May 08, 2025
Business economics major Billy Adams ’25 models ethics, servant-leadership
By Michael Hagan ’15, ’19G
“What will you seek?” This is a question asked of students when they pursue liberal arts education in the Catholic and Dominican tradition at Providence College. For Billy Adams ’25, who is graduating magna cum laude with a degree in business economics, the question is inseparable from a question of ethical purpose, “Whom will you serve?”
In three years at Providence College, which he entered as a sophomore transfer student, Adams has committed himself to service of God and neighbor through studies, professional experiences, community engagement, personal development, and campus social activities. And while he sought service opportunities throughout, his most meaningful commitments frequently arose when he least expected them.
“I am blessed to serve in the roles that I do,” Adams said. “They are roles that often found me rather than the other way around. Providence College lives up to its name. God has provided me so much here.”
As Adams was leaving Mass in St. Dominic Chapel his sophomore year, the chaplain, Rev. Justin Bolger, O.P., mentioned that Campus Ministry’s Hunger and Poverty Outreach was looking for volunteer leaders.
Always willing to help, Adams was soon coordinating food collection, delivery, and service for Mary House in the Smith Hill neighborhood and for St. Edward Food and Wellness Center, also near campus. Athletic and more than six feet tall, Adams was well-suited for the work of loading and unloading vans of food and supplies. Human encounter kept him coming back.
“At Mary House, I met a mother and father worried about providing for their young daughter. I could see the weight of poverty on them. I’ve never experienced that kind of need,” Adams said. “Serving neighbors like them is a duty and a gift, and it’s become an experience central to my education and my faith.”
Adams is community engagement co-chair for Friars Club, where he connects peers to service opportunities within and beyond the college community. This helps members meet the club’s community service requirement, but for Adams, the greater goal is to connect his peers’ gifts with community needs in ways that are fruitful and fulfilling.
This year, Adams was president of the Business Ethics Club he helped to establish. First as vice president and then as president, he organized campus events, including an expert panel on problem gambling. He was deeply moved when Justin Caouette, Ph.D., visiting professor of philosophy, spoke at a club meeting about his previous career in sales and the ethical frustrations in the industry that drove him to graduate studies in philosophy. This and other conversations with faculty and peers helped Adams define his own principles and goals.
To Adams, questions of role, status, and compensation in a career are secondary to a greater question — “To what end?” Whether researching labor economics, interning at the Office of the Rhode Island Auditor General, or discerning interest in the legal profession, his academic and career aspirations are oriented to justice and mercy — virtues he discusses in the Business Ethics Club, practices through Hunger and Poverty Outreach, and prays for daily.
“Billy is a thoughtful, caring individual who is committed to making the world a better place. Many students have been exposed to valuable ethics lessons due to his efforts,” said Patrick Kelly, Ph.D., professor of accountancy, who advises the Business Ethics Club with Steve Dannemiller, Ph.D., assistant professor of accountancy. “I expect great things from Billy. His intelligence, initiative, and interpersonal skills will contribute to his success wherever he goes.”
Adams, who is from Beverly, Massachusetts, transferred to Providence College seeking greater opportunities for campus leadership and service, along with deeper integration of faith and reason. Naturally prone to questioning, he looked forward to courses in the Development of Western Civilization and other core subjects where he would be encouraged to think critically, creatively, and originally.
He chose the business economics major because he was fascinated by relationships between market conditions and human behavior. He appreciates how the discipline emphasizes quantitative analysis but also “steps outside of the mechanics.” To Adams, human beings are never mere data points. Economic choices and behaviors reflect beliefs, values, fears, aspirations, and sense of relationship within communities small and vast. Through his studies as a philosophy minor, Adams sought to better understand these and other human phenomena that defy quantification.
“With each course I took and discussion I had, I realized more and more how deeply you can dive into ideas and how much the seemingly different topics I was studying connect. There is so much more to examine that we even realize,” Adams said.
As he eagerly examined the topics before him in the classroom, Adams continued the self-examination that led him to transfer. He paused to reflect on his first months on campus, in November 2022, when he attended the sophomore Lighthouse Retreat through Campus Ministry.
“I’m so glad that I did. I met people on that retreat who have been a big part of my life ever since,” Adams said.
He competes on the college’s men’s rugby club team and exercises at the Concannon Fitness Center most days of the week. He recently acquired a guitar that he has been learning to play — “an alternative to the social media doomscroll.” And he can often be found at Masses, devotions, and in private prayer at St. Dominic Chapel.
In the fall, Adams took the popular 1.5-credit humanities elective, Beer, with Jay Pike, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemistry, and Rev. Jordan Zajac, O.P. ’04, assistant professor of English. The course, which involves tasting and scoring several variations of a style of beer each week, emphasizes the importance of cherishing and not abusing what is loved — be that a good beer or a good friend. As he prepares to graduate, Adams has tried to cherish the many good things about undergraduate life as a Friar.
“I know that I am here at PC for a reason. And I trust that God leads us from PC with purpose, too,” he said.
