January marked the third anniversary of my deanship at Boston College Law School, and I was recently asked if I felt at home in the institution. In the whirlwind of activity that marks the life of BC Law, I had not fully reflected on this question. But, with great delight and gratitude, I answered, “yes, very much.”
That feeling of “home”—of comfortable arrival, community, and support through one’s ambitions and endeavors—is such a core element of human well-being. We seek to provide it for all those we educate, in our physical campus spaces and in the connections we foster among students, faculty, and administrative colleagues.
And we hope that our graduates carry this vision of community into their own legal work. Our Jesuit heritage invites care for the whole person and service to others, particularly to those on the margins. We teach our students that the rule of law is not merely a set of abstract regulations, but a tool to safeguard human dignity and promote the greater good—including, as much as possible, a sense of community and purpose for all.
This issue of BC Law Magazine includes pieces that connect to these themes, touching upon the crises of homelessness, addiction, and affordable housing. These are not just crises of resources; they are often failures of connection. In a world that prizes individual autonomy, we sometimes forget that resilience is rarely a solo endeavor. It is built through community.
“In a world that prizes individual autonomy, we sometimes forget that resilience is rarely a solo endeavor. It is built through community.”
Dean Odette Lienau
Take, for example, the compelling feature story on the scholarship of our own Professor Lisa Alexander, faculty director for housing and property rights programs at the Initiative on Land, Housing & Property Rights. Professor Alexander’s research into tiny home villages explores how these communities can offer a profound sense of stewardship and stability for the unhoused and those recovering from addiction. She argues that the true power of tiny homes lies not in the structures themselves, but in their arrangement as villages. These villages foster communal relationships that are essential for human flourishing. A tiny home village provides the privacy and dignity of one’s own space, anchored within a supportive network of neighbors who share a commitment to collective well-being, which creates a stability that traditional housing vouchers often cannot match.
However, as Professor Alexander points out, zoning laws, building codes, and traditional concepts of property rights are frequently designed for single-family exclusivity. We need legal minds capable of asking where property law could accommodate stewardship rather than just fee-simple ownership, and advocates who can navigate the political and social complexities of land use to carve out spaces for these communities to exist legally and safely. In this way, legal scholarship can underpin tangible solutions for our most vulnerable neighbors, asking how to create spaces where recovery is supported by the built environment itself.
These pages feature additional examples of how legal scholarship focused on shared societal structures can impact communities. Two new books by professors Ray Madoff and Patricia McCoy—The Second Estate and Sharing Risk, respectively—are garnering attention and critical acclaim by asking how the law shapes safety nets and collective resources. Professor Madoff argues for transformative tax reform by refocusing on the trillions owned by the ultra-wealthy, while Professor McCoy tackles how increased financial risk has shifted to individual Americans. All of these efforts are animated by an interest in building legal systems based in fairness, respect, and a commitment to equal dignity—where shared, supportive communities, and a sense of home, might be achieved by all.