The A-B-Cs of BC

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AMDG
Short for the Latin phrase Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam ("For the Greater Glory of God"), the unofficial motto of the Society of Jesus. Jesuit schools and churches often had "AMDG" inscribed on their portals, and students in Jesuit schools had a tradition of writing the initials on their school papers.

Angelus
The ringing of the Angelus on the Gasson Tower bells at noon and 6 p.m. offers a centuries-old invitation to those within earshot to pause in their day's work for a moment of prayer or reflection. Gasson's four bells, each dedicated to a Jesuit saint, ring on the quarter-hour and hour from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Appalachia Volunteers
The largest student-run program of its type in the nation sends as many as 500 undergraduates each Spring Break to work on community-service projects across the country.

• Appalachia Volunteers web site

Archangel Michael A marble sculpture of St. Michael the Archangel triumphing over Satan is the centerpiece of the Gasson Rotunda. The work by Italian sculptor Scipione Tadolini was commissioned in 1865 by wealthy Boston merchant Gardner Brewer for his Beacon Street manse, and later purchased and donated to Boston College, where it was installed in the Rotunda in 1913.

Alumni Stadium Site of football heroics in fall and Commencement Exercises in spring, Alumni Stadium opened with a BC-Navy game on September 21, 1957, and was expanded to 44,500 seats in 1994. Experience a 360-degree view of the field during a game against Virginia Tech. (Requires Apple Quick Time) More 360-degree images at the BC Athletics multimedia page.

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Bapst Library Built in 1928 as a cathedral to learning, the Bapst, named for BC's first president, Rev. John Bapst, SJ, was the campus' main library for 56 years, and now is devoted to books on the fine arts. Take an online tour of Bapst Library's architecture. See the stained-glass windows that present a Jesuit "syllabus in glass." Read a history of Bapst.

Beanpot
The annual Beanpot Hockey Tournament in February pits Hub rivals Boston College, Boston University, Harvard and Northeastern in a battle for local bragging rights, and ranks with the Marathon, the Head of the Charles and Opening Day at Fenway among Boston's great sporting traditions. BC hoisted the 'pot in 2001 on the way to the NCAA championship in men's hockey.

Boston College High School
Boston's Jesuit high school, founded with Boston College in 1863 in the South End, now located in Dorchester.

Bowman Center At 72 College Road, named for Sister Thea Bowman, a Franciscan nun, scholar of English literature and advocate for black Catholics, who was awarded an honorary doctorate by Boston College in 1989. The center houses the Office of AHANA (African, Hispanic, Asian and Native American) Student Programs.

Burns Library The John J. Burns Library houses the university's rare books and special collections as well as the University Archives, and regularly mounts exhibitions of these materials. Its Irish Collection, the largest and most comprehensive in the United States, has been enhanced in recent years by major acquisitions of materials relating to Nobel laureates W. B. Yeats and Samuel Beckett. Its Irish Music Center preserves the history of Irish traditional music in America. Its British Catholic Authors Collection is noted for extensive holdings on Francis Thompson and Hilaire Belloc and the world's preeminent Graham Greene Archive.

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Cardinal Cushing Archbishop of Boston from 1944-1970 and a beloved son of BC, Richard Cardinal Cushing ex'17 (1895-1970) was among the most prominent American Catholics of the 20th century. A South Boston native celebrated for his common touch and his message of universal brotherhood and tolerance, Cardinal Cushing was also closely associated with the Kennedy family, giving the Invocation at President John F. Kennedy's inauguration and presiding at his Funeral Mass.

Catholicism The faith at the heart of Boston College is manifest on campus, in the Jesuit ethos, in liturgy and the sacraments, and in the commitment to service and social justice. Learn more about the Catholic faith tradition of Boston College. University Mission & Ministry. Visit the Campus Ministry Office. The New Advent site features the Catholic Encyclopedia. The Vatican web site.

Chestnut Hill
The Newton neighborhood where the central campus of Boston College is located (Alumni Stadium and sections of Lower Campus lie over the Boston line in Brighton). The pastoral grounds off Commonwealth Avenue overlooking the Chestnut Hill Reservoir were acquired in the early 1900s from a Boston Yankee family for whom the mill-city of Lawrence was named. Lawrence House on College Road is named for Amos Lawrence, whose farmhouse stood on the current site of Gasson Hall. The Class of '17 was the first to graduate from the Chestnut Hill campus.

