Roger Williams University Commencement is Saturday

On Saturday, Roger Williams University will hand out nearly 1,000 degrees to students in the 2011 graduating class. The graduation ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. on the University’s main athletic field on the Bristol campus. 

The Key Note Speaker, Sheldon Whitehouse,will address the 2011 graduating class and receive an honorary degree during the ceremony. According to the University, Denise M. Jenkins, grant programs officer at the Rhode Island Foundation and Vice Chair of the University Board of Trustees, will also receive an honorary degree that day.

“Each of this year’s honorary degree recipients exemplifies the commitment to community and the dedication to service that we so deeply value at Roger Williams University,” says Richard L. Bready, Chairman of the RWU Board of Trustees. “We are honored to celebrate Commencement with two speakers who offer our graduates a wonderful illustration of the intellect, integrity and dedication that truly sets leaders apart, even in a state filled with committed public servants.”

According to the official release, the 2011 Commencement ceremonies mark a number of firsts at Roger Williams University:

The first group of Intercultural Leadership Award recipients will graduate. The award was created in 2007 as part of a campus-wide initiative to increase educational opportunities for diverse populations of students; it offers full-tuition scholarships to students who have overcome a life challenge in pursuit of education, are first generation college students or speak English as a second language. ILA scholars are required to maintain a 3.0 GPA and engage in leadership opportunities.

The School of Justice Studies will also award its first degree in security assurance studies, an interdisciplinary major created to prepare students for careers in security-related fields. And finally, the Feinstein College of Arts and Sciences will celebrate the graduation of its first aquaculture and aquarium science minors as well as the school’s new certificate in biotechnology program.

The tentative list of RWU graduates can be viewed here.