Partners in Health Care
How tiny St. John’s College and BC’s Connell School joined forces to launch a desperately needed new nursing school in Belize.
Campus Digest: Winter 2024
News and happenings from around Boston College.
Head coach of women’s hockey Katie Crowley poses with current members of the team at her Hall of Fame Induction ceremony. Photo: Matt Dewkett
Women’s Hockey Coach Katie Crowley Inducted into Hall of Fame
Katie Crowley, the Boston College Jane Rattigan Head Women’s Hockey Coach, achieved another major career milestone with her induction in December into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. Crowley has excelled in her sixteen seasons as head coach of the women’s team, leading them to five Hockey East regular season titles, six NCAA Frozen Fours, and one national championship game. She has also been honored twice as AHCA National Coach of the Year, and four times as Hockey East Coach of the Year.
As a player, the New Hampshire native is no less decorated for her achievements. She scored fourteen goals across three Olympic appearances, tied for the most ever as a member of Team USA, and helped the US women’s national team win the gold medal at the 1998 Olympic Games, silver in 2002, and bronze in 2006. She retired after the 2006 Games, having been named the USA Hockey Women’s Player of the Year. “It just really makes you reflect on those years,” Crowley said of the honor in BC’s student newspaper, The Heights. “[It] makes you really think about all the special people that were a part of my life and my hockey life.” —Elizabeth Clemente
Campus News
The Connell School of Nursing placed tenth in the U.S. News annual ranking of the nation’s undergraduate nursing programs, released last fall. The placement is CSON’s highest to date, with the magazine noting both BC’s rigorous undergraduate education and CSON’s ability to connect students with Boston’s world-class hospitals and research.
Father Cristiano Barbosa has been appointed by Pope Francis as the auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston. He obtained his licentiate and doctoral degree in sacred theology from the Boston College School of Theology in 2011 and 2019, and is now the first bishop of Brazilian descent in the history of the archdiocese, and one of only two in the US.
Professor of Global Sustainability Hanqin Tian has been named the inaugural director of the new Center for Earth Systems Science and Global Sustainability, or CES3, at BC’s Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society. CES3’s goal is to reduce the impact of climate change and aid in reaching the international goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial temperatures.
Chris Watkins has been named as the new head coach of the Boston College Women’s Soccer team. Watkins comes to BC after seven seasons at Gonzaga University, where he transformed the women’s soccer team, guiding it in 2023 to its first West Coast Conference title in program history, and was named conference coach of the year.
Jennifer Mack has been named executive director of Boston College Student Services, where she’ll oversee the registrar’s office and the Student Services Information System technology team, and provide consulting support to the University’s nine schools and colleges. Prior to her new job, Mack was BC’s director of student information systems.
Photo: Shutterstock
STUDENT CLUB SPOTLIGHT
Hawai’i Club of BC
Established: 1991
Current members: 32
What: The club celebrates traditional Hawaiian values and practices, including the hula dance and the haka. The most popular event of the year is the spring Lū‘au, where attendees make their own leis. The entire BC community is welcomed in the club. —Audrey Loyack
“It’s a home away from home for students from Hawai’i and a welcoming community to all who want to learn more about Hawaiian culture.” —Lianna McDermott ’24, who is a copresident of the club alongside Brandon Lai ’24
BIG NUMBERS
Keeping Count
The annual Beanpot hockey tournament is a clash of skill and grit and determination—but also of pads and skates and sticks. What does it take to equip the twenty-seven players on the men’s hockey team for this battle? Here’s a snapshot of what’s required for every Beanpot game.
162
HOCKEY STICKS
30
PUCKS
120
BOTTLES OF WATER
81
SETS OF STEELS
(replacement skate blades)
52
PAIRS OF SKATES
30
BENCH TOWELS
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