The Rhode Island Center for Freedom & Prosperity is proud to announce that CEO Mike Stenhouse has been named to the 2025 class of the College Baseball Hall of Fame.

Center CEO Mike Stenhouse To Be Inducted Into College Baseball Hall Of Fame

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?The Rhode Island Center for Freedom & Prosperity Congratulates CEO Mike Stenhouse on Induction into College Baseball Hall of Fame

Providence, RI – The Rhode Island Center for Freedom & Prosperity is proud to announce that CEO Mike Stenhouse has been named to the 2025 class of the College Baseball Hall of Fame.

“We are beyond excited to welcome the 2025 Hall of Fame Class as we continue our planning for what will become their ‘home’ in Overland Park, Kansas in the College Baseball Hall of Fame,” CEO/Executive Director of the CBF and College Baseball Hall of Fame Tom Jacobs said. “This is another stellar class that represent the absolute best of college baseball. We look forward to celebrating and honoring their accomplishments as well as those of our CBF award winners at the 2026 Night of Champions. We hope you will join us for their special evening!”

Stenhouse, a former Major League Baseball player for the Montreal Expos from 1982-1984, the Minnesota Twins in 1985, and the Boston Red Sox in 1986, has led the Rhode Island Center for Freedom & Prosperity since its founding. His induction reflects both his outstanding athletic career at Harvard University and continued contributions as a leader.

He played three seasons for the school’s baseball program (1977–1979) and was a two time All-Ivy Leaguer and hit .475 as a freshman in 1977, second-best in NCAA Division I.

Each year, more than 200 representatives nationwide vote on the College Baseball Hall of Fame induction class. The voting body is comprised of national and regional college baseball media, active and retired coaches, former players, former inductees, college baseball historians and members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) collegiate baseball committee. The College Baseball Hall of Fame inducted its first class in 2006. Since that time, 175 players, coaches, umpires, administrators and contributors have been selected for induction.

To be eligible for the College Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, players must be out of college for 15 years and have completed one year of competition at a two-year institution in the CCCAA, NJCAA or a four-year NCAA (Division I, II or III) or NAIA institution.

The 2025 class will be honored at the 2026 Night of Champions on February 12, 2026 in Overland Park, Kansas, the home of the College Baseball Hall of Fame.

Highlighting the 2025 class are five Golden Spikes Award winners (Kip Bouknight – South Carolina; Mike Loynd – Florida State; Phil Nevin – Cal State Fullerton; David Price – Vanderbilt; and Stephen Strasburg – San Diego State) and eight other players, including former Southern Cal star Mark McGwire. Strasburg (2009 National Pitcher of the Year) and Price (2007 Brooks Wallace Award) join Alex Gordon (2005 Brooks Wallace Award) as previous CBF Award winners to also be selected for the Hall of Fame.

Freezing in the Dark: The Staggering Costs & Risks of RI’s Green Energy Policies

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A new report from the Rhode Island Center for Freedom & Prosperity, titled Freezing in the Dark, warns that the Ocean State’s green energy mandates are pushing residents toward a future of unaffordable electricity and unreliable power. With some of the highest energy prices in the nation, Rhode Islanders are already feeling the impact of policies that outpace technological readiness and ignore infrastructure limitations.

Read more

Media Release: “Jane Doe” Sues RIDE after Secretly Transitioned Daughter’s Suicide Attempt

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Providence, RI – Last evening, the Law Centre at the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity filed a complaint in Rhode Island Superior Court against Angelica Infante-Green in her capacity as Commissioner of the Rhode Island Department of Education, seeking to strike down the Commissioner’s 2018 Regulation 200-RICR-30-10-1, dealing with gender identity.

The complaint also includes a motion for a preliminary injunction, petitioning the Court to immediately “bar enforcement” of the regulation.

On February 13, the Law Centre filed a legal letter requesting RIDE to repeal the regulation, claiming it “has no basis in state law and is contrary to federal law.” A subsequent letter from RIDE denied the request. Yesterday’s Superior Court filing is the prescribed next step in the appeals process.

The complaint lists “Jane Doe” as plaintiff, whose tragic story can only be attributed to the misguided policies and egregious actions of her daughter’s public school district, which were based on the RIDE regulation in question as well as RIDE’s guidance on trans-gender issues.

According to the complaint, “Unknown to Plaintiff, her daughter (as an 8th-grader) began to socially transition to a boy at school, with the help of school personnel.”

Because of RIDE’s guidance and polices, the complaint further states that “school personnel felt emboldened and compelled to encourage the daughter’s social transition, and to hide this fact from Plaintiff.”

Two years later, in the spring of 2024, as a 10th grader, the daughter attempted to commit suicide. Only then did the mother, Jane Doe, learn of her child’s multi-year transition.

“It can no longer be denied that these non-science based transgender policies have caused actual harm to actual people,” commented Mike Stenhouse, CEO for the Center. “Our attorneys have blown away the argument that aiding in a minor’s transition is somehow beneficial to students and their families.”

The school district continues to keep secrets from Plaintiff, as it has subsequently refused to turn over the medical records of the daughter, a minor, despite an official release signed by her mother and legal guardian. A separate complaint was filed this past Friday with RIDE seeking the records that the daughter’s mother is legally entitled to.

According to the Superior Court complaint, “Plaintiff has suffered and continues to suffer harm,” as a direct result of the Commissioner of Education’s interpretation and enactment of RIDE’s regulations and guidance.

Further details of Plaintiff’s story are expected to be publicized in the coming days, including how she lost her school district job as a result of her daughter’s secret transition.

