Holy Cross Ranked Among Best Value Colleges in the U.S. by Princeton Review and Kiplinger

Posted on February 2, 2018 by Holy Cross in the News

An aerial view of campus in summertime.

The College of the Holy Cross is one of the nation’s best value colleges according to The Princeton Review and Kiplinger Personal Finance.

The Princeton Review featured the College as one of 200 schools in its new book, “Colleges That Pay You Back: The 200 Schools That Give You the Best Bang for Your Tuition Buck – 2018 Edition.” The publication chose the schools based on return-on-investment (ROI) ratings and it took into consideration everything from academics, cost and financial aid to career prospects and job satisfaction in reviewing more than 650 colleges across the country. The College was also ranked No. 20 in the U.S. for best alumni network, a ranking based on students’ ratings of alumni activity and visibility on campus.

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine has also included Holy Cross in its best value colleges lists, by ranking the College No. 13 on its list of the top 100 best values in liberal arts colleges and No. 25 on its list of the top 300 best values in all colleges in the country. Check out this post for more details.

Media Coverage

Posted in In The News, News | Comments Off on Holy Cross Ranked Among Best Value Colleges in the U.S. by Princeton Review and Kiplinger

Award-Winning Author and Holy Cross Professor Named Contributing Columnist by The Boston Globe

Posted on February 2, 2018 by Holy Cross in the News

Leila Philip

The Boston Globe named Leila Phillip, professor of English at the College of the Holy Cross, a contributing columnist for the Opinion section. Philip, who has been contributing stories to the Globe since August 2016, is expected to write an article every five weeks.

Philip is an award-winning author who holds an M.F.A. in fiction from Columbia University. Her books include “Why We’re Here” (Colgate University Press, 2010), “A Family Place” (Viking, 2001) and “The Road through Miyama” (Random House, 1989). Her writing has been recognized by numerous awards including fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Association of University Women, the Deming Memorial Fund and the Futhermore Foundation.

Boston Globe Op-Eds by Leila Philip

Posted in English, In The News, Leila Philip, News | Comments Off on Award-Winning Author and Holy Cross Professor Named Contributing Columnist by The Boston Globe

Holy Cross Alumnus Anthony Fauci ’62 Leads the Research for a Universal Flu Vaccine

Posted on February 2, 2018 by Holy Cross in the News

Influenza season is well underway, and we all know what that means: time to get vaccinated if you haven’t done so already. Dr. Anthony Fauci ’62, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Holy Cross alumnus in the classics major with a premedical concentration, explained the need for annual flu vaccines on “CBS This Morning” on Monday. “Influenza is a very unusual virus in that it tends to drift from year to year … the vaccines we make now, when they protect you, they make a response that happens to be against that part of the virus that tends to drift because of mutations year to year.”

This is why Dr. Fauci is designating the development of a universal flu vaccine a top priority for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, making him the go-to expert for several national news outlets covering the issue. In a recent Washington Post interview, Dr. Fauci warned, “One hundred years after the lethal 1918 flu we are still vulnerable. Without a universal vaccine, a single virus would result in a world catastrophe.”

This is a complex endeavor estimated to cost hundreds of millions of dollars, but Dr. Fauci, who has led the fight against every infectious disease crisis in America since 1984, is certainly up to the task. He told CBS News this week that in order to generate a universal flu vaccine, researchers must be able to determine “what part of that virus doesn’t change very much, and how we can now induce with a vaccine a response that would be dominant against that part of the virus.”

Select Media Coverage

Posted in Alumni, Classics, In The News, News | Comments Off on Holy Cross Alumnus Anthony Fauci ’62 Leads the Research for a Universal Flu Vaccine

Non-Profit Founded by Holy Cross Alumna Prepares Young Leaders for a Year of Service

Posted on February 1, 2018 by Holy Cross in the News

Project 351’s young ambassadors gathered at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library on Sunday, January 28th to celebrate Launch Day. Photo by Michael Casey ’90.

Project 351, a youth service non-profit, celebrated its eight annual Launch Day on Sunday, January 28th. Launch Day honors the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and kicks off a year’s term of service, leadership development, and civic engagement for an eighth-grade “Ambassador” representing each of Massachusetts’ 351 cities and towns.

Founded by Holy Cross alumna Carolyn Casey ’87, Project 351 develops a rising generation of young leaders with the courage, compassion, and capabilities to lead as community builders, upstanders, and agents of positive change.  Since 2011, more than 3,000 eighth graders have embraced the responsibility of service and impacted more than 450,000 children, families, and veterans through Project 351’s signature service initiatives.

Governor Charlie Baker expressed his support of Project 351, telling the Boston Globe “I really appreciate the fact that this organization…spend(s) time honoring, remembering, and recognizing and celebrating people who do good things.”

A number of Holy Cross alumni provide critical support as volunteers and mentors including Kathleen Casey ’84, Joe Casey ’85, Mike Casey ’90, Maureen Remitz ’84, Jamie Hoag ’98, Ellie Miller Hall ’11, Michael Hall ’08, Jennifer White ’87, and Maura Reilly ’88.

Read the full article at the BostonGlobe.com and see a Project 351 video at: Leading with Values.

Posted in Alumni, In The News, News | Comments Off on Non-Profit Founded by Holy Cross Alumna Prepares Young Leaders for a Year of Service

Following the USA Gymnastics Scandal, Holy Cross Professor Describes Historical Pattern of Abuse Over Female Athletes

Posted on January 30, 2018 by Holy Cross in the News

Anne Blaschke, professor of history

Last week, in what was one of the biggest sexual abuse crises in American sport history, former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison after being accused of sexually abusing more than 150 young female athletes over the past two decades.

In a powerful piece for The Conversation, Holy Cross visiting assistant professor of history Anne Blaschke takes a closer look at the history of women athletes in America, which reveals a pattern of sexual abuse of young female athletes by males in a position of power.

