Eagle Eye View: Master Plan an Opportunity for Green Building

Boston College is a university that is rightfully proud of its place in history. It is a school that delights in its 144-year narrative and in the weathered stone of Gasson Hall. It is a university proud of its physical sense of place, seen in the beauty of its campus and felt through its long-established ties to the city of Boston, which is a place in love with its past as well. What must also be recognized and cultivated, however, is an equal pride in the future of BC. The BC community currently stands firmly in the present, deeply proud of its inherited history. This community must recognize that the present is also in constant contact with the future, and must take equal pride in leaving a historical contribution worth inheriting.

Such pride in the future lies at the heart of the call to stewardship, which recognizes an inherited past but constantly looks toward a better tomorrow. Stewardship should guide the planning of BC’s expansion and renovation as outlined in the University’s master plan. The immediate future of the University holds immense potential for innovative thinking and ambitious green building design to create a campus – and world – worth inheriting.

Consider another source of pride for BC – a Jesuit heritage which calls us to “see God in all things” and work toward a socially just world. It seems apparent that we should come to see God in both constructed and natural environments, and that in designing one, we should strive to preserve the other.
It is likewise apparent that environmental stewardship is synonymous with social justice in that imbalanced consumption of resources by a small minority is an injustice to the remaining majority, and that the ill effects of global warming pose a disproportionate threat to the poor, the weak, and the hungry. If BC is to remain committed to social justice, it should strive to see God in the environment it builds and minimize its ecological footprint on the environment it inhabits.

BC is immensely proud of its status as a nationally renowned university, eager to take its place among the “New Ivies.” If BC is to truly emerge as a leader in American higher education, however, it must lead by example. The Sustainable Endowment Institute, which publishes an annual “College Sustainability Report Card,” indicates that three in five schools have at least one Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified (LEED) green building or are in the process of constructing one. BC has none. The institute’s list of “Campus Sustainability Leaders” includes schools such as Duke, Harvard, Middlebury, MIT, Northeastern, and Yale. These are schools BC is often compared with, schools that are establishing themselves as leaders in environmental initiatives. A building project the size of that envisioned by BC provides an immense opportunity to do the same.

Such investments in the future of the University come at a minimal cost. The United States Green Building Council estimates that the construction of green schools typically costs only 2 percent more than that of conventional schools, while providing financial savings through energy efficiency that far outweigh this initial investment. ABC News reported in 2006 that Harvard University funds many of its conservation projects (including 13 buildings that incorporate LEED standards) through a revolving loan simply repaid using the savings generated by previous conservation efforts. BC can do the same.

If BC is to look toward the future with the same sense of pride with which it looks to the past, it must not waste this opportunity to honor its Jesuit heritage and historical commitment to social justice. If the University wishes to truly emerge and take its place among the leaders of American higher education, it has the opportunity to do so at a minimal cost. The decision lies in the hands of the BC community, the students, alumni, faculty, and administration of the present.

Leszek Ward
BC ’07


Catholics do welcome the GLBT community

While the Rev. Donal Godfrey’s message of inclusion and compassion is a welcome one (“Priest calls to embrace GLBT,” Nov. 19), I must take issue with the statement that opened Travis Olsen’s article on the lecture: “The Roman Catholic Church has staunchly refused to recognize the GLBT public as members of the church.” Not only is this statement false, it is anathema to the mission of the true Catholic Church.

Never has the Catholic Church “staunchly refused” to welcome the GLBT community into the church; rather, the church has always received homosexuals, as it does all sinners, with the loving compassion of Christ, the compassion He displayed when He broke bread with sinners (Luke 15).

While it is true that the church does rightly condemn the homosexual act as a sin and the homosexual tendency as disordered (as any sinful tendency is disordered), to claim that the church would reject a sinner out of hand is ridiculous. Through the church, Christ calls all sinners to contrition and amendment of life in the sacrament of penance and welcomes us all thus absolved to find communion with Him and each other in the sacrament of the Eucharist. This is the essence of the church’s mission in the world.

Nathaniel Campbell
BC ’07


Stage Door production was appreciated

I think that Joseph Neese’s review of this past weekend’s production of Stage Door (“What Happens Beyond the ‘Stage Door,’” Nov.19) was well researched, covered all aspects of the play, but was a bit subdued. I found the show totally entertaining and well done. However, I do take exception to the last lines of his review, noting a small crowd in attendance, and a possible lack of enthusiasm for the theater.
I attended the Saturday night performance and noted that Robsham was perhaps half full, but I believe the explanation for that was a home hockey game at Conte Forum and a nationally televised evening Boston College football game at Clemson. I believe the other three performances of Stage Door were very well attended. Judging from the sheer number of theater productions at both the large and small theaters in Robsham, I would say that theater is alive and well at BC.

Kathy Hart
BC Parent

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