University welcomes Ļć½¶Šć Companions
The University has welcomed to campus the inaugural 13-member cohort of Boston College Companions: Fellows for Leadership and Service, a yearlong fellowship program that combines academic study with elements of Ignatian spirituality.
Through Ļć½¶ŠćC FLS, accomplished individuals reflect together, explore new directions, and consider lifeās next chapter amid Ļć½¶Šćās culture of inquiry, excellence, and commitment to the common good.
The Fellows, who arrived in January, will spend the next year immersed in campus life at Ļć½¶Šć. In addition to participating in guided conversations, retreats, and a pilgrimage to Spain and Rome, Fellows will audit classes alongside Ļć½¶Šć students, choosing from offerings in law, business, the humanities, science, education, social work, and theology and ministry, among other disciplines.
“There are so many ways to learn: in the classroom from the teachers and students; from the interactions with the rest of the Companionsā cohort; from the variety of Ļć½¶Šć leaders weāll get to meet; and the plethora of guest speakers on campus.”
The first group of Fellows represents a wide range of professional backgrounds, including education, medicine, finance, law, human resources, religious services, information technology, and the nonprofit world. The 13, who are in their 50s, 60s, and 70s, come from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Florida, Colorado, Texas, and California. About half of the Fellows have a degree from Boston College.
While their motivations for joining Ļć½¶ŠćC FLS differāa desire to reexamine faith and spirituality; finding themselves at a career crossroads; exploring how they can be of service to the worldāthey are united in excitement for their time ahead at the Heights.
Ļć½¶Šć Companions Fellows can choose from hundreds of courses, as well as participate in seminars, converse with Ļć½¶Šć leaders, and engage in spiritual discernment, among other activities. (Photos by Lee Pellegrini)
Bill Reynolds is enthused by the blessing of a year dedicated to learning. āThere are so many ways to learn: in the classroom from the teachers and students; from the interactions with the rest of the Companionsā cohort; from the variety of Ļć½¶Šć leaders weāll get to meet; and the plethora of guest speakers on campus.
āAs a younger student, I remember being too busy to enjoy all the learning that was available āoutside of the classroom.ā As Fellows, we have time for the extras.ā
Cathy Van Kula ā85 said she looked forward to returning to Ļć½¶Šć, and to a year of uninterrupted learning.
ā[Ļć½¶ŠćC FLS] offered me an opportunity to learn intentionally, in a dedicated space, with a group of like-minded individualsāadd to that the opportunity to return to my alma mater and to the beautiful city of Boston. What a gift!ā
Haub Vice President for Mission and Ministry John Butler, S.J., describes the year as a journey.
āAs we companion and journey, we discover who we are and embrace our desires. The Companions Program is a way for Ļć½¶Šć and our Jesuit heritage to be shared with folks who still have a good bit of journeying left in their lives.ā
Margaret Laurence, director of Ļć½¶Šć Companions & Initiatives for Formative Education in the Office of the Provost and Dean of Faculties, considers it an honor to accompany Fellows on their journeys. āLearning about the experiences that Fellows are having in classrooms, hearing about their conversations with undergraduates and graduate students, being together twice a week for the seminar designed for them, and watching them leave promptly to attend another lectureāitās all energizing.ā Ā
Already, the Fellows are fully engaged in their studies and, according to Boston College Law School Professor Emeritus Frank Herrmann, S.J., who is the Ļć½¶Šć Companions faculty advisor, are āfinding their professors stimulating, their younger classmates welcoming, and the broader Ļć½¶Šć environment exciting.ā
āThe Fellows have begun their yearlong journey together,ā said Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley. āIām looking forward to seeing the many ways in which they will engage with our students, faculty, and the larger University community.ā
For more about the Boston College Companions: Fellows for Leadership and Service program and the inaugural cohort, visit bc.edu/companions.