AN INSTAGRAM CELEBRITY: Gasson Hall, the signature building of Boston College, opened in 1913 and was later named in honor of Rev. Thomas I. Gasson, S.J., BC's president from 1907 to 1914 and founder of the University's Chestnut Hill campus. (Gary Wayne Gilbert)
Five years ago, Jordan Ball '13 posted on Instagram (then two years old) a photograph of Gasson Hall’s east facade backed by billowing white clouds in a deep blue sky. She included the caption, “typical Gasson shot, sorry, needed to be done,” and the hashtag #gassongram.
The idea caught on, and students, alumni, and visitors to campus have since contributed more than 5,800 posts of photos taken in every season at all hours: Gasson dusted by snow, basking in sunsets, touched by a rainbow, floodlit at night.
The 104-year-old granite Collegiate Gothic edifice has been the muse of Halloween pumpkin carvers and ice sculptors and a magnet for selfie-takers.
An anonymous text-post effectively sighed: “I want someone to look at me like people look at Gasson.”
—Thomas Cooper, Boston College Magazine
Below: a #gassongram gallery. For more, follow @BostonCollege on Instagram.
