Roger Williams University Class of 2011 'Fine A Lee' Graduates

Roger Williams University graduated more than 1,000 students, who may now call themselves alumni, this Saturday during the 2011 commencement ceremonies.

The Honorable Sheldon Whitehouse, U.S. Senator from Rhode Island, was this years keynote speaker and a recipient of a Doctor of Public Administration degree, one of four Honorary Degrees awarded by the University.

Richard L. Brady, Chairman, Board of Trustees, commended Senator Whitehouse on his "life-long love of learning, commitment to community, and a life guided by service."

Senator Whitehouse, in his address to the students said, "today as your families look on with pride, affection, and nostalgia, some anxiety and perhaps some measure of relief, you emerge independent on parents and institutions and enter the world as your own independent men and women, and stressed "the importance of persistence through frustration," sighting the recent overtaking of Osama Bin Laden by Navy Seals Team 6.

"A few weeks ago specialized helicopters dropped out of the moonless night to deliver a team of Navy Seals into a compound and their skill, daring and professionalism inspired the spontaneous outpourings of relief, joy and patriotism we all share."

He went on to add, "behind the midnight raid stood nearly a decade of persistence through frustration, it was hard to get this guy."

"Our military and intelligence professionals never gave up and it was their persistence through years of frustration that made possible the great success of that Sunday night three weeks ago."

"The kind of patient persistence I am prescribing for all of you today is embodied in Abraham Lincoln's famous direction to his fighting general, Ulysses S. Grant, 'hold on with a bulldog grip, and chew and choke as much as possible' .

"The determination for you to persist through frustration will allow you to  come back to the same problem relentlessly day after day and keep chipping away at it until the job is done."


Saturday's commencement ceremonies also marked a number of firsts for the University including seeing the graduation of the first  Intercultural Leadership Award recipients as well as The Feinstein College of Arts and Sciences first aquaculture and aquarium science minors and the school's new certificate in biotechnology program.