"I hope to engage in a meaningful collaboration with passionate, like-minded individuals who are equally committed to justice and community empowerment. I seek to deepen my leadership and expand my impact by sharing knowledge, forging partnerships, and building sustainable strategies to serve our communities. Above all, I aspire to leave this experience enriched, inspired, and equipped to drive long-lasting change.” - Magno Garcia '26, a Boston College - Woods College of Advancing Studies student who was selected as a fellow in the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights' John Lewis Young Leaders Program | READ MORE: https://on.bc.edu/MagnoGarcia

“I’ve relished the opportunity to examine and teach about the philosophical questions that grow out of politics: How should we rule ourselves? What is justice? I think that, far from being a distant ivory tower, BC places a great importance in fulfilling its civic mission, as well as its religious and academic ones.” - Susan Shell, Political Science Professor, who is retiring after 45 years at Boston College | READ MORE: https://on.bc.edu/SusanShell

“I was very shy when I first started because I didn't understand my place in the industry. Being a Black woman in media, there weren't a lot of people that looked like me and there were times when I felt isolated and like I couldn't ask for help. Over the years, I’ve come to understand that I do belong here, that I'm good at my job, and that there's a space for me at the table. Now I'm at a point where I think, ‘Why wouldn't I speak up?’ I always wonder why I ever let myself get so intimidated that I felt the need to not be myself.” – Kwani Lunis ’15, a co-host of The Hub Today and the “The Big 3 NBA" Podcast | READ MORE: https://on.bc.edu/KwaniLunis

“What has been most significant about my Boston College experience has been the privilege of getting to teach some of our remarkable undergraduates. I have often found myself inspired by the way they talk about their deepest desires and aspirations, their yearning to lead lives of integrity and goodness, their hope for a better, more just world—and their attraction to an ideal of education that upholds respect for the intrinsic dignity of all people.” - Stephen Pope, Boston College Theology Department Professor and the 2025 Saint Robert Bellarmine, S.J., Award recipient | READ MORE: https://on.bc.edu/Pope_BellarmineAward

“I started stand-up comedy shortly after I moved to Boston because I missed having an art outlet. In my program at Boston College Clough School of Theology and Ministry, I did a chaplain summer intensive program in a long-term cancer unit at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and the number of times that humor came up was pretty shocking to me. People use a lot of humor to cope, to make sense of their situation, and to communicate with God and talk about God, and that was really moving to me. I would never lead with that as a chaplain, but whenever somebody opened the door, I was ready to go.” - Bel Thurston M.Div. ’25, the owner of Goof’s Comedy Club | READ MORE: https://on.bc.edu/JokingAround

“The perspective [of serving as a Messina College RA] has strengthened my commitment to ensuring student voices shape the policies that affect them. When [UGBC President] Cami [Kulbieda] presented the opportunity to be her running mate, emphasizing a shared commitment to advocating for the authentic student experience, I knew it was the perfect next step." - Reagan Marino '26, Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC) Vice President for 2025-26 | READ MORE: https://on.bc.edu/UGBC_202526

“I feel like I'm in this really unique and privileged position as an engineer in the medical device world who also has almost 20 years of medical experience and a disability. It's just a really unique position to be in. If I can change a couple of people's perspectives on what having a disability means, show them how to be more inclusive, show them how to design medical devices with the end user in mind, then that's good. Those are good things to come out of a bad situation.” - Meredith Koch ’12, who is a biomedical engineer who suffered a life-altering accident at the age of 24 | READ MORE: https://on.bc.edu/TheAdvocate

“Our hope was that this would not just build community, but also help forge interdisciplinary collaborations and cross-discipline knowledge-sharing. Walking around the pub events, you will hear historians chatting with physicists, philosophers talking to art historians, and political scientists talking with mathematicians.” - Jeremy Evans, Carroll School of Management at BC Assistant Professor who co-launched the Faculty Pub at the McMullen | READ MORE: https://on.bc.edu/FacultyPubMcMullen_25

“I think it was just emblematic of what Boston College Law School is, to put together a class that was reactive to the first term of the [Trump] administration. It was an example of just how dynamic BC Law can be in providing experiences geared towards the student, particularly when the students care about or are interested in learning about what’s going on in the world and how lawyers can play a role in contributing towards improving it or, at the very minimum, understanding it.” - Alex Peña JD ’18, who now works for Partnership for New York City | READ MORE: https://on.bc.edu/APena_Law

"I wanted to welcome every challenge as an opportunity to learn, find joy in life’s small moments, and live each day with intention. As a member of the human-center engineering major’s inaugural class, I was thrilled to be accepted into a closely knit community and to collaborate across disciplines to solve real-world problems. Learning about the critical issues in environment, health, and energy, I now aspire to serve the world’s evolving needs as a responsible global citizen and physician-scientist." - Hayoung Cho '25, the 2025 Edward H. Finnegan, S.J., Award winner | READ MORE: https://on.bc.edu/HayougCho

“I got incredibly lucky with my seat assignments. At the very beginning of the show, there was a spot that they put me in towards the back of Studio 8H and I was thrilled because I got to see Paul Simon and Sabrina Carpenter’s opening musical number. After that I was in two other spots: down in the front sitting next to Martin Short during the audience Q&A with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, and then next to Lady Gaga for the New York 50th musical featuring John Mulaney. I was right in the center of the action, which was super cool.” - Tom Banfield ’17, who worked as a seat filler for the Saturday Night Live Anniversary Special | READ MORE: https://on.bc.edu/FillingIn

"After teaching for a decade in the M.B.A. program, I shifted to instructing seniors in the Capstone Seminar I developed, ‘Finding and Following Your Calling.’ The joy that came from working with fourth-year students to explore and understand their interests, values, and life goals as they were about to step into the ‘real world’ can’t be overstated.” - Brad Harrington, retiring Executive Director of the Center for Work & Family | READ MORE: https://on.bc.edu/BHarringtonRetires