If you find yourself strolling through Fulton Hall’s fifth floor, you might notice that the wall art looks a little different than last year. What you’re seeing is the new Legacy Walk exhibition, the outcome of an eight-month-long project completed this past summer.
When the fifth floor was set to be renovated during the previous summer, all of the signage around the hallways, including photographs of some of the school’s longest-serving professors, had to come down. But when the renovations were completed, the staff of the Dean’s Office found themselves at a crossroads: They didn’t want to simply put everything back up in the same spots, but they were unsure of what would be a more engaging way to present the Carroll School’s history and the lasting impact of its faculty.
This dilemma served as the jumping off point for what became the new Legacy Walk. “We needed to find something else to do with these images. We didn’t want to not have them because they tell our history,” says Tricia McMahon, the assistant director of technology and administrative support services for the Carroll School. Instead, the Dean’s Office worked with the Office of University Communications to develop a new concept that would fit in with the style of Fulton Hall but also be eye-catching to passersby.
McMahon stepped in as project manager, collaborating with University Communications and Boston College Libraries. Together, they sourced photographs and developed written materials to accompany photos of Carroll School faculty members with 25 years or more of service to the University. The display itself was designed by Helen Riegle and her Boston-area firm HER Design, which specializes in museum and exhibition design and has partnered with institutions such as the Nantucket Whaling Museum and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
Each professor featured on the walk “has shaped countless students’ professional journeys while contributing to our school’s intellectual foundation. Their unwavering commitment to our students represents the very best of Boston College,” says a message from John and Linda Powers Family Dean Andy Boynton on the introductory panel. “These faculty embody our Jesuit ideals of academic excellence and service.”
In addition to faculty headshots, the Legacy Walk features historic and recent campus photographs, along with informational panels that touch on each decade since the Carroll School’s inception as the College of Business Administration in 1938. All of these elements sit on top of a subtle background designed to evoke the architectural details of Gasson Hall.
Walking down the wall, one might read about the introduction of the Carroll School’s first female students and professors in the 1970s or the digital transformation that shaped the curriculum of the 1990s. The Legacy Walk was made possible in part by a donation from Debra ’77 and Tim Connors Jr. ’76, P ’02, ’05, ’10.
All of the faculty photos are rendered in black and white, but the additional photos of students sprinkled in-between go from the grainy black and white photography of the 1930s to the vibrant, color images of campus life today. “I call it the Wizard of Oz effect,” says McMahon. There is also room to add additional portraits in the future.
“According to our records, if every current faculty member stays in the next 10 years, there will be another 22 eligible to be added to the wall. So we have room for that,” McMahon says. “And then we can wrap around the wall. We'll turn that corner, literally, when it comes.”
After installation was completed in mid-July, multiple parents who were alumni themselves turned up in the Dean’s Office during freshman orientations, commenting on the display or pointing out photos of the faculty members they had as students. “It’s really fun to see the changes in fashion, or the changes in students and faculty demographics as you walk through. It grabs attention,” McMahon says.
Most of all, the Legacy Walk is a tribute to the faculty’s transformative role in the lives of students, past and present, says the dean. “This walk stands as our permanent testament to their lasting impact as mentors, scholars, and colleagues,” Boynton emphasizes in his message. “Each portrait commemorates not just years of service but a living legacy of teaching and research excellence at the Carroll School.”
