“When you are in a difficult position but find someone who doesn't judge you and tries to teach you, and even tries to learn from you, it is an amazing thing that can change your life, that can put you on the right path,” Alabi said. “And that's what they're doing. That's what their goal is.”

The autumn bustle of Boston College students this year is shadowed by the upcoming U.S. presidential election. With November quickly approaching, the student body is tasked with finding its role in the next chapter of American history, walking the line between abstraction, activism, and apathy.

“University President is a tough job right now,” Rather said. “There’s been tremendous turnover. There’s been tremendous stress. So I think it’s incredibly difficult, even more reason that I think it’s important that BC continues with a Jesuit president to continue that tradition.”

“I think [Boston is] an amazing, amazing college town, I’d say the best in the U.S.,” Kelly said. “But my perception was that it was going to be a little too young post-grad.”

“To me, it was a limitation of addressing [LGBTQ+] needs by tagging it on to the AHANA context,” Lewis-Mosley said. “They have a big enough endowment to where they could have broadened meeting the needs of both our AHANA legacy and established an even broader in development for the LGBTQI community.”