PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island College’s undergraduate commencement address will be given by author and researcher Sonia Nieto at the school’s 163rd commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 13 – the first for RIC’s new president, Frank D. Sánchez.
Of Nieto, Sánchez said in a statement: “Dr. Nieto is a champion for inclusiveness in education, with an impressive track record of activism and advocacy. I am confident her powerful message will resonate with our graduates.”
Nieto’s research has focused on multicultural education, teacher education and learning among students of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. She will receive an honorary degree in education as RIC confers more than 1,500 undergraduate and more than 240 graduate degrees.
Brenda Dann-Messier ’73, a RIC alumna and Rhode Island’s acting commissioner of post-secondary education, will serve as the commencement speaker at the advanced degree ceremony later that afternoon. Throughout her career, including as assistant secretary of education under President Barack Obama, Dann-Messier has worked to provide development opportunities for people in the workforce at many career stages.
During this year’s ceremony, RIC will also award two presidential medals to distinguished members of the college’s community:
- Prime Minister Rui Maria de Araújo leads the Sixth Constitutional Government of one of the world’s youngest democracies – the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, founded in 2002. A physician, he practiced general medicine and established Tuberculosis clinics throughout the country while concurrently supporting the struggle for his country’s independence from Indonesian occupation.
- Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão is the first president, former prime minister and current minister of defense and security for the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste. Gusmão spearheaded the struggle for his country’s independence when Indonesia invaded and annexed Timor-Leste in 1975.
The baccalaureate ceremony will begin at 9 a.m. and will be followed by the advanced degrees ceremony at 2:30 p.m. Both events will take place at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence.
Emily Gowdey-Backus is a PBN staff writer.
