2017 -- H 6187

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LC002626

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2017

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

RECOGNIZING AND CONGRATULATING THE RHODE ISLAND COLLEGE CLASS OF

2017, ITS NEW PRESIDENT, AND ITS ALUMNI

     

     Introduced By: Representatives Mattiello, Messier, Bennett, Morgan, and Lombardi

     Date Introduced: May 03, 2017

     Referred To: House read and passed

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     WHEREAS, In 1854, Rhode Island College was established by the General Assembly as

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the Rhode Island Normal School, just the eighth such postsecondary teacher education institution

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in the United States; and

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     WHEREAS, In 1920, the school was renamed Rhode Island College of Education and

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granted the authority to confer baccalaureate degrees and to establish a master’s level program in

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education; and

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     WHEREAS, In 1960, the college was given an expanded mission of becoming the state's

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urban-based comprehensive college, with programs in the arts and sciences in addition to

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professional studies; and

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     WHEREAS, During the course of its 163 years, the college has conferred over 64,000

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baccalaureate and advanced degrees and certificates, whose membership will be joined in May of

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2017 by approximately 1,600 individuals, thus increasing the ranks of Rhode Island College

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Alumni; and

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     WHEREAS, Today, Rhode Island College offers over 100 majors at the undergraduate

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and graduate levels, many of which have numerous opportunities for specialization; and

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     WHEREAS, Over 85 percent of the college’s degree recipients are Rhode Island

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residents, which is by far the highest percentage of state residents receiving degrees at any of the

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baccalaureate-granting colleges and universities in Rhode Island; and

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     WHEREAS, An institutional research study of the Rhode Island College graduating class

 

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of 2013 found that of those alumni who were employed one year after graduation, two-thirds

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were employed in Rhode Island; and

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     WHEREAS, Rhode Island College has welcomed new leadership in the person of Dr.

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Frank D. Sánchez, originally of Wyoming but more recently Assistant Chancellor for Student

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Affairs at the City University of New York (CUNY), whose parents were, like 44 percent of the

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students at Rhode Island College, first-generation college students; and

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     WHEREAS, On May 13 of 2017, President Sánchez will preside over his first

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baccalaureate and advanced degree commencement convocations; now, therefore be it

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     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

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Providence Plantations hereby recognizes and congratulates President Sánchez, the members of

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the Rhode Island College Class of 2017, and all of the college’s loyal alumni; and be it further

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     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

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transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Dr. Frank D. Sánchez, President of Rhode

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Island College.

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