A Tribute to President Donald J. Farish

By DeWolf Fulton
Posted 8/7/18

The passing of Roger Williams University President Donald J. Farish leaves a sad and sudden void that will be difficult to fill at RWU, in this state and nationwide where he set a coveted model …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Register to post events


If you'd like to post an event to our calendar, you can create a free account by clicking here.

Note that free accounts do not have access to our subscriber-only content.

Day pass subscribers

Are you a day pass subscriber who needs to log in? Click here to continue.


A Tribute to President Donald J. Farish

Posted

The passing of Roger Williams University President Donald J. Farish leaves a sad and sudden void that will be difficult to fill at RWU, in this state and nationwide where he set a coveted model throughout academia.

In his seven years at RWU, President Farish effected more innovation, growth and change than any previous president, carried out in a mild-mannered and fearless style that has left many in greater awe now that he is gone so quickly.

President Farish proved what many of us believe that academicians make the best university presidents. This tenet was crystal clear at campus events where students always showed love and admiration, and Don his unassuming good humor. Commencement 2018 was dramatic evidence of the endearing mark he left. As Provost Andrew Workman introduced President Farish for his address, the applause was sustained and — perhaps for Don as he waited it out — a bit embarrassing. As the ovation subsided, and President Farish was about to speak, one rogue student shouted out, "DONALD!"

Don's soft-spoken response was immediate. 

"I'll see you after," he said, again bringing down the house. He then greeted the 2018 graduates as "the highest achieving class ever," raising more thunderous applause. His affinity with students was palpable, captivating and unmatched in RWU history.

No wonder. He recognized academic excellence and was a champion of inclusion and diversity. He worked tirelessly to embrace and give dignity to all individuals, especially those struggling on the sidelines, neglected or harassed. This year's student address at Commencement was eloquently delivered by a super-confident Victoria Davis, in her wheelchair and accompanied by her smiling black lab therapy dog, Tony, smartly outfitted in his custom made cap and gown. The two of them stole the show.

Civil rights fixture and social activist Ray Rickman some time ago leveled the criticism that RWU lacked diversity more than any other college or university in the state. President Farish has single-handedly turned that perception around. 

In one of his last blogs (May 14, 2018) titled "We Are Just Beginning," Don noted that of the incoming class for the upcoming academic year, 17 percent are students of color, up from 12 percent at this point last year and reflecting a 75 percent increase in the number of enrolling black/African American students and a 28 percent increase in enrolling Hispanic/Latino students. He memorized and used numbers with ease.

He went on to write, "We are beginning to recognize that we are not immune to the sexism and sexual harassment, the transphobia and homophobia, the racism and xenophobia, the anti-Semitism and bigotry that we've witnessed all too often on the national stage. We are grateful to voices across campus that have helped us reflect on our own policies, practices and shortcomings. And we invite you to continue to engage." His on-campus speakers empowered students of every identity like no president before him. They saw him as their champion.

President Farish was also a strong advocate for the burgeoning Latino community in Rhode Island, establishing the RWU Latino Policy Institute at its Providence campus. In the last two years honorary degree recipients at Commencement included Pablo Rodrigues, MD, of Providence, reproductive health professional and community leader with  Progresso Latino and the former Latino Public Radio.

This year's degree recipient was Frank Rainieri, founder, president and CEO of Puntacana Group resorts in the Dominican Republic. Mr. Rainieri's son, a 1999 graduate of RWU and Puntacana vice president, was also a recipient. RWU now has an active program for students in the Dominican Republic, and the Latino population has a fresh and vigorous voice here in Rhode Island.

Last year President Farish hired RWU's first-ever Chief Diversity Officer Ame Lambert and placed her in a high-priority office only steps away from his own and between Chief Operating Officer Jerry Williams and Communications Director Ed Fitzpatrick. He has given her wide latitude to effect change on campus, and we are currently working together to bring minority Providence middle school students to RWU for guided tours and motivational discourse. 

That President Farish championed innovation and diversity was recognized well beyond campus. In a personal tribute from WaterFire founding artist Barnaby Evans, last Saturday's lighting was dedicated to him "for his inspiring leadership and transformative impact on our community and our nation." illuminating torches were carried by Provost Workman, COO Williams and CDO Lambert.

While President Farish was an advocate for progressive causes, he also took time to help conservative students who endured challenges on campus. At one of his Fireside Chats, President Farish  heard from the president of College Republicans that he was "bullied" by others on campus who disagreed with him. Don went on for some ten minutes in defense of this student's right to speak free of harassment, leaving the student with new-found support from the highest office on campus.

