PUBLISHED BY THE BOSTON COLLEGE OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
MAY 7, 2026 VOL. 33 NO. 17
‘We Are History in the Making’
INSIDE 4 Looking forward
Woods College announces five-year strategic plan.
5 Global challenge
BCSSW researchers part of international call to aid children in conflict.
8 End of the line
Bernardnears O’Kane O’Kane end nears of hisend long of assohis ciation long association with BC. with BC.
Buckley Is Appointed as Boisi Center Director BY KATHLEEN SULLIVAN STAFF WRITER
David Buckley, associate professor of political science and the Paul Weber Endowed Chair in Politics, Science, and Religion at the University of Louisville, has been named director of Boston College’s Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life effective this summer, announced Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences Dean Gregory Kalscheur, S.J. Buckley succeeds Theology Professor Mark Massa, S.J., who is stepping down as director at the end of this academic year after leading the Boisi Center since 2017. Established in 1999 with an endowment from Geoffrey T. Boisi ’69 and his wife Rene (Isacco) Boisi ’69, the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life creates opportunities where a community of scholars, policy makers, media, and religious leaders can connect in conversation and scholarly reflection around issues at the intersection of religion and American public life. The hope is that such conversations can clarify the moral consequences of public policies in ways that help to maintain the common good while respecting America’s increasing religious diversity. A faculty member at Louisville since 2013, Buckley is the director of the Center for Asian Democracy, which promotes research, student opportunities, and community engagement that advances the understanding of democracy in Central,
Continued on page 4
Members of Messina College’s first graduating class look back—and ahead BY ED HAYWARD STAFF WRITER
In less than two weeks, the nearly 100 students who make up Messina College’s inaugural class will become the first to graduate from the University’s two-year, residential associate’s degree program. They arrived in the summer of 2024 after graduating predominantly from high schools in Boston and other Massachusetts cities to begin the first associate’s degree program ever offered by Boston College. Messina College is a cornerstone of the University’s $100 million Pine Manor Institute for Student Success initiative to enhance educational opportunity for underrepresented, first-generation students. Looking at the college and the class today, Patti and Jonathan Kraft Family Dean Erick Berrelleza, S.J., said the first two years have been marked by growth in both the program and the students themselves—
Messina College in September of 2024, its first year. photo by lee pellegrini
whom he calls “co-creators” of their own academic and social experiences—helping to direct and refine the program within BC’s Jesuit-Catholic tradition. “It’s been so exciting to watch—through
the students’ efforts, through the work of our faculty and staff here supporting them—all the successes and to see the expectations we had two years ago blown
Continued on page 6
BC Junior Wins a Truman Scholarship “There is something very spe-
BY JACK DUNN ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
David Nelson, a psychology major on the pre-med track with a film studies minor in the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, has been named a recipient of the 2026 Harry S. Truman Scholarship, one of just 55 winners nationwide from an applicant pool of 781 candidates. The prestigious Truman Scholarship, established by Congress in 1975 to honor the memory of the 33rd president, is considered the premier graduate scholarship for aspiring public service leaders. It recognizes students who demonstrate outstanding leadership potential, a commitment to a career in government or the nonprofit sector, and academic excellence. Truman Scholars receive up to $30,000 in funding for graduate studies along with leadership training, career counseling, and special internship opportunities within the federal government. Nelson, a junior from Birmingham, Ala., is concurrently enrolled in the 4+1 program at Tufts University School of
cial about Boston College,” says David Nelson ’27. “Here we are taught to use our gifts to serve others, and that is what I want to do with my career. It was a perfect match for me.” photo by caitlin cunningham
Medicine, where he is pursuing a master of public health degree in epidemiology and biostatistics. Upon completing the degree, he plans to pursue a joint medical and master of arts in public policy degree at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine and Harris School of Public Policy in preparation for a career as a physician-policy
maker focused on improving mental health outcomes in Black communities and addressing the growing issue of youth suicide. “Winning the Truman Scholarship was a great honor for me and my family,” said Nelson. “It meant a lot to me personally given what I have experienced growing up in Birmingham and losing so many peers to gang violence and my uncle to suicide. Grief has been the ignition behind much of what I do. I want to dedicate my life to addressing the critical issues of mental health and suicide because I do not want anyone else to know the pain my family
Continued on page 2