‘Everyone is welcome back,’ says alumni president Kathleen McGinley ’82
By Vicki-Ann Downing ’21G
Before Kathleen McGinley ’82 became president of the National Alumni Council, her friend Bob Ferreira ’83 gave her a black and white photograph from the 1980s. In the picture, McGinley is on the telephone, calling alumni to ask for donations to the college.
Volunteering has always been important to McGinley, and Providence College has always been close to her heart.
“I love this place,” McGinley said. “I think volunteering connects you to your community and helps make a difference.”
McGinley grew up in West Warwick, Rhode Island, the daughter of a Friar, Charles F. McGinley ’50. Her family cheered Ernie DiGregorio ’73 en route to the NCAA Final Four. At PC, she was accepted to join Friars Club her first year. She studied marketing and served on the Board of Governors social committee, the pastoral council, and the residence hall council, and was in the marketing club. She was an orientation counselor and during her junior and senior years, worked as an aide at the Rhode Island State House.
“My favorite activity was giving tours for Friars Club,” McGinley said. “I loved it when I met a student who said, ‘You influenced me on your tour, and thank you, I’m so happy I came to Providence College.’”
As graduation drew near, McGinley went to Phillips Memorial Library to look up a list of the 100 best employers in the country. She was drawn to Hallmark, a family-owned, privately held company based in Kansas City, Missouri, in the “social expression” business.
“It was very creative, a feel-good business, all about people, moments and memories,” McGinley said. “I had to hustle. I had a friend with a connection. When I met with him, he told me, ‘If you approach sales this way, you’re going to be very successful.’ I got the job as a field representative, one of the few women hired. PC prepared me big time.”
After 12 years with Hallmark, McGinley went into business for herself in 1994 with a startup, Kate’s Hallmark, a 4,500-square-foot retail store in Lunenburg, Massachusetts. It was not a franchise but operated under an agreement with Hallmark. In addition to selling greeting cards and gifts, the store offered fashion items, a full candy department, and a post office.
It was challenging starting a business from the ground up, but McGinley won a National Retail Customer Excellence Award for being among the top 2 percent of stores in the country. As her children grew older and became more involved in activities, she realized she was missing too much. In 2006, she sold the store to a retailer with a six-store chain.
“You grow or you go,” McGinley said. “Everything’s timing. God gave me the vision to do something else.”
McGinley went into healthcare sales. Today she is back in West Warwick, working as a sales and marketing representative for Care New England, a division of Kent Hospital, providing home medical equipment — sleep apnea machines, oxygen, hospital beds — that make it possible for people to remain in their homes despite illnesses.
“I help people every day sustain their lives,” McGinley said. “The equipment keeps them home with their families and friends.”
McGinley served on her PC Reunion Committee in 2022 and was nominated to serve on the National Alumni Council. In 2024, she was asked to run for executive vice president and won. The executive vice president automatically becomes president. Her term will run through June 30, 2026. She especially enjoys meeting other alumni in her role and participating in events — even running the Friar 5K to benefit the National Alumni Association Scholarship Fund.
“Everyone has an attachment to Providence College,” McGinley said. “The stickiness, I call it. The spark. It’s more than a place. It hits all the ideals. It’s important to remember that everyone is welcome back, to be a part of a regional club event, a game watch, to engage in their community, to share the Friar experience. I want to get people together sharing good times and supporting each other, because we really are all a community.”
She remembers the professors who made a difference.
“At PC, I got a phenomenal liberal arts education with a business degree,” McGinley said. “It taught me how to write, communicate, and speak. PC taught me to keep going, learning, understanding, gathering information, and absorbing.”
Joseph A. Gemma, MBA ’75, ’77G, now an assistant professor of management and assistant dean, was a new teacher when McGinley took his class.
“He taught business communication – oral, written, the basics,” McGinley said. “He covered so many categories. He had an incredible energy, a desire to teach. He was always ‘on.’ It made such an impression on me — the energy and the passion in explaining the various components of communication. It was a phenomenal foundation.”
McGinley also remembers Principles of Marketing with Helen Caldwell, Ph.D., assistant professor of marketing, who retired in 2022 after more than 30 years of teaching.
“They were influencers,” McGinley said. “Their classes inspired me.”
The National Alumni Association is committed to ensuring that the Friar Family connection stays strong after graduation. Learn more about the different ways the National Alumni Association keeps alumni, near and far, engaged with PC and with one another.
