‘Dance underneath the music’ and other lessons from guest artists
LATE WINTER SUNRISE
Westhampton Lake is gorgeous every time of year, but the particular character of its beauty changes with each hour of the day and season of the year. Here it is early one morning at the beginning of March.
See details on Page 6 for how you can get a print of this image as a keepsake at no cost to you.
Photograph by Gordon Schmidt
SPIDER CREATIVITY
The arts are everywhere at the University of Richmond — and for everyone.
This page, above: Three students in the Modlin Light Studio develop a lighting design. Right: Students rehearse in Camp Concert Hall for the annual Bollywood on the Block performance organized by the Bollywood Jhatkas, a student club.
Opposite page: Students try their hands at calligraphy and woodblock printmaking as part of a course on the art and culture of Japan taught by professor Najung Kim, an expert in premodern East Asian art.
EDITOR’S NOTE
Go, Spiders!
If you are a Spider sports fan — and who reading this magazine isn’t? — the spring sports season was very, very fun. We saw dominant performances we’ve come to expect from teams like men’s lacrosse and women’s golf. We also celebrated championships we didn’t see coming. I’m looking at you, men’s tennis, for knocking off an eight-time defending champion on your way to winning the A-10. Five Spider teams competed in NCAA tournaments this spring.
The fans were there for it, too. An electric crowd of 6,805 turned up to watch men’s lacrosse’s first-round NCAA game against Duke. That game brought cumulative season attendance to almost 29,000, second-best nationally for the sport. For good reason, head coach Dan Chemotti calls Robins Stadium “one of the best lacrosse venues in the country, without question.”
Across the way in the Robins Center, women’s basketball drew the program’s biggest crowd in 25 years when more than 5,200 came to watch the Spiders thump VCU 77-47. The program also hit a new high-water mark for season attendance, drawing about 27,500. Full disclosure: As a season ticket holder, I was part of that record-setting total and had a blast watching Maggie Doogan and Rachel Ullstrom in their senior season.
Yes, winning feels good. Faculty in the psychology department will tell us that it sends dopamine hits to our brains, triggering our reward systems. The sociologists will point us to a pragmatic social payoff: status and bragging rights. Our friends in the Well-Being Center will point to the physical benefits of the stress reduction that follows a big win. For those of us who support Spider athletics philanthropically, the effects are probably compounded.
For me, one of the biggest pleasures comes from the people around me. I mentioned those women’s basketball season tickets. For a couple of seasons now, my wife and I have been sitting with one of my UR colleagues at games, enjoying each other's company beyond work chat. During the most recent season, we got friendly with a couple that sits right in front of us. Whenever I go to a Spider game, no matter the sport, I run into professors and fellow staff there to cheer on the students they know from class or elsewhere.
The pleasure of Spider sports is about so much more than what happens in the competition. It’s about being thrilled, feeling a sense of belonging, and transcending the ordinary through shared experience. In a world full of screens and other isolating phenomena, the magic of a Spider win is refreshingly communal — a reminder that some of the most intense joys we feel are best when they’re shared.
—Matthew Dewald, Editor
Illustration by Gordon Schmidt
SUMMER 2026
Vol. 88, No. 3
President
Kevin F. Hallock
Vice president, university communications
Tom Addonizio
Director of editorial
Matthew Dewald, GC’22
Senior writer/editor
Rayne Miller
Associate vice president for creative and design services
Samantha Tannich
Director of design services
Katie McBride
Graphic designer/publications
Gordon Schmidt
Graphic designer
Ashley Gladner
Photographer Jamie Betts
Associate vice president for marketing and digital engagement
University of Richmond Magazine is produced by the Division of University Communications. The publication was launched in 1936 as The Alumni Bulletin and is currently published in print three times a year. Diverse views are presented and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or official policies of the university.
on the cover: Choreographer and dancer Lucy Lew, ’28. Photograph by Narratography.
FEATURES
18 More than a performance
Guest artists offer meaningful opportunities for students’ engagement with the arts, creativity, and possibility.
24
25 great Spider moments in the A-10
As we reach the 25th anniversary of Richmond’s full membership in the Atlantic 10, here’s a look at 25 top highlights over those years.
32 Home, in theory and practice
Ibrahim Alkaseer, ’26, is Richmond’s newest Rhodes Scholar. His academic interest in migration is deeply interwoven with his personal story.
6 INBOX Your thoughts Forum “This is our time.”
—Kevin F. Hallock
8 NEWS
A gift to the Chaplaincy, our meme culture, and more Expert
A UR journalism professor on the art of catching what others often miss
This/That
Duc (Ben) Nguyen, ’26, on the hot seat
Perspective
NFL star Kobie Turner, ’22, to 2026 grads: “You are enough.”
16 SPORTS Spider athletes in Chile
Portrait
Alisa Kresge, new head coach of women’s basketball
36 ALUMNI
Spending time with the 50th reunion class
Portrait Bill Ridenour, R’79, and Gray Bigler, ’08, want to know if you’ve played padel yet.
40 NOTES What’s new with you
Back Then Father-son mascot tradition
Postscript Scholarship recipients’ messages to donors
Grad Walk 2026
YOUR MAGAZINE, YOUR VOICE
Let us know what you think about what you read in this issue. Email your thoughts to magazine @richmond.edu or send us a letter (our postal address is on Page 5).
Please include your class year, city, state, and name you were known by as a student, if applicable. All letters to the editor may be edited for clarity and brevity and should not exceed 200 words. We also welcome your story tips at magazine @richmond.edu.
GOOD ADVICE
I really appreciated the article by senior Sophia Demerath (above) on the internship/ campaign work she did in Richmond during the summer of 2025 [“I knocked on hundreds of doors last summer. Here’s what I learned,” published on magazine.richmond. edu in January].
I recently moved to Tennessee from Pennsylvania and have gotten involved in a campaign here for someone who is running for Congress. It’s the first time I have done this type of volunteering since I was a student at UR. I liked what Sophia had to say about her door knocking experience, and her words gave me some good ideas, as I will probably be doing some door knocking myself this summer.
—Phyllis Williams, W’83 Columbia, Tennessee
SPIDER BONDS
STAY IN TOUCH AND SHARE YOUR PRIDE
Social media, hashtags, and sites:
• @urichmond
• #spiderpride
• #spiderspotting
• magazine. richmond.edu
• urnow.richmond. edu
I enjoyed reading Amelia Beard’s article about four-year roommates [“They Stuck Together,” Spring 2026]. My two college roommates and I roomed together all four years while at UR, and what’s even better is that we have remained close friends for these past 48 years. We don’t see each other often enough, but we try to get together at least a couple of times a year and frequently call or text each other. We’ve been with each other through happy times and sad ones and will always be “UR Besties.” Thank you, UR, for bringing us together!
—Tracy Zimmerman Gillespie, W’82 Lovettsville, Virginia
[Editor’s note: As noted in the spring issue, Beard’s story was reprinted from The Collegian. She will be a sophomore this year.]
SPIDER ENCOUNTER
I had the unexpected pleasure of discovering a fellow Spider across the negotiating table. I recently completed my service
as a member of the U.S. Department of Education’s Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization (AIM) negotiated rulemaking committee, a process that brought together experts representing students, institutions, accreditors, faculty, and workforce needs to reach consensus on landmark reforms to American higher education accreditation. Sitting at that table was Jake Lallo, L’19, an attorney at the Department of Education who played an integral role in the sessions.
More than two decades separate our time on campus, but watching Jake work was a reminder of exactly why a Richmond Law education is something worth being proud of. He consistently demonstrated an excellent command of complex regulatory detail, precision under pressure, and an ability to navigate genuinely difficult conversations every single day.
It is one thing to read about what our alumni are doing in the world. It is another thing entirely to see it up close in a room where it matters. Go Spiders!
—Siri Terjesen, ’97 Professor and associate dean, Florida Atlantic University College of Business Boca Raton, Florida
FINALS WEEK MEMORY
Followers on Facebook cheered a post during finals week in April highlighting Spiders wrapping up the semester.
Was just down at campus last month, and it’s never looked better. (Gosh, we were spoiled.) Best of luck to all the students for upcoming exams. Best and worst thing about second semester exams is how good the weather is. Nothing better than studying in front of the library or the area in front of the B-School.
—Steve Barczy, B’88 via Facebook
GORGEOUS IN SPRING, AND YEAR-ROUND
Also on Facebook, followers loved a March post highlighting tulips, cherry blossoms, and other spring blooms on campus.
The first time I visited UR was in the spring when all the trees and spring bulbs were blooming, and I instantly fell in love. Honestly that’s what clinched my decision to go there.
—Emily Marsch Dodd, ’14 via Facebook
Spring was so pretty, but it meant the end of a school year. Winter was beautiful with a certain stillness. Autumn was beautiful with all of the trees showing off their colors. Summer meant the beginning of another year. I guess that there’s really no time that I didn’t love UR!
—Leslie Shotwell, W’87 via Facebook
A GIFT FOR YOU
Like this photo? A print of it can be yours at no cost to you. Each issue, we identify a fresh photo to offer as a keepsake for University of Richmond Magazine readers.
If you would like a complimentary 8-by-10 print of this photo or another photo selected from recent issues of the magazine, scan the QR code or go to magazine. richmond.edu and complete the form. There are three images to choose among. Whichever you choose, we hope it finds a place of pride in your home, office, or elsewhere.
This is our time
The moment is right to double down on Richmond’s strengths and take our university to even greater heights.
Our university was founded nearly 200 years ago. Over the centuries, thanks to the success of our graduates, the work of our staff and faculty, the generosity of our donors, and a legacy of careful stewardship, we have achieved significant momentum.
Today, the University of Richmond is simply exceptional. We offer the personalized attention and tight-knit community of a liberal arts college and the breadth of resources of a university. Within each of our five schools and across our campus, students foster relationships with dedicated teachers and mentors.
Beyond the classroom, our faculty advance research; influence law, business, and public policy; and produce inspiring creative works, often in partnership with our students. In addition, our students take part in transformative learning experiences throughout our region, across the country, and around the world. Back when I was a student, I could
not have imagined the panoply of opportunities available to our students today.
We are now poised to accelerate the university’s remarkable progress. Together, we will launch a philanthropic campaign. With the support of our community, we can double down on Richmond’s strengths, reinforce the bonds that link Spiders everywhere, and take our university to even greater heights.
Making a Richmond education more affordable will be a key pillar of our campaign. It takes significant financial resources to do what we do. Every single student’s education is partially subsidized. We have need-blind admissions, meet the full demonstrated need for traditional, domestic undergraduate students, and provide funding so students can explore career pathways, conduct faculty-mentored research, and study abroad. Still, we aspire to do even better. We will be calling on Spiders who are able to invest further in financial aid so Richmond can become known everywhere as a relentlessly welcoming university where every talented student can imagine themselves thriving. Our campaign will have three additional
main pillars. We will raise funds to hire and hold on to leading scholars who love teaching; strategically expand faculty expertise; and bolster academic coaching, mentoring, and support. We will secure the resources to provide an unparalleled college athletic experience, compete at the highest level, and win. And we will invest even further in the overall student experience so that when students graduate from Richmond, they are ready for what comes next: ready to lead productive conversations in the office, in their communities, and at the dinner table; ready to leverage emerging technologies to navigate a rapidly evolving world; ready to succeed in their careers; and ready to lead flourishing lives.
Our university has come a long, long way, even in my lifetime. I was born in 1969, the same year the Robins family gave their original transformative gift! Together, we can accelerate our progress while building bridges across generations and bringing even more alumni together. Our campaign will be fun and joyous as people who love Richmond connect with one another and raise the resources to realize the University’s greatest ambitions. I’m excited. I hope you are too. This is our time.
AN INVITATION FROM PRESIDENT
We are bringing the energy of our campaign to alumni and friends across the country through a series of celebratory events honoring our community’s collective efforts and strengthening our connections to one another. We hope you will join in the celebration!
F. Hallock,
HALLOCK
ACCOLADES
$6 million gift will support Wilton Center
LEGACY OF SUPPORT
The Weinsteins previously donated $25 million to the University of Richmond to support the Weinstein Learning Center.
The family’s gifts have also supported global engagement, scholarships, faculty chairs, well-being, and the Chaplaincy, including Jewish Life and pilgrimage programs.
UR alums and longtime benefactors
Carole and Marcus Weinstein will donate $6 million to the University of Richmond to support the expansion of the Wilton Center.
Home to the Office of the Chaplaincy and partner campus ministries, the Wilton Center provides space and programming for students of all backgrounds and faith traditions. Students use various spaces in the center for prayer, fellowship, small group discussions, and meetings.
expansion of the Wilton Center and help create a welcoming environment where students from all backgrounds and faith traditions can gather, reflect, learn, and build community together.”
“We believe the Wilton Center plays an important role in fostering connection, understanding, and belonging on campus,” said Marcus Weinstein. “Our hope is that this expanded space will serve students for generations to come by encouraging meaningful conversations, shared experiences, and a stronger sense of community.”
“Throughout our years at Richmond, we’ve seen how meaningful spaces can bring people together in powerful ways,” said Carole Weinstein, . “We are excited to support the
Architectural planning for this expansion project will begin soon.
“Our Chaplaincy communities are growing and thriving, and this success has surpassed the capacity of our building,” said Craig Kocher, Jessie Ball duPont Chair of the Chaplaincy. “This generous gift from the Weinsteins will expand the Wilton Center and further allow the religious and spiritual communities at the university to continue to flourish and learn from each other.”
“Time and again, Carole and Marcus’ visionary leadership and profound generosity have enhanced the lives of our students and helped define the Richmond experience,” said University of Richmond President Kevin F. Hallock. “Their latest gift will further foster the religious and spiritual flourishing of our community.”
Science leaders
Three students — Anna Johnson, Nicholas Parlavecchio, and Eric Zhou — recently received Goldwater scholarships, one of the most sought-after undergraduate awards in science and math. Including these awards, UR has had 46 Goldwater Scholars since the program’s inception in 1986.
Best in business
For the fifth year in a row, UR’s Robins School of Business ranks among the top 20 undergraduate business schools according to Poets&Quants for Undergrads, an online publication for undergraduate business education news. This year, the school ranked 17th.
Globally minded
For the second year in a row, UR ranks in the top 10 among small schools on the Peace Corps’ 2026 Top VolunteerProducing Colleges and Universities list. UR ranked No. 10 this year.
According to Peace Corps data, 174 UR alumni have served abroad as volunteers since the Peace Corps was founded in 1961.
ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
Celebration of students
More than 400 students across 30 disciplines presented at the annual Arts & Sciences Student Symposium in April. They were supported by more than 160 faculty mentors.
Chemistry professor Emma Goldman helped create the event in 1985. “What has always mattered to me is giving students a venue to present their work beyond the lab or classroom,” she said.
Above, the Wilton Center; below, alumni and benefactors Carole and Marcus Weinstein
“I left with a real sense of
connection.”
MBA student JESSIE HARPER , on her experience at the MBA Alumni Entrepreneurship Panel. The event brings together alumni and current students to talk openly about careers, risk, and the realities of life after business school.
ACCESS & AFFORDABILITY
Gilman at Richmond
When Josie Mastandrea, ’26, stepped off the plane in Rome in the fall of 2024, she felt both excited and overwhelmed. Although she had never traveled abroad before, Mastandrea said leaning into that discomfort became one of the most meaningful experiences of her college career.
“Becoming comfortable with the discomfort of it all led to a beautiful period of growth and discovery for me,” she said.
Mastandrea was able to study abroad with support from the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program, a U.S. Department of State initiative that provides scholarships for American undergraduate students with high financial need to study or intern abroad for academic credit. The University of Richmond was recently named a Top Producer
of Gilman Scholars. The recognition came during the program’s 25th anniversary celebration.
“This award highlights that we are a national leader in supporting students to be competitive and successful applicants and recipients of major scholarships and fellowships,” said Dana Kuchem, director of the Office of Scholars and Fellowships.
Besides financial accessibility, a sense of expanded perspective and growth is a common theme among Richmond’s Gilman Scholars.
Nikoloz Gvelesiani, ’26, experienced it during his junior year when he studied in Budapest, Hungary.
“The memories I gained and the different perspectives I encountered were a great force that changed big parts of my life for the better,” he said.
BY THE NUMBERS
Since the program’s launch, 118 Richmond students have received Gilman scholarships to support international study. In May, eight students received Gilman scholarships to support study in Czechia, Ghana, Australia, South Korea, and elsewhere.
When media cover news, they come to Richmond for perspective and expertise.
LAUREN TILTON, director of UR’s Center for Liberal Arts and AI, described how UR is embeds AI into students’ learning experience. “We’re not just helping students learn to work with these technologies; we’re also making sure they develop [AI] literacy,” she said.
BEN PETTIS, a rhetoric and communication studies professor, weighed in on the social network Bluesky’s difficulty developing a business model consistent with its user-first philosophy. “You end up with a core contradiction when you make an online place that’s good for people but it’s not good for business,” he said.
In a report about wealth and taxes, leadership studies professor JESSICA FLANIGAN pointed to the benefits that come from market investments by the wealthy. “You really don’t want to mess with economic growth,” she said. “That money is already doing work for the public good.”
Unlike in moody video games like The Legend of Zelda, real storms “can’t last forever,” said STEPHANIE SPERA, a professor of geography, environment, and sustainability. The key is the constant motion of the Earth’s atmosphere, which both provides and withholds fuel. That’s why cyclones, for example, die over land. “There’s no energy source,” she said.
Psychology professor ADAM STANALAND explained factors behind why men and women often take up space differently. “Manspreading far exceeds anatomical demands,” he said. “More than a matter of comfort, it reveals an entitlement to physical space — whether conscious ... or not.”
For the latest stories, go to news.richmond. edu/placements.
Josie Mastandrea at the base of Mont Blanc in Chamonix, France
By
COMPASSIONATE REPORTING
Kavitha Cardoza received the 2026 American Mosaic Journalism Prize for her rigorous reporting on education, children, and poverty. One of two recipients, she received $100,000 from the HeisingSimons Foundation, a philanthropic nonprofit focused on education, clean energy, and science research. At UR, she teaches journalism classes.
LISTENING BETTER, HEARING MORE
The art of catching what others often miss
When journalism professor Kavitha Cardoza chose a beat early in her career, there was only one left in the newsroom — education. It was a lucky circumstance. She quickly learned how to add depth to her reporting by focusing on people and issues that were often overlooked.
Here, she shares tips for positioning yourself to spot what frequently goes unnoticed.
1. Ride with vulnerability.
Her first national NPR story brought her to an annual biker festival in Illinois. Up to that point, her only previous encounter with biker culture was reading Hunter S. Thompson’s Hell’s Angels
She was immediately hit with fear. It lasted only until a heavily tattooed biker walked up to her, told her he loved NPR, and said he listened all the time.
