 Good afternoon everybody. The commencement ceremony for the programs within University College will now be in order. Please be seated. So lights are right on you. Good afternoon, everybody. My name is Gina Bianco, and I am honored to have the privilege of being dean of University College. What we formally or informally call UC here at Roger Williams University. On behalf of the faculty, staff, and administration at UC, and more importantly, RWU more broadly, I'd like to extend the warmest welcomes to you all as we celebrate the class of 2022. It gives me great privilege to stand before you and welcome University College's graduating class. I would first like to take a moment to recognize Associate Dean Kite and the UC faculty and staff, members that are on stage with me and in the audience. I personally thank you for your commitment to our students. I am confident that the graduating class will attest that these faculty and staff members were absolutely critical in their success here at RWU. Last but not least, I would like to thank the faculty who have served not simply as teachers and colleagues, but also as mentors and friends. And I'd like to give a special thanks and a bit of good luck to Professor Kelly DeNel, who is retiring this year. She dedicated 15 years of wisdom, time, and talent, and passion to the institution. I personally could take the entire ceremony to celebrate Professor DeNel and all our contributions to UC and RWU more broadly, and me personally. But recently, I received an email from an RWU student who is graduating today, and that student said it best. I wanted to highlight the excellent professor I encountered this semester, Kelly DeNel. Her courses were the most interesting and thoughtful I've experienced throughout my entire four years here at Roger Williams. Kelly demonstrated an outstanding and meaningful content related to current events. We are here today to award our graduating students diplomas, which we will do shortly. I have to confess that this year, I approached the task of offering remarks with trepidation. Let's face it, the last time that I had to give a commencement speech, it was by Zoom, and it was a pre-recording. And to say that it didn't go so well would be charitable. It took two days, multiple takes. Let's say the UC staff has a lot, a lot of patience. Graduates, I am certain if you look back, you can see there's a long and winding path that has led to this very moment. We know that many members of the graduating class have had to accomplish and balance a great deal to arrive at this very moment. Today is your day to celebrate and honor your accomplishments. As you move forward into life's journeys, remember what you have learned and applied that learning. I am so proud of each and every one of you. Hold tight to your Roger Williams degree that will open doors forever. Hold tight to your connection with University College and the staff. Walk forward with confidence as you decide where to put your wonderful time and talent. Forever you and your families are part of our WU. Congratulations, and please relish and enjoy this wonderful time of celebration to the families and friends of our graduates. Thank you for sharing your students with us through this incredible journey. What a privilege it has been for me personally. Thank you. Moving on on our commencement today, we will have two main parts. The presentation of the President's Core Medallion recipient and other recognitions that are part of everyone what truly looks forward to the conferral of degrees and the reading of names where everyone has a moment to shine on stage. Sean Parker, Program Director for Lawrence Society will now proceed with the presentation of the President's Core Medallion honoree. Thank you, Deena. Good afternoon. The President's Core Medallion has been established to recognize graduating seniors who best reflect university core values through distinctive contributions supporting the core purpose of a Roger Williams University education to strengthen society through engaged teaching and learning. It is an honor to announce the Core Values Medallion recipient for the class of 2022 from UC. I request that the student come up to the stage after your name is announced to be recognized. The recipient of the Core Value Medallion was nominated collectively by faculty within their academic program. This student is one of the top students graduating today and will do so with the highest honors as a participant in the honors program. This individual has been intimately involved with a variety of activities both within the university and out society displaying both their leadership qualities and the university's core values. These activities include being selected as an intern leader for the Rhode Island State government law team where this individual drafted formal legislative bill calling for our government officials to implement an animal abuser registry receiving an award for their efforts. This individual has also been a strong advocate for the Equality Act drafting letters to elected officials for its passage. Finally, this student has been inducted into the legal honor society during the time at Roger Williams again displaying their blend of leadership, intelligence and persistence. This student also plans on continuing their education by attending law school at George Mason University in Washington DC. Based on this academic and extracurricular excellence and on their recognized integrity, it is my pleasure to honor paralegal student Mackenzie Lewis Clap with the President's Core Value Medallion. In addition to awarding the President's Core Value Medallion, it is a tradition of university