2017 -- S 0854

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2017

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S E N A T 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: Senators Picard, Raptakis, Algiere, Satchell, and Metts

     Date Introduced: May 03, 2017

     Referred To: Recommended for Immediate Consideration

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

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

in the United States; and

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

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

education; and

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

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

professional studies; and

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

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

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

Alumni; and

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

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

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

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

baccalaureate-granting colleges and universities in Rhode Island; and

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

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

were employed in Rhode Island; and

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

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

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

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

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

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

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

hereby recognizes and congratulates President Sánchez, the members of the Rhode Island College

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

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

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

Island College.

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