PUBLISHED BY THE BOSTON COLLEGE OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
JANUARY 15, 2026 VOL. 33 NO. 9
University Preps for Reaccreditation Process BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR
PULSE students like those shown above help create a welcoming atmosphere where guests feel respected and seen, says Haley House Executive Director Reggie Jean.
A Community Service The BC PULSE Program nears 50 years of collaboration with Boston’s Haley House Founded in Boston’s South End, Haley House is a multifaceted nonprofit offering a soup kitchen; permanent affordable housOne of Boston College’s most enduring ing; urban agriculture; education and trainand meaningful community partnerships ing, including the Life Foundations Trainbegan with an undergraduate’s curiosity. ing reentry program; and a social enterprise In 1972, David Manzo was a first-year restaurant. PULSE connects students with student at the Heights who was intermarginalized communities and social jusested in the Catholic Worker Movement. tice organizations like Haley House, pairFounded in 1933 by Dorothy Day and ing hands-on service with academic study Peter Maurin and rooted in social justice, in philosophy and theology. the movement created a netEvents to commemorate work of decentralized com“I’d get there around six in the partnership’s 50th anmunities, known as Cathoniversary, which coincides the morning, letting in 50 lic Worker Houses, that with the 60th anniversary or 60 guys who had been welcome people in need of of the founding of Haley housing, food, and resources. sleeping on the street or at House, are planned for later Manzo wanted to know if the Pine Street Inn,” recalls this year. Boston had a Catholic Work- David Manzo ’77. “It was That Friday night when er House, so he asked James basic in those days, a cup of he accompanied Fr. Halpin, Halpin, S.J., who was then Manzo met Kathe McKenna, coffee, something to eat.” director of BC’s Program for one of Haley House’s foundthe Study of War and Peace. ers. In 1966, inspired by ac“Fr. Halpin said ‘Sure, it’s called Haley tivists like Day and Maurin, McKenna and House,’ and got a car and took me there her husband and co-founder, John, opened on a Friday night,” recalled Manzo, who their apartment to men they saw sleeping graduated in 1977. on the street by their South End apartThat visit would set the stage for an afment. This laid the foundation for Haley filiation between Haley House and BC’s House, which soon grew into an official PULSE Program for Service Learning that nonprofit initially offering a soup kitchen will mark five decades this year—PULSE’s run by a live-in volunteer community. longest running continuous community It was exactly what Manzo was looking partnership. Continued on page 7 BY ELLEN SEAWARD SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Boston College has begun preparations for its decennial reaccreditation review by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), which will culminate in a site visit by a team of educators next year. University President William P. Leahy, S.J., has appointed Special Assistant to the President Peter Martin to lead a University committee that will prepare materials for the process. Committee members include Associate Vice Provost for Assessment and Accreditation Jessica Greene; Vice President for Institutional Research and Planning Mara Hermano; Special Assistant to the Executive Vice President Carrie Klemovitch; and University Libraries Associate Director for Academic Programs and Special Projects Seth Meehan. As part of the NECHE reaccredita-
tion—the most recent occurred in 2017— BC will undertake a self-study during the coming months that will address key issues and topics in academics, student life, organizational effectiveness and other areas; the document will be submitted next January. The NECHE delegation, composed of educators and administrators from peer institutions, will visit the campus for three days in March of 2027, during which time it will review the self-study, speak with members of the BC community, and examine supporting documents before issuing a report. Both the self-study and the visiting committee report will be integral to the decision on BC’s accreditation status. While good standing in a regional accreditation association is a requirement for participation in federal programs that support higher education, Martin said the process also presents an opportunity for BC to take stock of its academic and formational Continued on page 4
Study: Patterns of Recreational Cannabis Use Among Adults Changing Due to Legalization BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER
A new study led by Boston College School of Social Work Professor Summer Sherburne Hawkins found that recreational cannabis legalization in the United States is driving increases in cannabis use among adults with historically lower consumption, as opposed to increasing use among those who already consumed cannabis. The research, titled “The Impact of Recreational Cannabis Legalization on Cannabis Use in US Adults from 2016-2023: A Quasi-experimental Study,” and published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, contributes evidence that cannabis use—the most frequently consumed illicit drug in the U.S.—is spreading to new populations. Despite a December 2025 executive order, cannabis remains a Schedule I controlled substance under U.S. federal law, but as of January, 24 states—including Massachusetts—and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational cannabis
for adults 21 and older, with most allowing commercial sales. “Analyses of state-representative data from 2016 onwards indicated that recreational cannabis legalization is contributing to rising levels of adult cannabis use by increasing the proportions of adults using cannabis,” said Hawkins, who also serves as associate director of BC’s Global Public Health and the Common Good program. “Demographic groups with lower levels
Continued on page 6
INSIDE 2 Venezuela’s ‘Crucial Pivot’
Q&A with BC Law’s Daniela Urosa.
3 One Sweet Ride
Romance blooms on BC shuttle.