Blaschke believes that men’s access to, and control over, young female athletes as well as a lack of oversight has allowed the abuse.

“Most sport leaders have supported athletes rather than abused them, and postwar federal laws like Title IX and the Amateur Sports Act aimed to empower athletes across gender,” Blaschke writes “But since educational institutions, Olympic authorities and the federal government have not strictly enforced these laws, they’ve ironically created opportunities for abuse.”

To read more, visit TheConversation.com.

Relevant Coverage:

Los Angeles Times, Jan. 30

Chicago Tribune, Jan. 30

San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 30

Posted in History, In The News, News | Comments Off on Following the USA Gymnastics Scandal, Holy Cross Professor Describes Historical Pattern of Abuse Over Female Athletes

Holy Cross Education Professor on Baltimore’s Newest Measure to Confront the ‘Education Debt’

Posted on January 29, 2018 by Holy Cross in the News

Jack Schneider 2016

Last week the Baltimore, Maryland school board approved new funding guidelines based on poverty rates, rather than test scores, in the hopes of alleviating the ‘education debt.’ Holy Cross assistant education professor Jack Schneider explains: “Not every student is equally ready to learn, and that is a result of social and economic history in the United States. Students who have been historically marginalized are going to come into school less privileged, and less advantaged. Therefore, it’s important to invest more in those students if the goal is to produce equal educational outcomes.”

Equally crucial to solving the ‘education debt’ is understanding the home and neighborhood each student comes from, according to Schneider. “It truly depends on the place, it depends on what kind of support students are coming into school with. Students getting educated in Baltimore often do not have the same at home or neighborhood supports that other students have.”

Listen to the complete interview at Marketplace.org.

Schneider also recently commented on the funding debate for socially and economically disadvantaged students across the country in an article by the Atlantic.

Posted in In The News, Jack Schneider, News | Comments Off on Holy Cross Education Professor on Baltimore’s Newest Measure to Confront the ‘Education Debt’

Holy Cross Economics Professor Is Sought-After Expert on the Economic Impact of Super Bowl LII

Posted on January 29, 2018 by Holy Cross in the News
Assistant Professor Victor Matheson of the Economics Department.

Assistant Professor Victor Matheson of the Economics Department.

With Super Bowl LII right around the corner, media across the country from The New York Times to Forbes and Minneapolis Star Tribune looking for expert opinion on the economic impact of the Super Bowl are turning to Holy Cross professor of economics Victor Matheson.

Most recently, he told The New York Times that the economic impact of the Super Bowl is always far less than host cities would have their constituents believe.

“Not nothing, and not what you would sneeze at,” Matheson told the Times, “but somewhere between a quarter and a tenth of what is being claimed.”

Holy Cross faculty members are thought leaders, sought-after consultants and experts for the media who challenge their students to learn and explore beyond classroom walls. For more information, or for assistance scheduling an interview, please contact College Marketing and Communications at 508-793-2419.

Relevant Coverage:

Star Tribune, Jan. 24

Philly.com, Jan. 24

Forbes, Jan. 25

Twin Cities Pioneer Press, Jan. 26

The New York Times, Jan. 29

Realtor.com, Jan. 29

Posted in Economics and Accounting, In The News, News | Comments Off on Holy Cross Economics Professor Is Sought-After Expert on the Economic Impact of Super Bowl LII

Holy Cross Announces $3 Million Gift for J.D. Power Center for Liberal Arts in the World

Posted on January 29, 2018 by John Hill

College of the Holy Cross has received a $3 million gift from the family of alumnus and pioneer in consumer research and information, J.D. Power III ’53, in support of the College’s Center for Liberal Arts in the World. In recognition of this transformative gift, the Center will be renamed the J.D. Power Center for Liberal Arts in the World.

Established in 2016 by Provost Margaret Freije and led by Director Daniel Klinghard, the Center for Liberal Arts in the World is the hub for Holy Cross’ experiential learning programs, including internships, student research, community- and project-based learning. The $3 million gift from the Power family’s foundation, the Kenrose Kitchen Table Foundation, will enable Holy Cross to enhance and significantly expand experiential learning opportunities that enable students to integrate their academic experiences with opportunities to apply their learning in real-world contexts beyond the classroom. Students who participate in these opportunities often find that the experience helps them to clarify their career aspirations while developing important transferable skills that will help them achieve those aspirations.

While approximately 60 percent of Holy Cross students already participate in experiential learning, the Power family’s gift will accelerate the College’s efforts to increase available opportunities and engage all Holy Cross students in some form of experiential learning. This gift will be invested in four key initiatives:

  • Expanding Opportunities for Students: Among these opportunities are The Ignite Fund, which helps underwrite project-based learning fellowships; Research Associateships, which pair students with faculty projects; Summer Internships and funded Summer Student Research positions; Mock Trial and Moot Court programs; the Donelan Office for Community-Based Learning, connects academic learning with community engagement; and Semester Away, the college’s popular program which enables students to study in New York or Washington, D.C.
  • Reducing Barriers to Participation: The gift will allow the J.D. Power Center to expand programs—including an alumni speaker series and alumni site visit series, as well as internship tutorials— aimed explicitly at recruiting low-income, first-generation and underrepresented students who might not otherwise have access to or be aware of such experiences.
  • Focusing on Worcester: Power is a proud native of Worcester, and this gift will be used to expand research and experiential learning opportunities in the city of Worcester to allow students to engage more deeply with local agencies and organizations.
  • Developing Appropriate Technology: The gift will also be used to further develop and acquire appropriate technology designed to connect students with experiential learning opportunities.

