Providence College Provost Resigns

Providence College Provost Resigns

GoLocal has confirmed that Providence College Provost Dr. Sea Reid has resigned.

The resignation is reportedly tied to the growing conflicts between PC’s administration and the college’s LGBTQ+ community.

In March, a letter was submitted to Providence College’s leadership outlining discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community.

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The President of PC issued the following to the college community on Monday.

 

Dear Members of the Faculty and Staff,

I am profoundly saddened to inform you of the resignation of Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Sean Reid. With great reluctance and deep regret, I have accepted Sean’s resignation. He has agreed to assist me during a transition period and will subsequently continue in his service to the college as a full-time member of the PCSB Finance Department faculty.

Sean was my first hire as president, and he has been a trusted colleague and friend, tirelessly immersing himself in his work since joining the college in July 2020. He consistently demonstrated a principled commitment to thoughtful, conscientious leadership—advocating for our faculty, particularly with the Cabinet and the Board of Trustees, to ensure that they are equipped with the resources they need to excel in their teaching and research.

Sean has been an astute advisor to me and has made my job easier by handling a variety of difficult issues with integrity, fairness, and conviction. I value the important role Sean has played as a member of my leadership team, and I sincerely appreciate his relentless efforts to navigate difficult issues on a college campus.

Please join me in thanking Sean for his esteemed service in his role as provost.

Fr. Kenneth Sicard, O.P.

President

 

LGBTQ Community's Concerns

A group of dozens of students and organizations issued a 31-page letter about what the LGBTQ+ community believes to be a discriminatory environment at PC. 

They issued the following demands in their letter"

"Our demands are rooted in our common value of creating a Beloved Community rooted in Catholic and Dominican traditions and values. 

1. Truth. If members of the LGBTQ+ community are truly welcome on campus, then a pride flag must be allowed to be shown in a visible and respectable public location. If the flag can't be displayed, it suggests that the College's otherwise public messaging on inclusivity is not genuine. Pride flags hang at Catholic institutions of higher learning across New England and the country, from the University of Notre Dame to Salve Regina University to the College of the Holy Cross. 

2. Friendship. To engage with each other in a mutually respectful way, our pronouns must be respected and college policy should reflect this for all interactions among students, staff, faculty, and clergy.

3. Grace. We commit to accepting and loving one another as we are; all people are valid, created in the image of G-d, and that includes individuals who are transgender, transexual, non-binary, or gender non-conforming. Actions, speech, or demonstrations that would deny the validity or sanctity of these individuals should be treated as a serious violation of adherence to our Catholic & Dominican mission and the statement that, "How we treat one another and especially the least among us, what we profess and hold to be true, how we pray and worship, the questions we ask, and the careers we pursue are no mere accidents nor matters of insignificance. They are rather measures of the grace we have been given..."

4. Prayer. We demand respectful prayers to remember members of the LGBTQ+ community who have been lost as a result of anti-LGBTQ+ hate, and we demand space to be held in Campus Ministry and the CCDS for the intentional and safe inclusion and welcoming of members of the LGBTQ+ community. We invite the college to hire a chaplain specifically to serve members of the LGBTQ+ community. There are LGBTQ+ Catholics who want to pursue their faith but feel detached from it through the College.

5. Dialogue. To hold an annual lecture series devoted to the intersecting Catholic and LGBTQ+ communities. Relatedly, to cease censorship of LGBTQ+ speakers that faculty or student groups invite to campus to share their research.

6. Care. Commitment to supporting gender-affirming healthcare for all people, including transgender individuals of the Providence College community. Recognizing that insurance already covers medical interventions such as hormonal treatments and surgeries for cisgender individuals, it is inconsistent and unjust to not provide necessary gender-affirming care for transgender individuals as well. This distinction not only contradicts the medical necessity and ethical imperative of providing care to all but also undermines the Catholic values of compassion and respect for the dignity of every person. 

