Carr has previous experience at the College. In 1999, she served as both the Catholic religious advisor and the coordinator of religious life. Carr said she is glad to be back, particularly because she learned so much by working at the College before. "I always come away better from being at Amherst," she said. Carr said she feels it is a privilege to be with people through an important part of their intellectual and spiritual journeys, and hopes to discuss and explore with students the connection between faith and intellect.
As the Catholic advisor, Carr will assist the leaders of the Newman Club, the College's student-led Catholic organization, and work in conjunction with Father Sean McDonagh, who will be giving mass each Sunday on campus.
Carr is also the Catholic religious advisor at Smith College. Carr will be present at Mass at the College one Sunday each month; the other Sundays she will be at Smith.
Carr will also be available one day each week to speak with students. According to Carr, she is available for students wishing to talk about questions of faith, doubts, struggles, goals, dreams, discernment of paths to take, immediate decisions and whatever else may be on students' minds.
Both Teague and Paul Sorrentino, the current coordinator of religious life, favored Carr above the other candidates for the Catholic religious advisor position.
"[Carr] was somebody who I was very conscious of. I knew she enjoyed working with Amherst College students and I thought it would be a good fit for her to work with the Newman Club," said Sorrentino. "She is excellent at working with student leaders. We are very fortunate to have her and I feel very lucky that she was available to come here."
Shauneen Garrahan '07, president of the Newman Club, said that Carr is energetic, warm and friendly and seems very enthusiastic about the student organization.
Neltja Brewster '06, a member of the Newman Club's liturgical committee, said Carr is very pleasant and will be a wonderful contribution to the Newman Club.
Brewster added that she is pleased that the responsibilities of advising and saying mass are divided between Carr and Father McDonagh because it will allow the new advisor to spend more time with students.
Carr grew up in North Hollywood, Calif., where she graduated from Corvallis High School, an all-female Catholic school. She has a bachelor's degree in history and a master's degree in counseling from the University of Southern California as well as a doctorate in theology from the Berkeley Graduate Theological Union.