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Residence Halls

Life on campus

An important part of the move to the Mount Pleasant campus was the addition of six residence halls between 1961 and 2007.  The first, Mary Tucker Thorp Residence Hall, provided a new type of college experience for students and enticed out of state residents to enroll.  As the college population grew dramatically, so did the need for more housing.  Five dorms joined Thorp Hall at the southwestern portion of campus, with the most recent constructed in 2007.   

Rose Butler Browne Hall

Rose Butler Browne was a pioneer in American education who received a Master’s degree from Rhode Island College in 1919.  Born in Boston, Browne was raised in Newport, RI and earned a Bachelor’s degree at Rhode Island State College, now the University of Rhode Island.  Following her Bachelor’s degree, Browne enrolled at Rhode Island College and earned her Master’s degree; she was also awarded an honorary degree from Rhode Island College in 1950 as well as honorary degrees in Roger Williams College and the University of Rhode Island.

Browne was the first African-American to receive a doctorate from Harvard University, and following her graduation she began a long teaching career. She drew national attention during her time on the faculty of North Carolina College when she refused to send her students to teaching positions in West Virginia, a state known at the time for significant wage gaps between white and black employees. Her actions and the publicity surrounding the cases led to policy changes in West Virginia. Retiring from a long teaching career in 1963, Browne ran a daycare center before returning to Rhode Island; there, she ran a summer school aimed to enrich the lives of black children.  Browne published her autobiography, Love My Children, in 1969 at the age of 72, detailing the influence of her great-grandmother and her dedication to fighting prejudice and engendering change. Browne died in 1986 at the age of 89. 

Rose Butler Browne Residence Hall was designed by Lamborghini and Pipka to house 156 women.  The main entrance to the building is through a two-story ell that fronts a large, seven-story residence tower.  Browne Hall precedes Lamborghini and Pipka’s design for the Craig-Lee Hall addition, but the two buildings are similar in form.  At Browne, narrow columns of windows punctuate smooth facades of light colored brick. The building’s edges are clad in concrete. Browne is the tallest building on campus.

New Residence Hall (2007)

RIC’s newest residence hall, yet unnamed, was completed in 2007.  Designed by Robinson, Green, Beretta (RGB) to house 367 students, the building is the first LEED certified residence hall in Rhode Island.  The building is shaped in a deep-U, with light colored brick contrasted with red brick courses and recessed vertical sections of concrete.