Boston College

Boston College is a private university located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts in the New England region of the United States. Its historic campus, one of the earliest examples of Collegiate Gothic architecture in North America, is set on a hilltop six miles (10 km) west of downtown Boston. Although chartered as a university by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1863, Boston College's name reflects its early history as a liberal arts college and preparatory school in Boston's South End. It was the first institution of higher education established in the city of Boston, though it moved from the South End to then-rural Chestnut Hill as a result of rapid growth and urbanization in the late 19th century. Boston College is one of the oldest Jesuit universities in the United States and the flagship of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities.

History

Early history

The history of Boston College is traced to the founding of the Society of Jesus in 1534 and the early activity of Jesuits in New England in the 17th and 18th centuries. Jesuit founder, Ignatius of Loyola, imagined a distinct mission that sought to engage intellectual inquiry, faith, and cultural contributions "in conversation with the city." His Society established colleges and universities in almost every part of the known world, and its members were among the great explorers of the Age of Discovery. In 1825, Benedict Joseph Fenwick, SJ, a Jesuit from Maryland, became the second Bishop of Boston. He was the first to articulate a vision for a "College in the City of Boston" that would raise a new generation of leaders to serve both the civic and spiritual needs of his fledgling diocese.

Related Topics:
Society of Jesus - 1534 - New England - Ignatius of Loyola - Age of Discovery - Maryland - Bishop - Boston

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"A College in the City"

In 1827, Fenwick opened a school in the basement of his cathedral and took to the personal instruction of the city's youth. His efforts to attract other Jesuits to the faculty were hampered both by Boston's distance from the center of Jesuit activity in Maryland and by suspicion on the part of the city's Protestant elite. Relations with Boston's civic leaders worsened such that, when a Jesuit faculty was finally secured in 1843, Fenwick decided to close the Boston school and instead opened one 45 miles west of the city in central Massachusetts where he felt the Jesuits could operate with greater autonomy. Meanwhile, the vision for a college in Boston was sustained by John McElroy, SJ, who saw an even greater need for such an institution in light of Boston's growing immigrant population. Mostly poor and uneducated, Boston's immigrant class faced little opportunity for advancement, particularly in higher education where they were unwelcome at Harvard — then the only institution of higher education in all of eastern Massachusetts. With the approval of his Jesuit superiors, McElroy went about raising funds and in 1857 purchased land for "The Boston College" on Harrison Street in Boston's South End. With little fanfare, the college's two buildings — a schoolhouse and a church — welcomed their first class of scholastics in 1859. Two years later, with as little fanfare, BC closed again. Its short-lived second incarnation was plagued by the outbreak of Civil War and disagreement within the Society over the college's governance and finances. BC's inability to obtain a charter from the anti-Catholic Massachusetts legislature, only compounded its troubles.

Related Topics:
Protestant - Massachusetts - Higher education - Harvard - South End - Civil War - Anti-Catholic

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On March 31, 1863, more than three decades after its initial inception, Boston College's charter was formally approved by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In it, BC was granted the right to confer all university degrees, with the exception of the M.D. (a limitation that was later amended). Johannes Bapst, SJ, a Swiss Jesuit from French-speaking Fribourg, was selected as BC's first president and immediately reopened the original college buildings on Harrison Avenue. For most of the 19th century, BC offered a singular 7-year program corresponding to both high school and college. Its entering class in the fall of 1864 included 22 students, ranging in age from 11 to 16 years. The curriculum was based on the Jesuit Ratio Studiorum, emphasizing Latin, Greek, philosophy and theology. The great influx of immigrants to Boston coupled with sustained discrimination by Harvard and later institutions of the city's Brahmin elite assured BC's growth. Revolutionary for its time, BC's charter emphasized that "the profession of religion will not be a condition for admission to the College."

Related Topics:
March 31 - 1863 - Commonwealth - Massachusetts - University - M.D. - Johannes Bapst - Swiss - French - Fribourg - Ratio Studiorum - Latin - Greek - Philosophy - Theology - Discrimination - Brahmin

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Oxford of America"

Boston College's enrollment reached nearly 500 by the turn of the century. Expansion of the South End buildings onto James Street enabled increased separation between the high school and college divisions, though Boston College High School remained a constituent part of Boston College until 1927 when it was separately incorporated. In 1907, newly-installed President Thomas I. Gasson, SJ, determined that BC's cramped, urban quarters in Boston's South End were inadequate and unsuited for significant expansion. Inspired by John Winthrop's early vision of Boston as a "city upon a hill," he re-imagined Boston College as world-renowned university and a beacon of Jesuit scholarship. Less than a year after taking office, he purchased the Lawrence farm on Chestnut Hill, six miles west of the city. He organized an international competition for the design of a campus master plan and set about raising funds for the construction of the "new" university. From a field of distinguished architects, Charles Donagh Maginnis's proposal for an "Oxford in America" was selected.

