{"id":3829,"date":"2026-04-03T18:22:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T22:22:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/student-affairs\/?p=3829"},"modified":"2026-04-03T18:22:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T22:22:36","slug":"2026-rainville-awards-team-excellence-award-finalists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/student-affairs\/news\/2026\/04\/2026-rainville-awards-team-excellence-award-finalists\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Rainville Awards: Team Excellence Award Finalists"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This year\u2019s finalists are dedicated to improving the student experience at URI for those taking their first steps, facing challenges, or at times feeling overwhelmed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founded in 1989 in honor of A. Robert Rainville \u201964, the University of Rhode Island\u2019s A. Robert Rainville Student Leadership Awards, hosted by the Office of Student Involvement and the Center for Student Leadership Development, are an annual celebration to honor students who are successful in a variety of leadership roles while remaining in good academic standing.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kingston, R.I. \u2013 April 3, 2026 \u2013\u00a0Added in 1996, the Rainville Team Excellence Award recognizes teams that are mission-driven, passionate, and exemplify collaborative and authentic leadership in their work on campus. They engage in open communication, perseverance, resilience, crucial conversations, and problem-solving and adapt to changes and challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These teams demonstrate effective leadership, guided by clear purpose and shared goals. Finalists are recognized for their lasting positive impact on members and the community by fostering growth and belonging through meaningful contributions and collaboration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2025, the Muslim Student Association received the Team Excellence Award. Praised for creating a supportive space where Muslim students can thrive in many ways, they have made their mark at URI and continue to do so. Who will be this year\u2019s recipient? One of these three finalists will soon be recognized with this honor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Collegiate Recovery Program (CRP)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
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College Recovery Program<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Collegiate Recovery Program at URI has built a strong community by offering access to weekly support meetings, educational workshops, and social events for students in or seeking recovery from substance use. Their efforts have helped reduce stigma on campus, promoted student well-being, empowered many to thrive academically and personally, and celebrated individual recovery journeys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CRP is a student-driven initiative within Health Services, led by peer recovery specialists and student leaders who bring lived experience and academic knowledge. They work to redefine recovery as growth and self-directed change, encouraging students to engage at any stage of recovery. They aim to ensure recovery is supported and understood on URI campuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This group demonstrates collaborative leadership with other departments, integrating recovery into broader campus life rather than isolating it, reinforcing the idea that recovery and wellness belong everywhere. Overall, CRP works to remove the barriers of abstinence-only expectations and avoid stigmatizing language to create a space where more students feel welcome. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They have created this space by developing the CRP Wellness Lounge on the Memorial Union’s lower floor. This space is a substance-free, peer-supported area open to all students. Through this space, events, and workshops, they provide access to supports, mentors, weekly groups, wellness-based events, and everyday connections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe aim to model leadership that is empathetic, authentic, and rooted in care for others. We want future student leaders to feel empowered to lead with vulnerability, to prioritize community and well-being, and to create spaces where people feel seen and supported.\u201d <\/em>\u2013 Sydney Dubois<\/strong>, Collegiate Recovery Program student representative<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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New Student Transitions (NST)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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New Student Transitions<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Whether they\u2019re serving as tour guides or orientation leaders or working on O-Week programming, more than 100 student ambassadors work tirelessly to guide prospective and admitted students and their families through the start of college. Their mission is to create seamless transitions so students immediately feel welcome and a sense of belonging. New Student Transitions paves the way for a successful academic journey for all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a team, they work to create a meaningful experience that resonates with all visitors. That said, NST ensures each ambassador has opportunities to be their most authentic selves and share their own stories and personalities in their role(s). As well as embracing individuality, they work to make a positive impact each time they grab their name tags and put on their Rhody gear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NST hopes to create a space where all students feel like they have a place at URI from the beginning of their collegiate journey. Their current ambassadors went through that same process and are now able to provide that same support to new students. The NST team strives to develop into the best future leaders, beyond being student ambassadors for the university. This includes professional development as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NST is always working toward improving. Just recently, they created a Spanish tour, began wearing bilingual shirts to accommodate more visitors, and talked about current events to encourage their ambassadors to be informed and immerse themselves in stories they may have never heard before. NST hopes the opportunities they provide allow their ambassadors to use their newfound knowledge to succeed in their future work.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery tour when a prospective student leaves feeling like they are confident in their decision to apply to URI, every orientation session when a student returns home even more excited to move in during the fall, and every O-Week event when a student makes a new friend is another step towards reaching our goal.\u201d <\/em>\u2013 Angelyn Ciampa<\/strong>, New Student Transitions student representative<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rhody F1rst<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Rhody F1rst<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Rhody F1rst is the university\u2019s first organization created by and for first-generation college students, dedicated to supporting, empowering, and celebrating this segment of the population. They offer mentorship opportunities and unique and comprehensive support through a vibrant community where first-generation students can connect, share experiences, and thrive together. They work to foster a sense of belonging, helping students navigate the college experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether with student groups or university departments, Rhody F1rst holds collaboration at its core in order to expand its reach and create inclusive spaces. Both the number of members and the stories they hear show that they are reaching their goal, and knowing that Rhody F1rst was a meaningful factor in many students’ decision to choose URI shows that they are truly living their mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No matter the plan or event, there is always a clear purpose, ensuring first-generation students have access to the tools and connections to help them thrive. Rhody F1rst works to change the conversation around first-generation identity on campus and help students who once felt invisible now have a community that celebrates them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, they want every member to find a home in their community, walk away from the group knowing how to advocate for themselves, lead with empathy, and build a community wherever they go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe hope we have shown URI that first-generation students are not just a population to be served. We are leaders, organizers, and change-makers. If future students look back and point to Rhody F1rst as part of what shaped them, that would mean everything to us.\u201d<\/em> \u2013 Ashly Mart\u00ednez Rodr\u00edguez<\/strong>, Rhody F1rst student representative<\/p>\n\n\n\n

###<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lyla Kiloski, intern for the URI Division of Student Affairs, wrote this news release.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year\u2019s finalists are dedicated to improving the student experience at URI for those taking their first steps, facing challenges, or at times feeling overwhelmed Founded in 1989 in honor of A. Robert Rainville \u201964, the University of Rhode Island\u2019s A. Robert Rainville Student Leadership Awards, hosted by the Office of Student Involvement and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5297,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[13,17],"class_list":["post-3829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-news","tag-spring-2026"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/student-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/student-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/student-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/student-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5297"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/student-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3829"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/student-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3834,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/student-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3829\/revisions\/3834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/student-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/student-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/student-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}