“A Lasting Academic Home for the Values Larry Embodied”: Assumption Announces Larry Lucchino Institute
On October 20, Assumption University welcomed distinguished guests, faculty, staff, alumni, and students to the official announcement of the Larry Lucchino Institute for the Study of Sports. The Institute, which will officially launch in the fall 2027 semester, will honor the legacy of celebrated baseball executive Larry Lucchino—president and CEO of the Boston Red Sox from 2002–2015 and beloved for his major role in reversing the Curse of the Bambino, leading to the Sox’ first World Series win in 86 years.
The Institute was made possible through a historic gift from the Lucchino Family Foundation and will introduce students to the many ways sports can illuminate leadership, business, culture, and the broader world around them. Courses offered through the Institute will use the field of sports as a lens through which to examine subjects across the liberal arts, complementing the University’s existing sports offerings.
“This is truly a historic day for our university community,” said Vice President for University Advancement Jeff Gillooly. “Assumption is experiencing incredible momentum. We are on quite a roll, but moments like this don’t just happen organically. It takes strong leadership and tremendous vision.”
Referencing that strong leadership and vision, Gillooly introduced President Greg Weiner, who voiced his vision for Institute will accomplish and how it will carry on Lucchino’s legacy.
“The bold dream of the Institute is this: to invite students into the vast promise and possibilities of the liberal arts and professional education through the lens of a subject about which so many are already passionate: sports,” he said. “Larry understood that sports reach far beyond the playing surface. At its best, sport is oriented to the common good. It touches fields from psychology to finance, from data science to politics.
“The Lucchino Institute will see sports the way Larry saw it—as a joyful invitation. And that is exactly how Assumption University sees Catholic liberal education. That is why this Institute belongs here. It will enable students who love sports to discover how much more there is to understand through that lens—about management and math, about society and storytelling,” Weiner continued.
David Lucchino, Larry Lucchino’s nephew and a trustee of the Lucchino Family Foundation, spoke about what the creation of the Institute means to his family and what it means to see Larry Lucchino’s life and work celebrated this way.
“When Larry addressed Assumption’s graduating Class of 2022, he encouraged students to be bold, nurture their friendships, and become catalysts for positive change. Those weren’t simply words of advice; they were principles that guided his life,” he said. “When our family considered how to best honor Larry through the Lucchino Family Foundation, we wanted to do more than celebrate his remarkable accomplishments. We believe that the Larry Lucchino Institute for the Study of Sports will do exactly that.
“Through the Foundation’s investment in Assumption, we have an opportunity to establish a lasting academic home for the values and principles Larry embodied throughout his life,” he continued. “The Institute reflects something Larry understood instinctively: sports are more than what happens on the field. Our hope is this institute will encourage students to explore connections, broaden their perspectives, and develop skills that will serve them throughout their lives, opening doors to opportunities and careers they may not have yet imagined, just as Larry’s own education and experience did for him.”
David Lucchino also spoke about the newly announced Lucchino Scholars Program, which will award scholarships annually to students who demonstrate an interest in sports and a commitment to the same principles that guided Larry Lucchino’s life.
“We are particularly excited about the Lucchino Scholars Program and the opportunities it will create for students who share Larry’s curiosity, ambition, and commitment to making a difference,” he said.
Associate Professor of School Counseling Gary Senecal reflected on the role academics played during his time as a student-athlete, saying that the most important lessons he learned—even about how he competed—were off the field, reflecting what Larry Lucchino believed.
“When I reflect on that time, what stands out to me the most was the deep synergy that both competition and education played in forming me as a young person—forming my mind, my soul, my character,” Senecal said. “I see a wonderful opportunity ahead of us here at Assumption to build a connection between the world of the classroom and the world of the gymnasium. I want to encourage both our students and faculty to embrace this opportunity and seek the space where sport might inform our academic work and where academic work might inform our students in the pursuits and passions that they have for competition.”
Charles Steinberg, the current president of the Worcester Red Sox, who will serve as the founding director for the Institute, gave final remarks about seeing the Institute as a sibling to Assumption’s Center for Civic Friendship and the importance of an interdisciplinary education for success in the professional world of sports.
“Larry Lucchino was interdisciplinary before interdisciplinary was cool,” Steinberg said. “There is an amazing amount of literature that you can read and bring to the table, and it may be that good writers and good readers are often good leaders—that is something you can learn here. That’s something that an interdisciplinary education gives you exposure to.”
“For our family, the ultimate measure of success won’t be the recognition of Larry’s name,” David Lucchino said in closing his remarks. “It will be the students whose lives are enriched, whose perspectives are broadened, and whose futures are shaped by the opportunities created here. That would be a fitting and admirable tribute to Larry, his extraordinary connections to professional baseball, and the lasting impact he had on the communities he served.”