Roger Williams University Celebrates Inaugural Founders Day in Honor of its 55th Anniversary

BRISTOL, RI (02/16/2011)(readMedia)-- Roger Williams University celebrated a new Valentine's Day tradition Monday with its first Founders Day, held exactly 55 years after the University's original leadership team received its charter from the Rhode Island Secretary of State on Feb. 14, 1956.

"Who were our founders?" asked President Ronald O. Champagne, Ph.D. "They were visionaries who could imagine growth and expansion and who were not afraid to tackle the challenge of growing a college. All of us who are fortunate to be part of today's vibrant and productive RWU community owe a debt of gratitude to those whose vision created and nurtured this great university."

The daylong celebration included a proclamation from the Town of Bristol offered by Town Administrator and RWU alumna Diane Mederos '94; an RWU birthday cake at the Dining Commons; afternoon tea with President and Mrs. Champagne; and a presentation by Professor of American Studies Michael Swanson and students from the University Honors Program on the history of the University and its namesake.

"I sometimes wonder what Bristol would be like if it weren't for Roger Williams University settling on this beautiful waterfront property," Ms. Mederos said. "I believe that Roger Williams has very much enhanced the Town of Bristol, that we have grown to complement each other and that ours is a symbiotic relationship. The success of one makes the other stronger."

Mrs. Ruth Champagne, Ph.D., championed the establishment of Founders Day as a way to celebrate a University history that now extends more than a half-century: "Everything we do at RWU is possible because of the vision and hard work of the founders and our predecessors," she said. "Founders Day gives us an opportunity to recognize and appreciate our mission and our legacy."

Some of the key facts detailed in the presentation on the University's history include:

• Having witnessed the evolution of an academic institution from its beginnings as a Northeastern University branch campus for business and law from 1919 to 1941, to an independent Providence YMCA Institute of Engineering and Finance until 1956, the founders named their successor college Roger Williams Junior College.

• The construction of Interstate 95, which created a barrier between the Roger Williams building in Providence and many of the neighborhoods from which its students came, played a major role in the decision to move the main campus to Bristol in 1969.

• A generous gift of 63 acres of waterfront property in Bristol from Dr. Marshall Fulton, a Trustee of both the College and the YMCA, provided the foundation for the Bristol campus; the Bristol location was originally referred to as the Fulton Campus.

To read the full text of the proclamation from the Town of Bristol, please visit http://www.rwu.edu/depository/university/bristol_proclamation.pdf.

The University also created a Founders Day website detailing its early history, available at http://library.rwu.edu/FoundersDay/.

About RWU: Roger Williams University is a leading independent, coeducational liberal arts university at which students live and learn to be global citizens. With 41 academic programs and an array of co-curricular activities on its Bristol, R.I., campus, RWU is committed to its mantra of learning to bridge the world. In the last decade, the University has achieved unprecedented academic and financial successes and continues to be recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top ten educational institutions in its class.