Acknowledgement of contributions of those stepping off and welcome to new members
In early August, the council’s executive committee met to plan for the year ahead. We would like to thank Kelly Dalton-Cooney, Laura DelloStritto ’13, Andrew Engber, Mickey Hill, Larry Holodak, Steve Howard, Nick Minieri, and Chris Ramirez, for their contributions and to welcome new members Joan Jungbin Lee ’18, Annelise Hagar Preciado ’14, Lydia Rigby’08, Christopher Rizzo ’22, Kristopher Robinson ’12, Catherine “Cat” Senoyuit ’18, and Catherine “Cat” Tepoz ’22.
The committee will be co-chaired this year by Martin Casiano ’15 and Arthur Makar ’72, with Jess Shapiro ’14 chairing the National Programming Committee, Emma Roney ’22 chairing the Regional Programing Committee, and Lou Chrostowski ’77 chairing the Communications Committee.
You can find more information about the entire executive committee here.
Review of prior year accomplishments
At the council’s executive committee retreat in August, we reviewed the prior year’s activities and were pleased to see that not only did we meet all of our goals, but exceeded them in many areas.
We have effectively communicated with our members through social media and would like to encourage you to become active in our Facebook group.
As far as activities were concerned, at the national level we held a virtual event “Building Bridges: How the Church Can More Effectively Reach Out to LGBTQ+ People” featuring Fr. James Martin, hosted the second annual Alumni Reunion Weekend event, developed a working relationship with the career center, and incorporated SOGI data into the alumni database.
June 2023 Reunion Weekend
At the regional level, we hosted a social event In San Francisco, held a NYC volunteer event benefiting SAGE, and hosted a pre-Tonys party in NYC and Pride events in Boston and San Francisco.
NYC service event at SAGE
Pre-Tony Awards Reception at Players Club in NYC
San Francisco Pride Reception
Other accomplishments included hosting a workshop for students at BC’s Women’s Summit, moderated The Artist’s Journey Panel, and developed partnerships with BC Arts Council, BC’s Career Center, BC Dean of Students Office, BC Women’s Center, BC’s Northern CA Alumni Chapter and NY Alumni Chapter.
2023-2024 goals
At the council’s executive committee retreat, we established goals for the year ahead to take the council forward. Our plan is to increase communication with members of the council as well as the broader LGBTQ+ community both at BC and other Jesuit schools, launch an Instagram page in addition to our Facebook Group, host additional events in our local target markets, and at the national level host “State of the Queer Student Community at BC” in partnership with Student Affairs and the Bowman AHANA+ Intercultural Center.
If you have any suggestions or ideas for events at the national or regional level, please let us know!
Administration Update
Shawna Cooper Whitehead, vice president of student affairs, and Yvonne McBarnett of the Thea Bowman Intracultural Center along with Caroline Davis of the Office of Student Support participated in this year’s retreat and provided us with an update of the work they are doing.
Their mission is to provide community, support and resources for all Boston College students with a focus on students of color, LGBTQ+, and historically marginalized students; and, to educate faculty, staff, and students on how to build a community of belonging by celebrating identity and culture, building relationships, and fostering mentorship.
This is being done through intentional programming that helps student feel seen, heard and well-served. Their program model seeks to foster a sense of belonging while encouraging students to live, learn and grow together.
To accomplish this, they have recently hired a new full-time Associate Director, Ira Kirschner and full graduate assistant dedicated to supporting LGBTQ+ students and programing. We hope to introduce Ira to the alumni community in the near future.