8 Lowell Humanities Series Spring schedule starts Feb. 4.
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Q&A
Venezuela at a ‘Crucial Pivot’ in Its History
Escalating tensions between the United States and Venezuela climaxed on January 3 with the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and their subsequent arraignment on charges related to drug trafficking and narco-terrorism. With Maduro out of power, Venezuela’s political future remains uncertain: While President Trump said the U.S. would effectively be “running” the country for the foreseeable future, without providing any details, vice president Delcy Rodríguez has been sworn in as president and American officials have hinted at a willingness to collaborate with the existing regime— even as she publicly rejected any perception of U.S. control. Boston College Law School Adjunct Professor Daniela Urosa (right), director of the school’s International Human Rights Practicum, is a Venezuelan native who served as law clerk for more than eight years in the country’s Constitutional Chamber and the Political-Administrative Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice; she also is an International Allied Professor at Venezuela’s Universidad Católica Andrés Bello. She offered her views on the outlook for Venezuela, even as the situation on the ground remains fluid; her comments reflect events as of last Friday morning (January 9). What is your sense of how Venezuelans are feeling now? The recent events in Venezuela are a crucial pivot in the history of the country, and hence all Venezuelans, inside and outside its borders, are very attentive to the development of events, hopeful and at the same time worried. Venezuelans are hopeful because the country has suffered a sustained deterioration of democracy and the rule of law for 26 years, regressing from a liberal democracy to a competitive authoritarianism, and from this to a dictatorial regime that totally denies public freedoms, does not allow free elections, and commits systematic violations of human rights—including torture, forced disappearances, and arbitrary detentions, among other abuses that are under investigation by the International Criminal Court as potential crimes against humanity. Based on corruption and criminal activities such as terrorism and drug trafficking, this regime has caused a deep humanitarian and economic crisis and the worst migration crisis in the history of the hemisphere, where almost eight million Venezuelans have been forced to leave the
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SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
Patricia Delaney EDITOR
January 15, 2026
Sean Smith
Daniela Urosa: “Current conditions in Venezuela do not ensure electoral integrity or the reliability of election results.” country. Therefore, for the first time in nearly three decades, the possibility of political change is glimpsed. However, Maduro’s forced departure will not necessarily, in the short term, lead to the democratic transition and peace that Venezuelans yearn for. The opacity of the deep structure of corruption and illegal activities of the Venezuelan regime makes it hard to ascertain if there is a willingness within the regime and the army to bring about a democratic opening—or if Maduro’s departure could lead to a new stage of authoritarianism in which the absence of democratic freedoms persists or worsens. Who is Delcy Rodríguez and with whom is she aligned? From 2018 until Maduro’s capture, Rodríguez served as the executive vice president of Venezuela. The vice president is not elected but is appointed by the president. This appointment underscores the close political relationship between Rodríguez and Maduro. She has held numerous senior positions in Maduro’s administration over the past 13 years, including secretary of communication and information, secretary of economy, and president of the 2017 National Constituent Assembly convened
CONTRIBUTING STAFF
by Maduro. She has been a prominent figure within the Maduro regime and has faced allegations of corruption, leading to sanctions by the U.S. Department of the Treasury since 2018. These circumstances suggest an alignment with the continuity of the existing regime. Rodríguez’s initial actions following Maduro’s departure support this interpretation: She affirmed Maduro’s legitimacy as president, rejected his capture by the United States, issued a decree of external commotion that militarized the country, and ordered the arrest of individuals who collaborated in Maduro’s capture. However, events unfold quickly, and there are some signs of openness, such as the release of some political prisoners. As a result, both hope and concern are prevalent among Venezuelans at this critical juncture. What are the prospects for a true, free, and fair election? According to the constitution, in the event of the absolute absence of the president, a new election must be held within 30 consecutive days. During this period, the executive vice president serves as interim president. However, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice issued a decision on January 3 declaring Maduro’s absence as temporary. As a result, the vice president may assume the presidency for up to 90 days, with the possibility of a 90-day extension, after which congress determines whether the absence should be considered absolute. As a Venezuelan constitutional and election law scholar, I think that even though universal and authentic elections are a critical step in democratic transitions, enabling participation by all voters—including those in the diaspora—current conditions in Venezuela do not ensure electoral integrity or the reliability of election results. Neither the electoral authority nor the judicial system overseeing elections operates independently, as evidenced by the 2024 presidential elections. In that election, despite opposition candidate Edmundo González securing a significant majority, the Supreme Tribunal of Justice upheld electoral fraud and maintained Maduro in power. Therefore, it is necessary to establish minimum institutional guarantees of impartiality of election institutions and mechanisms of election observation before proceeding with elections.
Phil Gloudemans Ed Hayward Audrey Loyack Rosanne Pellegrini Kathleen Sullivan
Chronicle
PHOTOGRAPHERS
www.bc.edu/bcnews chronicle@bc.edu
Caitlin Cunningham
The Trump administration has offered multiple explanations for its actions, but one rationale seems most plausible: The White House wants American fossil fuel companies to benefit from Venezuela’s oil reserves—considered the world’s largest proven resource—despite the billions of dollars necessary to rebuild the country’s gutted oil infrastructure. Is oil the primary reason for the intervention? Venezuela’s authoritarian regime has long been accused of engaging in international criminal activities such as drug trafficking and illegal mining, the transnational effects of which have served as a primary justification for the Trump administration’s actions against Maduro. In addition, the U.S. has demonstrated a strategic interest in Venezuela’s oil reserves. Among the initial measures announced by the White House following Maduro’s capture was the administration of Venezuelan oil exports, with the stated aim of ensuring that American companies benefit and that revenues are not used to finance illegal financial activities, corruption, or human rights violations in Venezuela. However, the specifics of these arrangements remain unclear. What are the bigger, longer-term implications of this intervention? From the Venezuelan perspective, this intervention will imply a before-and-after in terms of democracy, the rule of law, and governance. Venezuela has been a clear example of how, by electoral means, populist leaders can take office and procure a democratic decline by the weaponization of its own institutions to favor authoritarian policies, and how once every check and balance is void, there is no limit for corruption to the point that there is no way to restore democracy from within the constitutional framework. As I said, this current turning point— though full of uncertainty and not necessarily desired—could be the first great step for the restoration of democracy, or it could mean the emergence of a new stage of authoritarianism that leads to a failed state. I am confident that the civic and peaceful struggle Venezuelans inside and outside the country have maintained these past two decades to recover their essential freedoms—personified by opposition leader María Corina Machado, who was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize—will finally bear democratic fruit. —Phil Gloudemans
The Boston College Chronicle (USPS 009491), the internal newspaper for faculty and staff, is published biweekly from September to May by Boston College, with editorial offices at the Office of University Communications, 3 Lake Street, Brighton, MA 02135 (617)552-3350. Distributed free to faculty and staff offices and other locations on campus. Periodicals postage paid at Boston, MA and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: send address changes to The Boston College Chronicle, Office of University Communications, 3 Lake Street, Brighton, MA 02135. A flipbook edition of Chronicle is available via e-mail. Send requests to chronicle@bc.edu.
