Roger Williams University

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Roger Williams University
Roger Williams University logo.png
Former names
Roger Williams Junior College (1956–1967)
Roger Williams College (1967–1992)
MottoMagna Est Veritas
Type Private university
Established1956;69 years ago (1956)
Academic affiliations
 Space-grant
Endowment $80.4 million (2020) [1]
President Ioannis Miaoulis
Academic staff
489 (fall 2022) [2]
Students4,397 (fall 2022)
Undergraduates 4,103 (fall 2022) [2]
Postgraduates 294 (fall 2022) [2]
Location
Bristol
,
Rhode Island
,
US

41°38′58″N71°15′38″W / 41.64944°N 71.26056°W / 41.64944; -71.26056
Campus Suburban, 140 acres
Colors Navy, Light Blue, White, and Gold accents
Nickname Hawks
Sporting affiliations
Website rwu.edu

Roger Williams University (RWU) is a private university in Bristol, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1956, it was named for theologian and Rhode Island cofounder Roger Williams. The school enrolled approximately 4,400 undergraduate and graduate students and employs over 480 academic staff as of 2022.

Contents

History

The university’s operations date to 1919, when Northeastern University in Boston opened a branch campus in the YMCA building in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1940, the YMCA board of directors began directing the school, and the YMCA Institute granted its first associate's degrees in 1948. In 1956, the institute received a state charter to become a two-year, degree-granting institution under the name of Roger Williams Junior College.

During the 1960s, the school began granting bachelor's degrees, and in 1967 subsequently adopted the name Roger Williams College. Needing a larger campus, the college purchased 80 acres (32 ha) of waterfront land and moved its main campus to Bristol in 1969. In 1989 new president Dr. Natale A. Sicuro initiated the Roger Williams Plan for the 1990s, and became concurrently the president of the newly established Roger Williams University School of Law and, in 1992, led the change to Roger Williams University. RWU celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2006. [3]

Ioannis Miaoulis was appointed the eleventh president of Roger Williams University in 2019. [4] Miaoulis previously served as both the president and director of the Boston Museum of Science since 2003.

In 2012, Roger Williams University initiated a tuition freeze in which all entering freshmen would have a guarantee that their tuition would not increase for the next four years. [5] In 2019, the university terminated this policy. [6]

On September 21, 2017, music icons The Beach Boys were honored by Roger Williams University and music historians Al Gomes and Connie Watrous of Big Noise. Plaques were unveiled at the university's Baypoint Inn & Conference Center in Portsmouth, Rhode Island to commemorate the band's concert there on September 22, 1971. The 1971 concert was the first-ever appearance of South African Ricky Fataar as an official member of the band and Filipino Billy Hinsche as a touring member, essentially changing The Beach Boys' live and recording act's line-up into a multi-cultural group. Diversity is a credo of Roger Williams University, which is why the school chose to celebrate this moment in the band's history. [7] [8]

Academics

Roger Williams University enrolls approximately 4,100 undergraduate and 300 graduate students in eight schools. [2] These schools offer more than 50 liberal arts majors and professional degrees, such as law, architecture, construction management, and historic preservation. The university has a student to faculty ratio of 14:1 while almost half of the classes offered have less than 20 students. [9]

The largest majors are business, management, and marketing (24%); architecture (10%); security, law enforcement, and related protective services (9%); communication and journalism (8%); and psychology (7%). [10]

Roger Williams University has several degree programs that are unusual in the United States:

School of Art, Architecture, and Historic Preservation Roger Williams University school of Architecture, Art, and historic preservation, Bristol, Rhode Island.jpg
School of Art, Architecture, and Historic Preservation

Student life

Approximately 63% of students live on campus. [14] 88% of the students attend school full-time. About 14% have a family income of less than $40k. 75% of the student population is white, 5% is Hispanic, and 2% is African American; less than 1% of the students are from other races or ethnicities. [10]

The university's campus newspaper, The Hawks' Herald, [15] publishes approximately 20 issues per academic year. An FM radio station, WQRI 88.3, plays everything from college alternative to hip hop. The college's 20 varsity athletic teams play at the Division III level as members of the Conference of New England.

Athletics

Roger Williams University teams participate as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division III aside from the co-ed sailing team, which is Division I and is currently ranked number six in the sailing world's college rankings. Most of the Hawks are a member of the Conference of New England, except for the swimming and diving team, who compete in the New England Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving Association (NEISDA). [16]

Men's sports include:

Women's sports include:

Co-ed sports include:

Notable people

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References

  1. ↑ As of June 30, 2020. U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2020 Endowment Market Value and Change in Endowment Market Value from FY19 to FY20 (Report). National Association of College and University Business Officers and TIAA. February 19, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Institution Data Profile - Roger Williams University". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
  3. ↑ "History & Traditions". rwu.edu. Roger Williams University. Archived from the original on December 27, 2007. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Ex-Boston museum chief to take the helm at Roger Williams". The Providence Journal.
  5. ↑ "Affordable Excellence". Roger Williams University. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Roger Williams University grows enrollment by freezing tuition". The Providence Journal . Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  7. ↑ McGaw, Jim (September 17, 2017). "Friday, Sept. 22 will be 'Beach Boys Day' in Portsmouth". The Portsmouth Times/Rhody Beat.
  8. ↑ "The Beach Boys / Roger Williams University Plaque" (PDF). September 21, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Roger Williams University". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  10. 1 2 "Roger Williams University". College Scorecard. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Marine Biology Web". Stonybrook University. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
  12. ↑ "NAAB schools". National Architectural Accrediting Board. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
  13. ↑ "NCPE Academic Programs". National Council for Preservation Education. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Fast Facts". Roger Williams University. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  15. ↑ "The Hawks' Herald". thehawksherald.com. Roger Williams University.
  16. ↑ "Official Athletics Website". Roger Williams University Athletics. June 24, 2020. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
  17. ↑ "Board of Trustees". www.rwu.edu.
  18. ↑ "Jerry Remy Baseball Stats by Baseball Almanac". Baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  19. ↑ "June Speakman".
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