A renewed Plunge into Boston

Mendoza students encounter homelessness in a specially designed course

April 15, 2026

Outside the doorways of Boston’s office towers, where rough sleepers seek refuge from the winter gale, the Institute for Social Concerns brought ten Mendoza College of Business students to confront a cold reality.

They were moving with the street teams of the Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program, guided by Dr. Jim O’Connell ’70, to provide medical attention, food, and basic supplies. O’Connell modeled for the students how he seeks out individuals in his nightly rounds, knowing where they will be and what they will need, and providing the warmth of relationship in addition to medical care. There Sydney O’Malley ’26 mirrored this approach as she described meeting Anisha, who was seven months pregnant.

“We didn’t speak about her pregnancy or her homelessness,” Sydney said. “We just had a conversation about life. It made me realize how we are failing people like her every day.” It was a brief but indelible encounter: one of many such interactions over the three-day immersive experience of the McNeill Winter Plunge, a program of the Institute for Social Concerns curated specifically for students in the Mendoza College of Business.

A targeted approach

Named for the late Rev. Don McNeill, C.S.C.—the founding director of the Institute for Social Concerns—the program is designed as an interruption to a student’s undergraduate trajectory, making them briefly but acutely aware of the challenges faced by unhoused people. The one-credit course and its fully funded immersive experience held January 5–8 brought selected students together with nonprofit leaders, service providers, corporate executives, community partners, and individuals experiencing homelessness.

The Plunge continues the institute’s decades-long legacy of winter break immersive programming, now with a reimagined focus to achieve specialized goals. For business students, these few days before the spring semester fit in an often-packed educational journey of expected internships and networking. The program is designed to provide a lasting foundation for students’ future vocations, fostering a personal awareness of homelessness, exploring the structural forces driving poverty, and applying Catholic social teaching to leadership strategy. 

“An authentic encounter with poverty and homelessness can profoundly shape a person and become a formative moment,” said Suzanne Shanahan, the Leo and Arlene Hawk Executive Director of the Institute for Social Concerns. “This course is designed to instill memories that will endure and become fertile foundations for developing character and for creating solutions to challenges in our communities.”

Encountering the individual

Through the expertise of leaders and alumni, students gained insight into a range of approaches to confronting injustice, from solutions for young adult homelessness to the impact of grant funding on social issues. They also visited the Pine Street Inn, the largest homeless services provider in New England. For the first time in the shelter’s 60-year history, the visitors did not stand behind the serving line but, instead, ate and shared stories with the residents. This simple act brought the lived realities of unhoused people into proximity and provided a particular view of the structural challenges that affected each of them.

After sorting food bank donations at Catholic Charities Boston, students learned from CEO Kelley Tuthill ’92 about the incredible ecosystem of support in Boston. “It is inspiring to see Notre Dame students move beyond theory and engage directly with the needs of our community,” said Tuthill. “Their time here in Boston shows a genuine commitment to understanding the whole human person and the systemic issues that lead to homelessness. These are the future leaders who will integrate compassion into their professional lives.”

“It’s easy to look at a system and see a series of numbers, but when you sit across from someone and hear their story, those numbers turn into faces,” said Heiabeal Ainom ’29 as she reflected on the experience. “We need systems that respect that humanity, ensuring that a person’s path to a better life isn’t blocked by the very bureaucracy meant to help them.”

Notably, instead of returning to a hotel at the end of each day, the students gathered in the basement of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross to sleep on the floor. The students arose after the first night to share breakfast with Most Rev. Richard Henning, archbishop of Boston, who discussed discernment as well as running the business of the Archdiocese. He was grateful for the opportunity to visit with the students and learn about their experiences around Boston. “First-person encounters such as these are vital in forming students into morally responsible individuals, ready to see the face of Christ in the poor and respond with authentic love,” Henning said.

From basement to boardroom

On the morning of the last day in Boston, students had a few hours to clean up in donated suites in the Fairmont Hotel and put on professional attire. By mid-morning, they were sitting in the glass-walled boardrooms of the Prudential Tower. 

The contrast created a deliberate whiplash. Looking out over the Boston skyline, they saw the streets where they had just walked, now with a new perspective. At the offices of Bain Capital and Ropes & Gray, the students gleaned additional insights from executives in a panel discussion that wrestled with the question of how a successful career serves the common good. 

Their experience culminated with an opportunity to hear from Jack Brennan, who served as chairman of the Notre Dame Board of Trustees from 2016 to 2021 and is chairman emeritus and former CEO of the Vanguard Group. Brennan showed keen interest in the students and what they were learning, modeling the intellectual humility and curiosity that makes for successful leadership. 

“The experience these students are having—moving from the street teams to the boardroom—is invaluable,” Brennan said. “True leadership is about learning from every corner of society and then using your platform to drive the common good.”

Learning to shape a lifetime

The students returned to Notre Dame with a new sense of purpose, challenged by their interactions. In their final presentations, they reflected on the problems they witnessed, proposed business solutions, and shared key takeaways from their experience.

Charlie Chevalier ’27 proposed an affordable housing impact fund and articulated that “homelessness is not an individual failure; it’s a structural one. It is a problem that cannot be solved by charity alone but demands structural change and sustained human accompaniment.”

Ashley Ramirez-Casanova ’28 imagined a public-private partnership to develop housing. “We have an obligation to provide the conditions that allow the most vulnerable to reach their potential,” Ramirez-Casanova said. “This experience motivates me to pursue a path where I can translate my business knowledge into actionable support for human dignity.”

The Institute for Social Concerns hopes to return to Boston next year and potentially expand to New York City. While the full fruits of the experience are yet to come, the nights of uncomfortable sleep and poignant conversations have motivated these students to lead with purpose across industries and communities. The Plunge provided students with an experience that will continue to resonate.

Boston photos by University photographer Matt Cashore. See more photos and student quotes.

Related Stories

---