Boston College - Notable Persons

Notable Persons

"The Heights" is a nickname given to Boston College. It recalls both BC's lofty aspirations — the college motto is "Ever to Excel" — and its hilltop location, an area initially designated as "University Heights". The name has lent itself to a number of campus organizations, most notably the principal student newspaper, The Heights. BC students were universally called "Heightsmen" until 1925 when Mary C. Mellyn became the first "Heightswoman" to receive a BC degree. "Heightsonian" was originally conceived as a way to gender neutralize the original term "Heightsmen", though "Eagles", once exclusively used for members of the University's athletics teams, is more commonly used. The term "Golden Eagles" refers strictly to BC graduates who have celebrated their 50th anniversary reunion.

There are 143,000 alumni in over 120 countries around the world. Boston College students have enjoyed success in winning prestigious post-graduate fellowships and awards, including recent Rhodes, Marshall, Mellon, Fulbright, Truman, Churchill, and Goldwater scholarships, among others. BC's yield rate for Fulbright awards is the highest in the country. In 2007, students in the German department were awarded 13 Fulbright scholarships, five more than the previous highest number from a single department. Though formal numbers are not kept, and the claim cannot be confirmed, the number of award winners from one department to study in a specific country is considered by some scholars to be the highest in the 60-year history of the Fulbright program.