KINGSTON, R.I. – Sept. 22, 2025 – In his fourth annual State of the University address delivered at Edwards Hall on Friday afternoon, University of Rhode Island President Marc Parlange not only noted several successes the University achieved in the past year, but also took a moment to reflect on “why we are here, what unites us as a community, and where we are headed.”

Along with spotlighting a myriad of achievements, Parlange’s address to faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends included four video productions highlighting the research work that enhances URI’s “growing reputation” as a top-tier research university, Parlange said.

“At URI, our greatest strength has always been our people—the faculty, staff and students who make discovery possible and who bring our mission to life,” said Parlange, who also reminded the audience of URI’s R1 designation.  Received in February from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, the R1 designation is widely recognized as a standard for evaluating institutions based on their research activity. As an R1 institution, URI is now among the top 4.8% of degree-granting postsecondary institutions nationally.

Parlange also reminded the crowd of URI’s recognition last fall by The Wall Street Journal. The national publication ranked the state land-grant school as the No. 1 public university in New England and the 35th-best public university nationally in its annual WSJ/College Pulse 2025 Best Colleges in the U.S. ranking.

“It can’t just be because our campuses are beautiful—though plenty of students cited the ‘good vibes’ as a reason for choosing URI,” the president said. “It’s because students see something here that feels like home. A place where they belong, a place where they can build a future and a place to find their purpose. When students feel at home, they persist, they succeed and they thrive.”

Parlange noted URI’s welcome this fall of the inaugural class of 26 Schilling scholars—representing 13 states and 18 majors—made possible by the historic $65 million gift from the family of University alumna Helen Izzi Schilling. The philanthropic gift, which is the largest in URI’s 133-year history, established the Helen Izzi Schilling ’54 and Francis Schilling Scholars Program.

“These are engineers, doctors, computer scientists, and teachers in the making,” he said. “The Schilling gift is historic not only for its size but for its intent: the Schilling family invested in the potential of students they have never met because they believed in the promise of education to transform lives and because they believed in URI to deliver on that promise.”

Parlange also touted URI receiving, for the first time, a $1.9 million National Institutes of Health T32 Predoctoral Training Grant to invest in training the next generation of biomedical scientists. That program, Parlange said, will support 56 pre-doctoral fellows across neuroscience, engineering, environment and health sciences.

The award adds to the $162 million in external research awards secured this past year— a year-over-year increase that “demonstrates the strength of our research enterprise,” Parlange said.

Parlange also updated the audience on the medical school feasibility study by a Rhode Island Senate commission that is “nearing completion.” He said preliminary findings show that a URI College of Medicine would address the state’s physician shortage, strengthen its health system and boost the Ocean State’s economy.

“It will take partners—government, private sector, alumni—but URI has the expertise across all our colleges from pharmacy and engineering to health sciences and nursing to lead,” Parlange said.

URI’s new budget model is bringing transparency and accountability to the University’s financial planning, Parlange said, as well as aligning resources “more closely to our mission.” The University he said secured $4.5 million more in state operating funds and $7 million in R.I. Capital Plan Fund money for accessibility improvements.

Parlange also mentioned that construction on the $90 million Fine Arts Center is nearing completion. Recently, Howard S. Frank ’62 and his wife, Mary E. Frank, made a $2 million gift toward the project.

Parlange also congratulated multiple URI athletic programs for their achievements. The University’s football program won the Coastal Athletic Association conference championship and qualified for the NCAA FCS playoffs for the first time in four decades.

The baseball program also advanced to the NCAA playoffs this past spring after winning the Atlantic 10 Conference championship. The men’s track and field program won its fifth consecutive A-10 indoor track title, while the rowing program claimed its 11^th A-10 conference title.

“Why do these victories matter? Because they embody teamwork, resilience and the Rhody spirit that makes me proud to be a Ram,” Parlange said. “And because they remind us that success is sweeter when it is shared.”

Parlange also noted the past year reminded the University community “just how much is at stake.” He said when universities falter, the consequences are not confined to the institution—the impacts go far and wide.

“Patients go untreated. Communities lose access to vital resources. Life-changing research comes to a halt,” he said. “But when universities thrive, the reverse is true: students climb higher, communities grow stronger, and innovation flourishes.”

URI cannot just survive this moment; it must continue to “move through it with purpose,” Parlange said. And the University is achieving that.

This fall, URI welcomed more than 17,000 new and returning students to its campuses, which Parlange said is one of the largest enrollments in the University’s history. Plus, URI received a record 28,036 undergraduate applications this year.

URI awarded more than 5,000 degrees this past May and December in ceremonies held at the Ryan Center, Parlange said. He also noted that among those degree recipients was the 5,000th graduate from URI’s Talent Development program, a milestone that “speaks volumes about our access, resilience and impact.”

But progress comes with responsibility, Parlange said. The University he said must continue to build strength in graduate education, modernize spaces to make them “worthy” of an R1 university and unlock the campuses’ full potential.

“These are ambitious goals, but they are the right goals,” he said, “the goals of a university determined not just to keep up, but to lead.”

Friday’s address also included four videos showcasing URI researchers and their work, from using music to connect communities across borders to helping to address clean water access to connecting social and environmental matters to address food, identity and equity to creating technologies to restore mobility and independence for people.

“We have accomplished so much, but our ‘why’ remains the same: to open doors, to create opportunity, to make discoveries that matter, and to serve the people and communities of Rhode Island and beyond,” Parlange said.