This charity drive? Call it one for the books.
Boston-Bouvé students on their dean’s advisory council were gathering tomes—principally ones related to physical education, health education, physical therapy, and recreation education—to send to African institutions of learning, to help them establish libraries.
Here, drive cochair Janet (Shoemaker) Swanson, BB’74, GB’76, adds another volume to the barrel. Today, she recalls that “boxes and boxes of books” were amassed in the 1971–1972 effort. The previous year, Boston-Bouvé bibliophiles had collected nearly a hundred textbooks and journals to send abroad.
Boston-Bouvé’s motto was Devouée à bien faire (“Devoted to doing good”), so it’s no wonder benevolent works played a big role in its curriculum, especially once the college became part of Northeastern in 1964.
Catherine L. Allen had a lot to do with stoking the passion for giving back. After chairing the recreation education department for three years, she served as the college dean from 1967 to 1977, then spent four years as a special assistant to President Kenneth Ryder. A committed activist, Allen encouraged all students to experience the pleasure that community involvement brings.
Not that any one individual could write the book on public service at Northeastern. Across the years and all the disciplines, social responsibility is perhaps the university’s true magnum opus. — Magdalena Hernandez, MBA’02
— Magdalena Hernandez, MBA’02