University of Rhode Island News

Dooley Releases Statement on URI Lockdown, Response

URI president David Dooley thanks emergency officials for their response, and outlines the school’s response.

Statement released via the University of Rhode Island Department of Communications and Marketing. To Members of the University Community, We are grateful that an alarming, and to some a terrifying, experience in Kingston yesterday ended with all members of our community safe and sound. A threatening statement believed to have been made in a lecture hall caused about 300 students to flee the auditorium, an entire building evacuated, an emergency alert system activated, and a university campus put in lock down mode for nearly three hours. We appreciate the swift and professional response of the University of Rhode Island, South Kingstown, Charlestown, and Rhode Island State Police with its K-9 unit. The cooperation among these forces was …

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Letters To The Editor

LETTER: Privatization of Higher Ed Violates R.I. Constitution

OPINION: The benefits afforded the president of URI are excessive and violate the R.I. Constitution.

As reported in the press (here and here), the University of Rhode Island has spent close to $500,000 on repairs of its president's tuition-funded home, which is among the fringe benefits that come with the president's job, such as a car, an expense account, and club dues. Excessive administrative spending is but one of many results of nationwide privatization of public education.  Particularly distressing in this context is the root cause of this development, namely the decline of the fraction of the URI budget that comes from the Rhode Island general revenue, a percentage that has dropped from 60 percent in the 1950s to less than 10 percent currently. Privatization has resulted in an explosive increase in tuition.  As documented in Trends…

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URI Pres: Football 'Fixable,' Commuter Rail Needed, Instate Numbers Lower

David Dooley addresses a wide range of questions at the university's annual media breakfast.

URI President David Dooley told members of the press Wednesday morning that the university's football program – coming off an 0-11 season – "has a problem and we're going to fix it." Dooley stopped short of saying it was strictly a personnel problem, arguing that while the budget for football was relatively big ($800,000), the bulk of the program was built around financial aid and scholarships. "That's bringing to Rhode Island students we'd want anyway," said Dooley. "If you look at the money we spend outside of scholarships, a good deal of that budget is provided by the operations of football itself," he said. The football program will need to bring in more money going forward, he said. On a regional issue, Dooley said he thought bringing…

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Langevin Applauds URI Cybersecurity Grant

According to Langevin, $500,000 in federal funding is another step toward making state a leader in cyber industry.

Release courtesy of Jim Langevin's office. Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI), who cofounded the Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus, today commended the University of Rhode Island on receiving $502,097 from the National Science Foundation to enhance education opportunities in computer network security at the high school and college levels. The funds will allow URI, under the direction of Professor Victor Fay-Wolfe, who heads the Digital Forensics and Cyber Security Center, to create software that better educates and tests students’ cybersecurity skills. Langevin, one of Congress’ leaders in the effort to strengthen the nation’s cybersecurity, has made it a priority to ensure Rhode Island has the chance to take advantage of a rapidly growing …

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Hurley Introduced as URI Basketball Head Coach [VIDEO]

Danny Hurley, URI Athletic Director Thorr Bjorn and URI President David Dooley all speak at an afternoon press conference introducing the school’s new head basketball coach.

KINGSTON – With a couple hundred fans and two rows of cheerleaders hailing his arrival, new University of Rhode Island men’s basketball coach Danny Hurley was introduced on Wednesday afternoon in Keaney Gym. Hurley spoke for about 10 minutes, preceded by URI Athletic Director Thorr Bjorn and URI President David Dooley. At the dais was Hurley’s brother and former college hoops star Bobby Hurley, who will be an assistant coach on his staff, and in the crowd was his wife, his two children, Bobby’s family and their father, coaching legend Bob Hurley Sr. See the attached videos for the press conference statements from Danny Hurley, Bjorn and Dooley. Following the press conference, Bjorn confirmed media reports that Hurley’s contract is for six …

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Stephen Greenwell

11:11 pm on Thursday, May 10, 2012

Hi there - Hurley's salary is pretty much paid for by athletics. More to the point, URI only gets about 10 percent of its budget from the state at this point.   more ›