Boston College is an elite, private university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. 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 high school in Boston's South End. It was the first institution of higher education to be founded 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 nineteenth century. Boston College is one of the oldest Jesuit universities in the United States, and its president serves as chairman of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities.
About Boston College
Founded by the Society of Jesus in part because immigrants and Catholics were being denied admission to Harvard University in the nineteenth century, Boston College later earned the nickname "Jesuit Ivy" in a speech by John F. Kennedy. Its founding charter was among the first documents to stipulate that the institution be open to "youths of any faith."
Boston College students come from 50 states and 99 countries. It received more than 24,000 applications for approximately 2,100 seats in the Freshman Class of 2005.
At $1.2 billion, BC's endowment is among the nation's 40 largest, and the largest of any Jesuit university.
The Boston College Administration currently finds itself in the midst of a controvery surrounding the exclusion of sexual orientation in the Unversity's notice of non-discrimination. A student referendum showed 84% in favor of including sexual orientation in the notice of non-discrimination and a list of nearly 200 faculty and Jesuits in support of its inclusion was published in the school newspaper the day of the vote. The university administration under President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J. maintains its right to discriminate on basis of sexual orienatation by referencing Massachusetts state law which exepmts religious institutions from including sexual orientation in a notice of non-discrimination. Students and faculty in support of its inclusion note that other Catholic and Jesuit universities in the state, such as Weston and Holy Cross, do include sexual orientation in their notices of non-discrimination.
The 150 Jesuits living on the Boston College campus make up the largest Jesuit community in the world. About half are actively involved in the University's faculty and administration. Others include graduate students and visiting scholars.
In 2004, 2 BC students won Rhodes scholarships and BC produced 11 Fulbright Scholars, ranking 16th among national universities. BC ranked 9th among Peace Corps volunteer-producing colleges and 1st among Jesuit Volunteer Corps producing colleges. It ranked 37th in US News and World Report.
Boston College is called The Heights , a reference to both its lofty aspirations--the college motto is "Ever to Excel "--and its location on Chestnut Hill, or "University Heights" as the area was initially designated. The name has lent itself to a number of campus organizations including the principal student newspaper, The Heights. BC students were universally called "Heightsmen" until 1925 when Mary C. Mellyn became the first "Heightswoman" to receive a BC degree. Today, Heightsmen and Heightswomen number over 140,000 and make up one of the largest alumni networks in the world.
The BC campus itself is also referred to as the "Crowned Hilltop" and "Oxford in America." This latter moniker was coined by the university's first architect, Charles Maginnis, and confirmed by a visiting British journalist in 1915 who wrote, "Even in embryo, it is Oxford and Cambridge without their grime." In June of 2004, Boston College acquired 43 acres (174,000 m²) of land from the Archdiocese of Boston, including the historic Cardinal's Residence.
Boston College is comprised of eight schools and colleges:
In December of 2004, Boston College announced plans to create a Divinity School by merging its existing Theology department, its Institute for Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry and the Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The new school would be located on the BC campus on land recently acquired from the Boston archdiocese.
Academics
University Research Institutes and Centers
- Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life
- Center for Child, Family, and Community Partnerships
- Center for Corporate Citizenship
- Center for East Europe, Russia, and Asia
- Center for International Higher Education
- Center for Ignatian Spirituality
- Center for International Higher Education
- Center for Christian-Jewish Learning
- Center for Nursing Research
- Center for Retirement Research
- Center for Study of Testing, Evaluation, and Educational Policy
- Center for Work and Family
- International Study Center
|
- Institute for Medieval Philosophy and Theology
- Institute for Scientific Research
- Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture
- Irish Institute
- Jesuit Institute
- Lonergan Center
- Mathematics Institute
- Media Research and Action Project
- Small Business Development Center
- Social Welfare Research Institute
- Weston Observatory
|
Departments
College of Arts and Sciences
Libraries
The Boston College libraries contain over twelve million printed volumes, manuscripts, journals, government documents and microform items, ranging from ancient papyrus scrolls to digital databases. Notable holdings include original manuscripts and prints by Galileo, Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier as well as world renowned collections in Jesuitana, Irish literature, Caribbean folk art and literature, Japanese prints, US government documents and Congressional Archives. The holdings are distributed among eight research libraries:
O'Neill Library
The O'Neill Library is named for the former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill, Jr., a member of the Boston College Class of 1936. Opened in 1984, it is the university's central research library and houses approximately two million volumes in the humanities, the natural sciences and the social sciences. It also contains US government documents, administrative offices of the Boston College Libraries, and a small museum dedicated to Tip O'Neill, whose papers are housed in the Burns Library (see below). The O'Neill Library was among the first libraries in the world to digitize its card catalog. A glass-enclosed atrium on the library’s fourth and fifth floors offers sweeping views of the Boston skyline.
