At the biology department’s May 2 Undergraduate Research Celebration, Inna Grishkan ’08 (right) won the Grant W. Balkema Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher for her laboratory investigation of basic mechanisms for transmitting epigenetic information—information that controls gene expression. Selected by a panel of seven faculty members, Grishkan’s project, entitled “Nucleosome Assembly in Human Cell Lines Expressing Inducible FLAG-Tagged Histones,” was among the four oral and 25 poster presentations that took place at Higgins Hall, highlighting the research of some 37 undergraduate biology majors. “She’s been an intellectual colleague and has made a significant contribution to the work in our laboratory,” said biology professor Anthony Annunziato of Grishkan, who immigrated to the U.S. from Russia at age 15 and will enter a combined Ph.D. and MD program at Johns Hopkins University next year. Above, Grishkan holds her award and talks with Annunziato and Marilee Ogren, part-time faculty member in the biology and psychology departments and widow of Grant Balkema, a Boston College biology professor who died in 2004 at age 53 and was, according to Annunziato, “passionate about having undergraduates work in the lab.”

Film actor, writer, and director Thomas McCarthy ’88 (center) took part in three events at the University’s 10th annual Arts Festival. On the night of April 25 he spoke about his recent movie The Visitor (Overture, 2008) following its public screening on O’Neill Plaza. The next day he was interviewed by Luke Jorgensen ’91 of the theater department in a program called “Inside the BC Studio,” and that evening President William P. Leahy presented the Boston College Arts Council’s annual Alumni Award for Distinguished Achievement to McCarthy. As an actor, McCarthy’s credits include Flags of Our Fathers, Syrianna, Goodnight and Good Luck, The Year of the Dog, and Meet the Parents. He wrote and directed The Station Agent (Miramax, 2003), which won numerous awards including the Sundance Film Festival’s Audience Award and Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. Above (l-r) Daniel Esposito ’10, McCarthy, Jorgensen, and Riley Madincea ’11 talk on April 26 after McCarthy’s public interview under the tent on O’Neill Plaza.

Most of the songs are long forgotten, although former LSOE faculty member Vincent Nuccio ’49, a long-time performer in the University Chorale, recalls singing two other songs in the book, “Maroon and Gold,” by George Dennis, and “Sweep Down the Field,” by Theodore Marier ’34. University historian Thomas O’Connor ’49 says he always thought “Sweep Down the Field” was “the best of the bunch.” He recalls, “Groups of students would be brought together and taught these songs by student leaders,” and the music would be sung at pre-game rallies.

Boston’s Old Corner Books offers a copy of Songs of Boston College, in “very good” condition, for $105.60, but @BC is pleased to present online much of what is to be enjoyed in this collection. Our production staff has scanned the pages and prepared an edition that enables viewers to view and print each page. It also contains an audio track of the piano part for 10 of the songs. (Due to the quality of the original images, three of the songs could not be translated to audio.)

He recalls the occasion in the early 1980s when, as the new dean of Arts & Sciences at Boston College, he encouraged incoming freshmen to read a few library books that were not required by their course work. “I told them that we had gone to a great effort to build up a large library collection at the University, and since they were going to have four years here, it might be good if they read a book or two.” In response to suggestions from faculty, he compiled a list of “recommendations for an evening of good reading.”

And so, an institution began. Since then, Neenan has annually prepared what has come to be called the “Dean’s List,” of 27 books. (“That’s three cubed and a mystical number; I’m making this up, but ‘three cubed’: it sounds mystical.”) In August 2000 the list was featured in a Chronicle of Higher Education story and that same month it was the subject of a Boston Globe feature, which quoted Office of Public Affairs director Jack Dunn’s statement that there are 10,000 requests annually for the latest list.

In a recent conversation, Neenan, who is in his eighties, observed that his taste in literature has changed over the years. These days he has a greater proclivity to “doze off” in the evening. “I read less of a serious nature—more novels and narrative history.” He is glad for the annual exercise of reflecting over his prior year’s reading. “It’s the same reason final exams are useful. They give the student the opportunity to reflect on what happened since September,” he explained. “St. Ignatius wanted people to reflect at the end of each day on how that day had gone. Reflecting on last year’s reading mirrors that. It’s a spiritual thing. Please notice: I’m ending on a spiritual note.”

