Transforming Light: The Stained Glass Windows of Boston College
Essays by Virginia Raguin, photography by Gary Wayne Gilbert
“A university campus is more than the shell of an institution; it is a record of growth and ideals, shaped by the historical era in which it was constructed, and reflecting ideas about aesthetics, institutional identity, and campus planning,” writes Jeffery Howe, Professor of Fine Arts at Boston College, in his introduction to Transforming Light. On this broad canvass, Virginia Raguin illuminates the story of Boston College’s stained glass windows—exhibited here through the compelling photography of Gary Wayne Gilbert. The story, in turn, leads toward a wider illumination of this major decorative art, and of collegiate-gothic architecture in general. “The windows of Boston College constitute a remarkable ensemble that testifies to the vigor of historic revivals when they are in the hands of capable creative artists,” Raguin, an art historian at College of the Holy Cross, writes in this work, scheduled to release in May 2009.
Echoes of a University Presidency
By J. Donald Monan, S.J.
As President of Boston College through an extraordinary 24-year tenure, J. Donald Monan, S.J., led the University from the brink of bankruptcy into the company of the nation’s academic leaders, a period of growth and revival hailed by the Boston Globe as “the Monan Renaissance.” A hands-on President both on campus and off, from the beginning he was and remained his own speechwriter. This volume gathers together, in Fr. Monan’s own words, the ideas and ideals, the motivations and sensitive appreciation of colleagues, through which, as Geoffrey Boisi writes in the Foreword, “Boston College found its authentic voice.”
Ascending the Heights
By Thomas H. O’Connor
In this concise and highly readable work, Thomas O’Connor tells the extraordinary story of Boston College. He takes us back to the beginnings of this institution as a small “streetcar” college in the South End of Boston, founded to educate the children of Irish immigrants, and he traces the transformation of Boston College into a major national university.
Founding Fathers
Edited by Ben Birnbaum
From the introduction by William P. Leahy, S.J.
Leadership at its most profound is a form of ministry, a
form of service personified by the six “Founding Fathers” profiled in this book. John McElroy was not an academic,
but he was a leader who overcame difficult barriers to
establishing a college for the children of Irish immigrants; John Bapst was a man of great zeal who suffered persecution and stayed the course; Robert Fulton understood
the world of ideas and fostered an academic culture at
the young college; Thomas Gasson showed extraordinary vision in moving Boston College to Chestnut Hill; Michael Walsh understood that Boston College could become a
great research university; and J. Donald Monan was the prime architect of Boston College’s remarkable revival and growth. For their example, and for what they saw and what they built, all of us associated with Boston College today
owe them much.