“I thought to myself, ‘I’ll never do that again. I’ll never stereotype. I’ll never not go up to people because I’m scared of who they might be,’” she said. “I have to give everyone a chance.”
2. Recognize that everyone has challenges. When the 2007 recession hit, Cardoza talked to older community members who lived through the Great Depression. She wanted to hear their stories — how their parents sewed clothes from flour sacks, how they ate the same food for months because it was all they had. She’s also interviewed children who lost a veteran parent after they returned from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
When Cardoza was a teenager, someone said to her: “Everyone is carrying a cross. Many times you don’t see it, but just because you don’t see it, it doesn’t mean it’s not there.”
Cardoza hunts for those crosses.
3. Hold on to others.
As part of an audio project in college, Cardoza rode along with a worker as he cleaned up highway roadkill. When they got out of his truck, the outing was riskier than she thought: They had to run across a four-lane highway. Intuitively, they held hands and ran across the road together.
She’s carried that moment with her for
“I want them to feel their voice is important and that someone is listening.”
more than two decades. “There are so many things that could hit or harm you, and the secret to getting through is to just hold on to each other,” she said. “We have so much in common because we’re human.”
4. Amplify others’ voices.
As an immigrant from India, Cardoza often felt like an outsider. Her identity could have been seen as a disadvantage — a journalist who doesn’t know the community. She wanted to challenge that perception.
“I feel, especially as an immigrant, it is such a gift to be able to be a journalist because I’ve learned so much more about
the culture and about people,” she said.
“You can ask nosy questions!”
In her work, she seeks to amplify the voices of others who feel out of place.
“I want them to feel their voice is important and that someone is listening,” she said. “To me, that’s one of the most beautiful things about the American dream.”
5. Seek joy.
Just because people have difficult lives, it doesn’t mean that their lives are devoid of happiness. “I try to look for moments of joy because that shows me how resilient people are,” she said.
Photograph by Gordon Schmidt
AROUND CAMPUS
“Making community was a big part of my job.”
DANIEL POLONIA, ’26 , who was head resident in Gray Court for three years. He is one of five Jepson Scholars with donor-supported full funding to pursue a master’s degree at the University of Oxford this fall.
Pressure cooker
“Is this the diet section?” joked one lunch patron, glancing at special Chef’s Table offerings in Heilman Dining Center in the spring.
From his station in the center, UR football player Brian “Big Cat” Catanzarite, ’25 and GB’26, worked the line, plating his signature “Cutlets à la Big Cat” with a pair of tongs. Other dishes included rigatoni in creamy vodka sauce, Italian sausage sandwiches, and ricotta cheesecake, popular dishes in his home state, New Jersey.
“I come from an Italian family, so everyone loves to cook,” he said.
His passion caught the attention of dining services, especially after they learned that he was considering opening his own tailgating business after graduation. Catanzarite teamed
up with Cellar chefs Corry Comstock and Mike Scampoli and stores and requisitions manager Mike Onorato to create the menu.
While Catanzarite had experience catering for groups of 10 to 20, getting 600 chicken cutlets ready for the university’s lunchtime crowd was a big step up. But Catanzarite looked calm at his D-Hall post. He explained that he thrives in high-pressure situations and compared cooking to playing football.
“It’s like a sport,” he said. “Something I really enjoy is the rush it gives me. Especially when you are cooking for a big group of people, there is a lot of pressure to make sure everything turns out correctly. ... Once everything goes well, to me there is no better reward.”
HUNGRY FOR MORE?
Catanzarite shares pasta, sandwiches, and game-day spreads on his Instagram and TikTok accounts, @endzoneeatz.
Two new deans
This spring, the university announced new deans for two of the university’s five schools. Both begin this summer.
Jacob Rooksby, an experienced administrator, scholar, and attorney, leads the law school. He comes to UR from Gonzaga University’s law school, where he served as dean. He succeeds Wendy Perdue, who served as dean for 15 years.
Stacie Petter, an expert in how individuals and organizations use and manage technology, leads the Robins School of Business. She comes to UR from Wake Forest University’s business school, where she was acting dean. She succeeds Miguel “Mickey” Quiñones, who served as dean for seven years.
Both Perdue and Quiñones remain part of their schools’ faculty and will return to teaching after sabbaticals.
Our genetic past
Thousands of years before written history, humans were on the move — migrating across continents, forming communities, and interacting in ways that shaped humanity’s genetic story. Now, thanks to a new interactive tool developed at UR, anyone can explore that story online.
The interface, called the AADR Visualizer, transforms one of the world’s largest ancient DNA datasets into a free, interactive public resource. Developed by biology professor Melinda Yang and geography professor Stephanie Spera, the tool maps more than 17,000 individuals from the Allen Ancient DNA Resource, a widely used public database of ancient human genomes.
“Ancient DNA research has exploded,” Yang said. “But the data can be difficult to navigate without technical training. Our goal was to make this incredibly rich resource visually accessible and intuitive, not just for specialists, but for students, educators, and curious learners everywhere.”
Football player and graduate business student Brian Catanzarite, left, serves up deliciousness.
AROUND CAMPUS
Kudos, Spider grads
During 2026 commencement exercises, the university awarded 861 bachelor’s degrees from the School of Arts & Sciences, the Robins School of Business, and the Jepson School of Leadership Studies. Seventy-three percent of the Class of 2026 studied abroad with university support, and 85% participated in at least one internship or summer research experience.
From Nashville to Singapore and Chicago to Madrid, graduates headed to jobs and graduate schools around the world. The Class of 2026 secured opportunities at highly coveted companies and organizations, including Barclays, Deloitte, Goldman Sachs, Google, McKinsey & Co., and Teach for America. Others are continuing their education at premier graduate institutions, including Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Oxford, University of Pennsylvania, University of Chicago, University of Virginia, and Yale.
Over the same weekend, the university awarded an additional 11 bachelor’s degrees and 53 master’s degrees through the School of Professional & Continuing Studies and 136 Juris Doctor degrees from the School of Law.
In remembrance
Many 2026 graduates pinned orange ribbons to their graduation gowns in memory of Christopher Elvin Jr., who passed away unexpectedly in March 2024 during his sophomore year. He had declared as a business administration major and was active with the Ultimate Frisbee club and West Indian Lynk.
An endowed scholarship honoring his memory has received support from more than 200 donors. It was first awarded during the 2025–26 academic year.
SPORT CLUBS
CULTURE
‘DIALED IN, FOCUSED’ Men’s rugby finished in third place nationally in the Division III Collegiate Rugby Championship National 7s. Going into the tournament, the Spiders held the No. 1 seed. The players erupted in cheers at the historic seeding announcement as they watched the selection show in the Cellar in Tyler Haynes Commons.
For better and worse, a cultural joke can redefine how the real person at its center is seen.
Our memes, ourselves
READ IT FOR YOURSELF
Pettis’ essay was first published by The Conversation and reprinted by 39 media outlets.
In the early 20th century, Irish poet William Butler Yeats asked, “How can we know the dancer from the dance?” Today, Richmond professor Ben Pettis is asking its 21st-century equivalent: How can we know the person from the meme?
Pettis, a professor of rhetoric and communication studies, asked the question in a piece published shortly after the death of actor Chuck Norris. Well-worn Norris-based memes riffing on toughness resurged so much after his passing that “they almost overshadowed remembrances of the movie star’s life,” he writes.
For Pettis, the Norris example raises broader questions about how memes can subsume people’s images and real identities. Some of his other examples focus on other famous people, such as a photo of a sad-looking Keanu Reeves inserted into ridiculous scenarios or variants of Miley
Cyrus’ wrecking ball imagery. Pettis says endless riffing by regular people signals a control shift.
“No matter how much a studio tries to manage a star’s image,” he writes, “a meme can be created that takes on a life of its own.”
Celebrities aren’t the only ones coping with memes that reduce their complexities as human beings to a running joke. “Regular people decide what a meme is,” he writes, and sometimes the burdens of meme fame fall on other regular people.
Last year, People magazine interviewed a woman named Laina Morris, who has tried to move on from becoming a hit meme in 2012, the “Overly Attached Girlfriend.” She’s still constantly recognized from it.
Experiences like hers, Pettis writes, show “just how difficult — or even impossible — it is to sever oneself from internet fame.”
Illustration by Richie Pope
Decision web
Duc (Ben) Nguyen, ’26, was the student speaker at this year’s undergraduate commencement ceremony. During his speech, he reflected on “openness to uncertainty. To change. To the kind of possibilities that lead us somewhere we never expected. If Richmond has given us anything, it is the ability to recognize those side doors and the courage to walk through them.”
Nguyen majored in business administration and mathematical economics, and he’s an accomplished piano player, too. This summer, he joined UR’s student development office as the 2026–27 Spider Fellow. Here are some of his everyday preferences.
FALL SEMESTER SPRING SEMESTER
COFFEE TEA
PERFORMANCE PRACTICE
GROUP WORK INDEPENDENT WORK
HANDWRITE TYPE
MORNING PERSON NIGHT OWL
PLAN IT WING IT
SPIDER RED SPIDER BLUE
PIANO CONCERTO STOCK PITCH
APPOINTMENT DROP-IN
ANALYSIS RESEARCH
D-HALL PANINI STATION D-HALL DESSERT BAR
It’s great to see the progress from the beginning till the end.
At 2 or 3 a.m. on the trading floor in the B-school with my friends, we talk about really intimate stuff. It’s really cool because we get to keep those memories.
Blue gives me the idea that every now and then you can sit down in this chaotic world and think about what’s going on and your reflections.
The only spot I go to every time
‘You are enough’
NFL star Kobie Turner, ’22, returned to campus in May to give the commencement address for 2026 graduates. One of his goals was to “inspire the next generation” of Spiders, he said. Here are some of his remarks:
As a student, Turner studied mathematics and music. He is also a talented vocalist who appeared on The Masked Singer. You can watch his full remarks at magazine. richmond.edu.
Who you have in your corner matters. You are the company you keep, so surround yourselves with people who challenge you to be the best version of yourself, in all areas of your life. Surround yourselves with people who truly care about you and want to see you accomplish your goals. Surround yourselves with people who’ve earned your trust and respect. We are not meant to do life alone, but choose your company wisely.
The teammates in my position group with the Rams are a tight-knit group. We know each other’s stories — how we overcame adversity. Through our shared mindsets and hard work, we’ve gained each other’s trust and respect.
One of our most important jobs on game day is sacking the quarterback on third down to prevent the opposing team from scoring points or continuing their possession. When that moment shows up, in our huddle we’ll say to each other, “Meet me
there or beat me there.” In our minds, there are only two options: We get there together, or somebody leads the way. Either way, everyone is elevated. One person’s success is everyone’s success.
As you bring people into your inner circle, consider whether you want them with you when adversity hits. When you’re in the trenches, who among you is trustworthy and reliable? Who can steady you through the ups and downs? Who will celebrate you and help you to celebrate yourself in the way that you deserve to be celebrated?
To attract the type of inner circle that elevates you, you must be someone who empowers others and inspires positive change. You must be someone that people want in their corner when adversity hits, someone who will stay steady and celebrate others the way they deserve.
As you push forward toward your goals with your inner circle, be receptive to things
said and unsaid, and take every opportunity you can to learn something new. ...
Lastly, always remember that you are enough. There is only one you in this world. And the world needs you as you already are. Your occupation doesn’t define you. You are so much more than that. When you enter the workforce, stay rooted in the fact that you are more than what your title says.
When you stay true to who you are, opportunities surface that you never knew were possible.
There will be people who try to fit you into a box or try to discourage you from reaching heights that they themselves were too scared to reach. Authenticity is becoming scarce in this world. We live in a day and age where everybody is comparing themselves to each other and trying to be someone they’re not. It’s easy to fit the mold. It’s more comfortable. But it’s so freeing to be authentically and unapologetically yourself. The ones who stay themselves are the ones that stand out — the separators, the leaders, the ones that pave their own paths.
by Jamie Betts
Photograph
AROUND CAMPUS
JEPSON SCHOOL The Jepson School of Leadership Studies hit a milestone this spring: its first legacy graduate. Sydney Hass, ’26, received her diploma 28 years to the day after her father, the Rev. Kevin Hass, ’98, walked in commencement as a member of the school’s fifth graduating class.
Radio, rediscovered
When Avery Piantedosi, ’26, started her radio show in fall 2023, she was one of only 17 student DJs on the air at WDCE-FM (90.1). In the spring, more than 90 students and 17 community members hosted shows on UR’s campus radio station.
“We are incredibly proud and have worked so hard to grow the station,” said Piantedosi, then the station’s co-general manager alongside Livi Palalay, ’26. Programs aired daily from 7 a.m. until midnight or 1 a.m.
In 1961, the station’s original student DJs were spinning vinyl records. Today, most play music via stream. One exception was senior Brigid Flanagan. In the spring, she hosted an all-CD show, drawing from a personal collection built through secondhand finds and her parents’ hand-medowns. “Owning physical versions of
the books and albums I love makes my fondness for them more concrete,” said Flanagan, an English major.
On her show, Flux and Flow, she played Magdalena Bay, The Last Dinner Party, and ’90s artists like the Indigo Girls and Liz Phair, influences on many of today’s musicians.
“Radio is a time for me to forget about schoolwork for an hour and focus just on music,” said Flanagan, who created her shows in real time once she was in the booth.
On one of her last shows before graduation, she played a request from her mother (“Hey Jack Kerouac” by 10,000 Maniacs), mixed in disco from Donna Summer, and closed out the show with one of her favorites, “Only Happy When It Rains” by Garbage.
“I wanted to share a bit of myself,” she told listeners.
TUNE IN
“The first time I was on air, it felt liberating,” promotions manager Sarah Wirth, ’26, said. “It is such a unique experience to share an hour or few with the world.”
Hear for yourself what she’s talking about via WDCE’s livestream, available at wdce.net.
Student builds tribal constitutions database
Native American tribal nations have adopted more than 500 constitutions. There is much to learn from comparative analyses of them, says David Wilkins, E. Claiborne Robins Distinguished Professor in Leadership Studies, but such analysis is made harder because they were never collected into a single, searchable database. Until now.
Under Wilkins’ guidance, Jack Sheldon, ’28, created what is believed to be the most comprehensive database of them. It includes constitutions from 437 of the 575 federally recognized Native tribal nations. (Some do not have a constitution; others decline to share theirs.)
This summer, Sheldon — a double major in leadership studies and philosophy, politics, economics, and law (PPEL) — is using donor-supported Richmond Guarantee funding to conduct research on the Cornish, a Celtic ethnic minority group that seeks recognition as a distinct nation with its own parliament within the United Kingdom.
“I’m really interested in ethnic groups and their efforts to gain sovereignty throughout history,” Sheldon said. “I’ve definitely been inspired by learning from Dr. Wilkins and working with him one-on-one, and I’m excited to continue down this path.”
Farewell, friend
As this issue went to press, UR Now reported the passing of Westhampton Lake’s most iconic year-round resident, Triceragoose.
“In life, Triceragoose was a symbol of the university’s unique character — a creature both ordinary and extraordinary, familiar yet mythic,” wrote Cynthia Price, associate vice president for university communications. “In her passing, she leaves behind a legacy that will endure.”
Members of WDCE’s executive board in spring 2026. Co-general managers Livi Palalay and Avery Piantedosi are in the front row. Sarah Wirth is on the left in the back row.
SPIDER DEVELOPMENT
The trip was organized as part of the university’s Encompass program, which provides access to international experience for students who are statistically least likely to study abroad, such as student-athletes.
“Couldn’t
ask for a better final year.”
Senior men’s tennis player DAVIS WILEY , reacting to his team’s selection to the 2026 NCAA tournament — the program’s first appearance since 2006
Spiders in Chile
Eight student-athletes spent more than a week in Chile in May with a professor and an athletics staff member. The theme of the trip was sports, social justice, and human rights.
They began in Santiago, the country’s capital. One stop there was the national stadium, part of which is preserved to commemorate victims who suffered during its use as a detention center after a 1973 coup d’etat. Another notable moment was a cable car ride that took them to panoramic views of the city and the Andes Mountains. The ride was “a slightly scary experience for those of us frightened by heights,” wrote cross country runner Jason Raffel, ’29. In Valparaíso, they visited the home of Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet and diplomat Pablo Neruda. “He clearly valued the simple
pleasures: good company, detailed drinkware, and just beautiful items throughout his house,” wrote soccer player Veronica Rrapi, ’28.
On the fifth day, they visited with an Indigenous community that is part of the Mapuche tribe. There, they played a game called palin, which is similar to field hockey. “A couple of us fully immersed into their culture by playing barefoot in the pouring rain,” wrote football player Matthew Martin, ’29.
In the city of Temuco, they got an in-depth look at the local sports culture with a visit to a professional soccer club. The club runs more than 220 sports programs, all of which are free to players. “It was very clear how passionate the city is [about] staying active,” wrote basketball player Ava Persichetti, ’29.
Historic season
Backed by one of the best home atmospheres in the nation, Spider men’s lacrosse climbed as high as No. 1 in the national polls while playing in front of a record cumulative attendance of 28,740 at Robins Stadium, second-highest nationally.
The program reached another milestone during its NCAA match against Duke when 6,805 fans packed Robins Stadium to set a new attendance record. It was also the highest-attended NCAA first-round tournament game in history.
“Seeing 6,800 people in the stands was special,” said head coach Dan Chemotti. “I give credit to the guys, I give credit to our fans, and I give credit to the department for making this an awesome place to play lacrosse.”
Championship spring
Spider teams captured six conference championships in the space of a month during the spring. Men’s and women’s lacrosse won their regular season titles after going undefeated in conference play. Women’s golf took its second consecutive A-10 championship, and men’s golf earned its first since 2017. On the courts, men’s tennis upset eight-time defending champions VCU in the semifinal on their way to the team’s first conference title in 20 years. Men’s lacrosse rounded out the month of trophies as the A-10 tournament champion.
Spider gold
Senior Molly Wise won her third straight A-10 long jump title during the 2026 Atlantic 10 Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Spider seniors Caroline Donohoe (800m), and Brooke Reif (1,500m) also finished atop the podium with gold medals.
Day 1 in Santiago, Chile
Photography courtesy Richmond Athletics
THE KRESGE ERA BEGINS
In April, the university introduced Alisa Kresge as the 18th head coach of Spider women’s basketball. In eight years as head coach at Vermont, she led her team to five consecutive 20-win seasons and three NCAA appearances.
In 2007, on the eve of the biggest game of her college career, 21-year-old senior guard Alisa Kresge exuded confidence. Her team, Marist, was the first from her conference — men’s or women’s — ever to advance to the Sweet 16 after knocking off four-seed Ohio State and five-seed Middle Tennessee. Kresge was a star of the squad, a threetime conference defensive player of the year who didn’t back down against anyone.
Now they were looking at No. 1 seed Tennessee, a six-time champion coached by the legendary Pat Summitt, still in her prime atop the nation’s most successful program. Kresge wasn’t intimidated.
