62-year-old Fred Vautour, a janitor at Boston College, has spent his last 15 years working the graveyard shift. In May, his youngest child will graduate from BC with her nursing degree. That graduation will mark an extraordinary milestone for Vautour – putting all of his children – Amy, John, Michael, Thomas and Alicia through the prestigious university.
“It kind of gives you the tingles,” Vautour said.
At $60,000 a year in salary, Vautour noted he could never afford to provide his children with a college education. But as a BC employee, he was able to take $51,000 off the normal $66,000 tuition. Because of scholarships, the amount Vautour ended up paying for each child was about $3,000 per year.
Realizing he was able to provide his children with an amazing gift, Vautour worked tirelessly each and every night until the years stacked up.
“It gave me a reason to be here. I used to joke with the vice president that I’d actually work for nothing because my kids are here because of that perk. I could care less if they even gave me a raise because my kids came here.” Vautour said.
In total, Fred Vautour has spent 22 years at Boston College, originally as a cook and currently as a janitor.
Jack Dunn, a BC spokesman, noted, that while employees’ children receive a discount, admission must be gained based on individual ability.
“The bottom line is that Fred had smart kids,” Dunn said.
The family has a “BC room” in their home and frames each letter of acceptance from the university, right next to their maroon-and-gold clock.
When his eldest, Amy, received her letter, it was an emotional experience.
“I was coaching Little League with my sons, down at the park on South Street, and all of a sudden, my wife and daughter come in with a bunch of BC balloons, and there I am with the other coaches and the kids, and she starts crying, and I start crying,” Vautour said. “Then I’m laughing because everybody’s looking at me.”
Alicia, the last member of the family to get an acceptance letter, was surprised by the entire family in BC garb – including the family dog, a Maltese-Shih Tzu.
“I think with each kid, he just got more and more proud,” Alicia said. “It will be interesting to see on graduation day. I’m sure he’s going to have tears of joy that we’ve all made it through.”
Credit – The Boston Globe ( respect 🫡)
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