“Dave Power is a visionary, both as a businessman and a philanthropist, and we are grateful for his generous support of Holy Cross and the Center that now bears his name,” said Holy Cross Provost Margaret Freije. “At Holy Cross, we expect our students to learn from a variety of experiences that take place in and outside the classroom. This gift recognizes the value of a liberal arts education in preparing students to fully realize their potential in their careers and lives.”

The J.D. Power Center is part of a broader initiative to help our students make connections between their interests and strengths, their liberal arts education and their post-graduate goals. Holy Cross takes a distinctive approach by infusing structured opportunities for reflection and discernment into all aspects of the student experience. The goal for all Holy Cross students is to develop not simply a career plan, but a larger sense of purpose or vocational calling, in order to lead lives of meaning and impact.

“As an alum, I am extraordinarily proud of the impact College of the Holy Cross graduates have had on the world, and my family and I are thrilled to be in the position to support the college’s mission to develop men and women for others,” Power said. “I always felt that my Holy Cross education broadened my perspective, and helped me understand the importance of seeking truth and questioning the status quo. I’m proud to help the J.D. Power Center for Liberal Arts in the World extend that same opportunity to future generations of Holy Cross graduates.”

Power, a Worcester native and founder of the global marketing information firm J.D. Power and Associates, is a 1953 graduate of the College. Power’s father, uncle, brother, daughter, and grandson are Holy Cross graduates. His daughter Susan Power Curtin ‘93 is a member of the College’s board of trustees. He and his family are longtime supporters of the College, having previously established the Power Family Scholarship to provide assistance to Holy Cross students from Worcester County, and the J.D. Power Worcester-Based Internships Fund to help fund paid internships for Holy Cross students at Worcester-area organizations.

Posted in Featured, J.D. Power Center for Liberal Arts in the World, News, Political Science, Press Release | Comments Off on Holy Cross Announces $3 Million Gift for J.D. Power Center for Liberal Arts in the World

Campus Begins New Semester with Multifaith Community Prayer

Posted on January 26, 2018 by Evangelia Stefanakos

For the seventh year in a row, the College of the Holy Cross community has kicked off the spring semester by coming together at the Multifaith Community Prayer. The overflowing Mary Chapel served as a gathering space for students, faculty, and staff to celebrate the diversity of faith traditions practiced on campus and the values and commitments shared among them.

After an acknowledgment of the breadth of faiths present in the chapel — from Unitarian Universalism to Agnosticism to Orthodox Christianity — invited religious leaders from the Worcester community and Holy Cross students offered readings and hymns from sacred texts of Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism and Christianity.

Whether surrounded by chanting in Arabic, Sanskrit or Hebrew, the community joined together in solidarity and commonality.

“The global reach of our respective traditions reminds us that we are also citizens of the world,” said Rev. Philip L. Boroughs, president of Holy Cross, who presided over the service. “Clearly our world needs our active presence and engagement and service in this time of global upheaval, war and suffering, and in this season of national division and acrimony and social unrest in our own country.”

“How important it is then,” Fr. Boroughs continued, “that we come together to recognize our unique perspectives on the meaning and purpose of our lives before God and with each other. How important it is that we reach out to each other with respect and love.”

The service was rounded out with a special musical offering written by Osvaldo Golijov, Loyola Professor of Music, titled “Aria of Peter’s Tears” and performed by Ying Hong ’19, bass, and Matthew Pinder ’20, piano. The creation of this piece and all pieces of music, Golijov shared during the service, is “in itself an act of faith.”

The 7th annual Multifaith Community Prayer was organized by the Office of the College Chaplains, Student Government Association, Office of Mission, and the Office of the President.

Posted in Featured, News | 2 Comments

Running for Office Shouldn’t Be Just for the Rich and Well-Connected, Holy Cross’ Jamie Hoag Says

Posted on January 24, 2018 by Holy Cross in the News

In 2002 the Federal Election Commission began allowing non-incumbent candidates for federal office use campaign funds to pay themselves a salary. This decision was designed as an incentive for people of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds to enter the political fray.

In a piece for Commonwealth Magazine, Holy Cross Director of Government and Community Relations Jamie Hoag writes that Massachusetts would benefit from the same rule. “A career in public service understandably involves some financial sacrifice, but the system is stacked against many new candidates who do not have the means or ability to ditch their current jobs to make a run for elected office,” says Hoag, who also served as deputy chief legal counsel and ethics adviser to former governor Deval Patrick. “This leaves many qualified people on the sidelines.”

To read more, visit CommonWealthMagazine.org.

Posted in In The News, News, People | Comments Off on Running for Office Shouldn’t Be Just for the Rich and Well-Connected, Holy Cross’ Jamie Hoag Says

How to Live Like a Billionaire? Holy Cross Professor Does the Math So You Don’t Have To

Posted on January 24, 2018 by Holy Cross in the News

Prof. Andrew Hwang of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science

Even billionaires need to budget. But what does a household budget look like to a billionaire? Andrew Hwang, associate professor of mathematics at the College of the Holy Cross breaks it down.

Writing for The Conversation, Hwang estimates a billionaire’s annual income to be $200 million per year, which would be over $6 per second and the equivalent of 4,000 median American incomes per year. In that vein, a $2,000-vacation would set a billionaire back what would be proportional to a half-dollar from a middle-class income.

Hwang goes on to say, “Most Americans don’t understand how inequitably American wealth is distributed. Worldwide, wealth inequality is even more stark.”

To read more, visit TheConversation.com.

Additional Coverage:

Chicago Tribune, Jan. 24

Salon, Jan. 25

Business Insider, Jan. 28

CNBC, Jan. 28

Posted in In The News, Mathematics and Computer Science, News | Comments Off on How to Live Like a Billionaire? Holy Cross Professor Does the Math So You Don’t Have To

Holy Cross’ Spring 2018 Seelos Film Series

Posted on January 23, 2018 by College of the Holy Cross

Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep in "The Post."

The College of the Holy Cross will be featuring the following films in Seelos Theater this spring. All films are free and open to the public.

