The Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior sec ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. It is the only community college in the state and the largest community college in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

. The college's primary facility is located in

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

, with additional college buildings throughout the state.

History

It was founded as Rhode Island Junior College, "RIJC", in 1964 with 325 students studying at the Henry Barnard School in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1965, a portion of the nearby former Brown & Sharpe manufacturing facility was converted into classroom space and served as the college's primary facility until 1972. The Knight campus in Warwick, RI built on the donated Knight Estate, opened in 1972 as the school's first permanent building and flagship campus. It was followed by three additional campus and 2 satellite locations. The Margaret M. Jacoby Observatory, located on the Knight Campus grounds, was opened in 1978. The school was renamed the Community College of Rhode Island in June 1980.

Campuses

The college's primary facility is located in

, with additional college buildings throughout the state. *Knight Campus (

, opened in 1972) *Flanagan Campus (

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln ...

, opened in 1976) *Liston Campus (

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

, opened in 1990) *Newport County Campus ( Newport, opened in 2006) *Downcity Campus-Shephard Building (Providence) *Satellite Campus-Westerly Education Center ( Westerly)

Architecture

Community College of Rhode Island Knight Campus-side

The college's flagship Knight building in Warwick was designed by the New York architecture firm of

Perkins and Will Perkins&Will is a global design practice founded in 1935. Since 1986, the group has been a subsidiary of Lebanon-based Dar Al-Handasah (Arabic: دار الهندسة). Phil Harrison has been the firm's CEO since 2006. History The firm was establ ...

, in conjunction with local firms Harkness and Geddes and Robinson Green Beretta. The campus was designed to house all academic, social, and recreational functions in a single building. The building itself is an enormous concrete structure which terminates in a semicircle, and ranges in height from four to six stories. The design is a notable example of

Brutalist architecture Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the ba ...

, and was heavily influenced by the philosophy of

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...

. The building was hailed by the Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission as "one of the most striking and innovative contemporary structures in the state" when it opened in 1972. Over time, the Brutalist style generally lost its appeal and became seen as "drab," "hulking," and "bureaucratic," associated with large-scale mass-planning. In 2019, the Knight campus building made local news after being named "eighth ugliest college campus in the United States" by a lifestyle blog.

Academic profile

The college offers the following degrees: *Associate in Arts (A.A.) *Associate in Science (A.S.) *Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) *Associate in Applied Science in Technical Studies (A.A.S.-T.S.) *Associate in Fine Arts (A.F.A.) Several one-year certificates are also awarded.

Student life

The school's student newspaper is ''The Unfiltered Lens'', which began publication in 2007. It replaced the ''Knightly News'', which had been active in the 1980s, but had become defunct several years prior to the ''Lens founding.

Sport

The college athletics teams are nicknamed the Knights.

Noted people

Alumni

Alex Owumi Alexander Owumi (born May 4, 1984) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player and author. He became the subject of widespread media attention following his time with Al-Nasr SC (Benghazi, basketball), Al-Nasr, a Libyan team owned by t ...

- Former professional basketball player *

Rhéal Cormier Rhéal Paul Cormier (; April 23, 1967 – March 8, 2021) was a Canadian-American professional baseball left-handed pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB), for the St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox (twice), Montreal Expos, Philadel ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher *

Rebecca Haynes Rebecca Haynes (born 24 October 1984) is a basketball player from Australia. Personal Haynes was born on 24 October 1984, and has two siblings, a brother and a sister. She is tall. During the 2010/2011 basketball season, she attended the Qu ...

- WNBL basketball player *

Darren Main Darren Main (born January 20, 1971) is a yoga teacher and author currently living in San Francisco. He has written largely about Eastern spirituality for a more modern and Western audience. Main is best known for his second book, ''Yoga and the P ...

- yoga teacher and author * Ken McDonald - NCAA basketball coach *

Cynthia Mendes Cynthia M. Mendes (born June 14, 1980) is an American politician who formerly served as a member of the Rhode Island Senate from the 18th district. Elected in November 2020, she assumed office on January 5, 2021, and left office in January 2023. S ...

, member of the

Rhode Island State Senate The Rhode Island Senate is the upper house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the lower house being the Rhode Island House of Representatives. It is composed of 38 Senators, each of ...

Joe Polisena Joseph M. Polisena (born June 27, 1954) is an American politician from Rhode Island. He served in the Rhode Island Senate from 1993 to 1999 and again from 2001 to 2007. He is currently mayor of the Town of Johnston, having been elected in 2006, ...

, former member of the

Tiny the Terrible Douglas Allen Tunstall Jr. (born August 19, 1967), better known as Tiny the Terrible, is an American professional wrestler and politician. During his wrestling career, he appeared as an attraction on the independent circuit and made two appea ...

, professional wrestler and politician * Agostinho Silva - former Rhode Island

state representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

* JVKE - American singer-songwriter and producer, came to this college for about a year

References

External links

* {{coord, 41.868087, -71.386899, type:edu_globe:earth_region:US-RI, display=title Buildings and structures in Newport County, Rhode Island Buildings and structures in Warwick, Rhode Island Community colleges in Rhode Island Education in Kent County, Rhode Island Education in Newport County, Rhode Island Educational institutions established in 1964 Universities and colleges in Providence, Rhode Island 1964 establishments in Rhode Island NJCAA athletics