Spider Insider: Spring 2021

Spider Insider FOREVER A SPIDER Dr. Crutcher reflects on his presidency

For faculty & staff at the UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND Spring 2021

SPIDERS HELPING SPIDERS Landscaping duo Blake Carter and Eli Arrighi cracked frozen ground in February to install wind chimes near the Robins School of Business to improve accessibility for visually impaired members of the Spider community. The chimes of different tonal quality — metal and bamboo — serve as an auditory guide by providing landmark awareness at navigationally challenging locations on campus.

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Spring 2021

Vice president for University Communications John M. Barry Associate vice president for communications and digital engagement Phillip Gravely

Spider Insider

Editor Cheryl Spain Director of creative services Samantha Tannich Graphic designer, publications Gordon Schmidt

Here Comes the Sun

Westhampton Lake proved to be the perfect place to soak up some sun and fresh air on one of the first warm days of spring.

Photographer Jamie Betts Staff contributors: Ashley Bentley, Sunni Brown, Sam Campbell, Catherine Amos Cribbs, Chad Devers, Matthew Dewald, Mike Domina, Joedy Felts, Pryor Green, Lindsey Grow, Paul Heltzel, Kevin Heraldo, Alicia Hubbard, Brian Ivasauskas, Pamela Lee, Katie McBride, Joe Minick, Cynthia Price, Cindy Smith, and Andrew Tillman Spider Insider is printed on paper that is FSC® Certified, with 10% post-consumer recycled content and certified fiber.

ON THE COVER Once a Spider, always a Spider. Ronald A. Crutcher will return to UR as president emeritus and University Professor following a yearlong sabbatical in Berlin, Germany, at the conclusion of his term as president in August.

No cellos were harmed in the making of this cover.

We welcome your input.

Send your story ideas or comments to spiderinsider @richmond.edu.

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PEOPLE

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Dear Faculty and Staff

New Home for Humanities Major renovation creates a place to gather and connect the disciplines

Message from President Ronald A. Crutcher

4 University Thought Leadership Valued by Media

10 Championing Innovation

Media Mentions

COVID-19 fostered new ways of working, some of which are here to stay

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The Conversation: Bipartisanship in Congress Isn’t About Being Nice — It’s About Cold, Hard Numbers

Accolades Good Food

Here to Help

Organic Krush Café, UR’s newest eatery, advances campus wellbeing initiatives with healthy menu options

CAPS and Chaplaincy take a virtual, multitiered approach to promote emotional well-being

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UR sees record number of applications for the Class of 2025

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Social Buzz Fiscal Confidence

Photograph by Jamie Betts

Careful stewardship during the pandemic pays off with salary and minimum wage increases

A Model for Success

14 Chalk It Up to Safety 16 Accomplishments 17 Welcome, President Kevin Hallock!

Cornell University’s labor market scholar named UR’s 11th president

18 2021 Outstanding Service Award Winners 20 Omicron Delta Kappa Epsilon Circle Inductees 21 New Hires, Moves, and Retirements

IN APPRECIATION Notes of gratitude for Dr. Crutcher were shared on social media and other platforms following his announcement in September 2020 that he is stepping down from his role as president and returning to teaching.

We still have work to do together. I’m eternally grateful for him placing his trust in me and joining his Cabinet. Thankful for his leadership model and actions! Appreciate all that he has done, is doing and will continue to do for the University of Richmond.

—Keith W. McIntosh via Twitter We have felt so fortunate to have Dr. Crutcher and Dr. Betty Crutcher lead and represent the University.

Personally we have loved getting to know them. We wish them both all the best and thank them so much for their service to the University!

—@debbie_nagpal via Instagram As a parent of a student, I’ve always appreciated Dr. Crutcher’s tone (musical pun not intended) of voice and calm manner.

Congratulations on serving U. Richmond so very well.

—george.pomeroy via Instagram Thank you for all of your hard work! Once a Spider, always a Spider!

—Lou Graham via Facebook A wonderful leader and a good soul. Richmond has been lucky.

—Ellen Purtell via Facebook 2

Dear Faculty and Staff, When I stepped down as president of Wheaton College, I told my wife, Dr. Betty Neal Crutcher, that I did not intend to take on another presidency. There was, however, one caveat: If I could find a small college or university whose faculty and staff prized their roles as mentors above all else, I would reconsider my plans. I fully expected that I would return to the performing arts, where I had begun my career. Then an executive search firm contacted me about the University of Richmond.

I had always known that Richmond was a very fine institution, but its quality far exceeded my expectations. The faculty and staff’s exceptional commitment to students sealed my decision to accept the UR presidency. As I look back on my nearly 45 years in higher education, I can say unequivocally that I have never seen a university faculty and staff so deeply committed to forging meaningful mentoring relationships with students.

One of the greatest pleasures of my job has been working alongside you to advance our educational mission. I am deeply proud of everything we have accomplished together to better prepare students to lead lives of purpose.

Together, we have bolstered support for faculty development, from the Teaching and Scholarship Hub to the Program on Academic Leadership. We have accelerated our progress in recruiting and retaining a world-class, diverse, and accomplished faculty. Forty-two percent of our hires in the last five years have been persons of color or international citizens — and 46% have been women.

We have also enriched our students’ educational experience through exciting new initiatives, including the Endeavor and Encompass programs and the Office of Scholars and Fellowships. We continue to strengthen the quality and diversity of our student population while enhancing the retention and graduation rates of our students.

And despite the challenges of COVID-19, we have persevered to fulfill our shared mission with ingenuity and compassion.

Thanks to your commitment to academic excellence, we stand today as a topranked liberal arts institution that attracts the most talented students across the nation and indeed from around the world.

We have made great progress, but there is still so much work to do. When I challenged our community in my inaugural address to use our rich diversity to change the University’s culture so that everyone could thrive, I wish I had added a reminder that this transformation could not be achieved in five or even 10 years. We are barely one generation away from legal segregation by race in this country. Our efforts at making Richmond more inclusive are, and will be, a continuous work in progress.

We have experienced both great successes and setbacks in this work. Our Making Excellence Inclusive initiative and distributed leadership model have catalyzed a wealth of student-, faculty-, and staff-led efforts. I regret, however, that I am stepping down amid the turmoil over recent naming decisions; it distresses me that some community members feel I do not fully value them.

While I recognize our actions have disappointed some members of our community, I hope we can all pause and reflect from time to time on how far we have come working together over the past six years. However imperfectly, our institution increasingly embodies the belief that diversity, equity, and inclusion are inextricably linked to academic excellence. But the work can and must continue.

I believe turbulent times are part of the evolution of becoming a truly inclusive community. I remain confident that if we press forward together, in spite of our differences and the challenges we face, our progress will continue. As I return to teaching, I pledge to keep doing my part.

Thank you for making my six years as your president some of the most fulfilling of my life. Your dedication to our students as faculty and staff has been a constant source of pride and inspiration for me. I salute you for helping make UR the great institution it is today — and will be tomorrow.

Thank you for serving our university! I’m proud I could be a student and alumni under your tenure.

