Boston College magazine

84 Pages·1993·9.9 MB·English

by  Boston College. Office of Communications

ALSO: MOLLY MACREE'S SILENCE / JOHN HENRY NEWMAN'S WORDS
Boston College
magazine
My
TOWN
THE PLACE
WE COME FROM
—
.
PROLOGUE
R.I.P.
The EastNewYorkthatIknewwas often to eat our refrigerator clean and ways live within walking distance of
a two-square mile puddle of listen totheBoleroonthe recordplayer. each other. They are equally aston-
middle- and working-class conformity Though a tragic figure, Mr. Friedman ishedwhenItell themthatfromtheage
atthe farendoftheIRTelevated line at was secure in his impressive beliefthat ofnine or so I had freedom to mount
the northeast edge ofBrooklyn, beside hewas the reincarnation ofboth Edgar my Schwinn on a summer morn and
JamaicaBay.IfBrooklynwastheU.S.A. Allan Poe and the 17th-centuryheretic disappear until supper, and no one
(as I believed it was), then East New philosopherandsuicideUrieldaCosta. worried or compelled me to leave a
York was its geogra—phical and anthro- East New York was settled by the telephonemessageeachtimeIchanged
pological Maine remote, quietly Dutch during da Costa's lifetime. Lo- location. When you live in a place
hunched over the ocean, and a place cal legend was that it almost became haunted by three generations of your
you didn't end up in unless you had theirmainsettlementonLongIsland family on both sides, you travel, like it
good reason. a circumstance, I liked to imagine, that or not, in a spotlight. I could as easily
I had the best: I was born there, and would eventually have placed the Em- have come to unobserved harm in my
I stayed until I was 15 when, in good pire State Building at the corner of bathtub as on the streets.
American fashion, we moved "up" to
East Flatbush, a few miles away, where It was already ailing, though, MyEastNewYorkcame to an end
thehouseswerenewer,thestreetswider circa 1965, notlongafterwe left.
and the back yards patioed. East New with the terribleyearningfor What immediately killed it was what
Yorkisnotthe onlyplaceI've everlost, the split ranch, the cul-de-sac, did in more than a few similar places.
but it was the first. "After the first the blacktop drive, the quarter The banks red-lined it, and there fol-
neighborhood,"asthepoetalmostsaid, — lowed an unseemlypanic over the con-
"there is no other." acre lawn the coming sequences of racial integration. It was
East New York had everything ex- American thing. It knew it alreadyailing, though,withthe terrible
cept, as it turned out, a future. All the was done as the ice wagon, yearningforthesplitranch, the cul-de-
processes of life could be negotiated sac, the blacktop drive, the quarteracre
within the wallpapered rooms of its and died quietly. lawn—the coming American thing. It
attached houses and in its shops identi- knew itwas done as the ice wagon, and
fied by family names. It had its very Pennsylvania and Livonia (Livonyer), died quietly.
famous alumnus (Danny Kaye), and a where Wasserman's Luggage stood. InretrospectIknowIhadthe bestof
Mafia gang that once kidnapped my Dutchurbanplanning,however,spared the place. I left just as it was beginning
grandfather because he couldn't make Wasserman's and leftEastNewYorka to feel to me like something I would
the protection payments on his failing farming village until early in the 20th need to escape. I never thought that it
candy store. Grandma secured his re- century,whenthehuddledmasses,ach- wouldnotbe there ifIshould everwant
lease bygoingtothe chieftain'smother ing to escape crowds and shadow on to return.
—
and reasoning with her matriarch to the Lower East Side and in Hell's Mr. Friedman was among the few
matriarch. It had a doo-wop quartet Kitchen and Little Italy, turned it al- who stayed behind. He was stabbed to
that harmonized for nickels beneath most overnight into a neighborhood. death in the early 1970s in the local
My
thePennsylvania(Pennsylvanyer,tothe grandparentsonbothsideswere cemetery, beside a grave he was con-
natives)Avenue elevatedstation,which amongtherefugees,asaresultofwhich vinced contained the remains of a de-
sounds too quaint to be true but was I not only came to be but grew up scendantofda Costa. He died wrapped
true and entirely unquaint at the time. within walking distance oftheir apart- inhisdreams. Scattered toseparate and
And like every rooted place, it had its ments as well as the homes of aunts, distantplaces,welivedon,chasingours.
