A Brief History of Boston College
Boston College was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1863 and, with three teachers and 22 students, opened its doors on September 5, 1864. Through its first five decades, it remained a small college and preparatory school, providing the sons of Boston's largely Irish, Catholic immigrant population with a rigorous Jesuit education and a means of advancement in American society.
Originally located on Harrison Avenue in Boston’s South End, the College outgrew its urban setting early in the twentieth century and moved to the former Lawrence Farm in Chestnut Hill on the western edge of Boston. Ground was broken on June 19, 1909, for the construction of a central Recitation Building, later named Gasson Hall in honor of President Thomas I. Gasson, S.J., who led the relocation. The Recitation Building opened in March 1913. The three other buildings that still shape the core of the campus—St. Mary’s Hall, Devlin Hall, and Bapst Library—opened in 1917, 1924, and 1928, respectively.
Though incorporated as a university since its founding, Boston College did not begin to fill out the dimensions of its university charter until the 1920s, with the inauguration of a graduate school of arts and sciences, the Law School, and the Evening College, today called the James A. Woods, S.J., College of Advancing Studies. The 1930s saw the introduction of the Graduate School of Social Work, now the Boston College School of Social Work, and the College of Business Administration, today the Wallace E. Carroll School of Management. The School of Nursing—named in honor of William F. Connell in 2003—and the School of Education and Human Development—named in 1999 for Carolyn A. and Peter S. Lynch—followed in 1947 and 1952, respectively. The oldest and largest of the University’s nine schools and colleges, the Robert J. Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, was named in 2015 in honor of alumnus Robert Morrissey.
In 1974, Boston College acquired a 40-acre site from Newton College of the Sacred Heart that today serves as the location of Boston College Law School and residence halls housing some 800 first-year students.
Between 2004 and 2007, the University acquired a 65-acre parcel from the Archdiocese of Boston, just across Commonwealth Avenue in Brighton. The Brighton Campus is now home to the Clough School of Theology and Ministry, which was established in 2008, the Cadigan Alumni Center, and the McMullen Museum of Art and University Conference Center.
To honor its 150th anniversary in 2013, Boston College celebrated three semesters of activities, including a Mass at Fenway Park for 20,000 alumni, students, faculty, and friends; academic symposia; a naturalization ceremony; student and alumni service projects; and a student concert at Symphony Hall.
In 2016, Boston College was elevated to an “R1” institution by the Carnegie Foundation, a designation for doctoral universities with the highest research activity, and concluded its “Light the World” capital campaign, having raised a record-breaking total of $1.605 billion in support of academic programs, student financial aid, faculty research, student formation initiatives, and capital projects.
In 2017, the University announced a new 10-year strategic plan, “Ever to Excel: Advancing Boston College’s Mission,” which includes a commitment to liberal arts education, student formation, research, and an increased presence and impact locally and globally.
In 2021, Boston College enrolled the first class of engineering students for its new major in human-centered engineering. It also announced the Pine Manor Institute for Student Success, a $100 million initiative to enhance educational opportunity for first-generation students, featuring a cost-free summer enrichment program for students in grades 8-12 called The Academy, and Messina College, an associate's degree-granting residential college on the Brookline Campus of Boston College.
In 2022, Boston College celebrated the opening of 245 Beacon Street, now Hayden Hall, a 150,000-square-foot facility that houses the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society, the Engineering and Computer Science departments, and the Shea Center for Entrepreneurship.
In February of 2025, the Board of Trustees elected John T. Butler, S.J., the 26th president of Boston College. He succeeded William P. Leahy, S.J., the University's longest-serving president, on July 31, 2026.
Today, the stately Gothic spires of Gasson Hall look out over 197 buildings across 430 acres on five campuses. The college that conferred a total of 12 bachelor’s degrees at its first Commencement in 1877 is now a top-ranked, internationally respected university that awards more than 4,000 undergraduate and graduate degrees annually to highly accomplished students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries.
As the University looks forward to the challenges of the decades to come, it takes pride in the fact that it remains true to the motto chosen by its early Jesuit founders, Ever to Excel, and to its mission of preparing talented young minds to develop their gifts to use in the service of others.