—rvaruss via Instagram Sad to see them move on. Kind, brilliant peripheral-thinking leader with a great heart and head. And Mrs. Crutcher will remain one of my faves. True class acts.

—kgframes via Instagram Such a wonderful man, leader, role model. Students will be fortunate to have him as their professor.

—lmgcook1 via Instagram

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MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT RONALD A. CRUTCHER

President Crutcher has been such an important part of UR’s identity. He will be greatly missed!

—@ulterinomuench via Instagram Dr. and Dr. Crutcher have been an incredible representation of our university. I am so proud of their leadership and to have gotten to know them.

—bocbrown via Instagram I’m sad to see him step down from his current role as president but thrilled that he’s coming back in a year to teach!

—yogishelbel via Instagram

Sincerely,

Ronald A. Crutcher President

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MEDIA MENTIONS

UNIVERSITY THOUGHT LEADERSHIP VALUED

BY MEDIA University leaders often weigh in as experts on issues related to higher education or apply their experience to the news of the day. In the past year, UR administrators and other faculty and staff have authored more than 100 essays for a variety of media outlets. Recent examples include: President RONALD A. CRUTCHER authored “Learning to Listen in Polarized Times” for Inside Higher Ed. “The time students spend on college campuses may be their last and best opportunity to learn how to have conversations across racial, cultural, and ideological differences,” he wrote.

STEPHANIE DUPAUL, vice president for enrollment management, co-authored “COVID Upended the Traditional College Search. But Higher Ed Can Partner with Community Groups to Open Doors for Low-Income Students of Color,” for The 74 Million, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news site covering education in America. “Even as colleges navigate an unprecedented admissions cycle, they can partner with community-based organizations and enlist school and community leaders in a collective effort to ensure that the full range of extraordinary students do not slip through the cracks,” she wrote.

PATRICE RANKINE, dean of the School of Arts & Sciences, authored “Time for Anti-Racism: A Way Forward for America and Higher Education” for Diverse Issues in Higher Education. “Once we have lain the foundation of acknowledgement and support, we can begin to build strong coalitions to undo the reign of race over our lives,” he wrote.

SANDRA PEART, dean of the Jepson School of Leadership Studies, authored “Public Speech and Democracy” for History News Network.

“Our leaders must understand the responsibility associated with the public act of speech and the need for opposing groups to be sufficiently respectful and to listen without violence,” Peart wrote.

Essays and articles by UR faculty and staff are available on the University of Richmond newsroom at news.richmond.edu/placements/commentary.

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“Looking back in history to help inform and improve future race relations” President RONALD A. CRUTCHER discussed the complexities of confronting racism on college campuses and how history can help inform and improve race relations today in an interview with PBS special correspondent Charlayne Hunter-Gault. “We have to work together as a campus — Black, brown, Asian, low-income, first-generation, whatever — across the whole spectrum,” Crutcher explained. “Otherwise, we won’t find a cure for this disease of systemic racism.”

“COVID and the End of the Office As You Knew It” “Once the vaccine is out, I think there’s going to be a greater push by some organizations to bring their workforce back into the office, but a significant portion will stay home,” KEVIN CRUZ, assistant professor of management, said about how COVID-19 could impact office culture.

“China launches moon mission, seeking to be first country in decades to collect lunar rocks” Astrophysicist JACK SINGAL, associate professor of physics, explained how China’s mission will allow scientists to directly date the rocks and volcanic activity from the collection site. “That will give us a better handle on dating rocks on the rest of the surface of the moon and other rocky bodies, including Mercury and Mars,” he said.

“Making a Difference: Director of UR’s Carrico Center a ‘facilitator of good deeds’ ” “I feel like everything that I do is a way to support and hopefully amplify what the tremendous nonprofit community in Richmond is just so tirelessly and zealously working for,” said TARA CASEY, professor of law, in this piece profiling her work as director of UR’s Carrico Center for Pro Bono and Public Service.

“College dining teams pivot into spring” TERRY BAKER, executive director of dining services, explained in this piece how UR adjusted its dining approach for the spring semester to account for student preferences. “We worked closely with the student groups and came up with a menu together,” she said.

“Making remote learning work for foreign-language instruction” “Perhaps the changes we are experiencing now will help us rethink best practices for teaching and learning and create better, richer educational experiences for future generations,” wrote KATE CASSADA, assistant professor of education, in this piece she co-authored with students in the SPCS Educational Leadership Program. The group reflected on positive outcomes they experienced in the virtual classroom.

“Deb Haaland faces momentous questions at Interior” Leadership studies professor and Native politics and governance expert DAVID WILKINS’ expertise was called upon when President Joe Biden announced U.S. Rep. Deb Haaland of New Mexico as his pick for Secretary of the Department of the Interior. Wilkins said Haaland’s nomination suggests the president is serious about giving Indigenous people a policy presence in his administration “on a level never seen before.”

Visit news.richmond.edu to view additional media mentions or connect with University Communications’ Media and Public Relations team, Cynthia Price and Sunni Brown.

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THE CONVERSATION

Bipartisanship in Congress Isn’t About Being Nice — It’s About Cold, Hard Numbers Authored by Dan Palazzolo, professor of political science Before he was inaugurated as president, Joe Biden emphasized the importance of bipartisanship in dealing with Congress.

Incoming presidents routinely make appeals for bipartisanship but often find it difficult to fulfill their promise because bipartisanship requires negotiation between Democratic and Republican leaders and agreement among substantial numbers of lawmakers from both parties.

Senate rules require a “supermajority” — 60 out of 100 senators, including both Democrats and Republicans — to pass major legislation.

In Done Deal? The Politics of the 1997 Budget Agreement, I find that party control of the branches is the most important factor that affects the prospect of bipartisanship in the budget process. Bipartisan agreements are more likely to occur under divided party control, when the president is of one party and the other party controls the House, the Senate, or both.

A crisis, or perceived crisis, may also motivate leaders of opposite parties to negotiate a bipartisan agreement. The willingness of congressional leaders of opposite parties to negotiate and compromise also affects the prospects of bipartisanship.

Bipartisanship is much less likely under unified party government, when one party controls both the presidency and Congress. The president typically gives up on bipartisan negotiations and bargains with fellow partisans in Congress to forge legislation.

Newly elected presidents often resort to an exceptional tool — budget reconciliation — which

allows the Senate to bypass the normal 60-vote requirement. Budget reconciliation bills typically contain major changes in spending and tax policy. Since Senate rules provide that, after 20 hours of debate, a simple majority — 51 votes — decides whether reconciliation bills pass, a cohesive Senate majority party can pass a budget bill without votes from the other party. Thus, presidents may or may not need the support of both parties.

Biden is in one of those situations as he seeks congressional approval for a major bill, a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package to address a broad range of concerns brought on by the pandemic. A counterproposal offered by a group of 10 Republicans is one-third of the cost and targeted mostly toward COVID-19 relief and vaccinations, aid for economically distressed families, and support for struggling business.

