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Graduating VCU students walk out during governor’s remarks
As Virginia Commonwealth University’s 2024 commencement kicked off at the Greater Richmond Convention Center, the student singing the national anthem wore a keffiyeh, a traditional Arab headscarf that has become a symbol of solidarity with Palestinians. Soon after, Gov. Glenn Youngkin, the commencement speaker, took the stage and dozens of students walked out to cheers from the audience. After exiting the building, they held up signs like “No graduation as usual” and “Unacceptable leadership,” while chanting and marching to nearby Abner Clay Park.
Fredericksburg-area officials tell state their transportation needs
The state transportation leaders’ annual nine-meeting tour across Virginia stopped in Stafford County on Thursday. ... Virginia Department of Transportation Commissioner Stephen Birch told the small crowd the state’s 2025-2030 six-year improvement program draft calls for $19.1 billion in funding for roads, with another $6.3 billion for rail and public transportation. The total funding is down $5 million from the current Six-Year Improvement Plan.
Textbook decision tabled in Montgomery County after questions about bid process
It was a question of buy the book or by the book at a Montgomery County School Board meeting this week. A decision on which English textbooks to purchase for the county’s elementary school students was delayed after school board members learned that two competing vendors were not treated equally – both made offers, but only one was asked to revise its proposal and lower the price tag. “This opens up a lawsuit,” board member Derek Rountree said Tuesday.
Schapiro: Where were friends when Jews needed them?
A Colonial-era farm in Virginia’s tobacco belt is an emblem of Jewish survival at a time when much of the world — now gripped by an Israel-Hamas war in Gaza that, depending on one’s perspective, was caused by, or is causing, antisemitism — was clueless that a huge swath of the Jewish world was doomed. Hyde Park Farm — in Nottoway County, about an hour’s drive south of Richmond — was for several years immediately preceding World War II a peaceful sanctuary for about two dozen German-Jewish teenagers and several adults who fled there as Adolf Hitler’s murderous persecution of European Jews was beginning in earnest.
What we know about how UVa’s narrative differs from eyewitness accounts of May 4
University of Virginia officials have cited a number of justifications for their decision to have state police wearing tactical gear break up a small encampment of anti-war protesters on May 4, arresting 27 people and deploying pepper-spray into a crowd of students, faculty and members of the public. But witnesses and video footage raise questions about the claims made by President Jim Ryan, UVa Police Chief Tim Longo and other top officials.
U-Va. officials defend arrests at protest as faculty seek review of decision
University of Virginia faculty on Friday called for an independent review of the use of police to clear a pro-Palestinian demonstration, but stopped short of condemning the decision to bring in state law enforcement officers. More than 25 people were arrested. University President James E. Ryan said he was sorry for the way things escalated as police moved in on demonstrators, and some faculty members said they were concerned the response was too heavy-handed. Ryan, though, did not say outright he would have acted differently, and the university’s police chief said officials felt compelled to disperse a group that included people with no connection to U-Va.
Hunter: State funding for school-to-work pipeline is crucial to VA’s success
From the data, we know that young women are significantly under-represented in STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and math) even though many businesses struggle to find qualified workers in those high-demand fields. We also know that in recent years more young people have been leaving Virginia than have been moving into the area, contributing to an out-migration trend that our new speaker of the House of Delegates, Don Scott, has labeled a “brain drain.” Fortunately, these statistics did not control Kinsey Ebel’s career or destination. Something more powerful intervened: a life-changing internship experience with a Virginia employer.
Waddell: Support academic freedom, but don’t deny oversight
State Sen. Mamie Locke’s guest column in the May 4 paper, “Youngkin administration actions undermine academic freedom,” is on target in saying that “higher education … is about equipping students with the tools to navigate complex issues, not indoctrinating them with a particular ideology,” and that students deserve a comprehensive education that “equips them to think critically.” I applaud and join in those sentiments, for there is no greater threat to our country right now than our inability to think dispassionately and carefully, to admit the possibility that our beliefs may not be 100% right, and to negotiate with ourselves.
DuVal: New K-12 accountability standards must also address disparities
Virginia’s business community is keenly aware of the vital role that education plays in driving economic development and preparing a well-trained, qualified workforce. Our students of today are our workforce of tomorrow. The Virginia Chamber of Commerce, the largest business advocacy organization in the commonwealth with more than 30,000 members, has long supported policies that strengthen our education-workforce system to bolster Virginia’s economic growth and business climate. Simply put, to be the best state for business, Virginia must be the best state for talent.
Carilion Clinic cleared in tainted instrument probe
Investigators received an anonymous complaint last summer tipping them off that Carilion Clinic’s two largest hospitals were struggling with a months-long spike in surgical instruments with blemishes, stains, spots and debris. Tainted surgical instruments were found on the front lines of care, including in trays awaiting use in heart procedures, and pulled before use. When surgeons had too few clean instruments to operate, patients waited. While the health system showed that no blemished instrument ever touched a patient and few surgeries overall were delayed, inspectors working on behalf of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services put a condition into effect known as “immediate jeopardy.” The reason: a breakdown in infection control.