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Malvern Prep Welcomes the Class of 2026 with Brotherhood Ceremony
On Wednesday, September 21, members of Malvern Prep’s Class of 2026, as well as new members of the classes of 2025 and 2024, were formally welcomed into the Malvern community during the Brotherhood Ceremony in the O’Neill Sports Center.
Fr. Christopher Drennen, O.S.A. ’73 opened the ceremony and shared with students and guests that September 21, 2022, marked exactly 100 years since the school celebrated its opening on Warren Avenue with a Mass in 1922. The Class of 2026 will be, in four years’ time, the 100th graduating class of Malvern Prep.
Fr. Bill Gabriel, Malvern’s newest Friar, addressed students and guests by sharing his experience of learning about the Brotherhood at Malvern. Recalling a story of when he witnessed an act of Brotherhood between students, he explained that Brotherhood is “what we do here [at Malvern Prep].” “We are the people who notice as Augustine did, that we need each other in order to be the best version of ourselves,” shared Fr. Bill.
Students began the ceremony by sitting with their parents/ guardians. They were then presented with a medal of St. Augustine, which was placed around their neck by their parents or guardians. These medals depict the image of St. Augustine, the founder of the Augustinian Order of priests who established and support Malvern Prep. Each student and his family were then blessed by one of the five Augustinian Friars participating in the ceremony. The new Malvern brothers then signed their names in a Class of 2026 ledger, symbolizing their acceptance into the Malvern community. They returned to sit with their classmates, rather than their parents/guardians, signifying their membership in the Brotherhood. mp
Congratulations to the seven seniors being honored by the National Merit Scholarship Program. Aidan Naughton and William Yacovelli are two of over 16,000 semifinalists. Alex Daoud, Logan Kelley, Patrick Mears, Bryce Pippin, and Jack Rosenberger are Commended Scholars.
This recognition comes after high school juniors took the 2021 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) last fall. The nationwide pool of semifinalists represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors and includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. Congratulations! mp
Malvern Prep Announces $4 Million Gift
On Tuesday, November 15, Malvern Preparatory School announced the receipt of a transformational gift being made by current parents, Mr. Brian and Mrs. Barbara Riley P’21’26, in the sum of $4 million. Mr. Riley also serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees in the role of Treasurer. The gift will be used to transform Riley Hall (formerly Tolentine Hall). Riley Hall will become the center of Middle School life at Malvern Prep and serve as the primary academic building for the Howley Middle School Program which was established in 2022. Construction on Riley Hall is currently underway and expected to be completed in time for the 2023-24 academic year. “The need for a dedicated space for the W. Nicholas Howley Middle School Program was determined recently by a Campus Master Plan evaluation process. Our community is so humbled and grateful for the generous support of the Riley Family. Their charitable gift allows our Middle School faculty and students to have a ‘home’ on campus,” said Mr. Patrick Sillup, Head of School.
Built in 1923, Riley Hall was one of the first buildings constructed on Malvern Prep’s Warren Avenue campus after relocating the school from the campus of Villanova University in 1922. The building skirts the main hub of campus life, the Quad, and will soon be connected to The Maggitti Pavilion. The Maggitti Pavilion will
become the center for college counseling, learning support, and administration on Malvern Prep’s campus. Construction for that project will begin in the Fall of 2023.
The Rileys recognize the importance of giving back to a Malvern Community that has been so instrumental in their sons’ lives. “For our family, Malvern is more than a school. Malvern is a brotherhood centered on our shared Faith and guided by Augustinian values of Truth, Unity, and Love. Like so many Malvernians before them, our sons have made friends for life and have been taught to lead meaningful lives grounded in Christ’s teachings. We are so very thankful for what Malvern has done for our sons, their friends, and for thousands of Malvernians and their families, past, present, and future,” shared Mr. and Mrs. Riley.
Malvern’s Director of Development, Mike Treston, Jr. ’02, acknowledges this significant gift for Malvern, stating, “This gift speaks to the tremendous outcomes of our Middle School program. The Riley Family has experienced first-hand what our Middle School program offers young men, and they have seen the effect our faculty and moderators have had on their own sons. We are grateful that they believe so strongly in the mission of Malvern Prep and we hope this gift will inspire others to invest in our school.” mp
Malvern Prep celebrated Native American Heritage Month on Wednesday, November 9, gathering together to welcome members of the Lenni Lenape Tribe to campus. Members of their tribe included Chief “Gentlemoon” Chuck DeMund, Chief of Ceremony and Intertribal Affairs; Ken “Wolf Eyes” Macaulay; Barbara “Bluejay” Michalski, Chief of Culture and Tribal Secretary; Walter “Quiet Feather” Sosnowski; and Pam “Talking Goose” Sosnowski.
During the celebration, the school took time to acknowledge and thank the Lenape Nation for being the original caretakers of the land we currently occupy.
The Lenape people are the original inhabitants of Delaware, New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania, and Southern New York. For over 10,000 years they have been the caretakers of these lands and of The River of Human Being, more commonly known as the Delaware River. The Lenape were the first tribe to sign a treaty with the United States and the first tribe to have land set aside for them in New Jersey.
Many place names in Pennsylvania are derived from the Lenape language, such as Manayunk, Conshohocken, and Neshaminy … to mention only a few. In the city of Philadelphia stands a statue of Chief Tamanend, a revered leader among the Lenape, who signed many treaties with William Penn. The history of the Lenape is truly the history of Pennsylvania. mp
