Top stories of 2020

To the Class of 2020

In March, Roy Peter Clark ’70 & ’17Hon. reflected on the losses faced by the Class of 2020, which mirrored those of his own class, whose Commencement was postponed — and the good news that persists regardless of the circumstances. And C.J. McCartin ’20 shared her perspective on the abrupt ending to her 3.75 years in Friartown.

Father Shanley’s legacy

No president in the 100-year history of Providence College has impacted this Catholic and Dominican institution so deeply as Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P. ’80. While his time as the College’s 12th and longest-serving president ended on June 30, 2020, his decisions, actions, and leadership during the past 15 years are sewn forever into its fabric.

For Christian believers, what does the pandemic mean?

Rev. Nicanor Austriaco, O.P., professor of biology and of theology, shares some thoughts from his experience “as a priest who is called to walk with souls who are suffering.”

Mae Jemison, M.D., to present Commencement Address

Mae C. Jemison, M.D., a former NASA astronaut who was the first woman of color to go into space, was selected as the featured speaker at Providence College’s 102nd Commencement Exercises. The event will be rescheduled as soon as circumstances allow.

To the Class of 2025

Learn the students who have been invited to join PC’s Class of 2025, who applied by the College’s Early Action deadline. Applications are still being accepted through Friday, Jan. 15, 2021.

Love in a time of quarantine

Ryan Frazier ’15 and Emma Beer ’16 were married in St. Dominic Chapel on Sunday, March 22, as the world shut down around them.

It wasn’t the wedding Ryan and Emma imagined at their engagement in 2018 — but it’s one they will never forget.

“We have the sacrament, we have each other, and it’s a great story we’ll be able to tell,” Emma said. “We can have our party later. This is much bigger than us.”

Father Sicard on his road ahead as president of Providence College

Rev. Kenneth R. Sicard, O.P. ’78 & ’82G became the 13th president of Providence College on Wednesday, July 1. He’s no stranger to the Office of the President, having served as executive vice president and treasurer of the College since 2005.

New Leadership for Providence College

In addition to a new president, Dr. Sean F. Reid started his new role as PC’s provost and senior vice president for academic affairs in July. Reid is the former dean of the School of Business at Ithaca College. Also in July, Father Sicard named Ann Manchester-Molak ’75 executive vice president, the second-highest administrative position at the College. She is the first woman, and the first lay person, to hold the post in College history.

Welcome, Class of 2024 and new faculty

More than 1,000 first-year students and 16 new full-time faculty arrived on campus for the first semester of an academic year that lived up to everyone’s expectations as one of the most unusual in PC’s history. They were welcomed with free face masks, textbook rentals, and virus tests, as well as classrooms with reduced seating, new outdoor spaces, and technology for remote instruction, strict limitations on social gatherings, and mobile ordering for to-go meals in reconfigured dining facilities.

Embracing anti-racism

During the summer, the Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion organized webinars to offer information and resources about anti-racism as a Christian virtue, implicit bias, systemic racism, policing, and student activism.