September 19, 2025
Great strides
Generosity of Ron Stride ’62, ’25Hon. and his wife fund full scholarships for students
By Michael Hagan ’15, ’19G
Kelsey Ruiz ’18 left her apartment in Brooklyn, New York, at 5 a.m. on Sunday, May 18, 2025, to board an Amtrak train to Providence. She walked from the Providence train station to Amica Mutual Pavilion in time to see Ronald Stride ’62 receive an honorary doctor of business administration degree at the Providence College commencement ceremony.
“Ron and his wife provided me with a scholarship that covered an entire semester of tuition just two weeks before I graduated from PC,” said Ruiz. “I was incredibly lucky. I knew I wanted to be there for his special day.”
Stride and his wife, Janet, are among the college’s most generous benefactors. They are members of the Harkins Society, having included the college in their estate plans. Their planned gift of $10 million helped launch Beyond Limits, the college’s $300 million fundraising campaign. In addition, an incoming student is selected to receive the Ronald and Janet Stride Family Scholarship, which covers the full cost of tuition, room, board, and fees at PC for four years. Preference is given to graduates of Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Brooklyn, New York, Ron Stride’s alma mater.
Ruiz was awarded the first Stride scholarship as she completed her senior year. Since then, there have been five additional recipients — Linda Ineus ’22, Anastasia Hussett ’24, Ronan McGouran ’25, Jelissa Jonas ’27, and Kareem Bain ’28. They attended commencement and joined Ron Stride for lunch in the Ruane Center for the Humanities the day before.
Stride retired as senior vice president and managing partner-Asia for Booz Allen & Hamilton, a management consulting firm specializing in financial services. During most of his career, he and Janet lived in Singapore, where they continue to maintain a home.
Steve Duryea ’82, senior philanthropic officer in the Office of Institutional Advancement, explained during the lunch that the Strides established the scholarship fund “to give students a pathway and a home like Ron found here at PC.”
“No one in my family had ever gone to college,” Stride told the scholars. “My father was an engineer on a train. I wanted to experience the world beyond Brooklyn.”
That aspiration, which eventually led him to Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Singapore, brought him first to PC. He lived in St. Joseph Hall at a time when the college’s strict rules about conduct and dress “made us all the more mischievous.” He made lifelong friends, three of whom joined him at the lunch — “fellow inmates, chosen brothers” Peter Paffrath ’62 of San Mateo, California; Leo “Jimmy” Roy ’62 of Frenchville, Maine; and Joe Zielinski ’62 of Stratham, New Hampshire.
The men were eager to learn what traditions persisted from their undergraduate years. And they were pleased to hear that seniors and alumni still frequent the Bradley Cafe on Admiral Street.
“When we were students, Providence College was all men — really all boys,” Paffrath said.
All the Stride scholars except Ruiz, who went to Dominican Academy, are graduates of Bishop Loughlin, which was founded in 1851 as the first Catholic high school in Brooklyn. It continues to serve the immigrant and working class communities of the eastern boroughs of New York City. Administered by the De La Salle Christian Brothers, it boasts a 99% graduation rate and a 97% college matriculation rate.
“The students who attend Loughlin today are not the Irish, Italian, German, and Polish immigrants of yesteryear, but the immigrants of Brooklyn and Queens today,” according to the school’s website. They also represent religions other than Catholicism.
“I am so proud of you all,” Stride told the scholarship recipients. “There is a self-selecting aspect to this — you each had the courage and sense of adventure to leave home and to come here.”
The scholars are accomplished. McGouran, who graduated the day after the lunch with degrees in art history and economics, also received an award for excellence in art history. Jonas, a finance major, interned at a Boston investment firm and is on the board of the PC chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants. Bain, a student in the pre-engineering program, was a research intern at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University and is assistant media coordinator for men’s basketball.
Ineus, who was president of Campus Ministry at PC, is a research project manager at Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence, where her team published a study on the anti-inflammatory drug Rinvoq. As she considers a future in medicine, she shadows doctors on patient visits.
Hussett, who studied political science, now works as an elementary school teacher in Brooklyn and hopes to attend law school. She had previously met Stride over video calls.
“Even through the screen, his kindness and sincerity came through,” Hussett said. “He took the time to really see us, listen, and tell us how proud he was. That meant a lot to me as a student trying to navigate college and make my family proud. Those conversations stuck with me and reminded me that I wasn’t doing this alone. Someone was rooting for me every step of the way.”
Ruiz, a clinical mental health counselor in Brooklyn, could not attend the lunch but was happy to travel from New York the morning of commencement. Last Christmas, she had reached out to PC’s financial aid office to learn more about the family that provided the surprise scholarship that covered the cost of her final semester.
“I was feeling the holiday spirit, reflecting on the ways the gift had allowed me to live more freely and explore my career, and wanting to express my gratitude,” Ruiz said. “I learned that Ron was being honored by PC in the spring, and I knew, if PC could help me attend, I wanted to be there with the other incredible Stride scholars.”
Stride is “a genuinely considerate person who has dedicated his life to lifting up others,” Ruiz said. “He is down to earth, easy to talk to, and shows interest in what you have to say. He clearly sees the value in students he has supported and I have immense gratitude for his generosity.”
The scholarship recipients impressed Stride as well.
“The return on investment for this scholarship is measured in your achievements,” Stride told them. “Seeing and learning about what each of you has done is a great gift.”
Beyond Limits: The Campaign for Providence College represents a transformative investment in academics, access, and the student experience at PC. Your support through the Fund for Providence College is the most direct way to have an immediate impact in enhancing these areas.