“Victoria and Abdul”
Wed., Jan. 24: Showings at 3 and 8 p.m. Rated PG-13. Starring Judi Dench, Ali Fazal and Tim Pigott-Smith. Queen Victoria strikes up an unlikely friendship with a young Indian clerk named Abdul Karim.

“Moana”
Fri., Jan. 26 and Sat., Jan. 27: Showing at 7 p.m. Rated PG. Starring Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, and Rachel House. In Ancient Polynesia, when a terrible curse incurred by the Demigod Maui reaches Moana’s island, she answers the Ocean’s call to seek out the Demigod to set things right.

“Goodbye Christopher Robin”
Wed., Jan. 31: Showings at 3 and 8 p.m. Rated PG. Starring Domhnall Gleeson, Margot Robbie, and Kelly Macdonald. A behind-the-scenes look at the life of author A.A. Milne and the creation of the “Winnie the Pooh” stories inspired by his son C.R. Milne.

“IT”
Fri., Feb. 2 and Sat., Feb. 3: Showing at 7 p.m. Rated R. Starring Bill Skarsgård, Jaeden Lieberher, Finn Wolfhard. A group of bullied kids band together when a shape-shifting monster, taking the appearance of a clown, begins hunting children.

“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”
Mon., Feb. 5: Showings at 4 and 8 p.m. Rated TV-MA. Starring Renée Elise Goldsberry, Sylvia Grace Crim, and Reed Birney. An African-American woman becomes an unwitting pioneer for medical breakthroughs when her cells are used to create the first immortal human cell line in the early 1950s.

“The Big Sick”
Wed., Feb. 7: Showings at 3 and 8 p.m. Rated R. Starring Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, and Holly Hunter. Pakistan-born comedian Kumail Nanjiani and grad student Emily Gardner fall in love but struggle as their cultures clash. When Emily contracts a mysterious illness, Kumail finds himself forced to face her feisty parents, his family’s expectations, and his true feelings.

“Logan Lucky”
Fri., Feb. 9 and Sat., Feb. 10: Showing at 7 p.m. Rated PG-13. Starring Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, and Daniel Craig. Two brothers attempt to pull off a heist during a NASCAR race in North Carolina.

“Detroit”
Wed., Feb. 14: Showings at 3 and 8 p.m. Rated R. Starring John Boyega, Anthony Mackie, and Algee Smith. Fact-based drama set during the 1967 Detroit riots in which a group of rogue police officers respond to a complaint with retribution rather than justice on their minds.

“Atomic Blonde”
Fri., Feb. 16 and Sat., Feb. 17: Showing at 7 p.m. Rated R. Starring Charlize Theron, James McAvoy, and John Goodman. An undercover MI6 agent is sent to Berlin during the Cold War to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and recover a missing list of double agents.

“Gook”
Wed., Feb. 21: Showings at 3 and 8 p.m. Unrated. Starring Simone Baker, Justin Chon, and Curtiss Cook Jr. Eli and Daniel, two Korean American brothers, own a struggling shoe store and have an unlikely friendship with Kamilla, a street wise 11-year-old African American girl.

“Get Out”
Fri., Feb. 23 and Sat., Feb. 24: Showing at 7 p.m. Rated R. Starring Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, and Bradley Whitford. It’s time for a young African-American to meet with his white girlfriend’s parents for a weekend in their secluded estate in the woods, but before long, the friendly and polite ambience will give way to a nightmare.

“American Made”
Wed., Feb. 28: Showings at 3 and 8 p.m. Rated R. Starring Tom Cruise, Domhnall Gleeson, and Sarah Wright. The story of Barry Seal, an American pilot who became a drug-runner for the CIA in the 1980s in a clandestine operation that would be exposed as the Iran-Contra Affair.

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Wed., March 14: Showings at 3 and 8 p.m. Rated R. Starring Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, and Sam Rockwell. A mother personally challenges the local authorities to solve her daughter’s murder when they fail to catch the culprit.

“Stronger”
Fri., March 16 and Sat., March 17: Showing at 7 p.m. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Tatiana Maslany, and Miranda Richardson. The inspiring real life story of Jeff Bauman, an ordinary man who captured the hearts of his city and the world to become a symbol of hope after surviving the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.

“Marshall”
Wed., March 21: Showings at 3 and 8 p.m. Rated PG-13. Starring Chadwick Boseman, Josh Gad, and Kate Hudson. About a young Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court Justice, as he battles through one of his career-defining cases.

“Roman J. Israel, Esq.”
Fri., March 23 and Sat., March 24: Showing at 7 p.m. Rated PG-13. Starring Denzel Washington, Colin Farrell, and Carmen Ejogo. Roman J. Israel, Esq., a driven, idealistic defense attorney, finds himself in a tumultuous series of events that lead to a crisis and the necessity for extreme action.

“Thank You For Your Service”
Wed., Apr. 4: Showings at 3 and 8 p.m. Rated R. Starring Haley Bennett, Miles Teller, and Joe Cole. A group of U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq struggle to integrate back into family and civilian life, while living with the memory of a war that threatens to destroy them long after they’ve left the battlefield.

“Blade Runner 2049”
Fri., Apr. 6 and Sat., Apr. 7: Showing at 7 p.m. Rated R. Starring Harrison Ford, Ryan Gosling, and Ana de Armas. A young blade runner’s discovery of a long-buried secret leads him to track down former blade runner Rick Deckard, who’s been missing for thirty years.

“Darkest Hour”
Wed., Apr. 11: Showings at 3 and 8 p.m. Rated PG-13. Starring Gary Oldman, Lily James, and Kristin Scott Thomas. During the early days of World War II, the fate of Western Europe hangs on the newly-appointed British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who must decide whether to negotiate with Hitler, or fight on against incredible odds.

