On Saturday, the seventh of May 2016, Talent Development hosted the Rousseau Tree of Life Memorial on behalf of all TD scholars who passed away while in pursuit of higher education. Those scholars included Fernando Cano, Jose Figueroa, Breanna Foster, Khoi Pham, Romario Rousseau, Fandia Shloul and Sierra Stanton; four of whom had family representation at the memorial. The Master of Ceremonies was Talent Development alum and Academic Advisor Robert “Bobby” W. Britto-Oliveira and including an introduction from URI President Dr. David Dooley; a musical selection provided by TD student Bethly Cruz who sang Bette Midler’s “Wind Beneath My Wings”.

The musical selection was followed by acknowledgements made by those who were close to our departed scholars. TD alum Luis Javier Cano shared on behalf of his cousin Fernando Cano; TD alum and Assistant Director of Stud
ent Life for Talent Development, Edward Givens, shared on behalf of his advisee Breanna Foster; TD alum Stacey Br
own spoke on behalf of her brother Romario Rousseau; and Carol “Kippa” Stedman spoke on behalf of her niece Sierra Stanton. The acknowledgement portion of the event transitioned into a presentation of gifts made on behalf of Talent Development. The gift consisted of a plaque that read “TD Nation Remembers (the name of their respective loved one). The gifts were presented by a member of the student organization our departed scholars were members of while in attendance at URI. On behalf of Fernando Cano, his fraternity brother, Assistant Dean of Arts and Sciences Earl Smith presented the gift of behalf of Phi Kappa Psi; President of URI’s dance group eXposure Kristy Berdugo presented the plaque to Breanna Foster’s family; founding member of Brothers On a New Direction (BOND) Kevin Martins presented the plaque to the Rousseau family; and Director of Talent Development and Advisor to the Native American Student Organization (NASO) Gerald Williams presented the plaque to the Stanton family.

The program then shifted into a final musical selection made by BOND Brother Jeffrey Jones who sang the hymn “I Need Thee”. Upon the conclusion of the song Bobby gave closing remarks and redirected guests to the tree and plaque. The tree is an Arbor Vitae which from Latin translates in English as being the “Tree of Life”, which is symbolicin that each of our departed scholars lives on here at the university, particularlywithin the TD Nation family. The plaque mounted beside the tree reads, “ROUSSEAU TREE OF LIFE DEDICATED IN MEMORY OF THE DEPARTED TALENT DEVELOPMENT SCHOLARS IN PURSUIT OF HIGHER EDUCATION.” and his housed outside of Taft Hall. The event concluded with lunch, continued conversation and reflection among the guests and pictures taken by the Rousseau Tree of Life.

Special thanks to former Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. Thomas Dougan, who committed to making the memorial possible; URI’s President, Dr. David Dooley, and interim Vice President of Student Affairs, Dr. Mary Jo Gonzales were also recognized for maintaining that commitment since Dr. Dougan’s retirement. Additional thanks were given to John Sears and Housing and Residential Life staff for purchasing the tree and plaque; Steve Mello andthe Dining Services staff for providing lunch after the formal component of the memorial; Sheleen Clarke and Landscapes and Grounds for the planting of the tree and the mounting of the plaque along with Gina Simonelli from the Foundation for processing all the paperwork; lastly Talent Development’s own Sara Potter and Jacqueline Moreino for their behind the scenes work with each of the departments previously mentioned.