Reputation and Campus Culture
The university established a program in civil discourse, including the journal Reason and Respect, which brought in speakers such as Salman Rushdie, David Gergen, First Minister and Nobel Prize–winner David Trimble, Khaled Hosseini, author of Kite Runner, Bob Geldof of Live Aid, and others to campus. The university has established campuses in London and Florence; collaborates with sister institutions in France, Brazil, Vietnam, and Hong Kong; features a broad portfolio of study-abroad opportunities encompassing over 30 countries; and is home to a Center for Macro Projects and Diplomacy, which brings together engineering, architecture, technology, economic development, and international relations for a common purpose. Furthermore, it was recently recognized as a non-governmental member of the United Nations.
Enrollment is currently at an all-time high. In addition, RWU was recently ranked for the first time as one of the top ten Comprehensive Colleges in the Northern U.S. by U.S. News & World Report. It was ranked ninth in 2007, up one spot from the previous year.
In January 2009, a group of Communication majors worked to create a catalog of video vignettes on sustainability issues; a portion of that work appeared on the PBS special Planet Forward. One of those students, Kyle Toomey, also appeared on the Planet Forward special, which aired on April 15, 2009.
In 2010, according to The Hawk's Herald, "As of Aug. 31, RWU owed over $146 million in bonds outstanding. This figure reflects a slight decrease in university debt compared to the previous year's figure of over $150 million in bonds owed."
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Famous quotes containing the words reputation and/or culture:
“Talk to every woman as if you loved her, and to every man as if he bored you, and at the end of your first season you will have the reputation of possessing the most perfect social tact.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
“The white dominant culture seemed to think that once the Indians were off the reservations, they’d eventually become like everybody else. But they aren’t like everybody else. When the Indianness is drummed out of them, they are turned into hopeless drunks on skid row.”
—Elizabeth Morris (b. c. 1933)