Andrew Davidson began his tenure as senior vice president for University advancement in March 2023, bringing with him more than two decades of experience in fundraising at Harvard and Dartmouth.

A Massachusetts native, Davidson remembers “jumping around” in his living room following the Flutie-to-Phelan Hail Mary. He is a Rutgers University alum and has multiple extended family members who have graduated from BC, including an uncle, nieces and nephews, and his late father-in-law, Hon. Francis P. O’Connor, JD’53, who served as a justice on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

Why were you interested in this role and Boston College in particular?

AD: It’s three reasons: timing, opportunity, and mission. Dartmouth is winding down its campaign and so it was a natural time to start to think about what to do next. It’s a great place and I had great colleagues, but this opportunity came along and I started to talk to some people about it—trustees, senior administrators—and it became abundantly clear that it’s an exciting time to be at Boston College, that it is a school on the move. The alumni are excited, the faculty are excited, everyone’s ready to just keep that trajectory going. So you want to go into a place that is firing on all cylinders, and that’s where BC is right now. It also has a unique and compelling mission, one that I personally believe in. I have been pinching myself because sometimes you get the timing, sometimes you get the opportunity. But it really helps if you also believe in the mission.

You say BC is unique in its mission. What sets it apart?

AD: There are great schools out there that are teaching some really talented, fabulous kids. Anything that has to do with faith or living your life that way is a third rail, they won’t touch it. And here not only is it touched, it’s embraced. All that students do here is inculcated in the Jesuit mission and the belief that you’re going to go out in the world and use your talents, your gifts, and your education to help serve others.

What sorts of commonalities exist among the BC alumni in your network?

AD: I’ve yet to meet a BC alum that’s not passionate about this place. They can be passionately happy, they can be passionately upset—but at least they’re passionate. And that’s key. It’s hard to work with a group that’s apathetic. 

So, how do we foster that passion?

AD: They’re starting families, or they’re working, or they’re contributing to their community in some way. Understandably, we recess into the background of their lives. And so we have to figure out how to intersect with their lives where they are, provide some meaningful context, and keep those embers burning so that when they do have time to reengage with us at the level that they can, we’re there to meet them where they are.

What impact do you want to have in this role?

AD: I’m joining a high-performing organization, so my first goal is to do no harm. But I imagine spending some time listening, learning, hearing how things are done and then trying to figure out where I can have an impact. I want our advancement office to be a magnet for talent. If you want to grow in your career, and you want to learn, and you want to do it in a great place with great people, you come to BC.