PROVIDENCE COLLEGE HIRES CATHOLIC SCHOLAR AND SPEAKER GLORIA PURVIS
(Providence, R.I.) – Providence College (PC) announced today that Gloria Purvis, a renowned Catholic scholar, speaker, and journalist, has joined the College as special advisor for Integral Human Development and Dignity. Gloria will be part of the Office of Mission & Ministry in a new role that combines the work of mission and ministry, the School of Nursing and Health Sciences and institutional equity.
PC Executive Vice President for Mission/Chief Operating Officer Father Thomas More Garrett, O.P. said, “Gloria will lend considerable expertise and enthusiasm to our community at Providence College. Her wealth of experience spans several areas of ministry, media, and social justice.”
“I am delighted to join the Providence College family,” said Gloria. “Their pursuit of truth and work to establish a Beloved Community from a Catholic point of view will serve as a model for Catholic colleges and universities across the nation.”
Gloria graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science degree in human development and family studies. She is an author, commentator and the host and executive producer of The Gloria Purvis Podcast. Through her media presence, she has been a strong Catholic voice for life issues, religious liberty, and racial justice.
She has appeared in numerous media outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Fox News, PBS Newshour, NPR, Newsweek, and Catholic Answers Live, and hosted Morning Glory, an international radio show.
She served as a consultant to the United States Catholic Bishops Conference’s Religious Liberty Committee and was Our Sunday Visitor’s Catholic of the Year for 2020.
Gloria presented a powerful video series entitled Racism, Human Dignity and The Catholic Church through the Word on Fire Institute.
She was part of a groundbreaking, exclusive interview with Pope Francis with a delegation from America Media and served as a Papal News Contributor for ABC News Live, during the most recent Papal Conclave.
Last year, she delivered one of the keynote speeches at the historic National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Gloria is the Inaugural Pastoral Fellow at the McGrath Institute for Church Life at Notre Dame University and recently received Honorary Doctorates in Humane Letters from the University of Portland in Oregon and Salve Regina University in Rhode Island. She is a longtime collaborator with the National Black Catholic Congress on social justice and life issues. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Catholic Charities USA.
Earlier this year, Gloria spoke at PC as part of the William J. and Maryann M. Christie Distinguished Catholic Faith Lecture Series. Her lecture, titled Building a Beloved Community: Embracing Human Dignity and Racial Justice in Catholic Teaching, was attended by over 175 people.
Founded in 1917, Providence College is the only college or university in the United States administered by the Dominican Friars. The Catholic, liberal arts college has an undergraduate enrollment of approximately 4,500 students, 450 graduate students and offers degrees in over 60 academic majors. Since 1997, Providence College consistently has been ranked among the top five regional universities in the North according to U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges.”
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