Dear Barry community,
I am pleased to tell you that, at the March 1 meeting of the Board of Trustees, we named Sister Linda Bevilacqua the President Emerita of Barry University, effective July 1, 2019.
Upon the endorsement of the Dominican Sisters of Adrian, Michigan and with initial, generous gifts from the Congregation, the Shepard Broad Foundation, and the Garner Family Foundation, we are establishing the “Adrian Dominican Institute for Mission and Leadership” in honor of Sister Linda and her Adrian Dominican predecessors. The focus of the Institute is to foster informed and committed lay leadership. We foresee that, initially, the Institute will focus on Barry faculty, staff and administrators. In time, the goal is to foster and expand collaboration with other Adrian Dominican sponsored entities, the other U.S. Dominican colleges, universities, and Catholic K-12 schools.
After taking six months off as part of a year-long sabbatical we granted to her, we are very pleased that Sister Linda will return to campus as the Founding Director of the Institute in January 2020. We are preparing space on the second floor of Thompson Hall for the Institute’s home. Given Sister Linda’s love for Barry from her student days (1958-1962) to the present, and knowing the focused initiatives she put in place throughout her presidency to foster, develop and integrate Barry’s Mission and Core Commitments into the life of our University, we are very grateful that Sister Linda is excited to give birth to the Institute.
Best regards,
John M. Bussel
Chairperson
Board of Trustees