—
madfolk. We shared with several fami- unclesandcousins circumstancesthat Our story on five American home-
lies in the wardship of Mr. Friedman, seem astonishing to my children, in towns begins on page 2 1
tall and gaunt, who appeared every so whose social circle parents don't al- Ben Bhnbaimi
*»
Boston College
ft
magazine
Thoroughly modern Newman 17
SUMMER 1993
VOLUME 52 NUMBER 3
By Philip C. Rule, SJ
A century after his death, John Henry Newman's idea of the
EDITOR
Ben Birnbaum university still grounds Catholic colleges, while his theological
Brooklyn, New York views, once revolutionary, have proven prophetic.
DESIGN DIRECTOR
Jana Spacek
Prague, Czechoslovakia
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
BruceMorgan My hometown 21
Columbus, Ohio
SENIOR WRITER
John Ombelets It's the place we all come from. The innocent place. The place of
Ridgewood, NewJersey porches and white picket fences. The place we never tire of
SENIOR DESIGNER imagining. The place we left behind. Five American hometowns,
Susan Callaghan SaugustoSiouxCity, byjan Wojcik'68,JohnAgresto '68,Michael
Cleveland, Ohio Tom
Antrobus '88, William B. Neenan, SJ, and Sheehan '56.
UNIVERSITY PHOTOGRAPHERS
GaryGilbert
Providence, Rhodeisland
GeoffreyWhy '88
SanJose, California The silence of Molly Macree 34
CONTRIBUTING STAFF
Sandra Howe '89
Medfield,Massachusetts ByMargaretMacCurtain, OP
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD There's a sub-tale hidden in the idealized textofthis 19th-century
Man' Boys, SNJM; Adele Dalsimer; genrepaintingoftheIrishcolleen.It'sastoryofmurderousfamine,
Patricia McNabb Evans '74; David social upheaval and survival.
Hollenbach, SJ; Karen Kalbacher '82;
RichardKeelcy;JamesG.McGahay'63;
ThomasO'Connor'49, MA'50; Elaine
Pinderhughes;G«orgcRyan'51,MA'53;
MauraKingScully'88;John F.Wissler
'57,MBA72.
BostonCollegeMagazineispublishedquar-
terly(Fall,Winter,Spring,Summer)by
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BostonCollege,with editorialofficesat
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keting,[phone].FAX:(617)552-
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postagepaidatBoston,Mass.,andaddi- Letters 2 46
atidodnraelssmacihlainnggesoftfoicOefsf.icPeosotfmPausbtleirc:atsieonnds LindenLane 3 Works and Days 49
&ChePsrtinnuttMHairlkle,tMinAg,02112627.College Road, News&Notes 10 Alumnotes / NW-{ /HA
/Ad/I
Copyright ©1993 Trustees of Boston Sports 14 (follows page 24)
College.PrintedinU.S.A.Allpublication
rightsreserved. Advancement 40 iasLv^
Opinions expressed in Boston College Research 42
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uted free ofcharge to alumni, faculty,
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Research p 42
I
LETTERS
Boston re-education The ice-pick stabbing was an anomaly, an give a balancing view of another Boston
Why
isolatedbarbarousincident. recountit education.Shewroteofherschooling:"The
NatHentoff["ABostoneducation,"Spring as if it were commonplace? And why at- Hyde was an all-girls school forgrades one
1993] indicts Boston'sentire Irish Catholic tribute it to Boston Irish Catholics? Mr. through eight. The facultywas also female
communitybecause ofthe bad acts ofa few Hentoffventuresforthon averydangerous and bore the names of Foley, Furlong,
of its members. He singles out the radio path when he imputes to an ethnic group McDonough,Sullivan,O'Neil,andCurran.
broadcasts ofFr. Charles Coughlin ofDe- and religious body the vile and vicious I reasoned that Irish women liked to teach
troit and unjustly implies they character- act ofone deranged soul. and other women did not ... It never
ized Catholic thinking. Mr. Hentoff himself recounts no anti- occurred to my Irish-Catholic grammar
Mr. Hentoffomitsfromhisstorysalient Semitic meetings ofBoston's Irish Catho- school teachers that they could not teach
facts: that the Catholic Church hierarchy lics, the very persons who he alleges were black children. Their confidence carried
officially rebuked Coughlin and in 1942 instructing their sons at the nightly dinner them into blackneighborhoodswhere they
ordered him to cease all non-religious ac- table to raid theJewish "ghetto." practiced their art with missionary zeal."
