Cardinal Timothy Dolan (right) blesses plaques bearing the names of the Dominican Center’s benefactors on September 17, 2014. The plaques will be placed throughout the recently transformed, state-of-the-art living and learning center. Photo by Lee Ferris.
With his customary grace and memorable words, Cardinal Timothy Dolan blessed Mount Saint Mary College’s newly-transformed Dominican Center on Wednesday, September 17.
The ceremony evoked the building’s original dedication ceremony in 1927, when Cardinal Patrick Hayes blessed the Dominican Center, after it was constructed for the Dominican Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary. The Chapel of the Most Holy Rosary was added and dedicated in 1928.
The transformed Dominican Center began welcoming traditional upperclassmen as residents at the beginning of the fall 2014 semester. The first and second floors of the Dominican Center house a state-of-the-art library – The Kaplan Family Library and Learning Center – which opened in spring 2014.
The Dominican Center’s Chapel of the Most Holy Rosary was filled with Mount faculty, staff, students and supporters.
“It is an honor and a joy for me to be with you today,” said Cardinal Dolan. “Thank you, Mount Saint Mary College, for who you are and what you do here in the great area of Newburgh, and throughout this entire state.”
Cardinal Dolan thanked the Mount’s Board of Trustees, including Dr. Albert J. Gruner, chairman, for their excellent leadership, and the Mount’s benefactors for their contributions. He also welcomed the college’s new president, Dr. Anne Carson Daly, wishing her “a very long and successful term.”
He honored the Dominican Sisters of Hope, who raised funds to build the Dominican Center 87 years ago, saying, “You Dominicans have been the vanguard when it comes to excellent education in the liberal arts, carrying on the wonderful tradition of your founder, St. Dominic, and the wonderful intellectual heritage of St. Thomas Aquinas.”
Cardinal Dolan blessed plaques bearing the names of the Dominican Center’s benefactors. The plaques will be placed throughout the building.
He added, “Study can be a vehicle of God’s revelation. This great Mount Saint Mary College needs both heart and mind, and it’s got them. It’s got intellect. And it’s got foundation of the heart, like St. Francis of Assisi.”
Also officiating the ceremony were Bishop Dominick Lagonegro, Episcopal Vicar of the Northern Vicariates for the Archdiocese of New York; and Fr. William Scafidi, pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Newburgh, N.Y.
Mount Saint Mary College purchased the Dominican Center, including the building and 13.1 acres of land, on July 13, 2011.