Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), Boston College was originally intended to be a place of learning for the city’s community of Irish Catholic immigrants. Today, more than 150 years later, Boston College has grown into an internationally respected research university, serving students of all backgrounds from all over the world. Read on for a look at seven fun and fascinating facts about Boston College, then and now.
1. Boston College’s current campus isn’t its original one.
Today’s Boston College is located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, a prosperous New England village about 6 miles west of downtown Boston. But this beautiful site isn’t where the original Boston College was established. When it first opened its doors in 1864, Boston College was simply a building on Harrison Avenue in the South End of Boston. It was a “small streetcar college” intended to serve working-class, commuting students from nearby communities.
In the early 1900s, the college began to outgrow the limitations of the Harrison Avenue space, so the college’s then-president Rev. Thomas I. Gasson, S.J. purchased the 31 acres of land in Chestnut Hill that would become the heart of Boston College’s current campus.
2. Technically, Boston College isn’t a college.
Don’t be fooled by its name—Boston College isn’t actually a college at all. The institution has been a university since the 1920s and is currently classified as an R1 research university. However, it continues to go by the name Boston College for two reasons. The first is to reflect and emphasize its historic role as a small liberal arts college, a traditional identity that it continually strives to maintain and build upon. The second, much more practical reason, is simply to avoid confusion with the already-existing Boston University, which was founded in 1839 and is headquartered in Boston’s Fenway-Kenmore and Allston neighborhoods.
3. Boston College is home to some amazing architecture.
Boston College has the very modern reputation of being one of the most Instagrammed universities in the country, and with good reason. The Chestnut Hill campus is home to some truly stunning architecture, including some of North America’s earliest examples of collegiate Gothic architecture. Must-see places on campus include:
- Gasson Hall, a building that is dominated by a soaring 200-foot bell tower
- Bapst Library, which was named the country’s Most Beautiful College Library by Campus Grotto
- The Powers Atrium in Fulton Hall, which was designed in a Wizard of Oz theme complete with lights shaped like the Tin Man’s hat
4. Boston College is one of the best places to watch the Boston Marathon.
If you want a prime viewing spot for one of Boston’s biggest annual events, the world-famous Boston Marathon, Boston College is an excellent destination. This is thanks to the university’s hilltop location at Mile 21, which comes just after the race’s notorious Heartbreak Hill. Spectators at Boston College can get a great view of the runners, already deep into the race, struggling up the steep half-mile climb that has come to symbolize the difficulty of the marathon, as well as the dedication and perseverance of its runners.
5. The Boston College mascot is an eagle named Baldwin.
Appropriately enough for a university whose athletic teams are named the Eagles, Boston College’s mascot is Baldwin the Eagle (the name, which was officially adopted in 2000, comes from “bald” as in bald eagle, and “win,” which is, of course, a positive message for sports teams).
Interestingly, while Baldwin is seen at Boston College sporting events today in the guise of a costumed mascot (brought to life each season by an anonymous team of Boston College students), different versions of the eagle mascot have appeared over the years.
In 1961, for example, Boston College adopted a 10-month-old golden eagle, which it named Margo (after the university’s colors of maroon and gold). Margo lived at Boston’s Franklin Park Zoo and attended all the university’s home games for several years before dying in 1966.
6. Boston College ends its spring semester with a dirty tradition . . .
Every spring, before final exams, Boston College hosts one of the dirtiest university events in the country: Mudstock. For this annual tradition, students build a mud pit in one of the campus parking lots and use it for an all-day volleyball tournament. The day culminates in Modstock, an outdoor concert held at the nearby senior housing complex known as the Mods.
7. . . . but some of its other traditions are more serious.
Mudstock is a popular and messy tradition, but other Boston College traditions convey a more serious and heartfelt message. These include the Red Bandana 5K run and the Red Bandana football game, two sports traditions held every October in honor of Boston College alumnus Welles Crowther. Crowther was training as a volunteer New York firefighter when the 9/11 attacks occurred. Wearing his signature red bandana, Crowther helped guide survivors to safety during the World Trade Center evacuations. Returning twice to the building to help victims trapped under rubble and debris, Crowther was killed when the tower collapsed. Crowther’s story is told in the 2017 documentary Man in Red Bandana.