October 25, 2014
PC News, Fall 2014
Basketball coach joins immersion trip to Haiti
College Chaplain Rev. James Cuddy, O.P. ’98 and eight students traveled to Haiti in May for a Campus Ministry immersion trip accompanied by Bob Simon, associate head coach of the men’s basketball team.
Simon said Father Cuddy invited him to join the trip. Simon and Mike Jackson, coordinator of basketball operations at PC, have been attending weekly Bible study sessions with Father Cuddy for almost two years.
The PC group worked at the Louverture Cleary School, a Catholic secondary school run by The Haitian Project. Its president is Deacon Patrick J.A. Moynihan ’99G & ’12Hon. THP is a recognized Association of the Lay Faithful within the Diocese of Providence. The school gives 350 academically promising students a free education.
Father Cuddy, Simon, and the PC students attended daily Mass, observed classrooms, sifted and screened compost, painted, and did other chores.
“It was an unbelievable experience, life-changing,” said Simon. “We had an amazing group of Providence students. I was really proud to be with them all.”
College provides neighborly grant
Furthering its outreach to the Smith Hill neighborhood, Providence College has given a three-year grant of $750,000 to the Smith Hill Community Development Corporation (CDC) to support safe and affordable housing for residents.
College President Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P. ’80 announced the grant during the screening party for Restoring Smith Hill, a documentary by PC MBA student John Henry Smith ’13 that was broadcast on public television in Rhode Island in May.
The screening took place outside the Smith Hill CDC complex on Douglas Avenue near campus. The complex is home to PC’s Smith Hill Annex, which the College opened in 2013 as a place for faculty and students to gather with the community, and the Common Grounds Café, a student-run coffee shop that opened in early 2014.
Francis H. Smith, executive director of the Smith Hill CDC, called the College the CDC’s “most vital private partner.”
Common Reading pick: Outliers: The Story of Success
Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell’s 2008 bestseller about the surprising factors that influence successful people, was selected as the Freshman Common Reading Program book for 2014-2015. Incoming freshmen and transfer students read the book during the summer, then discussed it in groups led by faculty and staff during New Student Orientation in late August. The book’s theme also is part of a campus conversation throughout the academic year.
Father Shanley’s term renewed for 5 years
The Providence College Corporation recently offered a new five-year term, through June 30, 2020, to College President Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P. ’80. It’s the third five-year term for Father Shanley, who has been president since July 1, 2005.
The Very Rev. Brian M. Mulcahy, O.P., former prior provincial of the Dominican Friars’ Province of St. Joseph and former chair of the Corporation, said Father Shanley’s leadership has been marked by “stability, prominence, and progress, despite an unsettled and challenging climate for private higher education in America.”
Faculty, alumni boost Dominicana
Dominicana, a journal published twice a year by seminarians at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., has PC connections.
Members of the editorial board include Rev. Nicanor Austriaco, O.P., associate professor of biology; Rev. Nicholas Ingham, O.P., associate professor of philosophy; and Rev. Augustine Reisenauer, O.P., adjunct instructor of theology. Two alumni are contributors — Brother Athanasius Murphy, O.P. ’10, formerly Robert Murphy ’10, and Brother John Sica, O.P. ’10, formerly Robert Sica ’10. Both are studying to become Dominican priests.
The 120-page journal offers articles and commentary on topics from a Dominican, contemplative perspective. It features essays, spiritual reflections, debates, interviews, short fiction, book reviews, and poetry. Each issue contains an original translation from a Dominican priest from the past and an interview with a contemporary figure in the Church.
First published in 1916, Domincana was discontinued in 1968 and revived in 2011. To read articles online and find subscription information: dominicanajournal.com.
Grandin addresses Class of 2014 graduates
Autism awareness advocate and animal scientist Dr. Temple Grandin was the featured speaker at the College’s Ninety-Sixth Commencement Exercises, which saw diplomas awarded to 962 undergraduate and 221 graduate students. The School of Continuing Education awarded 69 associate’s and bachelor’s degrees. In addition to Grandin, honorary degrees were bestowed upon the Hon. Francis J. Darigan ’64, retired Rhode Island Superior Court associate justice; Raymond M. Murphy, an entrepreneur and philanthropist who attended PC; Sister Margaret Ormond, O.P., prioress of the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of Peace; and Carolyn Rafaelian, creator, designer, and interim CEO of Alex and Ani.