tivities; that Boston's Cardinal O'Connell, Mr. Hentoff builds a case for rampant
as early as 1932, denounced Coughlin's anti-Semitism on flimsy evidence. Boston CHARLESF.DONOVAN,SJ,'33
bigotry; and that Pope Pius XI publicly College Magazine does a disservice to Bos- Boston College
denouncedanti-Semitism. Sadly, hismem- ton, to Catholics and tothe Irishwho lived
oir dwells on the demagoguery of Fr. andgrewupinthe 1940s, when itpublishes Nat Hentoff refers to a legend about a
Coughlin and records nothing ofthe mag- without critique this distorted version of certain large house on Elm Hill Avenue,
nanimity of Church leaders like Bishop history. This memoirperpetuates theviru- "the home ofa formermayor, a man by the
Fulton Sheen. name ofMansfield, who apparentlywas an
J. lent anti-Catholic, anti-Irish drivel that
Itisironicthathecastigatesthe Church oozes from too many journalists' pens to- authentic Protestant." I was associated in
for its alleged silence, while he is silent on day and that pretends to pass as legitimate thepracticeoflawwithFrederickMansfield
exculpatoryfacts.Hesayshewas"battered" history. for three years. Hewas mayorofBoston in
by the Irish, but also "lifted" by them. Yet 1935-1936 and an arch opponent ofJames
he makes no such conciliatory gesture to- WILLIAMM.CONNOLLY'67 M.Curleyallhislife.NotonlywasFrederick
ward the Catholic Church; his indictment Newton, Massachusetts Mansfield not a Protestant, he was then
ofthe Catholic Church in Boston remains legal counsel to the Roman CatholicArch-
unqualified.Hismemoirisnotonlyinaccu- As onewh—o likeNatHentoffhad a Boston bishopofBoston,acorporationsole,whoat
rate, it is unfair. education born and raised in Dorchester, that time was Archbishop Cushing.
—
He recalls how "some ofthe wild Irish attended Boston Latin as did Hentoff
boys came calling to punish us 'Christ kill- am pained by his pain inflicted by Boston JAMESJ.MORAN'54,JD'49
ers'"; "bands of Irish youths raged along Irish boys. I'm afraid, however, some read- Prairie Village, Kansas
ElmHillAvenueharassingandbeating";he ers might conclude from his account that
waspunchedinthemouth,apparentlybyan Boston had nothing butJew-beating Irish Jesuits, and all that jazz
Irish youth; and "one kid up the block Catholics. In my dayand Hentoffs abouta
. . .
had an ice pick driven into his head." By third of the boys at Latin School were Let the word go forth. The Mass is the
whom he does not say. Jewish and a third Catholic. Since he men- holiest and most solemn act ofworship in
He fails to consider these facts. From tions no violence suffered from Irish stu- the history of man. And in parts of the
time immemorial, in all cities, some mis- dents at Latin School, I assume that in his chaotic world it continues so. Since you
guidedyouths have done and saidcruel and sixyearsatLatinSchoolMr.Hentoffrubbed bebopping,liberatedjesuitsandReeboked,
bigotedthings.Excusable?No!Memorable? shoulders with scores and scores of civil denim-cladstudents["Sundaybest,"Spring
Hardly!WildIrishyouthsroamedthestreets Catholic boys from all parts ofthe city. It's 1993] don'twantitthatway,giveitup. Play
and fought other Irish youths, and wild a shame that his Latin School experience it straight, turn to football, the new mys-
Italian youths did too, and there were wild did not temper or in some measure offset tique.Just don't go to church.
youthsofeveryethnicbackground in every hisunhappyElmHillAvenuerecollections.
neighborhood. Fist-fights were a common Adifferent minority perception ofIrish BERNARDMCCABE,'28
occurrence in the 1940s and 1950s. I know Catholicswasgiven inyourpagesfiveyears South Yarmouth, Massachusetts
offewyouths who grew up in the city then ago, in Amanda Houston's recollection of
who were not punched in the mouth. Sad, growingup in theblackcommunityofBos-
buttrue! Sadderstilltobuildacaseofethnic ton, at roughly the same time that Mr. t"eBrsCMm"uswteblecsoimgensedlettotberespfurbolmisrheeaddaernsd.mLaety-
and religious bigotry out of the normal Hentoffrecalls("Beneath the El," Summer be edited for clarity and length. #
rough and tumble of 940surban America. 1988). A few sentences from her memoirs
1
2 BOSTONCOLLEGEMAGAZINE
LINDEN LANE
The
ink dynasty
For the past 68 years, a Healy has had the
job of hand-lettering BC diplomas
ByJohn Ombelets
When
youngLeanderHealy'22, first From those early days, the precise, graceful
began hand-lettering Boston Col- pen-and-ink work that adorns tens of thou-
lege diplomas, Bapst Library was sands of BC degrees has been the exclusive
still under construction, the Law School did preserve ofthe Healy family.
not exist and the first woman to earn a degree Healy became the Boston College calligra-
fromtheUniversity,MargaretUrsulaMagrath, pher after quitting his job as a carpet designer
was a year away from her MA. and travelingsalesman for a Connecticut firm.
