BRISTOL, RI (07/14/2014)— The following local residents were among more than 1,035 students from Roger Williams University to receive their degrees as part of the Class of 2014.
Shelby Dumond of Colchester (06415) received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting.
Alexandra Whipple of East Lyme (06333) received a Master of Architecture in Architecture.
Alexandra Whipple of East Lyme (06333) received a Bachelor of Science in Architecture.
Robert Devens of Niantic (06357) received a Bachelor of Science in Construction Management.
Zachary Bushwack of Waterford (06385) received a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice.
Kaila Madera of Norwich (06360) received a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice.
Gabrielle Ciotto of Amston (06231) received a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science.
Bryan Levine of Mystic (06355) received a Bachelor of Science in Legal Studies Program.
Meghan Ortegon of Amston (06231) received a Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology.
Jessica Reed of Essex (06426) received a Bachelor of Science in Marketing.
Mariah Marquis of Pawcatuck (06379) received a Bachelor of Science in Marketing.
Thomas Cook of East Lyme (06333) received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.
Sarah Stamm of Stonington (06378) received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology.
Alexis Barnes of Mystic (06355) received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology.
David Peterle of Pawcatuck (06379) received a Bachelor of Arts in Theater.
The weather may have started wet, but the sun broke through and Commencement celebrations among more than 6,000 graduates and guests were hardly dampened, as the 1,035 members of the Roger Williams University Class of 2014 culminated their college careers at the University’s annual Commencement exercises.
In addition to awarding bachelor’s and master’s degrees to the candidates, RWU President Donald J. Farish conferred honorary doctorates to two special guests: the Honorable Lincoln D. Chafee, the 74th governor of the State of Rhode Island; and Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin.
Selected as the university’s Commencement speaker in celebration of the growing array of projects in which RWU students and faculty have partnered with organizations to improve quality of life in the State, Governor Chafee called upon Roger Williams, the University’s namesake and the State’s founder, as an example for today’s graduates – and particularly his role as a peacemaker in his era.
“To build an age of lasting peace for your generation will require concentration and will,” Governor Chafee told the graduates. “Perhaps we can draw inspiration from the examples of Roger Williams. If you learn languages, as he did, you can engage the world on its own terms. If you start new enterprises, as he did, you can invite others into the experiment and provide jobs and opportunities for many others… If you speak truth to power, as he did, you will be faithful to your conscience and you will help our society to stay strong. If you work to achieve consensus, as he did, you will become a meaningful part of whatever community you choose to join and you will plant your ideals in the hard soil of everyday reality.”
About RWU: Roger Williams University, located in Bristol, R.I., is a leading independent, coeducational university with programs in the liberal arts and the professions, where students become community- and globally-minded citizens through project-based, experiential learning. Offering 43 majors and a plethora of co-curricular activities as well as study abroad options, RWU is dedicated to the success of students, commitment to a set of core values, the pursuit of affordable excellence and to providing a relevant, world-class education above all else. In the last decade, the University has achieved unprecedented successes including recognition as one of the best colleges in the nation by Forbes, a College of Distinction by Student Horizons, Inc. and as both a best college in the Northeast and one of the nation’s greenest universities by The Princeton Review.