“You need to forget the name on the jersey,” Marist’s student newspaper quoted her saying before the game. “You just go out and know what they do best and play like you’re playing any other team.”
She brings that we-can-beat-anyone mentality to Richmond, sprinkled with a heavy dash of know-what-they-want-to-do. In her experience and DNA, it starts with defense that gets opponents out of their comfort zones, forces bad shots, and creates relentless discomfort.
“When you’re in somebody’s head,” she says, “it usually changes the game.”
In eight seasons as head coach at the University of Vermont, her approach led to conference dominance. Under her leadership, the Catamounts won three America East conference tournaments and two America East regular season championships. Last season, the team finished 27-8, and Kresge won her second America East Coach of the Year award.
That championship mindset is something she knows is core to Richmond and a big part of the draw to come here. It was at the heart of her conversations as she met current players, solidified commitments from recruits, brought players in through the transfer portal, assembled her new coaching staff, and met supporters and fans.
“We’re in a situation where there’s an
amazing culture and program [at Richmond],” she says. “For the players to be eager to meet the new staff and welcome us and know that we’re all here to do the same thing — they’ve been great. I’ve really been impressed with who they are as people and their work ethic. I’m just really grateful for everybody and every interaction I’ve had and for our opportunity to be part of the Spider family.”
She’s looking forward to another branch of that family, Spider fans, being “excited to grow with our team again because we are going to be relatively young. I think that’s
going to be really exciting. They’re going to get to grow with some of these young ones and help them stay here and be part of their whole journey in this landscape.”
“We want that to still be our niche at Richmond — that players stay for four years, get an education, have an amazing experience, and look back and think, ‘It was even more than I ever thought it could be.’”
Keep up with women’s basketball and every Spider sport at richmondspiders.com.
THE ALLY ADVANTAGE
Guard
Ally Sweeney enters her senior year with the distinction of being the only Spider to play in the NCAA tournament in every one of her seasons so far. The returning All-Conference guard enters 2026–27 as Richmond’s leading returning scorer and one of the Atlantic 10’s most experienced point guards.
“She’s a leader and a winner, and I don’t use those words lightly,” Kresge said. “She’s somebody we’re going to lean on heavily to help us bridge this transition. Everyone loves her, and she knows how to win.”
ALISA KRESGE By Matthew Dewald
BY MATTHEW DEWALD
More Than a Performance
WHEN GUEST
ARTISTS
STAY FOR MORE THAN A PERFORMANCE, THEY BECOME A MEANINGFUL OPPORTUNITY FOR STUDENTS’ ENGAGEMENT WITH THE ARTS, CREATIVITY, AND POSSIBILITY.
n 2023, on a visit to perform at UR’s Modlin Center for the Arts, country music star Rosanne Cash participated in a public panel discussion the night before. Popping by out of curiosity was first-year student Paxton Mills. A future biochemistry and molecular biology major with no musical training, she was learning that Richmond’s stages are places where every student can end up in conversation with someone legendary. From the stage, Cash told a story about learning guitar at 18 while messing around in dressing rooms and on tour buses between cities, picking it up the way you pick up anything you give a go — by trying, failing, and trying again.
For Mills, something in it felt like permission. “I thought, ‘That’s not very different from me,’” she recalls. “‘There’s no reason I can’t do that too.’”
Within weeks, she looked up what UR’s music department offered and found a series of guitar classes that progress into private lessons and ensemble performances. When she emailed guitar instructor Kevin Harding to express interest, she let him know she was a true beginner. He wrote back: “Join us.”
What followed wasn’t a detour from her scientific self, but a valuable supplement to it. “It’s exercising new neural networks and pathways that I probably have not utilized to their full extent previously,” she says. “It’s not just another half-unit on the course load schedule. It really is more meaningful.” Months after taking up the instrument, she played her first song publicly — a fingerpicked Carter Family tune — at an on-campus showcase.
With UR’s approach to the arts, this kind of transformation isn’t a happy accident. It’s fundamental to the design.
The arc, not the event
Artistic innovators and legends from across genres regularly perform in Camp Concert Hall and the Alice Jepson Theatre. Many of the university’s highest-profile visitors, like Cash, come to the university through the presenting program at the Modlin Center. Increasingly, they commit to residencies during which they spend extended time with students and the campus community. Other artists regularly come to campus by invitation of individual faculty and curricular and cocurricular programs.
Paul Brohan, the Modlin Center’s executive director, has a phrase he returns to when explaining the presenting program’s ambition. A residency, he says, is “an arc of a relationship and an impact” — not a transaction, not a name on a marquee
Previous spread:
A scene from “Between Worlds,” performed by University Dancers and choreographed by visiting artist Nicolo Fonte. This spread: above left, choreographer Ephrat Asherie (in blue jacket) working with dancers during a residency. Above right and opposite page: Marc Bamuthi Joseph on campus during his threeyear residency.
to move tickets. Since his arrival on campus five years ago, he’s built a presenting program that augments the university’s liberal arts mission.
“I see a professional presenting program on a university campus as needing to reflect the ideals of that university,” he says, “and to find ways that the artists who visit us are making true contributions and connections with our campus, our students, our faculty, our staff, our community.”
That means supporting more concentrated time — weeklong residencies, classroom visits, shared meals, and when everything aligns, multiyear projects. Decision-making about the presenting series, Brohan notes, “is not dependent upon how many tickets we sell. It’s about quality and depth of impact.”
The longest engagements offer extraordinarily rich opportunities. The poet and performer Marc Bamuthi Joseph has been working with the campus on a threeyear, Modlin-commissioned project threaded through law classes, language departments, community dinners, and conversations on walks around Westhampton Lake and along the James River. From those rela-
tionships emerged an 11-page poem, then a seven-page libretto, then a commissioned symphonic work with the Richmond Symphony set for its world premiere in Camp Concert Hall April 9–10, 2027. Symphonies in several American cities have already expressed interest in bringing the piece, called Remembering Empathy, to their communities.
That kind of outcome requires institutional scaffolding: funding that allows long stays, production staff willing to try things, and faculty who treat visiting artists as curricular partners. When those elements converge, a residency becomes a learning engine.
What happens in the studio
For students, residencies tend to do three things that amplify regular coursework: accelerate technical risk-taking, raise the bar of ambition, and crack open new creative identities. The mechanisms look different for arts majors versus novices like Mills, but the underlying dynamic is the same — a close encounter with a working artist that changes what a student sees as possible.
In autumn 2025, Lucy Lew, ’28, a dance and elementary education major, listened as guest choreographer Ephrat Asherie offered rhythmic instruction that Lew had never heard. Asherie told the dancers to “dance on the end of the quarter note.” For Lew, the instruction seemed “so specific and weird” at first, she says. “How are you supposed to hit that? But picturing in your mind, the imagery makes so much sense.”
Lew applied similar language when she led fellow dancers through her own choreographed piece. “I would
A RESIDENCY IS ‘AN ARC OF A RELATIONSHIP AND AN IMPACT’ — NOT A TRANSACTION, NOT A NAME ON A MARQUEE TO MOVE TICKETS.
tell my dancers to dance underneath the music — which is another kind of, ‘How in the world do you accomplish that?’ But Asherie opened my eyes to the fact that musicality isn’t just one-dimensional.”
In the same dance studios, Annie Hamilton, ’26, was having similar encounters and, by senior year, was company captain of University Dancers. One of the residencies she remembers most vividly came earlier this year when guest choreographer Trey McIntyre pushed her entirely out of the ballet vocabulary she’d grown up with and into an unfamiliar movement style. McIntyre had a particular instruction: sustained eye contact at almost all times. It was a single direction, but it transformed Hamilton’s understanding of the piece — and it didn’t stay in that piece. After the residency, rehearsal directors repeated the instruction in other contexts.
In the experiences of both Lew and Hamilton, the guest left, but the lessons remained.
Anne Van Gelder, a theater and dance faculty member and the artistic director of University Dancers, recognizes that dynamic at work over time. “When we are all in the studio, moving together, those are truly special moments. The energy is palpable as students enter the space. Midway through the residency week, the students and guest artist have developed a sense of trust and rhythm with one another, which creates an environment that is both focused and collaborative. Rehearsals seem to fly by, yet an extraordinary amount is accomplished.”
Guest artists, she’s careful to add, don’t replace what faculty do. “Our department’s faculty are exceptional creators, mentors, and educators, and students benefit from their sustained guidance over time,” she says. “Guest artists offer a different kind of learning through intensive, short-term residencies. In these condensed periods, students must quickly adapt to new styles, communication methods, and movement vocabularies.”
The music department also regularly sees the impact of guest artists. Professor Mike Davison, director of UR’s Jazz Ensemble, jokes about their effect through what he calls “the 50-mile syndrome.” Students, he says, are sometimes more apt to absorb the same lessons he gives when they are delivered by someone from off campus.
“I can tell students about a technique — say, about air,” or how to breathe while playing. “A guest artist comes in
and tells them the same thing, and they believe it and come tell me about it.” Students, he says, see “not only is this a great player, but look at how fast they learn, and look what they bring to the table. They think to themselves, ‘Well, maybe I can do that.’”
Lucas Watts, ’29, who plans to pursue a music minor alongside philosophy and leadership studies majors, felt that pull firsthand. When pianist Arturo O’Farrill arrived for a visit, Watts ceded the piano bench and watched the Grammy-winning artist play from just feet behind him. Later, O’Farrill sat in during a jazz ensemble performance. “It’s incredible to be sitting so close to such an amazing pianist,” Watts says. “I’ve been playing these songs all semester with the band, but we’re improvising. Hearing the creative ideas that he comes up with is really fun.”
Jonathan Spivey, a 2006 alumnus who returned as a guest performer, found something that Watts may discover years from now — a circularity. In spring 2025, he returned to campus for a production of the Broadway hit Urinetown. It gave him the opportunity to work once again with Dorothy Holland, a theater professor who had directed him as a student nearly 20 years earlier. He also shared the stage with Catherine Shaffner, who had appeared as a guest artist during his student days.
“Working with both Cathy and Dorothy felt so full circle,” he says. “They’re a big reason why I wanted to come back.” He was also conscious of what he was modeling for today’s students. “It makes [an arts career] more real and attainable because you
“ I THINK YOUR ART THRIVES WHEN YOU CARE ABOUT HISTORY, SOCIOLOGY, AND ANTHROPOLOGY.”
Above: First-year student Lucas Watts, left, a piano player in UR’s Jazz Ensemble, looks on as Grammy-winning artist Arturo
O’Farrill sits in during rehearsal.
O’Farrill played several songs with the ensemble during its November 2025 performance.
see people who are actually making it work,” he says. He tried to demonstrate that from the first rehearsal — punctuality, focus, how to receive a note — because he knew students were watching. “You have a huge responsibility to set an example of behavior in a rehearsal room. That’s a big part of it, and also work ethic.”
Beyond the arts
Disciplinary breadth feeds professional artists and students in the arts alike, and residencies allow its benefits to emerge.
O’Farrill makes that case directly. He tells students that if they want to be great jazz musicians, they should learn to cook, read philosophy, study science, and be good conversationalists. “Musicians should be human beings,” he says. “I think your art thrives when you care about history, sociology, and anthropology.”
At Richmond, he explored that
instinct beyond the music programs. During one recent visit, the Modlin Center and the chaplaincy hosted him for dinner with a cross-section of the campus — law students, faculty, alumni, and others. The group talked about why they do whatever it is they do. “I found that the process, which could have been so uptight and artificial, was really very healing to me,” he said. “It fed me. I expected to go and have to serve, but found that I was served.”
That cross-disciplinary richness can come as a surprise to guest artists more accustomed to visiting specialized conservatories. At Richmond, they repeatedly encounter a mix of majors in the room. Lew knows the moment well. “They are always shocked when they ask, ‘So what are your majors?’” she says. “They’re expecting everyone to say ‘dance, dance, dance,’ and it’s always, ‘I’m bio,’ ‘I’m business.’ And there’s not a single person in that circle with one major. It’s so funny to see them understand that.” Asherie is one of the artists who embraces the mix. “I love that the students are dancers and this [other thing],” she says. “They’re dancers and biologists or dancers and mathematicians or writers. They’re really interesting young people.”
Like other faculty, Patricia Herrera, a theater professor who coordinates classroom visits around performances, makes preparation central to her pedagogy. Before an artist arrives, students read about the work and the artist’s context; after the performance, they reflect on what they’ve seen and learned. “When you experience them and their art, it goes beyond what you read,” she says. She remembers a session with Las Cafeteras, a band from East Los Angeles, that became something unexpected. The artists asked the students, “If you were president, what would you do?” The room went quiet.
“I just remember the moment of silence as they’re thinking about it because I don’t think they’ve ever been asked that question,” Herrera says. “It was a very empowering moment.”
These encounters happen outside classrooms, too. Bamuthi frames his extended Richmond engagement around exactly that — meals, walks, mornings on the James River bridge, a workout with a field hockey coach who will be in the audience for his 2027 premiere.
Because of this three-year time frame, “there’s a community that I’ve been able to casually grow over time,” he says. “I’m able to reference things in a nonacademic way that are germane to the experiences of people who live here.”
Campus keeps finding new nooks to explore. Brohan points to the week the Martha Graham Dance Company was in residence. As part of it, artistic director Janet Eilber co-led a session of a robotics class taught by Patrick Martin, a computer science professor who experiments with choreography and machines. “You would never think the Martha Graham Dance Company would be in a robotics class,” Brohan says, “but it’s the curiosity of our faculty and the openness of artists that lead to these kinds of opportunities.”
Asherie and O’Farrill also exemplify another type of opportunity: collaboration. In addition to their respective residencies with the dance and music departments,
the pair worked together on a Modlin-commissioned piece combining her choreography and his music. Called Shadow Cities, it was performed on campus by Asherie’s dance company and O’Farrill’s Afro-Latin jazz band.
The impact is lasting
Herrera has a story that illustrates what she means when she talks about what guest artists leave behind. A few years ago, the power went out in the middle of a performance by solo Cherokee performer DeLanna Studi. Students who had met her during a class visit watched her on stage as she kept going anyway. “The students were riveted by the fact that she was able to continue telling her story without any of the production elements — and it was as impactful,” Herrera said. The lesson: The story is the foundation. Everything else was there to support it.
“There’s a lot of intentionality in bringing artists in, and sometimes we don’t know what that intentionality is,” Herrera says. “What I tell students is to bear witness to the gift the artist is offering you with a sense of curiosity. There’s a story to be told in the arc of a syllabus or a season at the Modlin Center.”
Brohan, for his part, is comfortable with the fact that the full returns of this approach can take time to show up. Concentrating resources on longer residencies means fewer productions in a season — a deliberate trade-off. What he’s getting with it are experiences that plant an idea that surfaces years later, in a different city, in a different stage of life.
“It’s part of a contribution to the development of a student as an adult, a responsible citizen, and a human being,” he says. “You can’t measure that, and you may not even know about it until 20 years later. But the fact that it occurs is what keeps me going in this work.”
Mills, for her part, is still playing guitar, even as she headed off just before graduation this spring to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as one of eight Susan Skinner Memorial Fund Scholars worldwide. There, she presented her research at the World Federation of Hemophilia World Congress, another step in her career trajectory to becoming a hematologist. On the side, she’s working through fingerpicking patterns, learning Carter Family songs, exploring another dimension to her identity.
Bamuthi is working toward his work’s premiere in April 2027. The audience that gathers will include people he’s met in classrooms, around Westhampton Lake, and at a café, a barbershop, and an early-morning workout class. They’ll be coming as participants, not witnesses.
A first-year student picking up a guitar because a music legend made learning it sound ordinary. A dancer dancing on the end of a quarter note. A conversation becoming a libretto backed by a symphony. These are the kinds of outcomes Richmond’s model is designed to produce — and why the artists buy in. Creativity is both a method and a mindset and, at Richmond, central to learning.
CELEBRATING 30 YEARS
During the upcoming season, Modlin Arts Presents is celebrating its 30th anniversary in a big way. We asked executive director Paul Brohan to list his top highlights, an unfair question akin to asking a parent which child is the favorite. Nonetheless, he was game. Here’s what he offered:
• ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE, SEPT. 3–4. Tony Award nominee and Grammy Award winner Patrick Page, lately a member of the cast of The Gilded Age, moves swiftly through Shakespeare’s canon performing more than a dozen of his most wicked creations.
• MAVIS STAPLES, SEPT. 11. The multi-Grammy-winning artist and Kennedy Center honoree delivers a powerful call for fierce love with songs that speak to hope, resilience, and faith in humanity.
• JOHNNY LOVES JOHANN, SEPT. 26. This evening of music and dance braids together Grammy-winning violinist Johnny Gandelsman’s masterful performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cello Suites with the movement of four renowned choreographers. A Modlin co-commissioned project.
• CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE JAZZ WEEKEND, OCT. 23–25. McBride — who has led programming for Aspen Jazz, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Newport Jazz Festival — returns to lead a weekend of handpicked performances. McBride credits Richmond for his first opportunity to curate a jazz series after performing at Modlin in 1997.
• POOR HYMNAL, JAN. 29, 2027. The premiere performances of a choreographed and staged version of David Lang’s poor hymnal, performed by Grammy Award-winning choral ensemble The Crossing with the audience seated in the round. A Modlin co-commissioned project.
• MARC BAMUTHI JOSEPH, TAMAR-KALI, AND THE RICHMOND SYMPHONY, REMEMBERING EMPATHY, APRIL 9–10, 2027. The world premiere of a Modlin-commissioned work arising from community conversations, built as a poem, and transformed into a libretto and symphonic work.
The full schedule is available at modlin.richmond.edu.
IN THE ATLANTIC
IN THE ATLANTIC
IN THE ATLANTIC
BY MATTHEW DEWALD
WHEN WOMEN’S SOCCER KICKED OFF AT ROBINS STADIUM ON SEPT. 25, 2001, it inaugurated a new era for Richmond Athletics. The game — a double-overtime win against George Washington — marked UR’s first time competing as full member of the Atlantic 10 conference. In the 25 years since, Spiders have celebrated 93 A-10 championships and countless memorable moments and successes. As we reach the 25th anniversary, here’s a look at 25 top highlights in Spider A-10 history. Is there something you’d add? Let us know at magazine@richmond.edu.
SWIMMING AND DIVING WINS 17 OF 25 CHAMPIONSHIPS (2002-09, 2011-17, 2021, AND 2026)
Athletics director John P. Hardt recently called Richmond swimming and diving “the most dominant Spider sports program of the 21st century.” It’s easy to see why. Richmond has won two-thirds of the conference championships over its 25 A-10 seasons, the most recent one this spring. During the 12-year stretch from 2003 to 2014, 11 of the 12 A-10 Most Outstanding Performers were Spiders, and Matt Barany has been Coach of the Year 11 times. Dominant, indeed.
