Campaign Expands Diversity and Opportunity Across the University

Big Ideas. Bold Plans. The Campaign for the University of Rhode Island has inspired alumni, parents, and friends to create new ways of supporting students. Scholarships, graduate fellowships, and honors program awards have all increased, but one area of particular focus has been diversity, equity, and inclusion.

As the University has embraced an active commitment to making positive change in this area, members of the URI community have contributed funds to help traditionally underrepresented students find access, opportunity, and success.

“ It has been encouraging to see efforts toward the goals of true equity and representative diversity at URI. We can’t shy away from the fact that we still have a long way to go as a society, but this level of support from our University community is making a real difference for our students.”

—Sean Edmund Rogers, vice president for community, equity, and diversity and Spachman Professor of Human Resources and Labor Relations

The Alumni of Color Network established an endowed scholarship as part of their commitment to mentoring and connecting with students. ACN co-chairs Bobby Britto-Oliveira ’06, M.S. ’11, and Sara Monteiro ’08 led the effort to establish the Alumni of Color Network Scholars Fund, and collective support from members of ACN and the broader community has helped the fund grow in its first year.

An initiative by the American Indian/Native American Advisory Council led the University to establish the Narragansett Undergraduate Scholarship for students who are citizens of the federally recognized Narragansett Nation. URI is awarding full scholarships to 15 to 20 students per year, while expanding recruitment of Indigenous scholars and curriculum development.

Roby Luna ’04, a Talent Development alumnus, created the Luna-Rivera SF Scholarship through his company, Aretec. Working with his business partner and co-founder, Anthony Rivera, Luna hopes to create access for more students of color in the areas of data analytics and artificial intelligence. He also remains a mentor, working with the ACN and serving on multiple URI boards.

An anonymous donor established the Raymond M. Wright Fast Track Master’s Engineering Endowment with a $2.5 million gift. It honors retired College of Engineering Dean Raymond Wright and provides one year of tuition and fees for underrepresented students in the fast-track degree program, which offers an accelerated timeline to complete a bachelor’s and master’s degree in five years. •