PROVIDENCE -- When the Community College of Rhode Island celebrated its 61st Commencement on Tuesday, the event marked a historic milestone. For the first time in the college's history, CCRI awarded inaugural honorary degrees.

One honorary degree went to acclaimed journalist and author Dan Barry. The other was posthumously awarded to the beloved late judge Frank Caprio, whom Barry praised in his speech as a man who "showed the world the ground-shaking power of an unexpected force: compassion for one another.”

A nationally recognized narrative writer, Barry enjoyed a decorated career at the Providence Journal before joining the New York Times, where he’s been a fixture as a columnist and long-form specialist since 1995. He also is a celebrated author whose books include The Boys in the Bunkhouse, This Land: America, Lost and Found, and Bottom of the 33rd, the PEN/ESPN Award-winning chronicle of the historic Pawtucket Red Sox marathon baseball game.

Throughout his career, Barry’s reporting has been defined by deep empathy, intellectual curiosity, and a commitment to highlighting the insight and potential in every individual. Those values resonate perfectly with CCRI’s own mission and were on full display when Barry delivered the keynote commencement address.

In his speech, he offered words of wisdom drawn from a life spent working at the highest levels of journalism.

"As you continue your journey, please do not become complacent," Barry urged the graduates. "Do not become numb, or uncaring, or think that the news has nothing to do with you. Instead, be engaged.

"It's become a daily challenge just trying to figure out what is fact. What is true. The natural inclination would be to give up. Please don't. Stay informed. Rely on more than one source of news. Keep educating yourself.”

Reminding graduates of their limitless potential, Barry spoke on the various paths that students take – and gave a special shout-out to those entering the medical field and nursing.

"I know from personal experience that when we are at our most vulnerable, you take care of us,” he said. “I am in awe to be among you."

Speaking with CCRI News before commencement, Barry noted that, as a journalist, he typically does extensive research to understand the subjects of his stories. But in preparing to speak to the Class of 2026, the process was entirely different.

“With these graduates, I don’t have to do that – because I know who they are," he shared. "I know them. They are single mothers trying to figure out childcare so they can study. They’re a son of an immigrant who’s the only English speaker in the family and spends a lot of time translating. They’re someone holding two jobs and trying to figure out how to support their family with a better job. So, I know them, and I’m honored to be among them.”

Barry’s empathy for the graduates is rooted in his own background as a first-generation college graduate and the son of an immigrant.

"All of that resonates with me," he told CCRI News. "I see these graduates as the bedrock of Rhode Island.”

Barry admitted he was completely surprised to learn he would be presented with the honorary degree.

"I was incredulous," he said. "I was really humbled and flattered. It was extraordinary to be remembered and to be so honored.”

Though Barry was born in Queens and raised on Long Island, the Ocean State holds a permanent piece of his heart. He worked for the Providence Journal from 1987 to 1994, where he was part of the investigative team that won a 1994 Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the corruption in the state’s courts. During that time, he lived in the Fox Point neighborhood in Providence, the Quality Hill district in Pawtucket, and in Warwick.

“When I got hired at the Providence Journal, a friend said to me, ‘You’re going to love it, it’s a reporter’s theme park,’" he recalled to CCRI News. "And no truer words have been spoken. It was a reporter’s theme park, and I loved the ride.”

While his career took him to New York, Rhode Island continues to draw Barry back for reasons that go far beyond visiting friends and family. He maintains a "great fondness" for the state itself.

“Rhode Island has a strong sense of place, and a strong and proud sense of itself, which I admire," he said. "It’s unlike any other state in New England or the country. If you’re driving on the road, and a car passes you, you probably know that person or someone that knows that person.

“There’s a sense that we’re all in it together. I get that feeling in Rhode Island. And, on top of that, is the natural beauty of the place.”

As he concluded his address to the Class of 2026, Barry drew upon that profound sense of community, both the one he experienced throughout Rhode Island and the one the graduates have built together at CCRI. Reading what he called a “love poem” to the state, Barry playfully proceeded to name all of Rhode Island's 39 cities and towns — from Barrington to Woonsocket — before leaving the crowd with one final, resounding message.

"Thank you, Class of 2026! Thank you, CCRI! Thank you, Rhode Island!"