Originally published in Carroll Capital, the print publication of the Carroll School of Management at Boston College. Read the full issue here.
Jack Connors ’63, H ’07, P ’93, ’94—one of the most illustrious citizens of Boston and Boston College—stepped into the Carroll School dean’s office suite and exclaimed with a bright smile, “Are there any Eagles here!” He told the greeters that he first entered Fulton Hall 55 years ago, quipping that he visited the dean’s office mostly when he was in trouble. John and Linda Powers Family Dean Andy Boynton didn’t skip a beat—”You still are.” In 2019, Boston Magazine dubbed Connors “the last king of Boston.” He is co-founder and former CEO of Hill Holiday, which became one of the nation’s largest advertising firms; former chair of Partners Healthcare; and a longtime Boston College trustee. The dean interviewed him that day.
You’re a product of the old Boston, but you’ve helped usher in the new Boston. Tell me about the journey
It’s a classic immigrant story. We lived in a two-family house in Roslindale, upstairs from my aunt’s family and my grandfather. At BC, we didn’t have the college experience that kids enjoy today. Every afternoon, I went off to work. I delivered flowers, sold peanuts at Fenway Park, and drove a Checker cab. My grandchildren tell me that college is harder today, and they’re right. But I tell them—I studied under the streetlights in my car.
Was there a turning point, a big break?
I was 25 and working for a big PR firm, and a top executive said something at a meeting that changed my life: “If Jack keeps his nose clean, by the time he’s 30 he’ll be a vice-president.” I quit the next morning, because I wanted to be the architect of my own destiny. Then we started Hill Holiday. Later on, I gave a presentation for the advertising account at Wang [one-time tech giant in the 1980s]. The interviewer was a BC alum. He told me afterward that he had good news and bad news. The bad news was that I gave the worst of four presentations. The good news: “You got the account.” Which went from $165,000 to $41 million.
And you started making things happen, including our Boston College Alumni Stadium renovation in 1994 that made it what it is today.
The new mayor, Tom Menino, was saying that BC’s proposal was dead on arrival [due to community opposition]. So I met with him and said BC needs this and asked, “Are you going to give the necessary approval?” Menino responded: “Are you and I going to be friends?” I said, “It’s possible. It depends on your answer.” He then told me he wanted BC to fund a new neighborhood center in Brighton. BC did that, and he approved the stadium.
“Be the architect of your own destiny. And call someone you think might be lonely. Just to say hello.”
What’s driving your social philanthropy?
President Kennedy said a rising sea lifts all boats. He was 100 percent correct about the ocean, but it doesn’t work on land. The rising tide hasn’t lifted all boats. The Federal Reserve of Boston did a study some years ago showing that the average net worth of white families in Greater Boston was around $250,000—for Black families, it was just $8. And nobody seemed interested in Black and Brown kids, except the drug dealers. So Mayor Menino asked me if I had any ideas. I drove him out to a harbor island and said, “If you give me 30 acres for a dollar a year, I’ll raise $10 million for a summer camp.” We started Camp Harbor View in 2007 and have since raised $109 million. We serve a thousand kids a summer. They swim, play, and learn. And they can dream.
Do you have any advice for BC’s new graduates?
Be the architects of your own destiny. And call somebody that you think might be lonely. Just to say hello.