“Justice League”
Fri., Apr. 13 and Sat., Apr. 14: Showing at 7 p.m. Rated PG-13. Starring Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, and Jason Momoa. Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy.

“The Florida Project”
Wed., Apr. 18: Showings at 3 and 8 p.m. Rated R. Starring Brooklynn Prince, Bria Vinaite, and Willem Dafoe. Set over one summer, the film follows precocious six-year-old Moonee as she courts mischief and adventure with her ragtag playmates and bonds with her rebellious but caring mother, all while living in the shadows of Disney World.

“Thor Ragnarock”
Fri., Apr. 20 and Sat., Apr. 21: Showing at 7 p.m. Rated PG-13. Starring Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, and Cate Blanchett. Imprisoned, the mighty Thor finds himself in a lethal gladiatorial contest against the Hulk, his former ally. Thor must fight for survival and race against time to prevent the all-powerful Hela from destroying his home and the Asgardian civilization.

“Lady Bird”
Wed., Apr. 25: Showings at 3 and 8 p.m. Rated R. Starring Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, and Tracy Letts. In 2002, an artistically inclined seventeen-year-old girl comes of age in Sacramento, California.

“Wonder”
Fri., Apr. 27 and Sat., Apr. 28: Showing at 7 p.m. Starring Jacob Tremblay, Owen Wilson, and Izabela Vidovic. Based on the New York Times bestseller, “Wonder” tells the incredibly inspiring and heartwarming story of August Pullman, a boy with facial differences who enters fifth grade, attending a mainstream elementary school for the first time.

“The Shape of Water”
Wed., May 2: Showings at 3 and 8 p.m. Rated R. Starring Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, and Michael Shannon. At a top secret research facility in the 1950s, a lonely janitor forms a unique relationship with an amphibious creature that is being held in captivity.

“The Foreigner”
Fri., May 4 and Sat., May 5: Showing at 7 p.m. Rated R. Starring Katie Leung, Jackie Chan, and Rufus Jones. A humble businessman with a buried past seeks justice when his daughter is killed in an act of terrorism. A cat-and-mouse conflict ensues with a government official, whose past may hold clues to the killers’ identities.

“The Post”
Wed., May 9: Showings at 3 and 8 p.m. Rated PG-13. Starring Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, and Sarah Paulson. A cover-up that spanned four U.S. presidents pushed the country’s first female newspaper publisher and a hard-driving editor to join an unprecedented battle between the press and the government.

All synopses courtesy of IMDB.com

For additional information, please contact College Marketing & Communications at 508-793-2419.

Posted in News, Press Release | Comments Off on Holy Cross’ Spring 2018 Seelos Film Series

Can Money Solve Education Inequality? Not So Fast, Says Holy Cross Professor

Posted on January 23, 2018 by Holy Cross in the News

Jack Schneider, assistant professor of education.

In the past few years, controversies over school funding have loomed large in discussions about the future of K-12 education both at the state and national levels.

In an article for The Atlantic, assistant professor of education Jack Schneider dives deep into the issue of education inequality, analyzing the effects of education spending and its impact on equal access, achievement disparities, and education debt. But ultimately, does money matter?

“The presumption that equal resources would generate equal opportunity has perpetuated the myth that money doesn’t matter in education,” writes Schneider, author of “Beyond Test Scores: A Better Way to Measure School Quality”. “A large body of research, however, demonstrates that school funding has a significant impact on student achievement. And recent studies suggest that the magnitude of the impact may be greater than previously understood.”

According to Schneider “While enhanced school funding, alone, might not close the achievement gap, it would almost certainly do more than an equal distribution of resources would.”

To read more, visit TheAtlantic.com.

Posted in In The News, Jack Schneider, News | Comments Off on Can Money Solve Education Inequality? Not So Fast, Says Holy Cross Professor

Ten Years of Montserrat: Holy Cross’ First-Year Program Invites Students to Challenge, Question from Day One

Posted on January 18, 2018 by Holy Cross Magazine

Internationally renowned violinist Irina Muresanu presents on composition versus improvisation in the Jazz, Civil Rights and Hip Hop course taught by Shirish Korde, Distinguished Professor of Humanities in the music department The sculptures of Shih Chieh Huang’s “Reusable Universe” — built from recycled Tupperware, plastic bags, fans and light bulbs — appeared to float just below the darkened ceiling of the Worcester Art Museum. They had been wired to detect motion, and on a Sunday afternoon in October, as a group of 15 Holy Cross students entered, the exhibit activated: Engines whirred, drones circled and spun, lights flickered, limbs flailed.

With necks craned, themselves seeming to float, the students spread out to observe. Some jotted notes or snapped photos. First-year student Elizabeth Keleher ’21 flopped into a beanbag chair that had been laid beneath a particularly squid-like sculpture: a series of conical plastic sheaths that swayed like tentacles in a current.

That afternoon, Keleher and the others had been instructed to look for some reflection of themselves in the art. The students were there with Neal Lipsitz, lecturer in the psychology department and associate dean for student development, who is teaching The Science of Happiness, a seminar offered as part of the Self cluster of Montserrat, Holy Cross’ first-year program. This fall, Montserrat marked its 10th anniversary; since 2007, the program has pushed boundaries, built community, and worked to cultivate intellectual curiosity in all first-year students, including those at the museum that afternoon.

As the group paused to make notes, the sculptures, detecting their inaction, deflated, drooped and darkened. Keleher and the others continued into the rest of the museum.

Posted in Biology, Classics, Economics and Accounting, English, Environmental Studies, History, Holy Cross Magazine, News, Political Science, Psychology, Theatre and Dance, Visual Arts, Winter 2018 | Comments Off on Ten Years of Montserrat: Holy Cross’ First-Year Program Invites Students to Challenge, Question from Day One

Holy Cross Economics Professor Discusses the Effects of the Stadium Tax Break on Taxpayers

Posted on January 16, 2018 by Holy Cross in the News

Assistant Professor Victor Matheson of the Economics Department.