Democrats in the Senate have indicated they will, if necessary, disregard the wishes of Republicans and pass the bill through the budget reconciliation process. After all, Democrats control both branches of government, and the nation is in crisis. With a slim majority of House seats and a tie-breaking vote in a 50–50 Senate, Democrats can prevail without Republican support.

Moderates within the majority party — led

by Joe Manchin of West Virginia — now have outsize influence and are in a unique position to shape the outcome. Ultimately, a few Republicans may vote in favor of the final bill forged by Democrats, but their support will be far short of a true bipartisan agreement.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION This article was excerpted from a February 11, 2021, piece originally written for The Conversation, an independent news source that specializes in research-based, faculty-authored articles written for a general audience. To read Palazzolo’s original article in its entirety, as well as other UR faculty-authored The Conversation pieces, visit news.richmond. edu/placements/conversation.

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SACRED PAUSE Every Friday at 4 p.m. the Chaplaincy hosts an online gathering called Sacred Pause where students, faculty, and staff can meet for a few moments of breathing, poetry, and rest. Kocher says the 20-to-25-minute meetup is not a religious gathering but rather “a meaningful place to reflect on where we are at the end of the week.”

For more information, contact Jamie Lynn Haskins, chaplain for spiritual life, at jhaskins@ richmond.edu.

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Here to Help CAPS and Chaplaincy take a virtual, multitiered approach to promote emotional well-being Students faced daunting challenges this year as the usual academic stresses were compounded by a pandemic that put a strain on mental health.

The University’s Counseling and Psychological Services, known as CAPS, and the Office of the Chaplaincy responded by reaching out to the campus community in new and safe ways.

Peter LeViness, director of CAPS, said his office shifted its primary services to a secure videoconferencing platform for telehealth and acted to make counseling sessions more convenient for students.

“We’re now offering same-day appointments,” LeViness said. “It’s a new initiative CAPS started this past fall, where students seeking services for the first time this academic year request an appointment in the morning, and they’re usually able to get an appointment that same day. Students have been very appreciative of this change.”

In addition to private sessions, CAPS offered virtual programs on topics such as well-being, managing anxiety, and mindful meditation; it also hosted grief, LGBTQIA, and Black student support groups.

CAPS also added other new ways to assist students. In January, it launched a mental health chat service called a warmline, a non-urgent text-based option for UR students who want to talk to a peer. The line is staffed by CAPS peer support specialist interns from diverse backgrounds trained to provide empathetic and confidential mental health support. The peer support specialist interns also contacted students in COVID-19 quarantine to check in on them, and CAPS staff reached out to students in COVID-19 isolation who had not responded to a daily automated check-in.

For CAPS staff, responding to the mental health and emotional well-being of the campus community during a global pandemic provided some unique challenges, including “figuring out ways to track what is and is not permissible in terms of providing clinical services across state lines for four different licensing boards in 50 different states,” LeViness said. It’s a crucial component of providing services in a virtual era.

“In the midst of all these changes, we also moved from our former location in Sarah Brunet Hall to our new home on the third floor of the

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brand-new Well-Being Center,” LeViness said.

Like CAPS, the Chaplaincy has also leaned heavily on online sessions to continue its programs for various religious communities on campus. The office relies on Zoom for faculty, staff, and students to gather and express how the pandemic is affecting them, said the Rev. Craig Kocher, University chaplain.

“It fosters a sense of shared experience,” Kocher said.

“Struggle becomes all the more difficult when you’re isolated in it. The emotions become more difficult to manage or acute or fearful. But if you feel like others are sharing it with you, that builds a sense of community and resilience.”

Kocher said much of the campus community is suffering from grief on multiple levels.

“A lot of the grief is hidden,” he said. “Many of us are grieving, and we may not even be aware of all the things that have been lost. If you’re 19

or 20 years old, maybe you lost the end of your senior year in high school or the opportunity to meet new friends in your first year. You may have lost a loved one to COVID, or your parents have experienced economic distress that they didn’t expect. Hopefully we can help students process those feelings in positive and productive ways.”

Kocher said his office continues to work oneon-one with members of the campus community, which sometimes means a masked-up, physically distanced walk around the lake.

More often those conversations are online, where Kocher says some people may actually find it easier to share.

“Ironically, in some ways, [online conversations] provide greater intimacy, because students may be willing to share a little bit more behind the safety of a computer screen than they might face to face,” he said. “I’m particularly aware of how hard it is to be a young adult right now.”

“Struggle becomes all the more difficult when you’re isolated in it. ... But if you feel like others are sharing it with you, that builds a sense of community and resilience.”

SPIDERS REMEMBERED Whenever a member of the campus community passes away, including retired staff and faculty, a note is emailed to that entire community. “It’s important to express that we’re not working for a faceless institution,” Kocher said. “We are part of a human community of cherished individuals.” A flag on campus is lowered to half-staff as a show of respect, and Kocher reaches out to the person’s family to offer support. “It’s a way of offering thanks for their gifts to the University of Richmond, saying at the end of the day, we care about each other and grieve those who are gone.”

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SOCIAL BUZZ A roundup of reactions to posts on @urichmond: UR has done an amazing job keeping the students and staff safe this year while staying open and offering in person classes. I’m thankful my son is there his freshman year instead of in my basement with his University of MD brother who hasn’t had an in person class this year.

—Jennifer Matthews via Facebook Congratulations! One of my favorite professors from the graduate MLA program. I loved his science class during my final semester.

—Jess Hendrix via LinkedIn Referring to Eugene Maurakis, visiting research scientist, being awarded a National Science Foundation grant for research on freshwater fish in Virginia

Fiscal Confidence Careful stewardship during the pandemic pays off with salary and minimum wage increases

Such a beautiful photo of a walkway at the University of Richmond. One of the better decisions of my life was to go back to school as an older adult and get my degree from the University of Richmond in 2007. It has made all the difference in my life and my career.

—Linda Reid Whitaker via Facebook Congratulations, Dr. Crutcher! This is fantastic news for ACE and higher ed. Thrilled that your impact and influence will continue. You and Dr. Betty have expanded UR’s vast potential and launched the university on an exciting trajectory of inclusive achievement. Thank you for your leadership. #SpiderPride —Mary McNamara via LinkedIn Referring to President Crutcher being elected chair of the board of directors of the American Council on Education

They really are the best medicine.

—Mary Bradley Warzynski via Facebook Referring to facility dog Emmett’s first day on the job at the Well-Being Center

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Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram: @urichmond

The Ides of March brought welcome news to campus employees this year.

March 15 was the day staff and faculty across the University received an email announcing an across-the-board 3.5% salary increase and an increase of the University’s minimum wage from $12 to $14 an hour. Behind that announcement — from President Ronald A. Crutcher, Executive Vice President and COO Dave Hale, and Executive Vice President and Provost Jeff Legro — was a year’s worth of careful financial management and collective efforts across the University to contain the potential fiscal damage of the pandemic and ensure the University’s ability to deliver on its educational promise.

“Our financial performance this year looks really encouraging and allows us to move forward with confidence,” Hale said.

