Collections and Meaning

A Note from Harvey

Photo by Natasha Moustache

A Note from Harvey

Collections and Meaning

I used to collect things. In my younger years, I filled baseball card albums with Topps cards featuring my favorite team: the Chicago Cubs. Ryne Sandberg. Andre Dawson. I had my comic books, each in protective sleeves, from the earliest issues to the most recent bookstore arrivals. G.I. Joe. X-Men. There were also stamps and coins.

These collections offered a way to engage the world. This was in the years before the internet would allow vicarious and virtual engagements. My collections enabled me to travel. They granted audiences with sports stars. They made history tangible and accessible. Holding a Byzantine coin, I was (and still am) in awe that that small object was handled by people millennia earlier.

I never intended to collect face coverings. However, the reality of living, working, and parenting in the age of COVID has made it nearly impossible (and certainly inconvenient) to possess just one mask. I’m sure that you have your own unintended collection.

The latest addition is a BU 2025 mask. Scarlet with bold white letters, it was given to the 4,000 first years and transfer students (and a few deans) at this year’s matriculation ceremony, the event where incoming students officially become Terriers. The mask and the ceremony are wonderfully affirming, essentially saying “welcome” and “we’re all in this together.” It also winks to the future—the after times of COVID—as a souvenir of adversity overcome.

There’s my BuffaLOVE mask. It features a bison with that word—blending Buffalo and Love—scripted on its side. An expression of care from my sister in western New York, it is both comfortable and comforting. A hug as a mask.

There are also text-free masks. Two of my favorites were handmade by Mary Ducharme, CFA’s registrar. Back when they were difficult to access, she created scores of accordion-style, cloth face coverings and gifted them to students and staff in our offices to help keep us safe. Mary and her handiwork are amazing.

Every mask is a story. Each reveals a moment in our lives. All reflect a shared sense of responsibility for others.

This semester, we are fully back on campus. Our students are vaccinated. They are living, learning, and laughing together. There are a lot of smiles behind the face coverings.

Do you have a mask that is especially meaningful to you? If so, email me at cfadean@bu.edu. I would love to hear your story.

Harvey Young, Dean of CFA