Lois Boland Quinn of Williamstown receives Via Veritatis Award from Elms College

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L to R: Linda Mansfield, chair of the board of trustees of Elms College, Elms President Sr. Mary Reap, IHM, Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell, Lois Boland Quinn, and Elms Trustee Ann M. Callahan

CHICOPEE, MA (05/18/2010)(readMedia)-- Williamstown resident Lois Boland Quinn was honored with the Via Veritatis Award by her alma mater, Elms College, at an awards dinner Satuday, May 15. The Via Veritatis Award is presented annually to an outstanding Catholic woman who exemplifies Catholic womanhood and culture at their best, and who has made significant contributions to society. Via Veritatis, which means "way of truth," comes from the college's motto, Viam Veritatis Elegi " (I have chosen the way of truth"). The first Via Veritatis Award was made in 1932.

Boland Quinn, a 1946 graduate of Elms, worked for 32 years as a probation officer, retiring in 1979 as assistant chief of probation for Berkshire County. She majored in French at Elms, with the intention of teaching. But her uncle, a district court judge in Berkshire County, persuaded her to assist with cases in the county's probation office. Boland Quinn became the first female probation officer in Berkshire County and the youngest woman in the court system.

Because of her lifelong concern for the wellbeing of children, she has served on the board of many youth-related organizations, and was a founding member of Downey Side, a national nonprofit organization devoted exclusively to the recruitment of adoptive families for children aged 7 to 17 waiting in the foster care system.

Elms College is a co-educational, Catholic college offering a liberal arts curriculum that gives students multiple perspectives on life. Founded in 1928 by the Sisters of St. Joseph, Elms College has a tradition of educating reflective, principled, and creative learners, who are rooted in faith, educated in mind, compassionate in heart, responsive to civic and social obligations, and capable of adjusting to change without compromising principle.