Roger Williams University

Roger Williams University

Motto	Magna Est Veritas
Motto in English	Truth is Mighty
Type	Private university
Established	1956
Affiliation	Non-sectarian
Endowment	$62.7 million
President	Donald J. Farish
Academic staff	489 (207 full-time, 282 part-time, 205 tenured or tenure-track)
Administrative staff	165 (full-time, as of 2011), 3,578 total employees (as of 2014)
Students	4,416 undergraduate, 741 graduate
Location	Bristol, Rhode Island, United States 41°38′58″N 71°15′38″W / 41.64944°N 71.26056°W / 41.64944; -71.26056Coordinates: 41°38′58″N 71°15′38″W / 41.64944°N 71.26056°W / 41.64944; -71.26056
Campus	Suburban, 140.85 waterfront acres
Colors	Royal Blue, Gold, and White
Nickname	Hawks
Website	www.rwu.edu

Roger Williams University (RWU) is a semi-private, coeducational American liberal arts university located on 140 acres (57 ha) in Bristol, Rhode Island, on Mt. Hope Bay, with a branch in Providence, RI. Founded in 1956, it was named for theologian and Rhode Island cofounder Roger Williams.

In recent years, the enrollment has been over 5,000 students, with over 480 academic staff. The university has no religious affiliation.

The university’s operations date to 1919, when Northeastern University opened a branch campus in the YMCA building in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1940, the YMCA Board of Directors took over the school, and the YMCA Institute granted its first associate's degrees in 1948. In 1956, the Institute received a state charter to become a two-year, degree-granting institution under the name of Roger Williams Junior College. During the 1960s, Roger Williams College began granting bachelor’s degrees. Needing a larger campus, the college purchased 80 acres (32 ha) of waterfront land and moved its main campus to Bristol in 1969. (RWU continues to operate a branch campus in Providence.) In 1989 new president Dr. Natale A. Sicuro initiated the Roger Williams Plan for the 90s, and became concurrently the president of the newly established Roger Williams School of Law and, in 1992, led the name change of Roger Williams College to Roger Williams University. RWU celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2006.

Donald J. Farish is the tenth president of Roger Williams University, assuming this role on March 29, 2011.

In 2012, Roger Williams University initiated a tuition freeze in which all entering freshmen would have a guarantee that their tuition would not increase for the next four years. The university renewed this promise for all freshmen entering in fall of 2015. As a result of this program, enrollment at the university has been steadily increasing, while enrollment at many peer institutions has been decreasing.