Providence, R.I.--More than 1,150 members of the Providence College community--including College President Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P. '80 and the entire Class of 2013--will take part in the College's first-ever Building Bridges day of service on Saturday, September 5.

The College volunteers will be working at 37 sites throughout the state including five state parks, the SeaBee Museum in North Kingstown, R.I., and several community gardens. Students also will work with the West Warwick and Pawtucket Parks Departments and at several churches.

Father Shanley and the Class of 2013 will be joined by 150 site leaders, who will include faculty and staff members, as well as upperclassmen.

The day will begin at Mullaney Gymnasium on campus with a keynote address by Rev. James Cuddy, O.P. '98, College chaplain. After breakfast in the Peterson Recreation Center, the volunteers will be bused to their specific sites, where they will be painting, landscaping, cleaning, and picking up trash at the various sites. They also will be conducting awareness campaigns to promote United Way and its WaterFire Providence that night.

The goal of Building Bridges is to create a deeper feeling of community, both on- and off-campus, by engaging students, faculty, staff, and community partners in service projects.

Day of service part of New Student Orientation
Building Bridges is a pivotal component of the redesigned New Student Orientation  that brings the Class of 2013 to campus for a single program the week before classes begin. The comprehensive program replaces the previous series of two-day orientations that were held in June and July.

The freshmen will move into their residence halls on September 2 and spend the next six days becoming acclimated to the College through a series of academic, social, and service activities. The traditional parents' orientation component will be held the first two days of the program.

"We have inaugurated this new orientation model to create an environment for incoming students that better promotes their formation and identity as a class," said Rev. Brendan Murphy, O.P. '87, vice president for student services administration. "Enhancements to the program will include greater opportunities for academic engagement, social activities, and community service."

As a result of these changes, the orientation leader staff has been expanded from 26 to 90 students. One returning leader is Sean Jones '10 of Marlborough, Mass., who is one of five orientation coordinators. He said he looks forward to being a part of the newly revised program.

"Being an orientation leader has been one of my favorite experiences at Providence College thus far," said Jones. "Although the logistics of the 2009 orientation will be new and different, I am excited to help shape the new program into one that is as successful as orientation has been in the past."

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