Wallingford Residents Graduate From Roger Williams University

Five Wallingford residents were among the more than 1,035 students from Roger Williams University to receive their degrees as part of the Class of 2014.

They are as follows:

Melissa Copas, Bachelor of Science in Biology.

Matthew Esposito, Bachelor of Arts in History.

Bryan Nasznic, Bachelor of Science in Management.

Michael Mendillo, Bachelor of Science in Management/Finance.

Megan Murphy, Bachelor of Arts in Psychology.

Read more on the graduation ceremonies in the press release below:

In addition to awarding bachelor's and master's degrees to the candidates, RWU President Donald J. Farish conferred honorary doctorates to two special guests: the Honorable Lincoln D. Chafee, the 74th governor of the State of Rhode Island; and Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin.

Selected as the university's Commencement speaker in celebration of the growing array of projects in which RWU students and faculty have partnered with organizations to improve quality of life in the State, Governor Chafee called upon Roger Williams, the University's namesake and the State's founder, as an example for today's graduates – and particularly his role as a peacemaker in his era.

"To build an age of lasting peace for your generation will require concentration and will," Governor Chafee told the graduates. "Perhaps we can draw inspiration from the examples of Roger Williams. If you learn languages, as he did, you can engage the world on its own terms. If you start new enterprises, as he did, you can invite others into the experiment and provide jobs and opportunities for many others… If you speak truth to power, as he did, you will be faithful to your conscience and you will help our society to stay strong. If you work to achieve consensus, as he did, you will become a meaningful part of whatever community you choose to join and you will plant your ideals in the hard soil of everyday reality."