 Good morning. The 44th commencement exercise of Roger Williams University is now in order. Welcome to one and all on this suspicious occasion. Welcome to our graduates, their families and friends, to our dedicated faculty and staff, to Chairman Brady, members of the Board of Trustees, President Farrish, and welcome to our honorary degree recipients, Governor Chafee and Dr. Doris Kearns Goodwin and to all of our special guests. We gather today to celebrate you, the class of 2014, to recognize a milestone you have reached today and honor your achievements as we look forward to your future accomplishments. Today's commencement begins with the singing of our national anthem by a talented member of the class of 2014, Macy Miller. Macy is a popular economics major with minors in legal studies in Spanish. Macy has been active on campus as the Vice President of the Mock Trial Association, a presidential ambassador, and a member of several honored societies. Macy is from West Warwick, Rhode Island. Please now remove your hats for the national anthem, and then you may be seated for the invocation, which will be delivered by the university's multi-faith chapter. Berkman said you can be seated. Cation, I just want to give a great gift of thanks for sunshine today. Join me in an attitude of prayer. Spirit of wisdom, source of knowledge. We arrive at a moment long expected and well earned. The commencement of these men and women from Roger Williams University. For the joy of this day and the satisfaction of goals achieved, we give thanks. For sweet memories of friendships found and deepened through hours in the upper commons, on the playing fields, in student clubs, and in residence halls, we give thanks. For the stretching of intellects, imaginations, and skills beyond expectations, for the challenges of education that seemed daunting and yet today were met with success, and for experiential learning and community engagement that honed academic understanding, we give thanks. For families and friends who nurtured and supported these years of study with love and care, and for faculty, staff, and administrators who mentored and helped to mature the minds and spirits of the graduates before us, we give thanks. Gracious spirit, abundant in love and reassurance, bless these women and men as they go forth into a world full of new adventures as well as unknowns. Bless them as they seek, and in many instances create meaningful professions in the world. Bless them and their ability to meet expected and unexpected demands because of their unique competencies. Bless them as they embrace lives as global citizens with boldness and with courage. And most of all, holy one, imprint on them the example of the Reverend Roger Williams, whose feet touched this very land some 378 years ago. Continue in them as he did, an ongoing commitment to learning. Sustain in them an appreciation of the richness of human diversity as he did. Grant them the ability to stand fast in their convictions as he did so tenaciously, and instill in them the promise of hope, which Roger Williams never lost. And now, bless this class of 2014, and bless this university today and through all the days ahead. And we all say amen. Thank you, Macy and Reverend Nancy. On behalf of everyone, let me at this time also recognize the members of the Dick Parent Orchestra and the Rhode Island Highlanders Pike Band. Join me now in a round of applause. Before I present our senior class speaker, I would like to take a moment to introduce the members of the platform party. In addition to Roger Williams University president, Donald J. Farrish, chairman of the board, Richard Brady, grand marshal Robert Blackburn, and a distinguished honorary degree recipients, Governor Lincoln Chaffee and Dr. Doris Kearns Goodwin. I'd also like to introduce the senior leadership of Roger Williams University, which is represented here by the members of the Board of Trustees, our academic deans, and the university vice presidents. We recognize them for their dedicated and responsible stewardship of the institution as they continue to shape Roger Williams University as a transformational leader in the higher educational landscape. Let's have a round of applause for them as well. Now I'd like to introduce our senior class speaker, Jesse Ramos. Jesse is from Bristol, Rhode Island, and graduates today with a double major in English literature and secondary education. He recently presented his thesis entitled From Jailbird to Gangster to Gentlewoman, The Rise of the Female Hero in Daniel Defoe's Maul Flanders. Everybody loves Jesse. He's engaged in a wide range of literary interests. He not only wrote on the 18th century, but he has served as the emcee and student coordinator for the poetry slam on campus, one of our most popular events. To that role, Jesse brought a unique mix of humor, social commentary, and love of language in addition to his own excellent poems. Jesse's enthusiasm for celebrating diversity and his ability to find beauty in everyone and everything around him has endeared him to his fellow students, faculty, and staff. This year, he taught at the Rhode Island Transition Academy, working with young adults who complete their high school education in an alternative setting. Jesse plans to continue this work, teaching and working underserved communities after commencement. Let me now welcome, and all of you welcome, Jesse Ramos. It's crazy. Hello, Roger Williams University community. I'd love to set the mood with some of Kurt Vonnegut's words. Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got 100 years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies. God damn it, you've got to be kind. A lot of people ask me why I wanted to do the graduation speech. And the main reason I can really think of is that I needed one last chance to tell everyone how beautiful you all are. I need to let you all know how much you've impacted me and how hard it will be to say goodbye to such an incredible group of people who I'm so grateful to know. You made it. You made it. Congratulations to you all and your families and friends who helped make this possible. And thank you deeply to the professors, administration, and staff in this community who supported us in chasing our dreams. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to come up here and speak to you all today. What a long, strange trip it's been. The grateful, dead lyric lingers in my head as I stand here with more than butterflies consuming me. One time I made that lyric, my status on Facebook and someone commented, you're only 22. How can you say it's been a long, strange trip? Because quite simply, my friends, it has. Hasn't it? This beautiful four-year mess we get thrown into where we meet strangers and learn about them and we dance with them and we kiss them. Where we live with people we've never known before and we bond over common interests and broken bones. Where we walk to class half awake only to leave smiling from something new we thought we would not learn. We stay up until sunrise as through last minute coffee binge studying or socializing with faces we've grown used to over the short time here. Where we cry about things that won't matter in 10 minutes and laugh about our scars and wake up gathering our thoughts like lost puzzle pieces scattered about town. I've got to experience so many incredible times with people I grew so close to while I learned about you all in the process. I learned it's okay to just feel what you feel. I learned that a lot of days I won't be able to fall asleep and I won't be able to get out of bed in the morning because I'm too damn sad. And I learned that as human beings should, I made mistakes in bad decisions and that's one of the best things about this whole experience. We are always, always learning. Whether it's inside of a classroom on campus or with your friends on the weekend, we're figuring out life together every single day and trying to find a balance. I remember growing up five minutes down the street thinking I'll never go to Roger Williams. I got to get the hell out of Bristol and I need to see something new. And as my friends listed off new cities and towns they would reside in for college, I felt like I was going to a place I was all too familiar with. I thought I would feel trapped and out of place but I learned very quickly that the students at this school had similar stories to mine. We all came here with the same ounce of fear and tried to make ourselves into something we could all be proud of. Four years later, I stand here. Five minutes down the road in a whole different world and I stayed. I stayed because this school became a second home to me, a place where I felt free, a new kind of community that felt like a family. From napping in my Jeep freshman year between classes to standing on this stage today, I've been able to learn and appreciate everything about this place in a way I never thought possible. We have so many students ready to make something happen in this world in all different areas of life and they're ready to do so passionately. As I look through the crowd, I see the faces of friends that I have made, both students and people who work here and I see my family who's been holding me above the clouds with love through everything imaginable and I never thought I would have the chance to tell them I love them in front of a crowd like this so I love you. I can't begin to describe how much you have all helped shape me as a person and I'm grateful to take pieces of you all with me as I live on. The story behind each and every one of you is amazing and something that we can all learn from. This class of 2014 that you will watch walk today is comprised of some of the most beautifully-minded people I've ever had the chance to meet in my entire life and I'm gonna miss the hell out of all of you. This class is filled with people who have grown so much we've got future architects and engineers and artists and teachers and writers and CEOs and space cowboys and gangsters of love and even some more races. We have people who have no idea what they wanna do and that's totally fine. And most importantly we've got a bunch of people who've got this big heart right here pulsing inside of their chests and I'm pretty confident that we're gonna make every beat count. If I could offer any words that mean something to a group of people that taught me a lot and changed my life for the better, keep on growing. Use your brains and hearts together and go fight like hell against indifference. Go love the people in your life who've been there for you, go swim with alligators, go ride a mountain lion, go hug someone who looks down, go marry a beautiful person and make some awesome kids eventually. Remember that it's okay to not be okay and there are people waiting around every corner to support you in this crazy life. You've got so much power and words inside of your bodies that can make the short time we've gotten this