SWIMMER MALI KOBELJA SETS THE GOLD STANDARD AT THE ATLANTIC 10 CHAMPIONSHIPS (2010-14)
For four seasons in the early 2010s, Mali Kobelja (right) was nearly unbeatable. The breaststroke specialist won gold 11 times across four events during her four seasons. In one event, the 200yard individual medley, she was A-10
champion all four of her years. It’s no surprise that she was the A-10’s Most Outstanding Performer in her sophomore, junior, and senior seasons. On top of that, she broke new ground as the A-10’s only swimmer — and the only Spider in any sport — to be named A-10 Female Scholar-Athlete of the year, an honor she earned twice (in 2012 and 2014).
Dominant, indeed.
RICHMOND’S ATHLETICS FACILITIES RANK NO. 7 IN THE COUNTRY (2025)
The Princeton Review’s top-10 national ranking for Richmond’s athletics facilities put it atop the A-10, the state of Virginia, and nearly every school in a power conference across the nation. Giving Spiders a high-quality home experience has been a priority throughout UR’s A-10 era. Highlights include the opening of Robins Stadium in 2010, major upgrades to the Robins Center in 2013-14, and the creation of the Queally Athletics Center in 2020. Crenshaw Field, home of field hockey, and Pitt Field, home to Spider baseball, have also received significant upgrades in recent years.
MEN’S LACROSSE EARNS UNIVERSITY’S FIRST NO. 1 RANKING AT HIGHEST LEVEL OF NCAA COMPETITION (2026)
The 2026 men’s lacrosse team played its entire season in the middle of discussions about who was the nation’s best. Along the way, they made Spider history.
They began the season ranked No. 10 by USA Lacrosse Magazine and rose quickly with wins over marquee programs. They were at No. 8 when they beat No. 13 Virginia, at No. 3 when they beat No. 5 Cornell, and at No. 2 when they beat No. 13 Georgetown. By the time they got to a 9-0 record, they ranked No. 1 in both the Inside Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse Magazine polls.
MEN’S LACROSSE INAUGURATES ITS ATLANTIC 10 ERA (APRIL 1, 2023)
In the first conference game the Spiders played in the A-10, the team suffered a narrow loss to Saint Joseph’s. Foreshadowing? Hardly. Richmond has dominated ever since, winning two of the four regular season championships to date and three of the four tournament championships. In 2026, they won both. In the 2025 postseason, they beat North Carolina, earning the first NCAA tournament victory for both the program and the entire A-10.
WOMEN’S LACROSSE WINS A-10 BY KNOCKING OFF THE NINE-TIME DEFENDING CHAMPS (MAY 6, 2018)
Among the Spiders’ seven A-10 tournament championships, the most dramatic is the 2018 final. Massachusetts came in as the top seed and nine-time defending champion. Richmond was right with them that season, holding a share of the regular season championship and the No. 2 seed at tournament time. In the tournament final, the titans battled into overtime, when Offensive Player of the Year Kim Egizi scored the game-winning goal 35 seconds in. The victory gave the Spiders their 16th win, then a program record. It also announced the arrival of a new A-10 power. They’ve won three more conference tournaments since, the latest in 2024.
WOMEN’S LACROSSE NOTCHES ITS FIRST NCAA TOURNAMENT WIN
(MAY 12, 2023)
When they entered the tournament in 2023, Spider women’s lacrosse had been among the nation’s top programs for years. Their resume was full of conference championships, all-Americans, and wins against nationally ranked opponents. One thing they didn’t have? An NCAA tournament win. They added that to their credentials when they romped over Marquette in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, running away with an 18-8 win. “They were ready to go,” coach Anne Harrington said after the game.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL WINS ITS FIRST NCAA TOURNAMENT GAME
(MARCH 21, 2025)
“
They were ready to go.
”
—
ANNE HARRINGTON, WOMEN’S LACROSSE COACH, 2013
The fifth time was a charm. After knocking on the door in four previous tries, including back-to-back appearances in 2004 and 2005, women’s basketball cruised to its first NCAA tournament victory over Georgia Tech 74-49. The 25-point margin of victory was the largest for any program in its first NCAA Tournament win since 2012. The Spiders followed up their historic win with a program record thirdstraight tournament appearance in 2026.
MAGGIE DOOGAN SCORES 48 POINTS IN A SINGLE GAME (JAN. 10, 2026)
For 30 minutes of play, the matchup against Davidson seemed like a typical January conference game. After the first three quarters, Spider women’s basketball narrowly led 43-42, and Maggie Doogan had a solid 18 points. What happened next amazed everyone there who saw it. In a heart-attack fourth quarter and three overtimes, Doogan willed a Spider win by dropping another 30 points. Her 48-point total shattered Richmond’s single-game record, set a new A-10 record, and was the highest total for any Division I player in the 2025–26 season. Surrounded by talented teammates like Addie Budnik, Rachel Ullstrom, and Ally Sweeney throughout her career, Doogan finished as the No. 2 scorer in program history and back-to-back A-10 Player of the Year.
JACOB GILYARD SETS NCAA DIVISION I CAREER STEALS RECORD (DEC. 5, 2021)
Record-setting steal No. 386 came on a December afternoon at Northern Iowa, close enough to Jacob Gilyard’s hometown of Kansas City, Missouri, that more than 15 of his family members and friends were there to see it. By the end of his storied Spider career, Gilyard nabbed 466 career steals, 81 more than any other player in NCAA Division I history. He also left Richmond as the school’s career leader in assists (782, also the most in A-10 history) and three-pointers (332, also the fifth-most in A-10 history).
MEN’S BASKETBALL WINS THE A-10 TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP AS A NO. 6 SEED (MARCH 13, 2022)
To be the best, you have to beat the best. At the 2022 A-10 tournament, the Spiders did, running through the three top seeds (Davidson, Dayton, and VCU) to earn the program’s 10th NCAA Tournament bid. The giant-killing continued there when Richmond, as a No. 12 seed, beat Big Ten champion Iowa. The win marked Richmond’s ninth victory as a 12th seed or lower, extending its own NCAA record.
To be the best, you have to beat the best. the Spiders did.
MEN’S BASKETBALL SUITS UP FOR THE SWEET 16 (MARCH 25, 2011)
The 2011 appearance marked the second time in program history that the Spiders made it to the tournament in back-to-back seasons. They made the most of it, competing as a No. 12 seed and the only team in NCAA Tournament history with wins at seeds 12, 13, 14, and 15. In the first two rounds, they knocked off No. 5 seed Vanderbilt and No. 13 seed Morehead State before falling to No. 1 seed Kansas. The team finished the season with a program-record 29 wins. After it, the Cleveland Cavaliers drafted senior Justin Harper with the 32nd pick, the second-highest selection of a Spider in the NBA draft (after Johnny Newman, R’86).
WOMEN’S TENNIS WINS NINE OF 11 A-10 CHAMPIONSHIPS (2002-2012)
When Spider women’s tennis transitioned from the Colonial Athletic Association to the Atlantic 10 in 2001, it had a powerful advantage no other team had: coach Mark Wesselink. Under his leadership, women’s tennis dominated the A-10 in its first decade, winning nine championships and making nine NCAA appearances in 11 years. Twice in that span, the Spiders won four titles in a row, and Wesselink earned Coach of the Year seven times.
MEN’S TENNIS THREEPEATS AS CHAMPIONS
(2004-06)
For three consecutive seasons in the mid-2000s, the Spiders left little doubt they were the best team in the A-10, winning 22 of the 27 singles and doubles matches in the A-10 championship finals those years. Is the team poised for a new run? After a 20-year drought, they took home the 2026 A-10 championship and headed back to the NCAA Tournament in May.
RICHMOND PLACES IN THE NATION’S TOP 10 FOR GRADUATION SUCCESS RATE (2024, 2025)
When it comes to earning their degrees or transferring in good academic standing, Spider student-athletes are among the nation’s very best. In 2024, UR’s graduation success rate, or GSR, was 98%, sixth-highest among all Division I institutions. Spider Athletics repeated the 98% rate in 2025, this time ranking ninth.
FOOTBALL WINS ITS THIRD A-10 CHAMPIONSHIP, FINISHES RANKED NO. 8 NATIONALLY (2005)
Football paved the way for Richmond’s entry into the A-10, playing as an affiliate member starting in the 1997 season. Three times over their 10 A-10 seasons, Richmond won the championship, made the playoffs, and finished in the nation’s top 10. The final A-10 championship run, in 2005, continued the program’s standard of excellence as it built toward the team’s 2008 national championship, which it played as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association.
SOCCER PLAYS IN THE SWEET 16 (NOV. 24, 2002)
The 2002 team made Spider history when it reached the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16 for the first time. They arrived as A-10 champions and then earned hard-fought 1-0 victories over No. 15 Clemson and James Madison. In the Sweet 16, they finally fell against Portland, that year’s eventual national champion. Two-time captain Meghan Ogilvie was the A-10’s Most Outstanding Player that season, and Edda Gardarsdottir earned all-American honors.
BECCA WANN WINS FIFA WORLD CUP GOLD (SEPT. 8, 2012)
In the summer after her sophomore year, Spider soccer forward Becca Wann (right, No. 11) won gold as one of 23 victorious Team USA players at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Japan. Richmond’s star was surrounded by future international stars. Her team mates included Crystal Dunn, Sam Mewis, Morgan Brian (now Gautrat), and Julie Johnston (now Ertz), all of whom made their marks with the senior U.S. Women’s National Team. The big takeaway, Wann later told ESPN, was “knowing I could hang, that I was part of this team that won a World Cup.”
Use the QR code to see the story online, which includes videos and links to archival stories.
PITCHER TIM STAUFFER DRAFTED FOURTH OVERALL
(JUNE 3, 2003)
When the San Diego Padres selected Tim Stauffer in the 2003 MLB draft, he was the first Spider and A-10 player ever chosen in the first round. He was one of a record five Spiders drafted that year, and he remains Richmond’s highest draft pick. Stauffer pitched for 10 years at the major league level, most of them in San Diego. During the A-10 era, major league teams have drafted 31 Spiders, according to baseball-reference.com.
BASEBALL EARNS AN AT-LARGE BID TO THE NCAA TOURNAMENT (2002)
The 2002 Spiders started the season with 10 wins, tying the 1942 team for the best start in program history. Over the remaining games, they did even better, amassing a school-record 53 wins. The result earned them an at-large bid that they nearly rode to the College World Series. In Game 2 of the Super Regional against Nebraska, with a trip to the CWS on the line, first baseman Vito Chiaravalloti launched a dramatic walk-off grand slam to force a decisive third game. “I knew that if he threw a strike that I was going to be in good shape,” he said after the game.
“I just got it up in the air.” Though they fell in Game 3, the run set up the 2003 campaign when they repeated as A-10 regular season champs and won the A-10 tournament.
“ Words will our teams.
FIVE SPIDERS COMPETE IN THE NCAA TRACK AND FIELD NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS (JUNE 8–11, 2011)
The 2011 outdoor track and field teams were stacked with talent that was coalescing together. That year, 11 Spiders qualified for the first round of the NCAA championship competition. Five — Andrew Benford (3,000 -meter steeplechase), Matt Llano (10,000meter), Heather Roush (javelin), Nicol Traynor (3,000 steeplechase), Amy Van Alstine (5,000) — made it to the national championship, with Llano, Traynor, and Van Alstine finishing in the national top 20.
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY SWEEP A-10 CHAMPIONSHIPS ON THE SAME DAY (OCT. 30, 2010)
”
—STEVE TAYLOR, MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY COACH, 2010
For one day in Pittsburgh, no one ran the championship course faster than the Spiders. For the women, it was their second title in three years. Five of them finished inside the top 15. On the men’s side, it was their first A-10 championship, and Andrew Benford won the individual title and set a new course record. “Words will not do justice to how happy I am for our teams,” said men’s head coach Steve Taylor.
SPIDERS WIN EVERY A-10 WOMEN’S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP (2025-26)
To the question “Who is the A-10’s women’s golf champion?” there has only ever been one answer: the Spiders. Women’s golf has been an A-10 sport for two seasons, and in each of them, the Spiders won both the team and individual championships (Hannah Lydic in 2025 and Maya Beasley in 2026). The 2026 championship was a tour de force, as all five Spiders competing finished in the top five of the individual standings. Collectively, they were 28 shots ahead of the runner-up team.
DANIEL WALKER COMPETES IN THE NCAA NATIONALS
2013)
Spider golfer Daniel Walker had a sensational senior season, averag ing 72.26 strokes per round, then a school record. It earned him an at-large bid to the NCAA Super Regional, where he tied for second place. With that finish, he became the first Spider individual golfer to advance to the NCAA men’s golf national cham pionship. There, he shot 74-71-71, earning a top-100 finish. During the A-10 era, men’s golf has won the Atlantic 10 title twice (2017, 2026), and two Spiders have been individual champions (Danny Pizetoski in 2014 and Lucas Rizo-Patron in April). The 2026 team championship was particularly sweet, as three Spiders finished in the top four.
The 2026 A-10 women’s golf championship was a tour de force.
FIELD HOCKEY WINS FIVE STRAIGHT A-10 TITLES (2002–06)
If the standard is regular season and tournament championships, the Spiders are the A-10’s most successful field hockey program of the last 25 years. The Spiders have won 18 regular season and conference tournament championships over that span. For five straight years in the early aughts, no one got the better of them. After a recent drought, Richmond was back on top in 2025 as the A-10 regular season champion.
HOME, IN THEORY AND PRACTICE
BY KIM CATLEY | PHOTOGRAPH BY YI QING LU, ’29
IIbrahim Alkaseer, ’26, is Richmond’s newest Rhodes Scholar. His academic interest in migration is deeply interwoven with his personal story.
n his two decades of life, Ibrahim Alkaseer, ’26, has felt a shifting sense of home.
For the last four years, home has been the University of Richmond, where he graduated with degrees in political science and economics in May. This fall, it will be the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, where he’s set to pursue graduate school after receiving the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship.
There was also a high school on the hilltops of rural India where he met students from all over the world.
And before that, Damascus, Syria — the place where he was born and where his parents still live. The home he hasn’t visited in six years and perhaps won’t for many more to come, but where he still feels deeply rooted.
As Alkaseer has moved through these corners of the world, he has witnessed civil war and economic turmoil, but also incredible privilege and possibility. It’s given him a distinct perspective on migration, politics, economics, and the ties that bind them.
But perhaps most of all, his life experiences have driven him to seek an understanding of home — what it means to leave it behind and how complicated the question of one day going back can be.
LIFE AMIDST AN UPRISING
Alkaseer’s early childhood resembles the lives of countless working-class families.
He was born in Al-Tadamon, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Damascus. His father worked as a civil servant, his mother a middle school English teacher. Both were the children of farmers from the rural city of Salamiyah.
“It was very diverse,” he says. “We had almost every component of Syrian society. We had Iraqis and Palestinians, Shia and Sunni Muslims, Christians. We all shared the same lived reality. We all lived in urban precarity and inequality.”
In 2011, everything changed.
That January, Arab Spring protests spread across several countries, reflecting discontent with authoritarian leaders and the high cost of living. In Syria, protestors challenged the government led by Bashar al-Assad, which responded with force. Opposition militias formed to fight back, and by the following year, the country was engulfed in civil war.
Alkaseer says the uprisings were tied to the country’s economic conditions. Before the war, unemployment was high, and farmers were unable to sell their crops. The war escalated the conditions, and Alkaseer felt the impact directly when both of his parents lost their jobs.
Alkaseer was 9 when he was first displaced, and his family was again displaced several more times in the years that followed. But they never left Syria, even as his aunts, uncles, and cousins scattered across Europe. Staying in place was safer, they felt, than crossing uncertain waters.
Life for Alkaseer and his family continued — until again, everything changed.
In 2019, he joined a state-sponsored debate team. For the first time, he engaged with social science issues and ethical concepts, considering them from a broader perspective than the one he lived day to day. The team also offered an avenue to new experiences, including travel outside of Syria to participate in international competitions.
After one “life-changing” trip to Thailand, he began applying to international high schools. Alkaseer was
accepted to United World Colleges and spent two years at UWC Mahindra College in Pune, India.
“It was the first time that my material conditions radically changed,” he says. “And it’s also when I connected with other people who had a similar lived reality in terms of caste violence, displacement, and urban precarity.”
As a UWC graduate, Alkaseer was eligible for the Davis UWC Scholarship program, which provides scholarship support for students who attend partner universities in the U.S. — including the University of Richmond.
A CURIOUS MIND
Alkaseer has never been one to focus on a single discipline. Rather, he’s always looking for the connections and nuances that tie ideas together.
At Richmond, he paired majors in political science and economics with a minor in Latin American, Latino, and Iberian studies that allowed him to study Spanish and Portuguese. He also layered in courses from other areas, always looking for a new or surprising angle he hadn’t yet considered. For instance, after using satellite imagery to explore how the Syrian landscape had changed throughout the war, he signed up for an advanced geographic information system (GIS) class to better understand spatial analysis methods. In every class, he brings depth and nuance and doesn’t shy away from difficult subjects.
David Giancaspro, associate professor of Spanish, recalls how Alkaseer would often stay after class for philosophical discussions, using language skills that went far beyond the intermediate level expected of him. Once, he even brought in a complex political text, written in Spanish, that he had been working through on his own.
Giancaspro says a conversation between Alkaseer and a language partner from Chile captures both his drive and his empathy. The 30-minute one-on-one meetings are intended to help students practice their language skills. The topics are predetermined, the conversations often surface-level.
Alkaseer, however, came to one meeting with a list of detailed questions about Chilean politics.
“After a few minutes, it became clear that Ibrahim’s conversation partner had very different political perspectives,” Giancaspro says. “Once Ibrahim realized this, though, he began gently interrogating his partner in order to understand the nature of these beliefs.
“I remember listening to this conversation after it happened and marveling at Ibrahim’s Spanish, as well as his political knowledge and ability to manage tough conversations.”
Jennifer Pribble, professor of political science and global studies, first met Alkaseer in her Latin American politics class in fall 2024 and says he stood out right away.
“He had already read and thought about some of the foundational texts,” she says. “He could be critical of them and bring a different position, sometimes questioning the authors in interesting ways or interrogating the evidence. But he also helped build a classroom environment where everyone felt that they could participate. He didn’t intimi-
date other students. He has a way of spurring conversation.” Alkaseer didn’t just study the issues; he actively engaged with them. As a Bonner Scholar, he worked with the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, supporting its advocacy for criminal justice reforms and raising the minimum wage. He also volunteered with nonprofits that support refugees and immigrants who resettle in the city.
Through his Spanish in the Community class with Karina Vázquez, senior teaching faculty of Latin American, Latino, and Iberian studies, he tutored Spanish-speaking students and talked to them about preparing for graduation and college.
“I was mapping the nonprofit scene, the advocacy scene, justice in general,” he says, “and how we can approach it as a community.”