• A map of the Chestnut Hill campus

Conte Forum Named for late Congressman Silvio Conte '49, the forum seats 8,500 for basketball, 7,600 for hockey.

Core Curriculum
A set of courses required of each Boston College student that includes literature, natural science, writing, history, philosophy, theology, social science, mathematics, art, and the study of a non-European culture.

Cura Personalis
Latin for "care for the person," a guiding principle of Jesuit education.

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Devlin Hall Named for Rev. William Devlin, SJ, 15th president of BC (1919-1925), home to the McMullen Museum and the Office of Undergraduate Admission.

Double Eagle
Traditionally a graduate of both Boston College High School and Boston College or of Boston College and BC Law. It has come to include BC alumni who hold a combination of undergraduate and graduate degrees as well.

Dustbowl Once the site of Boston College's first athletic venue, Alumni Field, the campus green popularly known as the "Dustbowl" is now the outdoor focus of student social life.

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Eagle The mascot of Boston College's athletic teams.

• Read a history of the Eagle nickname at BC.
• Watch a Flash movie by The Heights recapping the Eagles' 2000-2001 athletic success.

Ever to Excel
The school motto.

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Flutie A scrambling virtuoso on the gridiron who was one of the most popular athletes to grace the New England sporting scene, BC quarterback Doug Flutie '85 won the 1984 Heisman Trophy as the nation's outstanding college football player and led the Eagles to victory in the Cotton Bowl. His "Hail Mary Pass" to beat defending national champion Miami (Fla.) in 1984 ranks among the most celebrated plays in college football history. Sports Illustrated info about Doug Flutie Fans Only article about Doug Flutie (Adobe PDF File) Visit the web site of the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism.

"For Boston"
The Boston College fight song.

• Listen to it here

Fulton Prize Debate
The Fulton Prize Debate has a gloried history at Jesuit Boston College, where in the early years the annual debate was a highlight of the academic year. The competition is held each spring in the ornate Fulton Debate Room (Gasson 305), where competitors parry under the portraits of Cicero, Daniel Webster and other famed orators of history. Lettered on the wall are the names of each winner since 1890 to take the gold Fulton Prize medal. The competition is named for debate founder Rev. Robert Fulton, SJ, first dean of BC (1864-1870) and twice president (1870-1880, 1888-1891), a Southern-born Jesuit who had served as a boy as a page in the US Senate, where he developed a love of oratory listening to Webster, Clay and Calhoun.

Fulton Hall
Built in 1948 and renovated in 1995, the home of the Carroll School of Management is named, like the debate society, for President Fulton. The imperious expression of Fr. Fulton in his lobby portrait is said to have moved one visiting political dignitary to muse: "How'd you like to go to him for confession?"

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Gargoyles

In Gothic cathedrals, it was customary for craftsmen to depict saints using prominent local ecclesiastics as models. When Fulton Hall was refurbished in high collegiate-Gothic style in 1995 to house the Carroll School of Management, the architect followed the centuries-old tradition. The identities of the Fulton Faces several stories above the ground remain open to conjecture.

Gasson Hall
The Gothic landmark that is the campus' signature building, Gasson Hall is named for the BC president, Rev. Thomas Gasson, SJ, who moved Boston College from Boston's South End to Chestnut Hill. It was known as the Recitation Building, or variously, the Tower Building, when it opened in 1913.

Golden Eagle
An alumnus 50 years out of Boston College.

• Visit the BC Alumni Association online.

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Hail Mary Pass BC quarterback Doug Flutie's fabled "Hail Mary Pass" to beat reigning national champion Miami on Nov. 23, 1984, is counted among the most exciting plays in college football history. Flutie's throw with no time left on the clock traveled more than half the length of the field and came down amid a mob in the end zone, where it was caught by BC receiver Gerard Phelan. The touchdown gave BC a stunning 47-45 win in a nationally televised game and helped seal the Heisman Trophy for Flutie. USA Today in 2002 judged "The Pass" college football's most memorable moment of the previous 20 years.