There are two primary legal arguments detailed in the Superior Court complaint. First, that RIDE purposefully miscited state law to justify its 2018 regulation, therefore “there is no (state) statutory basis” for it. Second, that current RIDE and school district policies regarding trans-gender students is a violation of current federal law and Title IX regulations.

The complaint was filed by attorney Gregory Piccirilli, who is a member of the Law Centre sub-committee of the Board of Directors for the RI Center for Freedom of Prosperity. He, along with sub-committee chair, Giovanni Cicione, and fellow member, attorney Susan McGee Cienki, are available for media interviews, upon request.

In a major victory for advocates seeking to protect women's K-12 sports in the Ocean State, the Rhode Island Interscholastic League (RIIL), under threat of legal action and public pressure, has radically altered its rules and regulations that allow biological boys to compete in girls' K-12 sports.

Major Victory For Rhode Island Advocates Seeking To Protect Women’s K-12 Sports

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Cranston, RI – In a major victory for advocates seeking to protect women’s K-12 sports in the Ocean State, the Rhode Island Interscholastic League (RIIL), under threat of legal action and public pressure, has radically altered its rules and regulations that allow biological boys to compete in girls’ K-12 sports.

The RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity has obtained a March 14 email from RIIL Executive Director, Michael Lunney, sent to all member school principals and athletic directors, advising them of revised guidance and a near complete re-write of its Article 3 Section 3 “gender eligibility” regulations.

While RIIL’s revised policies still allow schools to determine the gender of students wishing to compete in RIIL-sanctioned competitions, the pro-trans-gender regulation has been dramatically weakened and no longer provides legal cover for schools. The revised regulation now shifts legal responsibility to schools, requiring that they determine how to comply with state and federal law in this regard, putting individual schools and school districts at even greater legal peril.

“While we welcome this important step, RIIL still has not completely protected girls’s sports and the safety of female athletes,” commented Mike Stenhouse, CEO for the Center. “This clever legal maneuver is not enough. Ultimately, RIIL needs to completely prohibit biological boys from ever being able to compete in girls’ sports.”

In addition to ongoing public pressure from crusaders like Robert Chiaradio, an open letter from former prominent Rhode Island student athletes, persistent social media posts, and over 200 petition signers of petition offered by our Center … perhaps the final pressure-items was a federal civil rights complaint filed by our Center’s “Law Centre” naming RIIL (as well as the RI AG, RIDE, and six school districts) as respondents deserving of an Office of Civil Rights investigation for violations of Title IX and federal law. A full chronology of related actions can be found at RIFreedom.org/titleix.

Noting such “significant attention and focus” on the issue, Lunney’s email confirmed that the Principals Committee on Athletics voted and approved the revisions. Article 3, Section 3B-1 (Determination of Gender Based Eligibility) was reduced from a full page to a single paragraph: “1) The RIIL recognizes the value of participation in interscholastic sports for all member-school student athletes. Member schools are responsible for ensuring compliance with all applicable state and federal law when determining gender-based eligibility for participation. Per Article 2, Section 3B, “proof of and maintenance of eligibility is the exclusive and continuing obligation of the member Principal.”

Expunged from the rules are the gratuitous statements that recognized the rights of students to compete according to their preferred gender identity, as well as instructions for schools on how they might recognize that a biological boy would be allowed to compete in RIIL girls’ sports.

Lunney’s email concludes by stating, “Moving forward, in order to ensure compliance with all applicable laws, it is our recommendation that member schools consult with their legal counsel when making eligibility determinations for participation.”

NOTE: The Center will reach out to Mr. Lunney for additional comment and will provide appropriate updates.

The Law Centre at the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity today published a legal letter and filed an official request with the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) requesting that it repeal its 2018 Transgender Regulation.

Center Requests RIDE to Repeal Its Transgender Regulation

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Regulation Has No Basis in State Law, Violates Federal Law

Response Submitted To RIDE on February 14, 2025 following Projo Article

Click here for the February 28, 20205 letter from the Rhode Island Attorney General essentially urging Local Education Agencies, School Administrators and Educators to ignore federal law

The Law Centre at the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity today published a legal letter and filed an official request with the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) requesting that it repeal its 2018 Transgender Regulation.

As was detailed in the letter, “… this regulation has no basis in state law and is contrary to federal law and guidelines. As such, the Rhode Island Department of Education has placed itself and every member school district in this State at risk of civil rights violations, which are likely lead to investigations by the US Department of Education Office of Civil Rights, loss of federal funding, and/or discrimination lawsuits from aggrieved individuals.”

RIDE’s 2018 Regulation required each school district or LEA (Local Education Agency) to “adopt a policy addressing the rights of trans-gender and gender non-conforming students … ”

However, it appears that RIDE purposefully manipulated and dishonestly cited language from state law in justifying its Regulation by including “gender” and “sexual orientation” phrases that do not exist in the statute.

Attorney Gregory Piccirilli, advisor to the Law Centre who crafted the letter, this morning filed a formal petition with RIDE to request repeal Board of Education Regulation 200-RICR-30-10-1.

To avoid legal and financial consequences, the Center recommends that both RIDE and every school district in the State should rescind their existing transgender policies, if they were based on RIDE’s illegitimate Regulation and guidance, and to craft their own policies that comply with actual state and federal law.

Piccirilli is a member of the Law Centre sub-committee of the Board of Directors for the RI Center for Freedom of Prosperity. He, along with sub-committee chair, Giovanni Cicione, and fellow member, attorney Sue Cienki, are available for media interviews, upon request.