To mark the 25th anniversary of the Dean’s List, in February the O’Neill Library unveiled a “special exhibition of the 130 or so books that have made the List over the years.” On February 27 Fr. Neenan spoke at a reception celebrating the opening of the exhibit. @BC presents a video of his talk on that occasion.

He demonstrated his ability to work both tactically and strategically in 2004 during one of the Mile High city’s coldest winters. When the shelters were full, he opened United Way’s office to house 60-80 homeless men. At the same time, he partnered with the mayor of Denver to launch a 10-year plan to eliminate homelessness. Forging alliances with other nonprofits and organizations was also a hallmark of Durkin’s strategy as he collaborated with the Denver public schools on after-school programs, and with local nonprofits to raise $1 million to support 1,200 Katrina evacuees displaced in Colorado. Durkin also worked on the national level, cochairing a partnership that aimed to help families become more financially stable, and leads a task force analyzing the effectiveness of United Way in individual communities.

A Syracuse native, Durkin has ties to Massachusetts through his wife (a native of Melrose), and his daughter, a freshman at Boston College. His dedication to service also began here, when he volunteered at the Margaret Fuller House in Cambridge and the Haley House in the South End as an undergraduate. He returns to head the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley “at a time when the organization faces critical challenges,” according to the Boston Globe, “particularly in convincing increasingly sophisticated donors that it should remain a destination for their philanthropic dollars.”

“I’m not taking a job, I’m continuing to fulfill an intense passion that I have about helping people,” said Durkin in a press release. “United Way is a critical piece for how the community as a whole can be successful.”

• December 26, 2007, Boston Globe article about Durkin’s new job
• United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley announcement of Durkin’s selection to be new president and CEO
• YouTube video of Durkin discussing the United Way’s Financial Stability Partnership
• Letter from Mike Durkin to Denver community about his decision to come to Massachusetts

Rev. Hubert Walters came to Boston College in 1982 to direct the vocal group Voices of Imani. (Imani means “faith” in Swahili.) His contributions to cultural life on campus “made Black Studies [now African and African Diaspora Studies] an emotional and intellectual home for black students, and gave them the confidence to share their music and their culture with other students and faculty,” according to J. Joseph Burns, associate vice provost for undergraduate programs. Walters, who is retiring this year, conducted his final annual spring concert of Voices of Imani on April 11 at a packed Trinity Chapel. The New Fisk Jubilee Singers joined in the performance. Afterward, Walters was greeted by well-wishers (above) and there was a gala reception to honor him.

A crowd of some 2,000 came to Conte Forum on the evening of April 14 for a rally celebrating the Boston College men’s hockey team, which won the NCAA championship on April 12 with a 4-1 win over Notre Dame. Happy fans formed a line that wound halfway around the concourse to get autographs from the players, including Nathan Gerbe ’09 (above), who scored two goals and had two assists in the Notre Dame game, and was the nation’s leading scorer for the season with 35 goals and 32 assists. President William P. Leahy, SJ, Gene DeFilippo, director of athletics, and Coach Jerry York spoke at the ceremony, which ended on a climactic note when, after the Eagles’ previous NCAA trophies from 1949 and 2001 were brought out, Baldwin entered the rink, riding a Zamboni, bearing the 2008 prize.

Beginning with a worship service at the McMullen Museum’s exhibit Tree of Paradise: Jewish Mosaics from the Roman Empire, the semi-annual student-faculty Shabbat celebration, sponsored by Hillel of Boston College, attracted some 70 participants on April 4. “This is one of those things that Boston College does best,” said museum director Nancy Netzer in describing the diversity of attendants. “Faculty, students, and staff were there; Jews, Muslims, African-Americans, Christians, Asians—it was a beautiful mix.” It is likely, she noted, that in the 6th century a similarly varied group worshipped in the proximity of items in the exhibit, which include the reconstruction of a synagogue’s mosaic floor (in foreground of photo), created in about 500 C.E. in Hammam Lif, Tunisia. “For all we know, this could be the first time in 1,500 years that a liturgy has been conducted near these parts of the synagogue.”