There are winners and losers in the new tax law, and sports teams are undoubtedly on the winning side, said Victor Matheson, professor of economics at College of the Holy Cross.

The tax law preserved a tax exemption that provides a federal subsidy to stadium projects through discounted interest rates on tax-free bonds, and Matheson, who has studied the economic impact of sports stadiums, told the Huffington Post that “This is the classic political economy problem of special interests.”

Although the NFL argues that communities benefit from stadiums because they incentivize economic growth, many economists including Matheson believe the financing deals serve only as  handouts for wealthy team owners.

“The use of tax-exempt financing can easily save an individual NFL owner $20 million in financing costs for the new stadium for every year of his lease,” Matheson said.

To read more, visit Huffington Post.

Posted in Economics and Accounting, In The News, News | Comments Off on Holy Cross Economics Professor Discusses the Effects of the Stadium Tax Break on Taxpayers

Students Bring Basketball, Mentorship to Juvenile Detention Center

Posted on January 15, 2018 by Holy Cross Magazine

Riley Benner ’20 (center) and some of the “Holy Ballers” SPUD volunteers outside the Leahy Center in Worcester.

The “John Carroll Ballers” is an innovative social justice project started at John Carroll University, a Jesuit university in a suburb of Cleveland. Last spring, Riley Benner ’20, a political science major and philosophy minor from Rochester, N.Y., brought the “Ballers” model to Holy Cross and founded “Holy Ballers.” The project is focused on peer-to-peer mentorship of residents within the juvenile detention system. The goals of the program include reducing the recidivism rate — ensuring that once a resident leaves the facility, he or she will not return — and showing residents that they are valuable to society and that their future is not determined by their past mistakes. Currently, Holy Ballers works with a male residence center; however, Benner is working to expand to female centers in the near future.

Benner started a “McQuaid Ballers” program at his high school, McQuaid Jesuit, after being introduced to it during a college visit at John Carroll. He explains, “I loved doing the program at McQuaid, and I went and worked with the boys as often as I could. I knew that wherever I went to college, I would start a Ballers program there too. When I came to Holy Cross, I emailed Marty Kelly (associate chaplain and adviser to Student Programs for Urban Development, or SPUD) right away. When I mentioned basketball at a juvenile detention center, he lit up. He had heard of the Carroll Ballers and the work they had done in Cleveland and was hoping that a Holy Cross student could take the initiative to start a program in Worcester.” When the program was launched on campus, it had overwhelming interest from the student body. Benner recruited 15 volunteers to launch the program through a competitive application process.

Currently, 17 Holy Cross SPUD volunteers participate in the program. Each Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, six Holy Ballers visit the juvenile detention center on Belmont Street in Worcester to play basketball with 30 residents from across Massachusetts, particularly Boston and Worcester. After the boys are done playing basketball, the group shares a meal brought by the Holy Cross volunteers and just talk. Over time, the Ballers develop relationships and similarities with one another, which is the foundation of the program’s success.

Benner explains, “I’ve probably played over 100 hours of basketball in the past three years, but basketball is only the icebreaker. The most important part of what I do comes when fellow students and I break open the food that we’ve brought and simply have a conversation. Each week, we talk about some different topic that they can take with them back into the world.”

This program is not only beneficial to the residents, but it has also proven extremely valuable for the SPUD volunteers.

“We’re not there to serve the boys; we’re not there to teach them what it means to be a good citizen, or to lecture them on the classifications of a Massachusetts felony,” Benner says. “We’re there… simply to be together, to be one. We don’t hold a bar up and ask any of them to measure up; we simply show up. And we tell them the truth. The truth that they are exactly what God had in mind when God made them. And we watch as they become that truth. And that’s a transformation that every single volunteer can learn from. In fact, it may impact the rest of our lives. It certainly has for me.”

The Holy Ballers program was created in such a way that it eliminates the notion that there are any differences between the volunteers and the residents. Benner explains, “I believe this program fits so well within the Holy Cross mission because it perfectly fits the mold of being ‘men and women for and with others.’ We shouldn’t simply commit ourselves to checking boxes. Often times, serving at a SPUD site becomes a regular weekly duty that we all ‘have’ to attend. However, when we begin to see the people on the margins, the people ‘whose lives might just matter less than other lives,’ and when we begin to see ‘them’ as ‘us,’ we can learn incredible things from them. That’s what makes the Holy Ballers so special. Often times, we leave the center having learned more from them than they have from us.”


Written by Colleen Naber ’18 for the Winter 2018 issue of Holy Cross Magazine.

About Holy Cross Magazine

Holy Cross Magazine (HCM) is the quarterly alumni publication of the College of the Holy Cross. The award-winning publication is mailed to alumni and friends of the College and includes intriguing profiles, make-you-think features, alumni news, exclusive photos and more. Visit magazine.holycross.edu/about to contact HCM, submit alumni class notes, milestones, or letters to the editor.

Posted in Holy Cross Magazine, News, Philosophy, Political Science, Winter 2018 | Comments Off on Students Bring Basketball, Mentorship to Juvenile Detention Center

Intro to Neuroscience: New Course Offers Innovative, Integrative Exploration of the Brain

Posted on January 15, 2018 by Holy Cross Magazine

Alo Basu lectures as students inspect models of the brain.Neuroscience is a field that requires its scientists to integrate knowledge and thinking from many disciplines. Holy Cross has a long history of offering elective courses related to neuroscience, but with the establishment of a new interdisciplinary minor in the field, a team of Holy Cross professors led by Alo Basu, associate professor of psychology, sought to create a fundamental course that offered an innovative, integrative academic experience for students.

