Providence, R.I.—Ten current Rhode Island College student-athletes and two others were recognized by the honorable, K. Joseph Shekarchi, Speaker of the House, and the Rhode Island House of Representatives at a reception held in the House Chamber at the Rhode Island State House on Monday, May 4.

The event was designed to give significant public recognition to men and women from Rhode Island College and the University of Rhode Island who have had significant achievements in their academic and athletic pursuits at their respective institutions. The honorees have also demonstrated exemplary citizenship and community service.

The 10 Rhode Island College Scholar-Athletes were:
Senior Jasper Bruins Slot (Scituate, R.I.); men's golf
Junior Parker Camelo (Bristol, R.I.); baseball
Sophomore Arianna De Thomas (Providence, R.I.); women's tennis
Senior Lucas Duquette (Wakefield, R.I.); men's soccer
Senior Karen Johnson-Hoffman (Groton, Conn.); women's soccer
Sophomore Aaliyah Krause (Milwaukee, Wis.); women's gymnastics
Senior Brandon Mota (West Warwick, R.I.); men's track and field
Sophomore Haylie Peacock (West Gardiner, Maine); women's tennis
Junior Abby Wager (Mansfield, Mass.); women's basketball
 
Athletic Alumni were also recognized from each institution. G. Gail Davis '60 was RIC's Athletic Alumna Award recipient.

Davis made an immense impact on thousands of Rhode Island College student-athletes during her tenure at the college.
 
After her retirement from teaching, Davis joined the Student-Athlete Support Staff in the athletic department, first as a proctor, and then took over as the Coordinator of Student-Athlete Development, a position she held from 2004 until stepping down in 2015. Her duties included monitoring student-athlete academic progress, study hall, overseeing community service initiatives and RIC's Choices Program.
 
Countless former student-athletes often point to Davis as a key factor in their ability to earn a degree and have success, not only on the field or in the arena, but in academics.
 
Prior to joining the RIC athletic department, Davis was an accomplished and decorated coach and educator.
 
Over the span of 16 years, she coached the Community College of Rhode Island's women's volleyball team to seven Region XXI and CSASC Championships. From 1969-1991, Davis was a physical education teacher and a coach in the Warwick (RI) School Department, where the led the girls' volleyball team to 10 R.I. Div. I State Championships and the basketball team to one state title. Before her work in Warwick, Davis was a physical education teacher in the Providence public school system.
 
Among a host of career accolades, the Warwick resident has been inducted into the Rhode Island College Athletic Hall of Fame, the New England Basketball Hall of Fame, the Rhode Island Interscholastic League Hall of Fame and the CCRI Athletic Hall of Fame. She is a recipient of the University of Rhode Island's Keaney Award and garnered numerous Coach of the Year awards. In addition, the Rhode Island Volleyball Coaches Association named the Div. I Championship trophy in her honor.
 
Davis is a Providence native, educated at Central High School and then at the Rhode Island College of Education. She also pursued her post-graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin (Madison), Springfield College and the University of Rhode Island.

Vice President Emerita Dr. Marguerite Brown was RIC's recipient of the K. Joseph Shekarchi Award, which is presented to an individual who has made significant contributions to the athletic program.

She played a pivotal role in enhancing the athletic fundraising and endowment initiatives during her 14-year career at Rhode Island College.
 
The Ogdensburg, New York native grew up the daughter of a legendary youth sports coach, which began her ties with athletics at an early age.
 
Brown earned a bachelor's degree from Wilson College in 1968, an MPA from the University of Rhode Island and eventually secured a Ph.D. in Professional Higher Education from the University of Connecticut in 1995.
 
A longtime educator, Brown began her professional career as a secondary teacher for 15 years, where she taught English, history and the humanities. She moved on to higher education in 1984, serving as the Associate, then Deputy Director for the University of Rhode Island/Providence School Department Partnership Program.
 
Brown then settled into what ended up being almost a quarter century in collegiate fundraising, starting with an eight-year stint as the Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at the University of Rhode Island from 1987-95.
 
Her involvement with RIC Athletics began in 1995 as the college's Director of Development and Executive Director of the Rhode Island College Foundation. Brown ended her career as the Vice President for Development and College Relations in 2009.
 
She built the Rhode Island College Foundation from the ground up during her outstanding career. Among a host of accomplishments, she spearheaded the college's first and only capital campaign, which raised over $25 million. Brown, along with Director of Athletics Don Tencher, helped establish and grow the Anchor Club, RIC's Athletic Booster Club, and was instrumental in securing the naming rights to the college's main athletic building: The Murray Center. Brown and Tencher helped enhance and revitalize nearly all of the college's athletic venues during her tenure.
 
She was recently named Vice President Emerita at RIC and served a three-year stint at Buttonhole Golf Course in Johnston, where one of her proudest achievements was making the course completely ADA accessible for veterans and people with disabilities.
 
Brown spends her time between Naples, Florida and Smithfield with her husband Al.