The first PC license plates are now available

PROVIDENCE — Joel Darelius was in a rush to get home, waiting on a visit from a cable television technician.

That’s how he wound up at the front of the line inside the Schneider Arena lobby early Friday morning. Darelius was among friends, after all.

This wasn’t your occasionally testy visit to the local Division of Motor Vehicles branch. It was the debut of specialized Providence College vanity plates, a charitable endeavor five years in the making.

“We’ve always followed the basketball,” Darelius said. “Years ago, I had season tickets. My wife’s mother worked here. My wife is an alum.

“She’s very much looking forward to this.”

Darelius was in and out in quick time. His wife, the former Lisa Arcaro, had a gift coming her way. His late mother-in-law, Lana Arcaro, was an administrative assistant for 25 years with the Friars and passed on her loyalty to the school to her children.

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Black lettering and numbering across a light backdrop replaced what’s become the traditional Rhode Island blue and accompanying wave. Providence College’s logo was stamped in the upper left corner, and the school’s name was spelled out across the bottom. The school’s athletic department now has another outlet to spread its brand through the state and beyond.

“Now we’re going to have a license plate with the Friars driving all over the country,” said Kevin Connolly, a senior assistant vice president with the school and associate athletic director in charge of external relations. “It’s how can we get it out there. There’s an appetite for it from our fans.”

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Connolly said more than 400 orders had been placed at an additional $40 charge. That amount was tacked onto normal registration fees and split evenly — $20 to the state for production costs, $20 to the Friars for their Angel Fund. That was established 15 years ago to help students who faced sudden, unexpected financial hardships.

Providence joins 13 other current charitable vanity plate options on the DMV website. It’s the fourth sporting entity to be featured — the Boston Bruins, New England Patriots and Boston Red Sox all offer custom plates in the state. Five other options remain in the preorder phase, a sort of patience test embraced by some members of the school’s athletic department.

“I’ve wanted to be a head coach for a long time — timing is everything,” Friars women’s basketball coach Erin Batth said. “And the timing is right now. I think just waiting for something is a blessing in itself. Everyone is coming in here, they’re so excited — build on the moment.”

Doors opened at 9 a.m., and Batth arrived about 45 minutes into the three-hour window. She snapped a couple of pictures with Providence’s mascots and a few fans who meandered through the steady line. Her team’s debut on the court comes in November — Batth’s hiring alongside men’s coach Kim English in March signified a new sporting era for the school.

“We’re so fortunate to have this fanbase,” Connolly said. “They’re so loyal to this institution, to this college, to this community. It’s bigger than any one person.”

That support through generations has reached what feels like something of a crescendo in recent years. Providence sold out of 2023-24 men’s basketball season tickets in May. Overflow student demand has forced a lottery for their places in the Amica Mutual Pavilion’s lower bowl beyond the baseline.

Connolly — and, before him, current athletic director Steve Napolillo — presides over a fundraising operation that has cleared nine figures of athletics-specific donations in the last two decades. "Friartown" is branded on billboards and at baggage claim areas at Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport. The Friars have used that capital to transform their campus, adding new facilities in men’s and women’s soccer, men’s lacrosse, softball, field hockey and women’s tennis.

Among the alums who appeared Friday morning was Paul Oristaglio, a men’s basketball guard in the late 1970s. His nickname — Stags, naturally — was typical of the personalization that appeared on most of the plates. Oristaglio joked he would have scored more points on the 1977 team that reached the NCAA Tournament, but “someone had to pass the ball to Joe Hassett.”

“You can sell tradition,” Darelius said. “You have to sell the campus life. Providence is a great city.”

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On Twitter: @BillKoch25