Omygawd, college!

When we arrived at BC in September, 1964, it was a heady time for us -- college! -- and near the beginning of what many people consider a particularly turbulent time in US history. It was less than a year after the assassination of President John Kennedy, who had been speaker at BC's 1963 centennial celebration about 16 months before we arrived (link to text). Essayist Lance Morrow said of that time, “The real 1960s began on the afternoon of November 22, 1963. It came to seem that Kennedy's murder opened some malign trap door in American culture, and the wild bats flapped out.”

Our moods, despite the circumstances of the world around us, were likely not very dark. There was a lot new for us to digest and many new people to meet. Roommates who weren't brothers or sisters, classes instead of "school days," more freedom, etc. Here are some Heights headlines and items from the fall of 1964 that give a flavor of that time.

September 25, 1964

"Fr. Hanrahan Appointed
Director of Resident Men"

Hard to believe that he was new. To freshmen and to all resident men, he seemed a spectral figure. He was known to appear suddenly, at night, to intercept wayward and usually inebriated students seeking to return to the dorms after curfew. What awesome capabilities must he have had? Talking with him about that many years later, he pointed out that drunken young men have a great deal of difficulty being quiet trying to "sneak" into a dorm, often urging each other to "Be QUIET!" and cursing at the typical stumble. All he had to do was be awake and listen. His main "power" was sobriety.

October 1964

Evangelist Billy Graham appeared at Roberts Center.

October 23, 1964

“McCrossen Flays Commies
Liberals Seen Shuddering”

The Heights editors, as was their wont, had some fun with the headline for the article on the annual Young Americans for Freedom lecture, presented that year by Vincent McCrossen. Prof. McCrossen was an outspoken political conservative, on what was, as we would see displayed in several ways during our time at BC, a pretty conservative campus.

November 6, 1964

“Fr. Drinan Sees
Hard Years Ahead
For Civil Rights”

Got that right.

November 13, 1964

“B.C. School of Ed. Says
No Marriage for Women”

Notice the rule did not apparently apply to men. While nearly everyone would consider this incredibly sexist, based on our current mores, note the context. In the opinion of administrators such as Mary Kinnane in the School of Ed, higher education for women was the objective and marriage was then an impediment to a young woman finishing college. As with so much else at the time and in the culture of the place, negative reinforcement was the method of choice. Remember, too, this was during a time when a pregnant teacher (of course, married) could not teach in a public school while she was "showing."

The topic of women at BC was such a major issue, in so many ways. There will be many other points of discussion on that topic.