A Timeline of Major Events 1996–2026

▲ William P. Leahy, SJ, is inaugurated as the 25th president of Boston College.

1999

The Lynch School of Education is named for Carolyn and Peter Lynch after a major gift.  

2000

Undergraduate applications for the Class of 2004 surpass 20,000.

2001

Fr. Leahy celebrates Mass in New York City to honor the BC alumni and parents killed in the September 11 attacks.

2002

The College of Advancing Studies is named for former Dean James Woods, SJ, through a gift from Katharine B. and Robert M. Devlin. Fr. Leahy establishes the Church in the 21st Century initiative to help renew and revitalize the Catholic Church following the clergy abuse crisis.

2003

Boston College accepts an invitation to join the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Ever to Excel campaign concludes, having raised $441 million.

2004

▲ The University purchases land from the Archdiocese of Boston that will become the Brighton Campus.

2005

BC launches a Jewish Studies program, among the first of its kind
at an American Catholic university.

2007

Boston College unveils a 10-year strategic plan with a goal of adding
100 new faculty and $300 million in academic facilities.

2008

Undergraduate applications top 30,000. The School of Theology and Ministry opens on the Brighton Campus.

2012

▲ Boston College launches its Sesquicentennial celebration with a Mass at Fenway Park.

▲ Stokes Hall, BC’s home for the humanities, opens on the Middle Campus through a major gift from Patrick Stokes ’64 and his wife, Aja.

2015

The Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences is named in honor of trustee and benefactor Robert J. Morrissey ’60. BC concludes the Light the World campaign, having raised a record-breaking $1.605 billion for academic programs, financial aid, faculty research, and capital projects.

2016

Boston College is recognized as an R1 Institution, the highest designation for research, by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.

2017

The University releases “Ever to Excel: Advancing Boston College’s Mission,” a 10-year strategic plan that includes a commitment to liberal arts education, student formation, research, and an increased national and global presence.The University announces the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society, through a gift from BC Trustee Phil Schiller ’82 and his wife, Kim Gassett-Schiller.

2018

▲ BC opens the Fish Field House indoor practice facility and the Harrington Athletics Village, home to baseball and softball.

2020

BC is invited to join QuestBridge, which helps place high-achieving, low-income high school students in the nation’s top colleges.

Boston College sends students home in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic, shifting the spring semester to online classes.

2021

The University enrolls the first cohort of students in its human-centered engineering program.

2022

Fr. Leahy announces the Pine Manor Institute for Student Success, featuring The Academy and Messina College, to enhance educational opportunity for first-generation students.

▲ Boston College opens 245 Beacon Street, a 150,000-square-foot facility for integrated sciences, engineering, computer science, and entrepreneurship.

2023

BC launches the $3 billion Soaring Higher campaign to raise money for financial aid, academics, and student life.

2024

The Clough School of Theology and Ministry is named following a major gift from Charles “Chuck” Clough Jr. ’64 and his wife, Gloria L. Clough MDiv’90, MS’96.

BC is named among the “New Ivies” by Forbes magazine.

Messina College, BC’s two-year residential college for first-generation students, opens on the Brookline Campus.

2025

The Board of Trustees elects John T. “Jack” Butler, SJ, as the 26th president of Boston College.

2026

Undergraduate applications reach a record 41,898 for the Class of 2030.

BC receives a $125 million commitment, the largest in its history, from the Patrick F. Cadigan Family Foundation to support the expansion and renovation of Carney Hall into a center for the social sciences and campus ministry. ◽