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Former names | Roger Williams Junior College (1956–1967) Roger Williams College (1967–1992) |
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| Motto | Magna Est Veritas |
| Type | Private university |
| Established | 1956; 69 years ago (1956) |
Academic affiliations | Space-grant |
| Endowment | $93 million (2024)[1] |
| President | Ioannis Miaoulis |
Academic staff | 489 (fall 2022)[2] |
| Students | 4,397 (fall 2022) |
| Undergraduates | 4,103 (fall 2022)[2] |
| Postgraduates | 294 (fall 2022)[2] |
| Location | ,, 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 |
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Roger Williams University (RWU) is aprivate university inBristol, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1956, it was named for theologian and Rhode Island cofounderRoger Williams. The school enrolled approximately 4,400 undergraduate and graduate students and employs over 480 academic staff as of 2022.
The university’s operations date to 1919, whenNortheastern University inBoston opened a branch campus in theYMCA building inProvidence, Rhode Island. In 1940, the YMCA board of directors began directing the school, and the YMCA Institute granted its firstassociate's degrees in 1948. In 1956, the institute received a state charter to become a two-year, degree-granting institution under the name ofRoger Williams Junior College.
During the 1960s, the school began grantingbachelor's degrees, and in 1967 subsequently adopted the nameRoger Williams College. Needing a larger campus, the college purchased 80 acres (32 ha) ofwaterfront 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 establishedRoger 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 theBoston 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 iconsThe Beach Boys were honored by Roger Williams University and music historiansAl Gomes and Connie Watrous of Big Noise. Plaques were unveiled at the university's Baypoint Inn & Conference Center inPortsmouth, Rhode Island to commemorate the band's concert there on September 22, 1971. The 1971 concert was the first-ever appearance of South AfricanRicky Fataar as an official member of the band and FilipinoBilly 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]
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, historic preservation, and computer science. 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%); psychology (7%) and construction management (6%).[10]
Roger Williams University has several degree programs that are unusual in the United States:
Roger Williams University also has official partnerships and collaborations with surrounding environmental organizations.
Approximately 63% of students live on campus.[16] 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% isHispanic, and 2% isAfrican American; less than 1% of the students are from other races or ethnicities.[10]
The university's campus newspaper,The Hawks' Herald,[17] publishes approximately 20 issues per academic year. AnFM radio station,WQRI 88.3, plays everything fromcollege alternative tohip hop. The college's 20 varsity athletic teams play at theDivision III level as members of theConference of New England.
Roger Williams University teams participate as a member of theNational Collegiate Athletic Association'sDivision III aside from the co-ed sailing team, which is Division I and is currentlyranked number six in the sailing world's college rankings. Most of the Hawks are a member of theConference of New England, except for the swimming and diving team, who compete in the New England Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving Association (NEISDA).[18]
Men's sports include:
Women's sports include:
Co-ed sports include:
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