51茶馆 News > Campus & Community > Around Campus > PULSE turns 50

鈥奍t all started with a phone call in 1969. Joe Fitzpatrick, president of the student government, had an idea for his friend Pat Byrne, who鈥檇 just graduated. 鈥淗e called me up and said he鈥檇 like to hire me as a consultant to plan an internship program where students work in the community and get academic credit for it,鈥� Byrne recalled. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 have any idea about what the program would actually be. We kind of made it up as we went along.鈥�

What it鈥檚 become, of course, is the PULSE Program for Service Learning, in which students earn academic credit for a program that combines volunteer work at Boston community service organizations with the study of the great works of theology and philosophy. 鈥淭hey learn from people who are engaged with deep personal commitments to human service in community service agencies, and also from a philosophical, theological reflection on the themes of justice, injustice, suffering, hope, freedom, and acting ethically,鈥� said Byrne, a professor of philosophy who was PULSE鈥檚 first director and who has taught in the program since 1975. 鈥淭he readings and service work reinforce each other.鈥�

Video by John Walsh | University Communications

Fifty years after its founding, PULSE is one of 51茶馆鈥檚 most popular, innovative, and influential programs. Nearly 18,000 students have participated, with the numbers growing each year. Today, more than 500 students volunteer as part of PULSE each semester. 鈥淔or a half-century, PULSE program students and faculty have built a remarkable legacy while giving new life to Boston College鈥檚 distinctive mission,鈥� said Provost David Quigley. 鈥淚鈥檝e long been impressed by our alumni鈥檚 deep affection for the program and appreciation for the profound difference that a year (or more) in PULSE made in their lives.鈥�

You鈥檒l meet such alumni in the stories ahead, people for whom the PULSE experience continues to resonate many, many years past graduation. Some have children who鈥檝e followed them through the program. Others continue to nurture relationships formed during their community service. Still others have seen their career plans changed by their time in PULSE.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a remarkable program that has had a deep and far-reaching impact on those involved with it,鈥� said Meghan T. Sweeney, who was named the Cooney Family Director of PULSE in 2014. 鈥淚t forms students as human beings who care about social justice issues and care for individuals who suffer because of poverty, addiction, and oppression.鈥�

For his part, Byrne said he鈥檚 鈥渁stonished at what PULSE has become. I pushed this small canoe out into the stream and it鈥檚 come back a great ship. It鈥檚 the unexpected result of the work of an unexpectedly large group of people. And I am in awe of that.鈥�

Visit the PULSE 50th Anniversary Website

The PULSE experience

PULSE brochures

So What Does PULSE Stand For, Anyway?

Written in capital letters that form a familiar word, PULSE sure seems like an acronym. We checked in with Meghan Sweeney, the program鈥檚 director, to learn more. 鈥淲e are often asked, 鈥榃hat does PULSE stand for?鈥欌�� Sweeney said. For help answering that question, she turned to Rachael Hennessey-Crowell, a PULSE alum and former assistant director. 鈥淧ULSE stands for many things, but the word is not an acronym,鈥� Hennessey-Crowell said. For his part, Pat Byrne, the program鈥檚 first director, said the name was chosen because it seemed reflective of the goal of an active engagement in the dynamic state of cultural and political affairs at the time of the program鈥檚 founding. At one point, a project was launched to retroactively make PULSE an acronym, but when someone suggested that it stand for 鈥淧eople United to Literally Save Everything,鈥� the effort was summarily abandoned.

Pulse Through the Years: A Timeline

PULSE by the Numbers

STUDENT ENROLLMENT

Student enrollment chart

COMMUNITY SERVICE PARTNERS

Community service partners chart


LONGTIME COMMUNITY PARTNERS

43 years

  • Haley House
    Provides food security, housing, and job training services.
  • Pine Street Inn
    Provides housing, emergency services, and workforce development to those experiencing homelessness.
  • Rosie鈥檚 place
    Helps poor and homeless women maintain their dignity, seek opportunity, and find security.

42 years

  • Samaritans
    Provides suicide-prevention services, awareness, and support.

听

41 years

  • Newton Wellesley Weston Committee for Community Living
    Provides housing, services, and advocacy for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

For These Leaders, PULSE Inspired a Lifetime of Community Service

听

David Manzo 鈥�77, P鈥�06

President and Executive Director,
The Cotting School

David Manzo

Dave Manzo was so moved by his PULSE placement at the Community Advancement Program that he left 51茶馆 for a year to work at the organization, which provides services to at-risk and gang-involved youth. He eventually finished his philosophy degree, and later returned to the program (now called COMPASS). Times were tough and the organization was on the verge of closing, so Manzo put his home up as collateral for a loan鈥hile his wife was pregnant. Things improved and Manzo wound up running COMPASS for twenty years, leaving in 2004. He鈥檚 been president ever since of the Cotting School, which educates kids with special needs, and has been a PULSE adjunct professor for nearly four decades.

Mary Kudless 鈥�73

Retired Deputy Director,
Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board

Mary Kudless

Mary Kudless鈥檚 first PULSE placement was at the Joshua Center, a campus support center where 51茶馆 students provided counseling and referral services. That work, and subsequent rotations in clinical nursing settings, led Kudless to a rewarding career in community mental health. A member of the first PULSE Council, she went on to earn a master鈥檚 degree in psychiatric nursing, and eventually served as the deputy director of the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board, which delivers services for people who have mental illness, substance use disorders, or developmental disabilities. Now retired, Kudless continues to volunteer weekly at a free clinic providing mental health treatment.

Jonathan Scott 鈥�79

Retired President and CEO,
Victory Programs

Jonathan Scott

Jonathan Scott started at Victory House during a PULSE placement in 1976 and never left. He worked his way up from volunteer to president and CEO of the agency鈥檚 parent organization, Victory Programs, which provides services to people dealing with homelessness, substance use, and chronic illnesses such as HIV/AIDS. When he retired this year, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh declared it 鈥淛onathan Scott Day鈥� in the city. For their part, Scott鈥檚 friends from his days on the PULSE Council presented him with a certificate anointing him the holder of the record for the longest PULSE placement. 鈥淚 found a community in PULSE,鈥� Scott says. 鈥淚 found my tribe.鈥澨� 听

鈥擟hristine Balquist听 听 听听

Back To Top