VMI votes to remove Stonewall Jackson statue
On Thursday Virginia Military Institute’s Board of Visitors voted unanimously to remove the statue of Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson amid a state probe into reports of a culture of racism at the state-supported university. According to a statement from Bill Wyatt, VMI spokesman, the board “took bold and unanimous action [...]
Falwell sues Liberty University, claiming defamation
Jerry Falwell Jr. filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Lynchburg against Liberty University, claiming his former employer made defamatory statements about him. He also alleges in the lawsuit that his former business partner, Giancarlo Granda, who had a highly publicized affair with Falwell’s wife, has conspired against Falwell wit[...]
SW Va. sees COVID increase; governor urges caution
Although Virginia’s overall COVID-19 infection rate is much lower than other states that are currently experiencing spikes, the number of new cases in Southwest Virginia has been steadily increasing over the past two weeks, Gov. Ralph Northam said Wednesday in a COVID-19 update. According to health directors in the region,[...]
Va. Chamber Foundation, SCHEV launch work-based learning program
The Virginia Chamber Foundation and the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) on Tuesday launched the Virginia Talent and Opportunity Partnership (Virginia TOP), an initiative aimed at better connecting students, higher education institutions and employers through paid and credit-bearing internships and other work-based learning opportunities. “Access to a talented, well-educated workforce continues to […][...]
Kaine introduces legislation to establish HBCU business centers
U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) and Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) announced Tuesday they have introduced the Reaching America’s Rural Minority Businesses Act, which would establish up to 10 minority business centers at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to serve rural and underserved communities. The legislation would authorize the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) in the […][...]
Va. allocates $116M CARES funding for higher ed
As public universities and medical centers have depleted previously allocated federal dollars, Gov. Ralph Northam is directing more than $116 million in federal CARES Act funding to higher education institutions in Virginia, the governor announced Tuesday. Funding will go to public universities and medical centers in support of telework, distance learning, personal protective equipment, sanitization […][...]
Out of the lab, into the market
Virginia Tech was born to promote business. The 1862 Morrill Act, which created land-grant universities including Virginia Tech, requires such universities to “teach such branches of learning as are related to … agriculture and the mechanical arts … to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes.�[...]
Virginia Tech’s proof-of-concept grants
It’s about gaps. Gaps between the uncertainties that exist and the uncertainties investors are willing to accept. Gaps between a working prototype and a mass-produced model. Gaps between what researchers produce and what the market wants to buy. Virginia tech’s proof-of-concept (POC) grants aim to help university researchers[...]
VMI superintendent resigns amid racism probe
Following Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s announcement of a probe into allegations of racism at Virginia Military Institute, the school’s superintendent, retired U.S. Army Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III, has resigned. In a letter dated Oct. 26, Peay said that the probe announced by Gov. Ralph Northam and other top state le[...]
U.Va. launches Sands Institute for Lifelong Learning
Using its largest-ever gift — a $68 million donation last year from Frank M. Sands Sr., founder of Sands Investment Group Inc. — the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business announced Friday it has launched the Marjorie R. and Frank M. Sands Sr. Institute for Lifelong Learning. The Sands Institute for Lifelon[...]
VCU received record $335M in research funding for 2020
Virginia Commonwealth University received a record $335 million in sponsored funding for research during fiscal year 2020 — an 8% increase from 2019, the university announced Wednesday. “VCU’s ongoing commitment to its faculty, interdisciplinary research and investment in research infrastructure have translated into these record levels — which have grown by a third — over […]
Liberty University finance probe issues call for whistleblowers
A firm conducting an investigation at Liberty University will use an encrypted website to allow anonymous whistleblower complaints focused on financial misconduct by “current or former members of university leadership,” the university announced Tuesday night. Chicago-based public accounting firm Baker Tilly US began [...]