Heartbreak Hill
The last of a series of taxing hills ending at Boston College at the 21-mile mark of the Boston Marathon. At BC come the encouraging words: "It's all downhill from here."

Heights
"The Heights" is the colloquial name for the locale of the Boston College campus up Commonwealth Avenue in Chestnut Hill, and is the name of the independent student weekly newspaper at BC.

Holy Cross
New England's other Jesuit college, and rival in a storied football series with BC that lasted from 1896 to 1986. Shown here is a program from the 1928 game.

Honors Program The College of Arts & Sciences Honors Program, housed in the Jenks Honors Library in Gasson Hall, follows a Great Books curriculum that provides students with a classic liberal education.

Houston Awards
Named for Boston College's first Black Studies Program director, the Amanda V. Houston Fellowship is awarded annually to an undergraduate for use toward a travel-and-study experience, while the Amanda V. Houston Community Service Award is given to a public figure in recognition of exceptional community service that has gone unacknowledged.

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Icons
In St. Mary's Hall are several beautiful and haunting paintings of the Blessed Mother and Jesuit martyrs by Jesuit iconographer Rev. William Hart McNichols, SJ, formerly an artist in residence at Boston College. See some of his icons here

St. Ignatius of Loyola (1490-1556) Founder of the Society of Jesus and author of the Spiritual Exercises, is the patron saint of all Jesuits. He underwent a spiritual conversion while recuperating from an injury suffered as a soldier in battle, and joined with companions to form a missionary society of world-traveling "contemplatives in action."IHS -- A Greek monogram of the name of Jesus appears on the official seal of the Jesuit order, the Society of Jesus.

Irish Room A stained-glass window depicting St. Patrick is the prominent feature of this hall off the Gasson Rotunda that recalls in its name the Celtic roots of a college founded to educate the son's of Boston's Irish immigrants. Manifestations of the university's enduring ties to Erin are found in the university's Center for Irish Programs, encompassing Irish Studies, the Irish Institute, and the Irish Music Center and Irish Collections at Burns Library.

 

Iron Major The nickname of storied football coach Frank Cavanaugh of Worcester, who overcame severe injuries in the First World War to lead Boston College to a 48-14-5 record and one Eastern Championship between 1919 and 1926. In 1919, his Eagles won BC's first major football victory, 5-3, over favored Yale at New Haven. The 1920 team went undefeated, clinching the Eastern title with a season-ending victory over arch-rival Holy Cross before 40,000 at Braves Field. Cavanaugh (1876-1938) also coached at Cincinnati; Holy Cross; his alma mater, Dartmouth; and Fordham. His life story was made into a 1943 movie, The Iron Major, starring Pat O'Brien (echoing his earlier role as Knute Rockne, All-American).

 

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Jesuits
Scholars, explorers, scientists and saints, the priests and brothers of the Society of Jesus -- the Jesuits -- have seen and served God in all things for more than 450 years. More than 20,000 currently serve in 112 nations on six continents. Jesuits are particularly noted as educators, supporting nearly 2,000 schools worldwide. In the United States, 28 coeducational colleges and universities and 46 high schools are affiliated with the Society of Jesus. For more on the order:

• Jesuits USA site

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Linden Lane BC's tree-lined entrance.

Lowell Lectures Humanities Series
Lecture series founded by the late Rev. Francis Sweeney, SJ, that over the years has drawn Robert Frost, Alec Guinness, T. S. Eliot and numerous other celebrated figures in the arts and letters.

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Maroon and Gold
The school colors.

• Read their history here

MLK Awards
Named for the slain civil-rights leader, the Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship is given annually to a BC junior whose achievements echo Dr. King's spirit, and covers three-quarters of the recipient's tuition for senior year. The Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award is given each year to "a quietly heroic person in recognition of service to the general community." More.

McMullen Museum The campus art gallery in Devlin Hall drew international acclaim in 2001 for an exhibition of prints and paintings by Norwegian expressionist Edvard Munch and in 1999 for a Caravaggio show that featured the American debut of a long-lost work, The Taking of Christ. Visit the McMullen home page. View highlights from the museum's permanent collection of American and Italian paintings and Flemish tapestries.