LeanderHealyletteredMissMagrath'sname Leander already had wielded a pen as a car-
onto the diploma she received in 1926, his toonist for the Stylus. When he noticed in a
second year as Boston College's calligrapher. newspaper advertisement that Boston College
BOSTONCOLLEGEMAGAZINE 3
LINDEN LANE
was seeking a diploma scribe, he saw an motto, the University seal and the
opportunity to move into a line ofwork president's signature, had arrived at his
If • easier on the shoe leather. home inJanuary. By early April, Healy
Hfc ^SSm He formed L.G. Healy & Co. that has run the 19-inch-by-15-inch rect-
^^ same year, with an office in Dooley angles of rag parchment through his
^-C^**"""' Square, Boston. Later, after the busi- own press, mechanically imprinting
ness had grown (at one time, Leander them in scripttype with the appropriate
was lettering diplomas for Boston Col- degrees and commencement date.
''"// -•3BB2s",i lege, BUandtheCambridgeandBoston His last act, the touch that evokes his
public schools, in addition to designing artistry, is the actual hand-lettering of
and printing greeting cards), he would each individual name plus any academic
often bringhis sonJames in after school honors.
and on weekends to help out with ship- Healy offers a quick demonstration
ping and other office chores. this April day. The Old English script
Whether it was that experience, or a customized by Leander Healy for Bos-
Wealy is on call simplematterofgeneticflow,JimHealy ton College is beautifully simple and
—
through commence- '59, found that he wanted to keep the exact and it takesJim Healy no more
inking of BC diplomas in the family. "I than a minute to inscribe a blank di-
ment weekend
to neverhad anyformal arttraining. Iused ploma. First, he produces a wood laptop
correct any last- to doodle a lot in my classes at Boston desk he picked up at a yard sale some-
minute mistakes or Latin Academy, and I always tried to where, opens it and pulls out a ruler, an
copy my father's style," he relates. Jim ordinary No. 2 pencil, a bottle ofblack
omissions. In almost
Healy began lettering diplomas while India ink and a stubby cartridge-style
30years, no error working for another printer, then took fountainpen. Hedrawsfaintpencilrules
ofconsequence has over L.G. Healy & Co. from his father on the diploma, using a practiced eye to
in 1964. center them beneath the Latin "Salutem
gotten past his system
Today, Healy's talents find constant in Domino."
—
ofdouble and and varied outlet. He paints original Next, gripping his pen filled with a
—
watercolors, illustrates books and, like 50-50 mixture oftap water and ink he
triple checks.
his father, designs and prints his own hunches over the parchment like a
mail-order greeting cards. But each Dickensianclerk. Secondslater, heleans
spring, when the Boston College back, and there is a Boston College
registrar's office sends him the list of Artium Baccalaureatwn degree, ?nagna
Maygraduates, Healyis readyto devote cum laude, for William F. Buckley. The
the better part of two months to the final bitofworkis delicatelyto erase the
painstaking job at hand. pencil rules.
Itismid-April,aboutmidwaythrough Littleaboutthediploma-letteringbusi-
the schedule, and Healy has just deliv- ness has changed since his father's day,
ered the last ofsome 1,450 Class of'93 Healyadmits. "Thereare,"hesayswith a
bachelor's degrees. As soon as he re- chuckle, "no electronic aids" in lettering
turns home to Dennis, Massachusetts, diplomas. "Icandoabout20anhour, and
he will starton the BS, graduate and law after two or three hours, I have to getup
degrees, working, as always, at his din- and clearmyeyes. Butonce Istart [atthe
ing room table. A professorial-looking job], I'll normally work at it every day
man with a close-trimmed gray beard until it'sfinished. Itrytokeeptoa sched-
and mustache, Healywill inscribe about ule, and ifI'm lagging behind, I'll put in
3,400 Boston College diplomas before more hours at night."
