June 30, 2020
A farewell message from Father Shanley
Dear Members of the Providence College Community:
Last Wednesday morning as I walked over to participate in the reconsecration of the Dominican Cemetery, I reflected upon how many sacred spaces we have on our campus. Right out the door I saw St. Dominic Chapel. Across from it is the World War II memorial grotto. Behind that is the stone remembering the women who died in the Aquinas Hall fire in 1977. There are two Vietnam War memorials, for those who died and those who served, in the yard next to Dominic House. Next to Feinstein there is a memorial to the much loved Professor Rodney Delasanta. Then there is the cemetery with the memorial to Fr. Walter Heath beside it. These sacred spaces remind us that Providence College has endured and prospered through difficult periods because of the people, Dominican and lay, whose devotion to the mission of the College has brought us to our present position of strength even in the face of another period of unprecedented challenges. And over all this human history, there has been divine providence.
I am confident that Providence College will rise to the present challenges under the talented leadership of Father Sicard and his new administration. I have seen so much human goodness here in my time as President, and I continue to see it now in all those who are working hard to plan on how we can safely reconstitute our beloved community. I am grateful to you for all your efforts. As I end my time as President today, what I feel most is a profound sense of gratitude to God for the goodness that I have seen in the people that I have met in my fifteen years of service. In difficult times like this, we need to find things to be grateful for because then we know where God is active in our lives. I have seen God’s providence in the people that I have met.
I preached a campus homily this semester where I referenced a book on prayer by Anne Lamott: Help, Thanks, Wow. These words represent the three fundamental motivations to pray. We have all been asking for God’s help. I hope we can all find things to be grateful for. And I can say that in my time as President, I have had some experiences that made me say, “Wow.”
May God continue to bless Providence College.
Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P. ’80
Twelfth President of Providence College