Men and Women for Others
A guiding principle of Jesuit education is the formation of "men and women for others," who, in the words of former Jesuit Superior General Pedro Arrupe, "cannot even conceive of love of God which does not include love for the least of their neighbors."

Merkert
The multi-million-dollar Eugene F. Merkert Chemistry Center, offering the latest computer technology in its laboratories and two lecture auditoriums, has manifested Boston College's commitment to teaching and research in the sciences since opening in 1991.

Middlemarch
In a campus rite of spring, a scavenger hunt is staged for coveted tickets to a costume ball.

Mods Intended as temporary housing when built in 1970, 40 duplex-style modular apartments --or "Mods" -- on Lower Campus are now coveted by upperclassmen as a prime venue for barbecues and other social events.

Molecular motor
Vanderslice Professor of Chemistry T. Ross Kelly and colleagues in 1999 created one of the world's tiniest motors, a 78-atom molecular paddlewheel that is seen paving the way for intercellular machines that repair the body from the inside. Read more:

• CS Monitor

Monan
Boston College's 24th and longest-serving president, Rev. J. Donald Monan, SJ (1972-96), guided its transformation from a financially-challenged, predominantly-male commuter college to a prosperous coeducational university that is counted among the nation's elite institutions of higher learning. On leaving the presidency, Fr. Monan became Boston College's first chancellor. A tribute to Fr. Monan.

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Nanotubes
Associate Professor of Physics Zhifeng Ren has devised a carbon "nanotube" as small as 1/5,000th the size of a human hair and which, viewed through the strongest of electron microscopes, looks like a tiny version of the Washington Monument. Grown by the billions in microscopic "forests" of carbon substance stronger than steel, these obelisk-shaped nanotubes have a seemingly boundless range of uses. Potential applications include filtration systems for converting seawater to drinking water, flat-panel displays used in television and computer screens, and long-lived lightweight batteries for mobile phones, digital cameras and other electronic devices.

Newton College of the Sacred Heart
The Catholic women's college was consolidated into Boston College in 1974, and its grounds a mile and a half away on Centre Street now are the site of the Law School and undergraduate residence halls.

Notre Dame
The annual "Holy War" against the storied fighting Irish of the University of Notre Dame is a highlight of the football season.

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O'Neill Library The university's central library is named for BC's most celebrated political son, late House Speaker Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill '36, who gave the 1984 dedication speech and is recalled in a permanent exhibit at the library. O'Neill's papers reside in Burns Library. See photos from the O'Neill Collection.

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"Proud Refrain"
A poem by Thomas Heath '43 in the Stylus that captured the sentiments of many young Boston College alumni heading off to the Second World War:

What are you dreaming, soldier,
What is it you see?
A tall gray Gothic tower,
And a linden tree.
You speak so sadly, soldier,
Sad and wistfully . . .
I cannot hear the tower bell
In the swirling sea.
What meaning has it, soldier,
A tower, bell, and tree?
Nothing, nothing - only once
It meant my life to me.

PULSE
A unique program that combines the study of philosophy and theology with community service.

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Quad
The quadrangle surrounded by Gasson, Devlin, Fulton and Lyons halls.

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Reading of the Degree
Given in Latin at Commencement.

Ratio Studiorum
Described as "the Magna Carta of Jesuit education," the Ratio Studiorum of 1599 laid out the educational method and system that has guided Jesuit schools for four centuries. Boston College webmasters have brought the ancient document into cyberspace by posting an electronic version.

Robsham Theater

Romero Scholarship
Given each year to a BC junior who exemplifies the values and ideals of martyred Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero, a crusader for the poor and for social justice who was assassinated at the altar in 1980. More.

Rotunda The soaring rotunda of Gasson Hall is a gallery of art that includes five statues as well as four large paintings, with inspiring inscriptions over the doors and painted decorations that bring contrasting warmth and life to the rotunda's Gothic stonework. Read a guide written by late University Historian Charles Donovan, SJ.

Roxbury Puddingstone
Used in the Gothic architecture of Gasson, Devlin and St. Mary's halls, has been declared Massachusetts' state rock.