he is done for the spring. By compari- Those hoursextendrightupthrough
son, in Leander Healy's first year he commencement weekend, when Healy
lettered204diplomas, includinghonor- is on call to correct any last-minute
ary doctorates and graduate degrees. mistakesoromissions.Inalmost3 years,
Boxes of "blanks," preprinted with no error ofconsequence has gotten past
the Latin phrases ofacademia, the eagle his system ofdouble and triple checks.
clutchingthebannerinscribedwithBC's Thepleasuresofcalligraphyaresmall
4 BOSTONCOLLEGEMAGAZINE
—
and fleeting.There is"a kind ofsatisfac- "The Verdict," Paul Newman played a BC diploma scribe. But when he does
tion," says Healy, in starting with a pile fictitious BC Law graduate named decide to quit, there just might be a
of blank diplomas on one side of his Francis Xavier Galvin, a down-and-out third-generation Healyreadytopickup
diningtable, and seeing itslowlydimin- Boston attorney. Although Newman's the pen.
ish, while the pile of finished diplomas characterendsupprevailinginthemovie, "My daughter Jennifer is entering
grows. Healyparticularlyenjoyshisrole the diploma does not; Newman rips it her junior year at the Massachusetts
as calligrapher-to-the-stars: inscribing offhisofficewall and smashes itin arage College ofArt," says Healy. "Shewould
thenamesoftheannual recipientsofBC of self-loathing. "I never thought I'd like to teach art eventually, but she's
honorary degrees. enjoyseeingmyworkdestroyed,"Healy been doing some very nice things with
A few years ago, his handiwork even laughs. calligraphy. Itwouldbe easierto hand it
made it (briefly) to the silver screen. In He has no plans to end his tenure as to someone in the family."
friend, a teacher, a colleague or a family
member."
All 250 seats were taken by the time
the service began, and people were still
edging in at the back ofthe room. Ama-
teur calligrapher (and associate profes-
sor of theology) Charles Hefling, Jr.,
stood atthe door, readyto add names to
a ledger-size book of remembrance.
Between 20 and 30 people took advan-
tage ofthe opportunity. When added to
the official roster ofcommunity names
Mourners
alreadyinplace, thenumberofrecorded
deaths totaled 100.
Audience members were variously
dressedincut-offsanddresses,tee-shirts
At the first annual service for departed members of the BC community, and funereal suits the color ofcharcoal.
a standing-room-only crowd joins together to pray, Some gripped their neighbors' hands
for supportand swallowed hard, butthe
to reflect and to seek a healing grace
mood in the room was even-tempered,
even cheerful. After a well-sung hymn
By Bruce Morgan
ortwo, and several readings from Scrip-
ture,Associate Dean for StudentDevel-
May
5, 1993. The day was lain Kerry Maloney, who helped the opmentAnnMorgan deliveredahomily
windy and warm, with rock Chaplaincyplan theevent. But, shegoes drawn from her recent experience with
music drifting up from the on tosay, thisyear'stotal of"upwards of the death ofa friend.
Dustbowl. A lawnmower droned in the 70" deaths(countingfamilymembersof While visitinghersisterin San Fran-
distance.InsideGassonHall 100,acurved students) somehow felt like more than cisco last Christmas, Morgan had the
massoffoldingchairsfacedthetallleaded the average figure it was. idea to look up one of her high school
windows that, slightlyajar, gave a taste of In particular, the successive deathsof teachers, "a nun no longer a nun," who
spring.TheinauguralUniversityMemo- two seniors—JayMcGillis (who died in was then 82 years old. The two women
rial Service, or "Liturgy of Remem- July of leukemia); Jeffrey Landwerk spent a happy couple ofhours together,
brance," was about to begin. (August, following a head injury); and laughing and reminiscing about old
Not surprisingly, loss of life on a junior Marc Maffei (November, in a times.
—
campus the size of Boston College work-related accident) had stunned Morgan continued: "I senthera book
with its sprawling human community the campus. As Fr. Anthony Penna, an andathank-younoteandreceivedabeau-
encompassing 14,000 students, 700 fac- assistant chaplain, explains, "The ser- tiful letter back. The following week,
ulty members and a staff more than vice offers the University another op- Frances was pushing a cart through a
—
twice that size is predictable and rou- portunitytoexpressitsongoingconcern supermarket and she suffered a heart at-
tine. "This is a big place, and a lot of especially for those among us who tack and died. That meeting that we had
. . .
