Shanley’s Departure From PC Forced By Dominican Superior
GoLocalProv News Team
Shanley’s Departure From PC Forced By Dominican Superior
Today, Providence College (PC) enjoys top rankings. “Providence College is ranked #2 in Regional Universities North. Schools are ranked according to their performance across a set of widely accepted indicators of excellence,” writes U.S.News & World Reports.
The announcement late on Friday afternoon of his upcoming departure came as a shock.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTGoLocal has learned that Shanley’s departure is being forced by top Dominican officials that oversee PC and that those officials are concerned about the "liberalization of Providence College."
Forced Departure
On Sunday, PC officials confirmed that, “Fr. Shanley’s religious superior is Fr. Kenneth Letoile, O.P. Fr. Letoile is the Provincial of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph, (based in NYC) which oversees Providence College.”
“We had hoped that Fr. Shanley would be made available by the Provincial to serve a fourth, five-year term. But the decision as to whether or not he is made available to do so is solely within the purview of the Provincial,” said Steve Maurano, Associate Vice President Public Affairs & Community Relations at PC.
“Fr. Letoile has decided that fifteen years is long enough, and that it is time for someone else to take the helm and build on the successes that the College has enjoyed under Fr. Shanley,” said Maurano.
“Fr. Letoile has told Fr. Shanley that, when his current term is complete, he will not make Fr. Shanley available to serve another term. As a Dominican priest, Fr. Shanley is bound by a vow of obedience to accept Fr. Letoile’s decision,” Maurano added.
Shanley Wanted to Remain
Under Shanley’s leadership, PC has undergone massive campus improvements of more than $100 million. The college has become far more selective, and the athletics program has become of one the best in the country for a school of its size.
A 2015 GoLocalProv review of all NCAA Division I sports teams found that per capita, PC had the most successful men’s athletic program in the U.S. in the 2014-2015 season.
"For a small Catholic college with fewer than 4,000 undergrads, PC's athletic accomplishments may be unmatched in college sports," GoLocal wrote at the time.
Over the past few years, Shanley has had to face a cultural movement at Providence College. In 2016, approximately 50 students occupied the President’s office for hours of racial incidents on campus.
As GoLocal reported, “In a statement released by the student group spokesperson Mary-Murphy Walsh, she said that the students "will stay in his office all night and however long it takes for him to agree to all the demands and agree to produce a comprehensive plan within the next 20 days."
Walsh said in a statement "Shanley came in at 4:26 and refused to sign the agreement. It was the first time he read the agreement with his own eyes. He refused despite the fact that over 40 students have waited in his office for eight hours now and three students, including myself, continue to hunger strike. He said there is nothing he can do in terms of making all of our demands happen. He said, as he always does, that action is being taken to combat racism on campus yet will not show exactly what that action is."
"Students refuse to accept that answer and will stay in his office all night and however long it takes for him to agree to all the demands and agree to produce a comprehensive plan within the next 20 days. The secretary was nice enough to order us extra toilet paper. The police were called but they said that they wouldn't come as long as the protest remains peaceful."
But later that day Shanley agreed to the terms and signed the student protesters letter.
In 2016, Professor Julia Jordan-Zachery, Director of Black Studies at PC, told GoLocal about the incident -- and aftermath.
"It's a pretty consistent story about what happened. These women went to the house to get a friend of theirs, and said the young man at the door supposedly told them, 'We don't want your people here,' and pointed in the direction of Chad Brown," said Jordan-Zachery. "Then the women say they saw white students being let in, which is when the real trouble started. I heard they called them 'black bitch'. There's a race-gender connotation of being called that. The only thing worse they could have been called is nigger bitch. Then they had bottles thrown at them. I don't think they were actually hit with water, but that's not the point."
“Double-Standard” for Conservatives, Progressives on Campus, Says PC Grad Smalanskas
In addition, Dominican officials reportedly bristled about emerging issues of homosexuality and abortion on campus and the controversy regarding a "pro-man and woman" bulletin board posting by student Michael Smalanskas that set off demonstrations by pro-LGBTQ students and faculty.
PC had been ranked top in the country for "least race/class interaction" by Princeton Review in 2017.
According to “what students say” section of the Princeton Review, “Students at Providence attest that the college is 'very homogenous in regards to race and socioeconomic status,' noting that most undergrads are 'white' and come from 'upper middle class families.' Additionally, a large percentage hail from 'New England, New York, [or] New Jersey.' And many don 'preppy' clothing; you frequently 'see backwards hats, Vineyard Vines, Patagonia, and bean boots or boat shoes.' Thankfully, Providence has grown 'increasingly diverse' in the last few years.”
"When Fr. Shanley completes his current term in June 2020, he will have served as president of PC for fifteen years. That will make him the longest-serving president in the history of the College," said Maurano.