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A (Shuttle) Ride to Remember BY ALIX HACKETT SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Some people propose over romantic candlelit dinners, during long walks on the beach, or from the stands of sporting events with the crowd watching on the jumbotron, but Thomas Scordino ’26 had a different kind of location in mind. Last semester, with help from Boston College’s Office of Transportation and Parking, Scordino carried out an elaborate plan that culminated in him getting down on one knee from the center aisle of a Newton shuttle bus, asking his girlfriend, Sophia Paranzino ’26, to marry him. A photographer hiding behind a tree nearby captured the moment, which may go down as the most BC engagement of all time. For Scordino, a finance and marketing major, it was a chance to celebrate the place where it all began. He and Paranzino first met as first-year students riding the shuttle bus back to their dorms on Newton Campus. (“He was wearing a Johns Hopkins shirt and I’m from Baltimore, so I asked about it,” recalled Paranzino. “Then we talked for the rest of the ride.”) Now, it’s impossible for them to think about the early months of their relationship without Newton Campus and its trusty shuttle. “Most nights we would go to 10 p.m. Candlelight Mass, take the bus back, and walk around Newton Campus for hours, just getting to know each other and growing closer,” said Paranzino. “That campus played such a role in our story as a couple.” Initially, Scordino toyed with the idea of proposing at the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, another iconic BC location where he and Paranzino had their first official date, but after chatting with his roommates, he couldn’t get the shuttle off his mind. So he emailed Director of Transportation, Parking, and Contracted Services Gabe Parker with what he called “a crazy ask.” Less than two hours later, Parker replied. “He said, ‘Yes, we love it. Do it,’”
Thomas Scordino ’26 proposing to Sophia Paranzino ’26 on a Newton shuttle bus, where the two had met as first-year students.
going to work next year, and he still took the time to plan something so thoughtful. We were happy to be a small part of it.” After a quick photoshoot on Linden Lane, the newly engaged couple celebrated with friends and family at a party in Scordino’s Mod. In keeping with the theme, Scordino’s mother decorated a sheet cake with a small plastic shuttle bus, painted in maroon and gold stripes. With a wedding planned for next summer in Baltimore, it’s unlikely that the shuttle will make an appearance, but neither Scordino or Paranzino will forget its role in their connection. “It’s a good reminder to just be aware of who’s there,” said Scordino. “Don’t have your head down in your phone all the time—just say hi to people. It worked for me.” Alix Hackett is a senior digital content writer in the Office of University Communications
photos by brandon fitts
Scordino recalled, “and I was like, ‘Oh, heck yeah.’ I’m so very, very grateful to them.” For the next week, Scordino, Parker, and Boston Coach Supervisor Manny Alves hashed out logistics over email. Parker and Alves were enthusiastic from the start but needed to make sure regular shuttle service wasn’t compromised. Hoping to keep the plan a surprise, Scordino made early dinner reservations in Newton, and suggested to Paranzino that they take the bus back to Main Campus afterwards. Paranzino knew something was going on when Scordino wondered aloud if they should dress up. “He’s not a good liar, which I always say is a really good quality in someone I want to marry,” she laughed. “He was acting very suspicious.” At 6 p.m. sharp, they boarded a shuttle bus marked “special event” with Alves himself behind the wheel, wearing a suit
for the occasion. They chose the same seats they’d ridden in as first-year students, meeting for the first time, and as the bus sped along Commonwealth Avenue, Scordino delivered a small speech to his soon-to-be fiancé. At Linden Lane, Alves opened the doors and switched the bus’s illuminated message to read “Will You Marry Me,” as Scordino popped the question. Was this the most romantic thing to ever happen on a Newton shuttle? Probably, said Parker, who oversees the University’s six shuttle routes. Occasionally, he’ll arrange buses for couples getting married at St. Ignatius who need transportation for their guests, but Scordino’s request was by far the most unusual that Parker has received in his years at Boston College. “We wanted to do whatever we could to make this happen,” he said. “Working out the logistics with Thomas was just a joy. This is a kid who’s in college, worrying about midterms, thinking about where he’s
The happy couple with long-time shuttle supervisor Manny Alves, who “jumped at the opportunity” to help make the proposal plan happen, said Parker, by driving a spare shuttle himself at no cost to the University.
BC Fetes First Companions Cohort On a Thursday afternoon in December, members of the inaugural Boston College Companions: Fellows for Leadership and Service cohort of adult learners gathered at a festively decorated Barat House on Newton Campus for a certificate ceremony and cocktail reception, where they toasted to a year of growth, reflection, and connection. The 13 fellows, who hail from a variety of states and professional backgrounds and range in age from 50s to 70s, heard remarks from Winston Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley; Law Professor Emeritus Frank Herrmann, S.J., the program’s faculty advisor; and Companions Program Director Margaret Laurence. Thomas J. Fitzpatrick, S.J., recited one of his poems, “Murmuration,” and fellow Paula Reardon-Webster led a centering meditation. It was a successful first year for the Companions program, which recently welcomed a second cohort to campus. The inaugural fellows took courses in a diverse
array of disciplines, engaged in reflection and conversation during weekly seminars, and traveled to Spain and Italy on a pilgrimage inspired by the life of St. Ignatius of Loyola. They formed meaningful bonds with classmates, professors, mentors, and one another, while taking time to figure out the next chapter of their lives. “The chance to unplug myself from the rest of the world and just learn and reflect on what brings me joy was such a powerful gift,” said fellow Bill Reynolds, who hopes to pursue a new career in alternative energy. “I feel much more confident now about taking the next step.” The Boston College Companions: Fellows for Leadership and Service program was developed by the Office of the Provost in partnership with University Mission and Ministry as a way to expand access to Boston College’s unique brand of formative education. Elements of Ignatian spirituality are woven into the program’s architecture, which prioritizes opportunities for silent re-
Winston Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley speaks at last month’s ceremony for the first members of the BC Companions: Fellows for Leadership and Service program. photo by caitlin cunningham
flection and personal exploration alongside intellectual pursuits. “Purpose is really the key to the whole program,” said Fr. Herrmann. “We’re looking to help people clarify what they feel
drawn to in the future, by giving them opportunities to reflect on their lives in ways they haven’t before.” —Alix Hackett
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NSF Grant Will Support Development of Science Curricula BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER
The National Science Foundation has awarded a four-year, combined $2 million collaborative grant to the Lynch School of Education and Human Development and the University of Texas at Austin to research and design professional learning resources and tools that support elementary school teachers in customizing science curricula to expand equitable “sensemaking” for multilingual learners. Scientific sensemaking—such as using data to reason and develop explanations for natural and designed phenomenon in the world around us—is vital to learning and performing science, explained principal investigator Katherine L. McNeill, Bryk Faculty Fellow and program director of curriculum and instruction at the Lynch School. “Oral and written language, visual and numerical representations, physical models, and other forms of communication are vital to scientific sensemaking, yet research has not yet fully explored how science cur-