7. Respect. As is commonplace with the change of names for Dominican Friars as well as cisgender women who want to change their last names, name changes should be available for students and all employees of the College on all official materials, particularly IDs. Pronoun changes on all official documents must also be an available and clear process. 

8. Support. Hiring and continued support for the role of a campus-wide LGBTQ+ community coordinator and an additional staff charged with visibly supporting the LGBTQ+ community within the Division of Student Affairs.

9. Community. Formal recognition of alumni who identify with the LGBTQ+ community and choose to organize and develop programming as such, as well as the publication of same-sex marriages alongside their peers, as has been a longstanding tradition in Providence College Magazine.

10. Faith and reason. We ask the College to commit to its Dominican roots in embracing rational dialog as a means of bridging divides; students, staff, and faculty should be free to express themselves in any capacity (by their dress, decorations, statements, etc.) and acknowledge that by doing so, they invite dialogue and respectful disagreement rooted in rational argument. 

11. Representation. Re-evaluation of the Humanities Forum. We demand that if the Humanities Forum is to continue (and students are incentivized and/or required to participate), the speaker selection committee be structured to include representation from across the College’s many humanities-related programs and departments.

12. Accountability. Re-evaluation of progress and failures associated with the demands made by students in 2015 (Racism and Anti-Blackness at Providence College: Demands for Redress) and 2020, with specific attention to the college's ability to retain and promote recruited faculty and staff. 

13. Recognition. Support the creation of PC-branded merchandise featuring elements of the pride logo. If the colors black and white of the Dominican habit specifically refer to the "join[ing] together apparent opposites in a greater unity," then the rainbow and torch can also be presented and branded together.   

14. Safety. Students must be made consistently aware that they can access free/confidential STI screening on campus. These resources should be made available in an accessible, shame- and guilt-free manner. 

15. Goodness and beauty. Grant all student clubs and organizations the liberty to organize events using the word “Pride” and its derivatives. 

16. Reflection. Support the facilitation of campus-wide Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion training, building towards improved allyship for those of all identities in a manner that centers the lived experiences and identities of LGBTQ+ people. 

If Providence College desires to be a respectable accredited university known for equal treatment of all students, staff, and faculty, it must reckon with its discriminatory practices toward its LGBTQ+ community members. There is no “Veritas” in preaching inclusivity while simultaneously discriminating against the very people the college invites onto campus, as partners in our collective mission.

As members of the Providence College community (past and present), we strive to ensure that all feel welcome and supported to thrive on our campus, and, in keeping with the College’s professed values, urge you to put an end to the discriminatory policies and practices that continue to deny this possibility to members of our beloved LGBTQ+ community. The time has come to repair the harm done by these wrongs and to forge a future in which Providence College is a respectable accredited university known and celebrated for its equal and compassionate treatment of all students, staff, and faculty, not in spite of our mission but beautifully and in harmony with it, a vision we can all be proud of."

 

 

When Reid Was Announced:

The following was announced by PC when Reid came to Providence in 2020. 

"Dr. Sean F. Reid, dean of the School of Business at Ithaca College, will become provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Providence College on July 1. He will succeed Dr. Hugh F. Lena III, who is stepping down after 16 years as the College’s chief academic officer.

Reid is a scholar in the field of finance with an extensive record of achievement and service in the military, private sector, and academics.

'We are so pleased to have someone of Sean’s experience and capabilities join the senior leadership team at Providence College,' said Rev. Kenneth R. Sicard, O.P. ’78 & ’82G, president-elect at PC, who made the announcement.

“He has been an integral member of a similar team at Ithaca College and, as dean of their school of business, has played a major role in the growth of a thriving and substantive academic program at that institution. Sean has been a key partner with Ithaca’s development and finance teams, in support not only of his own school, but of that college’s mission and purpose as a whole, and I anticipate that he will do the same here at Providence College. We welcome him and look forward to his arrival as provost.'”