Skip to Main ContentSearch SiteSearch Site
Top

CCRI Hall of Fame

  1. CCRI
  2. CCRI Hall of Fame
  3. Members
  4. 1998 Hall of Fame inductee - Marianna Pacitto

1998 Hall of Fame inductee - Marianna Pacitto

Marianna Pacitto

“The Community College of Rhode Island has given me fond memories and a life-time friendship with many of my colleagues.”

Marianna Pacitto dedicated more than 25 years of service to the Community College of Rhode Island. She joined the college in 1967 when it – and she – were just starting out. Throughout the years she established herself as a “super secretary” who went beyond the call of duty on a daily basis. Consistently cheery and always helpful, Pacitto is fondly remembered by the countless CCRI students, faculty and colleagues who have benefited from her kindness and competence.

At the age of 18, Pacitto began her tenure with CCRI at the CIC complex in Providence. She was one of only six full-time clerk typists whose duty it was to perform all clerical aspects of the college. Long before the convenient age of personal computers, fax machines and voicemail, she established herself as a model of efficiency.

Sometimes working seven days a week to ensure that the behind-the scenes operations of the college ran smoothly, Pacitto and her five colleagues handled all clerical needs of the faculty; provided switchboard coverage; typed all student correspondence, including acceptance letters and registration procedures; prepared all outgoing mail for distribution; and for many years she served as the backbone in the office of the academic dean, Dr. Robert A. Silvestre.

In 1977, Pacitto was appointed to serve on the President’s Search Committee which selected CCRI’s second president, Edward J. Liston. Throughout her tenure at CCRI, she was chosen to serve on many other prestigious committees including CCRI’s 25th Anniversary Committee in 1989; the inaugural Hall of Fame in 1994; and the CCRI 1989; the inaugural Hall of Fame Committee in 1994; and the CCRI Accreditation Committees of 1984 and 1994.

In 1985, Pacitto assumed the role of administrative assistant to Judeth Crowley, dean of Arts and Sciences. She held this position until her retirement in 1994 and is remembered fondly for her kindness, competence, and willingness to extend herself beyond her job description to help a colleague, student, or supervisor.

Pacitto’s dedication to her job has not gone unnoticed at CCRI. In 1993, she was honored with a 25 Year Recognition Award, and in 1994 she was named CCRI Employee of the Year.