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By JEREMY C. YOUNG AND SAM LAFRANCE,
published in
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
Opponents of diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education argue that dismantling DEI offices and initiatives on campus won’t negatively impact the academic freedom of faculty to teach relevant subject matter in their classes. So how do they explain what happened recently in Virginia? Early this semester, in an apparent effort to thwart new diversity requirements in general education curricula at Virginia Commonwealth University and George Mason University, Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration requested and received syllabi for 27 courses.
Young is the Freedom to Learn program director at PEN America. LaFrance is the editorial manager for free expression and education at PEN America.
VaNews April 19, 2024
By EVAN GOODENOW,
Loudoun Times
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Former Loudoun County Public Schools Superintendent Scott Ziegler is scheduled to stand trial from Feb. 3 to Feb. 7, 2025. It will be his second trial on the same misdemeanor charge after a judge last month set aside the September 2023 guilty verdict on one count of illegally retaliating against a special education teacher in 2022. The same jury acquitted Ziegler on a separate misdemeanor retaliation charge.
VaNews April 19, 2024
Associated Press
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed measure into law Thursday that allows state colleges and universities to directly pay their athletes through name, image and likeness compensation deals, a measure believed to be the first of its kind.
The law, which takes effect July 1, was signed one day after the NCAA eased some of its NIL restrictions but noted that its longstanding “prohibitions against pay-for-play and schools compensating student-athletes for use of their NIL remain in place.”
Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said other states may follow Virginia’s lead.
VaNews April 19, 2024
By LAURENCE HAMMACK,
Roanoke Times
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Federal authorities arrested a Pulaski man Thursday on charges of participating in the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol. Carson Lionel Rees is accused of entering restricted grounds, demonstrating in the Capitol building and two counts of disorderly conduct, according to documents filed in Roanoke’s federal court. Rees, whose age was not available, is the 11th person from Western Virginia to be charged with joining thousands of rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, at the urging of then President Donald Trump.
VaNews April 19, 2024
By DAVE RESS,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
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The calls roll in, 24 hours a day. Sometimes, it's abuse as a relationship becomes unbearable. Sometimes, money worries are unsurmountable. Sometimes, it’s the depths of depression so severe that there seems no way out. Sometimes, delusions that won’t leave a sufferer in peace. Virginia’s 988 crisis line fields them all, some 8,000 a month. And as implementation of the 988 crisis line lags nationally, it is evolving in Virginia into a place to take a first step to getting help before mental troubles reach a point of no return.
VaNews April 19, 2024
By ACACIA JAMES,
FFXnow
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is asking the county’s General Assembly delegation to oppose Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposed funding cuts to Metro in the state’s budget.
During a board meeting on Tuesday (April 16), supervisors unanimously approved a letter written by Chairman Jeff McKay, Braddock District Supervisor James Walkinshaw, and Dranesville District Supervisor James Bierman, asking the delegation to oppose the cuts and retain the funding needed to address the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) estimated $750 million shortfall.
VaNews April 19, 2024
By DAVID TEEL,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
As state politicians and university administrators led the drive for pioneering compensation opportunities for college athletes in Virginia, coaches anxiously awaited the final legislation. Ryan Odom, Tony Elliott and Brent Pry were not disappointed. They joined dozens of others Thursday morning at the Patrick Henry Building in Richmond, where Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed House Bill 1505, giving in-state schools virtual autonomy in providing name, image and likeness compensation to athletes.
VaNews April 19, 2024
By ALYSSA HUTTON,
Cardinal News
More than 100 people gathered Thursday morning to witness the unveiling of a state historical marker for Lucyville, a community founded in the late 19th century by a freed slave.
The Rev. Reuben T. Coleman was born into slavery, then freed in 1860. Lucyville is named after his daughter. Coleman owned a bank in the community, which in the 1890s also had a post office, a mineral springs resort and a newspaper.
VaNews April 19, 2024
By EM HOLTER,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
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The Richmond Coliseum, the defunct regional arena, could soon be torn down pending a vote by the Richmond City Council.
The request comes from the city administration that petitioned an additional $3.5 million be tacked on to Mayor Levar Stoney’s proposed $3 billion FY2025 budget to cover the $3 million cost of demolition as well as $500,000 to meet security needs.
VaNews April 19, 2024
By ERIC KOLENICH,
Richmond Times-Dispatch
(Metered Paywall - 7 articles a month)
The demolition of Richmond’s Public Safety Building, a valuable piece of city-owned downtown real estate, is scheduled to begin in one to two weeks, according to a spokesperson for Virginia Commonwealth University Health.
The removal of the building, long considered an eyesore, is the first step toward its redevelopment. VCU Health agreed to pay for demolition as part of its failed redevelopment plan. It hired Henrico County-based DPR Construction for $5 million, according to city records.
VaNews April 19, 2024
