May 22, 2023
Providence College 2023 graduate and SCE commencement address: Sheila Harrity ’87
Sheila M. Harrity, Ed.D. ’87
Good evening. Thank you, Father Sicard, for that very kind introduction. It is a great privilege to have been honored with this opportunity to address the 2023 graduates of the School of Continuing Education and graduate programs at Providence College. I am humbled by this honor and actually surprised to have been selected to give this address. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that Providence College, an institution that means so much to me, would honor me in this way.
I am proud of my continued association with the college that started me on the journey to a meaningful and successful career. As graduates of the School of Continuing Education and graduate programs, you’re embarking on your own journeys. And I trust that Providence College will mean as much to each of you as it means to me.
Providence College preaches that Veritas, truth, as both its mission and its motto. A one-word motto may seem simple, but it is anything but. The relentless pursuit of truth at a college that grounds itself in its Catholic faith results in the establishment of a community that celebrates loving relationships, diversity, and open and honest thought. What a wonderful antidote to the current discourse that dominates our social landscape. Currently, it seems that all we hear in the public realm are slogans like “fake news” and “cancel culture” that curtail honest and open discourse and ignore the pursuit of truth. This rhetoric ignores the fact that we are all Americans, and that as such we share a living history, culture, and community. We who have had the opportunity to share in this strong community that is a fact of life at Providence College have been inoculated against the cynicism that marks much of the public life these days.
Forever. Friars. We are Friars forever. For me and for many of my classmates, and I certainly hope for each of you, this bond means a great deal. It means that we share a common set of values that have shaped the stories and journeys that characterize our lives. For me, this journey began in Worcester, Massachusetts, as the baby of seven who wanted to embark on a college path that included an opportunity to pursue independent thinking and spiritual development as well as play basketball.
When I arrived at Providence College, I was greeted by a community of students who had similar values, and by Dominican friars and lay faculty who helped me learn to think independently and develop leadership skills. All the while, we learned about the importance of our school community, and more importantly, the responsibility that we had to the wider community. This education was steeped in Catholicism. Sunday evening Mass was packed as we learned the best lessons of Christian love, compassion, and service from our Dominican friars and from our lived experience in this environment. This is not to say that I had this all the time I was at Providence College. I was totally in balance. There was the occasional evening out at a disco. It was the Eighties, you know, after all. And perhaps a night or two at Bradley Café. Especially after a good win, those cold beers tasted great.
But on the whole, my memories of Providence College during that time are dominated by a sense of wholesomeness, positive development, and achievement. During these years, our men’s basketball team, coached by Rick Pitino and anchored by Billy Donovan, went to the NCAA Final Four. Our women’s team featured Doris Burke and Mary Burke. We won the BIG EAST Conference title and were ranked in the top 20 in the nation. While never reaching the skill level of these two stalwarts, I was honored to serve with them as a tri-captain during our senior year. The relationships that were developed during those years of Providence have transcended time and distance.
Forever. Friars. We quickly pick up where we left off, each and every time we meet, just as my personal relationships that began at Providence College have continued up to this point. The experience that I had at PC and the lessons that I learned there profoundly shaped the path that my professional life took after Providence. I learned valuable lessons about leadership and the importance of service that served me well as a school leader.
Throughout my decades of work as a public educator, from my initial work as a teacher in a dropout prevention program in my hometown of Worcester, to the school leadership roles that marked the end of my professional career, the influence of the Dominican values of service and community were close to my heart. The influence of Providence also showed up in my career in somewhat humorous ways as well.
On one occasion, Arne Duncan, who was the United States Secretary of Education at the time, was a guest speaker at the National Principals Banquet in Washington, D.C. I was brought backstage to meet Secretary Duncan and really was quite overwhelmed and intimidated with meeting him. And right when I shook his hand, I said only the thing that came to mind: “Sheila Harrity, Providence College Lady Friar, Class of ’87.” We immediately talked because I had known he was a ballplayer at Harvard, and it was wonderful. Fifteen minutes passed and we were still talking about PC and the different people that he knew that had walked our campus and were legends here.
