At each year's college graduation students are sent off with the guiding words of the biggest thinkers, doers and celebrities. This year the graduates from RI colleges and universities will get a plethora of guidance - here's an exclusive list of the speakers and the schools where they are speaking. There is an air of excitement at the colleges and universities in Rhode Island this spring. It's commencement time, a bittersweet moment for grads and their families as diplomas are handed out and mortarboards are thrown in the air.
An impressive list of commencement speakers have been scheduled. Here is a list of the commencement dates and information about the speakers who will send graduates off with words of inspiration, hope, information, humor, idealism, and perhaps a bit of advice.
Brown University
Sunday, May 30 on the College Green
Speaker: David S. Rohde '90
David Rohde
David S. Rohde is a 1990 Brown University graduate and a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The New York Times. While in Afghanistan, Rohde was kidnapped by members of the Taliban in November 2008, but managed to escape in June 2009 after seven months in captivity.
Rohde's speech will be delivered the day before commencement on Saturday, May 29 at 2:30pm in the First Baptist Meeting House. Brown officials note:
"None of the recipients will speak at the Commencement ceremony; that honor is reserved for two members of the graduating senior class."
Also note - Nelson Mandela is receiving an honorary degree from Brown University.
Bryant University
Saturday, May 22 in the main tent behind Bryant Center
Speaker: Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed
Sen. Jack Reed is Rhode Island's senior senator, Reed serves on four committees: Appropriations; Armed Services; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Born and raised in Cranston, R.I., Reed graduated from West Point in 1971. He served in the U.S. Army through 1979 and, during that time, received a master's degree in public policy from Harvard University (1973). After leaving active duty, Reed attended Harvard Law School, graduating with a law degree in 1982.
Community College of Rhode Island
Friday, May 21 at the Knight Campus in Warwick
Speaker: 2010 graduate Leonardo Sime
CCRI has a unique approach to a speaker for 2010. The speaker for the commencement is 2010 graduate Leonardo Sime. The CCRI commencement ceremony will focus on its students with music students singing the national anthem and Alma mater, college President Ray Di Pasquale sharing stories of graduating students, and a keynote address by 2010 graduate Leonardo Sime.
Johnson and Wales University
Saturday, May 22 at the Dunkin Donuts Center
College of Culinary Arts The Hospitality College
Speaker: Danny Meyer, Doctor of Business Administration in Hospitality Management
Mayer
Danny Meyer is an icon in the restaurant industry. He is CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, which includes Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Eleven Madison Park and a long list of other restaurants. An acclaimed author, Meyer and his restaurants and chefs have earned numerous awards and accolades highlighted by an unprecedented 20 James Beard Awards.
College of Business, School of Technology
Speaker: Laureen White, Doctor of Business Administration in Management
Laureen L. White is the President of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce. She is the driving force behind the efforts to place Providence in the forefront of businesses looking to tap into a wealth of creativity, diversity and history. White is an honors graduate of the University of Rhode Island where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism in 1981.
New England Tech
Sunday, May 2 at the Rhode Island Convention Center
NE Tech's graduation was early on in the month of May. Television weatherman and celebrity host Al Roker delivered the commencement address. Roker is a host of NBC's The Today Show, a morning program viewed by more than 30 million people each week. He is also an author, an amateur cartoonist, and entrepreneur.
Providence College
Sunday, May 16 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center
Speaker: Ann Curry
Ann Curry is an Emmy Award-winning NBC news anchor and a correspondent for NBC's Today show. she is also the anchor of the news magazine Dateline NBC. Curry is known for her international reporting of major stories from places such as Baghdad, Sri Lanka, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Rwanda.
Rhode Island School of Design
Saturday, June 5. Held outdoors on South Water at Power Street
Speaker: Ruth J. Simmons, President of Brown University
Ruth J. Simmons is president of Brown University, where she is also a professor of comparative literature and Africana Studies. She graduated from Dillard University in New Orleans and completed her Ph.D. in Romance languages and literatures at Harvard. A few of her many accolades include the 2001 President’s Award from the United Negro College Fund, the 2002 Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal and the 2004 Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal.
Roger Williams University
Saturday, May 22
Speaker: William J. Bratton
William J. Bratton is the chairman of Altegrity Risk International, a security solutions firm. He is the regarded by many as one of the most innovative police chiefs in America’s history. While in public service as Chief of the New York City Transit Police, Boston Police Commissioner, New York City Police Commissioner, and then Chief of Police for the Los Angeles Police Department, he revitalized morale and cut crime significantly in all four posts.
Salve Regina University
Sunday, May 16, outdoors behind the O'Hare Academic Center
Speaker: Malaak Compton-Rock rock
Malaak Compton-Rock runs The Angelrock Project South Africa with her husband, Chris Rock. Angelrock is a trust that provides assistance to orphaned and vulnerable children, granny-led households and people living with HIV/AIDS in Diepsloot, a poverty-stricken shanty town in Johannesburg, South Africa.
University of Rhode Island
Sunday, May 23 on the Quadrangle
Speaker: John King '85
CNN
King is the anchor of CNNs new evening program, John King, USA and CNN's chief national correspondent. will speak at the University's undergraduate ceremonies on May 23 and receive an honorary doctor of humane letters.
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