Boston College incurred a $4.6 million deficit during the 1960s, $3.5 million of which was a payment to the John Bowen Construction Company.
The payment was made for a building program that began in 1955.
The University did not have to pay the construction costs immediately after the project was completed due to an exclusive contract held with the John Bowen Construction Company.
The construction firm requested payments on the bills in the summer of 1969. The funds to pay for the bills appear to have been taken out of regular university expenses.
Rev. Michael P. Walsh, SJ, the University president at the time, claimed otherwise, saying that funds had been set aside to pay for the buildings.
BC initiated a contract with the construction firm in 1955 due to a project to build the Claver, Loyola, Xavier residence complex on Upper Campus.
The John Bowen Construction Company was also responsible for McElroy Commons, Carney, Higgins, McGuinn, and renovations to Devlin with help from the architect firm of M.A. Dyer.
An indefinite list of costs for the construction of all these buildings totaled at least $10 million, according to information obtained by The Heights.
The University paid for the project using 90-day notice IOU's under its exclusive contract with Bowen.
Under this payment method, BC would be responsible for the amount noted 90 days after the contractor returned the note to the University.
Walsh stated that financial problems BC faced were not due to the building program.
He added that he did not count the $3.5 million owed to Bowen as a debt because of a special fund that was created to collect money to pay for the construction projects.
At the end of Walsh's tenure, Bowen had yet to be reimbursed and construction on McGuinn was still in progress.
An investigation done by the Undergraduate Government of BC (UGBC) revealed a small deficit for the University in the 1968-1969 fiscal year.
During the summer months of July and August, a bigger deficit was revealed, until, in December, an auditor's report revealed a $4.6 million debt.
The 90-day notes came from that year's regular expenses. They were not paid using any special funds set aside for that purpose.
The University never revealed the source of that year's deficit to the BC community.
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