A Letter from Fr. Greg
Dear friends,
While the role brought new and sometimes unexpected challenges, I must say that it was a tremendous joy to be Interim President of Mount Saint Mary College over this past academic year. And honestly, I could not have done it without the love and support of the Mount community. Simply put, it was an incredible honor to lead the college through this transition in leadership.
While I can’t thank everyone who has helped along the way – I doubt this magazine has enough space for that, despite it being online – I do want to recognize several people who truly went above and beyond for the Mount during my time as interim president:
Michael Horodyski, outgoing Chair of the Board of Trustees, Lou Bach, the incoming Chair, and the entire Board for having given me this honor and for believing in me;
the Dominican Sisters of Hope, who were incredibly supportive and helpful this past year;
the Mount’s incredible benefactors and friends, like the Kaplan family, for their generosity and kindness;
and the faculty, administration, staff, and emeriti faculty, who were always there for me. I should especially mention members of the Cabinet who worked every day to strengthen the Mount.
With the Mount family behind me, we were able to accomplish much in a short amount of time. Leadership was quickly stabilized and communication reopened. We secured a $1.6 million grant to keep our Arthur O. Eve HEOP program going strong, which you can read about in this very magazine. We reached our first major milestone for our Middle States Reaccreditation effort, with our Self-Study Design receiving approval from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. The Dominican Sisters of Hope endowed Campus Ministry with a $1 million gift. We renewed old friendships and strengthened our ties to the local business community, and we are again seen as a vital and important part of Newburgh and the Hudson Valley. And after a truly extensive search, we found our next president of Mount Saint Mary College, Dr. Robert Gervasi.
I’m delighted to welcome Dr. Gervasi as he brings his considerable talents and experience to the Mount. Over the last few months, we have been working together for a smooth transition into his leadership and I have been so very impressed with his dedication to the college and our students. I believe Dr. Gervasi is the right leader at the right time for the Mount, and in these last weeks, he’s already proven himself a success. As I’ve said many times before, the Mount is here to stay.
Thank you all once again for putting your faith in me as Interim President. In true Mount fashion, our success was the product of us all working together. May that continue far into the future.
I’ll see you all back in Hudson Room 111!