Boston College Office of Marketing Communications AHANA Reconnect alumni interviews
Dates
- Creation: 2009 July-September
Scope and Contents
These records document the experience of Boston College alumni who participated in AHANA student programs in the 1970s and 1980s through video interviews conducted in 2009 when the Boston College Alumni Association sponsored Reconnect, a reunion of AHANA alumni. The Boston College Office of Marketing and Communication (OMC) set up an oral history booth to film interviews with volunteers. OMC originally intended to write a story in Boston College Magazine and possibly make edited versions of the interviews available online. The project was never fully realized.
This collection contains the unedited video interviews, as well as some transcriptions created by Fantastic Transcripts, Boston in August 2009. In the interviews, alumni discuss their experiences as students at Boston College, as well as the career paths they took following graduation. Many of the alumni also recall their participation in the Black Talent Program and the Options Through Education summer program. In addition to the alumni interviews, there is one interview with Ron Nief, who formerly worked at the Office of Marketing Communications, speaking broadly about Boston College history.
Restrictions on access
Collection is open for research. The video recordings have been digitally copied; all original media was retained, but may not be played due to format. Digital use copies can only be accessed in the Burns Library Reading Room.
Restrictions on use
These materials are made available for use in research, teaching and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. The original authors may retain copyright to the materials.
Historical note: Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center
Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center supports the Boston College undergraduate community, with a particular focus on AHANA (African, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American), multiracial, and OTE (Options Through Education) students. The Center has its origins in the 1968 Negro Talent Program, which was an effort to increase enrollment and support for students of color through recruitment and scholarships.
In the 1967-68 academic year, Boston College had only thirteen black undergraduates in the 6,975-student body; however, the first recruitment effort of the Program attracted 34 to 48 black students for the following year. In 1970 a group of black students protested for increased scholarship funds, more transportation options, more Black Studies classes, a black dorm, and tutoring services. Boston College agreed to some of these requests, and set a goal for black enrollment to reach ten percent. In 1971 the University decided that students would oversee the renamed “Black Talent Program”; this arrangement continued for five years.
Concerns over retention rates, student fatigue, and competition for resources led to a change in how the Program was managed; in 1976, the Program became the Office of Minority Student Affairs administered by Director Monroe "Bud" Mosely. In 1978, the office was renamed the Office of AHANA Student Programs, using an acronym coined by Boston College students Alfred Feliciano and Valerie Lewis as an alternative to "minority," and Donald Brown became director. On October 22, 1989, the Office was named in honor of teacher and activist Sister Thea Bowman, as Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center. Brown led this office until 2005; Inés Maturana Sendoya was appointed director in 2006.
Sources:
Bole, William. "Power of the People." Boston College Magazine. 2009.
Bresnahan, Christine. "Minority Ed Director Named; Students, BC Negotiate." The Heights 57, no. 3 (1976): 1.
Heaney, Cynthia. "AHANA House Renamed for Bowman." The Heights 70, no. 7 (1989): 3.
Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center. "Historical Information." Boston College. 2017. https://www.bc.edu/content/bc-web/offices/student-affairs/sites/ahana/about/baic-history.html.
Historical note: Office of Marketing Communications
The Office of Marketing Communications (OMC) has been responsible for Boston College's production of "any catalog, brochure, handbook, bulletin, website, or other printed or online publication published by an organizational unit of the University, for limited or general circulation on or off campus, that is labeled or intended as an official communication of Boston College." It accomplished this by assisting units across the University in the production and design of printed and online materials that represent the University, from magazines to signage to websites. It provided services such as publishing, graphic design, photography, event development and management, web design, and marketing counsel. Boston College Magazine, "Front Row" scholarly lectures, "@BC" slideshows, and Linden Lane Press were all organized by this office.
The Office has changed several times over the years. Originally called the Office of Public Relations, it has also been known as the Office of Communications (1980-1991), Office of Publications and Print Marketing (1991-2000), Office of Marketing Communications (2000-2017), and Office of University Communications (2017-). This new title results from the merger of the Office of Marketing Communications with the Office of News and Public Affairs.
Office leadership has been limited to a few: Paul J. Hennessy (1980-1986), Michael Franco (1986-1991), and Ben Birnbaum (1991-2017). Former Director of the Office of Public Relations, Jack Dunn, leads the new Office of University Communications.
Sources:
"Many New Faces In Executive Offices." The Heights 61, no. 2 (1980): 3.
News & Public Affairs. "NPA, OMC to merge."BC News. Last modified 20 March 2017. https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/bcnews/campus-community/announcements/university-communications.html
Noonan, Veronica. "Trustee Board Meets." The Heights 67, no. 2 (1986): 3.
Office of Marketing Communications. "Office of Marketing Communications." BC Services. Accessed 20 March 2017. https://bcservices.bc.edu/service/office-of-marketing-communications
Office of Marketing Communications. "Office of Marketing Communications -- Marketing Communications." 1 May 2001. Accessed 27 April 2017. http://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/offices/policies/pdf/policies/I/1-135-100.pdf
The Trustees of Boston College. Publications office, director get new titles, 2000. http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/rvp/pubaf/00/birnbaum.html
Extent
0.5 Linear Feet (1 container)
42 Gigabytes (87 files with approximately 14 hours of video, and 43 text documents)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
These records document an interview project conducted by the Boston College Office of Marketing Communications during the Alumni Association's Reconnect event in 2009. The interviews include alumni recollections of their student years and experience of participating in AHANA student programs in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as accounts of their career paths following graduation.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by interviewee last name.
Provenance
Transferred from the Office of Marketing Communications in December 2016.
Processing Information
Video recordings were migrated from miniDV tapes. The color bar shots used for set-up at the start of each new video cassette, which did not contain interview content, are not available for access.
Name forms for alumni used in this finding aid were taken from the Boston College Alumni Directory; corrections to name spellings have not been applied to the transcripts. In instances where an alumna has been listed in the directory under both their maiden name and a married name, they are listed here under their name at the time of interview, but their maiden name is included as well.
Subject
- Boston College. Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center (Organization)
- Title
- Boston College Office of Marketing and Communication AHANA Reconnect alumni interviews
- Status
- Completed
- Subtitle
- 2009
- Author
- Lynn Moulton and Ayoola White
- Date
- 2017
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the John J. Burns Library Repository
John J. Burns Library
Boston College
140 Commonwealth Avenue
Chestnut Hill MA 02467 USA
617-552-4861
burns@bc.libanswers.com