Providence College Awards Undergraduate Degree to Kathryn LaRoche During 91st Commencement Exercises

PROVIDENCE, RI (06/02/2009)(readMedia)-- Kathryn LaRoche , a resident of Waltham, MA , was among over 990 students from Providence College who received undergraduate degrees during the College's Ninety-first Commencement Exercises held on Sunday, May 17, 2009. Kathryn received a Bachelor of Arts in Public Comm Service .

The Commencement address was delivered by award-winning documentary filmmaker Martin J. Doblmeier '73, whose acclaimed productions include Bonhoeffer and The Power of Forgiveness. The president and founder of Journey Films, Inc. of Alexandria, Va., Doblmeier is one of five distinguished individuals who received honorary degrees from the College. The others are Sister Deborah A. Blow, O.P. '78, co-founder and executive director of North Country Mission of Hope in Plattsburgh, N.Y., and a founding member of the Dominican Sisters of Hope of Plattsburgh; Robert P. George, J.D., D.Phil., the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University; The Honorable Maureen McKenna Goldberg '73, acting chief justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court; and Michael A. Tranghese, the longtime commissioner of the 16-school BIG EAST Conference-the nation's largest Division I-A athletic conference.

Providence College is the only college or university in the United States administered by the Dominican Friars. The Catholic, liberal arts college has an undergraduate enrollment of approximately 3,900 students and offers degrees in 48 academic majors. Since 1995, Providence College has been ranked among the top three regional universities in the north in U.S. News' America's Best Colleges. The College achieved the #3 position in the year 2009 edition of the popular college guide.

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Notes to Editor: A press kit is available at http://www.providence.edu/Commencement2009. Electronic photos of most members of Providence College's senior class (undergraduate day school) are available. Please contact Trisha Rojcewicz at trish@providence.edu to arrange for transmission.