who you are today has been one of our greatest joys. Your future is full of possibility, and we hope it brings you endless adventures, meaningful experiences, and so much happiness. No matter where life takes you, your family and friends will always be here, cheering you on every step of the way.

Boston-bound…now Japan-bound-look out world!

With all our love,

Kelley, congratulations on your graduation- you did it!

We are so proud of all of your accomplishments, but what makes us even prouder is the kind person you are. We love you beyond measure!

Love, Mom and Dad Dear Jack, Congratulations on an amazing 4 years in CSOM and as a varsity sailor at BC. We are incredibly proud of you and love Congratulations, Tyler! We are so proud of everything you have accomplished at Boston College. From BC EMS and the Boston Marathon to Freshman Orientation, Kairos, 48Hours, and Freshman League, you have led with heart, dedication, and purpose. We know you will bring that same compassion and determination to medical school and all that lies ahead.

Love, Mom, Dad, Julia, Skipper & Bohdi de Grandpré

you very much!

Love, Mom, Dad, Libby and Marin

We are so proud of the Congratulations Amanda

person you are Teddy!

Brown! We are so proud of you.

Continue to share your gifts

Love, Mom and Dad

with the world. AMDG!

Picture this: an amazing future!

Congratulations to Callie and the Class of 2026!

Congratulations, Jesse! We are so proud of you and everything you’ve accomplished. I know this year wasn’t easy, but your strength and resilience carried you through. Dad is watching over you and couldn’t be prouder. You did this and you did it for him, too. We love you so much.

From Yngwie, Jojo, Spencer, Mochi, Delta, Jacob, Lolo, Lola, Mommy and Daddy WLYSM

Conrad,

Mom and Dad

The last 22+ years have flown by and it’s hard to believe the time has already come for you to graduate college. What a joy it’s been to be your parents! Words cannot express how proud of you we are. We’ll always be your biggest fans.

All our love, Mom and Dad

Congratulations, Christine and the entire Boston College Class of 2026!! We are so proud of you!!

Congratulations, Lila Clare Groulx, CSOM Class of 2026!

Love, Mum, Dad, and Libby Comhghairdeas!

Congratulations to our Eagle, Virginia Havana, and to the entire class of 2026!

Thank you Boston College for the last 4 years, we’ve been so blessed to have been a part of it!

Gigi, we love you and so proud of you…

Go forth and set the world aflame!

Congratulations to all graduating alumni of The Heights.

We wish you all the best on your next adventures!

Congratulations, Jim! An Eagle forever!

We are so proud of you, Love, Mom and Dad