Bapst Library
Bapst Library, named for the first president of Boston College (Johannes Bapst, 1815-1887), was one of the first four buildings built on the BC campus and served as the university’s main library until 1984. It reopened after a two-year, multimillion dollar restoration and now houses the university’s fine arts collection. Designed as a "cathedral to learning,” it is the most elaborate of the original Collegiate Gothic buildings on campus with extensive stained glass windows, vaulted ceilings and carved wood paneling. Gargan Hall, the soaring reading room on the library’s upper floor, has been named the most beautiful room in Boston. Also on the upper floor are the Chancellor’s office and the Lonergan Institute.
Burns Library
The Burns Library houses the university's rare books, special collections, and archives. It is home to more than 150,000 volumes, some 15 million manuscripts and other important collections, including significant holdings of original works by Francis Thompson, Graham Greene, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Samuel Beckett, William Butler Yeats, Seamus Heaney, James Joyce, and George Bernard Shaw, among others. The library is named after the Honorable John. J. Burns (1901-1957), Massachusetts Superior Court Justice and a member of the Boston College Class of 1921.
Law Library
Opened in 1996 and located on the Boston College Law School campus, the Law Library contains approximately 500,000 volumes covering all major areas of American law and primary legal materials from the federal government, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United Nations, and the European Union. The library also features a substantial treatise and periodical collection and a growing collection of international and comparative law material. The library’s Coquillette Rare Book Room houses works from the fifteenth through nineteenth centuries, including works by and about Saint Thomas More.
Social Work Library
The Social Work Library serves the academic and research needs of the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work. Established in 1936, the library moved to its present location in 1968 and underwent extensive renovation in 1996.
Education Library
The Educational Resource Library is located in Campion Hall, where it shares quarters with and serves the academic and research needs of the Lynch School of Education.
Newton Library
The Newton Library serves the undergraduate residents of Newton Campus, primarily first-year students. It is nicknamed “the morgue” both because of its absolute silence and its location in the basement of Trinity Chapel.
Weston Library
The Weston Library houses a specialized collection of earth sciences, seismology, geology, and geophysics and is located at BC’s Weston Observatory.
Journals, Publications and Media
Campus publications and media
Academic journals and scholarly publications
Student media
- BCTV, a student run cable television station
- The Boston College Observer, a right-leaning student newspaper
- The Boston Collegian, a humor and parody magazine
- Elements, the undergraduate research journal
- The Heights, the principal student newspaper, established in 1919
- Naked Singularity, a left-leaning art, literary, and editorial magazine
- The Boston College Patriot, a left-leaning student newspaper
- The Stylus, the undergraduate art and literature magazine, founded in 1883
- Sub Turri , the Boston College yearbook, published since 1913
- WZBC, 90.3 FM, a student-run radio station which provides independent and experimental music
Athletics
Boston College teams are called The Eagles. The BC mascot is an eagle named Baldwin, derived from the bald head of the eagle and the word 'win'. The school colors are maroon and gold. The fight song, "For Boston!," was composed by T.J. Hurley, Class of 1885. Principal athletic facilities include Alumni Stadium (capacity: 44,500), Conte Forum (8,606), Kelley Rink (7,884), Shea Field, the Newton Soccer Complex and the Flynn Recreation Complex. The Yawkey Athletics Center is scheduled to open in the spring of 2005. BC students compete in 33 varsity sports, as well as a number of club and intramural teams. Boston College's Athletics program has been named to the College Sports Honor Roll as one of the nation's top 20 athletic programs by U.S. News and World Report (March 18, 2002).
A founding member of the Big East Conference, the Eagles will move to the Atlantic Coast Conference on July 1, 2005.
Basketball
Though not a traditional powerhouse in basketball, Boston College has seen increasing success on the court and garnered growing national media attention in recent years. The men's team holds a winning record of over 70% in the 21st Century, has gone on to post-season tournament play in 4 of the past 5 seasons, and won the 2001 Big East championship. The women's team won the 2004 Big East championship and has played in the NCAA tournament in 6 of the past 8 seasons. The 2004-2005 campaign has been particularly notable for the men's team, with a school- and Big East-record breaking 20-0 start and the highest national ranking in school history.