earth better for you and all the people you love around you. Wear compassion on your sleeve and live fearlessly my brothers and sisters. Never forget your roots no matter where they started growing from and keep feeding them every day. And the next time someone tells you that you haven't been on a long strange trip, just smile. Thank you all, I love you. Thank you, Jesse. I'm now pleased to introduce a longstanding member of our distinguished faculty, Dr. Matthew Stein of the School of Engineering who give today's faculty address. Dr. Stein. Thank you, Provost Workman, President Farish, Board of Trustees and distinguished guests. It is a great honor to bestow congratulations on behalf of the Roger Williams University faculty. You can't miss us in our brightly colored academic regalia that we wear today out of respect for our own academic traditions and out of respect for you, our graduates. I'd also like to acknowledge our staff, many of whom can be seen today, marshaling today's lovely event and who, like your faculty, are here today because we love you. I thought I'd spend a few seconds up here telling you a thing or two about yourselves, but you already know about yourselves. So perhaps my comments are directed towards the parents and siblings and loved ones of our graduates. Here are some observations on the class of 2014, a report from the front lines, if you will. Observation number one, you do not read instructions. Nobody taught you how to use your cell phone and you never once glanced at the ridiculous little pamphlet that came with it. Rather, when encountering something new, you just do whatever and see what happens. This was an approach that you sometimes made towards your assignments, where you just did whatever. And our role as faculty was to provide what happens. There is something to be said about this generation of self-teachers. When you learn something, you learn it for good, for real, and forever. Observation number two, any disparagement of your class as being lazy or ill-directed is completely erroneous. Oh, thanks for that. We have seen quite the opposite. In fact, what we have seen is that you are entirely ready to work yourself like fiends, particularly when you perceive that that's what you came to do. Imagine the following scenario. It's four years ago and you're attending an accepted student day. And I come out as a faculty member and I say reassuringly, don't worry. All your classes will be easy. And everything you do will be considered excellent. You'd turn to your parent and say, I'm not coming to this place. Observation number three, with your tweets and your texts, you are making up a curious new language and a new social fabric. As the future users of that language and the future inhabitants of that society, I suggest that this is entirely your privilege to do so. Class of 2014, your faculty salute you. May you continue to do whatever. We all can't wait to see what happens. Congratulations. It's now my pleasure to introduce the 10th president of Roger Williams University, Dr. Donald J. Farsh. Today, I think you can do better than that. Today, Dr. Farsh brings greetings to you, our graduates, as you enter the next exciting chapter of your lives. Dr. Farsh. Thank you, Provost Workman. Mr. Chairman and members of the Board of Trustees, Governor Chafee, Ms. Goodwin, and other distinguished guests, faculty and staff of Roger Williams University, alumni, friends, and family of the graduates, and the graduates themselves. Good morning and welcome to your day, commencement of the class of 2014. Before we go any further, let me ask the graduates to stand. On either side of the platform are an incredibly dedicated group of men and women who comprise the faculty of this fine university. Graduates, please show your appreciation for your professors. But don't sit down just yet. Please turn around and thank your family and friends who are here to support you once again. I can sit down. This is a bittersweet day for many of us. In the three years we've been here, my wife, Maya, and I have come to know quite a few of you rather well. And frankly, we're gonna miss you. This is the downside of a small college and a personalized education. We, and I include the faculty and staff, know you much better than is possible at a large university. And therefore, we are simultaneously enormously proud of the talented adults who have become well students here, but also saddened that you're leaving us. Just as many of you have told me of your mixed feelings about leaving a place that for so many of you has become a second home. So stay in touch. Send us an email. Let us know how you're doing. Stop by my office if you're in the area. But please don't just drop out of sight. Now one of my tasks today is to charge you, the graduates, with certain tasks as you leave campus. So here we sit, you and I. You're looking forward with decades of your lives ahead. I'm looking backward at the decades that have passed since I sat where you're sitting half a century ago. What shall I charge you to do? Let me start with an observation. One of your first choices will be whether you will observe life as if you were standing on a curb watching a parade passing by, or whether you'll go out there and meet life head on, controlling as much as you can, and dealing with the rest as best as you are able. Remember the words of Socrates. The unexamined life is not worth living. Ah, but what did he know? In the end they made him drink hemlock. So maybe I should tell you to avoid coining aphorisms. In full recognition of the fact that unsolicited advice is always appreciated and welcomed. Let me tell you four things that I wished I had heard at my commencement. If only because it would have saved me the trouble of learning things the hard way. So here are farishes four rules for happy and successful life. You're welcome to write these down. First, be a lifelong learner. We call this ceremony commencement not graduation because we see it as a beginning and not an end. If you're going to participate in your life, make it a habit to learn something new every day. That might range from reading a newspaper to reading works of nonfiction to formal coursework to broaden your horizons and your versatility. So on a personal note, I decided to go to law school on a part-time basis after I had accepted a faculty position in biology at the University of Missouri. And I did that because I was interested in the emerging field of environmental law and the environmental protection agency was just then being created. Now, I ended up, I never practiced law, but the added breadth of a law degree brought to my resume that would allow me easier access to an administrative job in higher education. And you can see where that led. I now get to speak at commencement exercises. How cool is that? All because you keep learning. Second, that sounds like I'm channeling Jesse Ramos, which I find terrifying, find someone to love. I don't mean you should necessarily make that your first ask for the afternoon, but you have more immediate issues. But we humans are a social species and our lives are infinitely more enriched when they are shared with someone you love. I have to warn you. You have to be aware that there are risks in committing yourself emotionally to another person. You can get hurt. I know that from my own experience. My wife died when she was just 45 and I was devastated. Dealing with her death was the biggest challenge I have ever faced. I began to question why I had ever put myself in a position where I could be so emotionally hurt. But two years after her death, I met Maya and I fell in love for a second time. So now, rather than feeling sorry for myself because I lost my wife, I feel doubly blessed for having had the good fortune to have had the love of two wonderful women. My life is far richer than it would have been had I chose and go through life alone. So find someone to love. Third, find something you love to do. My father came of age in the 1930s during the Great Depression. Going to college was out of the question for him. And when he did find a job, he was so grateful to the company that hired him he stayed with them for 43 years before he retired. As a little kid, I never had any inkling that he actually hated his job. He just didn't speak about it. But as I got older, he told me that what he wanted most for his children was that they find something they truly love to do. And he wanted the three of us to go to college because he saw the doors of opportunity opening much wider if we had a good education. All three of us went to college. All three of us found rewarding and enjoyable careers. He gave us all the chance to do something he couldn't do himself. You have that same opportunity now. Find something you love to do. Don't spend your lives doing something you hate. And that leads me to the most important piece of advice I'll give you today. Don't settle. If you don't like the view from the particular mountain you've climbed, climb back down and climb another mountain. It's the easiest thing in the world to make excuses for putting up with something intolerable or distasteful or merely unpleasant. I have a spouse, I have children, I have a mortgage. I have good and valid reasons for not looking for a different opportunity. And besides, there's something ennobling about putting up with some level of adversity. Baldred-ash. If you don't like, yeah, that's an old-fashioned word. If you'd, but it's appropriate for polite society and it's reflective of the fact that I'm an old-fashioned person. So if you don't like your circumstances, change them. John Greenleaf Whittier, a 19th century American poet who's not longer much read, he's pretty saffron by today's standards. But he wrote a couple of lines that captured this problem of putting up with stuff that you don't really like to do because it's too much bother to do anything about. For of all the sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these. It might have been. Don't put yourself in a position when at the end of your life, you find yourself looking back with bitterness and regret at the missed opportunities you chose to let pass you by. So let me give you a couple examples for my own life. Half a century ago, when I graduated from the University of British Columbia in Canada and wanted to study entomology, that was another problem, insects. In, yeah, well, gotta start somewhere. So I wanted to go to grad school and I had offers from Iowa State University and North Carolina State University and I chose to go to NC State because I thought it would pose a different, a greater difference really from my rather sheltered Canadian upbringing than would be the case at Iowa State. Well, that proved to be a bit of an understatement. It was the fall of 1963 and I arrived in the capital city of Raleigh to find a completely segregated city. The handful of African American students and it was just a handful on campus