Roger Williams University

The university’s operations date to 1919, when Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, 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, Roger Williams College began granting bachelor’s degrees. Needing a larger campus, the college purchased 80 acres (32 ha) of waterfront land and moved its main campus to Bristol in 1969. (RWU continues to operate a branch campus in Providence.) In 1989 new president Dr. Natale A. Sicuro initiated the Roger Williams Plan for the 90s, and became concurrently the president of the newly established Roger Williams School of Law and, in 1992, led the name change of Roger Williams College to Roger Williams University. RWU celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2006.[5]

Ioannis Miaoulis was appointed the eleventh president of Roger Williams University in 2019. President Miaoulis previously served as both the President and Director of the Boston Museum of Science since 2003 and brings a champion STEM philosophy to the University as he seeks to guide the University's mission and commitment in providing an outstanding education through community-engaged learning and civic scholarship.

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. The university renewed this promise for all freshmen entering in fall of 2015.[6] As a result of this program, enrollment at the university has been steadily increasing, while enrollment at many peer institutions has been decreasing.[7]

Roger Williams University enrolls approximately 3,800 undergraduate and 850 graduate students in eight schools. 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 15:1 while almost half of the classes offered have less than 20 students.[8]

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%).[9]

Roger Williams University has several degree programs that are unique:

• Marine Biology program: offers a B.S. in Marine Biology, which is one of about fifteen in the country.[10]
• Architecture program: One of a few M. Arch. (Master’s of Architecture) in a traditional liberal arts environment.[11] The program is the only one of its kind in which architects from leading firms across the country give lectures, critique student work, and bring a professional perspective into the classroom.[12]
• Historic Preservation program: the B.S. in Historic Preservation is one of seven offered in the country and the M.S. in Historic Preservation is one of about 35 offered in the country.[13]
• Construction Management program: offers a B.S. in Construction Management (CM). RWU's CM majors automatically get a minor in Business. CM program offers one of the top construction degrees in the country as RWU CM students consistently place in top 3 among their peers in regional and national student competitions. Most of these competitions are organized by the Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) and the Design Build Institute of America (DBIA). RWU Construction Management program is accredited by the American Council for Construction Education (ACCE) and a member of ASC's Northeast Region (Region 1).
• Law program: Only Juris Doctor available in Rhode Island; offers a Master of Studies in Law (MSL).

School of Art, Architecture, and Historic Preservation

In 2012, the School of Architecture, Art and Historic Preservation initiated a technology pilot program which led to a partnership with Samsung in the fall of 2013 to install 27-inch touchscreen monitors in classrooms across the university linked to a cloud computing network.[14]

Approximately 63% of students live on campus.[15] 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.[9]

The university's campus newspaper, The Hawks' Herald,[16] 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 Commonwealth Coast Conference.

• 
  Clock tower of University Library
• 
  School of Engineering
• 
  RWU Commons
• 
  Gabelli School of Business

Roger Williams University teams participate as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division III. Most of the Hawks are a member of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC), except for the swimming and diving team, who compete in the New England Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving Association (NEISDA). [17]

Men's sports include:

• Baseball
• Basketball
• Cross country
• Golf
• Lacrosse
• Polo
• Soccer
• Swimming & diving
• Tennis
• Track & field
• Wrestling

Women's sports include:

• Basketball
• Cross country
• Field hockey
• Lacrosse
• Polo
• Soccer
• Softball
• Swimming & diving
• Tennis
• Track & field
• Volleyball

Co-ed sports include:

• Equestrian
• Sailing

The university does not have a track and field and therefore uses the nearby Portsmouth High School facility in Portsmouth, Rhode Island.

Left to right: University Library; Global Heritage Hall; Gabelli School of Business.

Roger Williams University has been ranked by US News and World Report in the top 25% of regional universities in the northern region of the United States[8] Forbes ranks Roger Williams University as 412 (out of 650) overall in the United States, 288 out of all private colleges, and 149 in the Northeast.[18]

The university established a program in civil discourse, including the journal Reason and Respect, which brought in speakers such as Salman Rushdie, David Gergen, First Minister and Nobel Prize–winner David Trimble, Khaled Hosseini, author of Kite Runner, Bob Geldof of Live Aid, and others to campus. The university has established campuses in London and Florence; collaborates with sister institutions in France, Brazil, Vietnam, and Hong Kong; features a broad portfolio of study-abroad opportunities encompassing over 30 countries; and is home to a Center for Macro Projects and Diplomacy, which brings together engineering, architecture, technology, economic development, and international relations for a common purpose. Furthermore, it was recently recognized as a non-governmental member of the United Nations.

According to the university's newspaper The Hawks' Herald, "The university has reduced its bonded debt from $140 million in fiscal 2011 to under $100 million this fiscal year [2019]. It’s the first time this kind of debt has totaled less than $100 million in 10 years."[19]

• Tim Baxter, '83 Chairman of the Board, Former President & CEO, Samsung Electronics North America[20]
• Adam Braver, writer
• Roberto DaSilva, first mayor of East Providence, Rhode Island
• Edward "Ted" Delaney
• James W. Nuttall, United States Army Major General who served as Deputy Director of the Army National Guard and Deputy Commander of the First Army
• Joe Polisena, former member of the Rhode Island State Senate and Mayor of Johnston, Rhode Island
• Jerry Remy,[21] baseball player
• Bob Wiley, Former NFL Offensive Line Coach
• June Speakman,[22] Member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Roger Williams University.

• Official website
• Official athletics website