Football
Football at Boston College can be traced to the 1884 founding of the "Boston College Athletic Club" and the first series of interclass games held on the James Street Fields in Boston's South End. In 1892, President Edward Devit, SJ, grudgingly agreed to the requests of two undergraduates—Joseph F. O'Connell, of the class of 1893, and Joseph Drum, of the class of 1894—to start a varsity football team. Drum would become the first head coach, albeit an unpaid position. O'Connell was captain. On October 26, 1893, BC played its first official game against the St. John's Literary Institue of Cambridge followed by its first intercollegiate game against MIT. BC won the first game 4-0, but lost 6-0 to MIT. Two of the original team's alumni had particularly significant careers: Lineman John Douglass became the first BC graduate to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and running back James Carlin became president of Holy Cross, a nearby Jesuit college in Worcester, Massachusetts.
In 1896, Boston College and Holy Cross began what would become one of the most storied rivalries in college football. For much of the 20th century, BC-HC was simply known as "The Rivalry " and drew some of New England's largest sports crowds. In 1913, BC began playing home games at Alumni Field . To accomodate larger crowds, the Holy Cross game was routinely held at larger venues off campus, with the 1916 matchup taking place at the newly constructed Fenway Park. A record 54,000 attended the 1922 game at Braves Field, home of the Boston Braves baseball team. The series was terminated by Holy Cross in 1986, after BC had won 17 of the last 20 games.
BC football feats over the past century have included 16 bowl appearences, one National Championship and Doug Flutie's legendary "Hail Mary" Pass, which helped earn him the Heisman Trophy in 1984.
Today Boston College's football team is consistently ranked in the nation's top 25, finishing the 2004-2005 season at #21. BC holds the current national record for consecutive bowl appearances and has won a postseason bowl game in each of the past five years, including a win over North Carolina in the 2004 Continental Tire Bowl. BC footballers routinely rank #1 in the country for best graduation rate and were ranked 6th nationally in Student-Athlete GPA for 2004-05. The Eagles finished the 2004 season in a four-way tie atop the Big East in their last season in the conference.
Boston College postseason bowl history
Note: The year indicates the season, as some bowl games are played in early January of the following calendar year.
- 1940 Cotton Bowl - Clemson 6, Boston College 3
- 1941 Sugar Bowl - Boston College 19, Tennessee 13 National Champions
- 1943 Orange Bowl - Alabama 37, Boston College 21
- 1982 Tangerine Bowl - Auburn 33, Boston College 26
- 1983 Liberty Bowl - Notre Dame 19, Boston College 18
- 1985 Cotton Bowl - Boston College 45, Houston 28
- 1986 Hall of Fame Bowl - Boston College 27, Georgia 24
- 1993 Hall of Fame Bowl- Tennessee 38, Boston College 23
- 1994 Carquest Bowl - Boston College 31, Virginia 13
- 1994 Aloha Bowl - Boston College 12, Kansas State 7
- 1999 Insight.com Bowl - Colorado 62, Boston College 28
- 2000 Aloha Bowl - Boston College 31, Arizona State 17
- 2001 Music City Bowl - Boston College 20, Georgia 16
- 2002 Motor City Bowl - Boston College 51, Toledo 25
- 2003 San Francisco Bowl - Boston College 35, Colorado State 21
- 2004 Continental Tire Bowl - Boston College 37, North Carolina 24
Hockey
BC's men's ice hockey team has long been considered one of the best programs in the nation. Three BC head coaches rank among the winningest coaches in NCAA history, including Len Ceglarski and the legendary John "Snooks" Kelley , after whom BC's rink is named. With over 700 wins, Jerry York , BC'67, is the winningest active coach in the NCAA. Under his leadership, BC has maintained a #1 ranking for most of the 2004-2005 season. In 2004 BC won the coveted Beanpot, an annual tournament between Boston College, Boston University, Harvard University and Northeastern University. BC last won a national championship in hockey in 2001. Recent BC alumni who have gone on to play in the NHL include Brian Gionta and Brian Leetch.
Boston College has won national championships in hockey in 1949 and 2001.
BC won the regular season tournament in Hockey East in 2005, 2001, 1999, 1998, 1990, 1987, and the ECAC regular season tournament in 1978 and 1965.
The hockey team won the Hockey East regular season crown in 2005, 2003, 2001, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1987, 1986, 1985, and the ECAC title in 1980.
BC has won the Beanpot 13 times, second only to BU. They won in in 2004, 2001, 1983, 1976, 1965, 1964, 1963, 1961, 1959, 1957, 1956, and 1954.
Boston College People
Related articles
External links
