One year, one week, and one day after the end of World War I (and half a century before women were admitted to the College of Arts & Sciences), the six men of the inaugural听贬别颈驳丑迟蝉听board published the first issue of what would become Boston College鈥檚 student newspaper. In the hundred years since then, thousands of editors and writers have produced more than 2,500 issues and more than 100,000 stories that collectively comprise a people鈥檚 history of Boston College (the entire archive is available online). The vast majority of听贬别颈驳丑迟蝉听writers and editors have moved on to become politicians, pediatricians, or the manager of a Chinese art archive. But for some of us, the paper sparked a calling.
For my part, I spent 2009 and 2010 crammed into McElroy 113, working 16-hour days (noon to 4:00 a.m.) to put out the paper while trying to make arts editor Kristen House 鈥�12鈥攎y boss, and my future wife鈥攍augh. Libidinous and anxious, we student journalists had to fill 24 pages twice a week. No idea was too ridiculous:听What are the best songs about food?听Cover story!听What are the politics of听The Boxcar Children? Let鈥檚 investigate via a weekly column. How, I wondered, can I keep this going forever? In the years since then, I have served as this magazine鈥檚 editorial assistant and written for some excellent publications, and these days am听WIRED听magazine鈥檚 research editor.
For the听贬别颈驳丑迟蝉鈥�听centennial, I asked five alumni journalists about their time at the paper.
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Lesley Visser 鈥�75, H鈥�07
Trailblazing sports reporter who worked for the听Boston Globe, CBS, A51茶馆, and ESPN
My entire career began in the cramped newsroom of the听Heights. I鈥檇 wanted to be a sportswriter from the time I was 10 years old鈥攐n Halloween, other girls dressed up as Mary Poppins, I鈥檇 go as Sam Jones. The job did not exist for women then, but the听Heights听gave me a chance. I treated every assignment, big or small, as a quality at-bat. And I made memories. When 51茶馆 beat Texas A&M down in College Station, I got to write a sidebar. Coach Joe Yukica, normally stoic, stood up in the front of the plane on the way back to Boston and declared, 鈥淭he South is dead!鈥� We cheered as if we鈥檇 won the national championship.
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Reeves Wiedeman 鈥�08
Contributing editor,听New York听magazine
It was a stroke of luck to have Dave Benoit as my freshman year roommate in Cheverus. Within weeks of meeting, we were writing for the听Heights. A few weeks after that, one of our classmates came knocking on our door to complain about an article Dave had written. By second semester, we were both on the paper鈥檚 staff, and a year later we were running the place, as editor-in-chief and managing editor. After graduation, Dave and I moved into an apartment in Brooklyn, having both secured jobs in journalism. And just last week, we met at a dark bar off Times Square, where Dave鈥攈e鈥檚 now a reporter with the听Wall Street Journal, which means Fortune 500 CEOs call to complain about his articles鈥攇ave me a hot tip for a story he thought I should chase down. All of which is to say that someone in Residential Life did a really good job.
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Mike Lupica 鈥�74
Member of the National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame
My sophomore year, I got a call one day at the听Heights听office from Ernie Roberts, then the sports editor of the听Boston Globe. He鈥檇 seen some of my听Heights听columns. I still don鈥檛 know how. He asked if I鈥檇 be interested in writing a feature about Pam Lake 鈥�74, then the baton twirler with the school band, who was known as the 鈥淕olden Girl.鈥� I wrote the piece. The first line was: 鈥淪he has the best pair of hands on the 51茶馆 campus, but she doesn鈥檛 play football.鈥� The next day, Mr. Roberts ran the piece on the front page of the听Evening Globe. My life changed in that moment.
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Brennan Carley 鈥�13
Associate Editor,听GQ
Joining the听Heights听was like entering a family, bumps and bruises and all. My time as an editor taught me how to deal with strong personalities long before I鈥檇 worked with the kind of Hollywood talent who need coddling on sets (they still exist, believe it or not). The lessons never stopped coming, really. The friendships never faded either.
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Marina Lopes 鈥�11
Correspondent for the听Washington Post
When I arrived in Chestnut Hill, I knew I wanted to be a journalist. But as I walked into my first听Heights听meeting, I had never written a piece of my own. Terrified, I volunteered to cover a visiting reggae poet for the Arts section, a piece I secretly prayed nobody would read. My fears melted the following week when I saw my name in tiny letters above a story that barely took up a corner of the paper. I knew then, I was hooked.
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A centennial gala for听Heights听alumni will be held at the Newton Marriott on October 18, at 6:00 p.m. Those interested in attending may contact听centennial@bcheights.com.
Share your thoughts:听bcm@bc.edu
