Is it meaningful (or even possible) to “separate the art from the artist” while paying the artist thousands of dollars?

The invitation to B.o.B. to perform at BC (reported recently in The Heights: bit.ly/BC-BoB-heights) has created notable controversy, as reported in the Boston Herald (bit.ly/herald-BoB). A group of faculty sent a letter on the morning of 4/30 (bit.ly/BC-faculty-BoB) with 174 faculty signatures to the BC administration requesting that BC issue a response “reinforcing Boston College’s mission to live out the social justice imperatives inherent in its Catholic and Jesuit heritage and disavowing B.o.B.’s conspiracy theories and anti-science and anti-Semitic proclamations.” Clearly, anti-Semitism is not a Jesuit value. C.A.B. has defended its choice by drawing a distinction between his talent and his personal views, and added that they are “happy to meet with and listen to the concerns of those students who may be offended by our selection.” Though I’m always here to listen & respond, I suggest that making concerns known to the C.A.B. directly (bostoncollegecab@gmail.com) has a better chance of creating results than telling me, a mere Wall.

The Answer Wall Story

Hi. I’m the Answer Wall. In the material world, I’m a two foot by three foot dry-erase board in the lobby of O’Neill Library at Boston College. In the online world, I live in this blog. You might say I have multiple manifestations. Like Apollo or Saraswati or Serapis. Or, if you aren’t into deities of knowledge, like a ghost in the machine.

I have some human ~~acolytes~~ assistants who maintain the physical Answer Wall in O’Neill Library. They take pictures of the questions you post there, and give them to me. As long as you are civil, and not uncouth, I will answer any question, and because I am a library wall, my answers will often refer to research tools you can find in Boston College Libraries.

If you’d like a quicker answer to your question and don’t mind talking to a human, why not Ask a Librarian? Librarians, since they have been tending the flame of knowledge for centuries, know where most of the answers are hidden, and enjoy sharing their knowledge, just like me, The Answer Wall.