college to recognize the recipient of school specific honor societies. It is my pleasure to recognize this year's Lambda Epsilon CHI inductees, also known as LEX. LEX is a national honor society founded by AFV, the American Association for Paralegal Education. There are LEX chapters throughout the United States and thousands of inductees are honored every year. Students selected are those who demonstrate superior academic performance evidenced by an overall GPA of 3.25 or higher. Additionally, their paralegal studies must be a 3.5 or higher GPA. I ask that each student stand when their name isn't announced and please remain standing until all names are called. Mariah Stewart, Kerry Johnson, Nadine Lu, Nathan Martin, Allison Ranson, Jennifer Bolasco, Mack Clap and Kenya Joseph. Congratulations to all of this year's inductees. You may be seated. Greetings distinguished guests, graduates and families. Roger Williams University's University College has been inducting students into honor societies for many years. The Alpha Sigma Lambda Honor Society was founded in 1945 to recognize the achievements of adults who accomplished academic accidents while facing competing interests of home, work and college. At Roger Williams University's University College, students are in the top of their class for graduating are inducted into the Alpha Sigma Lambda Honor Society. It is my honor to announce our May 2022 Alpha Sigma Lambda inductees. When your name is called, please stand to be recognized. Family and friends, please hold your applause until all inductees are standing. A lot of our students are distance learners so I'll be reading a lot of names. William Alfred, Sydney Bessette, Kyle Batista, Erica Bowie, Patrick Cahill, Vincent Caesiri, Mack Clap, Nicholas DeCarlo, Scott Dysalets, Kristen Dufault, Ryan Duffy, Steven Durand, Spencer Gray, David Hanskins, Kerry Johnson, Kaniya Joseph, Miko Lincoln, Nadine Liu, Nathan Martin, Remy Mendez, Ryan Mooney, William Orlano, Eric Rondo, Giuseppe Circello, David Chavulli, Mariah Stewart, Clint Favoren, Sandra Yazadizian. On behalf of Roger Williams University, University College's chapter of Row Alpha, I welcome you into membership into Alpha Sigma Lambda. Congratulations. Thank you, Tracy and Pam and Sean. Pam brought a very interesting point and many of you, particularly those in the audience, may not know about the demographics that University College serves. Obviously, we are Roger Williams University, we are University College and we stand proud to be University College. We are no different than the School of Business or the School of Law. We just happen to have the word college in our name. But many of our students are actually students that are remote learners. And unfortunately, particularly in today's days, to actually travel, to come to a commencement. So I would be remiss if I did not give out a shout out to the 160 graduates that we have across the nation and some international students as well. We now proceed to the chief purpose of these commencement exercises, the conferring of academic degrees upon the class of 2022. Again, please note that many of the students when they come up are not in alphabetical order. So please place close attention. Our undergraduate students today wear a hood signifying their graduation with their bachelor's degree and permanent connection to Roger Williams University community. These hood bear the Roger Williams University's colors of white and light blue. Students receiving their master's degrees today will be hooded by associate Dean Kite as they process for their degrees. The formal hooding of these students receiving advanced degrees is centuries old practice and signifies students achievement in their chosen field of study. Master's students hood include a wide velvet brand in which the color denotes the academic area in which their degree is held. We'd also like to acknowledge those undergraduate baccalaureate students graduating with a minimum of 54 residency credits who have the distinction of graduating with Latin honors. Would all students graduating cum laude with a cumulative grade point average of 3.4 to 3.6 please stand to be recognized if you are able? Will students graduating magna cum laude with a cumulative grade point average of 3.6 to 3.8 please stand if you are able to be acknowledged? And if you look in the program and you actually look at all the students who have graduated over the course of the last full calendar year, you will see that a number of our students were high achievers and did receive honors. Will the students graduating magna cum laude with a cumulative grade point average of 3.6 to 3.8 please stand if you are able to be acknowledged, okay? And then finally the students graduating summa cum laude with a grade point average greater than 3.8 please stand to be congratulated if you are able. Thank you, can be seated. Your hard work and commitment to your academic excellence are to be commended and we are proud of all of your accomplishments. We will now begin with the conferrals of degrees. Will the candidates for the masters of art and community development please rise? I am pleased to certify that these candidates are eligible for the degrees appropriate to their course of study. By the virtue of the authority granted to me by the state of Rhode Island delegated to the president by the board of trustees, we confer upon you the degree which you are entitled with all the rights and privileges pertaining thereto. Will the candidates please come forward? Elizabeth A. Cologne, master of arts, community development, Flavia A. Yanez, master of arts, community development. Will the candidates for the