“Family can mean so much more than just your blood. Helping to find people who can step up and be a part of a child’s life even if they can’t commit to doing adoption is something I’m really passionate about.” - Victoria Tucker '12, MSW '13, who supervises the adoption unit at The Home for Little Wanderers | READ MORE: https://on.bc.edu/VictoriaTucker

"Being not only a woman, but a Black woman, means you're fighting for so many things: equality in the workplace, racial equality, equality in your home life. There are so many things that women have to fight through and work through, but we’ve come a long way. When the country was first formed, women were not at the forefront of our founders’ minds. Now we have the first woman vice president in Kamala Harris. It’s a testament to how hard people in the past have worked to get us to where we are today. Women are doing so many things and our history deserves to be acknowledged." - Esther Cadet '24

"I’m so humbled to be [inducted]. Hockey has given me so much. It has given me my career and the opportunity of a lifetime to coach at Boston College. The former players and current players whom I have coached at BC, you have made such a positive impact on my life and I am grateful for that. You have put in the work to help grow our program and I am incredibly lucky to be a small part of the journey for each and every one of you." - Katie Crowley (left), BC women's hockey head coach who was inducted into USA Hockey Hall of Fame | READ MORE: https://bit.ly/KatieCrowleyHOF

"Black History Month is not just a celebration of the past triumphs and struggles of African American heroes; it's a beacon of inspiration for me as a Black college student. It's a time to reflect on the sacrifices made by those who came before me, to appreciate the paths they have paved, and to recognize my own responsibility to continue their legacy. It empowers me to pursue my education with purpose, to strive for excellence, and to be a catalyst for change in my community. BHM reminds me that my dreams are valid, my voice is important, and my potential is limitless. It's a month of remembering, but for me, it's also a call to action—a reminder that history is made every day, and I have a role in shaping it.” - Sena Deressa '24 Photo Credit: Yating Wang '24

“A certain philosophy of care may be inconsistent with the cultural norms of a particular group, so they’re reluctant to adopt it. For example, because many Black families are likely to seek—or forego—a particular intervention or resource, there may be an assumption that this is true for all Black families. But the beliefs and lived experiences can be significantly different between African American and other Black people, which therefore influence their attitudes toward health care. Not all Black people are culturally African American. “Remember, it wasn’t until 1965 that racial segregation in hospitals was outlawed, and it took several more years for some hospitals to comply, so there are generations of African Americans who experienced and remember ‘separate but equal’ health care. It takes a lot of work to undo the harm that’s been done—it doesn’t simply disappear because a law has been put in place.” - Karen Bullock, a Boston College School of Social Work Professor who was honored with the Richard Payne Outstanding Achievement in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) | READ MORE: https://on.bc.edu/KarenBullock

"I am always amazed and humbled when characterized as making Black history. As a Black girl who traveled from my hometown of Washington, DC, to Boston College to get a good education in the 70s, I would never have imagined that playing hockey would put me on the map as possibly BC’s first Black female athlete. This reflection is in anticipation of my return to Boston in May for the 100th anniversary of the Epsilon Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated. AKA is Black History. It is the oldest Greek-letter organization established by African American college-educated women at Howard University in 1908. I became an AKA in 1975 at BC. I am looking forward to reliving that Black History." - Doxie McCoy '77, Boston College Athletics' first Black female student-athlete | LEARN MORE: https://bit.ly/DoxieMcCoy

“As a child of immigrants, when I think about Black History Month I think about the diasporic element. Obviously, we look to people like Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, and Fred Hampton, but the Black community is such a multicultural community in the United States—we’re looking at all the different backgrounds that people bring and ridding ourselves of the notion that there's a monolithic Black experience. One of my roommates is Haitian American, my other roommate is African American, I’m Ugandan American—all those different identities come to form different elements of Black experience.” - Brian Kazinduka '25 #BlackHistoryMonth Photo: Almany Berthé '25

"For a long time, I always assumed that since ethnically I am half Black I could never truly 'be' Black. I always shied away from the question 'What are you?' because I really didn't know the answer. Sometimes I still fumble with the idea of whether I am 'Black enough.' But I think for me, Blackness is multifaceted; there is no guide on how to be 'Black' and so Black History Month represents the multitude of cultures, voices, and individuals coming together as a community to represent how beautiful we are, even when society says we aren't." - Victoria McFadden '24 #BlackHistoryMonth Photo: Yating Wang '24

"Being Black is a birthright. Being Black means that no weapon formed against me shall prosper. Being Black is strength, courage, wisdom, revolution, life and, above all, love. Being Black is Mother Africa, Carter G. Woodson, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Dred Scott, Ida B. Wells, W.E.B. DuBois, Phyllis Wheatley, Edward Bouchet, Madame C. J. Walker, Malcolm X, Anna Julia Cooper, Marcus Garvey, Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Sidney Poitier, and Scott Joplin. Being Black is the stolen legacy. Being Black is an incomprehensible brilliance. Being Black is beautiful. Being Black is me." - Karl Bell, Director of the Pine Manor Institute for Student Success' Mentoring & Academic Achievement

“As a Black woman and a first-gen college student, it was very important to me to finish my bachelor’s, and Woods came into my life at the right time. I was interning at the Mayor’s Office in Boston, and I also had another job. Transferring the credits from my associate’s degree at Bunker Hill Community College was a seamless process, and I was able to take my courses online in the evenings. The coursework and group projects made me more comfortable with public speaking and leadership—I no longer have to wait for someone to pass me the mic, because I feel I have the education, resources, and knowledge to make a change myself.” - Gayana Daniel ’22, the Chief of Staff for the Mayor’s Office of Language and Communications Access and a graduate of Boston College - Woods College of Advancing Studies | READ MORE about Woods transfer students & programs: https://on.bc.edu/FinishingStrong

"I attended The Latino Medical Student Association conference in Atlanta. It was inspiring—only six percent of physicians are Latinos, and it’s so important to meet mentors who can guide me and share their experiences. My vision in studying public health and medicine has always been to build a skillset to address the same health disparities that I saw growing up in south L.A., so I can bring this knowledge back to my community. I want to combine public health with my practice as a provider, because if you’re working in a neighborhood that’s medically underserved, you need to understand the context to provide effective care." - Sebastian Cota '24, who earned the CDC's Williams-Hutchins Health Equity Award | READ MORE: https://on.bc.edu/SebastianCota

“Kitchens for Change was definitely a unique club at Turlock High School and students were very interested in joining and getting on board with our passion because it was something that they hadn't seen before. Not only that, but it was something that was fun to do. You're cooking alongside people that you go to school with every day, and you’re coming together to provide food for your peers who might be struggling to get their next meal on the table. It’s a beautiful thing to see your efforts come to life within your community.” - Audrey Smallwood ’27, co-founder of Kitchens for Change and a guest on The Kelly Clarkson Show | READ MORE: https://on.bc.edu/AudreySmallwood