BC Megadonor Excited For Rec Center To Be Called “New Plex”
Campus CultureSports February 6, 2019 The New England Classic
MARGOT CONNELL RECREATION CENTER™ — Boston College trustee associate Margot C. Connell (Hon. ’09) announced on Wednesday that she is looking forward to students using and enjoying the “New Plex” when it opens later this year. This nickname, already growing in popularity among the student body, is believed to be a subtle reference to the soon-to-be demolished William J. Flynn Recreation Complex on Lower Campus.
“I may have recently donated $50 million to the University as the latest act in my family’s long-standing history of philanthropy in and around Boston, but you just can’t mess with BC tradition,” said Connell, a longtime benefactor and mother of six Boston College graduates. “The student body is clearly quite fond of their current ‘Plex,’ and I think the nickname is indicative of the enthusiasm they must all still share for the building, even in its final months.”
This high-level embrace of campus lingo came as a surprise to many Campus Recreation staff members, as they had previously been instructed to develop a six-month-long public relations campaign centered around the launch of the new recreation center. Such a campaign would have focused on the rollout of key phrases to the student body, such as “I can’t hang out later because I’m lifting at the Margot Connell Recreation Center,” and “I wonder who’s going to headline next year’s Margot Connell Recreation Center-palooza.”
“I’m glad that ol’ Marge is taking this whole ‘New Plex’ situation in such stride,” said Campus Recreation director Caitríona Taylor (CGSOM ’08, MGCAS ’18). “We thought that naming this baby a Center instead of a Complex from the start would have done the trick, but I guess the BC community’s overwhelming preference for recreation complexes just couldn’t be extinguished.”
At press time, head football coach Steve Addazio was seen filling out the paperwork to legally change his last name to “Alumni.”
