VCU news

For the first time, Virginia Commonwealth University hosted individual Student Veterans, Kente and Latina/o graduation ceremonies this year as part of the lead-up to spring commencement activities. The events proved to be strong draws for both the new graduates and their families, allowing the students to celebrate their achievements in a unique forum before the university’s commencement ceremony on May 14.

 

Kente: ‘Continue to unlock those doors’ 

By Tom Gresham
University Public Affairs

At the inaugural Donning of the Kente Ceremony, honoring the newest black graduates at VCU, a series of speakers congratulated the graduates on their many accomplishments, while asking them to consider how they will benefit the world with what they have learned.

“Don’t be afraid to share your wisdom,” said Yolanda Avent, director of the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, which sponsored the event.

During the May 13 ceremony at the Grace Street Theater, each new participating graduate received a Kente stole to wear with their academic regalia during the university’s commencement activities the next day. The Elegba Folklore Society provided performance interludes in dance and drums that alternately had the audience rapt and clapping enthusiastically along. Students crossed the stage individually to receive their stoles, and some had friends or family members place the stole on them. While each student traversed the stage, the theater’s large film screen displayed photos of the graduate and messages from them, such as thank you notes and Bible verses.

Wanda Mitchell, Ed.D., vice president for inclusive excellence, told the students she was proud of them, but reminded them that their journey is just beginning.

“You have a key,” she said. “Let’s see you continue to unlock those doors.”

Rodney A. Harry, president of the VCU African-American Alumni Council, welcomed the graduates to the VCU alumni family and said that the day was an important milestone for all of them. “This is a benchmark moment,” he said.

Sheryce Holloway, a Newport News native who earned a master’s degree in strategic public relations in the Robertson School of Media and Culture at VCU, served as the event’s student speaker. Holloway praised her fellow graduates for their successes and their ongoing work to make VCU a better place, noting that “our black organizations are flourishing and our black community is prominent.”

Holloway electrified the crowd at the close of her speech with a call-and-response series of affirmations for her fellow graduates that highlighted her theme that “you are in control of your destiny.”

“We have to stand strong for ourselves and we need to stand strong for each other,” she said.

Keynote speaker LaTonya Waller, a VCU alumna and the assistant principal at Henderson Middle School, followed Holloway’s speech with a powerful celebration of the students. At one point, Waller declared she was going “off script” and asked each of the new graduates to take out their phone and take photographs of themselves and their peers. She urged them to share the photos on every social media channel they could imagine, spreading the word about what they had accomplished.

Waller said the graduates were role models and she hoped their images would eventually make their way to her middle-school students, because “I want my students to see what black excellence looks like.”

This is the best time in history to be an African-American.

“They need to know that we they can do is what you have already done,” she said.

Waller told the graduates to consider moving forward in their lives with the guidance of the acronym WIN, standing for What is your purpose?/Invest in yourself/Never mind the naysayers. On the last point, she asserted students should use stereotypes and the doubts of others as fuel, saying “Your haters are your elevators.”

Waller said the new graduates would continue to face significant obstacles, but that they had an opportunity to thrive.

“This is the best time in history to be an African-American,” she said. “Own it.”

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Latina/o: Keynote speaker tells graduates ‘to provide leadership to the next generation’

By Annie Maddox
University Student Commons and Activities

Celebrating the achievements of VCU’s graduating Hispanic, Latino and Latina students in undergraduate and graduate programs, the Latina/o Graduation Ceremony was held on May 13 at the Grace Street Theater.

The ceremony highlighted not only the accomplishments of the graduates, but the unending support and encouragement they received from family members.

“It’s really nice being recognized as a person of color,” said Camila Grez-Messina, a graduating gender, sexuality and women’s studies major in the College of Humanities and Sciences. “Being able to celebrate our achievements with the people who helped us the most and being recognized with our families and around other people who share similar cultures is important.”

The soon-to-be VCU graduates in attendance were each presented with a commemorative stole to wear with their academic regalia at the university’s official commencement activities. Prior to the ceremony, attendees were entertained by a performance from the duo The Diegos. Sobeyda Rivera, a VCU alumna, spoke at the ceremony, representing VCU Alumni's Latino Alumni Council.

Keynote speaker Nancy Rodrigues, who was appointed the secretary of administration by Gov. Terry McAuliffe in 2013 and is the highest ranking Latina woman in state government, invited the students to deliberate their influence in society and lasting impact on the Latino community.

