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What’s good for HBCUs is good for Virginia business
Earlier this year, I issued a call for the commonwealth to confront and reassess its disproportionate support of its historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). I wrote a letter to the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and the respective leadership of the General Assembly. At this juncture, I have not rec[...]
Liberty appoints dean for College of Osteopathic Medicine
Dr. Joseph R. Johnson was appointed dean of Liberty University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, effective July 1. Johnson had been serving as interim dean since December 2020. “Prior to Dr. Johnson’s arrival, Liberty’s leadership set a goal to take LUCOM as a well-established osteopathic medical college, both in missio[...]
JMU entrepreneurship center hires new director
James Madison University announced Thursday that Suzanne Bergmeister has been named the next executive director of its Gilliam Center for Entrepreneurship. She comes from the University of Louisville’s Forcht Center for Entrepreneurship in Kentucky, where she has been the full-time entrepreneur in residence for the past 15[...]
The real world
In spring 2020, University of Virginia officials were left scrambling as thousands of students lost summer internships overnight due to the then-burgeoning COVID-19 pandemic. Those precious 10- to 12-week gigs, during which students lay the groundwork for their post-college careers, were suddenly gone. “We said, ‘We can’[...]
$250K SCHEV grant boosts VCU-ChamberRVA internship initiative
Virginia Commonwealth University and ChamberRVA hope to expand paid internship opportunities in the Richmond region with the help of a $250,000 grant from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, the chamber announced Thursday. In October, the Virginia Chamber Foundation and SCHEV started a public-private partnership,[...]
Whitt Clement to become U.Va. rector on July 1
Former Virginia Secretary of Transportation Whitt Clement will start his two-year term as rector for the University of Virginia on July 1. Clement is a longtime former state delegate who is now a special counsel and former partner for the Richmond-based law firm Hunton Andrews Kurth. He will succeed U.Va.’s current rector,[...]
Reston-based Ellucian to be acquired by Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners
Investment firms Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners have reached an agreement to acquire Reston-based higher education software company Ellucian, according to an announcement from the companies released Monday. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. New York-based Blackstone and Texas-based Vista Equity are acquiring Ellucian from Texas-based TPG Capital and Los Angeles-based Leonard Green […][...]
U.Va. names new medical school dean
The University of Virginia has named Dr. Melina R. Kibbe the next dean of its medical school and chief health affairs officer for UVA Health, the university announced in a news release Wednesday. Kibbe, who starts her new position Sept. 15, is the Colin G. Thomas Jr. Distinguished Professor and chair of the Department of [&helli[...]
VMI report released; calls school ‘traditionally run by white men, for white men’
A long-awaited state report on an alleged culture of racism at Virginia Military Institute was released Tuesday afternoon, concluding that “VMI has … traditionally been run by white men, for white men,” although the state-funded military institution in Lexington has made “incremental steps towards a more [...]
A dose of inspiration
Admissions officers call it “the Fauci effect.” Inspired by Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden and the highly visible point person for the nation’s COVID-19 pandemic response, prospective students have been flooding medical schools with applications. But Dr. Richard V. Homan, president and prov[...]
Hollins University names VP for diversity, equity and inclusion
Hollins University on Wednesday announced it has appointed Nakeshia N. Williams as the new vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion at the private women’s liberal arts university in Roanoke. Prior to joining Hollins, Williams was an associate professor at North Carolina A&T State University, where she was an [...]
George Mason University approved to start school of computing
The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia gave the green light to George Mason University’s plan to start a school of computing, the Fairfax-based university announced today. Three departments will comprise the core of the school, which will be the first of its kind in Virginia, the university said: statistics, computer science and information […]