could not patronize any of the stops, shops and stores near the campus but instead had to travel two miles into downtown Raleigh to the black section of the city and my field research brought me into contact with rural North Carolina at the time kind of a scary place where the push bars on the screen doors of the entrances to the little shops bore the words whites only or sometimes no colored allowed. That's in my lifetime. Three months after I arrived, John Kennedy was assassinated in Texas and Lyndon Johnson promptly oversaw the passage of the Civil Rights Act and the Boater Rights Act and I watched as all those shops and stores across the street from the campus began dismantling the highly entrenched system of segregation that had been the norm since the Civil War. They did so grudgingly for the most part but they did it. I signed up with a local chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality to participate in registering African Americans to vote. All this happened during the two years that I was in graduate school in North Carolina. It completely changed my perspective on our society and if I'd stayed in Canada for grad school I would have missed the whole thing. I moved around a lot. From North Carolina I went to Massachusetts for doctoral work at Harvard. I was also accepted at Imperial College in London but Harvard had the better financial package and then I went to the University of Missouri from my first academic job. I gradually retired of the Incompetent Administration at Mizzou. Some of my faculty colleagues can relate to that sentiment. I don't mean currently. Although perhaps they did but. And so I left Missouri to take an administrative job as an assistant dean at the University of Rhode Island and four years later I moved to Northern California as a dean and then a provost but I found the California State University System stifling from the standpoint of not being open to innovation. So I accepted a presidency at Rowan University in New Jersey where the system of higher education had been dismantled and each campus had its own board of trustees. I don't want to give you the impression that I've moved from one hated job to another and that I'm impossible to satisfy. I've genuinely enjoyed every job I've had and I've made friends on all these campuses but when the jobs became stale or when I ran out of new things to do I thought it was best for me in the school that I move on. I thought I would stay at Rowan until I retired but before I was nearing the end of my time there things became overly political and I was asked to do some things that I thought were unethical and thus we had a parting of the ways and that might have been it. I could have chosen to retire but I really liked working at a university and I didn't want to stop with a bad taste in my mouth from how things had ended at Rowan. So at the tender age of 68 I accepted the presidency here at Roger Williams and you know what? That was a great decision because this is the best job I've ever had. This is the, and that's because, oh, it really is. I have the best Board of Trustees, the best group of fellow administrators, the best and most committed faculty and staff and the best group of students I've ever worked with and I mean that with all sincerity. So if you find yourself in a situation that you can't resolve where you face the prospects of being unhappy for a long time, don't just accept it, do something about it and if you find a job you enjoy we are not counting the days until you can retire instead enjoying every day as it comes. And so class of 2014, we here at Roger Williams University have done all we can to prepare you for a successful and enjoyable life. It's now up to you to make the most of it. We have every confidence you will. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. I'd like to now call Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. John King to the lectern for the presentation of the President's Core Values Medallion Honorees. Dr. King. Thank you, Provost Workman. The university community has developed and embraced a distinctive set of core values that play a central role in guiding a respectful, diverse and intellectually vibrant university community. Love of learning as an intrinsic value. Preparation for careers and future study. Collaboration of students and faculty in research. Commitment to community through service and sustainability. Appreciation of global perspectives and promotion of civil discourse. The President's Core Values Medallion has been established to recognize graduating seniors who best exemplify the core values of the university. It is now my distinct pleasure to call to the stage the 13 Core Value Medallion recipients for the class of 2014. President Farage will present each student their medallion as they cross the platform. From the School of Architecture, Art, and Historic Preservation, Christopher Lance Winkler. From the School of Continuing Studies, Lauren Elizabeth Macbeth. From the School of Education, Maya Marie Sargent. From the School of Engineering, Computing and Construction Management, Timothy James Clarkin. From the Feinstein College of Arts and Sciences, Humanities and Performing Arts Division, Leah Polly Catania. From the Feinstein College of Arts and Sciences, Math and Natural Sciences Division, Ryan B. Rosendies. From the Feinstein College of Arts and Sciences, Social Sciences Division, Samantha Curran. From the Mario J. Gabelli School of Business, Alexandra Caitlyn Landry. From the School of Justice Studies, Danielle Elizabeth Snyed. And our at-large recipients, Willie Borkeye, Richard Mendoza, and Rebecca Ann Quigley. Thank you, President Farage. Thank you, Provost Workman. These Core Value Medallions truly speak to what we are as a university and what a just society should embody. Congratulations to our awardees and their families. It's now my pleasure to ask the President of the Roger Williams University Alumni Association to bring you greetings. Please welcome Michael Lascalia, class of 1983, to the podium. Good morning. One of the greatest privileges of serving as the President of the Roger Williams Alumni Association is this opportunity to come here today and congratulate you and welcome you, class of 2014, to the Roger Williams Alumni Association and a community that is over 29,000 strong worldwide. From this day forward, your reputation and the reputation of RWU are joined. As you begin to apply for jobs, forge new careers, and join new communities, Roger Williams will not only be on your resume, it's going to be a part of your personal history. In that way, your past is not what it used to be. Your accomplishments will be our accomplishments and our accomplishments will become your assets. It was 31 years ago today that I sat where you are now and I never imagined that I'd be standing here in front of you today. I remember that morning in May, 1983, I woke up, went out to my car and took a roll of white athletic tape out of the trunk and I used it to put two words on the back of my graduation gown. Those words were what now. The truth is, I had no idea and it took me 31 years to try to figure it out but today I can tell you what now. We were Roger Williams College back then, a small school and I knew most members in my class by name but in just three decades, I have witnessed an amazing transformation of this institution and it's not just the physical changes that I'm talking about as impressive as they are. It's the stature of Roger Williams University and I would argue that the success of our alumni that spans a phenomenal range of industries and professions is the common denominator that has propelled this university to regional preeminence. Remember, you will never stop contributing to the greatness of your alma mater. Just as you stand today on the shoulders of previous generations of Roger Williams alumni, future students will someday stand on yours. The purpose of the Alumni Association is to keep you connected with RWU. To engage you with the life of the university in a way that's meaningful to you, whether you assist the recruitment of new students or offer yourself as a career mentor or volunteer at a chapter, an alumni chapter in a local city, you're helping Roger Williams, you're supporting RWU. We offer lifelong commitments to fellow alumni as well as services and benefits that are helpful to students and alumni alike. Here's the best part, you're gonna like this. Membership is automatic and better than that, it's free. You're not gonna get a deal like that in many other places in this world. We ask you in return, it's true. In return, what we ask you is the most important thing that an alumni can do for their alma mater. Show your pride in RWU, whenever and wherever the opportunity arises. Look, we all know that this small campus in Bristol is a very special place. I realized it when I came here for a campus visit in 1979 with my parents. You realize it today sitting there. What I'm doing today is urging you to let the world know it. This truly is a very special place. Becoming an active member of the Alumni Association is the best way for you to claim your place at the table and participate in the authorship of this university's future. In a few moments, your degrees will be conferred and you will turn your tasks to enter the community of extraordinarily proud Roger Williams alumni. As you do, remember that this marks not the end of your life as a student but the beginning of your life as an alum. You are our greatest source of continuity and stewardship and the university here, you will always have an essential role in its future and in what we do. So welcome, class of 2014 to the Roger Williams Alumni Association. And I look forward to hearing your answer to my 31-year-old question of what now? Congratulations to you all. Thank you, Michael. It's now my honor to announce the university's excellent in teaching award. This is to recognize the currency and the subject covered in the classroom, the contributions to curriculum development, the ability to inspire students and colleagues and the ability to prepare students for advanced study professional practice and civic responsibility. The really unfortunate thing about this award is we can only give it to one person. We have an amazing faculty here, a faculty that is engaged with students that loves to be engaged with students, take their craft very, very seriously. They've already given them one round of applause. I think they deserve another round of applause for a new award. The recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Teaching Award embodies all that we admire in an extraordinary teacher. It was great pleasure that we recognize the seventh annual RWU Excellence in Teaching Award recipient, Professor Deborah Robinson. As Dr. Robinson makes her way to the main stage, allow me to share with you some of the excerpts from nomination letters that will give you a true sense of how