Print Issue: December 19, 2002

Providence Scholarship Named For Msgr. R. Donald Kiernan

Msgr. R. Donald Kiernan (Photo by Michael Alexander)

By Erika Anderson, Staff Writer

ATLANTA - When Msgr. R. Donald Kiernan left Providence College in Rhode Island in 1945 there were only 80 students and two buildings.

Today the liberal arts school serves 3,600 students on a 105-acre campus that encompasses over 40 buildings. There is also now a scholarship in his name.

To show their appreciation for Msgr. Kiernan, a dedicated PC alumnus and vicar general of the archdiocese, Providence College created the scholarship for a Georgia resident with demonstrated financial need.

"I was elated when I found out," Msgr. Kiernan said. "I thought certainly they could find someone more noteworthy than me."

David Brown, director of development/regional programs for PC, has known Msgr. Kiernan for over 10 years. He lauded the vicar general's example as a priest and goodwill representative of the college.

"Msgr. (Kiernan) is the epitome of everything you'd want a priest to be," he said. "In the Atlanta area, he's been a great ambassador for Providence College."

Each year, Msgr. Kiernan, who also serves as pastor of All Saints Church in Dunwoody, hosts an alumni Mass and brunch at the parish.

"We probably have about 70 or 80 total alumni in the Atlanta area, and each year we get a bigger turnout (at the Mass and brunch) than the year before," Brown said.

Msgr. Kiernan fondly recalls his days at Providence College in the 1940s. It was during World War II, and though there were only 80 or so students, there were hundreds of soldiers who took classes there.

He said that it was at PC that he resolved his discernment process, deciding to become a priest. The school was founded in 1917 by the Dominican Fathers, who Msgr. Kiernan said had a strong influence on his life.

"The example that the Dominican Fathers set for me was wonderful," he said. "They are great men, great priests."

Msgr. Kiernan left the school before graduating to pursue his call to priesthood, and went on to finish his studies at Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md. He also took graduate courses at Catholic University of America.

But when then president of PC, Father John Cunningham, OP, found out that Msgr. Kiernan had never received his bachelor of arts from PC, he quickly rectified the situation. In a 1991 Georgia Bulletin article, Father Cunningham said that the school's dean and registrar researched Msgr. Kiernan's academic record since leaving Providence, and determined that his course work more than qualified him to receive his PC college degree. "It was a genuine degree, not an honorary degree," Father Cunningham said.

Father Cunningham came to All Saints from Rhode Island, and awarded Msgr. Kiernan his bachelor's degree at a convocation and Mass Jan. 26, 1991.

More than 57 years since Msgr. Kiernan left PC, the religious example remains strong there, where there are 60 priests on campus, 30 of whom teach. Brown believes that the strong faith-centered education is the school's best quality.

"If I was a Catholic in Georgia, that's what would draw me in," he said. "PC is a great liberal arts college, but that religious and familial feel would sell me."

For Msgr. Kiernan, Providence College has been a family affair. Two brothers, two cousins and two nephews of his have attended the school. And in 1999, PC president Father Philip Smith, OP, conferred upon Msgr. Kiernan the honorary degree of doctor of law.

The scholarship, Brown said, is a chance to witness to Msgr. Kiernan's "legacy at Providence College."

"He's very down to earth and relates so well to people," he said. "We thought the honorary degree was very special, but we wanted to have something that would last forever."

Fellow Atlanta alumnus Mike Post, who graduated from Providence in 1966 made the lead gift for the scholarship and has offered to match donations.

To make a donation to the Msgr. R. Donald Kiernan Scholarship Fund, send a check payable to the Msgr. Kiernan Scholarship Fund to Providence College, Alumni/Development Office, Providence, RI, 02918, ATTN: David Brown.

For more information, call Brown at (401) 865-2371 or e-mail him at dbrown@providence.edu.