He also saw volunteering as a way to stay connected to the daily lives of his friends and family back home and in the diaspora. Both in the classroom and out in the city, Alkaseer was drawing connections between the world he grew up in and the one in which he now lived — and discovering new questions he wanted to answer.
CONNECTING THE THREADS
Once Alkaseer began applying a broader perspective to his own experiences living through political turmoil, he wanted to keep widening the lens.
He started by turning to the deeply entrenched Palestinian communities in Honduras and Chile. Both make up nearly 3% of the population — nearly a half-million people each. Members span generations and feel strong ties to their homeland, even among those who have never seen it firsthand.
The community in Chile, however, is far more connected and organized than the one in Honduras. They engage in protests and try to influence foreign policy, but they also have robust community centers and a professional soccer team.
So far, his work has focused on existing research, but he hopes to interview leaders in the Chilean Palestinian community about their experiences and efforts to lobby the government.
“The question is: Why is it so different?” he says. “Why do you identify with a homeland that you’ve never been to? Is it host country conditions? Class demographics? A horizontal solidarity of some sort?
“It’s hard to quantify. It dives into the larger picture of diaspora activism and social contracts.”
Pribble was an adviser on Alkaseer’s research and says his view of diasporas and their influence on foreign policy represents a new way of thinking about politics, rights, and constituencies.
“Ibrahim’s research focuses on the agency and voice of communities that are sometimes considered powerless and marginalized,” Pribble says. “He is pointing us toward the fact that these diasporas really matter to the places where they end up. He’s arguing that displaced people have power, and they can shape policy in the new places where they land in interesting ways.”
Last fall, Alkaseer turned his focus closer to home when he joined a research project led by Sandra Joireman, Weinstein Chair of Global Studies and professor of political science, and Kyle Redican, teaching faculty of geography, environment, and sustainability and director of the Spatial Analysis Lab.
Joireman specializes in post-conflict return migration and was monitoring the surge in Syrian returns after the overthrow of Assad in late 2024. About 6 million Syrians sought refuge abroad during the war, and millions more were displaced internally. Some are choosing to return, and Joireman wants to know why, what conditions they find upon arrival, and whether their return will last.
“We have people scattered everywhere; some want to return, and some don’t,” Alkaseer says. “I wanted to ask more of an empirical question about whether that has an effect on my own country. We ended in a rebel victory, and the dictatorship fell, but what effect does that have on governance and economic conditions? There are a lot of factors still inhibiting our development. The brain drain — when people pursue education abroad and don’t come back — is a big problem. And we don’t have the infrastructure for everyone to come back.
“I was displaced in Syria, and my whole family is in diaspora, so these are important questions: Do you return? How pressured are you to return? What do you do when you return? Do you leave again? Are you better or worse off than when you were in the diaspora?”
More recently, Alkaseer shifted his focus from the political and social to the economic. For his senior thesis, he examined the economic determinants of revolution and popular uprisings, with a focus on the Arab Spring protests he lived through.
“Most of the literature points toward political reasons [for the protests],” he says. “I would argue it’s mainly structural, as well as political. There was high unemployment, especially youth unemployment, which I think is a big driver. This is growth without development.”
Alkaseer sees his research across disciplines as pulling on threads that might one day untangle the links between migration, conflict, development, and capitalism. For instance, he says, studies of forced migration often focus on conflict. But when someone leaves their home in the Philippines to be a domestic worker in Qatar, is the choice any less forced?
“It sounds voluntary,” he says. “But at the end of the day, what are the conditions surrounding that choice? I want to interrogate the economic structures that push people to leave their children at home and work abroad in an unequal labor contract. It’s not conflict, but it functions in a similar way.”
THE MIDDLE SPACE
With graduation behind him, Alkaseer is now preparing for his next big move — this time to Oxford, England.
He received a highly competitive Rhodes Scholarship, which fully funds postgraduate study at the University of
Oxford. He plans to earn a master’s in development studies. Alkaseer is the university’s sixth Rhodes Scholar and the first since 2006.
“It feels like grad school with a purpose,” he says. “I’ll be able to connect my continuously forming opinions and perspectives about the world with my research and my intellectual trajectory.”
Pribble says his voice is a necessary one.
“He’s interested in empirical research — the world as it is — but I think he’s motivated by a desire to see a more just and equitable world,” she says. “And he comes to that as someone from the Global South who has lived conflict displacement and who sees the world through that lens.
“That’s really powerful. We can learn about inequality theoretically, but someone who has experienced having less power sees those struggles differently and can bring new hypotheses and theoretical innovations.”
At Oxford, Alkaseer plans to continue his research on forced migration and the experiences of refugees. He wants to maintain the multidisciplinary perspective that he’s interwoven with people and places from his own life, even as each step he takes makes the possibility of returning home feel ever more remote.
“We cannot support higher education back home,” he says. “We don’t have a surplus of capital for our governments to support independent research. Our infrastructure is destroyed.”
What do you do when you return?
Do you leave again? Are you better or worse off than when you were in the diaspora? “ ”
It is in this middle space — where he moves seamlessly between the individual and the collective — that he hopes to uncover a fuller understanding of the root causes of forced migration in all its forms. And one day, he plans to share his ideas with others as a writer and educator.
“When you engage with the intellectual side [of these issues], it’s difficult to humanize them, even if you have a really good imagination,” he says. “If you’ve never met someone who’s been displaced, you might be able to form a picture from the news, but it’s not complete.
“I don’t consider myself a displaced person anymore. At the end of the day, I’m not hungry. I have access to everything I need. But I know the conditions I was once a part of, and I know what people back home are struggling with.
“I believe in our shared humanity, and I pay attention to the structures that estrange people from it.”
HER 75TH REUNION
This year’s attendees included Barbara McGehee Cooke, a member of Westhampton’s Class of 1951. As a student, she was a mathematics major and vice president of Pi Mu Epsilon, the university’s math club.
‘Crazy
things’
“Fifty years ago, we did some pretty crazy things around here,” said Steve Akridge, B’76, co-chair of the reunion committee, from the podium at his class’s 50th anniversary cocktail reception. Stories abounded. There was the time they brought The Bob Hope Show to campus for a fundraiser; an April Fools prank on Dean W. David Robbins — parking a car in the business school’s lobby; and their attempt to build a Guinness record-breaking submarine sandwich.
“I was the vegetable guy,” said Don Williams, B’76, as he recalled the sub’s assembly line. “I still have my chef’s hat that says ‘vegetable’ on it.” Williams also brought mementos to the party: Adorning the welcome table was a copy of their commencement program and a perfectly yellowed 1974 print edition of The Collegian. When asked the night’s most popular drink, one bartender answered with a smile: “Gin and tonics. This isn’t a white wine crowd. You can quote me on that.”
CONNECT
Lifelong career aid
Career change? Promotion? Job search struggles? Career Services is freely accessible to alumni for life.
In-person and virtual appointments with a career adviser can help you navigate professional development topics, including résumé and cover letter reviews, job search strategy, networking assistance, mock interviews, and more.
Contact Career Services to get started: 804-289-8547 or careerservices@ richmond.edu.
Spiders for hire
Fill a job or internship vacancy with a fellow Spider with support from the Career Services team, which can help match you with students and alumni in your field. Visit hirespiders.richmond.edu or reach out to us at 804-662-3032 or hirespiders@ richmond.edu.
Identity networks
The Alumni Identity Networks invite an added level of connection with fellow Spiders — URBAN, the University of Richmond Black Alumni Network, and LGBTQ+ Spiders offer social, professional, and cultural events and initiatives. To learn more, contact URBAN at urban@richmond.edu or LGBTQ+ Spiders at lgbtqspiders@richmond.edu.
Photos from Reunion Weekend 2026
MUSIC BOOKS
Retired NASA astronaut LELAND MELVIN, R’86 , appeared alongside the Richmond Symphony on May 16 for the world premiere of Of Grace and Grit, a commissioned piece inspired by Melvin’s time aboard the International Space Station.
The three-movement piece captures the feeling of leaving Earth and observing the planet from afar.
Dressed in his NASA uniform, Melvin introduced each movement with a related passage from his memoir, Chasing Space
Sparked ideas
Over Valentine’s Day weekend, college sweethearts Madyson Fitzgerald, ’23, and Benjamin Queen, ’23, offered advice at the Jepson EDGE Institute, a program connecting leadership studies juniors with alumni.
Journalist Fitzgerald and radio producer Queen joined 40 alumni who spoke about career preparation.
“I remember what it was like to be a junior looking for an internship,” Fitzgerald said. “I was so worried and anxious. I hope that sharing my experience — especially as a younger alum — can ease the students’ stress.”
Queen recounted an epiphany he had while attending EDGE as a junior. Struggling to craft an elevator pitch, he recounted his time as a host and operations manager for UR’s student-run radio station, WDCE.
“The alum coordinating the workshop told me, ‘You light up when you talk about your radio work — you should lead with that!’” said Queen, an associate producer for SiriusXM. Fitzgerald, a national content producer for States Newsroom, says her success was built on her time as a student. She interned with the Richmond Times-Dispatch and served as a writer and copy chief for UR’s student-run newspaper, The Collegian But college was more than a résumé builder. Fitzgerald and Queen met in their first-year seminar, but it wasn’t until their Leadership on Stage and Screen class that sparks began to fly. “On the first day of class, she asked if she could sit next to me,” Queen said. “That’s when I knew — I had a crush.”
JEPSON EDGE INSTITUTE
Each year, Jepson alumni return to campus to run interactive workshops designed to give students an edge in developing intangible professional skills not often taught in a classroom setting.
THE CANCER THAT HEALED ME
KRISTI WILKINSON, W’89
Wilkinson’s memoir describes her nineyear battle with cancer. She writes that it concluded with a natural recovery prompted by deviating from the traditional treatment route her doctors had recommended.
THE CAT WHO CAME BACK FOR CHRISTMAS
TED COSTIN, R’83
This children’s book tells the story of a cat whose spirit returns to share one last Christmas with the family she loved and that misses her very much. This story offers comfort to kids who have experienced the loss of a pet.
DISRUPTABLE: BREAK AWAY FROM ORDINARY
ALLAN YOUNG, ’93
This book dares you to fail. Young, owner of an Inc. 500 company, suggests that intentionally disrupting yourself and embracing your failures allows you to experience limitless personal growth.
KATIE FINDS HER VOICE: A STORY ABOUT AUTISM AMY BASHIAN MCCOY, ’93
For Autism Awareness and Acceptance Day, Katie’s teacher asks her to speak to the class. Katie must conquer her fear of public speaking to share what she’s observed about her autistic brother’s experience.
Madyson Fitzgerald, ’23, and Benjamin Queen, ’23
JEPSON EDGE
By Rayne
PADEL-PLAYING CELEBRITIES
In April, Serena Williams surprised a group of padel players in Miami by showing up as their fourth partner, part of a new multiyear global partnership with Heineken 0.0. Lionel Messi has a padel court at his home. David Beckham, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Drew Brees, and Jimmy Butler all play.
Played padel yet?
Professional athletes like Serena Williams and Lionel Messi have gotten into the new racket sport. Bill Ridenour, R’79, and Gray Bigler, ’08, teamed up to make sure more people have a padel court near them.
When Bill Ridenour, R’79, retired after 40 years in magazine publishing — working for TIME, Sports Illustrated, Fortune, and Golf Digest — he wasn’t looking for a leisurely life on the sidelines. Instead, he found himself in a new game entirely: the emerging racket sport padel.
The opportunity came through Gray Bigler, ’08, who pitched Ridenour a business idea at a UR alumni event. Bigler was earlier to the sport than most, picking it up in 2014 while living in Sydney, where he attained a national ranking. After spending more than a decade working in financial technology and management consulting, Bigler had grown restless with traditional corporate life. He yearned to get back into padel. His family connections — including his brother’s work with MejorSet, a top Spanish court manufacturer — gave him that chance, and he took it.
Together, they founded OTL (Outside the Lines) Court & Design, a consultative company that handles every aspect of padel court development: permitting, architectural design, and installation. “We wanted to be a one-stop shop, not just slingers of courts,” Bigler said. “Plus, most of the other manufacturers don’t go out and visit everyone in person. That’s something I appreciate about the approach of [OTL Court & Design]. It is very much a relationship-driven industry right now, and that’s how we’re winning deals and building momentum.”
The Spider connections don’t end with Ridenour and Bigler. “Brian Stark, ’08, is an old fraternity brother of mine from Sigma Phi Epsilon,” Bigler said. “He’s super plugged in to the Midwest’s country club scene and has made several introductions for us.” Ridenour’s Phi Delta
Theta fraternity brothers have also played a role by “introducing us to many clubs in the Northeast.”
While padel remains relatively unknown to casual sports fans in the United States, the numbers tell a compelling story. Globally, up to 35 million people play padel, and the sport has grown from 20,000 courts worldwide in 2018 to more than 50,000 today. The U.S. court count has increased sixfold since 2020, with facilities that once focused on pickleball pivoting toward padel.
What makes padel unique? Imagine tennis and squash merged: Play occurs primarily in doubles on an enclosed court with inbounds glass walls, an underhand serve that reduces double faults, and turf that’s gentler on joints. “The stat is something like 92% of first-time players come back and play again,” Bigler said. “It’s that sticky a sport, which is amazing.”
As Ridenour put it, “I haven’t had one person that has played the game that doesn’t walk off and say, ‘I love it.’”
“I learned to follow my passions, to ask for help, and never to stop learning.”
CLARA SWARTZ, GC’25 , on what she learned in the School of Professional
and Continuing Studies while earning her master’s in curriculum and instruction
PHILANTHROPY
Josh Clarke, G’78
Thanks from Alaska
For four years, John Clark, G’78 — from his hand-built Alaskan log cabin more than 4,000 miles from Richmond — has helped UR Here Giving Day secure support for students from all 50 states.
“I owe Richmond a debt of gratitude for getting me through my master’s program,” Clark said. “I think a big part of the college experience for students is the social environment — I grew up and matured so much,” and he pays it forward for future students to have the same chance.
Clark has supported Giving Day for more than three decades, well before retiring as a biometrician for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. There, he leveraged his biology degree to design surveys and gather data that analyzed the evolv-
ing marine populations and fishing patterns along the Alaskan coast.
“I have so many memories it’s hard to choose one,” Clark said, thinking back to numerous boating and diving expeditions. “I remember swimming through a kelp forest and following a rare wolf eel — it’s a magical world down there — and getting to sit on the boat and watch the sun set. A co-worker once said to me, ‘Many people pay to do this, and we’re getting paid to be here.’”
Clark may be lacking in company when it comes to Spiders living in Alaska, but he cherishes the many experiences that got him there. Among them, he holds a special fondness for Boatwright Memorial Library, which he called his “second home” on campus.
Homecoming plans
Gather your fellow alumni for the 2026 Homecoming Weekend Oct. 23–25. There will be tailgates, class reunions, and Spider sporting events, not to mention a chance to reconnect with the campus.
Visit homecoming.richmond.edu to register and learn more.
SummUR near you
UR’s Alumni SummUR Series has regional events — like baseball outings, waterfront meetups, and exclusive access to city treasures — continuing through August. Find the gathering nearest you, from Boston to Chicago to Denver and plenty of cities across Virginia.
See the schedule at alumni.richmond. edu under the Alumni Groups & Events tab.
‘As Spiders Do’
Spiders are curious, tenacious, passionate, and adventurous, and they’re sharing their stories on the podcast As Spiders Do.
Host Maggie Johnson, ’18, interviews fellow alumni about what drives them in their everyday lives and what it means to be a Richmond Spider.
GIVING DAY BY THE NUMBERS
• Campaign duration: 36 hours
• Goal: $2,900,000
• Total raised: $3,470,913
• Percentage from alumni: 36%
• Number of donors: 5,297
What do you think it means to be a Richmond Spider? Leave a voicemail with your thoughts and you could be part of an upcoming episode: 804-420-2739. Or nominate someone to be a guest by emailing alumni@richmond.edu.
We welcome your news. Send information to your class secretary or directly to the magazine at classnotes @richmond.edu. Or you may mail it to the magazine at Fountain Hall • UR Drive • University of Richmond, VA 23173. Please include your class year and the name you were known by as a student, if different than today. For your children, please include birth dates rather than ages. Photographs of alumni are welcome and encouraged. Please note that the magazine does not publish news of engagements or pregnancies. Information may take up to two issues to publish. Class notes do not appear on the magazine’s website.
The magazine uses undergraduate degree designations for graduates through 1992, and law, graduate, and honorary degree designations for all years.
B Robins School of Business
C School of Professional and Continuing Studies
G Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
GB Richard S. Reynolds Graduate School of Business
GC Graduate School of Professional and Continuing Studies
H Honorary Degree
L School of Law
R Richmond College
W Westhampton College
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duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
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enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
Class notes are available only in the print edition. To submit your news and photos, contact your class secretary or email us at classnotes@richmond.edu.
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Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Nam liber tempor cum soluta nobis eleifend option congue nihil imperdiet doming id quod mazim placerat facer possim assum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
’64Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
For information about photos, see:
4.
1. Yolanda Roseman Reavis, W’69
2. Ron Malstrom, R’72
3. Mary Dean Carter, W’74
Amy Torok Mendel, ’96
5. Carolyn Bennett Glauda, ’00
6. Ahren T. Freund, ’08
NANCY BOYKIN, W’72
Embodied storyteller
If you look at the resume of Nancy Boykin, W’72, you’ll find irreverent satire, antiwar drama, and Shakespeare. Such a list could come only from this Philadelphia-based actress who devotes her life to the art of embodied storytelling.
“I’ve always loved literature, I’ve always loved storytelling, and I enjoy engaging with people, so I was ripe for being an actor,” Boykin said.
Her love for the theater began as an undergraduate initially studying mathematics and piano. While discontented with both, she took a dramatic literature course at UR with a professor who paired readings with performances, cementing her path to a master's in acting. Her career then expanded beyond the stage, including professorship at Temple University.
One of her current offstage endeavors is as board president of PlayPenn, an artist-driven organization that supports the development of new plays. In its signature program, the New Play Development Conference, playwrights spend three weeks working with a director, a dramaturg, and a cast to workshop their plays, including one performance with audience feedback followed by a second performance that incorporates revisions. “[PlayPenn] is a way of giving back and also keeping something going that I truly think is important and should not be lost,” she said.
Back on the stage, Boykin recently held a satirical mirror up to the legacy of slavery in the United States through her role in The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington, a play that showcases the power of storytelling and the importance of PlayPenn. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright James Ijames brought the show’s first draft to PlayPenn’s conference — a testament to the significance of a robust group of artists like Boykin who love bringing these stories to life.
“Theater is a community, a family,” she said. “I love the connection between storytelling and people that are hearing the story, as well as the camaraderie of a cast that’s close and have to trust each other every night on the stage.”
—Amy Ogle,
’26
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vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
“Sub-freezing temperatures had affected some areas in Florida, and as a result, the coldblooded iguanas that are prevalent in the area and are found in trees become comatose and fall out of the trees.”