students and our colleagues feel about her. This is a quote, a true teacher. Dr. Robinson is constantly creating and perfecting every course she teaches. She has developed a reputation for having extremely high standards. Students speak with awe about the rigor of her courses and her expertise in the discipline. Professor Robinson demands excellence in her classes, honing students' analytical prowess and critical thinking skills and nurturing students' scholars. Students complete her courses feeling accomplished and proud that they are able to complete such rigorous, challenging work. She's not only passionate about the subject, but she is passionate about helping students grow and develop. Dr. Robinson has a love of education in the many forms it takes and routinely incorporates non-traditional and creative ways to explain new materials. Dr. Robinson is an inspiration to students, faculty and staff, and is well deserving of this award. I now ask President Farrish to return to the lectern for the presentation of the honorary degrees. Let's have a hand for Kevin. Now I'll ask Dr. Farrish to return to the lectern for the presentation of the honorary degrees. Each year, Roger Williams University has the privilege of awarding honorary degrees to distinguish individuals who have each in their own exceptional way benefited humankind. It is now my distinct pleasure to continue this tradition and to confer Roger Williams University honorary degrees upon two highly regarded recipients. Chairman of the Roger Williams Board of Trustees, Richard Brady, will join me in these presentations. It is now my pleasure to ask Doris Kearns Goodwin to join Chairman Brady to the left of the lecture. So let me tell you a few words about this honorary presidents, politics and baseball. Few writers in our midst might lay legitimate claim to true mastery of such disparate topics, but you, Dr. Doris Kearns Goodwin, are no ordinary writer. From your earliest days retracing the details of each afternoon's Brooklyn Dodgers game after your father's return from work, through each of the chapters of the bully pulpit, the latest of your six critically acclaimed bestselling books, your unmatched talent as a storyteller has infused new life into past events. The newfound lessons that you have so often unearthed from the tales of many of our greatest 19th and 20th century American presidents have transformed you into a world renowned presidential historian and an in-demand voice on how the actions of those leaders still resonate today. With your equally engaging and enlightening approach, you have not only appealed to history aficionados, but reached new generations of readers, a point driven home by your work with Steven Spielberg to bring Lincoln to the broader American audience via the big screen. Perhaps less celebrated is your own history as a trailblazer in baseball. You were the first woman to enter the Boston Red Sox locker room. Apparently there are more Red Sox fans here than Lincoln fans, but that's okay. I like so many in the Roger Williams University community. You remain a devoted fan of the reigning world champions today. Doris Kearns-Gubin for your dedication to scholarship, to storytelling and to sustaining critical lessons from the leaders of our past. We are honored today to confer upon you the degree of Doctor of Humane Letterist, honoris causa. Given this 17th day of May, 2014, congratulations, Dr. Doris Kearns-Gubin. I would now ask Governor Lincoln Shaffey to join Chairman Brady and me. Inspired by the distinguished leadership of your father, the honorable John Shaffey, who so ably represented the ocean state in the U.S. Senate for decades, you embarked on a public service career that has taken you from the Warwick City Council to the U.S. Senate in Washington to Capitol Hill and Providence. Since your earliest days in office, you have proven your commitment to independent thinking, a value long treasured in this state, and one that today's graduates will be wise to emulate. As Governor of Rhode Island since 2010, you have championed the idea that higher education can play a key role in driving economic development, creating solutions to quality of life issues and pushing the state forward in areas as diverse as science and sustainability to historic preservation and the arts. On this campus alone, we have been honored to work directly with you on initiatives ranging from rethinking main streets in the state's key urban districts to creating new infrastructure for electric powered vehicles and to celebrating the profound impact of our university namesake, Roger Williams, in the 350th anniversary year of the state charter. Governor Chafee, with your father having earned an honorary degree from Roger Williams in 1977, and with the presentation of yours today, you become the first father, son, recipients in university history. And with your nephew Cameron earning his architecture degree today, this ceremony is truly a family affair. We are deeply honored to confer upon you the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa given the 17th day of May in 2014. Congratulations, Dr. Chafee. I am delighted to tell you that Governor Chafee also graciously today has agreed to serve as our keynote speaker, and he will now address the class of 2014. Well, thank you, President Farrish, and good morning. Woo! I get to go to a lot of different kinds of events, and there's nothing quite like in a commencement day. Those of us in politics talk about the future all the time, but today, I feel that it's really right in front of us. What an honor it is to wish such a promising group of graduates well today. On behalf of the state, I am delighted to welcome you into the company of educated men and women. And I'm quite happy to say that the days when commencements were conducted in Latin have fallen by the wayside. From the spirit of history, I'd like to quote the poet Horace, written in 23 BC, and urge you to Carpe Diem, or seize this day. It belongs to you. You have dreamed of it. You have worked hard to make it happen, and now it is here. Roger Williams has been mentioned previously. Namesake of this exceptional university was himself a Latin speaker, and one of the most learned men in all of colonial New England. And indeed, his education formed him. It helped him to become the person he was destined to be. As a young man, he was lucky to train with the great lawyers of his day who taught him to stand his ground, use evidence, and to question arbitrary power. He then attended Cambridge University where he befriended the great poet, John Milton, who in addition to his poetry would write eloquently in defense of free speech. There he also nourished his facility for languages, which would come in handy during the long winter of his banishment. In addition to speaking Latin, Greek, French, and Dutch, he learned some Hebrew, and then in the early years of America, he spoke to the Native Americans in their own language, and it may have saved his life. It certainly helped when it came time to found a new colony with the blessing of the local Indians on land that he purchased from them with their consent. In other words, Rhode Island may never have come into existence if Roger Williams had not received such a good education. And ever since, education has been essential to defining our possibilities. In his time, Roger Williams took a dream of human betterment and made it real. No other state can trace its origins to a single thinker in quite the same way. No other colony was founded quite as impressively by a single individual, just an idea. To be honest, I have often thought we under-appreciated Roger Williams. We do honor him properly for his conscience and his courage for standing up for others, but we do not always honor him for the second half of the equation. Having established his differences with Massachusetts Bay, he then had to build a new community here from scratch. That took perseverance, commitment, and work to deal with the free thinkers not unlike himself and to build a community out of them. To create Rhode Island out of these combustible elements was like herding cats. It required long-term vision and a great deal of patience. But over time, Rhode Island vision proved to be sound. So sound, in fact, that many of the principles that are written into the United States Constitution, especially the First Amendment, which proclaims freedom of worship to be an essential right. There is another aspect of Roger Williams' thinking that I'd like to talk about today, especially in an age of so many unresolved wars taking the lives of young people like yourselves around the world. He was a peacemaker. Throughout his long life, he negotiated among and between the English and the native peoples of this region, and he was trusted by them as a fair broker because he believed in his own words that God had made mankind of all one blood. He had studied the Indians closely. He knew that they too were deeply religious, devoted to their families, and careful in their observations of nature. He was not always successful in his diplomacy. He could not prevent King Philip's war from breaking out, but he was always an activist for peace, not only wishing for it, but taking positive steps to make it real. And those are qualities that I admire greatly. I was fortunate to serve in the United States Senate in times of both peace and war, and I still carry with me a sense that we did not do all we could to promote the former and prevent the latter in the early years of this century when you graduates were eight, nine, and 10 years old. I remember a particular remark that has stayed with me ever since I heard it uttered. World leaders are often invited to address what we call a joint session of Congress, and I always attended these events and clearly remember the Prime Minister of Italy's words as he recalled a moment in time. At a summit of the world's leaders, held in early 2001, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi scanned the room and proclaimed that we were living in an age of lasting peace. Our planet was enjoying a remarkable time. The NATO alliance was strong and secure. The West was prosperous, and China and India were rising quickly to join the global economy and build a huge middle class at home. Scientists and doctors were making inroads against AIDS and other scourges, and it was not absurd to hope that the developing world would also make rapid progress in the years to come. Allow me to quote Prime Minister Berlusconi directly as he spoke to us senators and representatives. Quote, in 2001, I was called to chair the G8 Summit in Genoa. After the conclusion of the summit's official program, the final dinner became a dinner among friends. At one point that evening, I sat back slightly from the table, almost an external observer in order to enjoy the cordial discussion among the leaders of the largest industrial countries of the world. President Bush was chatting amably with Prime Minister Kazumi of Japan. Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima were but a distant memory. Prime Minister Blair was joking with Chancellor Schroeder of Germany, and the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, was also talking with President Bush. The tragedy of the Second World War and the Cold War, which had lasted for so many years was forgotten. I felt great pleasure inside. I thought that the world had in fact changed and how different and peaceful it was the world we were handing to our children. An age of lasting peace beckoned, but then later as we know, the attacks of September 11th came. They were a defining event of their time. There's hardly a person who does not remember where they were on that terrible day, but the attacks do not have to be a defining event of your time. That precious opportunity that Berlusconi described was not that long ago. It is worth our effort to reclaim it against all the cacophony for more wars. To build an age of lasting peace for your generation will require concentration and will. Perhaps we can draw inspiration from the examples of Roger Williams. If you learn languages as he did, you can engage the world on its own terms. If you start new enterprises as he did, you can invite others into the experiment and provide jobs and opportunities for many others. If you study nature as he did, you will be better positioned to understand the increasing range of our environmental challenges. If you speak truth to power as he did, you will be faithful to your conscience and you will help our society to stay strong. If you work to achieve consensus as he did, you will become a meaningful part of whatever community you join and you will plant your ideals in the hard soil of everyday reality. If you do all these things, you will be living up to much more than the promise of Roger Williams University or even Roger Williams. You will be giving new life to some of our oldest aspirations as fellow inhabitants of the same fragile planet. Here in this beautiful place, what better time to begin. Good luck, good fortune, thank you. Thank you, Governor Chafee. Now, we're gonna proceed with the chief purpose of these commencement exercises, the conferring of academic degrees upon the class of 2014. And you thought we'd forgotten about you. Oh no. Those graduates receiving master's degrees will be conferred first within their respective schools and programs of study. These graduate students were honored earlier this week at a special ceremony where they received their graduate hoods. Following the graduate students will be the undergraduate students. And in keeping with the Roger Williams University tradition, the student marshals who have been selected by the dean and faculty of their respective school have the privilege of receiving their degree first among the undergraduates in their school. The student marshals are listed in the order of exercises on page two of your program. And I'd like to ask them to stand and be recognized. The student marshals please, stand up. Thank you. We would also like to acknowledge those students who have the distinction of graduating with honors. So I'm gonna ask all of the students graduating cum laude. Grade point average of 3.4 or more. Cum laude graduates, please stand. There are students who are graduating magna cum laude. That's a cumulative GPA of 3.6. Magna cum laude graduates, please rise. And finally, the students who are graduating with a GPA of in excess of 3.8, summa cum laude. Summa's. Your hard work and commitment to academic excellence are to be commanded and we are proud of all your accomplishments. And now we will begin the conferral of degrees. I'm gonna ask Dean Potter to come forward to present the School of Engineering, Computing and Construction Management. Will the School of Engineering, Computing and Construction Management degree candidates please rise. President Farage, on behalf of the faculty, I certify that these candidates are eligible to the degrees appropriate to their course of study. Graduates, by virtue of the authority granted by the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations 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, privileges and responsibilities pertaining thereto. Well, the candidates please come forward. Timothy James Clark and summa cum laude, Engineering, Civil Specialization. Lindsay Elizabeth Bridge, Master of Science in Construction Management. Ashley Marie Mishad, Master of Science in Construction Management. Abdul Rahman Fahad Aladali, Construction Management. Aki Mishad, Master of Science in Construction Management. Hakeem Hashish Alish, Construction Management. Salah Abdullah Almutawa, Construction Management. Thib Zunefir Al-Khatani, Construction Management. Oliver J. Ames, Engineering, Mechanical Specialization. Thomas P. Benton, Construction Management. Nicholas Christopher Mitzis, Construction Management. Zachary C. Boorman, Engineering, Mechanical Specialization. Mathias J. Boyle, Engineering, Mechanical Specialization. Vanessa Marie Camelio, Engineering, Civil Specialization. Bianca Lynn Capiello, Construction Management. Megan Alice Connolly, Cum Laude, Engineering, Civil Specialization. Colin C. Crowell, Engineering, Computer Specialization. Ashley Marcella Curavan, Engineering, Mechanical Specialization. Mike Deroma, Construction Management. Janelle Marie Devereaux, Engineering, Civil Specialization. Jacob T. Drows, Engineering, Electrical Specialization. Nicholas Scott Farland, Engineering, Mechanical Specialization. Charles Menard Floyd, Construction Management. Richard Rollins Freitas, Engineering, Mechanical Specialization. Samantha Marie Gilderslee, Magnificium Body, Engineering, Mechanical Specialization. Alexandria Gilman, Engineering, Mechanical Specialization. Thomas Holesworth, Construction Management. Jake Bryan Hornstein, Construction Management. Robert Peter Hutchins, Engineering, Mechanical Specialization. John F. Iacinto, Construction Management. Khalil Ibrahim, Construction Management. Evan L. L. L. Kelly, Construction Management. Christy Calli-Cordano, Cum Laude, Engineering, Mechanical Specialization. Noelle R. Laflame, Engineering, Custom Program Specialization. Trevor M. Larson, Engineering, Civil Specialization. Anthony James Malconian, Engineering, Mechanical Specialization. Kayla Brooke Mello, Engineering, Civil Specialization. Richard Mendoza, Summa Cum Laude, Engineering, Electrical Specialization. Gulad Al Mahumud, Engineering, Civil Specialization. Connor Robert Needham, Engineering, Mechanical Specialization. Gregory M. Neville, Engineering, Mechanical Specialization. Kayla B. Newton, Cum Laude, Engineering, Civil Specialization. Stephanie Danielle Norris, Engineering, Mechanical Specialization. Jonathan D. Parziali, Construction Management. Jonathan Paul Paloso, Cum Laude, Computer Science. Angelica Maria Purzan, Engineering, Mechanical Specialization. Matthew J. Pollard, Engineering, Electrical Specialization. John R. Price, Construction Management. Patrick Joseph Rahm, Engineering, Civil Specialization. Freddie A. Rivera, Engineering, Civil Specialization. Cameron M. Shea, Engineering, Electrical Specialization. Antonio Edward Souza, Engineering, Civil Specialization. Adam C. Stanley, Cum Laude, Engineering, Mechanical Specialization. Connor Douglas Stewart, Engineering, Mechanical Specialization. Brian Thomas Stukman, Engineering, Mechanical Specialization. Justin Lee Taylor, Magna Cum Laude, Engineering, Mechanical Specialization. Benny Pellegrino Tortorici, Magna Cum Laude, Engineering, Mechanical Specialization, and Electrical Specialization. Zachary Steven Turner, Cum Laude, Engineering, Civil Specialization. Richard John Vendici, Construction Management. Cameron C. Wendell, Engineering, Mechanical Specialization. Over Wilson, Magna Cum Laude, Engineering, Met Specialization. Susan Kathleen Woodard, Engineering, Civil Specialization. Congratulations. The graduates may now be seated. Thank you. So Dean Robert Cole, please come forward to present the School of Education degree candidates. Will the School of Education degree candidates please rise. President Farrish, on behalf of the faculty, I 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 on Providence Plantations 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, privileges, and responsibilities pertaining thereto. Will the candidates please come forward. Alexandra Claire Godino, Summa Cum Laude, English, Secondary Education, School Marshall, Jillian Mary Ackerman, Elementary Education, Melissa Ann Avery, Elementary Education, Emily Ann Bitchell, Elementary Education, Eric T. Bransfield, Elementary Education, Ruth Bresland, Elementary Education, Amanda Elizabeth Brown, Elementary Education, Abigail E. Carney, Magna Cum Laude, Foreign Language and Secondary Education. Abigail Caroline Casey, Elementary Education. Hilary Connell Klaus, Foreign Language, Secondary Education. Lauren Emily Cohen, Magna Cum Laude, Elementary Education. Taylor Marie Kotling, Elementary Education. Kaylee Ann Cooper, Magna Cum Laude, Elementary Education Studies. Hilary Michelle Fisher, Elementary Education. Charlotte Louise Fitzprague, Cum Laude, Elementary Education. Catherine Elizabeth Fox, English, Secondary Education. Mark W. Gargula, Elementary Education Studies. Catherine Carolyn Gillis, Cum Laude, Foreign Language, Secondary Education. Drew P. Ginsburg, History, Secondary Education. Andrew Richard Gray, Elementary Education. Maya Rae Himmelsbach, Cum Laude, Elementary Education. Abigail E. Hood, Elementary Education. Matthew Dominic Manfredi, English, Secondary Education. Arik Duncan Mazik, Magna Cum Laude, Elementary Education. Megan Patrick Madonna, McDonough, Biology, Secondary Education. Ashley Mary Mello, Magna Cum Laude, Elementary Education. Vanessa Lynn Milner, Biology, Secondary Education. Michael A. Pascarella, History, Secondary Education. Jesse T. Ramos, English, Secondary Education. John M. Ricchiardi, History, Secondary Education. Megan Elaine Richards, Cum Laude, Elementary Education. Brianna Patricia Raposa, Elementary Education. Cum Laude, Elementary Education. Maya Marie Sargent, Summa Cum Laude, Elementary Education, Foreign Language, Modern Concentration. Caroline Claire Tedesco, Elementary Education. Talia Dominica Turco, Elementary Education Studies. Gregory C. Wolfe, English, Secondary Education. Jessica M. Woodard, Magna Cum Laude, Elementary Education. Alexa J. Armenti, Math Education, Secondary Education. Kathleen Marie Cocio, Magna Cum Laude, Math Education, Secondary Education. Kimberly Anne Fraza, Math Education, Secondary Education. Shawnee Rose Robinson, Marine Biology, Education. Anthony Scott Rubino, Biology, Secondary Education. Aaron Michael Schrank, Magna Cum Laude, Math Education, Secondary. Christine Ann Virtulo, Math Education, Secondary. Congratulations, you may now be seated. Will Dean Stephanie Manzi please come forward