Basu’s curriculum development team included David Damiano, professor of mathematics; Andre Isaacs, assistant professor of chemistry; Michelle Mondoux, associate professor of biology; Tomohiko Narita, associate professor and chair of physics; and Constance Royden, professor of computer science and computer science coordinator. With funding from a spring 2016 Hewlett-Mellon grant, Basu and her colleagues created a rigorous course rooted in STEM concepts by using a “flipped” classroom model that challenges students to come prepared to push their thinking in class.

The course, offered during the fall semester, is mainly targeted to first-years. It is thoughtfully designed to provide an early entry point for students, many of whom may be new to the sciences, to explore neuroscience and to gain an appreciation for the complexity of the issues the field tackles and the diversity of methodologies used. For Basu, it is important that students understand how much faculty members from different departments contributed to the creation of this course because it removes a sense of “foreignness” for students when they are considering studying other disciplines.

On the day HCM visited class, the power and magic of the human brain was on full display: both on the colorful slides Basu presented of neurons, but perhaps more importantly in the impressive performance from her students, who drew on previously studied material to think through complex novel problems masterfully thrown at them at lightning speed.

This particular “flipped” class asked students to show up having studied a video and animations of how DNA is transcribed to RNA and how RNA is translated to protein. After a warm-up in which Basu elicited input from students to create a chalkboard visual of the components of a chemical synapse, students were shown actual images of neurons taken by researchers.

Basu asked students to think through how these researchers would go about determining which neurons release serotonin from their presynaptic terminals. She encouraged students to brainstorm in small teams before working through ideas as a group. They followed this model to explore various complex questions.

Alumna Victoria Mousley ’17, a psychology and deaf studies double major, with a concentration in gender, sexuality, and women’s studies, who is pursuing a career in cognitive neuroscience, saw the benefit of the course’s integrative approach when auditing the class in 2016: “I never fully understood how physics, math, biology and chemistry could attack the same questions about the brain I was asking in psychology. By introducing students to STEM topics, this course allows beginners to understand neuroscience as the expansive subject it is. In doing so, students can decide what they like and don’t like about all the different levels of analysis.”

Basu’s hope is that this course will serve as that launching pad for students to determine how the sciences and the field of neuroscience may fit into their Holy Cross education. The course has already attracted diverse minds, including music and computer science majors, and Basu expects to see that trend continue — something the field of neuroscience could use.

“There are pressing social needs to do with neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders that are affecting an increasing proportion of the world’s population,” says Basu. “The study of neuroscience offers a perspective on life and human nature that seeks to integrate many different domains of human knowledge; it prompts us to ask very large questions about who we are and our relationship to the natural world. It motivates us to think and work in inventive ways that challenge traditional boundaries between disciplines, and it trains us to be integrative thinkers by virtue of the complexity of the problems.”

Posted in Biology, Chemistry, Deaf Studies and Sign Languages, Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies, Holy Cross Magazine, Mathematics and Computer Science, Neuroscience, News, Physics, Psychology, Winter 2018 | Comments Off on Intro to Neuroscience: New Course Offers Innovative, Integrative Exploration of the Brain

2017 Sanctae Crucis Award Recipients Continue to Live Holy Cross Mission

Posted on January 15, 2018 by Holy Cross Magazine

Margaret Freije and Rev. Philip L. Boroughs, S.J. stand with the recipients, who hold their awards. “You offer a strong voice to the powerless, relief to the oppressed and justice to the wronged.”

“You have worked tirelessly to remove barriers to access and provide first-quality dental services for Rhode Island’s infants, children and the underserved.”

“Your stellar personal qualities, Jesuit education and military experiences have served as the rock-solid foundation for your long and distinguished career in service to others.”

“You are a man for others in the best Jesuit tradition.”

“You served your community with distinction as the vision-forward leader of a grand-scale medical campus project that has transformed health care delivery throughout Western New York.”

These represent just a few selections from the impressive citations that accompanied the presentation of the 20th annual Sanctae Crucis awards on Sept. 22 in the Hogan Ballroom. The recipients — Thomas R. Beecher Jr. ’56; Deborah L. Fuller, D.M.D., M.S., M.P.H., ’91; Katherine M. Gallagher ’92; Stephen P. Harbeck ’68; and Col. Malcolm N. Joseph III, M.D., USAF (Ret.), ’71 — are leaders in business, professional or civic life; live by the highest intellectual and ethical standards; and are committed to the service of faith and promotion of justice. But, more important, they are all alumni who continue to live out the Holy Cross mission long after their walk across the commencement stage.

Read on to learn about the unique role Holy Cross played in shaping each of these distinguished alumni.

Posted in Ciocca Center for Business, Ethics, and Society, Health Professions Advising, Holy Cross Magazine, Political Science | Comments Off on 2017 Sanctae Crucis Award Recipients Continue to Live Holy Cross Mission

Armed With Liberal Arts Degrees, Holy Cross Alumni Take Unique Approach to Careers in Medicine

Posted on January 15, 2018 by Holy Cross Magazine

Robert Harrington ’82 consults with two cardiology colleagues at the Stanford Portola Valley Cardiology Clinic.Even though it was decades ago, Robert Harrington ’82 vividly remembers his tutorial with John Hamilton, associate professor of classics, a weekly one-on-one session on the Greek classics that he took when he was an upperclassman at Holy Cross.

Harrington would write a paper on an assigned topic from the “Odyssey” or the “Aeneid,” but he would never turn it in. Instead, it formed a basis of conversation between student and teacher. As Harrington read his paper, Hamilton interrupted and questioned him intensely, forcing his student to explain everything from his overall perspective right down to his choice of words.

“It taught me a lot about my ability to research a topic and think deeply on a topic, perhaps with minimal guidance, and to be able to defend my argument and my point of view,” Harrington says. “I think back on that now and I think it was one of the most valuable educational experiences I had.”

