Roy J. Nirschel, Ph.D., President

FIRST AND FOREMOST - CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CLASS OF 2006!

I am here today - not only as President-but also as a parent of a graduating senior - Summa Cum Laude - but she asked me not to embarrass her, so I won't-unless I just did. 

This is great day of pride for all us parents and loved ones, so I thank you graduates for sharing it with us.

Let me also acknowledge everyone on the dais:
Chairman Papitto, Trustees, Deans and Officers, Brother Dan McGinn, and Honorary Degree Recipients.

Also, in the audience, let me thank someone who has been instrumental in helping in the transformation of this University and whose own independent global outreach shows what one person with vision, purpose and determination can do - Paula Nirschel.

This day doesn't happen by accident - nor did the past four or five years- or in some of your cases, slightly longer.  A great Admission staff helped recruit you.  Coaches, Student Affairs and Student Advocacy Offices involved you.  Counseling - academic and otherwise-nurtured you, Food Services fed you and Facilities and Public Safety made your stay here safe and enjoyable.  It took every member of the university community to make your education possible.  

And there is the mathematical equation we all know:

Great faculty + great students = a great university

Roger Williams turned 50 this year.  For some of you that may sound old, for others - it sounds pretty good.  We are delighted that during this Commencement, we have representatives of every Roger Williams class - From the junior college, to the college and from the university.  From 1956 to the present, here with us today on this special occasion.

Today you graduates join them as alumni. 

They say that there are two great times in the life of a university - when students arrive and when you leave. I'm not sure that's true in the case of this extraordinary class. 

You are leaving Roger Williams with global competencies important for the 21st century. 

You have traveled abroad in record numbers; learning important lessons such as speaking English LOUDLY does not make you understood in Florence. You negotiated budget airline schedules around Europe, presented papers in Puerto Rico, designed housing in Gaza, studied Mandarin and Arabic, and experienced Shakespeare in London.

You have listened to and questioned speakers like:
David Gergen and Soledad O'Brien
Salman Rushdie and
Ambassador Mustapha from Syria
Nobel Prize winners-Dr. Roald Hoffman and The Honorable David Trimble.

You helped create a journal of civil discourse - Reason and Respect - and last week - Roger, a High-quality creative writing journal.

You've watched 70 new faculty members arrive. A new Recreation Center built - the School of Architecture expanded, the Library renovated, a trading room in the Business created and witnessed the arrival of sushi on campus.

You sat in class with students from down the street and around the globe, and along the way; we solved all of our parking problems on campus.  

Ok - I lied about the parking.

Yours has been a civil and respectful class. You logged a record number of community service hours, ran CEN, the Dance Club, Student Senate, the Presidential Ambassadors, and countless other clubs, organizations and teams with dignity and responsibility.

In your time, your university has gotten bigger - and better - the value of your degree enhanced.

The Business School, the Law School, Architecture, Construction Management, Chemistry - to name only a few - now hold the highest outside validation possible.  

The number of you going on to Law School and Graduate School is unprecedented.  And, to the delight of your parents, some of you actually have jobs.

Yes - you have seen a lot of positive changes, and while we may not be ready for you to leave, some of you are thinking its time to go home.  And in the words of Michael Buble:

- another aeroplane
- another sunny place
- I'm lucky I know
- But I wanna go home.hmm I got to go home.

And it's time for you to go.  After all the price of wings at Topside now sets you back 20 cents, not the 10 cents of your freshman year.

The line outside Gillary's on Friday after 10 o'clock - forget about it.

And you know you've been here too long when you start to see Ethan at events he didn't attend.  

Actually, I have started seeing Ethan at events we don't even have.

And when you leave, you will find the world outside our campus has also changed:

- Will and Grace have separated - actually they were never really together.
- Friends aren't.
- Those OC kids are graduating high school - in record time-especially considering that it took the Beverly Hills 90210 kids 11 years.

- And major conflicts are simmering on the planet-of course I mean-the one between Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell.

My point is that things change, life isn't always easy or perfect, and once in a while we know..and there is a Roger Williams tradition that the president sings at Commencement, but I am not going to sing for you.
Cause you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride.

And when you go for that ride, make sure it's on Rte 136, Metacom Avenue - Because you know that there will always be a smiling face waiting for you - Of course, that face is that of Linda Clark - Attorney at Law.

You have been a great class - a class with class! Enjoy this commencement. Enjoy your future education and careers, family and friends. Life moves quickly, and in the words of the late Warren Zevon "Make sure to enjoy every sandwich".

Congratulations!