Mercy Mondays: MaryAnne Davey becomes new director of the Mercy Center for Spiritual Life

MaryAnne Davey, currently assistant director of campus ministry at Stonehill College, has been appointed director of the Mercy Center for Spiritual Life at Salve Regina University. She will begin her new role Feb. 16.

“The Mercy Center stands in the heart of our campus and at the heart of our mission,” said Dr. Theresa Ladrigan-Whelpley, vice president for mission integration. “We are blessed to welcome MaryAnne Davey into the Salve community as our new director of the Mercy Center for Spiritual Life. She brings significant experience in student leadership development, pastoral ministry and justice education, as well as a depth of spirit and vision, and will contribute much to the transformational work of the Mercy Center and the University.”

Davey comes to Salve Regina with sixteen years of experience in campus ministry at three Catholic universities, Stonehill College, Assumption College and Loyola University Maryland. In the twelve years she has served in ministry at Stonehill College, Davey directed the H.O.P.E. Service Immersion Program, transforming the formational scope of the program to more deeply integrate faith and justice and expanding its reach to include 17 sites with a team of 30 student leaders, staff and faculty companions, and over 200 student participants annually.

Davey also developed an Interfaith Women’s Spirituality Group, an Interfaith Women’s Retreat, founded the Justice Scholars Program, a four-year active citizen development program for college students, and launched a Callings: How I Found My Vocation series focusing on broad understandings of vocation present in diverse members of college community.

She has served as a leader both in the department and across the college, participating in strategic thinking and planning at the programmatic level, office level, and institutional level, and contributed as a member of many college committees including the First-Year Experience Committee, where she collaborated to develop a vocation-based extended orientation course.  She was recognized by Stonehill College with the Diversity and Social Justice Award in 2016 and was nominated for and completed Stonehill’s LEAD Professional Development Program in management training.

As part of the Office of Campus Ministry, Davey worked with a team of lay and ordained ministers, undergraduate and graduate students leaders, and campus collaborators, to engage and respond to the spiritual and pastoral needs of the college and advance the mission. She holds an MA in Spiritual and Pastoral Care from Loyola University Maryland and a BA in Psychology with a certificate in Catholic Studies from Saint Anslem College. Davey has also completed a certificate program in spiritual direction with Saint Joseph Spiritual Ministries and additional graduate coursework in management in ministry at the School of Theology and Ministry at Boston College.

MaryAnne Davey was drawn especially to the work of Salve’s Mercy, Catholic mission and the Sisters of Mercy’s focus on the spiritual and corporal works of mercy and the five critical concerns, which she says deeply illuminate her own understanding of living the Catholic faith.

“I am excited to begin my position as the Director of the Mercy Center for Spiritual Life at Salve Regina University,” Davey said. “The opportunity to work with the students, staff and faculty fills me with great anticipation of what we can build together in the spirit of Catherine McAuley. The vision and values of the Sisters of Mercy are so infused across campus and deeply lived out already at the Mercy Center. It is my sincere hope as I join an already strong team, to build on the good work being done as we further the mission to create a harmonious, just and merciful world together.”

President Dr. Kelli J. Armstrong affirmed is also excited to welcome Davey to Salve Regina.

“MaryAnne Davey will be a wonderful addition to our campus community and to the Mercy Center,” she said. “We are grateful for her wide breadth of experience in the development of impactful programs and her ability to create connections across diverse groups. As we work to advance our mercy mission, both on campus and with our local partners, we look forward to the gifts she will bring to Salve.”

This post is part of an ongoing series called Mercy Mondays that highlights Salve Regina’s dedication to its Mercy Mission. Search the tag Mercy Mission for more updates on the Mercy branches of Salve Regina.