Students sat down with faculty and administrators over dinner at Bapst Library Tuesday night for a special Valentine’s Day edition of Agape Latte, featuring conversations on love, faith, and life at Boston College.
“For this Agape Latte, we finally wanted to be creative with it and we decided to host this dinner series,” said Eileen Corkery, assistant director for programming at the BC Church in the 21st Century Center. “It is meant to put a lot of our former Agape Latte speakers in conversations with students to kind of talk about their faith with these faculty mentors.”
Students of various grade levels were placed at tables with conversation prompts and provided bagged sandwiches, chips, and fruit.
“I think students are really hungry for deeper relationships and having those deeper level connections with others, so we wanted to bring together a space that made it easy to do so,” Corkery said.
Corkery explained that Agape Latte aims to do something special for Valentine’s Day each year. In addition to the table-talk dinner, Agape Latte sponsors the “Spread the Love” campaign, which allows students to send Valentine’s cards to loved ones and friends.
“Agape, it is the Greek form of unconditional love,” Corkery said. “And so Agape Latte, we’re all about that. We’re asking, ‘How do we spread love and recognize love in our lives?’ And that includes love with others on campus and all of its forms.”
Sheila Corkery, LSEHD ’26, who had attended previous Agape Latte events, said the open structure of the diner allowed students to be more involved as participants rather than just spectators.
Corkery added that she appreciated the structure and organization of the discussion.
“They had the questions to guide everything and the food was good and it was just, really nice, ” Sheila Corkery said. “They really wanted to break the ice with other people, and this was the perfect way to do it.”
Tom Mogan, associate dean of the Morrissey College of Arts and Science, and Meghan Mogan, assistant dean of student services and academic advising in the Carroll School of Management, gave an Agape Latte talk two years ago on Valentine’s Day and were happy to participate in the event again this year.
“When they asked us to do this, we said, ‘Of course, anytime we can have these great conversations,’” Meghan Mogan said.
Tom Mogan emphasized the importance of staying connected and engaging in meaningful conversations year-round, particularly around Valentine’s Day.
“It’s really nice to be able to have meaningful conversations around different concepts, important things, all year, but especially around Valentine’s Day,” said Tom Moghan.
Meghan Mogan expressed her appreciation for seeing BC students take the initiative to form these relationships.
“I’m so impressed by Boston College students in general, but the fact that you all came out, freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors, on a cold winter night to meet new people,” Mogan said. “Many of you came and didn’t know anybody here. And I’m hoping that, because of conversation, everyone’s met a few more people and made authentic connections.”
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