October 03, 2015
Reunion Weekend 2015: celebrating champions
The National Alumni Association honored eight alumni for their volunteer commitment, personal achievements, and community contributions during Reunion Weekend 2015, May 30-June 1. The more than 1,200 alumni, family, and friends in attendance celebrated not only accomplishments and Friar bonds, but enjoyed having their photo taken with men’s hockey Head Coach Nate Leaman and the NCAA Championship trophy.
The alumni who were honored included two members of the first four-year class of women: Barbara Quinn Witbeck ’75, who received the Faithful Friar Award, and Meg McCarthy ’75, who received the Personal Achievement Award.
Also honored were J. Peter Benzie ’70, Personal Achievement Award; Karen Monti Flynn ’80, Service to the Alumni Association Award; Paul C. Sweeney ’85, Exemplary Citizenship Award; and Daniel P. Gleason ’05, Rev. Philip A. Smith, O.P. Award.
At the Golden Friar Dinner, Faithful Friar Awards were presented to Peter R. Bortolan ’60, a co-founder of the Hartford, Conn., area alumni club and a long-time volunteer, and Joseph M. Calabria, Jr. ’65, a supporter of Friar athletics and a former co-chair for fundraising in Colorado.
Mike Leonard ’70 & ’00Hon., retired correspondent for NBC’s Today show, hosted a discussion with Leaman and College President Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P. ’80 based on the episode of his television series, inCommon with Mike Leonard, that featured people he met as a student in Providence.
Most Rev. Christopher M. Cardone, O.P. ’80 & ’01Hon., bishop of Auki, Malaita Island, Solomon Islands, who was attending his first PC reunion, offered classmates a look at life in his diocese. He was accompanied by Alexandra Rawson ’15, who spent a month serving with him through the Rev. Philip A. Smith, O.P. Fellowship for Study and Service Abroad program. Rawson’s mother, Cindy Boroweic Rawson ’80, is a classmate of Bishop Cardone.
