One of the things you'll hear Providence College students talk about all the time is the true sense of community on campus, and how the people at PC become a second "family." I think sometimes prospective students and their families can be skeptical of this statement, but I can tell you from my own experience that PC really does become a second home and members of the PC community do become your second family. It's something that I really notice each year during commencement festivies, and it's also something that I notice on campus as a staff member. Let me give you an example - when a bunch of us from the Office of Admission headed over to Alumni Dining Hall for lunch yesterday, we found that one of the staff members had saved one last meatball calzone for one of our counselors because she knew it was his favorite meal and didn't want him to miss out. A simple gesture, sure, but it's the type of gesture that happens so often on this campus - and creates the family atmosphere that includes all: the students, the faculty, the staff, and certainly the Dominican Friars with whom it all begins. Whether it's a professor taking his class out to dinner to celebrate the end of the semester, a group of students raising money to help a friend's family, or one of our Dominicans picking up a stranded admission counselor at the airport after a long week of travel, the people at Providence College aren't just classmates or colleagues - they do become your PC family.

For me personally, the family experience is even more literal as I have had two younger brothers follow in my footsteps and attend PC. I want to say congratulations to my brother Dan who received his master's degree in theological studies this past weekend - way to go!