R 073

2017 -- H 5811 Enacted 03/01/2017

H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

COMMEMORATING THE 125TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF THE UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND IN 1892

Introduced By: Representatives Mattiello, Shekarchi, Fogarty, Craven, and Carson

Date Introduced: March 01, 2017

WHEREAS, The University of Rhode Island began as the Rhode Island College of

Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts in 1892 as a result of the passage of the second Morrill Act

and with previous support from federal, state, municipal and private funds; and

WHEREAS, Public Land-Grant Universities were established as part of the Morrill Act

to create a national system of state colleges and universities dedicated, "…to promote the liberal

and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life,"

that would provide for higher education opportunities for all citizens, not merely landowners,

merchants, and the wealthy; and

WHEREAS, The vision articulated by President Abraham Lincoln and the 37th Congress

with passage of the Morrill Act continues to be the driving force behind the University of Rhode

Island’s mission to be a community joined in a common quest for knowledge and committed to

enriching the lives of its students through its land, sea and urban grant traditions; and

WHEREAS, Since its founding with a class of twenty-six students, including two

women, the University has now grown to more than eighteen thousand undergraduate and

graduate students and offers eighty-two undergraduate, and seventy graduate programs and

eighteen certificate and non-degree programs; and

WHEREAS, The global prominence and diversity of the University continues to expand

with students from sixty-six nations studying in Rhode Island and with more than one hundred

twenty international agreements in twenty-three countries, URI is connecting faculty and students

to international institutions and scholars, building and enhancing the curriculum, and advancing

research; and

WHEREAS, The University of Rhode Island is dedicated to contributing to the economic

growth of the State of Rhode Island and its people by sharing knowledge with future generations

of innovators and entrepreneurs; now therefore be it

RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

Providence Plantations hereby congratulates the University of Rhode Island and its President, Dr.

David M. Dooley, on the occasion of the university's 125th Anniversary. We moreover wish them

many more years of community enrichment and continued educational success; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Dr. David M. Dooley, President of the

University of Rhode Island.

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LC001960

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