John T. Butler, S.J., inaugurated as 26th president of Boston College
Boston College formally inaugurated John T. Butler, S.J., as its 26th president on October 16, the crowning event in a three-day campus celebration of community, history, tradition, and formative education.
After receiving the symbols of office—the presidential medallion, the academic mace, and a copy of the original charter of Boston College—at the Inauguration Ceremony in Conte Forum, Fr. Butler welcomed, and expressed gratitude to, the many guests attending the event, notably representatives from the Society of Jesus, the Catholic Church, including from the Archdiocese of Boston, and various academic institutions.
“ It will be an honor and a joy to serve you as we begin a new chapter in the Boston College chronicle as we move into a new era of our life. Thank you for allowing me to be the servant of this university. ”
Then he made a point of offering “a different kind of thank you” to the Boston College community, where he has worked since 2002, including as the Haub Vice President for University Mission and Ministry prior to becoming president-elect in 2025.
“I’ve been at this university for one-third of my life,” said Fr. Butler, who assumed the presidency on July 31, succeeding William P. Leahy, S.J., now University President Emeritus. “What I have to do for my Boston College family—the trustees, trustee associates, administrators, faculty, staff, and students—is to thank you for forming me. I come from you and I have been missioned to serve you.
“It will be an honor and a joy to serve you as we begin a new chapter in the Boston College chronicle as we move into a new era of our life. Thank you for allowing me to be the servant of this university.”
Fr. Butler: 'We have the ability to adapt and stand with each other and we can confront whatever the challenge is because we're not in it alone. We are in it together.' (Caitlin Cunningham)
In his remarks, Fr. Butler—who paid tribute to his two most recent predecessors, Fr. Leahy and J. Donald Monan, S.J.—readily acknowledged the many pressure points facing academia today, such as rising costs, plunging college-age demographics, anxiety over artificial intelligence, and chaos in collegiate athletics.
But while it has always been incumbent on higher education—Catholic higher education included—“to reform, to adapt, and adjust,” he said there should be no move to “reinvent” it.
Fr. Butler recounted his experience in an internship at a psychiatric hospital, where his mentor urged him to look beyond a patient’s accumulated health problems and instead focus on the whole. “Before you can deal with the pathology, you have to look at how you can help and support the goodness, how you support the health of the organism. And that will lead you to addressing the problems.”
Whatever the competition between individual institutions in recruiting students or seeking grants, American higher education as a whole should recognize its collective strengths, its capacity to “lift all people,” said Fr. Butler. “We have the ability to adapt and stand with each other and we can confront whatever the challenge is because we're not in it alone. We are in it together.”
“ This is our moment to stand up and take on more responsibility, not less, for the future of our young—for we are educating that future right now in the present. The future is our students and nothing should have more hope than the hope we engender in them. ”
Fr. Butler pointed to formative education, the centerpiece of Jesuit, Catholic institutions like Boston College, as a shining example of the value in higher education—bringing together intellectual, professional, personal, and spiritual development of the person, who will then offer his or her gifts to help others. He shared how formative education had provided the means for his own growth, as someone who had struggled with dyslexia, to the extent that his parents had worried that he would never be able to read and write.
“We must remain strong in our Jesuit and Catholic identity, continue to work on refining our formative education and how to integrate it even better into the liberal arts curriculum,” he said. “Our pedagogy needs to be worked on even more to bring about greater synergy, greater integration, and a better sense of how to get our students engaged. We need to acknowledge that we are an undergraduate university with select graduate programs and try to be the best we can be in all that we do because it is our motto: Ever to Excel.
“Our research should help stretch what it means to be human and to help foster a better world. We need to look for best practices while being resolved in the way of our proceeding. We should not make decisions based on fears, anxieties, or circumstances beyond our control. We need to focus on who we are, what we do well, and we need to take that deeper.
“This is our moment to stand up and take on more responsibility, not less, for the future of our young—for we are educating that future right now in the present,” said Fr. Butler. “The future is our students and nothing should have more hope than the hope we engender in them.”
Watch highlights from the Inauguration celebration in this University Communications video.