ricula can be customized to account for the distinctive communicative ranges of individual learners within elementary science classes,” said McNeill. “This project will address this important gap in practice by developing a suite of tools that elementary teachers can use to customize existing open-source, standards-aligned science courses, so that these curricula are better able to support students with a span of communicative strengths, including multilingualism.” Titled “Professional Learning Resources for Customizing Curricula to Support Elementary Students in Using Full Communicative Repertoires for Scientific Sensemaking,” the project is co-led by Lynch School Associate Professor Zhushan Li of the Measurement, Evaluation, Statistics & Assessment Department and María González-Howard Ph.D. ’17, an associate professor at the University of Texas-Austin College of Education. According to McNeill, the researchers and 24 elementary school teachers will co-design standards-aligned, curricular customization tools that support scientific
CompSci’s Khan Named an IEEE Fellow BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER
Professor of Computer Science Usman A. Khan has been named a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the world’s largest technical professional organization. A global network of over 486,000 engineering and STEM professionals across a variety of disciplines, IEEE seeks to foster technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity. The grade of fellow—awarded annually to fewer than one-tenth of voting members—recognizes unusual distinction in the profession and is reserved for a professional with an outstanding record of achievements in any of the fields of interest and whose work has “contributed importantly to the advancement or application of engineering, science, and technology, bringing the realization of significant value to society at large,” noted the announcement. Khan was named to the IEEE Fellow Class of 2026 for contributions to optimization and localization in distributed stochastic settings, best described as the design and analysis of efficient methodologies for distributed learning and probabilistic modeling in large-scale artificial intelligence and physical systems. Examples include training deep neural networks and coordinating how teams of robots move and work collaboratively in complex, uncertain environments. “I’m deeply honored and humbled to receive this recognition,” said Khan. “I’m very fortunate to have had exceptional
Professor of Computer Science Usman Khan
Katherine McNeill, Bryk Faculty Fellow and program director of curriculum and instruction at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, is the principal investigator for the project. photo by lee pellegrini
sensemaking among third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade students with varying communicative strengths. “These tailored tools will serve as the basis for professional learning modules on how to support learners who speak one or more languages in developing and using their full communicative ranges while engaging in scientific sensemaking, as guided by the curricula,” she said. “Subsequent research will explore whether and how the professional learning experiences influence participating teachers’ beliefs, preparedness, instructional practice and curricular customizations. The resulting learning components and customized tools will be disseminated widely to achieve national impacts in science learning for elementary students.” The tools may include the means for evaluating existing language opportunities, such as linguistic resources that are currently used for sensemaking; instruments for enhancing sensemaking displays so they include a broader array of representations; and records of classroom customizations that illustrate how these specializations can
be enacted across a range of elementary classes. In the project’s second phase, these customization tools will be shared with a larger set of elementary educators in the context of research-aligned professional learning experiences. Mixed-methods research will explore whether and how these educators’ beliefs, preparedness, instructional practices, and curricular modifications shift as they participate in the professional learning sessions. Specifically, McNeill explained, the research team will analyze teacher surveys, video recordings from the professional learning sessions and classroom observations, and artifacts from the educators’ curricular customizations. “The resulting empirical research will advance knowledge regarding how teacher professional learning, and the associated materials, can be designed to better account for the unique compositions of elementary classrooms across the nation,” she said. “We are very pleased that Kate McNeill has received this NSF grant, one of the first to be awarded since the government started processing such proposals again,” said Stanton E. F. Wortham, the Charles F. Donovan, S.J., Dean of the Lynch School. “Codesigning tools with elementary science teachers to customize curricula for specific student needs is important work. This is a particularly promising approach, with the customizations helping teachers support repertoires that will enhance student learning.”
photo by caitlin cunningham
BC to Undergo Reaccreditation
mentors, students and collaborators, without whom it would not have been possible.” Prior to joining BC last year, Khan was Continued from page 1 a professor of electrical and computer enmission and evaluate other institutional gineering at Tufts University. He also holds priorities. a concurrent appointment as an Amazon “Boston College has a great story to tell, Scholar with Amazon Robotics, a program and my fellow committee members and I designed for academics from universities want to work with the University’s departworldwide who work on large-scale techni- ments, programs, and offices to tell that cal challenges while continuing to teach story,” he said. “It’s also important for us and conduct research at their respective to consider how we can continue to grow. universities. Undertaking the self-study and hosting the “We’re proud to celebrate Usman’s visiting team will help ensure that Boston election as an IEEE Fellow,” said George College builds on its legacy.” Mohler, the Daniel J. Fitzgerald ProfesMartin said the reaccreditation effort sor and chair of the Computer Science will involve assessing how BC has been afdepartment. “This award recognizes his fected by, and responded to, the multitude high-impact research at the intersection of of events and trends of the past decade optimization, robotics and artificial intelli- affecting higher education, and society at gence, and brings high-level visibility to the large. “It’s a matter of assembling qualitadepartment. It’s an exciting achievement tive as well as quantitative evidence that and we are grateful to have Usman as a col- we are succeeding. We may be confident, league.” for instance, that our Undergraduate Core
Curriculum is producing well-rounded graduates, but how do we know? How can we demonstrate that BC is living up to its Jesuit, Catholic mission?” Toward that end, an advisory group is being formed to aid the special committee under Martin’s direction, with members representing each of BC’s schools and vice-presidential divisions, such as Facilities Management, Human Resources, and University Mission and Ministry. He emphasized, however, that the reaccreditation process will be a “communitywide” one with a number of opportunities to contribute and offer input. “A wide variety of faculty, students, and administrators must be involved in order to help Boston College prepare most effectively for the future.”
