Commencement

Congratulations to the graduates and families of the Class of 2013!

Commencement Exercises and related events are quickly approaching!  This year's Commencement Exercises will be held on Saturday, May 18 for undergraduate and graduate students.  This website should be your source of the most up to date information on all things Commencement related.  We suggest you check this site regularly as we will continue to update it as informaiton becomes available and the day draws closer.  As always, should you need assistance or have concerns, please contact the Commencement Office (Department of Conferences) at 401-254-3067. 

Key Dates for Commencement Related Activities:

Thursday, May 16 graduates will participate in Commencement Rehearsal at 12 (noon) in the Fieldhouse.  Then they are off to the Class of 2013 BBQ at Colt State Park.  Free food, music and give-aways!

Friday, May 17 the Class of 2013 will hold a Family Wine & Dine Event (buffet dinner and optional wine tasting) at the Venus de Milo Restaurant at 6:00pm  . 

Ticket price for Graduates and Family members are $30.00 per ticket
Children under 12 years of age are $12.00 per ticket

Please go to http://onlinecommunity.rwu.edu/winedine2013 to register for this event.

Saturday, May 18  COMMENCEMENT DAY! Graduates must be in the Fieldhouse for 8:15am to check-in and line up. Graduates who are receiving tassels or cords from their respective honor societies and other organizations should make sure they have them prior to that morning.  The only tassels given out on the morning of commencement will be for high honors (summa cum laude 3.8, magna cum laude 3.6, and cuma laude 3.4. Those graduates receiving high honors will have the honor listed on their name card they pick up when they enter the Fieldhouse. These honors are based on fall semester cumulative average.  Student must have completed at least 54 credits at RWU to be eligible to receive these honors. 

Graduates are encouraged to steam their robes ahead of time (or at least take it out of the bag and hang).  DO NOT IRON YOUR GOWN!  Graduates should also make sure they have all tassels, chords and stoles from whatever honor societies they belong to before graduation morning. 

There will be a live stream of the Commencement Exercises at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/rwucommencement. Ustream works well from both PC’s and Macs, and will also work for mobile devices.

In Charter's 350th Year, Roger Williams Biographer to Deliver Commencement Address Author and historian John M. Barry will address 2013 graduates;

With the statewide celebration of the 350th Anniversary of the Rhode Island Colonial Charter fast approaching, award-winning author and historian John M. Barry – acclaimed biographer of Roger Williams himself – will address the Roger Williams University Class of 2013 and receive an honorary degree during Commencement exercises on Saturday, May 18.

Larry Rachleff, accomplished conductor and music director for the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra, will also be awarded an honorary degree.

John M. Barry
John M. Barry is a prize-winning author and historian who captivates readers on topics ranging from the influenza pandemic of 1918 to the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. In addition to his full-length work, the author’s commentary has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Fortune, Time and elsewhere; and he has been a guest on “Meet the Press,” on shows on every broadcast network in the U.S., as well as on such foreign media as the BBC and Al Jazeera.

The Society of American Historians named Barry’s “Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America” as 1998’s best book on American history. The National Academy of Sciences named “The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History” the best 2005 book on science and medicine. To date, Barry remains the only non-scientist ever to give the National Academy’s annual Abel Wolman Distinguished Lecture. He has even advised the Bush and Obama presidential administrations on pandemic preparedness and serves on the board overseeing the levee districts in New Orleans.

In November 2012, Barry visited Roger Williams University for a presentation on his latest book, “Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul: Church, State and the Birth of Liberty,” published in January 2012. The book explores the separation of church and state through the story of Roger Williams, Rhode Island’s founder and the first to link religious freedom to individual liberty.

Larry Rachleff
Accomplished musician and conductor Larry Rachleff has led the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra as music director for more than 17 seasons. He also serves as director of orchestras and holds the Walter Kris Hubert Chair at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music in Houston. During his career, he also served as music director of the San Antonio Symphony.

Rachleff is a regular guest conductor with the orchestras of Colorado, Utah, Indianapolis and Kansas City, with recent appearances at Charlotte, Fort Worth, Columbus, Rochester, Florida, Grand Rapids, Seattle and Phoenix, among many other fine orchestras. He recently conducted a special gala concert with Itzhak Perlman and the Houston Symphony.

An enthusiastic advocate of public school music education, Rachleff has conducted All-State orchestras and festivals in virtually every state in the U.S. as well as throughout Europe and Canada. He is also a dedicated champion for contemporary music who has collaborated with leading composers including Samuel Adler, the late Luciano Berio, George Crumb, Michael Daugherty and John Harbison, among others.