Award recipients at the Fourth Annual URI Diversity Awards Banquet pose for a photo. The awards ceremony was held to honor the contributions and achievements of students, faculty, administrators, staff and friends toward developing a more inclusive, diverse and equitable campus community and increasing the capacity of the University to reach its fullest educational, cultural, economic, and social potential. (Front row, from l-r) Lynn McGrath, Damita Davis, Hlee Kue, Christina Garcia, URI President Robert Carothers, Daniela Gongora, Margaret Onasanya, and Lisa Bowleg. (Rear, from l-r) Ben Wesley, Vasilios Georgopoulos, Muhammad Shloul, Augusto Dougal, Babatunde Ologun, Gail Francis Lepkowski, and Stephen Myles.

Members of the African Awareness Association and the men’s basketball team held a book drive in April and collected more than 500 books to help create libraries in Ghana, Africa. The much needed books were packed off to “Books for Africa,” a non-profit charity. URI student packers include (l-r) Andrea Mesa, Aemi Tiemo, Margaret Onasanya, Babatunde Ologun, Dorien Agyapon, Howard Smith and Hlee Xiong.

URI pharmacy sophomore and Student Senate Finance Chair Matthew Malachowski of Cranston creates a tile for the Wall of Hope. The Wall of Hope is a community building project, organized by the Providence Chapter of the National Conference for Community and Justice, which gives participants an outlet to reflect upon and express feelings about the September 11th terrorist attacks. Many URI students, staff, and faculty members recently participated in the effort.

Graduate student Crystal Fonseca had a starring role on CNN on April 25. Earlier that week, a CNN crew filmed her for two days at home, work and class. The story, called “Losing Ground,” focused on a report that said that the higher cost of education is preventing middle and lower income students from attending college. Fonseca, 24, earned her undergraduate degree at URI with the help of Pell grants and local scholarships and by working 40 hours a week doing a variety of jobs.

A group of URI students and Narragansett residents put their cleaning skills into action in the Eastward Look area in April. The clean-up was planned by the URI/Narragansett Town Coalition.

Award recipients show off their achievements at the University of Rhode Island’s Fifth Annual Black Faculty Scholars Awards. The awards program honored graduating students for their achievements in the classroom, in service on the campus and around the state, and for succeeding under difficult odds. The students are (front, l-r) Nicole Love, Joyll J. Smith, Laura M. Santos; (back,l-r) Barry J. O’Connor Jr., Babatunde Ologun, and John C. Cruz. Missing from photo is Monica B. Tavares, Maria Sampson, Marvens Laporte, Brackston Poitier, and Yatar Kuyateh.

Stacey Vernoi (right), chief of the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office Domestic Violence Sexual Assault Unit, and Kate Harden, an attorney with the unit, discuss domestic violence with some of the 230 high school students from around the state who attended Law Day in May. Held at the URI Providence Campus, Law Day is part of the American Bar Association’s national Law Day Education Program and is sponsored by URI’s Urban Field Center partnering with the Rhode Island Bar Association. This year’s topic was “Celebrating Our Freedom: Civil Rights and Terrorism.”