Fizzy Business - Regis College

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REGIS TODAY
Brighton, Roxbury, Cambridge, Somerville, Everett,
and Dorchester—to name a few towns that sent their
children to Regis when England attended back in the
fifties. But now these families, instead of being just
Irish and Italian, are Hispanic, Vietnamese, Haitian,
and Cape Verdean, too.
These families want the same things for their
children as the Irish and Italian families did a
half century ago. They want to know that after
college, their children will be able to get a job and
support themselves.
In fundamental ways Regis today is much like
the Regis of decades ago. The mandate of the Sisters
of St. Joseph to reach out into the community to
help the “dear neighbor without distinction” of race,
religion, or class is still motivating the college’s
mission to help the immigrant, first-generation,
and working- and middle-class families get ahead.
And that ethos is alive in the student body, who,
though they may not be Catholic, are often very
involved with their communities and their churches
and want to be involved in community service
work while at college.
“We still reach out with social action,” says
England. Our students are interested in social justice.
This is the tradition of the Sisters that was
very strong when I was a student here, and it’s
still strong today. It’s a lot of what we do at Regis.
Serve the underserved.”
} England
has always put families
and children at the
center of her life—both personally and professionally.
She has much to be proud of with her own family.
Her son, after years of international teaching, is
training to be a doctor. A daughter, with many years
in the Peace Corps and a master’s in public health,
recently received her master’s degree in nursing from
Regis (from the hand of her mother!). And her other
daughter, after getting a law degree from BC, is now
a Massachusetts state trooper working with a district
attorney against domestic violence.
And her children, in turn, are pretty proud of their
mom. “My son, who just finished his first year at med
school, said that my legacy at Regis would be going
coed and the athletic fields,” laughs England. “The
athletic fields! I’m not a big sports person. And if
you’d asked me nine years ago what are you going to
do at Regis, it would never have been going coed.”
One thing everyone is proud of is that this year is
the first year in the past 20 that Regis is operating in
the black. Enrollments are rising—this year’s undergraduate
enrollment is at about 800, slowly and
steadily moving up toward the eventual goal of 1,200.
She was exactly
the right leader
for Regis in its
most critical hour.
So in addition to the athletic fields and the shift
to coeducation, England is leaving a school on solid
financial footing with a new curriculum aimed at
preparing students to enter a very different economic
environment than Regis students entered in an
earlier era.
“I’m very proud of the ability of our students to
be successful, to go on to graduate school and to
get jobs,” she says.
Early in her tenure she helped ensure the success
of even struggling students, those inadequately prepared
for the rigor of college courses, by obtaining
a substantial federal grant to create a Student
Success Center.
But in addition to academic success and jobs,
England also wants something more for the students.
She also wants them to receive an education
guided by the beliefs and philosophy of the Sisters
of St. Joseph.
“I want them to have a meaningful career so they
can have joy from their work, as well as joy in their
family life,” she says. “I want Regis College to have
the stellar future it deserves in the 21st century.”
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Dr. England has worked with both President Jimmy Carter and
his wife, Rosalynn, on national health initiatives over the years.
Gathering with Regis alums and former Regis VP, Dr. Pamela
Menke, in Miami.
Conferring a master's degree in nursing upon her daughter,
Alexandra, at Commencement 2010.
Rosalynn Carter, a longtime colleague and friend, attending
President England's inaugural convocation at Regis in
April, 2002.
Greeting the new Cardinal, Seán P. O’Malley, OFM Cap.,
in Rome, March 2006.
Meeting with Mgr. Pierre-Andre, the rector of Université
Notre Dame, during her 2010 trip to Haiti.
Conversing with Senator Ted Kennedy on health care issues
in Massachusetts.