—Linda Armstrong Farrar, W’65
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et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Nam liber tempor cum soluta nobis eleifend option congue nihil imperdiet doming id quod mazim placerat facer possim assum.
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odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
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“[Our children] seem to consider us geriatric teenagers who are on the verge of getting into trouble. ”
—Suzanne Smola Reynolds, W’65
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giat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
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Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te
PEGGY DYKHUIZEN ROBERTSON, B’84
Loch Ness’ neighbor
Just off the western shore of Loch Ness, amidst the rolling hills of the Scottish Highlands, sits Morlea Bed & Breakfast, run by Margaret “Peggy” Dykhuizen Robertson, B’84, and her husband, Mike.
In 2023, the Robertsons retired to Aberdeenshire in northeast Scotland. After a few years, they decided retired life wasn’t for them just yet — they wanted a challenge. “We wanted to do more than just retire,” Robertson said. “We still had more to give.”
They soon came across the 1890 stone-built B&B in Drumnadrochit. “This opportunity came up for us, and we jumped for it,” she said. “We figured that it was a good match for both of our strengths.” They moved in to the B&B in November 2025.
Drumnadrochit is a small town built around a bridge over the River Enrick and is home to approximately 1,100 residents — along with Scotland’s folklore icon, the Loch Ness monster.
The B&B is located on the Great Glen Way, a 79mile trail stretching along Scotland’s longest valley. In peak tourist season, the glen attracts around 500,000 visitors, and Drumnadrochit “explodes,” said Robertson.
Robertson and her husband had each worked in the hospitality field. And with her degree from the Robins School of Business, the couple had no trouble taking on this new challenge. They outsource only a few services, like laundry. Otherwise, they run the four-room B&B themselves.
In just 60 days after purchasing the B&B, the Robertsons hosted 50 guests visiting from all around the world. This summer is their first tourist season, which will keep them busy until October. The Robertsons especially enjoy their guest lounge: “We have also spent many an evening together with guests from other parts of the world just chatting away and learning about each other's cultures.
“We’ve been very fortunate,” she said. “Everybody has been wonderful.”
—Ava
Jenks, ’27
feugait nulla facilisi. Nam liber tempor cum soluta nobis eleifend option congue nihil imperdiet doming id quod mazim placerat facer possim assum.
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et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Nam liber tempor cum soluta nobis eleifend option congue nihil imperdiet doming id quod mazim placerat facer possim assum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril
“[We’ve] retired to a life of reading, watching critters feed on our deck and fig tree and flotillas of ducks and geese circle the pond, and spying an occasional hawk, heron, coyote, or red fox pass through.”
—Fran Stewart Chambers, W’66
delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
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in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Nam liber tempor cum soluta nobis eleifend option congue nihil imperdiet doming id quod mazim placerat facer possim assum.
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
’70Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
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ing id quod mazim placerat facer possim assum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
ALLAN YOUNG, ’93
Built on why
Allan Young, ’93, — who started 14 businesses before high school — is doing it again.
After scaling ShelfGenie to over 200 locations and an Inc. 500 ranking, he launched the Art of Drawers franchise in 2024 and has expanded to over 140 locations across 45 cities. His empire is built on one simple principle: Start with why.
“We turn frustration into joy,” Young says when describing the company’s core why. When Art of Drawers installs custom kitchen solutions, they’re doing more than renovating — they’re keeping customers safe from bending and reaching and creating a more comfortable space through careful reorganization. This mindset carries through the entire process. Rather than tracking “close rates,” his sales team focuses on “help rates.” His book Disruptable captures this philosophy, arguing that leaders who voluntarily disrupt themselves this way outperform those waiting to be disrupted.
Young’s approach earned Art of Drawers a net promoter score of 92 — higher than Chick-fil-A. His franchise partners include former Apple executives and Accenture consultants accustomed to traditional hierarchies who uncover something refreshing in Young’s leadership model. He uses the Entrepreneurial Operating System, prioritizing cohesion and clarity with him as visionary while his president handles execution. It mirrors his military experience as commander: Set the destination; empower the expert beside you.
“Being vulnerable is probably our No. 1 daily value,” Young says, echoing what he learned through YPO, formerly the Young Presidents’ Organization, that asking for help builds more trust than offering it. He pairs this with another counterintuitive company value: Celebrate failure, because that’s where learning and growth come from. It’s a radical notion for entrepreneurs, many terrified of appearing uncertain. Yet Young champions it relentlessly.
“If you’re scared of doing it,” he says, “that’s probably a good sign that you should do it.”
—Rayne Miller
’71Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
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ing id quod mazim placerat facer possim assum.
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“I can’t begin to enumerate all the experiences I have had thanks to my time at UR.”
—Quita Tansey Collins, W’66
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ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
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This alum’s big head
I was the man inside the “Spidey” suit during the 1990s. I’m proud to say my teenage son now sports his own mascot uniform.
Father-son tandems can share a lot, from over-the-top fishing trip tales to advanced barbecue techniques and even names.
I share something a bit quirkier with my 14-year-old son, Nolan: The ability to nimbly navigate terrain with blinders on. A high tolerance for fragrant Febreze spray. And a flair for whipping fans into a frenzy.
Both Nolan and I have worked the stands and playing floor as mascots. I donned eight fabric legs as Spidey — now WebstUR — in the late ’90s. Nolan carries a plush sword and shield into battle 15 minutes from campus for the Robious Middle School Raiders. At his first basketball game, he hung out in the corner, a shy soldier reminiscent of the king’s
guard standing sentry at Buckingham Palace. But Nolan soon gained some moxie, playing the sword like an electric guitar after a 3-pointer, working the crowd with high-fives, even knighting a friend or two. After the final buzzer, he was exasperated, jubilant, and thinking about what he’d do differently next time.
I knew this postgame ritual well. My first game as Spidey — a Family Weekend affair against Virginia Military Institute during the 1997 football season — also ended with a giant sigh of relief. The day was hot, and my red and blue cocoon was downright sweltering. Thankfully, every time we scored — which was frequently — I hopped aboard an ATV for a celebratory lap around the field and a quick cool-down.
But it wasn’t just first-day jitters and dehydration on my mind.
It was the first-year VMI cadets, affectionately known as rats, who had developed a reputation that season for attacking opposing mascots. Rumors swirled that they had sent the James Madison University Duke to the hospital the previous weekend, then had it taxidermized for their trophy room.
I was assigned an off-duty cop for our game.
As the clock wound down, I put my guard down — and my actual guard went to get a hot dog. I spotted my parents and began walking toward them for an awkward embrace. But something obscured my vision: A group of sharply uniformed VMI cadets rushing my way.
With neither escort nor energy, I trudged forward as my folks looked on in horror. The cadets inched closer and closer until, like a scene from The Three Stooges, they tripped over one another and collapsed into a heap of shiny buttons and feathers.
I was safe. And I gave my folks that big, sweaty hug, too.
During the ride home after Nolan’s maiden mascot voyage, I told him the VMI story and a few others, grateful we had forged a bond in the peak of fandom and electrolyte depletion. And we exchanged the best fist bump. Ever.
FROM SPIDEY TO WEBSTUR
At Reunion Weekend in 2011, the University of Richmond debuted its current mascot, WebstUR, an eightlegged spider with removable webbing and flashing LED eyes.
VINCENT OLIVIERI, ’98
Math and music meet
A drama professor sat beside Vincent Olivieri, ’98, a theater- and music-loving high schooler, at UR’s admitted students dinner in 1994. Their conversation sealed the deal: Olivieri would be a Spider.
“It made an impression on me that he came at the end of his [work] day to talk to a high school senior he may not see again,” Olivieri said. “It wasn’t until my senior year [at Richmond] that I realized the admissions program knew exactly what they were doing.”
Though Olivieri was a math major with an education concentration, he “never really got involved with that department,” he said. “I did my classes, I met with my advisers, but it wasn’t really my home. My home was over at the Fine Arts Building (FAB) — then Modlin when it opened my junior year.” His dedication to the arts played out on the stage, behind the scenes, in recording studios, and as a percussion performance minor.
It was at the FAB that a professor introduced Olivieri to sound design. “I had no idea what [that] was,” Olivieri said. “When they described it as one-third theater, one-third music, and one-third technology, it sounded exactly like something I might be into.”
Today, Olivieri is a professor of sound design at University of California-Irvine teaching courses like video game sound design and sound art.
“[Having an] educational foundation has been really helpful,” Olivieri said. “But teaching at a research university means I am also designing and composing around the world.” He recently traveled to Lagos, Nigeria, to design sound for the world premiere of a folk opera produced by the Crown Troupe of Africa.
Whether his students are entering the entertainment industry or starting their own businesses, the best part of Olivieri’s job is helping them get there. “The most rewarding thing is watching the way our students are transforming our field and knowing we were a part of that growth.”
—Sophia Demerath, ’26
esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
’73Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
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praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Nam liber tempor cum soluta nobis eleifend option congue nihil imperdiet doming id quod mazim placerat facer possim assum.
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Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Nam liber tempor cum soluta nobis eleifend option congue nihil imperdiet doming id quod mazim placerat facer possim assum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
’74Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
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illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Nam liber tempor cum soluta nobis eleifend option congue nihil imperdiet doming id quod mazim placerat facer possim assum.
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ing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
’75Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
“Asheville is still recovering from Helene, but it’s definitely ready for tourists!”
—Diane Dorsey Edwards, W’69
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odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
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’82
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GABE HILLEGASS, ’03
Simplifying health records
Accessing your health records shouldn’t feel harder than accessing your bank account. Yet millions of patients struggle with administrative friction and low health literacy and wind up repeatedly explaining their medical history.
“I saw these very real pain points within my dayto-day job,” said Gabe Hillegass, ’03, an academic pain medicine physician and professor of anesthesiology at the Medical University of South Carolina.
In 2023, Hillegass launched Solverein, a technology startup to make medical records more secure, accessible, and understandable. “This,” he said, “was a way I could divert my intellectual effort and sweat equity to create something meaningful.”
The company’s first product, MedicalEase, streamlines the record retrieval process. Patient authorization, identity verification, and information transfer pass within a highly secure architecture.
The platform leverages artificial intelligence to help patients understand complex medical information. Building this challenged Hillegass. “I remember initially not knowing what to type or ask [the chatbot],” he said. “And being afraid: ‘What if I type the wrong thing and I mess it up?’”
But curiosity quickly replaced hesitation. Hillegass explored how emerging technologies could reshape health information management. But Solverein was not built alone. Several fellow alumni helped with advising, strategy, and operational support — including Adam Coughlin, ’05.
“Adam and his colleagues at York IE have been instrumental partners,” Hillegass said. “Our shared Richmond experience and friendship created the opportunity for us to reengage and collaborate again. It’s been a fun process!”
Hillegass says the experience reinforced a lesson that extends beyond healthcare and entrepreneurship. “It’s the people,” he said about UR. “It’s all about the people,” a sentiment he says reflects Solverein’s mission: Using technology to make healthcare feel more human again.
—Ava Jenks, ’27
consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit
in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Nam liber tempor cum soluta nobis eleifend option congue nihil imperdiet doming id quod mazim placerat facer possim assum.
’87
“I’m far too old to be shoveling 36 inches of snow on Mother’s Day! ”
—Kate Barham, W’69
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mcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
’91Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
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dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
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MARK HICKMAN, ’07
Health policy advocate
Mark Hickman, ’07, is a bridge between health care and Virginia legislators. As the senior director of state government relations at Virginia Commonwealth University Health, his job is “to help guide [the VCU community] through the policy and advocacy process. I help be that liaison between them and our government policymakers.”
Hickman has met some of the state’s top government leaders, helped craft legislation, and advocated for funding that passed through the Virginia General Assembly. “To think I’ve been able to come along this way from a modest background and be part of this work here in Richmond, Virginia, it’s really cool for me,” he said.
Spiders tend to bump into one another spontaneously, something Hickman experienced during the 2026 General Assembly session. His former leadership studies professor Tom Shields was there with a group of students, allowing Hickman to share his own class experience with them. He always knew he wanted to study politics, but professors like Shields taught Hickman how to apply leadership to his work in the government sector.
“Research [shows] that when you put your employees first, the profits follow,” he said. “And those kinds of companies — their employees are happier, and they make more money in the long run.”
Hickman has had two primary guides along the way: an anchor and a north star. “You need to be grounded, but you also need to be moving forward, exploring and experiencing life,” he said.
He also emphasized the importance of community work. Hickman is chair of the board of directors at Homeward, a nonprofit organization addressing homelessness in the Richmond region. “I cannot talk enough about the importance of volunteering,” he said. “Not just [to] give back, but also as a way to build relationships and networks. It has helped me tremendously in every way and has made my life better as I try to make others’ lives better.”
—Ava Jenks,
’27
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“Life is filled with surprising adventures. Find the joy hidden in each day and make it special.”
—Anne Marie Park Young, W’70
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’01Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
’02Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
’03
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For information about photos, see:
’14
7. Jensen Smith Stephenson,
8. Sara Diaz, C’16
9. Josh Hess, ’16
10. Lizzie Andre, ’20
11. Chris Cox, L’24
12. Clare Lawler, ’24
13. Brenna Harman, L’25
JOHN MCAULIFF, ’14
Hospitable leadership
John McAuliff, ’14, is proof that installing air-conditioning units at a bed and breakfast and drafting state legislation share common ground. As the owner of Chilton House and a delegate in the Virginia House of Delegates, he employs grounded leadership and proactive problem-solving.
McAuliff, who studied leadership studies, initially used his skill set to advise political leaders from Virginia to the White House. Now a leader himself, he represents western Loudoun and northern Fauquier counties. During the 10 months out of session, McAuliff keeps himself busy with local events and constituent outreach.
His legislation, which focuses on climate policy and small businesses, is informed by running Chilton House. The bed and breakfast in Warrenton, Virginia, a property dating back to the early 1800s, was formerly his grandparents’ house. McAuliff transformed it, which brought in tourists to boost the local economy. In the legislature, he focuses on local businesses and farmland preservation.
“I think it is valuable to move around and do different jobs and take on different challenges,” McAuliff said. “You need to have scope. You can’t do [politics] well if it’s all you’ve ever done.”
His favorite part of the job is simple: “I like when the governor signs my bills.” But he’s learned not to fixate on failures. Instead, McAuliff prioritizes “guest relations,” listening to his constituents and his guests. As long as the people he serves feel they are heard, he believes he has accomplished something.
“It’s not that difficult in life to get some power. What’s hard is wielding it ethically [and] making decisions that are actually in the best interests of the people you’re supposed to protect,” he said. “We can’t solve every problem, or we can’t solve it quickly sometimes, but you can make sure people are listened to.”
—Amy Ogle, ’26
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’06
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“To anyone considering being an organ donor, either eyes or other organs, please know that your gift will truly be a blessing to someone.”
—Linda Niemann Evans, W’71
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modo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
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Everyone reads class notes, but only you can write them. Send your update — whether life-changing or just friendly chitchat — today using this QR code.
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’10Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
’11Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
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’14Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
’15Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
REBECCA M. BARSHOP, ’16
Stories for days
Rebecca Fradkin Barshop, ’16, always has a story to tell. Growing up, she wrote dozens of short stories and was editor-in-chief of her high school yearbook. Now she oversees digital and print publications as a managing editor for the American College of Chest Physicians.
Barshop’s writing journey flourished at UR. She was a writer and editor for the student newspaper, The Collegian. The leadership studies major was promoted to copy chief her sophomore year.
“You can study leadership theory all you want, but it’s not the same until you have a team and you need to work well with every different personality,” Barshop said. “I learned how to be a leader among my peers without necessarily being a manager.”
At The Collegian, Barshop met Mike Spear, former head of the journalism department and the publication’s faculty adviser. “You can’t meet him and not want to smile and laugh,” Barshop said. “He would come in and just throw chocolate on the newsroom desk. I didn’t know it at the time, but meeting [Spear] was a turning point for me.” He became one of the most formative influences on Barshop’s career.
Catching on to her budding editorial talent, UR’s Jewish chaplain at the time, Campus Rabbi Andrew Goodman, approached Barshop about taking her involvement with Jewish programming on campus to the next level. As a team of one, she soon launched Our Jewish Life, a four-page newsletter that ran until autumn 2016.
Her advice for students is simple: Stay curious, be solution-oriented, and don’t try to have it all figured out yet. “One of the great things about journalism and editing is that you have transferable skills that don’t tie you to a specific industry,” said Barshop, who has worked in everything from entertainment to finance to health care. “If you are a writer, you can write anything.”
—Sophia Demerath, ’26
’16Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
’18Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
’20Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
’24Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
’25Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Nam liber tempor cum soluta nobis eleifend option congue nihil imperdiet doming id quod mazim placerat facer possim assum.
We remember Spiders’ lives. The notes that appear here are drawn from the university’s most recently available records updates at the time of compilation, which is generally about two months before each issue prints. To report a graduate’s passing, email classnotes@richmond.edu.
’40s
Edward R. “Ed” Adams, R’41, of Richmond, Virginia, Feb. 4, 2026. A World War II veteran and Harvard MBA graduate, he joined Virginia-Carolina Chemical Corp. and was vice president and director when the company merged with Mobil Oil Co. He later held positions in banking, commercial banking, and a startup firm. He was active in many civic organizations and was a founding member of Westminster Canterbury Corp., where he became a resident in 1998. He was instrumental in gathering military records and photos of 151 World War II veterans in residence there.
Emma Smithson “Emmy” Fountain, W’42, of Wilmington, Delaware, Jan. 17, 2026. Except for her college years, she lived nearly her entire life on her family farm in the former Princess Anne County, Virginia, now Virginia Beach. She taught school and piano, eventually dedicating her life to music. For most of her career, she was affiliated with the Marsh School of Music in Norfolk, Virginia. An animal lover, she kept cats, cows, goats, sheep, and dogs.
Elizabeth Weaver Martin, W’45 and G’75, of Mocksville, North Carolina, March 14, 2022. She taught fourth and fifth grades in Mocksville for 28 years and served as fundraising chair for the addition to the Davie County Public Library.
James P. Ahstrom, R’46, of Sarasota, Florida, Feb. 3, 2022. A native of Chicago, he earned a degree from Northwestern University Medical School.
James W. Boehling, R’48, of Richmond, Virginia, Jan. 8, 2026. He achieved the age of 100. During World War II, he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps and flew his first and only mission over Germany at age 19. When his plane began to stall, he
bailed out, while the remaining crew members perished in the ensuing crash. He later joined family members as a partner in F.H. Boehling Feed and Seed. He then worked at Reynolds and then Fiber Tube of Richmond.
’50s
Ida Smith Hall, W’50, of Williamsburg, Virginia, Dec. 7, 2025. After college, she went to Williamsburg to teach music for a couple of years, instead staying for 75 years. She was a soloist for the Williamsburg Baptist Church choir and was a member of the Williamsburg Garden Club for 60 years. She was the second woman elected to the vestry at Bruton Parish Church.
