[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 84 (Monday, May 20, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2958-S2959]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Tribute to Sister Jane Gerety
Mr. REED. Madam President, I am pleased to join my colleague Senator
Whitehouse in celebrating the tenure of Sister Jane Gerety as president
of Salve Regina University. Sister Jane has served the Salve Regina
University community since 1995. First, she was a member of the board
of trustees, and, starting in 2009, she became its seventh president.
She has been an extraordinary leader, educator, and friend. We will
miss her dearly in Rhode Island as she retires and embarks upon her
next venture.
Salve Regina University is a special institution. Founded by the
Sisters of Mercy, its original charter authorized establishing a
college to ``promote virtue, and piety and learning.'' In 1947, after
the acquisition of Ochre Hall, Salve Regina College enrolled its first
class of 58 students. In doing so, it opened the gates of some of the
mansions of America's gilded age to serve a new and better purpose of
expanding educational opportunities in the pursuit of wisdom and
universal justice.
It comes as no surprise that Senator Pell made Salve Regina
University his home away from home upon his retirement from the Senate.
Senator Pell was committed to a just and harmonious world. He was a
man, born of privilege, who dedicated his career in public service to
expanding educational and cultural opportunities that had previously
been reserved for the elite to all Americans.
Senator Whitehouse and I share a keen sense of responsibility to
protect and build on Senator Pell's legacy. In Sister Jane, we had a
true partner in that effort, and we are grateful for her service.
Sister Jane embodies the founding principles of Salve Regina College,
now Salve Regina University. On campus, she is known as the students'
president, perhaps the highest praise for a university leader.
She has been a real presence in student life on campus. From the
athletic fields to the dining halls to her office, where the doors were
always open, students knew that she had their back. She was their
president.
It was only fitting that the university has dedicated Wakehurst Hall,
the hub of student activities and home to the office of community
service, the student government association, and the campus activities
board, in her honor. It is now called Gerety Hall, a name that in
Sister Jane's reflection on her family speaks to love, fidelity, and
perseverance.
Under Sister Jane's presidency, Salve Regina University has grown,
thrived, and helped address vital needs in the community. Sister Jane
oversaw the expansion of academic programs, including a new doctorate
program in nursing, a master of fine arts degree program in creative
writing, additional experiential learning opportunities in business,
ground-breaking research programs in the sciences, and a new campus in
Warwick, Rhode Island to serve the academic needs of working adults in
graduate and continuing education programs.
She improved the campus infrastructure, spearheading the renovation
of the O'Hare academic building, creating spaces for collaborative
learning, and renovating laboratories for programs in science and
nursing. Sister Jane also worked to ensure that the university
addressed emerging areas of need, opening a digital forensics lab and
incorporating cyber education across the undergraduate curriculum.
Even more significantly, Sister Jane worked to ensure that students
from all walks of life could afford a Salve Regina education. She led
the campaign ``Scholars and Scholarships'' to reach 100 gifted, endowed
funds valued at over $15 million to support students, faculty, and
research. Over the last 10 years, Salve Regina's annual Governor's Ball
for Scholarships nearly doubled in support, raising more than $500,000
in 2019 alone as the university's signature event.
Sister Jane's accomplishments at Salve Regina University are but some
of her many professional and academic achievements. She earned
bachelor's and master's degrees in French and a doctorate in English.
She is a William Butler Yeats scholar. She has been a teacher at many
levels--junior high, high school, and college and an academic dean.
She had a notable career in the healthcare sector, serving as a
senior administrator for St. Joseph's Health System in Atlanta before
coming to Salve Regina University. In each of these roles, Sister Jane
answered her vocation to live a life of mercy. In her words and in her
deeds, she promotes universal justice and works for a world that is
harmonious, just, and merciful. We are all better off for knowing
Sister Jane.
I will miss her advice and counsel and wish her well in her next
endeavors. As she told the students when she announced her retirement,
``Looking forward, we all share a bit of fear for the unknown and also
hope for the excitement that is to come.''
