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 ''Öffentlichk ...

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 se ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but i ...

. 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 province ...

. 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 W ...

, 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 The Knight Estate is a historic estate in Warwick, Rhode Island, that is home to the Knight Campus of the Community College of Rhode Island. Developed as a country estate for a family of industrialists and later donated to the state, the main h ...

, 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 Margaret M. Jacoby Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the Community College of Rhode Island. It opened in 1978 and is located in Warwick, Rhode Island, United States. The observatory was renamed in 1995 to honor Prof. ...

, 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. * Linco ...

, opened in 1976) *Liston Campus ( Providence, opened in 1990) *Newport County Campus (

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...

, 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 estab ...

, 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 ...

, 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 - 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, Philadelp ...

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 - WNBL basketball player * Darren Main - yoga teacher and author * Ken McDonald - NCAA basketball coach * Cynthia Mendes, member of the Rhode Island State Senate * Joe Polisena, former member of the Rhode Island State Senate *

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 appear ...

, professional wrestler and politician *

Agostinho Silva Agostinho F. Silva (born November 5, 1963) is an American politician who is a Democratic member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives, representing the 56th District from 2007 to 2015. As a representative, Silva served on the House Commi ...

- 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