Joe Berg, attd.’51, of Stamford, Connecticut, Feb. 11, 2026. A World War II veteran, he was a scholarship football player at UR and the Virginia state champion in competitive weightlifting. He transferred to Mexico City College to study Spanish, French, and Russian. He worked in the freight forwarding business in Philadelphia and Germany, where he was a vice president for Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. He returned to the U.S. in 1969 to become vice president of Circle Air Freight and later served as president at Air Express International.
Jeanne Goulding Cheatham, W’51, of Plantation, Florida, Dec. 19, 2025. She was dedicated to the welfare of children, initially as a first grade teacher and then for 10 years as a guardian ad litem, a role in which she guided young people through challenging circumstances. She cherished time with her family, gardening, reading, playing bridge, and attending Miami Dolphins home games.
Kathleen Boggs Etheridge, attd.’51, of Salem, Virginia, Jan. 8, 2026. She was an active member of Salem Baptist Church, where she led the Girls of Grace Sunday school class and taught Girls in Action and Acteens missions classes. Her spiritual heritage included five generations of women devoted to Southern Baptist Church ministries and
was related to Lottie Moon, a Virginia Southern Baptist missionary.
Stephen C. Hite, attd.’51, of Jacksonville, Florida, Dec. 5, 2025. He served in the Army Veterinary Corps and later opened a veterinary clinic in Jacksonville, where he practiced for 50 years. He was involved in local, state, and national veterinary associations and was an active member of the Men’s Garden Club. He and his wife traveled the world together.
Roberta Brooks Shelton, attd.’51, of Boydton, Virginia, Jan. 6, 2026. She was an office manager for her husband’s medical practice and volunteered in many capacities, including teaching Sunday school, knitting and making items for her church’s bazaars, and extending kindness and hospitality whenever she learned someone might need her support.
Robert N. Watkins, attd.’51, of Midlothian, Virginia, March 2, 2026. A veteran of the U.S. Navy, he devoted his career to Watkins Nurseries, where he designed and installed landscaping for residential and commercial properties in the Richmond area. He loved the Potomac River in Virginia’s Northern Neck, and in 1955, he built his beloved cottage at Sandy Point. The cottage became a cherished gathering place for family and friends for generations. He enjoyed hunting and fishing and was an instrument-rated pilot and avid skier.
Lucille “Lu” Angell Soukup, W’52, of Wilmington, Delaware, Jan. 27, 2026. She taught fourth grade in Richmond and Wilmington. She began singing at an early age and performed with church choirs and as a soprano soloist at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, where she remained in the choir for more than 50 years. Music also brought Lu and her husband together. They met in elementary school while taking piano lessons from the same teacher. As adults, they performed in special music events at church and created and performed many voice and piano programs in the Wilmington area. They were members of the Madrigal Singers of Wilmington and the Brandywiners Chorale. As a life member of the Brandywiners theater group, she attended every summer production since 1953,
participating as usher, ticket salesperson, and performer. She served for many years as secretary for her 1952 Westhampton College class, writing news for the alumni magazine.
Martha Clark Bell, W’53, of Midlothian, Virginia, Jan. 5, 2026. Having earned a doctoral degree in English, she relocated several times to teach high school Spanish in Colorado, Virginia, and New York and college English in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. She won many awards and accolades as a student and teacher and was known for her wit, her fierce independence, her art, playing piano, and baking pecan pies.
Fred B. Bisger, B’54, of Henrico, Virginia, Jan. 18, 2026. He earned a four-year scholarship to UR and was president of the Richmond College Student Government Association. He served in the U.S. Air Force, and after returning to Richmond, he began a 50-year career as a homebuilder and real estate agent. He enjoyed traveling to Europe, especially a trip on the Orient Express from Paris to Istanbul, which he described as “a once-in-a-lifetime journey.”
Ola Hill Krueger, W’54 and G’54, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, Dec. 27, 2025. She was a psychologist at Medical College of Virginia before marrying and moving to Virginia Beach. There, she was involved with the Virginia Beach Beautification Committee, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, her garden club, and the hospital auxiliary. She enjoyed boating, traveling, and gardening.
Robert S.B. “Bob” Ossman, R’54, of Suffolk, Virginia, July 28, 2025. He worked for C&P Telephone Co. and AT&T, retiring to a home on the water in Portsmouth, Virginia. He spent the final 10 years of his career as executive director of the Portsmouth chapter of the American Red Cross, retiring for good in 1996. He was an active church member for 40 years and was president of the Downtown Rotary Club. He was on the board for Christopher Academy for 17 years and was active in Meals on Wheels. The Portsmouth mayor declared May 16, 1996, as “Bob Ossman Day” in recognition of his many contributions to the community.
Walter F. Witt Jr., B’54 and L’66, of Richmond, Virginia, Dec. 4, 2025. A U.S. Army veteran, he started his career with C&P Telephone Co. He later joined the Hunton & Williams law firm, becoming a partner in 1974 and then senior counsel.
Edith Borjes Greer, W’56, of Roanoke, Virginia, Jan. 15, 2026. She taught school in Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia, especially cherishing her special education students, whom she grew to love. She stayed in touch with them the rest of her life. She was active in Christian outreach ministries and enjoyed corresponding with children from other countries whom she came to know through those ministries. She also enjoyed gardening and bird watching.
Brigitte Reimer, W’56, of Kelowna, British Columbia, Nov. 15, 2025. She taught school in Canada, where she met her future husband on a train to Hamilton, Ontario. They lived in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where she earned a master’s degree in history and continued her teaching career. In Kelowna, she taught high school English and German, counseled students, and led the debating program. She was active in her church, Habitat for Humanity, and the Kelowna Chamber Music Society.
Jo-Anne Ayre Alissi, attd.’57, of West Hartford, Connecticut, Nov. 15, 2025. She co-owned the Village Day Camp and Outing Facility in Barkhamsted, Connecticut, for 30 years. After raising her children, she became associate director of athletics at Kingswood Oxford School for 20 years. The school makes two awards honoring her sportsmanship, professionalism, and positive impact on athletes and students. She was known for her service to others and teaching by example.
Aimee Lee Raveling Cheek, W’57, of San Diego, California, Jan. 15, 2026. As a young reporter at the Charlottesville Daily Progress, she covered the awakening of the civil rights movement. As a young mother in Arkansas, she helped organize after-school and summer programs for children in the local Black community. After moving to San Diego, her house became a refuge for generations of her husband’s college students and colleagues and her daughters’ friends. She was a stalwart of democracy in her community, organizing grassroots campaigns, securing a public park, and founding a community newspaper, which she continued to edit into her 80s. She and her husband became biographers of John Mercer Langston, the first Black congressman from Virginia and an architect of the 19th-century civil rights movement.
William F. Cheek, G’57, of San Diego, California, May 12, 2023. His quick wit, excellent memory, and Southern flair made him a quiz-show star on Tic-Tac-Dough during his New York honeymoon with Aimee Raveling Cheek, W’57. Those same qualities contributed to his career as a professor of American history, primarily at San Diego State University, with stints at the University of Arkansas, Concordia University, the Université d’Aixen-Provence, and the University of California, Los Angeles. After discovering the autobiography of John Mercer Langston, an architect of the late 19th-century civil rights movement and the first Black congressman from Virginia, he and Aimee wrote Langston’s compelling story. His own experience growing up in the segregated South and his prolonged study of the African American experience made him a powerful advocate.
Nancy Day Anderson Haga, W’57, of Farmville, Virginia, Nov. 17, 2025. She taught for 45 years, cajoling thousands of students into public
speaking and debate. Over 20 years, she created and led a nationally recognized high school forensic program at Fuqua School. Her introductory communications class was required for each student at Longwood University for two decades. She also promoted the local arts as chair of the university’s communications and theater department.
Sam G. Kapourales, R’57, of Williamson, West Virginia, Feb. 23, 2026. After graduating from pharmacy school, he returned to Williamson and purchased Hurley Drug Co., where he practiced for 40 years. He received the Bowl of Hygeia Award for outstanding community service by a pharmacist. He served as mayor of Williamson from 1978 to 1999 and was named Mayor of the Year for his work securing funding for a floodwall and recruiting medical services and physicians to the area. Through his participation in many civic organizations, he devoted his life to service.
Herbert A. Richwine, R’57, of Moseley, Virginia, Feb. 25, 2026. His career spanned many years with Chesterfield County Public Schools, serving as teacher and school principal.
L. Hunter Beazley Jr., B’58, of Chester, Virginia, Jan. 6, 2026. A U.S. Army veteran, he retired from Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. as director of labor relations, working in Petersburg, Virginia, and Louisville, Kentucky. He was president of the Chester Jaycees when it won Outstanding Jaycee Chapter in Virginia. He was a member of several other civic organizations and was an active member of Chester United Methodist Church, where he served as chair of the trustees. He also served 15 years on the Chesterfield Board of Zoning Appeals.
Alvin F. Mizelle, attd.’58, of Wilmington, North Carolina, Jan. 31, 2026. He worked for the Virginia Electric and Power Co. (VEPCO) gas department for 37 years, including the company’s transition to Virginia Power and then Dominion. A man of few words, he had many talents, including painting, guitar playing, hunting, and golfing. He was a deacon and choir member at his church and was heavily involved in building three of his pre- and post-retirement homes, including a log home.
Barbara Milstein Pesin, attd.’58, of Pompano Beach, Florida, March 10, 2026. She resided in Manhattan, New York, for most of her adult life as an advertising and marketing executive for agencies Grey and Leo Burnett and brand recognition companies Revlon, General Foods, Sears, Kimberly-Clark, and Avon. After retirement, she moved to Sag Harbor, Long Island, with her partner and their brood of toy poodles. She continued to bring fun and laughter to her community in Florida in the last decade of her life and was admired for her courage facing the many challenges of cancer during the final year of her life.
Betty Jean Watkins Saunders, attd.’58, of
Richmond, Virginia, March 7, 2026. She was married to a fellow Spider for 61 years, and together, they raised a family in Richmond. At times, she was a secretary in her husband’s CPA practice. She enjoyed friendship, fellowship, and community service through membership in the Dunlora Women’s Club, Tuckahoe Woman’s Club, and the Heartstrings music ministry. She was a longtime member of Tuckahoe Presbyterian Church and later Third Church.
Jane Carlisle Stockman, W’58, of Richmond, Virginia, Dec. 22, 2025. She served as alumnae director for Westhampton College and then executive director of alumni affairs for the University of Richmond. She received the Distinguished Alumna Award from the Richmond Club of the Westhampton Alumnae Association, and later, a student award was established in her honor. The Omicron Delta Kappa and Mortar Board honor societies tapped her for honorary membership, and her college class presented her portrait to the university; it hangs in the Jepson Alumni Center. Upon her retirement, the University of Richmond Alumni Association established a scholarship in her name. In the community, she served on the board of directors of Grace House, the William Byrd Community House, and the YWCA. After retiring in 2000, she became a regular volunteer for Children’s Hospital’s Brook Road Pavilion, St. Joseph’s Villa, and the food pantry of St. Thomas Episcopal Church. She was a longtime member of First English Lutheran Church in Richmond.
Charles R. Tolbert, R’58, of Charlottesville, Virginia, Dec. 4, 2025. He was a researcher and teacher, having spent 40 years teaching introductory astronomy at the University of Virginia. He specialized in optical and radio astronomy. At UVA, he also served as director of the Office of Academic Space, a member of the physical access committee, and grand marshal at commencement. He was active in the American Astronomical Society, the American Institute of Physics, the Royal Netherlands Astronomical Society, and others. He was a member and chair of the Albemarle County school board, a member of the Piedmont Regional Education Program, and a member and vice chair of the Albermarle County Service Authority.
Robert F. “Bob” Collins, R’59, of Windsor, Colorado, Jan. 16, 2026. He served in the U.S. Army for more than 25 years. During the Vietnam War, he was recognized with the Bronze Star (three times), the Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry, and the Vietnam Armed Forces Honor Medal. A deep thinker and gifted communicator, he authored five military textbooks and mastered the Russian language. He became a vital asset in military intelligence, serving as a Soviet specialist and strategist with assignments at the
Pentagon and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.
Glyn D. Mangum, attd.’59, of Harleysville, Pennsylvania, Dec. 15, 2025. He dedicated his professional life to sales and marketing in the insurance industry. He worked for several insurance firms and was executive vice president of Harleysville Life Insurance Co. He earned the designation of Chartered Life Underwriter. He was active at Grace Bible Church, where he taught Sunday school, served as an elder, and sang in the choir.
Virginia Bain Pearson, attd.’59, of Lynchburg, Virginia, Feb. 5, 2026. She was the first female to be admitted to VCU’s pharmacy program. She later transitioned to VCU’s nursing school but left to raise her family. Years later, she completed the nursing degree and added a master’s degree in education and counseling, both from Lynchburg College. She worked as a nurse on an adult psychiatric unit and became a mental health counselor. She had a lifelong love for gardening and flowers, often creating beautiful floral arrangements.
’60s
William D. Bingham, attd.’60, of Frankfort, Kentucky, March 3, 2026. He had a successful career as a salesman before a tragic accident in his family took him in a different direction. He felt called to be a preacher, and he attended Southern Methodist College for seminary studies. While studying, he served as pastor of several Methodist churches. After completing his education, he went back to his home state and began Free Grace Bible Church in the small town of Frankfort. His ministry extended for decades.
Alice Jane Michael Crick, W’60, of Midlothian, Virginia, Jan. 11, 2026. She was a librarian for Richmond Public Schools. She was a gardener, bridge player, social hostess, Girl Scout leader, PTA president, church choir member, and music lover, among other activities.
Bobby R. Curtis, B’60, of Greensboro, North Carolina, Jan. 4, 2026. He was a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and later became a partner with A.M. Pullen & Co. He retired from his home office, where he liked to say he was “partner in charge.” He worked another 29 years as CFO for Industrial Air Inc. He was active with the Truist Bank board, the Presbyterian Home, the Alamance Volunteer Fire Department, and Kiwanis. Also active in his church, he was a deacon, an elder, and a middle school Sunday school teacher.
Richard S. McLellon, L’60, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, Feb. 18, 2026. He served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. After receiving a law degree, he returned to Portsmouth, Virginia, where he practiced litigation for 40 years. He was
a member of the Portsmouth Exchange Club and twice received its most valuable member award. A member of several legal organizations, he served on the Virginia State Bar ethics committee and was president of the Portsmouth Bar Association in 1982. He was a longtime member of the Float Fisherman of Virginia and edited the group’s monthly newsletter for four years. He also was a history buff and aviation enthusiast, piloting both power and glider aircraft.
Les Saunders Jr., R’60 and L’63, of North Chesterfield, Virginia, Jan. 2, 2026. He practiced law in Richmond and Chesterfield for more than 60 years and was president of the Chesterfield Bar Association and president and director of the Chesterfield Jaycees and the Broad Rock Ruritan Club. In 1984, he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. He was active in his church for more than 70 years.
Jared B. Sharon, R’60, of Arroyo Grande, California, Jan. 6, 2026. After receiving master’s and doctoral degrees, he served as dean of instruction at the College of Marin (California). He developed College for Kids and Emeritus College, which went on to become statewide programs across California community colleges. In 1986, he moved to Menlo Park, California, where he became vice president at the College of San Mateo. After his retirement, he became a chaplain and a para-rabbinic fellow at Congregation Beth David, serving the California Men’s Colony and Corcoran State Prison. He authored a book to help rehabilitate inmates titled Basic Judaism for Those Seeking a New Beginning
Sallie Meek Hunter, W’61, of Point Clear, Alabama, Jan. 26, 2026. She was a voracious reader, a formidable tennis player, and an avid gardener. Active in her church, she was an elder and participated in six mission trips. She believed all were called to service to make the world a better place.
William A. “Al” Collins, B’63, of Bowling Green, Virginia, Dec. 5, 2025. A proud veteran of the U.S. Army, he served 22 years, including two tours in Vietnam, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He worked at Fort A.P. Hill before owning and operating a local auto dealership. In retirement, he gave back as a substitute teacher and volunteer with Rappahannock Area Community Services Board.
Moultrie S. “Buddy” Lanier II, B’63, of Quinton, Virginia, Feb. 5, 2026. He served in Vietnam with the U.S. Army and later began a career as a life insurance agent. He established Lanier Financial Associates in Richmond, where he assisted his clients in estate and business planning. A member of Acca Shriners for more than 50 years, he was a 32nd-degree Mason. He was a faithful member of Tuckahoe Presbyterian Church and was an avid golfer, reader, and traveler.
Coolidge A. Porterfield Jr., R’63, of Greensboro, North Carolina, Jan. 25, 2026. During his career, he was a minister, a housing specialist in a poverty program, and an executive in the shopping center industry. He worked for the Starmount Co. for 49 years, the last 34 as president.
Michael D. First, B’64, of Atlanta, Georgia, April 4, 2025. He was a certified public accountant and practiced public accounting in Richmond for more than 25 years. In Atlanta, he and his family founded Graphcom Inc., and after retirement, he spent most of his time in Clearwater, Florida. He loved the water and was an avid boater.
Thomas “Tommy” A. Fletcher, R’64, of Kilmarnock, Virginia, Jan. 7, 2026. He was a U.S. Army veteran and served two years in Vietnam, where he made helicopter rescue missions into the jungle to bring back wounded soldiers. Upon his return, he taught English and history to eighth graders in Fairfax County, Virginia, and earned a master’s degree. A talented athlete, he enjoyed sharing his love of sports with his four children and devoted 12 years to coaching Little League baseball. He took early retirement from teaching and spent six years as a roofing estimator, retiring again in 2005 to Kilmarnock. He grew and gave away garden vegetables and served as concert master for the Chesapeake Chorale for almost 10 years.
Patricia Ailsworth Gwitt, attd.’64, of Dunwoody, Georgia, Dec. 8, 2025. She earned a degree from the Chamberlain School of Retailing to pursue her passion for interiors and design. In 1960, she was named Miss Virginia State Fair. Early in her career, she worked at Woodward & Lothrop in Washington, D.C., in the millinery department. She later worked in public relations and volunteered at Emory St. Joseph’s Hospital, where she served as president of the auxiliary.
James L. “Jim” McGuffin, B’64, of Glen Allen, Virginia, March 10, 2026. After college, he served in the U.S. Navy and then spent more than 30 years with Goldberg Co., working the retail side, earning the Whirlpool Salesman of the Year award three years in a row. Moving to the builder division, he developed and managed showrooms specializing in high-end appliances for custom homes. Having learned to play golf in college, he was passionate about the sport for the rest of his life.
Donald Boyd, attd.’65, of High Point, North Carolina, Nov. 5, 2025. He was a member of Emerywood Baptist Church in High Point and worked for Litton Industries office furniture companies, Data Safe Records Management Co., and Brandywine Envelope Corp. before retirement. He enjoyed all kinds of sports and competitions and was known as a very good baseball player, having played for the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. He loved golf and the people he met playing it.