Another major success President Farish achieved at RWU was to make education more meaningful in the community. Last April at the Bristol Maritime Center on Thames Street invited guests met Civic Scholars who displayed student projects on the East Bay Bike Path, Broad Street in Providence, a fishing pier for RI Veterans, and oyster shell recycling among others.

Lisa Raiola, VP of Institutional Advancement at RWU, said President Farish "initiated and advocated fiercely to solve problems that matter to society and to build the university the world needs now." Civic Scholars' goal this year was $100,000, but they raised $230,000 in a single day. Introduced also this year at Commencement was explicit recognition of the graduating Civic Scholars.

While student enrollment did not change significantly during his tenure, President Farish added a number of buildings. The Richard L. Bready Sailing Center was built on the Mt. Hope Bay shoreline for RWU's nationally ranked sailing team. The purchase of the Mahar Center on North Campus brought the US Sailing Association to campus. President Farish is also credited with the foresight to purchase the Livingston "Wind Hill" property on Ferry Road, beautiful waterfront land and buildings adjacent to campus and bringing additional promise for the future at RWU. 

Under President Farish RWU has also initiated moving 300 students from the former Almeida Apartments on Bayview Avenue to new housing on campus. A new engineering building to go on the campus quadrangle is now in the planning stages. He also expanded RWU's presence in Providence, leasing One Empire Plaza for the School of Continuing Studies, programs for Law School students and others. This expansion has doubled the RWU presence in Providence to 76,000 sq ft.

Faithful neighbors on Ferry Road, President Farish and his wife Maia regularly attended our Fourth of July post-parade cookout. Maia has always been a passionately devoted supporter of her husband in his ventures, and her gracious greetings at campus events always made visitors feel welcomed and at home. 

As I flipped burgers, the President and I chatted about another common interest, wildlife and insects. Earning a PhD at Harvard under world-renowned biologist Edward O. Wilson, President Farish was a fascinating bug conversationalist. We rued the dwindling monarch butterfly population, and he was glad for me to show him my milkweed patch as it evolved in recent years.

In Sept. 2016 he readily agreed to speak about his favorite insects at our Men's Club's Bosworth Lecture, a talk peppered with good humor and lesser-known bug facts. As President Farish said, "The tse tse fly is so hearty that -- when swatted -- it will fly away as if to ask, 'Is that the best you got?'" Over the years, he must have left many biology students smiling and enrapt.

President Farish had a steadfast moral compass that did not permit things to slide if he saw them go awry. Shortly after he came to RWU in 2011, I asked for his help to remedy an issue that four of his predecessors could not solve.

I told him that in the 1960s my mother Mary Howe DeWolf sold her beloved Ferrycliffe Farm to Roger Williams College to build its Bristol campus. Also, that after his death in 1977, The Fulton Campus was named in memory of her husband Dr Marshall Fulton, a founding board member who advanced RWC for years.

However, over the next 30 years the name Fulton Campus disappeared from the literature and remained only on a granite bench my mother had designed long before, still standing next to the outdoor statue of Roger Williams.

Sensitive to the policies and practices of his predecessors, over the next five years President Farish worked quietly to restore the history of The Fulton Campus at RWU. As part of Convocation 2016, he presided at a modest rededication ceremony, renaming the university entrance Fulton Campus Way, erecting several informative outdoor plaques about campus history and reestablishing the legacy every campus should be proud to display for students and visitors alike. This history with extensive photos is now easy to access online in RWU Archives. 

Our family will be forever grateful to President Farish for his personal kindness, firm courage and clear vision. With little or no fanfare that same year, he righted another wrong by reinstating the name of former Board Chairman Thomas J. Paolino on the Recreation Center where it had also been removed. 

Beyond an outstanding academician and proven administrator, President Farish was a man of character. As Peter Wilbur, senior level advisor at RWU for 18 years, said this week, "Don Farish was one of the most amazing individuals I have ever met. His intellect and integrity were impeccable and rivaled only by his compassion and sense of humor."

Many in town have witnessed RWU become the largest employer, bringing prestige and a thriving educational community where 60 years ago was an idyllic dairy farm. But only those who closely watched each president from the beginning can fully appreciate the good friend, fearless innovator and faithful academician we realized with Donald J. Farish. His good works here will outlive all of us.

(Note: Writer and retired Providence public school teacher, DeWolf Fulton served for 10 years on the RWU adjunct English faculty in the 1980s and 1990's.)

2024 by East Bay Media Group

Barrington · Bristol · East Providence · Little Compton · Portsmouth · Tiverton · Warren · Westport
Meet our staff
Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.