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The Costas' commitment -- nearly a century of service to Boston University

By Hope Green

Luiz Costa's earliest memories of Boston University take him back to age four, when riding the escalators up and down Warren Towers could make his day.

The first time he saw the Charles River, he mistook it for the ocean. Back then, Costa perceived the campus as a cross between Walt Disney World and a small town. But it was also a beacon for his family. The University is where his immigrant Portuguese father and paternal grandparents found a livelihood when they came to America from Graciosa, a tiny subtropical island in the Azores.

Later BU was the place where Costa (MET'86,'90) would make family history by earning a college degree. Today he is in charge of security for the Mugar Memorial Library system.

In this 1993 family photograph, Luiz Santos Costa (MET'86,'90) (second from right) stands with his parents, Maria José and Luiz Da Silva Costa. Seated are his paternal grandparents, Maria Celeste and Manuel Vieira Da Costa.

And now there's a new milestone: in the aggregate, three generations of the family -- including Costa's wife, Janelle, whom he married at Marsh Chapel two years ago -- have worked at the University for 90 years. Costa would be glad to make that 100.

"I'm at home here," he says. "BU has been part of the Costa family all my life."

Costa's parents left Graciosa for America in 1957 when harsh economic times prompted an exodus of Azoreans to the United States. They settled in Inman Square, Cambridge, and were later joined by Costa's grandparents, Manuel and Maria.

His father, who is also named Luiz (pronounced Louis), started at BU as a custodian, while Manuel and Maria worked at Dining Services.

"My grandfather picked up some good cooking skills, and he absolutely made the best hamburgers and fries around," Costa says. "Friends in my neighborhood were always asking me if we could go to my gramps' house for a burger.

"He was extremely humble, but very proud that he worked at BU."
Costa's father was promoted to assistant director of custodial services, retiring for health reasons in 1997. His grandmother is almost 93 and lives across the street from Luiz and Janelle in Inman Square.

Janelle is a senior program coordinator at the School of Management's Feld Career Center. Meanwhile, Costa keeps a watchful eye on Mugar and other branches of the University library system. He first joined the security staff as a student employee in 1981 and was hired full-time after he received his bachelor's degree in business administration from Metropolitan College. Later he earned a master's in urban affairs.

Don't be fooled by the hush at Mugar: a lot happens behind the scenes to keep people, their belongings, and library holdings safe. "My job is 24/7," Costa says. "I get calls at home."

Photographs of wanted criminals fill a bulletin board in his office, and while he cannot elaborate, Costa says he "has broken a lot of cases." Another wall sports a collection of police patches, tokens of gratitude from detectives around the Commonwealth.

But his ancestral homeland is never far from his heart. Near Costa's desk is a souvenir plate from the Azores depicting a volcanic lake.

Last summer he visited Graciosa and was greeted warmly by dozens of cousins.

"I explained that the student population alone at BU is almost six times the size of the resident population of the island," he says. "They had a hard time comprehending how incredibly large and diverse the University is."

Costa knows that his opportunities would have been limited if his parents had stayed on Graciosa. Even so, he feels a pang when he thinks of his relatives growing fruit and making their own wine. Economic times are better now, and to outsiders, island life seems idyllic.

"The pace is slower than slow -- I don't think there's a word for it. People are really happy. It's a different happiness than you find here; it's a contentment with living life the way it should be. That's the part I don't want to miss out on, living here in the United States."

Despite its urban clatter and rumble, Costa says, BU does have one thing in common with Graciosa: a sense of community. "Hardly a day goes by on this campus when someone doesn't ask how my father is doing," he says. "It makes me feel proud that so many people care. It also reminds me how tied in the Costa family is with the University."

19 January 2001
Boston University
Office of University Relations