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A Model for Success When a pair of BC centers teamed up, the outcome was better than either one of them might have imagined BY PHIL GLOUDEMANS STAFF WRITER
A collaboration between the Boston College Center for Digital Innovation (CDIL) and the Lynch School of Education and Human Development’s Barbara and Patrick Roche Center for Catholic Education has proven the remarkable benefits of synergy: when a partnership produces a greater outcome than the sum of its individual parts. The joint venture came about when the Roche Center—founded in 2007 to build excellent and equitable Catholic pre-K-12 schools—was faced with a challenge: How to translate years of in-person expertise into an engaging online experience for Catholic volunteer school board leaders? So, the center’s Executive Director Melodie Wyttenbach approached the CDIL, launched in 2019 as a centralized service center for all facets of online education support and an innovation space for new digital teaching and learning initiatives. The two BC entities already had a good track record, having teamed up to create courses for the Roche Center’s Catholic Leadership Cohort, which enables Catholic educators to enroll in the Lynch School’s Master of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy program. But this new undertaking was something quite different, according to Christopher C. Martin, the Roche Center’s program director of board development
photo by caitlin cunningham
Roche Center Executive Director Melodie Wyttenbach says working with the BC Center for Digital Innovation “was genuinely wonderful.” and executive leadership. The daunting task was to build online asynchronous learning experiences for the Board Development Institute (BDI), the nation’s most comprehensive Catholic school board formation program. While the goals for the BDI were clear, explained Martin, the center had modest experience, at best, in building a large-scale online education program. Moreover, the course needed to respect the volunteer participants’ schedules while equipping them with practical tools immediately applicable in their schools. “Quite frankly, I had no idea where to
start,” said Martin. “How do we engage busy, unpaid board members from across the country online? How do we build a course that feels professional, cohesive, and motivating? What technologies would be essential to sustain these courses online, and how could they be used most effectively?” But the two teams created an outcome more expansive and impactful than either one could have achieved alone. Together, with CDIL’s learning designers, instructional media producers, and learning technology team, the Roche Center codeveloped a program that is now reaching more schools, leaders, and communities than ever before. While the BDI had several valuable resources for Catholic school leaders and board members, the Roche Center sought to consolidate these assets into a cohesive, accessible learning experience that could serve as a repository for leaders to return to repeatedly. For each learning experience, CDIL worked with the program directors to devise a conceptual structure of the course and to generate content highlighting the program’s mission. In the end, they organized each learning experience into three sections: “Minds On,” which introduced new concepts and skills; “Hearts On,” which provided opportunities for discernment and reflection; and “Hands On,” which allowed learners to apply the content to their own lives and professional contexts. Given the diverse needs of Catholic school educators, the topics range from finances and budgeting to marketing and leadership. From the outset, Martin recognized CDIL’s approach as their point of difference: The team didn’t simply build a
course, they partnered in every sense of the word. “They weren’t just teaching or coaching, they were accompanying us on the journey, truly engaging in the content to understand what our learners would see,” said Martin. “We worked with learning designers who helped us organize lesson plans and resources, technology specialists who built out modules, media producers who thoughtfully edited video recordings, and together, established an experience that would entice participants. It was the whole package. “At first, I wondered how CDIL could support our work, but once we got started, my mind was blown. They wanted our program to be the best it could be, and they were with us every step of the way.” In the end, the collaborative experience was positive in many respects for both centers. “As an institution, we are so fortunate to have CDIL as a resource to enhance the online learning experiences we create for our students,” said Wyttenbach. “Working alongside their team was genuinely wonderful, as their insightful guidance seamlessly blended with unbounded creativity to bring a sophisticated learning design to our Board Development Institute to life.” “What made this collaboration with the Roche Center so successful was the way they consistently led with mission, heart, and an openness to innovation,” said CDIL Executive Director Brian L. Salerno. “Our partnership on the BDI wasn’t just about designing an engaging and interactive online experience; it was also about creating space for formation and reflection in service to Catholic education nationwide. That synergy of purpose made the work deeply meaningful for our team.”
Researchers Use AI to Remove ‘Noise’ from MRI Images BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER
Obtaining clearer functional MRI data about the brain and its disorders is possible using artificial intelligence, according to Boston College researchers who reported recently in Nature Methods that they developed an AI-assisted method to remove “noise,” or image distortions, caused by movement, heartbeat, and other factors. Functional neuroimaging, also known as fMRI, is one of the most widely used noninvasive methods in neuroscience, with tens of thousands of studies published in 2024 alone. A major obstacle for fMRI research is that MRI data about brain responses is mixed with noise from movements and other sources. Removing noise more effectively could pave the way to new discoveries about the brain and its disorders, according to Associate Professor of Psychology Stefano Anzellotti, the paper’s senior author. The new method developed by Anzellotti and
two other researchers used generative AI to triple the performance of previous approaches. The findings could open new doors for brain research, Anzellotti said. “We wanted to improve the removal of noise from fMRI data. Other work had attempted to do this before. What is new about our work is that, thanks to the use of generative AI, we were able to improve by more than 200 percent over previous methods.” The method developed by the researchers, known as DeepCor, outperforms other state-of-the-art denoising approaches on a variety of simulated datasets. In real fMRI data, DeepCor outperforms another widely used method, CompCor, by 215 percent in removing noise from face responses, and by 339 percent in clarifying realistic synthetic data, generated to imitate the properties of a real fMRI dataset, according to Anzellotti. The AI learns which patterns are unique to brain regions that contain neurons and the unique patterns within
Assoc. Prof. Stefano Anzellotti (Psychology) photo by caitlin cunningham
regions of the brain that do not contain neurons, like the ventricles, said Anzellotti. “Noise typically affects both sets of
regions, therefore removing the patterns they have in common makes the unique patterns of the regions that contain neurons stand out,” he explained. The team, including post-doctoral researcher Aidas Aglinskas and Yu Zhu— then an undergraduate student, now a doctoral student at Brown University— studied the human brain with functional magnetic resonance imaging. Anzellotti said the scope of improvement was not expected. “We were surprised by how big the improvement was. We expected the method to do better, but we anticipated an improvement in the range of 10 percent to 50 percent. Improving by 200 percent was beyond our most optimistic expectations.” Anzellotti’s research will continue to explore improvements in fMRI readings. “We are looking at two key next steps: making the method as easy to access for as many other researchers as possible, and using it to denoise large public datasets so that the field can start benefiting from cleaner data as soon as possible.”