That confidence was hard to predict when the pandemic unexpectedly impacted University operations in March 2020. The University was forced to finish the spring semester remotely and cancel a host of summer programs. At the time, it was unclear whether there could be an in-person fall or spring semester even with significant COVID-19 mitigation expenditures, so the University had to prepare for the potential fiscal implications of the double whammy of decreased revenues and unexpectedly higher costs.

It responded with salary and hiring freezes across campus, voluntary salary cuts for executives, and divisional budget cuts across campus while spending to upgrade technology, create isolation and quarantine space, and fund a massive prevalence testing program. It also made a commitment to keep all regular employees fully employed and paid, even if the prevailing conditions meant they could not do their jobs.

The fiscal balancing act worked. While overall revenue declined by $8 million from the FY20 budget because of a modest enrollment decline, savings measures offset this decline. As leaders looked ahead to the upcoming fiscal year, a pay increase for employees was the top budget priority, according to Hale.

“The University is only successful because of its talented and motivated faculty and staff,” he said. “We want to acknowledge just how hard people have worked to help us through this pandemic. This has been a hard time for everyone. We’ve had to ask people to step up, and folks have done it with generosity, courage, and a deep commitment to our students.”

“We want to acknowledge just how hard people have worked to help us through this pandemic.”

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New Home for Humanities Major renovation creates a place to gather and connect the disciplines Ryland Hall is being remade into a new center of academic excellence. Renovations expected to conclude in fall 2021 will bring the English, history, classical studies, and philosophy departments together under one roof, establishing a new center for the humanities. The space will offer, for the first time, a central place for students and faculty in the humanities to connect across departments, programs, and schools, said Nicole Sackley, associate professor of history and American studies and coordinator for the humanities in Arts & Sciences.

Ryland was constructed in 1914 to house the original campus library. Because of its age, renovations began last year to upgrade Ryland Hall’s heating and cooling system, address accessibility, and resolve air quality issues; the last renovation was completed in 1990.

At the same time plans for Ryland began, a spatial analysis of the campus was underway, and the idea arose to convert the academic section of North Court, the historic former women’s college and dormitory, into residence halls, said Chuck Rogers, director of design and construction. Currently housing 158 students, North Court also accommodates classical studies and philosophy classes.

“We were already planning a small addition to add an elevator to Ryland Hall,” Rogers said, “so we thought, ‘If we’re already doing an addition, how much more would we have to add to bring

classical studies and philosophy over?’ The opportunity to repurpose North Court for residential use gave us the added bonus of having one location for humanities students to gather, collaborate, and study,” Rogers said.

The humanities center will include a commons area on the main level that will serve as a student hangout and reception space. New classrooms are being added, and existing rooms are being upgraded; when the project is complete, the building will house 16 classrooms. The humanities center will also have a classroom lecture space. In terms of accessibility, Ryland Hall was accessible on one level from the Stern Quad side, but the new elevator will connect all floors with the exception of the fifthfloor tower room. Rogers said automatic door openers at the main entrances will be installed.

While COVID-19 slowed the construction project, it’s back on track, and Ryland is expected to open this fall with an additional 11,500 square feet.

“We are particularly thrilled that our signature programs — the Humanities Fellows Program for sophomores and Humanities Connect for advanced student researchers and faculty — now have a home on campus,” Sackley said. “There is such exciting work happening here among student and faculty humanists. This space will also help us to share it with a broader public.”

LEARN MORE For more information on the Ryland Hall renovations and other construction projects on campus, visit facilities.richmond.edu.

The humanities center will include a commons area on the main level that will serve as a student hangout and reception space.

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“40 Years of Print-  making: From the Center Street Studio Archives” is one of several virtual tours currently offered by UR Museums.

GET ‘APPY’ More information about the FusionGo app and recreation and wellness online resources like virtual fitness programming is available at recreation.richmond.edu/ contact/resources. html. For information about downloading and using Grubhub on campus, visit dining. richmond.edu/ grubhub.pdf.

Championing Innovation COVID-19 fostered new ways of working, some of which are here to stay Necessity is the mother of invention. It’s a proverb faculty and staff saw play out firsthand this year. As the campus community worked diligently to maintain safe and efficient operations, faculty and staff championed innovations that will continue to be part of the Richmond experience after the pandemic.

Executive Director of Dining Services Terry Baker and her team were already exploring mobile technology tools before the pandemic hit. But when COVID-19 required a new approach to safe and physically distanced dining, her team turned ideas into action.

The implementation of the Grubhub mobile pickup app and kiosk ordering systems in campus dining locations has been integral to maintaining physical distancing during COVID-19.

With more than 4,300 faculty, staff, and students now using Grubhub, and more than 80% of all orders placed through the app, mobile ordering on campus has been a hit. Baker sees long-term operational benefits, so it is here to stay even after we’re no longer required to remain 6 feet apart.

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“In addition to eliminating long lines and reducing wait times at registers around campus, this technology has helped eliminate both order and cashier errors,” Baker said.

The University Recreation team has also transformed operations with a mobile app. Rather than the hand geometry and turnstiles system that once welcomed those working out at the Weinstein Center, faculty, staff, and students can now download the FusionGo app on their phone, enter their UR credentials, and scan a barcode to gain access to both the Weinstein Center and the new Well-Being Center.

For University Museums, COVID-19 was the nudge that turned a team’s wish list into reality.

“In many ways, the pandemic has given us that push to think out of the box,” said Heather Campbell, curator of museum programming.

“We have expanded our online resources, which is something that we’ve been wanting to do for some time.”

Museums now offer 360-degree virtual tours of select exhibitions on campus, allowing visitors anywhere to tour galleries from the comfort and safety of their own homes. They’ve paired the

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tours with virtual programming, during which Museums staff lead the audience through an exhibit, stopping to lead discussions about specific artwork.

“This is something that we will continue not only with our new exhibitions, but also our permanent displays at the Lora Robins Gallery,” Campbell said. “It allows us to accommodate a broader audience, be a resource for educators and the community, and book speakers and artists who are unable to join us on campus.”

Improvement isn’t always synonymous with the latest and greatest technology, however.

Sometimes the best solutions are found by learning and building on existing ideas.

That’s exactly the strategy Boatwright Memorial Library used when its staff borrowed the idea of curbside pickup from public libraries. It’s also been the strategy for numerous faculty members as they addressed the day-to-day challenges of teaching during a pandemic.

Mathematics professor Della Dumbaugh customized a classic teaching strategy to address her virtual classroom concerns. With so many resources readily available online, Dumbaugh was apprehensive about her students gaining a false sense of security about content, so she decided to revisit oral exams as a teaching technique.

“I found updating oral exams for the 21st-century virtual classroom helped students improve their communication, conquer anxiety, solve problems quickly, and think creatively,”

Dumbaugh said. “It also gave students an opportunity to articulate layers of sophisticated thinking in an organized fashion, a skill they can take with them to any workplace.”

A “huge success” for Dumbaugh was a way to build relationships with students in a virtual setting. She is now incorporating oral quizzes into her in-person instruction as well.

