BC Chronology

1857		Father John McElroy, S.J. purchased property in the South End of Boston for a new college.

1863		Gov. John A. Andrews signed the charter of Boston College, April 1. First meeting of the Boston College trustees, July 6.

1864		Boston College opened on September 5, with Father John Bapst, S.J. as president and Father Robert Fulton, S.J. as dean. Twenty-two students admitted.

1877		First Commencement. Nine students received A.B. degrees, June 28.

1883		The Stylus, the College literary magazine, founded.

1907		Father Thomas Gasson, S.J. named president; purchased 31 acre Lawrence farm in Chestnut Hill for new campus.

1913		Gasson Hall completed. First graduation held at the Heights, June 18. Four classes enrolled in Gasson in September.

1918		Conscription and voluntary enlistment for World War I reduced the College enrollment to 125 in October, down from 671 two years earlier.

1919		Boston College's first major football victory, 5-3 over favored Yale at New Haven. First issue of The Heights, student weekly, November 17.

1923		Baseball team beat Holy Cross 4-1 before 30,000 at Braves Field, June 18.

1924		Summer School started.

1925		Graduate School of Arts and Sciences started.

1928		Bapst library opened, the fourth of the early Maginnis and Walsh buildings. Weston Observatory, the seismological station, founded.

1929		Law School opened at 11 Beacon St., Boston. Evening College started as "Boston College Intown" at 126 Newbury Street, Boston.

1935		Greek requirement for the A.B. degree dropped.

1936		Graduate School of Social Work opened at Newbury Street.

1938		School of Management opened at Newbury Street as the "College of Business Administration."

1940		Cotton Bowl vs. Clemson (3-6) first bowl game.

1941		Cardinal O'Connell purchased the Liggett estate, the upper campus, and gave it to the College.

1946		To accommodate post war enrollment, army surplus barracks became dormitories on the site of present Campion Hall; a larger office/classroom building was erected on the site of McGuinn, and a recreation building on the site of Cushing Hall.

1947		Construction begun on the first permanent building since the completion of Bapst in 1928, to house the College of Business Administration (occupied in September 1948). The School of Nursing opened at 126 Newbury Street.

1949		College acquired small reservoir (lower campus). Hockey team won national title at Colorado Springs.

1951		Lyons Hall was completed in July.

1952		The School of Education opened in September in Gasson Hall. Doctoral programs were begun in Economics, Education, and History, the beginning of increased emphasis on graduate education.

1954		Law School moved to St. Thomas More Hall on the Chestnut Hill campus.

1955		Claver, Loyola, and Xavier Halls opened, first campus residences constructed by B.C. The School of Education moved into Campion Hall.

1957		Graduate School of Management founded. Alumni Stadium dedicated September 21.

1958		Latin no longer required for the A. B. degree. The College of Arts and Sciences Honors Program and the Scholar of the College program were begun. The original gymnasium, Roberts Center, and the first hockey rink, McHugh Forum, were opened.

1959		The Board of Regents, advisory to the trustees and administration, was established.

1960		The Nursing School occupied its campus building, Cushing Hall. Three more student residences, named for the early bishops of Boston, Cheverus, Fenwick, and Fitzpatrick, were completed.

1961		McElroy Commons opened.

1963		The Boston College Centennial Convocation was addressed by President John F. Kennedy on April 20. The Self-Study of the College of Arts and Sciences led to a new core curriculum, a reduction in the course load, election of department chairmen, the establishment of Educational Policy committees, and sabbaticals.

1964		Carney Hall opened. Welch, Williams, and Roncalli residences were occupied.

1966		Higgins Hall was dedicated in November.

1968		The Regents joined the Jesuit trustees to form the Board of Directors, October 8. The Black Talent Program was started, precursor to AHANA Student Programs.

1970		Women admitted for degrees in all undergraduate colleges (Sept.). The modular residences were placed on the lower campus. Pulse, an academic/social action program, was started. The Campus School for multi-handicapped children was begun.

1971		The office of president of Boston College and rector of the Boston College Jesuit community were separated on January 1. Installation of Omicron Chapter, Phi Beta Kappa, April 6.

1972		Father J. Donald Monan succeeded Father Joyce as president, September 5. The trustees voted to eliminate the Board of Directors and to expand the Board of Trustees to include laymen, November 19. The newly structured Board of Trustees, with 35 members (13 Jesuits), elected Cornelius Owens '36 chairman. The Women's Center was established.

1973		The Long-Range Fiscal Planning Committee presented to the Trustees a plan for balanced budgets for the succeeding five years.