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Chronicle
January 15, 2026
A Unique Bacteria May Be Key to Battery Recycling BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER
A unique bacterium that thrives in highly acidic environments feeds on spent battery “waste,” making it a promising new method for self-sufficient battery recycling, according to a recent report from an interdisciplinary team of Boston College researchers. The bacterium, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans (Atf ), has a natural metabolic cycle that produces protons capable of leaching electrode materials from spent batteries, Vanderslice Professor of Chemistry Dunwei Wang, Associate Professor of Biology Babak Momeni, and colleagues reported in the journal ACS Sustainable Resource Management. “This is a critical step forward by examining the possibility of growing the bacteria using materials already present in spent batteries as a food source,” said Wang. “More specifically, we used iron, which is commonly employed as a casing material in batteries. Our results showed that the bacteria can indeed thrive with this new food source, and the resulting solution is highly active for recycling spent batteries.” In an increasingly electrified society, the widespread use of batteries to power tools, toys, and gadgets points to a twofold crisis: the ever-expanding need to produce more batteries and the rapid accumulation of spent batteries.
Research by Vanderslice Professor of Chemistry Dunwei Wang (left), Associate Professor of Biology Babak Momeni, and their colleagues addresses a two-fold problem: the need to produce more batteries and the accumulation of spent batteries. photos by caitlin cunningham
Efforts to solve these two problems have encountered high energy use or require the transport and use of toxic chemicals. Wang, working in collaboration with Momeni, decided to explore whether Atf could use the iron content in spent batteries as a food source. In addition, could Atf-inspired solutions successfully leach cathode materials from spent batteries?
Momeni, whose research interests include microbial ecology and mathematical modeling of biological systems, undertook the cultivation of the bacteria. Wang, a physical chemist whose work focuses on clean energy, used the culture for battery cathode leaching. Additional co-authors were research associate Wei Li, graduate student Brooke Elander, and undergraduates Mengyun Jiang and Mikayla Fahren-
bruch. Building on other research, the team wanted to specifically see if they could replace sulfate, which is another critical component in the food source. “Our results suggest that the activity of the bacteria does not depend on the presence of sulfate,” said Wang. “This is an important finding because it indicates that for future implementations, one could do away with the need for the transportation of large quantities of one toxic material.” In addition, Wang said the team tested the possibility of using stainless steel as a food source, which is far more common in real world batteries. Their experiments showed it worked even better than pure iron. “The finding that stainless steel worked better than pure iron was indeed a surprise,” said Wang. “This is because stainless steel is a complex mixture. We didn’t expect it to work so well. But this is a notable unexpected development as stainless steel is more commonly encountered in real batteries.” The team is now working on evolving the bacteria to improve the recycling efficiencies. They are also working on building prototype batteries with the recycled materials to prove that they offer the same performance advantages as traditional batteries constructed from new materials. To read the article about this research in ACS Sustainable Resource Management, go to pubs. acs.org/doi/10.1021/acssusresmgt.5c00259
BCSSW Prof. Leads Study of Cannabis Consumption Continued from page 1
of cannabis use —adults who were older, female, white, or college-educated—have increased their likelihood of use the most following legalization.” Escalating evidence on the physical and mental health risks of cannabis, particularly for frequent use and consumption among younger people, has important ramifications in the face of rising levels of cannabis use, noted the study. Research has identified numerous potential impacts of cannabis use, including dependency, cognitive impairment, and adverse effects on cardiovascular and respiratory systems. At the same time, the proportion of adults who perceive there to be no risks from cannabis use has risen. “The increased risk of cannabis use disorder with earlier entry and frequent use is concerning, as are the plummeting public perceptions of the adverse consequences of cannabis use,” said Hawkins. According to recent research published in the journal Addiction and a survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, cannabis use has been rising for decades among American adults. In 2023, 25.2 percent of individuals aged 18-25 and 15 percent of adults over 26 reported using cannabis in the past month. Cannabis use is more prevalent across certain demographic groups, particularly adults who are younger, male, identify
as white or Black, have lower education and income levels, and comprise higherrisk groups, including adults who report depressive symptoms or engage in polysubstance use. To examine whether cannabis legalization was driving these trends, the Hawkins-led study evaluated the impact of recreational cannabis legalization on adult cannabis use across the adult population overall and by demographic and higherrisk strata among participants in the 20162023 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). The BRFSS is an annual, state-representative telephone survey of over 400,000 adults aged 18 years and older, administered in all 50 states and the District of Columbia by state health departments and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The final study sample included 859,600 respondents from 38 states, the only states that included cannabis questions from 2016 through 2023. Three states legalized recreational cannabis prior to 2016 and an additional 17 states by 2023. Cannabis use averaged 11.9 percent across the study period and varied across states, ranging from seven percent in Nebraska to 22.4 percent in Oregon. Cannabis use increased by about one percentage point in response to legalization, a nearly 10 percent relative increase from
photo by caitlin cunningham
“The increased risk of cannabis use disorder with earlier entry and frequent use is concerning, as are the plummeting public perceptions of the adverse consequences of cannabis use,” said Hawkins.