Maintaining meaningful relationships and connections was the inspiration for political science professor Monti Datta when it came to finding new ways to collaborate virtually.

In January, he co-hosted a webinar with a colleague at VCU during which the two shared tips on how to use meditation and mindfulness to alleviate pandemic stresses; nearly 100 people from around the Richmond area attended. A week later, he and SPCS education professor Bob Spires led a webinar on human trafficking for a global network of social justice activists.

“We were all able to do this from the convenience of our smartphones and computers and to have a moment of connection that, prior to the pandemic, would have required orchestrating cumbersome logistics like finding and booking a venue, driving to the location, and providing parking to participants,” Datta said. “I may not like the pandemic, but I am grateful it has given rise to moments that have fostered fresh and new ways of thinking about ways to achieve connection and meaning.”

ENGAGE VIRTUALLY Looking for ways to interact and engage with the UR community virtually?

Visit musuems. richmond.edu for upcoming virtual gallery talks and programming. Check out upcoming virtual performances through the Modlin Center for the Arts Digital Stage series at modlin.richmond.edu. Sign up for virtual fitness classes through the Weinstein Center Portal at services.recreation. richmond.edu. Keep an eye out for virtual webinars and events posted to calendar. richmond.edu.

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ACCOLADES These awards and rankings are a testament to the University’s overall commitment to excellence.

The Institute of International Education ranked UR No. 2 among TOP BACCALAUREATE COLLEGES for the fifth consecutive year for the number of students studying abroad, according to this year’s Open Doors Report. UR also maintained its No. 7 ranking for INTERNATIONAL ENROLLMENT. The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs named UR among the U.S. colleges and universities that produced the most FULBRIGHT U.S. STUDENTS AND FULBRIGHT U.S. SCHOLARS for 2020–21, the third consecutive year UR has received the recognition. UR is one of 17 institutions in the country to be honored in both categories.

Good Food

Organic Krush Café, UR’s newest eatery, advances campus well-being initiatives with healthy menu options

Poets&Quants for Undergrads ranked the Robins School of Business No. 23 — up three spots from last year — on its 2021 list of “BEST UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS SCHOOLS.” UR ranked No. 14 for Employment Outcomes and No. 26 for Admission Standards.

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education awarded UR a 2021 DISTRICT III AWARD, recognizing the best in advancement across the Southeast. UR received bronze in the Alumni Relations – Alumni Relations Pivot category for “For Alumni by Alumni: Pivoting in a Pandemic,” which highlights the ways the alumni relations team met the needs of constituents at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in more than 75 new virtual programs, over 1,400 unique alumni engagements, and 40 new virtual volunteers.

College Factual, a source of higher education data and analytics, ranked UR No. 2 on its 2021 “BEST COLLEGES FOR DIVERSITY IN VIRGINIA” list. UR ranked No. 77 overall, putting it in the top 5% in the nation.

UR, a campus known for its award-winning dining and holistic approach to well-being, has added another health food option for faculty, staff, and students. In January, Dining Services opened Organic Krush Café, the University’s ninth dining location. Located in the Well-Being Center, Organic Krush specializes in organic options, as well as high-quality gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan bakery items. All ingredients are free of pesticides, GMOs, and hormones.

“Organic Krush is the perfect fit for the new Well-Being Center and the University, which is committed to the health and well-being of our entire community,” said Terry Baker, executive director of Dining Services.

Organic Krush Café offers smoothies, acai bowls, salads, soups, tacos, wraps, and more.

Many of the items are “build your own,” meaning diners can choose the ingredients and toppings.

“It’s a popular concept among faculty, staff, and students alike,” Baker said. “Diners really appreciate being able to customize their entrees and menu choices to their specific needs or tastes.”

The UR campus is the newest location for the growing brand, co-founded

by Michelle Walrath, ’98. Other locations include Short Pump; Long Island, New York; and Connecticut.

As with other retail dining facilities on campus, UR owns and operates the Café, which is currently open only to faculty, staff, and students in line with the University’s Physical Distancing Framework. Diners can also order online for pickup using the Grubhub app. Once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, the general public will be welcome to dine at the Café.

“Healthy and organic choices are important in meeting the dietary needs of our community,” Baker said. “Nutrition is an important part of overall well-being, and we are excited to offer this new option.”

“Organic Krush is the perfect fit for the new Well-Being Center ... which is committed to the health and well-being of our entire community,”

For more information on all residential and retail dining locations, including operating hours and menus, visit dining.richmond.edu.

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AROUND THE LAKE

A Model for Success

UR sees record number of applications for the Class of 2025 Despite the challenges of a global pandemic, the University of Richmond this year saw nearly 14,000 first-year applications for admission — a record number — with strong increases in regular decision and early action. Applications for the class of 2025 were up 1,900 over last year, an increase of 16%.

Gil Villanueva, associate vice president and dean of admission, attributes the increase in part to the distinctiveness of a University of Richmond education — including faculty’s “student-centric” approach to teaching — and the temporary change to go test-optional for students entering in 2021 after much of the 2020 SAT and ACT testing was canceled. He also credits a focus on meeting students where they are, which meant quickly adapting to virtual recruiting when the pandemic struck.

“We converted many of our in-person physical recruitment activities to virtual formats in two weeks, when some schools took months,” Villanueva said.

Admission counselors conducted virtual “group travel” recruiting trips with other highly selective institutions during the summer and fall and, at times, woke up at 2 a.m. to meet with students in China and India.

Their efforts paid off. The increase the Office of Admission saw wasn’t limited to the number of applications, Villanueva said. It was a stronger, more diverse applicant pool as well.

As the recruiting landscape becomes more complex, the office is flexing to meet the challenges head-on. Following the retirement of Marilyn Hesser, executive director of admission and data analytics, Stephanie Dupaul, vice president for enrollment management, and the team reimagined the admission organization and restructured it around core priorities and practices.

In January, Dupaul and Villanueva announced the team’s adoption of a multiple-director leadership model.

Under the new structure, Rebecca Buffington, now director of admission for recruiting and marketing, leads the communications and visitor experience teams; Lindsey Monacell, now director of admission for operations, oversees Slate and data management.

A search for a director of admission for diversity outreach and partnerships began this spring. All three positions report to Villanueva.

“UR has been fortunate to have a long-tenured and incredibly talented leadership team in the Office of Admission, and the restructure was a direct result of the depth of that team,” Dupaul said. “The new model ensures that every leadership discussion will include these three areas and contribute to the department’s long-standing record of success by allowing for increased innovation, efficiency, and focus on key priorities.”

Applications for the class of 2025 were up 1,900 over last year, an increase of 16%.

TEAM EFFORT The work of the entire campus community continues to make UR a desirable destination for many prospective students, particularly this year.

“Prospective students and their families learned a lot about schools in terms of how they treated their people during this pandemic,” Villanueva said.

“Students and their parents gravitated to schools that stayed open and protected faculty, students, and staff.”

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CHALK IT UP TO SAFETY More than a dozen students from the coed community service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega, in coordination with the COVID-19 Health Promotion and Compliance team, took to the campus sidewalks in March to share friendly reminders of the importance of UR’s COVID-19 safety protocols.

