Almost a year after the “Silence is Still Violence” march, Boston College is staring down several obstacles that stand in the way of a more diverse and representative faculty, but according to figures, BC has one of the most diverse faculties of its peer schools.
“Some of those schools I think we fare very well against … and there are others where we have our work cut out for us to be positioned in the minds of students if they have that choice,” Grant Gosselin, director of undergraduate admissions, said.
“Until BC begins to accept incoming students from different socioeconomic backgrounds, the University will continue to foster the homogenous environment that marginalizes students who fail to fit a stereotype, rather than creating the culture of acceptance that BC desperately needs.”
“More nefarious, however, (and more controversial) are the ways in which our BC Exceptionalism blindly trains the next generation of American exceptionalists.”
“It is all too easy to fall into the comfortable pattern of spending time with people who are similar to you. I struggle with it every day.”
“If you supported diversity of opinion, you’d have spoken out against those who harassed Batsinelas and Mancini, who actively supported different opinions on campus, for breaking from commonly accepted beliefs during their campaign last year, or perhaps you’d have condemned the individual who asked friends to literally treat Michael Proietta like a toilet because of his ‘controversial’ opinions.”
The candidates were then asked a series of probing questions about their knowledge of current initiatives for diversity on campus and their plans to enhance the experiences of underrepresented individuals.
” It is certainly difficult to guarantee that a diverse group of candidates will be available and suitable to hire, and BC has made progress in the past couple of years in hiring a high proportion of AHANA faculty.”
In interviews this week, student leaders indicated that they wonder whether the administration can meet its proposals by implementing concrete changes.
“Boston College is determined to make higher education accessible to excellent students of all socioeconomic backgrounds,” Director of Undergraduate Admission John Mahoney said to The Chronicle.