2016 levels. Furthermore, adults aged 60 years and older, female, white, or collegeeducated were the most responsive to legalization, with one to two percentage point increases in use, translating to 15 to 37 percent relative increases compared to 2016 levels of use. “As recreational cannabis legalization continues to expand across the U.S., monitoring how patterns of cannabis use change in response to legalization is essential for understanding the short- and long-term implications across populations,” Hawkins said. “Our findings highlight that recreational cannabis legalization should be coupled with broad public health outreach and awareness, including health education campaigns and initiatives to increase health literacy around cannabis.” Given the study’s results, recent legislation in Massachusetts warrants monitoring, noted the researchers. The state agency overseeing cannabis regulation voted in December to permit marijuana lounges, establishing new social consumption licenses that will allow business owners to launch cannabis cafes and host marijuana-infused events. These regulations make Massachusetts the first state in New England to permit these establishments. To read the study, see https://www. sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/ S0749379725006890
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Chronicle
January 15, 2026
Five Decades for PULSE, Haley House Partnership Continued from page 1
for. Animated by Matthew 25—a parable central to the Catholic Worker Movement emphasizing compassion and faith through action—he began volunteering regularly. “I’d get there around six in the morning, letting in 50 or 60 guys who had been sleeping on the street or at the Pine Street Inn. It was basic in those days, a cup of coffee, something to eat,” he recalled. Four years later, Manzo, by then a PULSE student and part of the leadership council, was given a goal alongside other leadership council members to find new community partners for PULSE that aligned with Matthew 25. He didn’t have far to look. “I was already volunteering at Haley House,” said Manzo, who has now been a beloved lecturer in PULSE for over 45 years. “PULSE gave me the opportunity to be proximate to people who are struggling, and to go from concerned to committed.” That year, PULSE officially began its partnership by sending two students to volunteer in the Haley House Soup Kitchen. This year, nine students in the yearlong course are serving in a variety of roles, from preparing food to eating with Haley House guests. Each of PULSE’s community partnerships—of which there are now over 65—is distinct. Students spend the first month of the program engaged in a mutual selection process where they explore different partnerships. The community feel and emphasis on relationship building to erase divisions make PULSE’s partnership with Haley House unique, said PULSE Program Cooney Family Director Meghan Sweeney. “Students learn how food can build community. They see the value of simple acts of kindness. Haley House also helps students think about justice issues in a personal, friendship-based way,” Sweeney explained. Caroline Oswitt ’26, a former PULSE student who served at Haley House, says the program’s combination of service and in-class reflection helped her see that while service is important, the interpersonal relationships built through it are just as valuable. “I learned the importance of showing up for those one-on-one connections because over time, they build a broader sense of community,” said Oswitt. “There was
A group photo from the late 1970s includes, at far left, David Manzo '77, standing beside Haley House co-founder Kathe McKenna. Manzo’s interest in Catholic Worker houses helped set the stage for the five-decade partnership between Haley House and Boston College.
a guest at Haley House who would come to breakfast often and was also working a couple of jobs and getting his GED. He was always excited to see me, and sometimes we would go over his math homework and just talk about life. “It was nice to build that relationship with him and to see how everyone’s life has so many layers, but even with those differences there is always something you can connect over.” Mary Lou Bozza ’03, a former PULSE student who is now a part-time faculty member in the Theology Department, chose Haley House as her community partner after a friend suggested it. That recommendation changed the course of her life in many ways, she said: Bozza would return as a live-in volunteer and later work as the organization’s director of development for seven years. “I still remember my initial discomfort walking into the noisy and chaotic Soup Kitchen,” she said. “But starting on that first day, I was immediately welcomed by the guests. That sense of radical hospitality, embodied by everyone at Haley House, continues to be something that I strive to put into practice in my own life today.” The PULSE students’ impact is felt daily because they help create a welcoming atmosphere where guests feel respected and seen, said Haley House Executive Director Reggie Jean. “The Boston College students who serve at our Soup Kitchen quickly learn that service at Haley House
Nota Bene Longtime Boston College faculty member Susan Michalczyk was honored last month as a recipient of a 2025 ACC UNITE Award, which honors individuals who exemplify the spirit of the UNITE Award through their commitment to fostering unity and respect within their communities. Michalczyk’s annual screenings of the documentaries she co-created with her husband, Professor of Art, Art History, and Film John J. Michalczyk, “have helped preserve the legacy of Lou Montgomery, Boston
is about community, not charity. They don’t just serve meals—they share meals, listen deeply, and form genuine relationships with our guests, many of whom are navigating homelessness, food insecurity, or social isolation. “Our guests look forward to connecting with the students and sharing stories—it’s that mutual exchange that reinforces the idea that everyone has something to give and something to learn,” said Jean. “Together, we’re cultivating a generation that sees service not as an act, but as a way of being.” That’s been the case for Manzo. After graduating from BC, he joined the live-in Haley House volunteers before serving as
Jobs The following are among the recent positions posted by the Department of Human Resources. For more information on employment opportunities at Boston College, see www.bc.edu/jobs or scan the QR code at right. Research Systems Administrator Applications Developer Cashier/Line Database Administrator (Senior) Assistant Director/Assistant Director/Specialist, Financial Compliance & Audit Laboratory Safety Specialist Assistant/Associate Director, Athletics Leadership Giving
College’s first Black football player,” the award committee noted. “The tradition unites student-athletes and alumni across generations, sparking meaningful conversations and strengthening Boston College’s commitment to service.” Michalczyk and fellow ACC UNITE Award winner Harry Edwards, professor emeritus of sociology at the University of California-Berkeley, were formally recognized at the December 6 ACC Championship Game in Charlotte, NC.
board chair from 1980-1991. He’s now returned to the board, connecting PULSE students to Haley House. And while a lot has changed over 50 years, he says the partnership still holds the same values. “It can be uncomfortable to talk to someone experiencing homelessness. Placements like Haley House are powerful and really stretch students,” said Manzo. “But by welcoming the stranger and seeing the value in every person’s life, you might be welcoming the divine in your presence.” Learn more about the PULSE Program for Service Learning at bc.edu/PULSE. Learn more about Haley House at haleyhouse.org.