Winston Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley served as emcee for the Inauguration Ceremony, and Boston Archbishop Emeritus Cardinal Seán O’Malley, O.F.M., Cap., offered welcoming remarks. There followed a series of greetings from speakers representing a spectrum of academic, administrative, and religious domains within BC and elsewhere: University Trustees Chair Travis Rhodes ’93; USA East Province of Jesuits Provincial Robert Reiser, S.J.; Professor of English Suzanne Matson; Custodial Supervisor Paul Eastman; Undergraduate Government of Boston College President Jonah Renz ’27; graduate student Sr. Anna Thuy Hoang, M.A.’26, Th.M.’27; BC Alumni Association President Christina Sliwa ’93, M.B.A.’00; Nicholas Burns ’78, Goodman Family Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Relation at Harvard University; Salve Regina President Kelli Armstrong Ph.D.’96; Wellesley College President Paula Johnson; and University of Massachusetts President Marty Meehan.
Fr. Butler shares an embrace with President Emeritus William P. Leahy, S.J., following the presentation of the symbols of office. (Caitlin Cunningham)
Fr. Butler received the symbols of office from Fr. Leahy, whose own inauguration as president had taken place nearly 30 years ago to the day, BC Jesuit Community Rector Claudio Burgaleta, S.J., Fr. Reiser, Trustee Vice Chair James Carey ’88, J.D.’91, and Trustee Secretary Susan Martinelli Shea ’76. Boston Archbishop Richard G. Henning, S.T.D., gave the benediction.
Musical interludes added celebratory and contemplative elements, with performances by the Boston College Symphony Orchestra, the University Chorale of Boston College, Chapel Choirs, and the Liturgy Arts Group.
Archbishop Richard Henning was principal celebrant at the Inauguration Mass earlier on Friday. (Caitlin Cunningham)
The conclusion of the ceremony segued into a community celebration on Middle Campus that lasted into the evening, with musical performances, a collaborative mural project, and displays of colorful lights.
Earlier in the day was an Inauguration Mass—also held in Conte Forum—with Archbishop Henning as celebrant, representing the Archdiocese of Boston and diocesan priests. Principal concelebrants represented various religious orders that have been especially influential in Fr. Butler’s intellectual, spiritual, and personal growth. Bishop Joel Konzen, S.M.—one of Fr. Butler’s most influential high school teachers—representing the Society of Mary (Marists), was the homilist. Other concelebrants were Philip Dabney, C.Ss.R., of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists); Kenneth Sicard, O.P., of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans); Raymond Dlugos, O.S.A., of the Order of Saint Augustine (Augustinians); and Fr. Reiser (Society of Jesus). Br. Adam Zielonka, O.C.S.O., representing the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Trappists), served as the cross-bearer.
An academic procession from Linden Lane to Conte Forum preceded the formal Inauguration ceremony. (Caitlin Cunningham)
Prior to the Inauguration ceremony was a gathering at Linden Lane with selected readings from Jesuit and Boston College history.
This was followed by an academic procession to Conte Forum featuring University trustees, BC faculty and senior administrators, and presidents and delegates from colleges and universities throughout the country.
(View more photos from the Inauguration ceremony, Mass, and academic procession.)
A pair of academic symposia took place at Robsham Theater on October 15. (Matthew Healey)
The previous day featured a pair of academic symposia in Robsham Theater, “The Light Shines Through: The Catholic Intellectual Tradition” and “Jesuit, Catholic Education at Boston College: Formation for Wisdom and Hope.”
Speakers at the two events included Boston College senior administrators and distinguished faculty members, as well as special guests Donna M. Carroll, president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities; Sr. Mary Ann Dillon, R.S.M., former president of Mount Aloysius College; University of Notre Dame President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C.; and St. John’s University President Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P.
(View photos of the symposia).
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On Thursday, UGBC held a ‘Snacks for Father Jack’ event that included a banner for students to sign. (Matthew Healey)
The Inauguration celebration concluded on Saturday with an Alumni Homecoming Tailgate in the Plaza at O’Neill Library, followed by the BC-Pittsburgh football game in Alumni Stadium—which the Eagles won, 27-21.
For information about the Inauguration, and links to livestreams of the academic symposia, Inauguration Mass, Academic Procession, and Inauguration Ceremony, go to bc.edu/inauguration