“Things are better for us today than they were in my generation, and even my parents’, but not for all of us,” Rodrigues told attendees. “That is why it is so important for you, now as the leaders of the Latino community, to be active and involved in what is happening in the world around you. You know the enormous responsibility that now sits on your shoulders. It is up to you to provide leadership to the next generation—to help others just as your family, friends and professors have helped you.”

The student speaker for the ceremony was Tania Valencia, a graduating senior majoring in sociology with a minor in psychology in the College of Humanities and Sciences and the recipient of the VCU Alumni Association 2016 Presidential Award for Community Multicultural Enrichment. Valencia encouraged students to understand the importance of their successful graduation.

“Tonight is a night of many firsts—the first Latin graduation that VCU has seen, so many of us are first-generation Americans and many of us are first-generation college students,” Valencia said. “As we walk across the stage and receive our diplomas soon, remember that we carry a heavy responsibility to our community.”

With the participation of more than 30 graduates, sponsors plan for this to become a longstanding tradition in the VCU community.

The Latina/o Graduation Ceremony was sponsored by Division of Student Affairs, University Counseling Services and VCU Athletics.

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Student Veterans: Former NFL coach Bobby Ross shares leadership advice

By Mike Porter
University Public Affairs

Bobby Ross, Army veteran and former NFL coach, served as the keynote speaker at the student veterans ceremony, which attracted 43 graduating students and their families.

VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D., welcomed the graduating student veterans and told them he is proud VCU was recently named a Top 100 University for Student Veterans. He thanked the students for their service. 

“We are able to do what we do here because of what our veterans have done for us,” Rao said. “What we have really looked for our students to do is to be leaders and you are leaders.”

The ceremony, held on May 5, was a celebration of duty, service, tradition and patriotism. Posting of colors was performed by VCU ROTC and the National Anthem was sung by Navy veteran Britney Subbs.

Stephen Ross, director of Military Student Services in the Division of Strategic Enrollment Management, acknowledged the challenges the graduating student veterans faced in transitioning from a military environment to a campus experience. He praised the graduates for successful military and academic careers.

Congratulations, you made it! You have beaten the odds! 

“Congratulations, you made it! You have beaten the odds! You should be extremely proud,” Stephen Ross said. “Each of you has been to the ‘belly of the academic beast’ and now you are here and you are about to graduate. Well done!”

Bobby Ross shared personal stories of leadership experiences with the graduates and told them just possessing leadership qualities isn’t enough.

“Most of you – most everyone in this room I dare say – have the qualities to be successful. But unfortunately, it rests not on ability, not upon capacity but upon our willingness to use these qualities,” Bobby Ross said.

Ross, who enjoyed a 40-year coaching career, served as head football coach at The Citadel, the University of Maryland, the U.S. Military Academy and Georgia Tech, where he led his 1990 team to the UPI national championship

Ross also was head coach of the NFL’s San Diego Chargers from 1992 to 1996 and guided the team to its lone Super Bowl appearance at the end of the 1994 season. He was head coach of the Detroit Lions from 1997 to 2000.

Brandon Seal, who earned his Master of Teaching degree in the School of Education this month, served as valedictorian for the group. He described the experience as “pretty unbelievable,” considering he had nearly dropped out of high school. At VCU, he said, he was supported by faculty and staff and had the opportunity to meet “an incredible group of student veterans.”

“Although we are separated by rank and service, we share the experience of serving in the military and not everyone can say that,” Seal said. “As a veteran, you did something that many people look up to and respect. We are not just college graduates. We are veteran graduates.”

The graduation celebration was sponsored by the Office of Military Student Services, and the Student Veterans Association at VCU, with support from The Wounded Warrior Project.

Daphne Rankin, Ph.D., associate vice provost for strategic enrollment management, said the graduation salute is just the latest in a series of commitments by VCU to support the academic success and retention of student veterans.

Rankin cited two university-community partnerships established to support student veterans.

The Office of Military Student Services and the School of the Arts worked together to bring CreatiVets, a Chicago-based nonprofit organization, to campus. The mission of CreatiVets is to provide disabled veterans with the opportunity to use art to address the psychological and emotional needs that arise from service-related trauma.

And the university is partnering with Tech for Troops, a Richmond-based organization that provides free computers for veterans and active duty troops on deployment. The partnership led to the distribution of computers to VCU’s veterans.

Rankin credited Stephen Ross, who came to VCU 18 months ago, with spearheading these efforts to support student veterans.

“Since day one, he has worked diligently to build a strong team, a strong office, and a strong support system for VCU’s military-affiliated students,” Rankin said.

 

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