THE REV. MARK T. CREGAN, C.S.C. ELECTED NINTH PRESIDENT OF STONEHILL  Thomas Shields, chair of the Stonehill College Board of Trustees, announced Friday the selection of the Rev. Mark T. Cregan,
C.S.C., a Stonehill alumnus and trustee, and the pastor of a large inner-city parish in New York City, as the ninth president of
the 52-year-old College. Upon being appointed, Fr. Cregan said that, as president, his principal goal is to strengthen the
College's commitment to academic excellence and to place Stonehill among the very best academic institutions in the nation. "My job will be to build on the College's current academic strengths. I will work
with all segments of the Stonehill community, enhancing the quality of our academic offerings and building on our liberal arts tradition. Accordingly, my
most important immediate responsibility will be the appointment of an academic provost to oversee the College's entire academic operation," Fr. Cregan said.
"Stonehill has an excellent faculty, committed administrators, and loyal alumni and friends. Together, they give us the opportunity to move the College to a
new and dynamic phase in its history while continuing to fulfill our goal of drawing from all segments of society," he added.
The chief administrative officer of Sacred Heart Parish, a large inner-city parish in the Bronx, N.Y., Fr. Cregan is responsible for schools, buildings, outreach
programs, pastoral activities, finances and fund-raising. He also provides leadership to the Archdiocese's community development efforts, which
have produced over $100 million in affordable subsidized housing. Before becoming pastor of Sacred Heart in the Bronx, he spent five years as Associate
Pastor of Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Brooklyn. Fr. Cregan succeeds the Rev. Bartley MacPháidín, C.S.C., who has served as
president since 1978. Fr. Cregan graduated from Stonehill in 1978 and will be the second alumnus to serve as president. He is a two-term member of the College's Board of Trustees.
"As a Holy Cross priest, a member of the College's Board of Trustees and an alumnus, Fr. Cregan has a long and close
relationship with Stonehill. He also appreciates the centrality of its academic mission. Moreover, we were particularly
impressed by his leadership skills and by his talent for coalition building," said Shields.
"In his career, Fr. Cregan has demonstrated remarkable versatility as a leader. At Sacred Heart, he has created fiscal and
administrative stability. He has contributed enormously to the Archdiocese of New York's housing and fund-raising programs.
And, his track record on helping the poor and marginalised is exemplary. We are confident that he will bring the same qualities and similar results to Stonehill," Shields added.
Fr. Cregan holds a master of divinity degree from the University of St. Michael's College at the Toronto School of Theology.
He is a former member of the Board of Trustees at the University of St. Michael's College and has served as a member of Stonehill's Board of Trustees since 1996.
Fr. Cregan holds a juris doctor degree from Brooklyn Law School. He is licensed to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court,
the courts of the State of New York, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the District of Columbia; the United States District Courts for the District of Puerto Rico, the Southern
and Eastern Districts of New York, and the U.S. Courts of Appeals, First Circuit. From 1990 until 1992, he served as Law Clerk
to the Honorable Jose A. Fuste, United States District Judge, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Born in Jersey City and raised in Newark, N.J., Fr. Cregan graduated from Seton Hall Preparatory School, West Orange, N.J. in
1971. He joined the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1975 and was ordained a Catholic priest in 1983. He is active in the
administrative life of the Eastern Province of the Congregation of Holy Cross.
In his free time, he enjoys reading, music, sports and travel. In addition to English, he speaks Spanish fluently and has reading
knowledge of Portuguese, Italian, French and Latin. Fr. Cregan's selection was made following a search process that began last
September when Fr. MacPháidín announced his retirement. A Presidential Search Committee interviewed seven members of
the Congregation of Holy Cross and selected two finalists. Fr. Cregan will move to Massachusetts this summer and begin his term as president at that time.
The Stonehill community met with the finalists in public sessions, which provided the Search Committee additional information
for their final recommendation. Trustee David I. Finnegan `64 chaired the 13-member Presidential Search Committee, which included trustee, faculty, student, staff and alumni representatives.
Founded in 1948 by the Congregation of Holy Cross, Stonehill is a Catholic liberal arts college. Located in Easton, Mass., the
College enrolls more than 2,000 students in 34 academic majors, offering undergraduate programs in liberal arts, business
administration and the sciences, and a master's degree in accountancy. In 1999, U.S. News and World Report ranked Stonehill the best regional liberal arts college in the North.
Stonehill College chooses new president By Globe Staff, 5/11/2000  Trustees at Stonehill College in Easton have selected the Rev. Mark T. Cregan as the 52-year-old institution's ninth president.
Cregan, a Stonehill alumnus and trustee, is the pastor of a large parish in New York City. He said his principal goal is to
strengthen the college's commitment to academic excellence and to place Stonehill among the top academic institutions in the country.
''My most important immediate responsibility will be the appointment of an academic provost to oversee the college's entire academic operation,'' Cregan said in a statement.
As the chief administrative officer of Sacred Heart Parish in the Bronx, Cregan is responsible for schools, buildings, outreach
programs, pastoral activities, finances, and fund-raising. He also provides leadership to the archdiocese's community
development efforts, which have produced more than $100 million in affordable subsidized housing. At Stonehill, Cregan
succeeds the Rev. Bartley MacPhaidin, who has served as president since 1978. Cregan graduated from Stonehill in 1978, and
will be the second alumnus to serve as president. He is a two-term member of the college's board of trustees. Born in Jersey
City and raised in Newark, Cregan graduated from Seton Hall Preparatory School in West Orange, N.J., and joined the Congregation of the Holy Cross in 1975. He was ordained a priest in 1983. This story ran on page B04 of the Boston Globe on 5/11/2000.
© Copyright 2000 Globe Newspaper Company. |
Rich Miller, Class of 1997
Kevin Sharpe, Class of 1977