Boston College - Sub Turri Yearbook (Boston, MA)

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ke c— ciencc J ttilAina . . . llie iiuiiuinute iiiol iet oj cinyizicul aXvanceiiiciiLs.

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NOTKWOin IIV AUDITIONS arc llu- Junior organiza- tion, the Gold ke . through which the hospitality of the college is extended to its visitors: and the Order of the ( iross and Crown, a senior honor society. In the early liays. athletics as we haye them today were |)racti ' ally non-existent, but corresponding to them was a student hallalion fornied in IH6 ' ) and called the Foster Cadets after (General John Foster, a convert to the faith which the Civil War had produced. The World W ar brought forth another student battalion, and these men, after training at Plattshurg. came back to the Heights as soldiers. Now. however, athletics throughout the nation are highly organized, and in pace with this devel- opment. Boston (College makes provision for practically every sport in which the American youth engages from football to fencing. While the college was soundly and solidly developing its internal structiae, its external structures, buildings and equipment were not in evidence. Neyertheless a succession of excellent presidents nurtured the college in these feebler days until the energy and sacrifices of the Catholic citizenry began to aid the Jesuits in expanding materially. These men the years parade triumphantly before us, for they left behind them an impression of good. We see the Rev. Robert Fulton, twice president, so keen of intellect; Fr. Jeremiah O ' Connor, the spirited orator; Edward V. Boursand of cul- tured French descent: Thomas H. Stack, beloved and profound scientist: Nicholas Russo, the subtle philosopher and autiior: Kdward Devitt, a master theologian and historian; Timothy Brosnahan. pointed logician and superb orator whose tilt with Charles Eliot of Harvard held a candle to the defects of extreme electivism and won for him and for the college national re])ute: W. J. Mullan. who added an extra vear of philosophy; and William Gannon, renowned for his eloquent and forceful speeches. These men can be said to complete the first phase of Boston College. In noting the nexus between this and the second period of development, one apparently insignifi- cant fact must be observed. F ' r. Brosnahan had purchased a large lot for athletic purposes. An exceptionally good price for the sale of this property paved the way for the transformation to take place at Chestnut Hill. Where once stood the Laurence Estate on a picturesque eminence overlooking the twin reservoirs, and where not so long ago the now Episcopal Bishop Laurence of Boston picked apples from his orchard and roamed about at will, stands the present growing institution, Boston College. Fr. Gasson, the so-called second founder of the college, purchased these 35 acres in Newton. The architects. McGuinness and Walsh, submitted the best plans in a competition which was held, and their sketches of English Gothic lines, in keeping with the beauty of the surroundings, were accepted.

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CONSTRUCTION of the adminislralion iMiil.liiif; in 1913, willi its lower maicslicallv (loiiiinatiiig llic i-ouiilryside, hcgaii a rapid expansion program. Tlie college was now completely transferred and established at Chestnut Hill. Succeeding presidents increased the building developments, improved the landscaping of the site, and enlarged the college curriculum. Under the Rev. Charles .1. Lyons, a faculty house was provided, and the extension school founded. A $2.()(M).()()0 drive when Fr. William Devlin became president made the science building pos- sible, and he cxlciided the college courses with a Summer School. The Rev. James II. Dolan. S.J.. present provincial, founded the Law School, which in nine years has taken its place among the foremost schools of its kind. But as a crowning memorial to his presidency stands the artistic masterpiece, the Library, with its unique stained glass windows, luxurious reception rooms, and valual)le collccliou of books. rid the Rev. Louis J. Gallagher. S.J. made his conlribiilion to the betterment of Boston College by opening a new graduate School of Social Science, while he imjjroved the collegiate atmosphere of the campus by enclosing it with a Gothic styled fence, the John T. Connor Memorial. In the past twenty years the Philomatheia Club has been an extraordinarv finan- cial aid to the college. From their Swiss chalet clubhouse on Commonweallh Avenue has poured a continuous stream of gifts in the form of money and valuables. They are responsible for the Anthropological Museum on Hammond St.. the original letter in the handwriting of St. Francis Xavier. numerous scholarships, and over one hundred thousand dollars in cash. So, as time rushes up to the present, with the Very Rev. William J. McGarry, S.J. taking charge in the seventy-fifth year, we see a panoramic picture of Boston College held in its frame by the bounds of James St. and Chestnut Hill. And todav ' s frame is brilliant with diamonds, while the picture is profound in meaning and wealth of symbol. H portrays sacrifice, and labors assiduously attended, and tedi- ous efforts pertinaciously accomplished — and heartaches. But they all culminate in a poetically just wliole when seen in the light of today. Here is the story of the mustard seed fulfilled. And the tree will grow. Even now while we are basking in the sun of seventv-five years ' glory, we hear the college crying out in its need for expansion again. So what is told todav will be history tomorrow. The four buildings now standing are but a small portion of the twenty-six structures which formed the dream of Fr. Gasson, and the parllv devel- oped university, even with the renown it enjoys today, is but a beginning of the great university whose plan was contained implicitly in the Catholic faith and con- fident ardor of the pioneers of our Boston College.