Salve Regina launches Cliff Walk Ambassadors program with community collaboration and support

One of Rhode Island’s most famous attractions, the Newport Cliff Walk draws 1.3 million visitors a year with an annual economic impact estimated at $252 million. As the Walk’s largest abutter, Salve Regina has had a decades-long relationship with the City’s Cliff Walk Commission.

 “We have forged a great working relationship with Salve Regina over many joint projects,” said Peter Janaros, chair of the Cliff Walk Commission. “We wanted to formalize that into more of a long-term commitment by extending our collaborations over multiple semesters.”

That happened in April 2023, when representatives from the Commission and Salve established a working group and undertook the first extended initiative – establishing a Cliff Walk Ambassadors program in which Salve students act as guides on the Cliff Walk, engaging with visitors from around the world. The program integrates academic and experiential learning to help visitors learn more about Newport’s cherished National Heritage Trail.

“This program is a natural fit,” said Sam Sacco, senior lecturer in Salve’s department of business and economics, and the University’s liaison to the Cliff Walk Commission. “It meets the Commission’s desire to educate visitors on the Cliff Walk but doesn’t require any of the City’s budget. For Salve, it reflects the experiential, multi-disciplinary learning model at the heart of our Salve Compass program that helps students from any major build knowledge and apply it in the real world as they move toward their careers.”

The three-credit academic internship was launched in fall 2023 with five students. It includes classroom instruction through four different academic departments. Dr. Jameson Chace, professor of cultural, environmental, and global studies, taught the students about specific birds found along the trail; history professor Dr. John Quinn, taught them the history of the Cliff Walk; Sacco focused on the economic impact of the Cliff Walk; and Dr. Tara Brooke-Watkins, director of the theatre program, worked with students to build presentation skills. Upon completing that coursework, the students spent 120 hours on the Cliff Walk over the semester.

Salve sits right alongside the famous Newport Cliff Walk, making it a natural partner for the Cliff Walk Ambassadors program. 

With successful completion of the fall and spring semesters, the program was expanded to meet the goal of running year-round. Donations from community partners including Discover Newport and several anonymous donors funded stipends for four student Cliff Walk Ambassadors and uniforms. The University made housing available so students could cover summer, the Cliff Walk’s busiest season.

As instructors prepared for the summer component, they learned that Salve was going to be part of a public art project and fundraising initiative that would bring a herd of life-sized elephant sculptures to campus, exhibited along the Cliff Walk.

“It seemed like a great opportunity to expand the student ambassadors’ knowledge so they could be docents not only for the Cliff Walk, but for the Great Elephant Migration too,” said Sacco.

The four students who took on the dual-docent role this summer are Claire Faraday ’25, Jillian Kwitkiwski ’26, Trinity Leite ’25 and Grace Parks ’26.

“This program gave me the opportunity to be a part of a significant public art installation,” Kwitkiwski said. “I’m happy to be here representing Salve’s art department and helping visitors learn more about the exhibition and what they’re seeing on the Cliff Walk.”

As the Cliff Walk Ambassadors program rounds out its inaugural year, Dr. Kelli J. Armstrong, Salve’s president, celebrated its success.

“The significance of a program like the Cliff Walk Ambassadors is that it does good on many levels,” said Dr. Armstrong. “It enables our students to learn while they do meaningful work that contributes to their community. It helps visitors not only enjoy but also understand the Cliff Walk. And it’s flexible enough to support projects like the Great Elephant Migration, giving us more opportunities to tie into the critical concerns of our Mercy institution: the Earth, women, nonviolence, immigration and anti-racism.”

Featured photo is of Jillian Kwitkiwski ’26 (left) and Claire Faraday ’25 (right), two of the four Cliff Walk Ambassadors this summer 2024.