Short answers, pulled from the story.
Bryant University was founded in 1863 by John Collins Bryant and Henry Beadman Bryant as a branch of a national school teaching bookkeeping and business communication. The Providence branch was sold in 1878 to Thomas Stowell, a teacher at the school.
Earl S. Tupper, alumnus of Bryant and inventor of Tupperware, donated his 428-acre hillside estate to Bryant College in October 1967 for the creation of its Smithfield campus. Bryant named the campus after Tupper and awarded him an honorary Ph.D. in Humane Letters.
The wrought-iron arch was originally built in 1875 by Isaac Gifford Ladd, a U.S. steel figure, as part of a one-million-dollar building dedicated to his wife, who reportedly despised it. The arch became part of Bryant's South Hall in Providence and was transported to the Smithfield campus in 1971. A tradition holds that walking through the arch before graduation jeopardizes a student's chances of graduating, so students follow worn paths around it.
Bryant University's Latin motto is "Cognitio. Virtus. Successus." which translates as Knowledge. Character. Success. The university's current motto, "The Character of Success," is a direct translation of the same phrase.
Under Ronald K. Machtley, who became president in 1996, the university endowment reached 171 million dollars by 2007, a net increase of 169 million dollars in ten years. In 2017, Machtley was the highest-paid college president in the United States at 6,283,616 dollars.
Former president Bill Clinton campaigned at Bryant University on the 28th of February 2008, the first time a former president or presidential candidate had spoken there. Former president George H.W. Bush delivered the 2008 commencement address on the 17th of May 2008 and received an honorary degree. Within three months, two of the only three living former U.S. presidents had appeared on campus.