bachelor's degrees please rise? I am pleased to certify that these candidates are eligible for the degrees appropriate to their course of study. By virtue of the authority granted by the state of Rhode Island and delegated to the president by the board of trustees, we confer upon you the degrees to which you are entitled with all the rights and privileges thereto. Will the candidates please come forward? Scott Christopher Dissalette, bachelor of science, cyber security and networking, summa cum laude. Stephen Santiago Doran, bachelor of science, public administration. Cherylyn Almanzar, bachelor of science, criminal justice. Jaskari Martinez, bachelor of science, paralegal studies. Ashley Makayla Graham, bachelor of science, paralegal studies. Jennifer F. Belasco, bachelor of science, paralegal studies. Magna cum laude. Mackenzie Lewis Clapp, bachelor of science, paralegal studies, summa cum laude. Remy Mendez, bachelor of science, criminal justice, summa cum laude. Nicholas A. Decarlo, bachelor of science, criminal justice. Bruce Joseph Salico Jr., bachelor of science, criminal justice. Kelly A. Keating, bachelor of general studies, individualized studies. Kelvin Purvis, bachelor of general studies, social science. Frank P. Matarice Jr., bachelor of science, criminal justice. Crystal M. Price, bachelor of science, paralegal studies. Clark Victoria Harris Bates, bachelor of science, paralegal studies. Melanie A. Cook, bachelor of science, criminal justice, cum laude. Kerry Ann Johnson, bachelor of science, paralegal studies. Melissa Marie Lima, bachelor of general studies, social science. Sonia Ponce, bachelor of science, business management. Sandy R. Farrius Borges, bachelor of science, business management. Can all be seated. Will the candidates for the associate degrees please rise? I am pleased to certify that these candidates are eligible for the degrees appropriate to their course of study. By the virtue of authority granted by the state of Rhode Island and delegated to the president by the Board of Trustees, we confer upon you the degree to which you are entitled with all the rights and privileges thereto. Will the candidates please come forward? Marcella Marie Collardo, associate in science, social science. Miko D. Lincoln, associate in science, social science. You can all be seated. I'm trying to look into the audience to see if there are certificate students. Anybody have certificates? Oh! Well, the certificate student candidates, please rise. I am pleased to certify that these candidates are eligible for the degree appropriate to their course of study. By the virtue of authority granted by the state of Rhode Island and delegated to the president by the Board of Trustees, we confer upon you the degree to which you are entitled with all the rights and privileges pertaining thereto. Will the candidate please come forward? Ronald G. Hopkins, certificate in advanced professional studies, case management. Kaniya Joseph, certificate in advanced professional studies, paralegal studies. Congratulations to all of our graduates. You may now be seated. This concludes the commencement exercises for the 2022 graduates of University College at Roger Williams University. Congratulations to all of our graduates, families, and friends. Enjoy the rest of the day. On behalf of the university, thank you all for joining us today and celebrating. Will the candidate for the bachelor's degree please rise. I am pleased to certify that this candidate is eligible for the degree appropriate to their course of study. By virtue of authority granted by the state of Rhode Island and delegated to the president by the Board of Trustees, we confer upon you the degree to which you are entitled with all the rights and privileges pertaining thereto. Will the candidate please come forward? Olivia Marie Mangia, Bachelor of Science, Paralegal Studies. Includes the commencement exercises for the 2022 graduates of University College at Roger Williams University. Congratulations to all of our graduates, their families, and friends. Enjoy the rest of your day. However, before doing that, I ask that you all please stand. Everybody, we're gonna do two things. Everybody put your tassel on the right first. So the class of 2022, please put your hand on the tassel and move it to the left. Congratulations, graduating class. On behalf of the university, thank you all for joining us here today and celebrating in these commencement exercises. I would be remissed if I did not mention and thank our event staff. Heidi has been instrumental in everything that she has done to support University College. Three years ago, this is my 10th commencement exercise and I've been dean since 2018. We predominantly had these events in Providence, on our Providence campus, which didn't necessarily feel like it had the right pop and circumstances for all the good hustle and drive and grit and commitment that each and every one of you bring to this occasion. So thanks to Heidi and the president's office, we were able to host the commencement exercises here. This year was a little bit different. Last year was a little bit different. I think that we've had some lessons learned and we understand some of the time challenges and commitments and hopefully we can only get better from here but I wanna personally thank the event staff and everybody that partook in today from public safety to facilities to you name it. The photography is instrumental in making today happen. So if you please stand, if you are able and remain at your seats into members of the recessional including the graduates have exited the gym. Again, congratulations graduates. You totally deserve this. You rock.