COLLEGE CELEBRATES ITS HERITAGE
Missouri. Photo by Matt Frey.
The recent Founders Day celebration at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh honored the legacy of St. Dominic de Guzman, the Dominican Sisters whose vision guided the creation of the college, and the life of the late Sr. Agnes Boyle who served the college for nearly 50 years. (The Vice President for Academic Affairs Office was dedicated in her honor.)
Charles Zola, CDI (Catholic and Dominican Institute) director, assistant to the president for mission integration and associate professor of philosophy, facilitated the day”™s events, which included learning about the innumerable contributions St. Dominic made to Christianity more than 800 years ago. It was the Dominican Sisters of Newburgh who, following in St. Dominic”™s footsteps, founded Mount Saint Mary College in 1959.
Boyle started her long career at the Mount in 1963 as an assistant professor of education, chairing the division for nine years. She was best known for her tenure as vice president of academic advancement, for initiating the first master”™s degrees and the adult program at the Mount. Since 2017, high-achieving seniors in the Mount”™s degree completion program have been deemed Boyle Scholars.
The Founders Day Lecture “Living Truth” by Ann Garrido, was part of the celebration. Garrido is an author and associate professor of homiletics at Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri. Her talk focused on the meaning of truth and how we can find and embrace truth in our current society.
“It”™s my conviction that the Dominican (Order) ”“ particularly Dominican schools ”“ can have a particular role in reinstilling hope into these really seemingly unresolvable hot debates about truth,” said Garrido. “This is because the Dominican Community comes with 800 years of talking about this topic”¦there”™s a good deal of acquired wisdom here,” she said. Mount Saint Mary College, 60 miles north of New York City, is ranked a Top-Tier Regional University by “U.S. News & World Report” and offers bachelor”™s and master”™s degree programs preparing students for careers in health care, business, education, social services, communication/media and more.