Evening Access Services Assistant Creative Graphic Designer, Athletics Production Manager (Chef de Cuisine) Head Librarian, Clough School of Theology and Ministry Library Assistant/Associate Director, Leadership Giving Supervisor, Arena Laundry Supervisor Managing Editor, Periodicals Associate Director, Career Advising &
Programming Assistant Director, Field Education Academic Support Assistant Content Development Specialist Assistant Program Director, So I Send You Program Teacher Assistant Program Director, Graduate Programs in Leadership Bartender Lead Catering Staff Medical Informatics Administrator Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Lynch School of Education and Human Development
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Chronicle
January 15, 2026
BC Arts
Humanities Series to Address ‘Painful Challenges’ Speakers at this semester’s Boston College Lowell Humanities Series will address “some of the most vexing and painful challenges of our time,” according to series director Professor of History Sylvia Sellers-García: racial injustice, destructive wildfires, the rise of technology-assisted populism, the war in Gaza, and the more common but no less devastating loss of family, among other topics. “These are urgent issues that many of us are struggling to make sense of,” said Sellers-García. “The persistent energy of these creative thinkers will, I anticipate, help us to grapple with them. Some take a deliberate posture of hope in the face of continuing challenges; others come prepared with the analytic tools that we need to understand loss before we can overcome it.” Lowell Humanities Series events—cosponsored by a number of BC departments, programs, and initiatives—will be held at 7 p.m. in Gasson 100 unless otherwise noted. February 4: Annual Candlemas Lecture, with Emilie Townes—An American Baptist clergywoman, Townes is dean emerita and former University Distinguished Professor of Womanist Ethics and Society at Vanderbilt University Divinity School—she was the first African American to serve as its dean—and the College of Arts and Science. She was the first Black woman to become a member of the American Academy of Religion and to serve as president of the Society of Christian Ethics. Townes is the editor and co-editor of essay collections including A Troubling in My Soul: Womanist Perspectives on Evil and Suffering and Walking Through the Valley: Essays: Womanist Explorations in the Spirit of Katie Geneva Cannon. She also authored Womanist Justice, Womanist Hope, and In a Blaze of Glory: Womanist Spirituality as Social Witness. (Cosponsored by the Theology Department) February 25: Yiyun Li—A professor at Princeton University and director of its writing program, Li is the author of 11 books, including Things in Nature Merely Grow; The Book of Goose; Where Reasons End; Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your Life; and Tolstoy Together, 85 Days of War and Peace with Yiyun Li. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Best American Short Stories, O. Henry Prize Stories, and elsewhere. Her honors and awards include MacArthur Foundation and Guggenheim Foundation fellowships, and PEN/Jean Stein, PEN/Hemingway, and PEN/Nabokov awards. “A Thousand Years of Good Prayers,” an independent film directed by Wayne Wang and adapted by Li from her short story, was the Golden Shell winner for best film at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. (Cosponsored by the Fiction Days Series and Asian American Studies Program) March 11: John Vaillant—Vaillant is an author and freelance writer whose journalism, fiction, and non-fiction explore collisions between human ambition and
Clockwise from far left: Emilie Townes, John Vaillant, Sherene Seikaly, Yiyun Li, Rogers Brubaker, Margaret Burnham photo credits: michael d. spencer (townes), john sinal
(vaillant), denise j. applewhite (li), maurice weiss (brubaker), history makers (burnham)
the natural world. His latest book, Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World, a stunning account of a colossal wildfire and panoramic exploration of the rapidly changing relationship between fire and humankind, was a 2024 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in General Nonfiction. In addition to winning the British Baillie Gifford Prize, the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize, and the John Wesley Dafoe Book Prize, Fire Weather was a finalist for the National Book Award, the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction, and Canada’s Writers’ Trust Nonfiction Prize, and named one of the best books of 2023 by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, TIME, among others. (Cosponsored by the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society, the University Core Curriculum, and Environmental Studies) March 18: Rogers Brubaker (Devlin 110)—Brubaker holds the Foundation Chair at the University of California-Los Angeles, where he is also Distinguished Professor of Sociology. He has written widely on social theory, citizenship, nationalism, ethnicity, race, religion, gender, populism, and digital hyperconnectivity. His most recent book, Hyperconnectivity and Its Discontents, treats digital hyperconnectivity as a “total social fact” and addresses transformations of the self, social interaction, culture, economics, and politics. Brubaker has been awarded a MacArthur Fellowship, a National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award, and various fellowships. (Cosponsored by the Sociology Department and Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy) March 25: Sherene Seikaly—A past fellow of the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin and associate professor of history at the University of California–Santa Barbara, Seikaly is the author of Men of Capital: Scarcity and Economy in Mandate Palestine, which explores economy, territory, the
home, and the body. Her forthcoming book From Baltimore to Beirut: On the Question of Palestine tells a global history of capital, slavery, and dispossession. She is the director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at UCSB and co-editor of the Stanford Studies Middle Eastern and Islamic Societies, the Journal of Palestine Studies, and Jadaliyya. (Cosponsored by the History Department) April 8: Margaret A. Burnham—Renowned legal scholar, civil rights advocate, and former judge, Burnham is the founder of Northeastern University School of Law’s Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project (CRRJ) and author of By Hands Now Known: Jim Crow’s Legal Executioners. Through CRRJ, she has led teams of law students in investigating acts of racial violence in the Jim Crow era, including hundreds of unsolved murders of Black people among other historical failures of the
criminal justice system. She has represented civil rights and political activists, including Angela Davis in the 1970s, and in 1977 became the first African American woman to serve in the Massachusetts judiciary. Burnham is a University Distinguished Professor of Law at Northeastern University. (Cosponsored by the BC PULSE Program for Service Learning and Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics) The Lowell Humanities Series is sponsored by the Lowell Institute, the Institute for the Liberal Arts, and the Office of the Provost and Dean of Faculties. All events are free and open to the public. Registration via Eventbrite is required for in-person attendance. To register for events, and for more information on the series and speakers, see the Lowell Humanities Series website [www.bc.edu/Lowell]. —University Communications
Frantz Berthaud ’08, chief cancer center officer at University Medical Center of El Paso, spoke with students after his January 9 keynote address at Endeavor, the University’s annual career exploration program for sophomores and juniors. photo by caitlin cunningham