1974		Newton College of the Sacred Heart became part of Boston College (announced March 11).

1975		The Law School moved to the Newton Campus. Edmond's Hall was occupied in September.

1976		The New Heights Advancement Campaign to raise $21 million over five years was begun in April. By 1981 it raised more than $25 million.

1979		1,000 friends of Speaker Thomas P. O'Neill gathered in Washington for a dinner attended by President Carter to establish the O'Neill Chair in American Politics, December 9. The Graduate School of Social Work established a doctoral degree program. The Recreation Complex named for Athletic Director, William J. Flynn.

1980		The Jesuit community endowed the Thomas I. Gasson, S.J. Chair for distinguished Jesuit scholars.

1982		Walsh Hall residence dedicated to former president Michael P. Walsh, S.J., October 7.

1984		O'Neill Library dedicated to Speaker of the House Thomas P. O'Neill, '36, October 14. Doug Flutie awarded Heisman Trophy.

1985		The E. Paul Robsham, Jr. Theater Arts Center was dedicated on October 25.

1986		Rededication of renovated Bapst Library, dedication of Burns Library, April 22. Goals for Nineties (planning document) published. Alumni Association moved to Alumni House on the Newton Campus. St. Patrick's Day dinner in Washington honoring Speaker Thomas P. O'Neill. Speakers included President Reagan, former President Gerald Ford, and Bob Hope. $2 million was raised for B.C. scholarships. Five year $125 million Campaign for Boston College started. The dismantling of McHugh Forum was begun to make way for Conte Forum.

1987		The Carroll Graduate School of Management's doctoral program in finance was approved by the Trustees. The Jesuit Institute, funded by a $1.5 million gift from the Jesuit community, with a matching University subsidy, was founded to promote research on the religious and Jesuit traditions of Boston College.

1988		The first students enrolled in the new Nursing Ph.D. program. The Music Program became a department of the College of Arts and Sciences. Vouté Hall and its companion student residence were occupied. The Museum of Art (then called the art gallery) was opened in Devlin Hall. Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, Superior General of the Society of Jesus, spoke at celebrations of the University's 125th anniversary, October 5 and 7.

1989		Congressman Silvio O. Conte '49 was present for the dedication of Conte Forum on February 18. The School of Management became the Carroll School of Management and the Carroll Graduate School of Management in honor of Wallace E. Carroll '28. Sister Thea Bowman was awarded an honorary degree and AHANA House was named for her in October. Roberts Center was razed to make room for the Merkert Chemistry Center.

1991		Wing added to Campion Hall, with major renovation of the original building.

1992		The Eugene F. Merkert Chemistry Center dedicated. The Campaign for Boston College completed, exceeding the $125 million goal by over $11 million.

1993		Renovated Devlin Hall welcomed as occupants the Department of Geology and Geophysics, the Department of Fine Arts, the Art Museum, and the Admission Office. The football team beat Notre Dame at South Bend, 41-39, when Notre Dame was ranked No. 1 in the country. Renovation of Fulton Hall was begun. A new core curriculum went into effect in September. The Department of Theater was established. Two new residences, 70 and 90 St. Thomas More Road, were completed and occupied.

1994		The graduate programs in Nursing and Education separated from the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. Father Monan established a new University Academic Planning Council to map university strategies for the near future. A new dining facility was opened alongside Robsham Theater, and a garage for 900 cars was completed behind St. Mary's Hall. The stadium seating capacity was enlarged from 32,000 to 44,500. For the second year in a row the football team defeated Notre Dame.

1995		On October 6, 1995, the trustees elected Father William P. Leahy to succeed Father J. Donald Monan as president. Fulton Hall reopened, enlarged and transformed exteriorly to match the Gothic style of the early buildings. The university's endowment placed it among the thirty-five largest in the U.S. The Brighton-Allston Boston College Neighborhood Center was established.

1996		The Law School's new library was completed and opened on the Newton campus in January. U.S. News & World Report ranked Boston College 16th among the nation's teaching universities and 37th in the national university category. The student residence at 70 St. Thomas More Road was named Thomas A. and Margaret A. Vanderslice Hall; the nearby residence building at number 80 was named Gabelli Hall; and the Art Museum became the Charles S. and Isabella V. McMullen Museum of Art. On July 31, Father Monan's 24-year presidency ended, and on October 18 Father William P. Leahy, S.J., was inaugurated as the 25th president of Boston College.

1997		In a rating of graduate schools, U.S. News & World Report placed Boston College Law School 22nd in its field, while the Graduate School of Social Work was ranked 14th, the School of Nursing 27th and the School of Education 28th. In March, Father Leahy was homilist at the annual St. Patrick's Day Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.