to present these School of Justice Studies degree candidates? Will the School of Justice Studies degree candidates please rise? President Farish, on behalf of the faculty, I 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 Providence Plantations 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, privileges and responsibilities pertaining thereto. Will the candidates please come forward? Robert James Kendall, Summa Cum Laude, Legal Studies. Bunkay Lola Akinlapa, Master of Science in Public Administration. Naouf Asala, Public Administration, Master of Public Administration. Ahud Binadian, Master of Science in Public Administration. Omar Ba, Master of Public Administration. Jamal Robert Bullock, Master of Science in Public Administration. Jehu Justice Duncan, Master of Science in Public Administration. Jei Jing Wang, Master of Science in Public Administration. Markish, Master of Science in Public Administration. Crystal Lee Rodriguez, Master of Science in Public Administration. Rahim Hassan, Master of Science in Public Administration. Jenna Lee Fernandes, Master of Science in Criminal Justice. Sean Brooks Kerr-Fall, Master of Science in Criminal Justice. Raquanda Chantel-Levorette, Master of Science in Criminal Justice. Sarah Elizabeth Johnson, Master of Science in Criminal Justice. Megan Dumane, Master of Science in Leadership. Zachary Aber, Criminal Justice. Bruce, Criminal Justice. Rachel Azadorian, Magna Cum Laude, Criminal Justice. Yulia Baron, Magna Cum Laude, Legal Studies. Byron Beriantos II, Magna Cum Laude, Legal Studies. Christopher Vincent Basterash, Magna Cum Laude, Criminal Justice. Colin Donovan Barron, Criminal Justice. Kelsey Teresa Borden, Legal Studies. Amanda Isabella Bortunio, Legal Studies. Branchon, Criminal Justice. Toby Hunter Britton, Criminal Justice. Zachary Scott Bushwack, Criminal Justice. Evan Butler, Criminal Justice. Tyler Murray Carrero, Criminal Justice. David Gerard Charlelle, Summa Cum Laude, Criminal Justice. Caitlin Costa, Criminal Justice. Patrick James Cramer, Criminal Justice. Ryan Anthony Cutter, Criminal Justice. Ryan Joseph Shalatka, Criminal Justice. Allison Elizabeth Davis, Legal Studies. Justin Wayne Denome, Legal Studies. Bethany M. Elizardo, Magna Cum Laude, Criminal Justice. James Fitzpatrick, Magna Cum Laude, Criminal Justice. Matthew Adam Gleason, Forensics Networking and Security. A. Hayes, Criminal Justice. Daniel Joseph Purbine, Summa Cum Laude, Forensics Networking and Security. Jessica Lee Hunter, Legal Studies. Brad Michael Jeffery, Magna Cum Laude, Legal Studies. Haley Christine Johnston, Legal Studies. Erica Lynn Jones, Legal Studies. David Zachary Kendall, Cum Laude, Legal Studies. Criminal Justice. Michael Edwin Knox, Jr., Criminal Justice. Jason Michael Kobalecki, Cum Laude, Criminal Justice. Nicole Pajlospazio, Criminal Justice. Brian R. Levine, Legal Studies. Stephanie M. McLaughlin, Legal Studies. Kayla Suzanne Madera, Magna Cum Laude, Criminal Justice. Andrew James Maloney, Security Assurance Studies. Taylor Joy Marino, Legal Studies. Jamie Rose Moriello, Criminal Justice. Phillip V. McDonald, Criminal Justice. Nathan F. Mitchell, Legal Studies. Daniel Patrick Moran, Legal Studies. Jessica N. O'Brien, Criminal Justice. Tara E. Olivo, Cum Laude, Legal Studies. Brian Michael Palaji, Cum Laude, Criminal Justice. Daniel Brian Fusillo, Criminal Justice. Michael Gerard Quinn, Criminal Justice. Carly Elise Richmond, Criminal Justice. Catherine Elizabeth Svanell, Summa Cum Laude, Criminal Justice. Nicholas Paul Sherry, Criminal Justice. Joshua B. Sibley Little, Criminal Justice. Daniela Elizabeth Snead, Magna Cum Laude, Criminal Justice. Monica Leigh Stedman, Criminal Justice. John William Stewart, Jr., Criminal Justice. Criminal Justice. William Thomas Theodore, Criminal Justice. Brian P. Thone, Criminal Justice. Manolo A. Urazar, Criminal Justice. Kent M. Valley, Criminal Justice. Magna Cum Laude, Legal Studies. Melanie J. Widmore, Criminal Justice. Michael Francis Wilson, Criminal Justice. Bailey Samantha Wolfe, Criminal Justice. Victoria Ann Benoit, Magna Cum Laude, Criminal Justice. Justin Kutu, Cum Laude, Criminal Justice. Michael Ryan Aigo, Criminal Justice. Ashley Ann Hacquett, Criminal Justice. Congratulations. Will Dean White please come forward to present the School of Architecture, Art and Historic Preservation Degree Candidates. President Farrish, on behalf of the faculty, I 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 Providence Plantations 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, privileges and responsibilities pertaining thereto. Will the candidates please come forward? Christopher Lance Winkler, Magna Cum Laude, Master of Architecture. Lindsay J. Dancero, Master of Architecture. Corinne J. Heros, Master of Architecture. Vincent Richard Lemma III, Master of Architecture. Peter James McInty, Master of Architecture. Anthony J. AJ Serbo, Master of Architecture. Eugene Zhu, Master of Architecture. Tracy Lee Costa, MA in Art and Architectural History. Ada Lee, Master of Arts in Art and Architectural History. Cindy K. Nanton, Master of Arts in Art and Architectural History. Tanya Marie Pulmeri, Master of Arts in Art and Architectural History. Leah Marie Bovino, Several Degrees, Master of Architecture, MS in Historic Preservation, Bachelor of Science in Architecture. Elizabeth Christine Cartarelli, MS in Historic Preservation. Derek James Danderan, MS in Historic Preservation. Elizabeth Anne DeBloch, MS in Historic Preservation. Matthew James Byrd, Master of Architecture. Lauren Erica Bombara, Master of Architecture. Cameron Hubbard Chafee, Master of Architecture. Daniel Thomas Contelmo Jr., Master of Architecture. Aaron K. D'Alessandro, Master of Architecture. Andrew Robert Urcolano, Master of Architecture. Allison Barrows-Fredericks, Master of Architecture. Master of Science in Historic Preservation, Master of Science in Architecture. Christian Hans Hollendoner, Master of Architecture. Anthony Michael Izzo, Master of Architecture. Catherine Jean Classic, Master of Architecture. Alexander Kerry LeBlanc, Master of Architecture. Arthur McBride Love-The-Ford, Master of Architecture. Alexander J. Morris, Master of Architecture. Nicholas Colin Musilli, Master of Architecture. Edward Oliver Naprikowski, Master of Architecture. E. Nelson, Master of Architecture. Caitlin Elizabeth Osepchuk, Master of Architecture. Brendan P. Roach, Master of Architecture. Julia Sair, Master of Architecture. Rebecca Rose Sargent, Master of Architecture, Bachelor of Science Cum Laude in Architecture. Robin John Sharp, Master of Architecture. Jennifer Elizabeth Shore, Master of Architecture. Jessica Lynn Barab, Master of Architecture. Christine Lynn Delano, Master of Architecture. Emily Elizabeth Hunter, Master of Architecture. Christopher Michael Conkel, Master of Architecture. Julia Marie Libby, Master of Architecture. Jessica Lee McDonald, Master of Architecture. Bachelor of Science Magna Cum Laude. Michelle Aspen Needham, Master of Architecture. Lauren Janelle Perry, Master of Architecture. Bachelor of Science Cum Laude. Emily Ann Regner, Master of Architecture. Brigitte A. Rapalda, Master of Architecture. Phillip A. Sanzari, Master of Architecture. Matthew Charles Silva, Master of Architecture. Megan K. Spratt, Master of Architecture. Laura Ann Starrett, Master of Architecture. Sarah Elizabeth Bulkman, Master of Architecture. Bachelor of Science Cum Laude. Alexandra Daniels Whipple, Master of Architecture. T. Burke, Cum Laude Visual Art Studies. Tess Elliott Hitchcock, Cum Laude Visual Art Studies. Brandon Alexander Layman, Art and Architectural History. Amy Elizabeth Mikowski, Visual Art Studies. Tai Diem T. Gwynn, Visual Art Studies. James Stephen George Payne, Cum Laude Visual Art Studies. Megan Laura Place, Visual Art Studies. Mariah Isabel Moskowitz, Shore. Visual Art Studies. Lauren Valentine White, Art and Architectural History. My Daughter Kylie Elizabeth Wyman, Magna Cum Laude Visual Art Studies. Meredith Irene Stein, Visual Art Studies. Thomas A. Barker Jr., Cum Laude Architecture. Kyle John Barron, Architecture. Ryan Joseph Bonasar, Architecture. Christine Ann Borland, Architecture. Julie A. Braid, Historic Preservation. Ellie Rose Caramello, Architecture. Joseph Thomas Cardella, Architecture. Otto Padgett Chan, Architecture. Kenneth William Chestin, Architecture. Hiroki Chihuahua, Architecture. Paul Jarvis Clark, Architecture. Robert Alexander Clark, Architecture. Jonathan A. Cronascio, Architecture. Amy Renee Cripps, Cum Laude Architecture. Tyler William Davenport, Architecture. Jessica Madeline DeLamos, Architecture. Matthew J. Dyak, Architecture. Julia Kathleen Donahue, Architecture. Emily Ann Driscoll, Architecture. Lisa Jean Pasiglione, Architecture. Eric Thomas Figueredo, Architecture. Chanel Marie Flores, Architecture. Catherine Elizabeth Ford, Architecture. Mikayla Elizabeth Fusco, Cum Laude Architecture. April Rachel Gattis, Architecture. Sydney Marie Gamash, Architecture. Christopher W. Gilpin, Architecture. Cassidy Lee Griffiths, Architecture. Joanna Uet Ching-Grokot, Architecture. Individualized Major in Chinese. Mark Joseph Guzio, Architecture. Jack A. Ham, Architecture. Theodore Preston Hennis III, Architecture. Sean Elliott Henry, Architecture. Charles August Hergerutter, Architecture. Andrew J. Hernandez, Architecture. Megan Elizabeth Hoover, Architecture. Benjamin James Horst, Architecture. Tyler Francis Huntley, Cum Laude Historic Preservation. Joseph Anthony Elardi, Architecture. Thomas Patrick Kelly, Architecture. Giovanna Carlini Lang, Cum Laude Architecture. Andrew Jeffrey Larson, Magna Cum Laude Architecture. Edward Law, Architecture. Ian Tucker Luke, Architecture. Andrew Thomas Mirabido, Architecture. Evan Michael Moser, Architecture. Ian Myrick, Architecture. Abdullah Amar Navelsi, Architecture. Sarah Nicole Payton, Architecture. Drew Garrett Penel, Architecture. Timothy Mark Prenaitis, Architecture. Casey James Ray, Architecture. Alexandra Rachel Riley, Architecture. Brendan Paul Roderman, Architecture. Christopher M. Rossi, Architecture. Cody J. Sandborn, Architecture. Catherine Frances Smackel, Architecture. Mark Steven Sullivan, Architecture. Ni Oko K. Tete, Architecture. Sarah Jane Thompson, Architecture. John Ryan Tuey, Architecture. Chelsea Alexandra Waveist, Architecture. Jacob Herbert Wheeler, Architecture. Jessica Jane Wilson, Cum Laude Architecture. Benjamin Joseph Winchell, Architecture. Eric Neil Deets, Summa Cum Laude, Historic Preservation. Take care of each other, and thanks for coming. You may be seated. Dean Jamie Scurry, please come forward to present the School of Continuing Studies degree candidates. Will the School of Continuing Studies degrees candidates please rise. President Farrish, on behalf of the faculty, I certify that these candidates are eligible for the degrees appropriate to their courses study. My virtue of the authority granted by the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations 