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The Plex sometimes has a less than stellar reputation among students, in terms of both architecture and accommodations. The reputation of the man whose name graces the side of the building, however, is another story altogether.
William J. Flynn, BC '39, for whom the Plex is named, is one of the luminaries of Boston College's volumous athletic history, serving as athletic director from 1957 to 1991.
In those 34 years, Flynn oversaw a sweeping transformation in athletics at all levels at BC.
He had a hand in the creation of almost all of the athletic facilities on campus today.
Alumni Stadium was completed on his watch, opening in November 1957. The beginning and the end of Flynn's career as athletic director was bookended by the construction of two ice rinks: McHugh Forum, built in 1958, and its replacement, Conte Forum, which was dedicated in 1989.
Flynn worked with legendary hockey coaches Snooks Kelley and Len Ceglarski. He headed up the athletic department during the halcyon Flutie years.
He also helped initiate a great expansion in the number of women's varsity sports, from just four teams in 1972 to 15 teams in 1985.
As a BC student, Flynn earned nine varsity letters in three sports: football, hockey, and baseball. He was the captain of the football team in his senior year, and holds the distinction of being the first BC hockey player to score 20 goals in a season.
Flynn returned to BC in 1945 as a math professor and assistant football coach, and later served as executive secretary of the Alumni Association.
As athletic director, Flynn earned a national reputation, reflected by his two terms as president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Achievement on the field is not the only marker of Flynn's long success as athletic director.
Among his other successes includes the creation of the Office of Learning Resources for Student Athletes, which offers academic help for all of BC's athletes.
BC now enjoys a national reputation for the consistently high graduation rate of its student athletes, and the academic resources afforded to them are a big reason BC's student athletes excel in the classroom just as much as they do on the playing field.
The Flynn Fund, BC's main student-athlete scholarship fund, was named for Flynn in 1998.
Flynn had a visionary plan for the construction of a student recreation facility on campus.
By the 1970s, the University was in dire need of a place for students to play sports and exercise.
The absence of such a place was a source of simmering tension amongst the student body, and Flynn could sense this. Unfortunately, no University funds were available for the construction of a student recreation facility.
Flynn suggested that students pay an annual $25 contribution toward the construction and maintenance of an athletic facility.
In a referendum on the issue on the 1971 student election ballot, a whopping 80 percent of students approved of the fee.
Flynn's work made possible the athletic complex that current students use everyday.
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