“We were so thankful for the students’ willingness to lean into this opportunity,” said Brittany Schaal, director of emergency management. “Their ability to bring health and safety information to life is reflective of the community’s ongoing resilience during the pandemic.”

Faculty, staff, and student adherence to the University’s COVID-19 Physical Distancing Framework and commitment to the well-being of the campus community resulted in the successful completion of a full academic year of in-person, residential education.

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PEOPLE

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ACCOMPLISHMENTS We celebrate the accomplishments of UR’s talented faculty and staff.

See more accomplishments and submit your own grant, publication, or honor at richmond.edu/ faculty-staff.

TIM BARNEY, associate pro-

fessor of rhetoric and communication studies, received the 2020 Wrage-Baskerville Award from the Public Address Division of the National Communication Association for “End of History/End of Geography: Time, Space, and the Meaning of 1989 in President George H.W. Bush’s Post-Cold War Foreign Policy Rhetoric.”

PATRICK BENNER, director of residence life and

housing, was selected to attend the Association of College and University Housing Officers — International’s 2021 State of the Profession symposium. The symposium brings together senior leaders in the profession to engage with powerful voices and cutting-edge perspectives from inside and outside higher education.

LINDA BOLAND, professor of biology, received

a $35,880 grant from the National Institutes of Health for her role on the project “A Digital and Open-Source Amplifier for Oocyte Ion Channel Measurements.”

JENNIFER BOWIE, associate professor of political

science, published “Kelly v. US on Public Fraud and the Bridgegate Controversy” in SCOTUS 2020: Major Decisions and Developments of the U.S. Supreme Court (Palgrave).

SUNNI BROWN, director of

media and public relations, presented “Maximizing Digital Platforms for Media Relations” at the Virtual Education Communicators Boot Camp 2 hosted by P World. Brown and Lindsey Grow, media relations specialist, presented “Elevating Expertise: Leveraging Faculty and Staff Experts Across Communications Platforms” at the All Districts Online Conference of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

MARILIE COETSEE, assistant professor of leader-

ship studies, published “The Phenomenal Appreciation of Reasons (Or: How Not to Be a Psychopath)” in Oxford Studies in Metaethics, Volume 15, and “The Problem of Arbitrary Requirements: An Abrahamic Perspective” in International Journal for Philosophy of Religion.

RYAN COPPAGE, director of introductory labo-

ratories; Christie Lacy, director of microscopy and imaging; and Michael Leopold, Floyd D. and Elisabeth S. Gottwald Professor of Chemistry, obtained a Utility Patent for a “Gold Nanoparticle in Ceramic Glaze,” a glaze process that is a safer and more cost-effective alternative to the current process of color ceramics.

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RONALD A. CRUTCHER, president, published I

Had No Idea You Were Black: Navigating Race on the Road to Leadership (Clyde Hill Publishing). Crutcher was elected chair of the board of directors of the American Council on Education, the major coordinating body for the nation’s colleges and universities, and named a Richmond Times-Dispatch 2020 “Person of the Year.” He also served as a panelist in a virtual discussion focused on the Emancipation Proclamation and Freedom Monument and its significance to the history of Virginia. The monument is being constructed on Brown’s Island by the Virginia Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Commission as part of the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation and abolition of slavery in the United States.

MONTI DATTA, associate professor of political

science, and Bob Spires, associate professor of graduate education, hosted the webinar “Trust and Civic Engagement Matter: Connections to Human Trafficking in the United States” for the Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice.

Fencing in Democracy: Border Walls, Necrocitizenship, and the Security State (Duke University Press) by MIGUEL DÍAZ-BARRIGA, professor of anthropology, and Margaret Dorsey, associate professor of anthropology, was included on the BookAuthority list “47 Best New Democracy Books to Read In 2021.”

Fencing in Democracy: Border Walls, Necrocitizenship, and the Security State (Duke University Press) by MARGARET DORSEY, assoicate professor of anthropology, and Miguel Díaz-Barriga, professor of anthropology, was included on the BookAuthority list “47 Best New Democracy Books to Read In 2021.”

JESSICA FLANIGAN, Richard

L. Morrill Chair in Ethics and Democratic Values, published “The Ethics of Prenatal Injury” in the Journal of Moral Philosophy and “The Rawlsian Mirror of Justice” in Philosophy and Public Issues.

DONELSON FORSYTH, Colonel Leo K. & Gaylee

Thorsness Endowed Chair in Ethical Leadership, published “Moral relativists resist health mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic” in Personality and Individual Differences.

LINDSEY GROW, media relations specialist, and

Sunni Brown, director of media and public relations, presented “Elevating Expertise: Leveraging Faculty and Staff Experts Across Communications Platforms” at the All Districts Online Conference of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

PEOPLE

LAUREN HENLEY, assistant professor of leader-

ship studies, published “The Richest Black Girl in America” in Truly Adventurous.

DANIEL HOCUTT, web manager in the School

of Professional and Continuing Studies, co-authored “Metaphors, Mental Models, and Multiplicity: Understanding Student Perception of Digital Literacy” in Computers and Composition.

ANN HODGES, professor of law emerita, pub-

lished “The U.S. Labor Relations System after Janus v. AFSCME: An Early Assessment” in Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal.

MILES JOHNSON, assistant professor of chemis-

try, received a National Science Foundation Early Career Development Program award of $518,663 for “CAREER: Study and Designs of Modular Aminophosphine Ligands for Cross-Coupling Reactions,” his research on metal catalysts and developing new chemical compounds.

MONIQUE JOHNSON, exec-

utive in residence for the Robins School of Business, was appointed to the Board of Housing and Community Development

by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam. Johnson received Connect CRE’s 2020 Women in Real Estate Award for her influential role in Richmond’s housing industry.

CHRISTIE LACY, director of microscopy and

imaging; Michael Leopold, Floyd D. and Elisabeth S. Gottwald Professor of Chemistry; and Ryan Coppage, director of introductory laboratories, obtained a Utility Patent for a “Gold Nanoparticle in Ceramic Glaze,” a glaze process that is a safer and more cost-effective alternative to the current process of color ceramics.

ERIK LAURSEN, adjunct

associate professor of education, with SPCS alumni published “Teacher Relational Competence and Behavior Management Implementation” in the Journal of Education and Social Policy.

MICHAEL LEOPOLD, Floyd D. and Elisabeth S.

Gottwald Professor of Chemistry; Ryan Coppage, director of introductory laboratories; and Christie Lacy, director of microscopy and imaging, obtained a Utility Patent for a “Gold Nanoparticle in Ceramic Glaze,” a glaze process that is a safer and more cost-effective alternative to the current process of color ceramics.

WELCOME, PRESIDENT KEVIN HALLOCK! Cornell University’s labor market scholar named UR’s 11th president Kevin F. Hallock, University of Richmond’s president-elect, is a distinguished scholar, a gifted teacher, and an accomplished academic and institutional administrator. He says that his focus on well-being informs his approach to leadership.

