Rainville Award<\/a> for Student Leadership at URI this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBove is legally blind and campaigned for URI Student Senate saying that his experience as a student with a disability made him a problem solver, empathetic to others who face challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bove almost didn\u2019t attend URI. Bove almost went elsewhere for college, and was considering a career in law, but URI\u2019s affordability and his experience working with then-president David Dooley on Rhode Island\u2019s student advisory council swayed him toward Kingston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Impressed, he toured the school and decided to apply \u2014 one minute before the application closed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That \u2018why not\u2019 decision proved to be a good one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bove arrived at URI in 2019 and got involved right away. He quickly made a good group of friends and his concerns about starting college as a student with a disability quickly disappeared. \u201cI knit in quickly,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Bove was enjoying a banner first year, COVID hit. Not only was it a scary time for everyone healthwise, the emotional impact of the pandemic hit hard. \u201cI had worked hard to get to URI and was having a great year. Seeing the school close and go online was about the worst thing that could have happened,\u201d he recalls. \u201cIt was so depressing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bove save says that online school was hard for him. But he was determined to be at URI, to stick with it, and says he \u201cclawed himself out\u201d of the hole of low grades. Returning to campus brought him a renewed appreciation for what he has at URI and an appreciation for his time here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bove has long advocated for student opinion to be at the forefront of the University decision-making and for better connections between the Student Senate and Faculty Senate; he feels that such goals have been met although the pandemic highlighted weaknesses in the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bove has always been unafraid to share his voice as a student, for himself or others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bove became the first student representative to the URI Board of Trustees in February 2020. There, he was unafraid to verbalize unpopular opinions and provide a realistic student perspective to the board, always reminding senior leaders of the concerns of students: time, finances and schoolwork. Bove frequently appears in the minutes to ask a question or state a position, advocating for students during the critical time of the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bove credits his parents with instilling in him the ability to fight for what is needed. They were his champions, fighting for him as a student with a disability, and instilled in him the ability to do the same. \u201cMy parents fought hard to get access for me,\u201d he says. \u201cThey said, \u2018People won\u2019t coddle you. Don\u2019t take no and don\u2019t take anything for granted. It\u2019s on you to get what you need.\u2019\u201d This mindset empowered Bove as a student on Aquidneck Island and when he came to URI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bove displays the impatience of someone who\u2019s been fighting battles for a long time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is a feeling,\u201d he says. \u201cIf we don\u2019t do it, who will? If I don\u2019t, who?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Someday, he hopes to use that passion and energy to run for office in Rhode Island: \u201cI want to stay and invest my energy here.\u201d He wants to continue to be a voice for young people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bove is proud of his time at URI and sad to leave, but feels the school is trending in a positive direction. \u201cI\u2019ve seen change in my time here, for the better. The progress I\u2019ve seen has been real. Leaders like Ellen Reynolds and Marc Parlange have a great connection to students at the University. I\u2019ve seen a shift in the institutional priorities over my four years at URI and am incredibly pleased to see that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bove says, \u201cAs young people, we think we have all the time in the world, but change won\u2019t happen unless you believe in it. You can\u2019t waste time.\u201d It\u2019s that motivated mindset that always propels Bove to speak up for change, instead of waiting for someone else to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cURI has given me a tremendous gift,\u201d Bove says. \u201cI had no friends at the start and did not picture at all what I am doing now. As a disabled kid to two young parents from a modest upbringing, I didn\u2019t think things would turn out like this. URI brought me in and said, \u2018You can do what you want.\u2019 URI taught me there are truly no limitations for how far you can go if you\u2019re willing to reach out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 May 15, 2023 \u2013 This spring, Rhode Island\u2019s changing legislative landscape has been followed with interest by many Rhode Islanders including one graduating University of Rhode Island senior. Middletown\u2019s Christopher Bove is not quite ready to throw his hat into the ring, but chances are, he will someday. A political science and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":86246,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86245"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86245\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86354,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86245\/revisions\/86354"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}