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, privileges, and responsibilities pertaining thereto. Will the degree candidates please come forward. Nega Ducafuria, Public Administration. Dean, Criminal Justice. Kennedy, Criminal Justice. School of Business degree candidates. Will the School of Business degree candidates please rise. President Farrish, on behalf of the faculty, I certify that these candidates are eligible for the degrees appropriate to their courses study. My virtue of the authority granted by the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations 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, privileges, and obligations pertaining thereto. Will the degree candidates please come forward. Andrew Bryan Nigro, Summa Cum Laude, Finance and Economics. Abdulaziz Almania, Management. Anne Clark Almeida, Summa Cum Laude, Management. Paul W. Ambrosek, Economics. Steven Robert Anastasi, Management. Steven Mayo Akamon, Marketing. Richard Sergio Arastagi, Management. Brandon Lawrence Bader, Marketing. Matthew Joseph Baird, Marketing. Thomas Avery Barrett, Accounting. Steven Austin Bartholomew, Cum Laude, Marketing. Aaron D. Bass, Magna Cum Laude, Management. Joseph Patrick Bergen, Cum Laude, Marketing. Matthew Peter Bergwall, Magna Cum Laude, Management. Robert Joseph Berlinski, Cum Laude, Finance. Ernesto Bernetti, International Business. Mark Belcher, Magna Cum Laude, Economics and Finance. Caitlin Marie Bovet, Cum Laude, Accounting. Sean Corcoran-Boyle, Summa Cum Laude, Accounting. Ms. Hurley Brewer, Marketing. Rose Brooks, Magna Cum Laude, Marketing. Paige M. Brown, Management. Natalie K. Brow, Management. Abbas Bhurakamthin, International Business. Mitchell Ryan Bonafed, Accounting. Chantai, Management. Brian Kaplan, Cum Laude, Accounting. Brandon Dayton-Karil, Cum Laude, Veteran Science. Todd Martin Carson, International Business. Daniel J. Caruso, Marketing. Jennifer P. Chan, Magna Cum Laude, Marketing. Patrick Connolly, Finance. Adrienne S. Corang, Marketing. Christine Marie Couto, Magna Cum Laude, Web Development. Jared Steven Crockett, Marketing. Daniel Patrick Pozaniq, Marketing. Justin D. Davis, Finance. Marcel Demoya, Marketing. Breanna J. Diaz, International Business. John Lawrence D'Gorot, Accounting and Criminal Justice. Eric J. Dippoli, Management. Michael Anthony D. Gutila, Web Development. Christopher Ryan Dillworth, Accounting. Corey Richard Docherty, Management. Shelby Alexandra Dumond, Accounting. Maxwell Vernon Dyer, Marketing. Marie Elizabeth Eckert, Marketing and Accounting. Brian Alexander Ng, Marketing. Brandon C. Farmer, Magna Cum Laude, Finance, Form Language, Modern Concentration. John Allen Ferguson, Finance. Amanda's, Marketing. Spichu, Web Development. Richard D. Patrick, Finance. Christopher George Ford, Finance. Michael Salvatore for Winza, Junior, Finance. Anne E. Foreman, Management. Matthew Albert Fondos, Management. Samuel Lockhart, Galloway, Marketing. Yves F. Garcia, Finance. Michael Edward Garjula, Management. Samuel S. Gifford, Cum Laude, Management. Jonathan Sabarillo, Leasy, Accounting. Jacqueline M. Guncalt, Cum Laude, Finance. Guru Siaga, Marketing. Meredith Sarah Hall, Marketing. Caitlin C. Heffernan, Summa Cum Laude, Economics. Thomas J. Herring, Finance. Derek Douglas Heil, Management. Daniel Lester Hintz, Accounting. Jessica Marie Hogreith, Barassa, Accounting. Trevor D. Hoxe, Finance. Ariana Nicole Embresia, Summa Cum Laude, Finance. Stephanie Ann Jake's, International Business. Richard Wilkie Jordan, Finance. Daniel Tyler Julian, Marketing. William Christopher Keely, Marketing. Adam Dular Khan, Marketing. Zachary J. Keen, Management. Michael William Kodus, Management. Matthew Joseph Kowalski, Marketing. Alexander Jacob Kerzak, Cum Laude, International Business. Mikaela Louise Kizoyan, Cum Laude, Accounting. Darcy Ann Lake, Management. Rie S. Lambert, International Business and Marketing. Alexandra Katelyn Landry, Magna Cum Laude, Accounting and Economics. Angela Rose Landy, Magna Cum Laude, Marketing. Jennifer Lager-Torosco, Finance and Economics. Kevin William Linoff, Management. Frank K. Lee, International Business. Alexander Thomas Loeb, Finance. Katie Christine Leiden, Management. Teddy Ma, International Business. Alyssa Stella, Majority, Management. Jake William Mann, Computer Information Systems. Justin Michael Meribito, Marketing. Francis D. McCarthy, Accounting. Catherine Elizabeth McCusker, Accounting and Marketing. John M. McGready, Management. Michael Anthony Mendillo, Jr., Finance, Management. Alexandra Blake Messenger, Marketing. Robert Ryan Michaud, Finance. Macy L. Miller, Magna Cum Laude, Economics. David D. Miller, Marketing. Sabrina Diane Moeller, Marketing. Alexander R. Monte, Management. Ian T. Mooney, Accounting. Brian C. Mada, Marketing. Zachary J. Murray, Management. Brian Peter Nesnick, Management. Jeremy A. Neural, Accounting. Jonathan A. Nessa, Management. Megan Thahy Nixon, Marketing. Raymond Ortiz, Accounting. Jane J. Parcell, Marketing and Management. Samantha Elaine Parker, Management. Aisha H. Patel, Finance. Sarah Marie Patterson, Cum Laude, Management. Lyler Stephen Pogmore, Management. Richard Lee Palmeroy, Finance. Alyssa Osia Puglia, Management. Kevin Towner Quinlan, Accounting. Jessica Samantha Reed, Summa Cum Laude, Marketing. Christopher Michael Riley, Cum Laude, Finance. Ariana Christina Rinnwick, Marketing. Sarah Melissa Rapalda, Magna Cum Laude, Management. Marcella Alejandro Rivas, International Business. Benjamin Patrick Rondioni, Marketing. Matthew A. Rosenfield, Management. Alexander Kilian Rudkin, Marketing. Matthew James Schultz, Marketing. Alexi Leila, Swartzkopf, Cum Laude, Marketing. Charles Robert Spivey, Finance. Ali Patricia Streit, Management. Timothy James Sorette, Management. Edda Nasli-Saruku, Cum Laude, International Business. Brian Frederick Susina, Marketing. Trevor R. Saibers, Magna Cum Laude, Finance. Rachel Lim, Teffit, Marketing. Ryan Sutherland Tate, Accounting. Ryan Alan Tashira, Accounting. Michael W. Thomas, Cum Laude, Accounting. Brandon Tyler Tocino, Cum Laude, Finance. L. William Tracy, Cum Laude, Accounting. Brandon M. Capaldi, Cum Laude, Finance. Cum Laude, Marketing. Mitchell Peter Vieira, Accounting. Computer Information Systems. Hatchachoke, Liniart, Management. John Paul Bassett, Sable, Management. I love you, Grandma. Samani, Marketing. Amanda Marie Ackerson, Cum Laude, Management. Alice A. Bueno, Cum Laude, International Business. E. S. Kamek, Cum Laude, Management. Kristin Marie McGinn, Management. Gabriella Sanchez Vega, Marketing. Samantha Jean Siska, Magna Cum Laude, Management. Congratulations. Business graduates may now be seated. Will Dean Robert Eisinger please come forward to present the Feinstein College of Arts and Science degree candidates? Will the Feinstein College of Arts and Sciences degree candidates please rise? President Farrish, on behalf of the faculty, I 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 Providence Plantations, 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, privileges, and responsibilities pertaining thereto. Will the candidates please come forward? Leah Polly Catania, Summa Cum Laude, Creative Writing. Shelby Lynn Duesenberry, Forensic Psychology. Andrew Neil Goines, Forensic Psychology. Michael Robert Hickey, Forensic Psychology. Elizabeth Clement Hiccup, Forensic Psychology. Labrini Grizzella, Forensic Psychology. Xiong Chang Li, Forensic Psychology. Michelle Pine, Forensic Psychology. Forensic Psychology. Claudia Altamirano, Forensic Psychology. Forensic Psychology. Christina Nicole Acampora, Summa Cum Laude, Psychology. Media Communication. Raul Alpzable, Media Communication. Danielle Rose Alfredo, Magna Cum Laude, Psychology. Alyssa Beresford Allen, Journalism, Foreign Languages, Media Modern Concentrations. Amelia Elizabeth Alward, Cum Laude. Joshua M. Almeida Lopez, Psychology. Morgan Elizabeth Ann, Psychology. Elizabeth Audette, Dance. Kathleen Brault, Magna Cum Laude, Graphic Design Communications. Cynthia Marie Brenner, Media Communication. Christina Ann Brown, Cum Laude, Psychology. Meredith Marie Brown, Summa Cum Laude, Psychology. Nicholas Joseph Berda, Psychology. Nicole F. Buckley, Journalism. Alyssa K. Buda, Cum Laude, International Relations. Alessandra Camelia Bueno, Summa Cum Laude, International Relations Economics. D. Anne Sociology. Marie Caradimos, Psychology. Erin Lee Carlson, Psychology. Connor Joseph Carleton, History. So, English Literature. Ann Casale, Psychology. Alexander Joseph Pastro, Journalism. Samantha, Graphic Design Communication. Chemistry. Stephanie Ann Cowan, Magna Cum Laude, Media Communication. Lindsay Lee Crapper, Media Communication. Mark James Crilly, Media Communication. Kimberly Marie Courtault, Media Communication. Chatelle Lee Kuna, Design Graphic Communication. Timothy Michael Cunningham, Magna Cum Laude, Political Science, Environmental Science. Samantha Corrin, Magna Cum Laude, Psychology. Claire Amie Daniels, Psychology. Emily Daphné, Magna Cum Laude, Psychology. Joshua Austin Davy, Psychology. Connor B. Deegan, Political Science. James Francis DeMora, Psychology. Allison Cora, Dessert, Media Communication. Samantha Louise Dorsey, Magna Cum Laude, Journalism. Donica Jane Donnelly Landolt, Magna Cum Laude, International Relations. Yamalé Rachel Dure, Magna Cum Laude, Psychology. Hillary S. Dutton, Graphic Design Communication. Sydney Elizabeth Eason, Media Communication. Shannon Marie Elmendorf, Media Communication. Cody Watt Eamonn, Media Communication. Kelsey Alice Emory, Summa Cum Laude, Theater. Matthew F. Ennis, Psychology. Rihanna Louise Erickson, Cum Laude, International Relations, Foreign Languages, Modern Concentration. Matthew Thomas Esposito, Magna Cum Laude, History. Jacqueline Rose Ferenars, Cum Laude, Anthropology and Sociology. Rachel Anne Fatsy, Cum Laude, Psychology, Anthropology and Sociology. Nathaniel Ripley Faulkner, Graphic Design Communications. Michela Ferroli, Cum Laude, American Studies. Christopher John Fiera, Magna Cum Laude, Journalism. Kristin Marie Fiore, Graphic Design Communications. Caitlin Rosconi Fisher, Magna Cum Laude, Media Communication. Ross M. Fitzgerald, Magna Cum Laude, Graphic Design Communications. Benjamin Frederick Floyd, Individual in Urban Environmental Studies. William James Foley, Philosophy. E. Elizabeth Frockia, Cum Laude, International Relations. Charlotte Rose Friedman, Magna Cum Laude, Anthropology plus Sociology. Jenna Hilary Fould, Magna Cum Laude, Psychology. Caitlin E. Galliotti, Media Communication. Dakota Ameth Gorelli, Dance. Kayla Rachel Gersten, Psychology. Erin Ronnie Giro, English Literature, Dance. Hannah Shogren Gleason, Magna Cum Laude, Psychology. Brenna Catherine Goulodamans, Psychology. Jessica L. Green, Psychology. Jillian Nicole Greenleaf, Magna Cum Laude, Graphic Design Communications. Cassandra Lynn Gersha, Magna Cum Laude, Psychology, Foreign Language, Modern Concentration. Portland H. Hall