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February 28, 2019Robert Lewis Jr., chief executive officer of The BASE, will be speaker May 12 at the 103rd commencement exercises for Assumption College at the DCU Center.
The BASE is a Boston-based nonprofit that provides athletic, education and career-building resources to enable student-athletes to pursue a college degree, according to a press release from the college.
He and Sister Annie Credidio, of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, will receive honorary degrees during the ceremony. Sister Credidio renovated a neglected health-care facility in Ecuador so that patients would have access to dignified and quality care.
Assumption was one of the first three institutions of higher learning to partner with The BASE in 2013. Since then, 11 students who otherwise would not have had the opportunity to attend college have come to Assumption. The first two BASE scholars graduated in 2018, and there are currently nine other students on campus, including four members of the Class of 2019, according to the press release.
Boston Magazine, in recognizing Mr. Lewis as one of the city’s 50 Most Powerful Leaders, said he is “a tireless advocate for inner-city kids.” The Boston program has now expanded to other urban centers in the nation, such as Chicago and Pittsburgh, where Mr. Lewis partners with local colleges and universities to provide full-tuition scholarships for The BASE students.
Sister Credidio has dedicated her life to “bringing care and dignity” to patients suffering from leprosy through her work with Damien House in Ecuador, according to the press release.
In the 1980s, Sister Credidio traveled to Ecuador to teach preschool children and began volunteering in the Hansen’s (leprosy) wing of one of Guayaquil’s hospitals. Dismayed by the treatment of the patients and unsanitary conditions, she and a group of other volunteers raised funds to purchase that wing of the hospital and established “Fundacion Padre Damien,” Damien House, as a clean and dignified sanctuary for those undergoing treatment.
In addition to running Damien House, she oversees the U.S.-based Damien House charitable organization, which she founded in 1994. Operating on a budget of less than half a million dollars, Damien House has helped thousands of patients, and provides around-the-clock medical care for 30 individuals, as well as treatment for 700 outpatients.
“The virtuous paths chosen by Robert Lewis, Jr., and Sister Annie Credidio and their stories of perseverance will certainly inspire the Class of 2019 as they venture into the world, prepared with an Assumption College education, where they will have countless opportunities to make a meaningful impact,” said Assumption College President Francesco C. Cesareo.
“In honoring Mr. Lewis and Sr. Credidio, the college recognizes the many unique ways in which we must use our God-given gifts and talents to better the world in which we live.”
