URI Honors Colloquium canceled tonight

David Byrd and Diane Kern, coordinators of the 2013 University of Rhode Island Honors Colloquium, have canceled tonight’s honors colloquium with Providence Mayor Angel Taveras and the WRIU radio show, The Beauty Salon. Mayor Taveras is unable to attend and sent his sincere regrets.


The interview with Taveras, scheduled for tonight, Dec. 3, was to be broadcast live on WRIU and live streamed at uri.edu, as part of “Great Public Schools: Everyone’s Right? Everyone’s Responsibility?”


Taveras would have discussed the $5 million Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Mayors Challenge prize awarded to Providence in support of Taveras’ initiative to improve the vocabularies of preschool-age children by measuring and rapidly increasing the number of words spoken in their households.


“Professor Byrd and I have decided it is in the best interest of the Honors Colloquium and the University of Rhode Island to cancel this event,” said Associate Professor of Education Kern. “We want to thank the members of The Beauty Salon for their invaluable expertise and look forward to working with them at another time.


“We look forward to seeing you at our final colloquium featuring Pasi Sahlberg, a world-renowned education scholar who helped turn Finland’s public school system into one of the best in the world.”


Sahlberg’s colloquium lecture will be held Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 7:30 p.m. at Edwards Hall.