Post Office Not Closing

The United States Postal Service (USPS) has removed the Boston College post office from a list of local post offices slated for closure, University officials reported.
Thomas Keady, vice president of the Office of Governmental and Community Affairs, said the news came in a phone conversation last week with Dennis Tarmey, discontinuance coordinator for the USPS’ Greater Boston region.

Tarmey confirmed the decision in a recent press release. “After meeting with Boston College officials to discuss the status of the Boston College Post office, Charles K. Lynch, the district manager of the Greater Boston Postal District, has decided, at this time, that the Boston College Post Office will remain open and will continue to operate at its present location.”

The post office, located in McElroy Commons, was added to a list of Boston USPS offices considered for closure to make up for faltering profits. Babson College, Boston University, MIT, and Tufts University were also slated for discontinuation.
The removal of the BC post office from the list of closures came partly as a result of lobbying efforts of the administration and student body, Keady said. Administrators, including Executive Vice President Patrick Keating, John Joyce, supervisor of mail services, and University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J., met this fall to address the issue, Keating said. “Father Leahy clearly wanted the office to remain because of the distances from the other local [offices],” he said. “It would have been an inconvenience for our students unless they have a car, and it was important for us that we get that point across.”

Had the McElroy Commons post office closed its doors, the nearest USPS post offices would have been those in Brighton, Chestnut Hill, and Newton Center.
Keady said a main lobbying point was the post office’s profitability. “The revenue we generate is substantial,” he said in reference to the office’s profits of $205,724 during the last fiscal year. He said the administration attempted to illustrate that point to the postmaster and to Congressman Stephen Lynch (D-MA), representative of the 9th district.

Keady cited the Undergraduate Government of Boston College and other student organizations as being helpful in the process. “It was a total community effort in keeping the office open.”