Related Topics:
Boston College High School - Incorporated - Thomas I. Gasson, SJ - South End - John Winthrop - City upon a hill - Beacon - Jesuit - Chestnut Hill - Campus - Charles Donagh Maginnis

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

By 1913, construction costs had surpassed available funds, and as a result Gasson Hall, "New BC's" main building, stood alone on Chestnut Hill for its first three years. Buildings of the former Lawrence farm, including a barn and gatehouse, were temporarily adapted for college use while a massive fundraising effort was underway. While Maginnis' ambitious plans were never fully realized, BC's first "capital campaign" — which included a large replica of Gasson Hall's clock tower set up on Boston Common to measure the fundraising progress — ensured that President Gasson's vision survived. By the 1920s BC began to fill out the dimensions of its university charter, establishing the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, the Law School and the Evening College (now the Woods College of Advancing Studies), followed successively by the Graduate School of Social Work, the College of Business Administration (now the Carroll School of Management), the Connell School of Nursing and the Lynch School of Education. In 1926, Boston College conferred its first degrees on women (though it did not become fully coeducational until 1970). With the rising prominence of its graduates, this was also the period in which Boston College and its powerful Alumni Association began to establish themselves among the city's leading institutions. At the city, state and federal levels, BC graduates would come to dominate Massachusetts politics for much of the 20th century.

Related Topics:
Graduate School of Arts & Sciences - Law School - Woods College of Advancing Studies - Graduate School of Social Work - Carroll School of Management - Connell School of Nursing - Lynch School of Education - Coeducational

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

John F. Kennedy's characterization of Boston College as the "Jesuit Ivy" during the 1956 commencement belied the turmoil and uncertainty ahead. Cultural changes in American society and in the church following the Second Vatican Council forced BC to question its purpose and mission. Even Boston College's name was targeted for change. The desire for national recognition as a "university" was the stated reason the Board of Trustees opened debate on the issue ("Boston University" had in the meantime been chartered in a move that still puzzles some legal observers). The two sets of proposed names suggest that the real debate was one over BC's identity: secular (University of New England, Commonwealth University, Tremount University, Chestnut Hill University, Boston College University) or religious (Jesuit University, Boston Catholic University, Newman University, St. Thomas More University). Gasson University and Fenwick University were also considered, though in the end fierce alumni opposition and a highly critical editorial in The Heights closed the debate. Meanwhile, poor financial management lead to deteriorating facilities and resources and rising tuition costs. Student outrage, combined with growing protests over Vietnam and the bombings in Cambodia, culminated in student strikes, including the occupation of Gasson Hall for 23 days in April 1970.

Related Topics:
Jesuit Ivy - Second Vatican Council - Vietnam - Cambodia

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Monan era

By the time J. Donald Monan, SJ assumed the presidency on September 5, 1972, BC was approximately $30 million in debt, its endowment totaled just under $6 million, and faculty and staff salaries had been frozen during the previous year. Rumors about the university's future were rampant, including speculation that BC would be acquired by Harvard. Monan's first order of business was to reconfigure the BC Board of Trustees. By separating it from the Society of Jesus, Monan was able to bring in the talents of lay alumni and business leaders who helped turn around the university's fortunes. In 1974, Boston College acquired Newton College of the Sacred Heart, a 40 acre (162,000 m²) campus 1.5 miles (2 km) away that enabled it to expand the law school and provide more housing for a student population that was increasingly residential and geographically diverse. No less than the university's rescue is credited to Monan who set into motion the university's upward trajectory in finances, reputation and global scope. In 1996, Monan's 24 year presidency, the longest in the university's history, came to an end when he was named University Chancellor and succeeded by President William P. Leahy, SJ.

Related Topics:
September 5 - 1972 - Debt - Endowment - Trustees - Law school - Chancellor

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Recent history

Since assuming the Boston College presidency, Leahy's tenure has been marked with an acceleration of the growth and development initiated by his predecessor. BC's endowment has grown to over $1.4 billion, it has expanded by almost 150 acres (600,000 m²), and undergraduate applications have surpassed 24,000. At the same time, BC students, faculty and athletic teams have seen unprecedented success — winning record numbers of Fulbrights, Rhodes and other academic awards; setting new marks for research grants; and winning conference and national titles. In 2002, Leahy initiated the Church in the 21st Century program to examine issues facing the Catholic Church in light of the clergy sexual abuse scandal. His effort brought BC world-wide praise and recognition for "leading the way on Church reform." In 2004, he announced plans to merge with the Weston Jesuit School of Theology and advance BC as the world's foremost Jesuit university. The announcement was followed by an article in the New York Times claiming "such a merger would further Boston College's quest to become the nation's Catholic intellectual powerhouse" and that, if approved by the Vatican and Jesuit authorities in Rome, BC "would become the center for the study of Roman Catholic theology in the United States." {{ref|jesuitpowerhouse}}

Related Topics:
Endowment - Fulbrights - Rhodes - Church in the 21st Century - Catholic Church - Clergy sexual abuse scandal

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

During the 2004-2005 academic year, the Boston College administration found itself in the midst of a controversy surrounding the exclusion of sexual orientation in the university's notice of non-discrimination. Students and faculty in support of its inclusion cited Jesuit principles of justice and noted that other Jesuit institutions in the state, including the Weston Jesuit School of Theology with which BC had proposed a merger, did include sexual orientation in their notices of non-discrimination. A student referendum showing 84% support, a list of nearly 200 supporting faculty and Jesuits published in The Heights and a campus rally that drew over 1,000 culminated in an agreement for a revised notice of non-discrimination in April 2005.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~