SOUTH KINGSTOWN — Three new residence halls at the University of Rhode Island were dedicated yesterday, and named in honor of a former governor, a University of Rhode Island president emeritus, and three members of one prominent Rhode Island family.

The towering new residence halls were dedicated in honor of former Rhode Island Gov. J. Joseph Garrahy, former Superior Court Judge W. Alton Wiley Sr. his sister, Beverly Wiley, a community activist and state and national leader in women’s softball, and their brother, the late George Wiley, a chemist and noted civil-rights leader, as well as the late Edward D. Eddy, URI’s ninth president.

Though portions of the new structures have been in use since last fall, yesterday marked the official opening of not only the three new residence halls, but also a $23-million dining hall, Hope Commons. It is the first new dining center on campus in 45 years, built on the grounds of the 1957 Hope Dining Hall, which was torn down in 2005.

“It’s like a five-star restaurant,” said Garrahy of the dining center, where he and his wife, Margherite, had lunch prior to the dedications. Garrahy was governor from 1977 to 1985, and said he “didn’t go to college,” but graduated from La Salle Academy in Providence and joined the military, attending the University of Buffalo afterward.

While awaiting the official dedication of the four-story apartment-style building named in his honor, Garrahy, whose 5 children and 11 grandchildren were present, said three of his children are URI alums.

But it was his parents “who would be especially proud today,” he said, visibly touched at the thought of Margaret and John Garrahy, who he said were “Irish immigrants. It’s an honor to the Garrahy name.”

Garrahy shared the stage with Alton W. Wiley Sr., who in 1981 Garrahy appointed as the first African-American judge on the Rhode Island District Court, and in 1991, the first appointed to the Rhode Island Superior Court. The two shared a friendly competition yesterday, comparing the air-conditioned dorms, sparring about which was taller and newer.

Wiley, who grew up in Warwick, made a particular point of noting that five of the six Wiley children attended URI, adding he’s not sure how it happened, “but our older sister ended up going to Pembroke.”

Wiley, a 1951 graduate, recalling living in Quonset huts while attending the Kingston campus, but during his senior year, was able to move into Bressler Hall, “which was brand new that year. It was wonderful, after the Quonset hut.”

His sister Beverly, a past director of Leadership Rhode Island, and current head softball coach at the Community College of Rhode Island, called the dedication “a tribute to our family. I’m very humbled.”

Their brother George Wiley graduated from URI in 1953 and earned his doctorate in organic chemistry from Cornell University in 1957. Wiley founded the National Welfare Reform Organization and was regarded as the father of welfare rights. He was reported missing and presumed drowned while sailing in Chesapeake Bay in 1973.

Numerous members of the extended Wiley families were in attendance.

Garrahy and Wiley Hall stand aside each other in the North Woods neighborhood of the campus, at Heathman and Flagg roads, and include apartments with full kitchens. Eddy Hall is located off Butterfield Road to the west of Browning Hall, and was named in honor of Edward D. Eddy, president of URI from 1983 to 1991.

His widow, Mary “Polly” Eddy, president of the South Kingstown Town Council, said she was “thrilled, it is a wonderful tribute to Ted and to our years here,” and was pleased that so many members of her family also attended.

Eddy Hall is a suite-style complex with mostly single rooms situated around a common area, with private baths. Students who do share rooms will discover that they “are enormous,” said Cassandra Rose, a senior from Providence who will be a resident assistant this year in Eddy Hall. Students will gain access to the building by swipe cards, but will need to punch in a code to their individual rooms.

“It’s a very secure building,” she said.

All together, the three new halls add 800 beds to the Kingston campus.

There will be a record number of students living on campus this year, 5,300, said Thomas R. Dougan, vice president of student affairs. Some 3,200 freshmen are expected.

“Everything is full. We have a waiting list. It’s a nice problem to have.”

Eddy Hall is in close proximity to the new 47,000-square-foot Hope Commons, a two-story structure where students have a variety of food selections, from full meals to a deli counter, to a salad bar, pizza station and a corner-store type area where they can purchase takeout meals, frozen foods, even candy by the pound, and Del’s mix. It replaces the original Hope Dining Hall and Roger Williams Dining Center, which was closed last spring.

The dedication ceremonies marked the official opening of the first new dorms constructed at the Kingston campus since 1971.

The dormitories have been under construction for the past two years. The $74-million residence hall project was financed by revenue bonds to be paid off with residential fees.

Several members of the campus community offered remarks during the ceremonies, as well as student leaders Neil Leston, URI student Senate president, and Kourtney Simpson, a resident assistant in Garrahy Hall.

“It’s really outstanding,” said the former governor, looking proudly at the dorm carrying his name. “It’s a great honor for my family.”

afleming@projo.com