University of Rhode Island

The University of Rhode Island was first chartered as the Rhode Island State Agricultural School, associated with the state agricultural experiment station, in 1888. The site of the school was originally the Oliver Watson Farm in Kingston, whose original farmhouse is now a small museum. In 1892, the school was reorganized as the Rhode Island College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts.[7] That year, it extended courses of study from two years to four years; URI reckons 1892 as its founding date. The first class had only seventeen students, each completing their course of study in two years. In 1909, the school's name was again changed to Rhode Island State College as the school's programs were expanded beyond its original agricultural education mandate.

In 1951 the school was given its current title through an act of the General Assembly following the addition of the College of Arts and Sciences and the offering of doctoral degrees. The Board of Governors for Higher Education, appointed by the governor, became the governing body of the university in 1981 during the presidency of Frank Newman (1974–1983). The Board of Governors was replaced by the Rhode Island Board of Education in 2013,[8] and by a 17-member Board of Trustees in 2019.

In 2013 the faculty adopted an open-access policy to make its scholarship publicly accessible online.[9]

URI's main campus is located in northern South Kingstown,[11] and most of the university property is in the Kingston census-designated place.[12]

The campus is accessed via Rhode Island Route 138 from either the west (Interstate 95) or east (United States Route 1). The campus was mostly farmland when it was purchased by the state in 1888, and still includes the c. 1796 Oliver Watson Farmhouse. The early buildings of the campus are set around its main quadrangle, and were built out of locally quarried granite. The campus master plan was developed by the noted landscape architects Olmsted, Olmsted & Eliot in the 1890s. The central portion of the campus, where most of its pre-1950 buildings are located,[13] was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.

• 
  East Hall (1909)[14] and Washburn Hall (1921)
• 
  Lippitt Hall, named for Governor Charles W. Lippitt, was originally a drill hall and armory (1897)
• 
  Green Hall, named for Theodore F. Green (1937)
• 
  Robert L. Carothers Library and Learning Commons (built 1965, renovated 1991)
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  Memorial Student Union
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  Multicultural Center (1998)
• 
  Planetarium
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  The Chester H. Kirk Center for Advanced Technology (1995)
• 
  New URI Engineering Stairway to Excellence (2019)
• 
  New URI Engineering Building (2021)

URI is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education.[23] The student-faculty ratio at University of Rhode Island is 16:1, and the school has 43.1% of its classes with fewer than 20 students. The most popular majors at University of Rhode Island include: Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse; Psychology, General; Speech Communication and Rhetoric; Kinesiology and Exercise Science; and Health-Related Knowledge and Skills, Other. The average freshman retention rate, an indicator of student satisfaction, is 84%.[24]

URI has 18 club sports teams consisting of around 600 athletes. Club sports the school offers include men's and women's ice hockey, soccer, tennis, equestrian, ultimate frisbee, volleyball, field hockey, wrestling, crew, gymnastics, and sailing, amongst others. These teams travel and compete against other intercollegiate programs in the country. URI also has 20+ intramural sports, including volleyball, badminton, dodgeball, and soccer. The intramural sports allow students to compete in tournaments and games with other students on campus.[29]

URI also has over 300 student organizations and clubs.[30] The university's student newspaper, The Good Five Cent Cigar, was founded in 1971.[31] It is also home to several Greek-lettered organizations.[32]

URI Athletics Logo

University of Rhode Island Rams Football at Meade Stadium

The University of Rhode Island competes in 16 intercollegiate sports.[33] The university is a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference and the Colonial Athletic Association in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision.

The Rhode Island Rams men's basketball competes in the Atlantic 10 Conference, and has appeared in the NCAA "March Madness” Tournament a total of 10 times since its first appearance in 1961. Two of these ten appearances occurred during the 2017 and 2018 seasons.[34][35]

Athletic facilities include the Ryan Center, Keaney Gymnasium, Meade Stadium, Mackal Field House, Tootell Aquatic Center, Bradford R. Boss Arena, URI Soccer Complex, Bill Beck Field, and URI Softball Complex.

Quadrangle on an early September evening at University of Rhode Island.

While 5600 students live in the 25 on campus residence halls, thousands more opt to commute from the surrounding area.[36] Narragansett, an abutting town to Kingston, is made up of hundreds of summer vacation homes which are rented to students for the academic year.

Notable University of Rhode Island alumni in politics and government include Lieutenant General (retired) Michael Flynn (B.Sc. 1981),[37] 38th mayor of Providence Jorge Elorza (B.Sc. 1998),[38] and governors of Rhode Island Lincoln Almond (B.Sc. 1959) and J. Joseph Garrahy (1953).

Notable graduates in journalism and media include CNN correspondent John King (B.A. 1985),[39] CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour (B.A. 1983), and CBS correspondent Vladimir Duthiers (B.A. 1991).

Among URI's alumni in the arts and entertainment are actors J. T. Walsh, Peter Frechette (B.F.A.), Amanda Clayton, and Andrew Burnap (recipient of the 2020 Tony Award- Best Actor in a Play, The Inheritance.)

Notable graduates in business and finance include billionaire Ben Navarro (B.Sc. 1984); former president of American Airlines, Robert Crandall (1960); and former CEO of CVS, Thomas Ryan (1975).

• 
  Governor of Rhode Island J. Joseph Garrahy '59
• 
  Sports radio personality Angelo Cataldi '72
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  25th U.S. National Security Advisor Michael Flynn '81
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  CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour '83
• 
  38th mayor of Providence Jorge Elorza '98
• 
  Basketball star Lamar Odom
  (did not graduate)

• Robert Ballard, undersea archaeologist and discoverer of the wreck of the Titanic
• Yehuda Hayuth, Israeli professor of geography, and President of the University of Haifa
• Natalie Kampen
• Joëlle Rollo-Koster
• Andrea Rusnock
• Melvin Stern
• Robert Weisbord

• URI Botanical Gardens
• Joint Degrees in law at Roger Williams University School of Law

Wikimedia Commons has media related to University of Rhode Island.

• Official website

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