Reservoir
The Chestnut Hill Reservoir, in neighboring Cleveland Circle. Water once covered what is now BC's Lower Campus.

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Saint Mary's Chapel
The Gothic chapel in the Jesuit residence is the site of 35 Masses a week. Hundreds of students attend the Wednesday noon Mass with Rev. Michael Himes, gifted orator and theologian. The chapel is also a venue for chamber-music concerts and the "Experiencing God" discussion series.

St. Mary's Hall The 130 Jesuits who live here form the world's largest Jesuit community.

Seal
Two crowns from the arms of old Boston, England, and the badge of the Society of Jesus surmount an open book with the motto "ever to excel" in Greek, and the "trimount," or three hills, of early Boston. The words below, "Religioni et Bonis Artibus," are Latin for "Religion and the Good Arts."

Shea Field
A cozy baseball diamond with a picturesque view of the Chestnut Hill Reservoir and downtown Boston, also used for softball and soccer and by football fans for pre-game tailgating. Named for Naval Lt. Commander John Shea '18, killed at the battle of Guadalcanal when his carrier, the USS Wasp was torpedoed; a touching letter written shortly before his death to his son, Jack '58, is excerpted on the monument behind home plate. The entire letter resides in Burns Library.

Snooks
Nickname of legendary BC hockey coach John Kelley '28, who in a 36-year career won 501 games, a national title in 1949, and eight Beanpots.

Spiritual Exercises
Composed by Jesuit founder St. Ignatius, a classic Christian devotional book that created the idea of the "retreat" and has since been central to the experience of the Jesuit order. The regimen of prescribed prayer focuses on central aspects of Christian faith and especially on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Superfans Gold-shirted rooters, some in face paint or fright wigs, who fill the stands at Conte Forum and Alumni Stadium with high-octane BC spirit.

SJ
The initials after a Jesuit's name signifying membership in the Society of Jesus

Stylus
The student magazine of literature and art, founded in 1882, is the oldest extracurricular activity at Boston College and the oldest journal of any Catholic university in the Americas.

Sub Turri
The undergraduate student yearbook.

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3,000-meter
The event won by All-American runner Shannon Smith at the NCAA indoor track championship in March 2001 that brought BC its first national championship in women's athletics. Smith turned in a school-record time of 9:11:25.

Triple Eagle
Traditionally, a graduate of Boston College High School, Boston College and Boston College Law School. The term also has come to mean the combination of a Boston College undergraduate degree and any two BC graduate degrees, (e.g., bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees).

Trolley The mode of conveyance for generations of students who attended BC when it was primarily a college for commuters, and the way thousands each day travel between the Heights and downtown Boston. The Boston College "B" cars of the MBTA Green Line run from Lechmere Station in Cambridge via downtown Boston to the Lake Street terminus at BC. The "Green Line Rivalry" between Boston College and Boston University, three miles apart on Commonwealth Avenue, is one of the most spirited in college hockey. Maps of the MBTA subway-and-trolley system. An informative page on Boston's historic Green Line.

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UGBC
The Undergraduate Government of Boston College. Trees on the Dustbowl are ornamented with colorful painted banners -- and sometimes, colorful student campaigners -- during the election each spring.

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Volunteerism
In one year, more than 5000 BC students provided some 375,000 hours of volunteer service to the City of Boston. In addition, other students participate in international service efforts, while some 2,000 students participate in retreats and other spiritual-formation activities.

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Walsh
Rev. Michael P. Walsh, S.J., 22nd president of Boston College (1958-1968).

WZBC
Broadcasting from a studio in McElroy Commons, college radio station WZBC (90.3 FM) is known for a diverse play-list that ranges from hip-hop and country to experimental pot-lid-banging, and for giving early exposure to up-and-coming acts on the Boston music scene. Listen to an Internet broadcast. http://zbconline.com/

• Read about the station.

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Xavier Zabilski
Joe, a star receiver on the 1940 football "team of destiny" that beat Georgetown, 19-18, in a game sportswriter Grantland Rice dubbed the greatest ever, then downed Tennessee, 19-13, in the Sugar Bowl and laid claim to the mythical national championship.

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