Falvey Acquires Senatorial Papers

Lauren Armstrong Staff Writer

There is never an hour of the day where you will not find students studying and doing work in Villanova’s Falvey Library. This semester, all the work has paid off due to a huge gift from former Senator Patrick J. Toomey, the Pennsylvania Republican senator from 2011-2023, who donated his senatorial papers for the use of Villanova students.

Toomey grew up in Rhode Island and attended La Salle Academy in Providence. After graduating high school as valedictorian, he attended Harvard University.

During his time post-graduation, he worked at a variety of jobs, from working on Wall Street to opening Rookie’s Restaurant in Allentown, PA with his younger brothers. From there, he was elected onto the Allentown Government Study Commission, and then decided to run for the House of Representatives in 1998. After serving three terms, he chose to run for Senate, and after losing his first election, he won in 2011 and served 12 years for the state of Pennsylvania. Toomey is well recognized across the United States as being one of the seven Republicans to vote towards convicting Trump of incitement of the insurrection during the second impeachment trial.

Toomey has espoused a variety of controversial legislative beliefs, such as a ban on same-sex marriage and not believing in women’s rights to access abortions. He does, however, believe in needing stricter background checks in order to purchase guns.

Toomey was a well-respected and well-liked political leader in the state of Pennsylvania and it is an

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