Youngkin peppers university boards with GOP power players
With Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s appointees slated to hold majorities on the state’s university boards beginning July 1, the governor announced dozens of last-minute university board appointments Friday afternoon, shortly before the members’ four-year terms take effect Monday. Although many of the new appointees are[...]
The wedding day
When Alondra Rodriguez considered which school to attend for pre-med, she found herself puzzled by Old Dominion University — and why it didn’t have an affiliated medical school. “U.Va. has their own med school,” she thought. “Why don’t they just do that?” Rodriguez, who already had a bachelor’s degree[...]
ODU hires new engineering dean
Old Dominion University announced Tuesday it has hired Jeffrey Fergus to be the next dean of the Batten College of Engineering and Technology, starting Aug. 10. Fergus is currently the associate dean for undergraduate studies and program assessment in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering at Auburn University in Alabama, where [...]
VCU names new dean of health professions college
Virginia Commonwealth University’s College of Health Professions will have a new dean effective Aug. 15, the university announced Wednesday. Amy R. Darragh comes from Ohio State University, where she is director and vice dean of the School of Health and Rehabilitation Services. Darragh succeeds interim dean Paula Song, the[...]
Emory & Henry names interim president
Louise “Lou” Fincher, Emory & Henry University’s senior vice president, has been named interim president of the Washington County-based private college beginning Aug. 1, as President John W. Wells steps down and becomes the school’s first chancellor in late July. Fincher is also the inaugural dean of [...]
JLARC calls for governing changes at VCU Health
After a failed development deal and a nearly $80 million payout, VCU Health needs to change the way it is governed, the Virginia General Assembly’s investigative body declared Wednesday. Virginia Commonwealth University’s president has too much room to influence the health system’s operations, the Joint Legisla[...]
Grounds for dissent?
On April 30, the night police raided Columbia University’s campus, arresting more than 100 protesters and keeping about 50 students and faculty members cooped up for several hours in Pulitzer Hall, where the annual journalism prizes are announced, it was pretty quiet at the University of Virginia. According to a Cavalier D[...]
George Mason receives $5M donation from Peterson Cos. family
The Peterson Family Foundation, the family behind the Peterson Cos. real estate development firm, donated $5 million to the George Mason University’s Center for the Arts improvement project, the university announced Tuesday. The gift to the university’s College of Visual and Performing Arts will support modernizatio[...]
Student sues U.Va., alleging antisemitism
A Jewish undergraduate student is suing the University of Virginia, its president and rector, and two pro-Palestinian organizations, alleging that he was “a victim of hate-based, intentional discrimination, severe harassment and abuse, and illegal retaliation” at U.Va., according to a federal lawsuit filed May 17. Ma[...]
Shenandoah University receives $20M gift from alumnus
A Shenandoah University alumnus and his wife have pledged $20 million to the university, the largest individual donation in the history of the Winchester school. Wilbur and Clare Dove’s gift, announced last month, will go toward the building of a performing and visual arts center on campus, according to the university. Wi[...]
Hampden-Sydney College receives $20M pledge
Richmond-based Endeavour Legacy Foundation has pledged $20 million to Hampden-Sydney College, the second largest gift in the college’s history. The college will use the gift, announced Tuesday, toward renovating its former science center, Gilmer Hall, into an academic facility housing the economics and business, and govern[...]
VCU launches pharmaceutical sciences undergrad degree
Graduate school isn’t a prerequisite for a career in the pharmaceutical industry. Virginia Commonwealth University’s new Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences (BSPS) degree will prepare students to step into pharma jobs like quality assurance technicians, research technologists and laboratory technicians, [...]