“In my time as an academic leader, I have strived to create an environment where all members of our academic community feel the same sense of belonging that I have enjoyed, Hallock said. “The first new position we created in my first role as dean was that of assistant dean for ‘student experience and well-being.’ Our decision to incorporate the focus on well-being was critical and intentional. We must create an environment where all members of our community have the opportunity to thrive.”

Hallock will join the UR community as Richmond’s 11th president at the beginning of the 2021–22 academic year. He comes from Cornell University where he most recently served as dean of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, and previously served as dean of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations and chair of the universitywide Department of Economics.

At Richmond, he will hold an appointment as professor of economics in the Robins School of Business and affiliated faculty appointments in the Jepson School of Leadership Studies and the Philosophy, Politics, Economics and Law program in the School of Arts & Sciences.

Hallock says he became interested in UR from the first day of the recruitment process last fall, impressed by the “strong sense of community” on campus and unmistakable care for students, exemplified by the “teacher-scholar mentality among faculty.” It was obvious to him that everyone he met “really, really cared about the well-being of students.”

Hallock plans to use his early days as president building relationships throughout the campus community.

“I’m going to spend a lot of time trying to get to know people and understand their different perspectives,” Hallock said. “I believe strongly in being transparent, inclusive, empathic, and fair. I really look forward to working with students, staff, faculty, alumni, and friends of the University to build on the greatness of what we already have and help move us forward to an even more remarkable future.”

Hallock will be joined at UR by his wife of 30 years, Tina — the couple met when they were 4 years old and started dating as sophomores in high school — and their dogs, Mabel and Matilda.

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2021

Outstanding Service Award Winners These annual awards honor staff members for their exemplary commitment and service to the University.

Winners are nominated by their colleagues and supervisors and recognized at the Outstanding Service Awards ceremony, held virtually this year on March 5.

CLERICAL SUPPORT JULIA KELLY

TEAMS DINING

STEAM PLANT

MARIA DIAZ

TIMOTHY CROWDER

Assistant to the Vice President of Student Development and the Director of Disability Services, Student Development

Administrative Assistant, Catering

(posthumously), Boiler Plant Operator–REACT

NORMA TRIMMER

JESSE FORBES

Catering and Retail Support Coordinator

Boiler Plant Supervisor

JACK MCCARROLL

RETHINK WASTE

MALIK KING

Assistant Athletic Director for Facilities and Events, Athletics

DINING SERVICES

Boiler Plant Operator–REACT

TYLER BETZHOLD

Executive Chef, Heilman Dining Center

WESLEY LEWIS

Boiler Plant Operator–REACT

STEPHEN BIRCH

JENNIFER BOCK

Cook I, Tyler’s Grill

Administrative Assistant, Events, Conferences, and Support Services

DERRICK MCCHRISTIAN

JAMES CAMPBELL

GREG MITCHELL

Supervisor, Recycling and Custodial Support

Boiler Plant Operator–REACT

DAVID DONALDSON

DAVID STRALEY

Operations and Summer Programs Manager, Events, Conferences, and Support Services

Boiler Plant Operator–REACT

PEG PEEBLES

Floater Manager, Heilman Dining Center

ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT

Boiler Plant Operator–REACT

PATRICK BENNER

Director, Residence Life and Housing TAMMY HICKS

Director of Grants Accounting, Controller’s Office

JEROME TOWNER

Boiler Plant Operator–REACT

KESLEY FASTABEND

SERVICE/ MAINTENANCE

Sustainability Program Coordinator

SARA CARD

Team Leader, University Facilities/ Custodial

SCOTT LINCOLN

Manager, Custodial and Environmental Services

CHRIS MACHALSKI

Electrician II, University Facilities/ Electrical

SUSTAINABILITY

SAM LLOYD

Support Services Manager, Events, Conferences, and Support Services

MAURICIO LOPEZ

Recycle and Custodial Support Associate, University Facilities/ Recycling 18

ALISON MCCORMICK

Purchasing Coordinator, Dining Services

CHRIS WEAVER

Boiler Mechanic

CAROL PARISH, Floyd D. and Elisabeth S.

geography, environmental studies, and biology, received a State Council of Higher Education 2021 Outstanding Faculty Award. Lookingbill published “Assessing Inequitable Urban Heat Islands and Air Pollution Disparities with Low-Cost Sensors in Richmond, Virginia” in Sustainability.

Gottwald Professor of Chemistry and associate provost for academic integration; Julie Pollock, associate professor of chemistry; and undergraduate research students published “Identification of Phenazine-Based MEMO1 Small-Molecule Inhibitors: Virtual Screening, Fluorescence Polarization Validation, and Inhibition of Breast Cancer Migration” in ChemMedChem.

EUGENE MAURAKIS, visiting research scientist,

received a $209,323 grant from the National Science Foundation for research on freshwater fish in Virginia. Maurakis was awarded “Best Short Film” in the RVA Environmental Film Festival for Plastic Oceans, which explores plastic pollution in oceanic environments through art.

NICOLE MAURANTONIO, as-

sociate professor in rhetoric and communication studies, published “‘Green Life Matters’: Place and the Politics of Environmental and Commemorative Justice” in Communication, Culture and Critique.

KEITH “MAC” MCINTOSH, vice president and chief

information officer, gave the closing keynote “Intersections — a weekly cross-cultural conversation” at the virtual Jisc Digifest conference.

FRANK MCMURROUGH, mechanical supervisor in University Facilities/HVAC, was named the 2020 Facilities Supervisor of the Year.

MARIELA MÉNDEZ, asso-

ciate professor of Latin American, Latino, and Iberian studies and women, gender, and sexuality studies, was invited to Brazil to give lectures on Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector at Universidade Federal de São Paulo and Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

MATTHEW OWARE, Irving May Professor of

Human Relations, published “15 Best New Rap Music Books to Read in 2021” on BookAuthority.

JOHN PAGAN, University

Professor emeritus, was awarded an honorable mention in the Huntington Library Quarterly centennial essay competition for “Poor Babes, Desperate Mothers: Concealment of Dead Newborns in Early Virginia.”

His article will appear in the Summer 2021 issue of the publication.

PEOPLE

TODD LOOKINGBILL, associate professor of

JEPPE VON PLATZ, assistant professor of philos-

ophy, published the chapter “Rawls’s Underestimation of the Importance of Economic Agency and Economic Rights” in John Rawls: Debating the Major Questions (Oxford University Press). _______________________________________

President Ronald A. Crutcher publishes memoir

PRESIDENT RONALD A. CRUTCHER tells the story

of his life and leadership in higher education in a new memoir published in February. In I Had No Idea You Were Black: Navigating Race on the Road to Leadership, Crutcher discusses his early life, career path, and presidencies at Wheaton College and Richmond. For more information, visit clydehillpublishing.com/product/no-ideayou-were-black. _______________________________________

JULIE POLLOCK, associate professor of chem-

istry; Carol Parish, Floyd D. and Elisabeth S. Gottwald Professor of Chemistry and associate provost for academic integration; and undergraduate research students published “Identification of Phenazine-Based MEMO1 Small-Molecule Inhibitors: Virtual Screening, Fluorescence Polarization Validation, and Inhibition of Breast Cancer Migration” in ChemMedChem.

