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Retiring HU president offers advice to graduates
Hampton University’s 152nd annual commencement celebrated graduates as well as the 44-year tenure of HU President William R. “Bill” Harvey, who is retiring on June 30. Dr. Harvey, 81, served as the keynote speaker for the commencement, which was held on Mother’s Day at the Hampton University Convocation Center on campus. Dr. Harvey highlighted a long list of accomplishments made by the university under his stewardship, such as the creation of the Hampton University Proton Therapy Institute to treat cancer and increasing the university’s endowment from $29 million to more than $400 million today. Dr. Harvey told the graduates, “Don’t settle with being the employee; I want you to be the employer. Don’t settle with representing the firm or corporation; I want you to own the firm or corporation. See the horizon as not a limit, but an invitation….” He offered grandfatherly advice to graduates, ranging from the financial -- “Pay yourself first. Save something from every single paycheck. Buy some property”– to the social – “Stay away from drugs and drug dealers. They will destroy your life or make it miserable.” Dr. Harvey went on to tell graduates to “fight racism every time it arises” and to “be positive role models. Be somebody.” He closed out his address by telling graduates to support Hampton University with their money. During the ceremony, Rashida Jones, who became the first Black woman to lead a cable news network when she was named president of MSNBC in February 2021, received the Outstanding 20-Year Alumna Award. The Henrico High School graduate earned a bachelor’s degree in mass media arts from Hampton University in 2002. Earlier this year, she launched the Rashida Jones Scholarship Fund for journalism students at the university. Thomas Hasty III, senior executive vice president and chief regulatory risk officer of TowneBank, received the Outstanding Alumnus-at-Large Award. He graduated from HU in 1977 with a degree in business. Honorary degrees were awarded to former Virginia Supreme Court Justice John Charles Thomas, who was the first Black named to the state’s highest court in 1983, and Christopher Newport University President Paul S. Trible Jr., who represented Virginia in the U.S. Senate from 1983 to 1989.
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Andrew Thomas, 49, quit his job with the City of Richmond after he says little to no accommodation was made after he was diagnosed with …
Published on May 5, 2022
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’Intertwined history’
Descendants of the enslaved and their owners on a noted Caroline County plantation are working together to preserve remnants of their shared history that remain on the land
For years, Mike Mines has been fiercely determined to ensure that his two children know what he had not known much of his life — his family’s history.
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Abortion battle erupts with leaded U.S. Supreme Court draft opinion
America’s decades-old battle over abortion rights exploded anew on Tuesday as the U.S. Supreme Court authenticated a draft opinion leaked to the news outlet Politico that signaled the court will soon overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.
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Artist William R. ‘Junie Red’ Johnson Jr. succumbs at 70
“Junie Red” cut steel for a living. But in his free time, the Richmond native let his creative juices flow in transforming metal pieces into abstract sculptures and painting a variety of subjects, most notably imagined landscapes of other worlds.
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Rev. Marlene E. Forrest to be installed as rector of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church
The Rev. Marlene E. Forrest will be installed as the 23rd rector of historic St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in North Side on Saturday, May 14.
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Former city worker and union advocate: ‘I had no one to go to bat for me’
Andrew Thomas hoped to build a career in the Richmond Department of Public Utilities. Instead, the 49-year-old Jamaica native has quit the department after seven years.
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Proposed city budget includes help for aging mobile homes and examination of real estate taxes
For the first time, Richmond will help pay for fixing up aging trailers and mobile homes.
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City offers amnesty for past-due parking ticket penalties
Good news for people with old, unpaid Richmond parking tickets: City Hall will waive the penalties if the tickets are paid by Monday, Sept. 12.
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NSU’s Kai Cole named to VSID Division I All-State indoor track team
Kai Cole can pick ‘em up and lay ‘em down and his exceptional speed has been recognized all over Virginia.
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A Mother’s Day gift
Each year at this time, all good children — no matter their age — pause and figure out the perfect gift to give mom.
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Readers and officials react to the leak of a draft U.S. Supreme Court majority opinion concerning the overturning of Roe v. Wade
People everywhere have silenced, discounted, disparaged and cursed women long enough. We are the ones who engender children. We are the ones who are so connected to those children that we suffer with them.
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Sen. Bernie Sanders helps celebrate Starbucks workers’ unionization victory
The sounds of music, community and solidarity filled the National Theater in Downtown for several hours Sunday as visitors from Virginia and beyond, including U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, celebrated the unionization efforts of Starbucks employees in Richmond and nationally and ongoing work to improve labor conditions in the United States.
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Climate crisis increasingly a refugee crisis, faith resettlement groups say
For Monique Verdin, the apocalypse came in 2005.
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Scottie Barnes is NBA Rookie of the Year; ‘Bones’ Hyland ranks 8th among rookies in scoring
Scottie Barnes is the NBA Rookie of the Year, but don’t overlook former Virginia Commonwealth University star Nah’Shon “Bones” Hyland on the top newcomers list.
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Virginia AG launches investigation into Washington NFL team
Virginia Attorney General Jason S. Miyares has launched an inquiry into the Washington Commanders following allegations of financial improprieties raised by a congressional committee. Mr. Miyares, a Republican, disclosed his office’s investiga- tion in a letter to a team lawyer Monday, saying he viewed it
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Banking, the Black community and the Durbin Amendment, by Taikein M. Cooper
Access to banking, and all the opportunities it affords, is an absolute necessity for historically disenfranchised and marginalized communities. It’s how we pay for our everyday essentials, take out loans to start businesses or buy homes and attempt to build generational wealth to make the American Dream a reality.
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Speak out on transportation funding
The funding decisions local leaders make today impact our collective future. That’s why the Central Virginia Transportation Authority would like to hear from the public about a new proposed funding scenario that includes $276.4 million to improve the region’s bike, pedestrian, bridge and highway infrastructure.
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Personality: Lucia Medek
Spotlight on co-founder and president of Salem’s Light
A chance encounter led Lucia Medek to take up the cause of animal advocacy in Richmond in a major way.