1998		The formal opening of the Irish Institute and the Irish Studies Program was held at Connolly House. Work began on a three-year project to renovate and expand Higgins Hall, which houses the Biology and Physics departments. U.S. News & World Report rated the BC schools of law, education and nursing among the top 25 in their fields. BC undergraduates won more than 20 prestigious national fellowships, including a dozen Fulbrights and a coveted Marshall Scholarship.

1999		BC's School of Education was named the Carolyn A. and Peter S. Lynch School of Education in recognition of the couple's gift of more than $10 million. For the fifth consecutive year, BC was ranked among the top 40 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. The McMullen Museum of Art's exhibition Saints and Sinners: Caravaggio and the Baroque Image attracted more than 65,000 visitors to the campus. BC announced a $400 million "Ever to Excel" capital campaign.

2000		The annual U.S. News & World Report survey ranked Boston College 38th among the nations 228 national universities. BC, Notre Dame, and Georgetown were the only Catholic universities in the top 40. Geoffrey and Rene Boisi commited $5 million to establish the Center for Religion and American Public Life, directed by social scientist Alan Wolfe. BC appointed a husband and wife team, Sheila Blair and Jonathan Bloom, to share the Norma Jean Calderwood Chair in Islamic and Asian Art.

2001		The BC School of Nursing was renamed the William F. Connell School of Nursing in honor of longtime trustee, William F. Connell, '59. After defeating Maine and Michigan, the BC men's hockey team went on to win the NCAA Championship by defeating North Dakota. BC established a permanent Dublin home, on St. Stephens Green, as a resource for the university's Irish Studies Program, the Burns Library, and international student programs.

2002		Boston College received a record number of undergraduate applications for the 2002-2003 academic year. In the April issue of U.S. News & World Report, the Carroll Graduate School was ranked 39th in the nation. The former Evening College was renamed the Woods College of Advancing Studies in honor of longtime dean, Rev. James A. Woods, S.J. President William P. Leahy, S.J., announced that Boston College would launch an initiative, called "The Church in the 21st Century."

2003		The Boston College "Church in the 21st Century" initiative attracted national attention with its conferences and seminars. BC’s "Ever to Excel" fundraising drive surpassed its original $400 million goal by generating more than $440 million in gifts and pledges. BC announced it would withdraw from the Big East and accept an invitation to join the Atlantic Coast Conference.

2004		In June 2004, Boston College acquired 43 acres of land and five buildings in the nearby Brighton area from the Archdiocese of Boston. BC also purchased St. Stephen’s Priory in Dover from the Dominican Friars, to be used as a retreat and conference center. President William P. Leahy, S.J. took the Church in the 21st Century program to Los Angeles, Phoenix, Dallas, Atlanta, Naples, and Chicago, so that alumni could discuss issues confronting the Catholic Church.

2005		BC’s Church in the 21st Century initiative was transformed into a permanent Center. The Yawkey Athletics Center, a 72,000-square-foot addition to Alumni Stadium, opened in the spring of 2005. BC accepted 130 students from Loyola and Tulane universities until their schools in New Orleans recovered from the effects of Hurricane Katrina.
2006		A partnership between Boston College, the Archdiocese of Boston, and St. Columbkille Parish will allow the parish school to continue offering a pre-kindergarten through 8th grade Catholic education for children in the Allston-Brighton community. The Carroll School of Management has established the Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics to examine issues of ethnical leadership. Boston College has launched a minor concentration in Jewish Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences. During 2006, Boston College has set new records for the number of research grants and dollars won by faculty and staff, with a total of 358 awards, amounting to $44.4 million.
2007		A school-record number of twenty Boston College students were awarded Fulbright Scholarships, including 18 undergraduates. In August, Boston College signed an agreement with the Archdiocese of Boston for the purchase of an additional 18 acres of land, and several administrative and academic buildings, on the Brighton campus. The international student body of Boston College has nearly tripled during the past 20 years, climbing from 360 in the 1986-87 academic year to 776 in the current academic year. On December 5, 2007, BC unveiled its 10-year, $1.6 billion expansion plan, including the addition of 100 faculty members, a recreation complex, a fine arts district, and new athletic facilities.

* References to presidents and Board of Trustee chairmen are minimized in this chronology since they are listed elsewhere in the Fact Book.
Source: University Historian and Public Affairs

Father Thomas I. Gasson. S.J. 13th President of Boston College.

Groundbreaking for Carney Hall.