That experience and the rest of his undergraduate education at Holy Cross have served Harrington well. A cardiologist and clinical investigator, he is a professor of medicine and chairman of the Department of Medicine at Stanford University.

He is among scores of alumni — including Michael Collins ’77, David Ryan ’88 and Jennifer Schneider ’97 — who have made a mark in medicine and attribute their success and contributions, in large part, to their early preparation at Holy Cross. They say the school’s diverse liberal arts offerings, challenging science courses and Jesuit mission to serve helped shape them into the doctors they are today.

Finding a role in the world and seeing how that fits with your spiritual views is “incredibly helpful,” says Ryan, chief of oncology and hematology at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

“The hard choices that you have in life are going to come to you no matter what, whether you’re an oncologist or a teacher or a police officer or whatever your line of work,” he says. “To have a context for how to manage those hard choices and approach them is incredibly important. And I think a place like

Posted in Biology, Chemistry, Classics, English, Holy Cross Magazine, News, Winter 2018 | Comments Off on Armed With Liberal Arts Degrees, Holy Cross Alumni Take Unique Approach to Careers in Medicine

How Do Holy Cross Students Get into Medical School?

Posted on January 15, 2018 by Holy Cross Magazine

(from left) Deirdre Reidy ’18, Health Professions Adviser Miles Cahill, Associate Health Professions Adviser Jumi Hayaki and Gordon Farley ’18.Just about everyone who applies to medical school has top grades and test scores. So who gets in and who doesn’t?

Often it comes down to “miles traveled” — experiences outside the classroom that show an applicant’s abilities beyond technical knowledge and skills. That could be a stint in the Peace Corps or Teach for America; volunteering at a clinic; shelter or soup kitchen; fundraising for a cause; tutoring; or giving companionship and comfort to someone who’s dying.

“In what way can you demonstrate to us that you’re actually interested in taking care of people?” says Michael Collins ’77, chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Holy Cross has an excellent track record of being a place for students to start putting in the miles, while getting the solid science background they need for medical school and the broader education that will help them succeed there and beyond. Over the past decade, more than 80 percent of Holy Cross graduates who apply get into at least one medical school each year, twice the national average.

While there is no formal premed program at Holy Cross, the school’s health professions advising initiative (formerly known as premed) helps students choose their curriculum and provides access to internships and opportunities to do research, volunteer and shadow professionals. The goal is to give students a well-rounded experience, in keeping with the Jesuit emphasis on ethics and the humanistic side of education, and help them make the right career decision.

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, students heading to medical school need a semester each of biochemistry, psychology and sociology; a year each of biology, mathematics, physics and English; and two years of chemistry. Miles Cahill, a health professions adviser and a professor of economics, says Holy Cross science majors are also steeped in the liberal arts after taking courses in philosophy, religious studies, art and literature.

But to get into medical school, students do not need to major in science. Cahill points out as just one example that Anthony Fauci ’62, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was a classics major.

“The job of a physician isn’t just to apply sciences,” says Cahill. “They have to connect with their patients very, very quickly, and be able to understand people from all kinds of different backgrounds, so they can make them comfortable and get the information they need.”

Students are assigned an adviser from the Health Professions Advising Committee, made up of faculty from a number of disciplines and five Holy Cross graduates who are currently clinicians. The adviser helps with the medical school application process, and the committee evaluates the candidate and provides a letter of recommendation that is included in the application. As part of the evaluation process, students write a lengthy essay reflecting on their experiences inside and outside of the classroom and how that impacts their intended career, instead of sitting for an interview with the committee, and must be able to articulate why this is their chosen path, explains Cahill.

Deirdre Reidy ’18, a biology major from Northford, Connecticut, says her liberal arts classwork has taught her to communicate her ideas and thoughts without being afraid to disagree, and to look at the bigger picture. “These courses taught me how to think about people rather than just thinking about the science behind things,” she says.

Outside the classroom, she has interned at Hartford Hospital, shadowed a radiologist/oncologist at a Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center site, tutored biology students on campus and sat with dying patients at UMass Memorial Hospital to offer support through the Power of Presence program.

Gordon Farley ’18, a chemistry major from Northvale, New Jersey, decided to go into medicine, in part, because a younger sister had lymphoma. (She’s now in remission and doing well.) He is president of Holy Cross for a Cure, which raised $9,000 for cancer research last year, and he went on a medical mission to a village in Honduras, doing triage for people in need of dental care and eye care.

He found his biology courses greatly helped him pick up complex genetics while doing an internship in a Massachusetts General Hospital lab last summer, and notes he might not have taken one of his favorite courses — a history class on World War II — had he gone to a traditional university with a greater primary emphasis on science.

“It really made me a diverse candidate for medical school,” he says of his education at Holy Cross.

And that, according to Collins, boosts a student’s chances for acceptance. “In today’s world, where it’s not just the sciences that people are focused on in medicine,” he says, “the Holy Cross applicant becomes even more attractive.”

Learn more about preparing for a career in medicine, dentistry, and other health fields at Holy Cross on the Health Professions Advising page.


Written by Dave Greenslit for the Winter 2018 issue of Holy Cross Magazine.

About Holy Cross Magazine

Holy Cross Magazine (HCM) is the quarterly alumni publication of the College of the Holy Cross. The award-winning publication is mailed to alumni and friends of the College and includes intriguing profiles, make-you-think features, alumni news, exclusive photos and more. Visit magazine.holycross.edu/about to contact HCM, submit alumni class notes, milestones, or letters to the editor.

Posted in Biochemistry, Biology, Chemistry, Classics, Economics and Accounting, English, Health Professions Advising, History, Holy Cross Magazine, Mathematics and Computer Science, News, Philosophy, Physics, Psychology, Religious Studies, Sociology and Anthropology, Visual Arts, Winter 2018 | Comments Off on How Do Holy Cross Students Get into Medical School?