JENNY PRIBBLE, associate professor of political

science and global studies, and a co-author received the 2020 Best Article Prize from Regional and Federal Studies for “Rethinking measures of democracy and welfare state universalism: Lessons from subnational research.”

TERRY PRICE, Coston Family Chair in Leadership

and Ethics, published the chapter “Charismatic Leadership, Ethics, and Politics” in The Routledge International Handbook of Charisma (Routledge).

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NANCY PROPST, administrative coordinator in

interdisciplinary studies, earned the Professional Administrative Certification of Excellence from the American Society of Administrative Professionals. The title requires extensive knowledge in communications, project management, digital technology, and people management.

OMAR QUINTERO, associate professor of biology,

was selected the Keith R. Porter Fellow for 2020 by the advisory board of the Porter Endowment for Cell Biology. It’s the first time the Porter Fellow has been a faculty member at a primarily undergraduate institution.

PAUL SANDMAN, integrated

OMICRON DELTA KAPPA

pest management specialist, received University Facilities’ CHEERS (Co-workers Honoring Excellent Employees with Rewards) Award for December 2020.

Winners are selected from a pool of peer-submitted nominees.

BOB SPIRES, associate professor of graduate

Spring 2021

Epsilon Circle Inductees

These national leadership honor society inductions recognize individuals who have demonstrated exemplary character and leadership achievements in one of five phases of campus life: scholarship, athletics, service, communications, and arts.

PATRICK BENNER

Director of Residence Life and Housing Student Development

SHANNON SINCLAIR

Vice President and General Counsel President’s Office

education, and Monti Datta, associate professor of political science, hosted the webinar “Trust and Civic Engagement Matter: Connections to Human Trafficking in the United States” for the Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice.

LAUREN TILTON, assistant professor of digital

humanities, published “The Role of Metadata in American Studies” with a student and alumni in Polish Journal for American Studies.

DAVID WILKINS, E. Clai-

borne Robins Distinguished Professor in Leadership Studies, co-authored the chapter “Indigenous Peoples in the USA: At the Crossroads of Race and Sovereignty in Trump’s Divided States of America” in Legal Status of Indigenous Peoples in Russia and Foreign Countries (Prospekt from Moscow).

Wilkins published “Indigenizing the U.S. Constitution” in Starting Points.

CAROLINE WEIST, assistant professor of German

EUGENE WU

Associate Professor of Biology and Biochemistry School of Arts & Sciences

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studies, published “Castration and Critique: Resisting Rehabilitation in Ernst Toller’s ‘Hinkemann’” in Monatshefte and “‘I’ll wait’: Crip-Queer Temporality and Reproductive Futurism in Musical Adaptations of Dürrenmatt’s ‘The Visit’” in Theatre Survey.

The following includes employment status changes for full- and part-time faculty and staff from Nov. 1, 2020, to Jan. 31, 2021.

NEW HIRES FACULTY SCHOOL OF ARTS & SCIENCES BIOLOGY Colleen CarpenterSwanson Coston Family Fellow in Molecular Biology Jonathan Walter Postdoctoral Research Associate POLITICAL SCIENCE Ana Petrova Visiting Instructor of Political Science RHETORIC AND COMMUNICATION STUDIES Rudy Pett Visiting Instructor of Rhetoric and Communication Studies

ATHLETICS Abby Roberts Assistant Director, Parent Giving, Spider Club CJ Roth Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach BUSINESS AFFAIRS CAMPUS SERVICES Anissa Bland Café Associate, 8:15 at Boatwright Mario Brandon Cook II, Organic Krush Café Mack Collier Cook II, The Cellar Clifton Fairly Cook I, Organic Krush Café Jennifer Hallatt Cook II, Heilman Dining Center

ROBINS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Ali Barta Business Adjunct Faculty, Management

Katie Johnson Café Associate, Organic Krush Café

STAFF

Tiera Johnson Café Associate, Lou’s Café

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS SCHOOL OF ARTS & SCIENCES Valerie Galati Post Baccalaureate Research Assistant, Geography ROBINS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Mina Fuentes Assistant to the Dean and Faculty Support Specialist SCHOOL OF LAW Kathy Greenier Director, Career Development SCHOOL OF PROFESSIONAL AND CONTINUING STUDIES McKenna Brady Project Assistant, Partners in the Arts PROVOST Chaz Barracks Community Engagement Scholar in Residence, Center for Civic Engagement Tracee Haupt Digital Archive Coordinator, American Studies

Quinn Monette Café Associate, Organic Krush Café Madeline Nathe Registered Dietitian, Heilman Dining Center Courtenay Owens Line Service Associate, Heilman Dining Center

HUMAN RESOURCES Cindy Lloyd Temporary Human Resources Information Systems Analyst INFORMATION SERVICES Angelika Vugteveen Administrative Coordinator SPIDER MANAGEMENT Will McLean President and Chief Investment Officer, Spider Management Co. STUDENT DEVELOPMENT Laura Eastman Nurse Practitioner, Student Health Center Alicia Hudalla Facility Supervisor, University Recreation

MOVES FACULTY SCHOOL OF ARTS & SCIENCES CLASSICAL STUDIES Joseph Zehner Visiting Lecturer of Classical Studies ENGLISH Elisabeth Gruner Professor of English

SPIDER MANAGEMENT Rob Blandford Chief Executive Officer, Spider Management Co. STUDENT DEVELOPMENT Kaitlin Jones Health Promotion Assistant

RETIREMENTS 33 YEARS

LUCRETIA MCCULLEY Boatwright Memorial Library

28 YEARS

JIMMY KANDEH Arts & Sciences faculty (Political Science) CINDY LLOYD Human Resources

15 YEARS

KATHRYN HOSKINS Information Services

10 YEARS

DEBORAH SOMMERS Arts & Sciences faculty (Dean’s Office)

STAFF

Trent Patterson Café Lead, Organic Krush Café

BUSINESS AFFAIRS CAMPUS SERVICES Nathan Hucks Catering Cook II

Marie Chantal Phaka Café/Stores Associate, Passport Café

Michael LaRue Floater Manager, Heilman Dining Center

Paris Pilkerton Café Associate, Organic Krush Café

Jess Layton Cook I, Organic Krush Café

James Strayer Utility Associate, Heilman Dining Center

Matt Lee Café Manager, Organic Krush Café

FACILITIES Tyler Johnson Boiler Plant Operator – REACT

Gray Nance Café/Stores Associate, Organic Krush Café

Gabriel Kelly Custodial Floor Technician

FACILITIES Nyreng Dut Stores Clerk/Truck Driver, Support Services

PEOPLE

We offer a warm welcome to our new colleagues and congratulations to colleagues taking their next steps.

Sheldon Williams Cook II, Organic Krush Café

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410 Westhampton Way University of Richmond, VA 23173