May we all follow her example and work to make what is to come
harmonious, just, and merciful.
I yield to my colleague, Senator Whitehouse.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.
Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Madam President, it is an honor and a true pleasure
to join Rhode Island's senior Senator here on the floor today to honor
the work of Salve Regina University's seventh president, Sister Jane
Gerety. Like Senator Reed, I have enjoyed Sister Jane's friendship,
companionship, wise counsel, encouragement, and occasional course-
correction suggestions over many years.
She will retire next month, capping a decade of service to her
university, to the Newport community, and to Rhode Island. Sister Jane
has accomplished remarkable things in her tenure. She established a new
satellite campus in Warwick to help working Rhode Islanders take
graduate and continuing education courses. She helped establish online
study options, bringing the university's many offerings directly to
Rhode Island students in their homes. She launched new programs of
study, including a master of fine arts and creative writing,
experiential learning opportunities in a range of fields, and a
doctoral program in nursing. She raised millions of dollars in funding
to strengthen Salve's endowments, supporting every facet of university
life. She supervised numerous improvements to Salve Regina's beautiful
Newport campus, including a $46 million renovation of the O'Hare
Academic Building.
Sister Jane's work has contributed much to the city of Newport and
the State of Rhode Island. Newport is home to an array of legendary
Gilded Age mansions and other culturally significant buildings set atop
cliffs overlooking the shining Atlantic Ocean. Many of these
architectural masterpieces now belong to her university and have needed
significant upkeep. From the outset, Sister Jane recognized the value
of Salve's stewardship of the architectural heritage of Newport, RI.
The beautifully maintained campus, replete with the newly dedicated
Gerety Hall, named in honor of Sister Jane, is a gem of an asset for
the city and for the State.
Sister Jane's work has extended beyond our State's border. Under her
management, Salve strengthened its Pell Center for International
Relations and Public Policy. Today more than ever, the Pell Center is a
fitting reflection of its namesake, Senator Claiborne Pell, for whom
our democratic ideals held limitless power. The center's academic
programs, publications, and forums spread important ideas around the
globe, advancing American domestic and foreign policy, cyber security,
and diversity in leadership.
As impressive and praiseworthy as those professional accomplishments
is the immediate personal and lasting difference Sister Jane has made
in the individual lives of so many around her, including Senator Reed
and myself. A
[[Page S2959]]
member of the 2019 Salve class says he will remember Sister Jane en
route to ``bring candy and snacks to student athletes for conference
games'' and her willingness to meet with any student in her office.
Indeed, when visiting Newport, young alums in search of graduate school
advice or a word of encouragement have known that they are welcome to
stop by Sister Jane's office to find an open door, a warm heart, and
wise counsel.
Over the course of her career, Sister Jane embodied the values of her
Catholic order, the Sisters of Mercy. The Sisters were founded with a
mission to spread the gift of education and care for those in need in
their community. Last year, Sister Jane told Newport Daily News she
sees the institution she led as ``imbued with mercy,'' adding, ``I hope
I've helped to cultivate that spirit.''
I should note that with regard to the legacy of the Sisters of Mercy,
in her service, Sister Jane also honored an extraordinary tradition of
extraordinary female leadership.
As I am giving these remarks, I am so glad that the Presiding Officer
in the U.S. Senate is a woman Senator.
Sister Therese, who was Sister Jane's predecessor, was a skilled and
beloved leader of Salve Regina, and Sister Lucille--before Sister
Therese and before Sister Jane--was another powerful and effective
leader. This impressive tradition of leadership by women is worth
celebrating on its own as we celebrate the achievements of Sister Jane,
and Sister Jane has shown herself well worthy and advanced that
tradition.
Sister Jane, it is clear to all who know you--and that is pretty much
all who love you--that the spirit of mercy has flourished at Salve
Regina and has been enhanced in our State under your leadership. We
wish you well in your next chapters.
I join my senior Senator in these sentiments.