Historical Note

Informal athletic activity at Boston College dates to the 1870s, when intramural track and baseball were organized among students at the Harrison Avenue campus. In the fall of 1883, a student committee obtained presidential sanction to form the Boston College Athletic Club, formally constituted in early 1884 with the stated purpose of encouraging athletic competition and promoting collegiate esprit de corps. D. Leo Brand, SJ, was appointed the first Faculty Moderator of Athletics. The club, soon known as the Athletic Association, received no institutional funding and operated without dedicated facilities, which constrained intercollegiate competition throughout the late nineteenth century.

A student-organized football team appeared in 1891, followed two years later by an officially sponsored varsity team. The position of Graduate Manager was created to oversee the financial affairs of the athletic program, including scheduling and community relations, while the Faculty Moderator retained responsibility for academic oversight of student athletes. In 1913, during the presidency of Thomas I. Gasson, SJ, the Graduate Athletic Board was established to provide institutional guidance; its membership was drawn from BC's athletic alumni. Alumni Field opened in 1915 following the University's move to Chestnut Hill, providing the dedicated athletic grounds the program had lacked since its founding.

Men's ice hockey became a varsity sport in the 1920s, having previously been represented by a team in the sport of ice polo; the program won its first national championship in the 1922–1923 season. Football home games were played at Fenway Park intermittently from 1937 through 1939, at Braves Field from 1946 through 1952, and at Fenway Park again from 1953 through 1956, as the on-campus stadium was inadequate to accommodate large crowds. The 1940 football season resulted in a national championship, marked by a Sugar Bowl victory over Tennessee in January 1941. The Eagle nickname was assigned to Boston College's athletic teams by Edward A. McLaughlin, SJ, in 1920.

The Faculty Moderator of Athletics served throughout this period as advisor to the president and liaison with the coaching staff and graduate manager. Maurice V. Dullea, SJ, held the position in two terms, 1940-1943 and 1946-1957. The Graduate Manager position was held by several individuals between its founding and 1957, including Thomas D. Lavelle, Richard A. O'Brien, and Francis A. Reynolds. John P. Curley returned to the University in 1929 as Graduate Manager and held the position for twenty-eight years. During his tenure Curley hired football coaches Gil Dobie in 1936 and Frank Leahy in 1939; Leahy led the team to the 1940 national championship. The men's ice hockey team, coached by John "Snooks" Kelley, won the NCAA championship in the 1948–1949 season.

New athletic facilities opened on the Chestnut Hill campus in 1957, including Alumni Stadium, McHugh Forum, and Roberts Center, marking the first time all of Boston College's athletic facilities were located on campus. Curley moved to the newly created position of Director of Athletic Facilities, which he held until his retirement in 1965. William J. Flynn was appointed Director of Varsity and Intramural Sports, a role that became known as Director of Athletics effective July 1, 1957.

Flynn, a 1939 graduate who had served the University as a mathematics instructor, assistant football coach, and Executive Secretary of the Alumni Association, held the position of Director of Athletics for thirty-three years. During that period the department grew from five to thirty-one varsity sports. Alumni Stadium was enlarged and twice expanded; the Silvio O. Conte Forum was completed in 1988; and the student recreation center, opened in 1972 and expanded in 1976, was named the William J. Flynn Student Recreation Complex in 1979. Flynn served as president of the NCAA in 1979 and established the Office of Learning Resources for Student-Athletes in 1984.

Women's varsity athletics expanded significantly during this period. In 1972 four women's sports competed at the varsity level: basketball, swimming, tennis, and volleyball. Title IX of the federal Education Amendments Act, enacted that same year, provided legal mandate for further expansion. By 1985 fifteen women's varsity teams were competing, equaling the number of men's varsity sports. The women's basketball team moved to NCAA Division I in 1982–1983; the women's swimming and diving team won the New England championship in 1989; and the women's ski team won regional championships in 1986 and 1989.

Boston College was a founding member of the Big East Conference in 1979. Flynn announced his retirement in August 1990 and was succeeded by Chet Gladchuk Jr., a BC alumnus who had previously served as athletic director at Tulane University. Gene DeFilippo succeeded Gladchuk in 1997 and led the department for fifteen years. Women's ice hockey was established as a varsity program in the 1994–1995 season. DeFilippo oversaw Boston College's transition to full membership in the Atlantic Coast Conference on July 1, 2005, secured private funding for the Yawkey Athletics Center, and renamed the department's fundraising program the William J. Flynn Fund. DeFilippo was succeeded in turn by Brad Bates, Martin Jarmond, Patrick Kraft, and Blake James. As of 2024, the Athletics Department reports directly to the Office of the President.

Found in 10 Collections and/or Records:

Boston College athletic photographs

 Collection

Identifier: BC-1986-019

Abstract

This collection contains photographs of Boston College Athletics Department staff, coaches, and student athletes.

Access Note

Collection is open for research; a portion is also available digitally.

Dates: 1889 - 2013