Back to Back! University Earns ā€˜Best in Paradeā€™ Honors for Second Year in a Row

Each year, the 91ŗ£½ĒĀŅĀ× Orientation advisors imagine a theme, design a float and construct it in time for 91ŗ£½ĒĀŅĀ×ā€™s famed Fourth of July festivities

Parade float
The Roger Williams University float delights the crowd at the corner of Hope and Oliver streets in downtown 91ŗ£½ĒĀŅĀ×.

91ŗ£½ĒĀŅĀ×, R.I. -- Revelers numbering in the hundreds of thousands spilled onto Hope and High streets in downtown 91ŗ£½ĒĀŅĀ× yesterday to celebrate the 227th 91ŗ£½ĒĀŅĀ× Fourth of July Parade, but only one team could capture the coveted Best in Parade honors ā€“ and for the second year in a row, that team comprised a group of spirited Orientation advisors from Roger Williams University.

ā€œThe theme this year is A Unique American Experience and our take on that is the 91ŗ£½ĒĀŅĀ× Fourth of July celebration as a whole, from the carnival to the soap box races to everything else on the float,ā€ Orientation advisor and float coordinator Kate Ford ā€™14 told ABC6 Providence. ā€œAnd weā€™re incorporating from 1785 until now.ā€

The award came during a festive weekend for the Orientation students and the countless other students, faculty and staff who celebrated with the Town of 91ŗ£½ĒĀŅĀ× during the annual Fourth of July jubilee. The Orientation advisors completed the length of the parade route along with the award-winning float, cheering on spectators and celebrating with the Universityā€™s host community.

ā€œTo be a part of the worldā€™s oldest Fourth of July parade is just really monumental for me,ā€ float coordinator Dan Moran ā€™14 told the television station.

As part of its relationship with the Town of 91ŗ£½ĒĀŅĀ×, Roger Williams has sponsored and participated in the annual Fourth of July celebration for decades. Since the early 1980s, the University has entered a student-designed and constructed float in the parade.

(Pictured: Float coordinators Dan Moran and Kate Ford with Donald Farish, 91ŗ£½ĒĀŅĀ× president, and Maia Farish)

For more details on the 91ŗ£½ĒĀŅĀ× float, .