CCRI commemorates 50 years of changing lives

John Howell
Posted 11/13/14

The past and the present came together yesterday at the State House as Governor Lincoln Chafee issued a proclamation celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Community College of Rhode …

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CCRI commemorates 50 years of changing lives

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The past and the present came together yesterday at the State House as Governor Lincoln Chafee issued a proclamation celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Community College of Rhode Island.

Chafee’s father, John Chafee, was governor when the college opened in 1964 with 325 students and a faculty of 11 in an old mill building on Promenade Street. And it is today’s Gov. Chafee who has increased funding for institutions of higher learning even in the face of the recession and a downturn in the economy.

That was a fact that didn’t go unnoticed by CCRI President Ray Di Pasquale or Johnston Mayor Joseph Polisena, a CCRI graduate and speaker at the hour-long ceremony.

As Lincoln Chafee is ending his term, Di Pasquale said he would be remembered as the “champion educator.”

Pointing at the governor, Polisena said as a state senator and as mayor he remembers promises made to provide additional funding for education, “but you did it…you put the resources where it was needed.”

Chafee, who circulated among those attending and later waved during the ceremony, said, “It is great to continue the legacy of my dad.” Looking back to the ’50s and ’60s, Chafee said it was public higher education that really made the difference in this country.

“Education is always the best place to make investments,” he said.

Di Pasquale said the nascent college represented an opportunity for many, “a chance for everyone – no matter where you come from, no matter how much money your family had or didn’t have – to further their education.”

“Fifty years later, community colleges across the country still represent the same opportunities,” he continued. “Affordability, accessibility…and a quality education has always been, and remains, our mission.”

Since 1964, CCRI has grown to become the largest community college in New England, with nearly 18,000 students and more than 1,200 faculty. CCRI has campuses in Warwick, Lincoln, Providence and Newport and satellites in Westerly and downtown Providence.

The college has more than 64,000 alumni, including Sondra Pitts, a member of the first graduating class and a co-chair of the 50th Anniversary Committee. Pitts remembered the college’s early days and how those first graduates lined up on the steps of the State House. By its second year, Pitts said enrollment grew to 900, and under the direction of its first president, William Flanagan, more classrooms, laboratories and a library were incorporated into the mill building. She said from “those inspired beginnings” there have been five decades of growth and successes.

Commissioner of Higher Education Jim Purcell likened community colleges to the opportunities once offered to those who chose to go west.

“Now, the future is here,” he said.

Also speaking were Eva Mancuso, chair of the Board of Education, and Michael Bernstein, chair of the Council on Postsecondary Education. Mancuso said in her three years as chair of the board she has consistently fought for public education. She stressed the important role CCRI plays in making education accessible and affordable.

Bernstein said CCRI provides “a jump start” for so many.

Looking ahead, Di Pasquale said he doesn’t know what the college will look like in another 50 years, “but I do know this: CCRI will always be at the forefront of providing educational opportunity for those who are willing to work for it and will always be a willing partner in Rhode island economic growth.”

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