people die," concedes Assistant Chap- continue to feel the loss of a student togetherwas meantto be forboth ofus. I
BOSTONCOLLEGEMAGAZINE 5
=
LINDEN LANE
realizedthatwhatIwasreallytheretosay out.Theserviceapparentlyhadanswered ofthe Holy Spirit in September, at bac-
to Frances was, 'I will never forget you.' a deep emotional need, she suggested. calaureate ceremonies in May and at all
" Ourhuman condition hasus bound Although small groups do gather on a subsequent liturgies of remembrance,
—
to time," Morgan suggested. "We are regular basis a grief support group slated to occur annually in late spring.
notforevertooneanotherinourearthly meets everyThursday night, and week- "For the University, the service is a
life ... In this room this afternoon we end retreats that explore personal loss way to remember that we are indeed a
—
share together the pain of this human are scheduled perhaps twice ayear the community," says Maloney. "Being at
condition which leaves us empty and spiritual net attuned to mourning had BC often feels to a lot of folks like just
hurting when people we love leave us." never, before now, been cast so wide. being at any large, impersonal institu-
Candles, held by audience members, Maloney pointed out that after the tion. But at our bestwe are a University
flickered the length ofthe rows. With a ceremonywascompletedsomein atten- thatexercises thatwonderfulJesuitcare
slow,stately swingofthethurible,Chap- dance lingered for a long time, each for people. The liturgy is about not
lain Robert Braunreuther, SJ, released photographing a name in the Book of letting this place become a bureau-
—
incense and blessed three burlap- Remembrance. Overthe years to come, cracy aboutkeepingita spiritualcom-
wrapped trees that members of the se- the book will circulate at three ceremo- munity. It'sasystematicwaytoattendto
—
nior class had purchased to mark the nial occasions on campus at the Mass the pain that's around us all the time."
passing of Landwerk, Maffei and
McGillis. (The trees were planted in a
cluster on the western side of Carney Concerted
Hall the next morning, to become a effort
leafyon-campusmemorial. Similarly,at
the end ofthe service, each participant
received a gladiolus bulb to plant at While known for its communal traditions, Boston College has never
home.)
made much of Homecoming Weekend. A small army of
An opportunity to pray aloud in
memory ofsomeone dear and departed alumni and staff is out to change that
left more than a few in tears. "I pray in
thanksgiving for my father Anthony, ByJohn Ombelets
who gave me the gift oflife," a man on When
the other side of the room began, his Rutgers launched its proceeds going to support the general
voicebreakinghalfwaythrough.Asmall Homecoming Weekend in scholarship fund. It is also an elegant
cascade oftributes followed, sometimes November 1930,ittookone indoor picnic (black-tie optional), with
rushed,sometimeschokedback,inhonor advertisement in the alumni magazine gourmetboxedsuppersforall,andcham-
offamily members, professors, friends: to set "a sort offall reunion of Rutgers pagne for those occupying the high-
"forbeinga master teacher" . . . "forher men" in motion. The floats and bands priced seats on the Forum floor. And it
generosity" . . . "his humor" . . . "for our have rolled through New Brunswick, is an attempt to fill a gap in tradition at
son who gave us 20 years of the joy of NewJersey, streets one weekend every a university that cleaves to communal
—
life." The sound of the voices over- autumn ever since. customs ofall kinds, butnone related to
—
lapped, heartfelt, ringing was as Turning an event into a campus tra- Homecoming weekends.
soothing as spring rain. dition todayis notquite so easy.Justask The Alumni Association encourages
Susan Matula '94, a friend of Marc BC Trustee James F. Cleary '50. Or classes to hold their own Homecoming
Maffei's, felt grateful for the liturgy. Events and Programs Director Karen gatherings, says assistant director Al
"We were able to end [the year] with a Kelly '82. Or any other soldier in the Quebec. There are pre- and post-game
lot of other people who were going smallarmyoftrustees, fund-raisers,ath- cocktail parties, Quebec adds, butnoth-
through the same thoughts and feelings letics staffers, alumni, chefs and electri- ing on the scale of the 7,000 patrons
we were. Normally, life is so hectic, cians involved in getting Pops on the envisioned for Pops
you're going along day-to-day, and it's HeightsoffthegroundasariteofHome- on the Heights.