III, Summa Cum Laude, Individual with Economics. Holly Jean Hancock, Summa Cum Laude, Graphic Design Communications. Nicole Ryan Handy, Magna Cum Laude, Journalism. Sarah Jane Hartwell, Cum Laude, Global Communication. Breanna A. Abair, Psychology. Erica Ann Hedgecock, Graphic Design Communications. Pierce William Howell, Individual. Allie L. Hughes, Media Communication. Haloma Michelle Hutton, Anthropology and Sociology. Samantha Teresa Imbrescia, Magna Cum Laude, Philosophy. Thomas Edward Jackson, Journalism. Peter Michael Jameson, Psychology. Tyler Richard, Jasonis, History. Rachel L. Jove, Psychology. Taylor Catherine Johnson, Media Communication. Kristen Marie Julius, Psychology. Lindsay Kahl, Media Communication. Kaufman, English Literature. Alexander Henry Kent, History. Elizabeth Kovac, Psychology. Cynthia Ann Kovacs, Summa Cum Laude, Psychology. Steven M. Lamando, Media Communication. Sarah Elizabeth LaVoy, Psychology, American Studies. Byron Dominic LeBron, Anthropology and Sociology. Olivia Elizabeth Linden, Media Communication. Ashley Lyon, Summa Cum Laude, Media Communication. Elizabeth Wakefield Lorenz, Journalism. Christy A. Lucinski, Cum Laude, Global Communication. Olivia Ann Lyons, Cum Laude, Journalism, Graphic Design Communications. Trevor Jackson McKinnon, Magna Cum Laude, Global Communication. Molly Lee McLean, Psychology. Abigail Lee Magder, History. Brett James Magellan, Political Science. Megan Elizabeth McIver, Media Communication. Hannah Emily Monella, Media Communication. Kimberly Morgan Manikas, Cum Laude, Psychology. Francesca Ray Mardenly, Media Communication. Brittany Ann Martin, Cum Laude, Psychology, Mathematics. Breanna Jean Mason, Cum Laude, Journalism. Griffin F. Mayhew, History. Olivia G. McCormick, American Studies. Kaitlyn Q. DeGuffin, Cum Laude, Media Communication. Gabriela R. Mendes, Media Communication. Blair Catherine Metcalf, Media Communication. Christina Marie Michela, Cum Laude, Media Communication. Joey A. Milanes, Media Communication. Alexandra Elizabeth Miller, Media Communication. Nicholas Francis Moon, Political Science. Victoria C. Mordasky, Anthropology and Sociology. Olivia Patricia Monroe, Media Communication. Elizabeth Murphy, Psychology. Muttich, Summa Cum Laude, Psychology. Sherry Lynn Knapp, Media Communication. Danielle Laura Nagle, Media Communication. Megan Ashley Negron, Psychology. Hannah Patricia Noel, Biology. Tara K. Nolan, Cum Laude, Graphic Design, Communications. Jacob Aaron Nussbaum, Journalism. Randy Michelle Ochab, Summa Cum Laude, Graphic Design, Communication. Thomas C. O'Connell, Media Communication. Linda O'Pong, Biology. Zachary Stephen Hinozian, History. Anastasia Papayuanu, Political Science. Melissa Pennington, Media Communication. Caitlin Danielle Personette, Psychology. Leah Mackenzie Peters, Media Communication. Megan Elizabeth Petrell, Cum Laude, Foreign Language. Modern Concentration. Samantha Lynn Pills, Media Communication. Corinne Diane Ponte, Psychology. Devin Malone, Powers, Anthropology and Sociology. Christina Marie Sikoyos, Magna Cum Laude, Dance. Rebecca Ann Quigley, Summa Cum Laude, Graphic Design, Communications. Jessica Marie Rafterty, Psychology. Alphonseena Ramon, Marine Biology. Crystal Lynn Randall, Cum Laude, Psychology. Rizendez, Marine Biology. Rhistek, Magna Cum Laude, Graphic Design, Communications. Alyssa Michelle Roca-Tennants, Magna Cum Laude, Graphic Design, Communications. Mary Eileen Rooney, Media Communication. Rotondo, Cum Laude, Dance. Nelson D. Rao, Media Communication. Jonathan G. Rush, Political Science. Kyle Lee Sandler, Cum Laude, History. Anna Lucille Schmidt, Global Communication. Amanda Lee Schmidt, Psychology. Jessica Emma Searle, Graphic Design, Communications. Amanda Jean Self, Summa Cum Laude, Psychology. Rachel Marie Schaefer, International Relations. Caitlin Mary Shea, Magna Cum Laude, Graphic Design, Communications. Jason Ryan Shepherd, Anthropology and Sociology and History. John A. Shields, Psychology. Shayla Elizabeth Shields, Cum Laude, Psychology. Benjamin George Shipley, Anthropology and Sociology. Sarah Christine Scarelli, Psychology. Adam J. Siskotowski, Media Communication. Chelsea Ray Silva, Summa Cum Laude, English Literature, Creative Writing. Danielle Renee Sincigali, Summa Cum Laude, Dance, Psychology. Sarah A. Smith, Magna Cum Laude, Graphic Design, Communications. Cassandra Elizabeth Smith, Psychology. Nicole Mae Spanswick, Psychology. Cynthia M. Spinola, Cum Laude, Psychology. Sarah Elizabeth Stam, Magna Cum Laude, Psychology. Sam R. Studer, Psychology. Margaret Shiloh, Sullivan, Media Communication. Kimberly M. Sundquist, Anthropology and Sociology. Cum Laude, Dance. Jimyn Lawrence Kerrio, Philosophy. Devlin Thurston, Cum Laude, Foreign Languages, Classical. Grace Antonia Thurston, Marine Biology. Tunejian History. Patrick Tormi, Media Communication. Nathan A. Trenholm, History. Savannah Josephine Shribly, Psychology. Elizabeth Marie Valer, Summa Cum Laude, Dance. Rachel A. Bason, Psychology. Kristen Nicole Vino, Marine Biology. Nicole Shock Velsabor, Marine Biology. Justin Francis Ventola, Psychology, Philosophy. Christina Marie Volpe, Magna Cum Laude, Political Science, Economics. Matthew Scott Walsh, Anthropology and Sociology. Kristen Margaret Walsh, Media Communication. Laura Kristen Walter, Magna Cum Laude, Graphic Design Communications. Kelsey Megan Way, Dance. Jillian Lee Welch, Psychology. E. Wheeler, Biology. Zachary Kent Wickstrom, Political Science. Elias Robert Wiserach, History. Julia Lee Winnitsky, Foreign Languages, Classical. Noah Remick Wolkowitz, Magna Cum Laude, Psychology. Louis T. Woodward, International Relations. Rebecca Lynn Zarrow, Cum Laude, Psychology. Matthew Paul Zinone, Media Communication. Haley Lynn Zubriki, Magna Cum Laude, Dance. Nicholas Arias, Media Communication. Cum Laude, Media Communication. Melissa Glennie Gay, Summa Cum Laude, Media Communication. Evo, Psychology. Elizabeth Diane Martin, Magna Cum Laude, Psychology. Fisher Wood, Summa Cum Laude, Psychology. Doug, Creative Writing. Jacqueline Elizabeth Braskowski, Creative Writing, Media Communication. Steven Ross Canavan, Creative Writing. Elise Ann DeVaney, Creative Writing. Nicholas Richard Schwalbert, Creative Writing. Kelsey Jean Sullivan, Creative Writing. Krista Nicole Tierney, Creative Writing. Ryan Sinclair Trappetti, Creative Writing. Raina Christine Lawman, Summa Cum Laude, Creative Writing. Courtney S. Anderson, Marine Biology. Francis William Antonowich, Biology. Aubrey Lynn Ayotte, Chemistry. Heather Paige Beardsworth, Biology. Thomas Patrick Brubaker, Cum Laude, Biology. Carolyn Juliet Call, Magna Cum Laude, Biology. Gabrielle Margaret Giotto, Environmental Science. Melissa Dorothy Popis, Biology. Michaela Mariana Cupo, Biology. Marielle Sanjivani D'Amato, Cum Laude, Biology. Maria Lynn DiMaggio, Marine Biology. Matthew Ryan Duggan, Marine Biology. Joseph M. Favale, Junior, Cum Laude, Chemistry, Biology. Layla A. Furland, Cum Laude, Biology, Chemistry. David H. Vito, Environmental Science. Lauren Marie Formanski, Mathematics. Arnold S. Gersumche, Marine Biology. Nicolette A. Graham, Biology, Philosophy. Kristen Danielle Grandonico, Biology. Kathleen Alex Casey Gillette, Magna Cum Laude, Marine Biology. Emma Lynn Marie Kelly, Marine Biology. Heather Alicia Kinney, Cum Laude, Marine Biology. Abigail Dorothy Larson, Marine Biology. Emma P. Long, Magna Cum Laude, Mathematics. Sean Patrick Marano, Cum Laude, Marine Biology. Bronson Byron Martin, Cum Laude, Mathematics, Philosophy. Jessica Marie McGuire, Cum Laude, Marine Biology. Christopher Douglas Mills, Biology. Monahil Natasha Nakvi, Magna Cum Laude, Biology, Chemistry. Megan E. Ortegaan, Marine Biology. Michael N. Palada, Biology. Jessica C. N. Reed, Magna Cum Laude, Biology. Kristen Elizabeth Roche, Biology, Economics. Yohan G. Robelen, Biology. Hannah Rose Sobang, Biology. Sarah Ruth Spellman, Marine Biology. Lindsey Rose Stabler, Marine Biology. Gilles Bjorn Tuck, Magna Cum Laude, Marine Biology. April Marie Tibidow, Cum Laude, Environmental Science. Brenna Tomon, Environmental Science, Chemistry, Cum Laude. Taylor Garrett Wagner, Marine Biology. Brendan Michael Walden, Biology. Ryan Williamson, Cum Laude, Biology, Environmental Science, Chemistry. Sarah Ashley Woolley, Marine Biology. Helena Rose Zimmerman, Magna Cum Laude, Biochemistry and Mathematics. Carter Scott Scherr, E. Overton, Marine Biology. You're not quite graduated yet. I was the one last little step. I mean, this is a brand new tradition this year at Roger Williams. I would like to invite the president of the class of 2014, Jessica Reed, to join me on stage. Jessica is going to lead you in turning your tassel. The classmates in the tassel turn. The turn of the tassel is a significant symbol of achievement. It signifies our graduation and the completion of our degrees. Will the class of 2014 please stand? Completion of our respective degrees, please join me in moving your tassel from right to left. Time that we have spent together of those who have impacted our collegiate experience and, most of all, our alma mater, RWU. To receive their congratulations. Class of 2014, we killed it. Thank you, Jessica. Let me add my congratulations to the class of 2014. While today marks the end of one chapter of your lives, it marks the beginning of another. You enter this next chapter as well-educated women and men. Know that we who have gathered here today in your honor have high expectations. We expect you to use your energy, your knowledge, and talents to advance others as well as yourselves to model our core value of service. We expect you to give back to your families, your neighborhoods, and your alma mater through your chosen professions, your future work, and lifelong learning. Know also that we wish each of you fulfilling meaningful lives as you make your mark on the world. By the way, you can sit down for a minute. So allow me to take this opportunity to invite all of you who are here today to join our graduates, faculty, and staff for refreshments following the conclusion of this ceremony. A complete listing of the respective school receptions is listed in your commencement program. As today is Armed Forces Day, we pay tribute to the men and women who served the United States in all of the Armed Forces. So let me ask, will all of our graduates, their family members, and guests who are members of the Armed Forces or retired, please stand so we can show your applause. Thank you. In that spirit, we invite graduates and guests to join our ROTC program for the Lieutenant Joseph Fortin Class of 2008 Memorial Scholarship immediately following the completion of this ceremony. It will be in the Alumni Admissions Building. On behalf of the university, thank you for joining us here today in celebrating these commencement exercises. I ask that you stand and remain at your seats until all members of the recessional, including our graduates, have exited the tent. Thank you so much.