Holy Cross Announces Sanctae Crucis Award Recipients

WORCESTER, Mass. – The second annual Sanctae Crucis Awards will be presented to five individuals at the Holy Cross Board of Trustees' dinner on April 30.  The award is the highest non-degree recognition bestowed by the College on an alumnus or alumna.

The awards are presented in three categories. For Distinguished Professional Achievement, the recipients are Vincent Andriole, MD '53 and Kevin J. Collins '61.

Andriole, of Stratford, Conn., is recognized as one of the top experts in the world in the area of infectious diseases.  He is a professor of medicine at Yale University School of Medicine, serves on numerous national committees and is a frequent lecturer.  Most recently, he was honored with delivering the Garrod Lecture in England.  The British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy chooses a person who has made a significant contribution in that field.  Andriole is only the third American to ever receive this honor.

Kevin Collins, of Saddle River, N.J., retired as managing director of the First Boston Corporation.  In that capacity he served as an allied member of the New York Stock Exchange.  Collins is recognized for his expertise in the areas of environmental finance and historic preservation.  He has served on countless commissions and boards, locally and nationally.  An alumnus of Rutgers University Law School, he is a former chair of Rutgers' Board of Trustees and current chair of the school's budget and finance committee.  In addition, Collins is a past president of the Holy Cross General Alumni Association and a member of the Varsity Club board of directors.

In the area of Outstanding Community Service, the College will honor Kevin T. Avery, DMD '65 and William H. Farley '58.

Avery, of Oklahoma City, Okla., is a professor of dental services administration and assistant dean for student affairs at the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry.  He has served as a consultant to Head Start programs for 15 years and the U.S. Job Corps for 20 years.  He is deeply involved in issues relating to dental care for migrant workers and their children, institutionalized populations, preschool children in day care and nursing home populations.   Avery established the Native American Center of Excellence in 1993.  His efforts on behalf of Native Americans have resulted in the College of Dentistry receiving a federal grant for a fellowship for a Native American faculty member.

William Farley, of Simsbury, Conn., is very involved in his community in the greater Hartford area.  He has served numerous organizations including the House of Bread, where he was president of the board of directors and a founding member.  He oversaw the growth of the organization from a morning soup kitchen to a Christian outreach program that includes men's and women's shelters, full-time residential facilities, full-time soup kitchen and more. In addition to involvement in many other service organizations, Farley founded and chaired the Hartford Prayer Breakfast.  Just recently, the group held an interfaith event that brought together more than 700 people in the Hartford area.

Farley founded the Farley Company, a successful commercial real estate firm, in 1968.  The firm has since merged with Whittier Partners of Boston and CB Richard Ellis, the world leader in commercial real estate.   He has been honored with numerous awards in his professional life and for his community service.

This year's Outstanding Young Alumnus/Alumna is Erin Kemple '81 of Springfield, Mass.  Kemple is the executive director and co-founder of the Housing Discrimination Project of Holyoke, Mass.  The private fair housing organization serves central and western Massachusetts.

In addition to overseeing the organization and raising funding for its operations, Kemple trains realtors and lawyers on fair housing laws.  She is a member of a fair housing working group of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, advising the federal agency on fair housing issues.

Following her graduation from Suffolk University Law School, for 11 years Kemple served as a staff attorney at Western Massachusetts Legal Services in Springfield.  She litigated cases in the areas of landlord-tenant law, housing discrimination, and the rights of mortgagors.  She handled a state-wide class action which caused the Secretary of Health and Human Services to change national AFDC policy regarding caretaker relatives of foster care children.