justnotappropriatetothinkaboutpeople coming Weekend at BC. UniversityHisto-
who have died, or to talk about them. It The "Boston College Scholarship rian Charles Don-
helpstobeinaroomfullofotherpeople, Gala," as it'sbilled, will feature the Bos- ovan, SJ, '33, who
so you know you're not alone." ton Pops Orchestra, conducted byJohn recalls"neverattend-
Contacted the next day, Kerry Williams, alongwith the BCChorale, at ing anything on
Homecoming"
Maloney expressed pleasure and sur- Conte Forum on September 24. At its
prise at the standing-room-only turn- heart, it is a fund-raiser, with net ticket Weekend in his 45
6 BOSTONCOLLEGEMAGAZINE
years on campus, theorizes that part of completelydifferentfromanything
the reason forthe historic dearth is geo- we've ever done before. It's giving
graphical.Untilthe 1960s,hesays,"there usachance tocreate ourown mon-
just weren't that many out-of-region ster. It's exciting, but kind ofscary
alumni to come home. BC was solidly a at the same time." Those words
commuterschool until 1950; evenin the were spoken in mid-March, when
decade after 1950, most students hailed Kelly was a flea on a hot plate,
from the Boston area." hopping from one we-need-it-
Undaunted by history, Cleary, who done-yesterday task to another.
conceived of the event last October, Can we assemble a network of
and Kelly (if Cleary 100 students to promote the event
istheconductor,she to their peers, and a committee of
istheorchestra'sfirst alumni to help sell the 1,374 seats
violin) believe the priced at $100? What about orga-
annual concert can nizing Chorale alumni and parents
take hold to help? Will ithelptosell tickets to
.
"Bytyingitintoa parents and students through a P n
football weekend," check-off on tuition bills? What OPS Oh THE hiEIGHTS
Kelly-first violin
Cleary remarks, "I advertising media would be most A BOSTON COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP GALA
hope people will say, 'I want to make effective? "I don'tbelievewe can do SEPTEMBER 24 9 9 3
sureIgotothefootball game, andIwant overkillmarketingthisevent,"mused
to go to the Pops.'" Nothing incongru- Kelly. "We can make wrong deci-
ous about that combination, notes sions, but we can't do too much."
Cleary, who has a seat on the board of Bymid-May, mostoftheseissuewere
the Boston Symphony, and a seaton the resolved, and Kelly pronounced herself
50-yard line in Alumni Stadium. able to relax a little.
Cleary is also chairman of the BC Cleary and a 20-member executive The idea is a natural,
trustees' fund-raising arm, the Devel- committee, including a core of con- Cleary asserts: a high-
opmentCommittee, andwhenhebegan nected alumni, had sold more than 80of
priority causefor the
ruminatinglast fall abouthow to garner the $6,000 packages that are the back-
more dollars for scholarships, his twin boneofthe fund-raisingeffort. Recruit- University combined
—
affections for booming 60-yard punts ing was going well for the "$100 with a casually elegant
and booming renditions of the "1812 committee," the volunteer group pro-
—
Overture" lined up perfectly in his motingthe priciertickets. Adirect-mail event,featuring
mind's eye. pitch was tucked inside the Spring issue Americans best-known
The idea is a natural, Cleary asserts: of this magazine. And returning stu- pops orchestra, and a
a high-priority cause combined with a dents in September will be greeted by BC
football weekend
casually elegant event, featuring residence hall staff decked out in Pops
America's best-known pops orchestra, on the Heights tee-shirts (also for sale, centered around a
and a BC] football weekend centered withhalftheproceedsgoingtothe schol- budding national
around a budding national power. Cer- arship fund).
power.
tain events that have achieved Home- "I think we'll sell the place out," said
comingtraditionstatusatotherschools, Kelly. "People seem enthusiastic about
like the fraternitychariotraces atButler revitalizingHomecoming,especiallythe
University in Indiana, have started with students and younger alumni."
a good deal less. Who knows? In a decade or two,
MakingPopsonthe Heightshappen, perhaps Cleary will be able to say of
however, has not come naturally to all Pops on the Heights what University of
involved. "None of us have experience South Carolina alumni official Laura
putting together an eventthis massive," Moise said recently ofthat school's 40-
says Kelly, who cut her teeth in the year-old Homecoming ritual, a post-
promotions business at Boston-area ra- game tea dance and reception: "It's so
dio and television stations. popular, ifweeverstopped itwe'dprob-
"We're settingup an identity for this ably get hate mail."
