May 20, 2015
PC News, Spring 2015
Darlene Love, four others chosen for honorary degrees
Darlene Love, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member who began her career as a backup singer in the 1960s and found rebirth as a star in her own right decades later, was scheduled to present the Commencement Address at the Ninety-Seventh Commencement Exercises on May 17 at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence.
Also chosen to receive honorary degrees were Dr. Henry C. Foley ’77, executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of Missouri System; Kevin C. Phelan ’66, the PC fundraising campaign co-chair and former trustee who is a Boston real estate executive and community leader; and Jane Lunin Perel, a poet, PC professor emerita of English and of women’s studies, and co-founder of the College’s Women’s Studies Program.
Rev. Gustavo Gutiérrez, O.P., a Dominican priest credited with coining the term “liberation theology” to describe how Christians should respond to governments and social systems that oppress the poor, also was chosen to receive an honorary degree. It was presented to Father Gutiérrez on April 27 when he gave the Rev. Edward Cleary, O.P. Memorial Lecture at the College.
Two language students receive Fulbright awards
Emily M. Kennedy ’15 (Tallahassee, Fla.) and Vincent A. Whalen ’15 (Eatontown, N.J.) were awarded Fulbright honors this spring.
Kennedy, a global studies major who has minors in Spanish, political science, and Latin American studies, received a Fulbright Research Grant to study a social movement to improve water access in a rural community in Argentina. She leaves in March 2016.
Whalen, who is majoring in Spanish and economics, was awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Scholarship to IE University in Madrid, Spain, starting in September 2015. He will work with faculty and business students at IE, where courses are taught in Spanish and English.
Strategic Plan updated through centennial
he Board of Trustees approved an update to the College’s Strategic Plan in February. Our Moment: The Providence College Centennial Strategic Plan Update for 2015-2017 builds on the successes of the Strategic Plan for 2011-2015: Achieving Excellence. Pursuing Truth. Transforming Lives.
The updated plan, coordinated under the direction of a 25-member committee led by Rev. Kenneth R. Sicard, O.P. ’78 & ’82G, executive vice president and treasurer, and Dr. Brian J. Bartolini, associate vice president for academic affairs/chief institutional effectiveness officer, retains the vision and five core values of the original plan. The update develops new and exciting strategies within those core values as the College prepares to celebrate the 100th anniversary of its founding in 2017.
Feinstein Institute, left, greets Dr. Michael Thio,
president general of the Confederation of the
Society of St. Vincent de Paul, at the institute’s
Hall of Heroes induction. Thio accepted the
posthumous honor on behalf of inductee Blessed
Frederic Ozanam, the founder of the society.
Feinstein Institute inducts three during anniversary program
Faculty, staff, and alumni joined community partners of the Feinstein Institute for Public Service to celebrate two decades of integrating community service with academic study to strengthen local communities. The institute was founded in 1994 through a grant from Rhode Island philanthropist Alan Shawn Feinstein’s Feinstein Foundation.
At a celebratory gala, the institute inducted three new members into its Hall of Heroes: U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia; the late Blessed Frederic Ozanam, founder of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul; and the late Francis H. Smith ’07P, ’13P, and ’16P, executive director of the Smith Hill Community Development Corporation.
the combined choir on its
performance tour to two
countries.
Music students to perform in European countries
Members of two choral groups at the College will embark on a Department of Music performance tour to Vienna, Salzburg, and Prague in May. Nearly 50 students, faculty, alumni, and family members are expected to make the trip.
The combined choir, comprising members of the Concert Chorale and I Cantori, the College’s premier choral ensemble, will be led by Dr. T.J. Harper, associate professor of music and director of choral activities and music education. The high point of the tour will occur when the choir rehearses with and performs at a high Mass with the Salzburg Cathedral Choir and Orchestra.
Women’s Studies Program marks 20th anniversary
Current and past faculty, students, alumnae, and friends of the Women’s Studies Program gathered on campus last fall to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the program. Highlights were a panel presentation by eight alumnae; a keynote address by one of the co-founders of the program, Jane Lunin Perel, professor emerita of English and of women’s studies; and remarks by the program’s current director, Dr. Abigail T. Brooks, assistant professor of sociology and of women’s studies.
