Boston College Commencement

Cardinal Stephen Chow, S.J.

A year ago, Cardinal Chow, S.J., became the first bishop of Hong Kong in nearly three decades to visit Beijing. Last November, shortly after he was made a cardinal by Pope Francis, he initiated a reciprocal invitation to Beijing Archbishop Joseph Li, whose stay in Hong Kong was the first ever by a Beijing bishop. Cardinal Chow underscored these developments—cited by experts as symbolic gestures that could strengthen the fragile Vatican-China relationship—with his statement that he dreamed of bishops and the faithful from different parts of greater China gathering someday “to pray together.”

The Vatican and China have a long and complex history: The two severed diplomatic ties in 1951, and there have been tensions related to the dual existence of an official, state-sanctioned Chinese Catholic Church and an underground Church loyal to the pope. Cardinal Chow has expressed desire for his native Hong Kong to be a “bridge-building” church that will promote cordial exchanges between Rome and Beijing.

Cardinal Chow was provincial of the Chinese Jesuits from 2018 until 2021, five months after his appointment as bishop. He attended a secondary school staffed by Irish Jesuits before enrolling in the University of Minnesota, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees; he also holds degrees from Dublin’s Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy, Holy Spirit Seminary in Hong Kong, Loyola University of Chicago, and Harvard University. Cardinal Chow participated in the Jesuits’ 36th General Congregation in 2016. 

Dana Barros

A native of Boston’s Mattapan neighborhood, Barros had a stand-out basketball career in the college and professional ranks. The first BC player to score more than 2,000 career points and one of only two players to twice lead the Big East Conference in scoring, Barros received the Nathaniel J. Hasenfus "Eagle of the Year" Award as outstanding male athlete in his graduating class.

He went on to a 13-year NBA career, amassing 8,895 points as a member of the Seattle SuperSonics, Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics, and Detroit Pistons. He was an NBA All-Star in 1995. He was inducted into the Boston College Varsity Club Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005, and his number 3 was retired in 2017.

Since retiring from the NBA, Barros has been an entrepreneur, public speaker, coach, television analyst, leader of the City of Boston’s Department of Recreation, and a member of the Celtics’ front office. In 2018, he opened the Dana Barros Basketball Club, which hosts practices and workouts, Amateur Athletic Union games, tournaments, and basketball camps; the club is ranked among the top 10 basketball training centers in the U.S.

Two years ago, Barros returned to the Heights to assist BC Athletics with alumni engagement, media relations, and the launch of a mentorship program for men’s basketball.

Sister Maria Teresa “Tere” de Loera Lopez

Sister Maria Teresa “Tere” de Loera Lopez, of the Congregation of Catholic Sisters Teachers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, was part of the inaugural group of women religious in the U.S.-Latin American Sisters Exchange Program, launched in 2014 by Catholic Extension through a Conrad N. Hilton Foundation grant. The five-year initiative provides the opportunity to attain a university degree in the U.S., serve the poor in an Extension diocese, and gain leadership and ministry skills. 

Through the program, in partnership with Boston College, Sr. Tere earned a master’s degree in applied leadership studies in 2019 from the Woods College of Advancing Studies.  Beyond the academic experience, BC helped her “learn the American mentality to dream big, to have a vision,” she said in a BC News interview. “I’m better ready to serve my community.” 

Sr. Tere returned to her native Mexico in 2020 to lead a large religious education program in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. She serves 60 parishes and leads a staff of 12, and drives to distant parishes to train catechists. Despite dangerous journeys through areas run by drug cartels, she is undaunted by the risks and committed to lay leader formation. Her vocation has also taken her to serve in other locations, including Venezuela and Peru. Her U.S. ministry was at St. John the Baptist Parish in the Diocese of Little Rock, Arkansas.

James O’Connell, M.D.

James (Jim) O’Connell, M.D., is the founding physician and president of Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP), an integrated network of health care and social service providers who deliver equitable and dignified access to comprehensive, high-quality care for individuals and families experiencing homelessness in Boston. Operating at more than 30 clinic sites in shelters and hospitals, in a medical respite program, and on the streets, BHCHP provides medical care, behavioral health care, youth and family services, and case management to nearly 10,000 individuals every year. Under Dr. O’Connell’s leadership, BHCHP opened the nation’s first medical respite care facility for homeless patients and created the first electronic medical records system for a homeless program.

Dr. O’Connell meets Boston’s unhoused population where they are, often traveling the city at night, providing medical care, socks, soup, empathy, and friendship to those living on the margins. His compassionate and dignified care was depicted in Tracy Kidder’s acclaimed book, Rough Sleepers: Dr. Jim O’Connell’s Urgent Mission to Bring Healing to Homeless People, which was selected as the common read for the Boston College Class of 2027.

He is the editor of The Health Care of Homeless Persons: A Manual of Communicable Diseases and Common Problems in Shelters and his articles have appeared in numerous journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine. A recipient of the 2012 Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism, Dr. O’Connell was named a Bostonian of the Year in 2023 by The Boston Globe.

Mary Skipper

A lifelong educator and school leader, Mary Skipper has served as superintendent of the Boston Public Schools since September 2022. She has demonstrated her commitment to a vision of BPS as a welcoming, safe, and sustainable district through the settlement of outstanding labor contracts and the expansion of more inclusive education for students with disabilities and multilingual learners.

Raised by a single mother who barely finished high school, Skipper, the holder of three master’s degrees, has characterized her choice to become a teacher as the fulfillment of her professional calling. She launched her teaching career at Boston Latin Academy and Boston College High School, followed by 17 years in the Boston Public Schools.  She served as the founding headmaster and chief education officer of TechBoston Academy, a pilot school hailed by former President Barack Obama as a national model for its cutting-edge curriculum, and high graduation and college placement success. As the network superintendent for secondary schools, she oversaw 34 facilities with nearly 20,000 students, and during her tenure, those institutions achieved the lowest drop-out rate, and the highest graduation levels in the district’s history.

Prior to heading the state’s largest school district, the Boston native led the Somerville Public Schools for seven years. During her administration, the district posted improved graduation rates, attendance, and student assessment results, while withdrawals declined.