BOSTONCOLLEGEMAGAZINE 7
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LINDEN LANE
Loyola, the young Spanish nobleman,
Silver linings
who, after he was wounded in combat
against the French at Pamplona, dra-
matically reshaped his life. Misfortune
Emerson knew it, and so did Ranjit Mazumdar. turned the soon-to-be Ignatius away
In adversity lies opportunity from a life of dissipation to one ofvast
achievement, as the founderoftheJesu-
ByJohnMcAleer its, ultimately crowned with his canoni-
zation.Once,addressingaclassofyoung
priests, on the day oftheir ordination, a
The following has been adapted from an ings. My personal favorite among them renowned 20th-century Jesuit, John
address to 1993's College ofAits and Sci- is the Arctic explorer Viljalmur CourtneyMurray, told them thatin the
encesgraduates. Stefanson. In his old age Stefanson was days just ahead, something would hap-
given an honorary degree by the Uni- pen in the lives of each of them that
Fatherless at four, Ralph Waldo versity ofNorth Dakota. On that occa- would affirm for them that God had
Emerson grewup in an impover- sion North Dakota's president owned, indeed chosen them forHis priesthood.
ishedhouseholdinwhichthefour reluctantly, that60 years earlierthe col- Let me suggest now that, on the secular
brilliant Emerson brothers on occasion lege actually had expelled Stefanson. "I level, before long, each and everyone of
went supperless to bed. Sometimes, for am glad though," he wenton, "to assure you will face
lackoffirewood,theywentwithoutheat. youthatwerarelyexpelstudentstoday." challenges that
Emerson's youngest brother, Edward, At that juncture Stefanson interrupted. will severely test
whowaslatertoleadhisclassatHarvard, "I'm not interested," he said, "in know- your mettle. It
long associated Plato with the smell of ing how manystudents you expel in this will be the way
wool because he read the Dialogues day and age. What I do want to know, that you meet
swaddled in an old cloak, trying to keep however,iswhetherornotyouarekeep- these challenges
warm. Yet neither then nor later was ing up the quality of those whom you thatwill revealto
Emerson staggered by deprivation. expel!" youthetruemea-
O.W. Firkins conjectures, indeed, that DuringWorldWarII, IlivedinIndia sure of your ex-
thebasisforEmerson'sdoctrineofCom- for two years. I well remember how Poe cellence.
pensation(hisconvictionthatforwhatis surprised I was when an Indian mer- Amonthagoastudentenrolled inmy
taken something is given in equal mea- chant presented me with his business "LiteraryBoston"coursebroughttome
sure)waslaiddownthen. EdwardEverett card.Itread: "RanjitMazumdar—Failed a term paper two weeks before it was
Hale concurs, tellingus: "Iwas standing AB." In due course I learned that this due. (Ifirststepped beforeacollegeclass
with Mr. Emerson once, at a college was not unusual. In India, then, to have asateacherin 1947, and in the interven-
exhibition, where a young man had eas- matriculated was so meritorious an ing years I cannot recall that ever hap-
ily taken the most brilliant honors ... I achievement that little of its luster was pening before.) A week later this
congratulated Emerson, as I congratu- forfeited if, subsequently, you flunked student's father died. "Why did you put
latedmyself, onthesuccessofouryoung out.Manya FailedAB, makingthemost yourselfunderso much pressure atsuch
friend: and he said, 'Yes . —. . And now, if ofhissituation,wentontobetterthings. atime?"Isaidwhen nextIsawher. "You
somethingwillfalloutamiss ifhe should One recalls that the famous American couldhavehadanextension.""Ithought
be unpopularwith his class, orhis father journalist Heywood Broun relished re- it was the right thing to do," she said. "I
should fail in business, or ifsome other mindingpeoplethathewasamemberof was brought up to believe that a com-
misfortune can befall him all will be Harvard's famous Class of 1910, and a mitment is a commitment."
welly Even more pointedly, Emerson classmate ofT.S. Eliot,John Reed and A score ofyears ago I had a student
said on anotheroccasion, "We thrive by WalterLippmann;yetBrounnevermen- from Lowell, who, having grown up
our casualties." tionedthathehimselfdroppedoutin his there with the novelist Jack Kerouac,
We
need not look far for instances of sophomore year. made him, with his active assistance, the
individuals who got off on the wrong InDeathintheAfternoon,hisrenowned subjectofhermaster'sthesis.Thorough
foot in college but, nonetheless, pros- bullfightingtreatise,ErnestHemingway in her research, she interviewed, in
pered afterward. Poe, Fenimore Coo- pausestoidentifyPamplonaas"thetown French, several people Kerouac had
per, Eugene O'Neill, Scott Fitzgerald, where Loyola got the wound that made known and, unbeknownst to them, had,
to mention a few among many, all were him think." Hemingwayhere was refer- in a ratherlibelousway, introduced into
expelled from college for various fail- ring to the spiritual awakening ofInigo his books. I was not surprised when a
8 BOSTONCOLLEGEMAGAZINE