Boston College

The Boston Globe highlights Boston College's Messina College (which used to be Pine Manor College) as some small New England schools are forced to close while others merge with larger universities in the area. https://bit.ly/SmallColleges_BG052726

Everywhere she goes, the celebrated actor, comedian, podcaster, and BC alumna Amy Poehler '93 attracts attention. Somehow, though, she escaped nearly unnoticed while visiting the Heights this past spring...Nearly.

Boston College Magazine retells the story of the three members of My Mother's Fleabag who made it their mission to meet the famous comedian.

Amy Poehler ’93 Tours BC Campus with Sons When My Mother’s Fleabag members Ella Lowe ’26, Saige Joseph ’28, and Mary Gormly ’29 learned that Poehler would be visiting the Heights, they made it their mission to meet the famous comedian.

MLB celebrates Lou Gehrig Day every June 2. This year, former Boston College Baseball players Blake Butera '15 (Washington Nationals manager) and Sal Frelick '22 (Milwaukee Brewers outfielder) wore custom cleats honoring Pete Frates '07, the co-creator of the Ice Bucket Challenge, and championing the cause to Strike Out ALS.

June 2 was chosen as Lou Gehrig Day because it's the date Gehrig became the Yankees' starting first baseman in 1925 and the day he passed from ALS in 1941. It's one of only three league-wide tribute days. Every major leaguer wears a custom No. 4 decal and red '4-ALS' wristband.

“I talk about teaching as a conversation. It’s not a monologue.”

Professor Mark Brodin, a Michael & Helen Lee Distinguished Scholar and former Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, retired after more than four decades of teaching at Boston College Law School. He was an expert in civil procedure, employment discrimination, and litigation.

Brodin’s Farewell Beloved professor retires after over four decades of teaching at BC Law.

Daniel Ponsetto, the inaugural Welles Remy Crowther Director of the Volunteer & Service Learning Center, is retiring after 30 years of service on the Heights.

His accomplishments include creating the BC BIGS program, through which students serve as mentors to Boston-area youths; launching the Welles Remy Crowther Red Bandanna 5K, a signature campus event that draws upwards of 1,500 registrants each year; and being instrumental in the success of BC’s annual Relay for Life fundraising event for the American Cancer Society.

"I initially came to BC as a campus minister and spent eight years working with wonderful colleagues and students on projects including retreats, liturgies, pastoral accompaniment, social justice initiatives, and service projects. Then I was invited to direct the newly created Volunteer & Service Learning Center, through an endowed position named in honor of Welles Crowther, who had lost his life while saving others on 9/11. Imagine the privilege it has been to be aligned in any way with Welles, and to come to know, love, and work with the Crowther family over several years.

🔗 https://on.bc.edu/DPonsetto

The winner of four consecutive USA Triathlon collegiate national titles, as well as its inaugural Alexander Award for excellence in academics and athletics, Hailey Poe '26 is pursuing an M.S. in Sports Administration at Boston College - Woods College of Advancing Studies to help her advance the next generation of young women.

READ MORE: https://bit.ly/HPoe_NCAA041726

David Buckley will direct The Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life effective this summer. He comes from the University of Louisville, where he was the associate professor of political science and Paul Weber Endowed Chair in Politics, Science, and Religion.

David Buckley named director of the Boisi Center The scholar of religion and politics will join the Political Science Department this summer

Leo Tolstoy’s 'War and Peace' may be regarded as one of the greatest novels in world literature, but not everyone is a fan.

The book checks in at more than 580,000 words and 365 chapters—one for each day of the year. Some readers complain about having to keep track of its numerous characters, many of whom they consider unlikeable, uninteresting, and unrelatable. Critics say the novel’s reputation as a literary masterpiece can make readers feel compelled to appreciate it,and frustrated when they’re unable to do so.

So, in an era when the college-age generation is reading less, what professor in their right mind would want to include War and Peace in a course?

Boston College faculty members Nicole Eaton and Thomas Epstein have made Tolstoy’s tome the focus of a paired set of courses being taught this semester through the University Core Curriculum’s Enduring Questions sequence.

Eaton, an associate professor of history, and Epstein, a professor of the practice in the Classical Studies Department, teach 'War and Peace': History and Literary Truths from their respective disciplines. The classes are held back-to-back on the same days, with the same students in each. Eaton and Epstein also gather with the students four times during the semester for reflection sessions to integrate the courses’ contents with their lived experiences.

Despite its Napoleonic Wars-era setting, the two faculty members explain, War and Peace raises timeless, fundamental, and relevant questions about human existence.

“War and Peace offers the chance to sustain one’s attention for a lengthy text that presumed a very different reading audience in a very different time,” Eaton explained. “Right up front, we talk about the challenge the book presents, that we want them to read the printed version, rather than scrolling it on their phones or computer—and that they should find a quiet place to read.”

“War and Peace simply defies description: Referring to it as a ‘19th-century novel’ is so inadequate,” said Epstein. “It was a groundbreaking poly-stylistic work that went well beyond the standards of 19th-century literature. Therefore, the book is especially useful in exploring how closely related the disciplines of history and literature are, and how they each transform our experiences into stories.”

🔗 https://on.bc.edu/48G2yfX

Boston College Law School School Professor Thomas W. Mitchell has been appointed to the Mass. Board of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws by Governor Maura Healey.

Governor Appoints Mitchell to Bolster State Commission Mass. Uniform Law Commission to benefit from decades of expertise.