Several months after his visit, while I was in a receiving line to meet President Obama at the White House, I was informed by the secretary of the Secret Service that guests should only briefly meet the president and then move on. The president apparently did not get that memo and informed me that Arne Duncan told him that I had played basketball at Providence College and he stopped the entire long line to chat about basketball for a bit.
I could go on and on and tell more stories about my association with Providence College, as this place has been and will continue to be near and dear to me. But we are not here today to hear my reminisces. We are here to hear your stories and to celebrate the accomplishments of the Class of 2023. While I am not certain of the path that you have taken on your way to PC, I suspect there are a number of interesting stories among our graduates. Some of you continued your studies directly after receiving your undergraduate degree with ambitions to advance your career, while others juggled careers and family responsibilities to pursue an advanced degree.
I suspect all of you had to navigate the new normal of a global pandemic as you managed your your pursuit of the degree being awarded. This evening, all of you should be commended on your accomplishments, and each of your stories is special in its own right. But as we celebrate the accomplishments of the Class of 2023, I want to take a moment to share the stories of a few of your classmates that typify some of the challenges that you have faced as you’ve earned your degrees and the values of leadership and service that was emblematic of the pursuit of truth that is at the heart of Providence College.
First, I want to recognize Nyasha Bvunzawabaya, who received her master’s in business analytics from the Providence College School of Business. After working in forensic accounting for five years, she returned to college to pursue her master’s degree and plans to use her training to help clients detect fraud and to prevent and mitigate losses related to financial crimes. Demonstrating that life goes on as our graduates pursue their studies, she welcomed a baby boy to her home just a month ago. Congratulations to you and your family.
Near and dear to my heart as an urban educator is the story of Leon Bayles, who is receiving a master’s degree in urban teaching. He is an English Language Arts teacher in Central Falls and plans to pursue an English as a Second Language Certification this summer in order to better serve the Spanish speaking members of his community. We’ll never outgrow our need for committed urban educators, and I want to commend Leon for his commitment and service to our neediest communities.
Last but not least is Justine Currie. Justin took a rather long and indirect path to her degree, and while seemingly unique, her story may resonate with similarities to the paths of some of our graduates. After leaving a career in banking to pursue a marriage and raise a son, Justin faced a crossroad when she went through a divorce, desiring to set a positive example for her son and to find a new direction for her life. Justine immersed herself in work that served others. She created an organization called Our Greatest Resources Equal Children. With the help of her son, she enlisted the help of other children to raise funding and increase awareness for children who have experienced trauma in their homes. After initial funding supporting New Hope, a domestic violence shelter in Attleboro, Massachusetts, her organization evolved to become converted to Kids of New England, a leadership development and service organization that teaches leadership skills to young people who are their pursuit of service initiatives. The organization has raised significant funds for various nonprofits and was recognized for their outstanding work with a gubernatorial citation by then Governor Gina Raimondo in 2020.
As she graduates, Justine hopes to expand the work of Confetti Kids of New England. And I want to wish her well as she pursues this work. Justin’s own words in an article about her path that was posted by the School of Continuing Education captures very well my own feelings about Providence College and feelings that I hope will resonate with each of our graduates this evening. She is quoted as follows: “My experience at PCC has been nothing short of magical, as well as a place of faith that have always call home. By making the decision to attend the Providence College School of Continuing Education, my life has changed, giving me clear purpose and direction. But what is even better is I now have an extended family at Providence College.”
Congratulations to Nyasha, Leon, and Justine, and to all the graduates of the Class of 2023. I hope that each of you have pursued and found your personal and professional truth during your time here at Providence College. Please accept my best wishes and hope for continued success. Remember, we are always Friars and Friars forever. Go, Friars. Congratulations.
