Comments on “Schools of thought”

“What Wasn’t Said….”

Dear Father Buckley:

Thank you for your article in the Boston College Magazine on the nature of university education as it relates to being Catholic and Jesuit. I am the parent of a freshman in the Honors College. My wife and I attended the Parents Orientation last August and thoroughly enjoyed our first exposure to Boston College and its people. I came away just as much impressed by what was not said as what was said. Let me explain.

Our first night on campus before Labor Day weekend we found all parents squashed into numerous theatres to listen to the First Year Experience presentation. I just knew what was coming: the captive audience was about to endure a fund-raising solicitation. Was I surprised! Almost three hours went by quickly and not one word was said about making contributions.

Instead, the new parents were indoctrinated into Boston College’s triad of self-identification as a Catholic university, a Jesuit Catholic university and a Jesuit Catholic university with a dual mission to create community on campus and to overflow the campus into the world around it. As your article says so eloquently, that is the nucleus of being Catholic.

To me as a parent, the concept of being men and women for others was not new since my son experienced four years at Jesuit Loyola High School in Los Angeles. But the prospect of having the theme of his Jesuit Catholic education carried through his college years is a value that is worth every bit as much as the academic excellence that we expect from Boston College.

Thank you for your thought-provoking article. My prayer is that our common goal is realized and that the world will be a better place for all the men and women for others who spill every spring out the doors of Boston College and into the world.

Bob Scullin
13431 Java Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210