Providence College - Veritas Yearbook (Providence, RI)

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A LITTLE LESS THAN FOUR YEARS AGO, THE TALL, WHITE-ROBED FIGURE OF A DISTINGUISHED DOMINICAN PRIEST AND NOTED EDUCATOR APPROACHED THE LECTERN TO EXTEND INSPIRING WORDS OF WELCOME TO AN ENTERING CLASS OF DOWNY-CHEEKED FRESHMEN. HIS RESOUNDING ELOQUENCE AND IMPECCABLE DICTION ENDOWED THE MAN'S RHETORIC WITH THE QUALITIES OF A CLARION CALL, SUMMONING US TO THE ACADEMIC CRUCIBLE WHEREIN COLLEGE YOUTHS ARE TESTED, MOLDED, AND MADE MEN. IN LEAVING, THE CLASS OF 1961 CANNOT BUT SENSE AN EMPTINESS IN ITS BACCALAUREATE CEREMONIES, A HOLLOW AWARENESS OF DEPRIVATION AT THE LOSS OF A PARTING SALUTE DELIVERED IN THE FORCEFUL TONES OF A WELL-RESPECTED VOICE WHICH IS NOW FOREVER STILLED. NEVERTHELESS, THE MANTLE OF DEATH WHICH, ON APRIL 24, 1961, DESCENDED UPON THIS SINGULAR MAN CANNOT DESTROY OR EVEN OBSCURE THE AURA OF GREATNESS WHICH WILL FOREVER LINGER ABOUT HIM. ON THIS GRADUATION DAY, THE SPIRIT OF ROBERT J. SLAVIN, O. P., WILL EXIST AS AN UNSEEN PRES- ENCE TO AT LEAST LESSEN THE VOID OF HIS PHYSICAL ABSENCE. EVEN IN EXTERNAL MANIFESTATION, HOWEVER, ONE NEED ONLY LOOK ABOUT THE PROVIDENCE COLLEGE CAMPUS TO SEE THE ENDURING HERITAGE LEFT BY A MAN WHO HAS PASSED ON TO A NEW LIFE, BUT WILL NOT SOON BE FORGOTTEN BY THOSE OF U5 HERE. FATHER SLAVIN COMBINED GREAT DEDICATION TO THE IDEALS OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION WITH A SINGULAR ABILITY TO COPE WITH THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS POSED BY THIS MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR INSTITUTION WHICH PROS- PERED BOTH QUANTITATIVELY AND QUALITATIVELY UNDER HIS ENERGETIC LEADERSHIP. DURING HIS ADMINISTRATION, PROVIDENCE COLLEGE ROSE FROM THE STATUS OF A RELATIVELY UNKNOWN LOCAL COLLEGE TO A WIDELY RE- SPECTED INSTITUTION POSSESSED OF NATION-WIDE STATURE IN MANY DIVERSE FIELDS. THE LATE PRESIDENT'S GREAT PERSONAL DIGNITY AND CONSPICIOUS LEARNING, TOGETHER WITH THE EMINENCE OF HIS POSITION, SOMETIMES MISLED THE UNDERCLASSMAN TO REGARD HIM AS A REMOTE FIGURE. HOWEVER, FATHER SLAVIN'S UNDERSTANDING, GOOD HUMOR, AND READY SMILE WERE SUCH TO WIN THE SINCERE AFFECTION OF ANY STUDENT WHO, OVERCOMING INSTINCTIVE INHIBITIONS, FOUND TO HIS SURPRISE THAT THE DOOR OF THE PRESIDENT'S OFFICE WAS READILY ACCESSIBLE. INDEED, FATHER SLAVIN'S ENERGY, SYMPATHY, AND PROGRESSIVE LEANINGS WERE THE MOTIVE FORCES IN MANY CRITICAL IM- PROVEMENTS IN THE STUDENT'S ENVIRONMENT, BOTH INSIDE THE CLASSROOM AND OUT. FATHER SLAVIN'S ANNOUNCED GOAL AT THE BEGINNING OF HIS PREsIDENcY WAS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BEST CATHOLIC LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE IN THE COUNTRY HERE IN PROVIDENCE. THE IDEAL HE SET HIMSELF WAS AN AwEsoME ONE, BUT HE WAS A MAN wHo GoT RESULTS. A VIGOROU5 EXPANSION PROGRAM METAMORPHOSED THE COLLEGE'S PHYSICAL PLANT AS THE STUDENT BODY AND FACULTY DOUBLED AND ACADEMIC STANDARDS EXPLORED NEW HEIGHTS. HE WON HUNDREDS OF FRIENDS FOR THE COLLEGE IN EVERY EDUCA- TIONAL FIELD. HE WAS EVERYWHERE REcoGNIzED AS A MAN OF GREAT ABILITY AND INTEGRITY. THE CLASS OF 1961 AND ALL PAST AND FUTURE CLASSES OF PROVIDENCE coL- LEGE ARE FoREvER IN HIS DEEPEST DEBT. REQUIESCAT IN PACE

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REQUIESCAT IN PACE