Elizabeth “Liz” Smith Carpenter, attd.’65, of Richmond, Virginia, Nov. 8, 2025. She dedicated many years to serving students in the Chesterfield and Henrico school systems. She had a special love for her “little children” and found great joy in nurturing young minds.
Michael S. Smelser, R’65, of Westminster, Maryland, Jan. 11, 2026. He was a scholarship halfback for the Spiders. After graduation, he began his career as a special agent for the U.S. Secret Service in the Baltimore field office. Rising through the ranks, to assistant director in charge of all training, he retired after 30 years. He served on protective details for vice presidents Spiro Agnew and George H.W. Bush and presidential candidates Eugene McCarthy, Phil Crane, and Ronald Reagan and was assigned to a presidential special mission with Nelson Rockefeller to Latin America. He also protected several heads of state, and during a presidential visit to the Vatican, he had an audience with Pope John Paul II. Later in life, he was ordained and served churches in Silver Spring and Reisterstown, Maryland. In retirement, he enjoyed golf and creating watercolor paintings.
Robert N. Ring, R’66, of Maineville, Ohio, Feb. 18, 2026. He was a U.S. Army veteran. After working 11 years for Ford Motor Co., he and a partner purchased a Ford dealership in Loveland, Ohio, that grew into a thriving business over the next 46 years. He was a “people person” who emphasized the importance of personal service for his customers. A consistent thread throughout his life was his love of building teams and serving on them. His hallmark laugh was often heard an uncommon distance from its source. He was devoted to his family and the Roman Catholic faith.
James L. “Jim” Dellinger, R’68, of Denver, North Carolina, Dec. 28, 2025. He practiced law for 50 years, primarily in Stokes and Surry counties in North Carolina. He served as a district attorney in the 1990s.
Larry F. Parker, R’68, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, Feb. 12, 2026. He served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam and then earned an MBA. A CPA, he was a government auditor for more than 35 years. In retirement, he enjoyed his family and worked in his church’s food pantry and toddler Sunday school. He also enjoyed traveling with his wife around the country and abroad.
Michael V. Salmon, R’68, of Richmond, Virginia, Aug. 4, 2024. He was the owner of the real estate company Michael V. Salmon & Co.
Hugh A. Thatcher, R’68, of Raritan Township, New Jersey, March 12, 2026. He was a captain in the U.S. Army and served in Vietnam. Later, he was a strategic business partner, mentor, and human resource leader, working for several companies. He worked at AT&T for 27 years before retiring and then returning to work as vice pres-
ident of human resources for the steel company MISA for 17 years.
Randolph E. Trow Jr., L’68, of Richmond, Virginia, Feb. 6, 2026. He spent 50 years as a practicing attorney. Remembered for being lighthearted and quick-witted, he was a gifted storyteller and collected friends wherever he went. He spent winter weekends on the Bryce Mountain ski patrol for 50 years and many fall and spring weekends leading windsurfing trips to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
James J. Wasakoski, R’68, of Elysburg, Pennsylvania, July 20, 2025. He worked for the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, serving as both caseworker and supervisor. He was a fierce advocate for those in need and brought joy to the workplace. Retirement was full of golf and fishing trips. In the U.S. Army, he led the 65th Military Police Company at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
Dorothy “Robin” Nelson Clark, attd.’69, of Wilmington, North Carolina, Jan. 25, 2026. She had a love of travel, and her career as a flight attendant took her all over the world. When she retired, she was an elementary school crossing guard. A devout Catholic, she taught catechism class for children and was church nursery coordinator.
Wilbur Barry Gibrall, B’69 and G’92, of Henrico, Virginia, March 23, 2026. He was a longtime teacher, administrator, and fundraiser at Benedictine College Preparatory and the voice of the Benedictine Cadets. He spent two decades as owner and operator of Barry’s on Robinson Street, Barry’s Place near UR, and Barry Gibrall’s Restaurant & Sports Lounge on Broad Street. He began teaching American literature as a long-term substitute and then taught full time at Godwin High School. In 2000, he moved to Benedictine and spent 25 years teaching literature, creative writing, and poetry. He also served as athletic director before moving into fundraising.
William B. Hawkins, attd.’69, of Longboat Key, Florida, Jan. 29, 2026. He spent four decades working for Nash Engineering and Gardner Denver. He enjoyed sailing, golfing, biking, and tennis. He also loved photography and could often be seen around Beaver Lake with his Canon camera hanging around his neck.
Betty Moore McGinnis, W’69, of Fairhope, Alabama, Feb. 8, 2026. She worked for Bank of Virginia and Citibank. She and her husband started their married life in Minneapolis, then moved to Boston, followed by a move to Coral Gables, Florida. There, she was a vice president at Tinsley Advertising.
James W. “Jim” Samans, R’69, of Milton, Delaware, Jan. 3, 2026. He worked for 25 years as business manager for Delaware Technical Community College. Outside of work, he enjoyed golf, music, painting, reading, fishing, and traveling.
Robert K. Green, R’69, of Falmouth, Virginia,
Feb. 22, 2026. He ended a 47-year career with Travelers Insurance Company as a corporate trainer and expert in workers compensation insurance. He coached his sons’ soccer teams and was the proud recipient of the Florence Helms Award for dedication and loyalty to the youth of Stafford County, Virginia. He was president of the Stafford Recreational Soccer League and later, president of the Stafford Soccer Club. He spent most of his life researching and reclaiming his heritage as Native American. He partnered with descendants of the Patawomeck tribe and spearheaded the Patawomeck Indians of Virginia’s quest for state recognition. He served as chief for 15 years and then as chief emeritus.
Jerry C. Septon, R’69, of Salt Lake City, Utah, Nov. 11, 2025. After a job with a chemical company in upstate New York, he developed an interest in hazardous environmental contamination and accepted a job with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. There, he was instrumental in developing new sampling techniques and procedures to detect and identify dangerous chemicals.
Richard Schultz, attd.’69, of Medford, Massachusetts, Nov. 22, 2025. He was a renowned scholar and teacher in international security studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where he worked for 42 years. He authored, co-authored, and edited 26 books and monographs as well as numerous academic articles. The Department of Defense invited him to write the first history of U.S. activities in North Vietnam after documents about that period were declassified. He also wrote about the Marines’ fight against al-Qaida and sought out opportunities to teach alongside military defense practitioners at U.S. military schools.
’70s
Dennis H. Bolden, R’70, of Bon Air, Virginia, Jan. 20, 2026. He spent 20 years in the U.S. Army, achieving the rank of major. Following his military service, he worked in multiple industries, including Time Warner Communications.
Henry P. Custis Jr., L’70, of Onancock, Virginia, Oct. 24, 2025. A lifelong resident of the Eastern Shore, he established a law practice in Onancock with friends and over the next 50 years built a respected legal career. He was proud to be a smalltown lawyer and was known for his work ethic, problem-solving, and integrity. He was an active member of the Virginia State Bar and was a fellow of the Virginia Law Foundation. He was involved in the civic life of his community and was a lifelong member of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church.
Douglas R. Gordon, R’70, of Virginia Beach,
Virginia, Feb. 18, 2026. A U.S. Army veteran, he was a government contractor for gas and oil services. He enjoyed traveling and was a good listener and an incredible storyteller with a subtle sense of humor.
Nancy Ball Sharp, W’70, of Suffolk, Virginia, Jan. 16, 2026. She was a science teacher for 34 years and especially loved teaching biology. She cared deeply for her students and was proud of their accomplishments. She was devoted to the mission work of her church and the community and because of her love of baking sourdough bread and rolls was known as “the bread lady.”
Maurice R. Rice, C’71, of Henrico, Virginia, Oct. 30, 2025. A member of the Air National Guard, he was an accountant for United Virginia Bank, Baker Equipment Co., and Richmond Residential Services. He was a devoted public servant and for several decades was an aerial observer with the Richmond Metropolitan Aviation Unit and was a supervisor of the Richmond Police Neighborhood Assistance Officer program. He and his wife were longtime active members of Ridge Baptist Church, where he served as deacon, nursery worker, and bus driver.
George R. “Bob” Barkley Jr., B’72, of Kilmarnock, Virginia, Jan. 17, 2026. He was the president of the family business, the Colonial Truck Cos., founded by his father. He was a gifted artist, a skilled guitarist, a guitar collector, and an accomplished golfer. His faith and trust guided his life, shaped his character, and defined his love for family and friends.
Elizabeth “Liz” Connie Morris, W’72, of Richmond, Virginia, Feb. 6, 2026. Her career spanned 44 years with Virginia’s Department of Rehabilitative Services. She was a faithful member of Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral, serving on the parish council and as a Sunday school teacher and member of the Ladies Philoptochos Society. She is remembered for her humor, caring, and unselfish generosity.
Ronald P. Watson, C’72, of Carolina Shores, North Carolina, Jan. 4, 2026. An accounting major, he applied his gift for business and numbers to the field of agronomics. Having grown up on a farm, it was a natural step for him. He enjoyed golfing, especially the courses near his home in North Carolina and nearby South Carolina. He also enjoyed fishing, NASCAR, metal detecting, and cheering for the Spiders.
Margaret Louise Coleman, attd.’74, of Southern Shores, North Carolina, March 3, 2026. She spent her career at C&P Telephone/AT&T, where she was a department manager, mastering internal auditing and corporate tax preparation. She was a passionate gardener and cultivated azaleas, hydrangeas, and numerous potted flowers. A lover of travel, she took a 10,000-mile trip to the West and Alberta, Canada.
Martha Ann Griswold, W’74, of Colonial Heights, Virginia, Jan. 28, 2026. She earned a medical degree from Medical College of Virginia and did a residency in internal medicine at the University of North Carolina. She practiced in Petersburg, Virginia, and nearby Colonial Heights, earning the admiration and loyalty of her many patients.
David S. Hay, L’74, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, Jan. 4, 2026. He served in the Virginia National Guard for six years. He served his community for 22 years as an assistant, senior, and deputy city attorney. He was a member of Baylake United Methodist Church and Rotary International.
Denny B. Mills Jr., R’74, of Baltimore, Maryland, Feb. 22, 2023. He worked for CSX for more than 30 years. He had a deep love and understanding of astrology and was known for being an eccentric with quick wit and original perspectives on the universe.
Keith R. Stafford, R’74, of Niceville, Florida, Jan. 1, 2026. He served for 24 years as a military intelligence officer and aviator with the U.S. Army, retiring with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He then taught Latin at Niceville High School for 16 years. He was known for his sharp wit, love of learning, and passion for traveling the world.
James R. Carter, B’75, of Covington, Louisiana, Jan. 26, 2026. After receiving a law degree, he worked his entire legal career at the Porteous, Hainkel and Johnson law firm until he retired in 2018.
Sharon Zinkham Cox, W’75, of Leland, North Carolina, Nov. 11, 2025. Her career was devoted to helping others as a résumé writer, career counselor, human resources professional, elementary school teacher, and real estate agent.
Mary Anne Deane, W’76, of Henrico, Virginia, May 29, 2023. She was an educator for 30 years, teaching preschool children with autism. She enjoyed time with friends, trips to the beach and river, and visits with folk artists.
Deborah Cornell Hino, W’76, of Louisville, Kentucky, June 9, 2024.
Karen M. “Cassie” Kennedy, W’76, of Palm Bay, Florida, Dec. 22, 2025. She established a law practice in Middleburg, Virginia, where she also pursued her lifelong passion for the equestrian world. Later, she and her husband established a farm and an excavation company. In 2016, she and her second husband retired to Florida.
Michael P. Mahoney, B’75, of Disputanta, Virginia, July 15, 2025. He retired after 28 years in industrial sales for Frischkorn Inc. He enjoyed golfing, running, exercising, outdoor activities, and spending time with his family.
Stephan W. Turner, B’75, of Henrico, Virginia, Feb. 24, 2026. He had a long career as a bookkeeper for many area hospitals. He was an avid fan of Spider and Baltimore Orioles baseball. He was a longtime parishioner of St. Ann’s Catholic
Church in Ashland, Virginia, and had a deep and abiding faith.
Charlotte “Charlee” Houchins Leslie, attd.’76, of Crewe, Virginia, Nov. 15, 2025. She was a pharmacist for more than 40 years in several areas of Virginia. She loved photography. She enjoyed traveling with college friends throughout Europe and to beaches and mountains.
Richard L. Meadows, GB’76, of Pinehurst, North Carolina, Nov. 13, 2025. His 28-year military career began in ROTC and the U.S. Army, where he held several positions and deployed to Vietnam as communications officer. He received the Bronze Star. He served 20 years as a military reservist, achieving the rank of lieutenant colonel. Later, he served a term as president of the American Society for Personnel Administration in Virginia. Prior to retiring to Pinehurst, he was a life specialist and financial planner for Allstate.
Jimmy L. Reamy, R’76, of Callao, Virginia, Sept. 30, 2025. A U.S. Coast Guard veteran, he was a Richmond firefighter and an employee of Philip Morris. In 2005, he was ordained as a Baptist minister and served in many Northern Neck churches. He was involved in his community through the American Legion and other organizations.
Wade W. Massie, L’77, of Abingdon, Virginia, Feb. 21, 2026. He built a distinguished name for himself in the legal community throughout Virginia and tried hundreds of cases in federal and state courts in Virginia, West Virginia, and Tennessee. He was active in many local and state bar organizations and was a mentor to young lawyers. He was a fellow of the American Academy of Trial Lawyers and spent his 50-year career at Penn Stuart.
Edmund C. Nuckols Jr., attd.’77, of Midlothian, Virginia, Jan. 18, 2026. He worked for several transportation companies and retired as a service center manager at FedEx in Chester, Virginia. He was an avid sailor and was a commodore of the Yankee Point Yacht Club.
Karyn A. Cleary, attd.’78, of Rochester, New Hampshire, Jan. 30, 2026. She was an avid reader, a talented artist, and a devoted animal lover.
Leigh Trotter Kreider, B’79, of North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Oct. 20, 2025. She worked in various capacities in the banking industry with a focus on computer programming. Her lifelong appreciation for nature led her to involvement with the North Myrtle Beach Sea Turtle Patrol. She also enjoyed viewing wildlife on walks through the local marshes and golf courses.
Janet L. Rockafellar, L’79, of Brentwood, Tennessee, March 14, 2026. After law school, she worked at National City Bank in Louisville, Kentucky, as a vice president of the trust department. She had a wide range of talents and was involved in such things as hosting a radio show as a teen and
annually portraying Woodsy Owl at the Virginia Forestry booth at the State Fair of Virginia. She supported others through teaching women prisoners to read; supporting LGBTQ, Black, and Jewish artists; serving as a longtime volunteer at Jewish Hospital; and teaching English to immigrants.
Linda L. Royster, L’79, of Staunton, Virginia, Jan. 14, 2026. Her legal career was defined by her advocacy for the rights of people with disabilities and by representing clients in need of a public defender. She was a fierce advocate and dedicated activist for civil rights for all people. A music lover, she played guitar and dulcimer and sang.
’80s
Louise Cobb Boggs, L’80, of Henrico, Virginia, Jan. 6, 2026. She was a lifelong lover of learning, receiving bachelor’s, master’s, and law degrees. She was a member of Grace Episcopal Church in Goochland, Virginia.
Mark R. Dunlevy, R’80, of Nags Head, North Carolina, Feb. 9, 2026. He worked for the National Geographic Society’s book division, Regardie’s magazine, and Berryville Graphics. A lover of water sports, he was a scuba diver and instructor, a snow and water skier, and a sailor and fisherman. He was president of his homeowners association and served on the Nags Head citizens advisory committee and the Friends of Jockey Ridge State Park. In Nags Head, he was a trim carpenter for Outer Banks Homes and then established his own renovation business.
Constance Sempeles Koutris, W’80, of Herndon, Virginia, Dec. 4, 2025. She began her career in the hospitality industry in hotel sales and then moved into event planning, which she did for 15 years. She worked with the Ronald McDonald House charity and was a team mom for Oakton High School’s football and basketball teams.
Phillip P. Atkins, R’81, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, Nov. 14, 2025. He formed his own construction company, beginning a career that spanned more than 40 years building and renovating residential and commercial properties. He enjoyed sports and fishing and boating on Carter Creek. His family was always his highest priority, and he was known as dependable, hardworking, quick-witted, and devoted to his family.
Michael R. Carter, attd.’81, of Roanoke, Virginia, Jan. 11, 2026. A business owner and entrepreneur, he excelled in sports, including football, basketball, track and field, baseball, and bowling. He acquired the nickname “Zoom” from an article in the Roanoke World-News, describing his scoring three touchdowns in one game from in different ways — punt return, kickoff return, and pass reception. He received a football scholarship to UR and
numerous honors and awards for his athleticism. In Roanoke, he continued his love of sports by volunteering for Special Olympics.
Kathleen “Kathy” Coggins, W’81, of Indian Trail, North Carolina, Dec. 7, 2025. She was a stockbroker and office management services provider before taking time to raise her daughters. She later served county government for 12 years in facilities management. After moving to North Carolina, she found her calling in education and worked in various capacities at South Piedmont Community College. She had a lifelong wanderlust and curiosity that fueled her travels across the United States and abroad. She loved the outdoors, both at the shore and hiking the trails of North Carolina.
Lee Conaboy DiCenso, W’81, of Smyrna, Georgia, Feb. 15, 2026. She had an appreciation for nature and enjoyed outdoor experiences. For 66 years, she spent summers at Lake Ariel, where she built a community of friends. After marriage, she began a career in marketing and public relations. As the family moved several times, she became active in volunteer organizations focused on the arts in each new location.
Hubert Jones Jr., R’82, of Stafford, Virginia, Jan. 3, 2026. He earned a master’s degree in engineering and served for 12 years in the U.S. Army. Later, he worked as a government contractor for many years.
Keith D. Cacciatore, L’83, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Jan. 17, 2026. He devoted more than three decades to the practice of law, first with partners and then opening his own practice. He also served as an attorney in Harrisburg and was actively involved in local politics in Bethlehem, offering guidance as a trusted advisor. He was a fan of the New York Yankees and coached his children in the Lehigh Little League.
Patricia Burton Gentry, B’83 and GB’85, of Richmond, Virginia, June 30, 2025. She initially worked in printing sales; with her husband, she started American Shopper Inc., shipping American goods overseas to missionaries and members of the American military. She was active in her church and helped start Shining Stars Therapeutic Riding Program, which provided horsemanship activities for children and adults with disabilities. She later worked in insurance and retired from Lutheran Home Care & Hospice.
Carl S. Milsted Jr., R’85, of Kenly, North Carolina, Feb. 25, 2026. He was a physicist in the defense and aerospace sectors, including software development for the early GPS satellite system. He was a voracious reader of philosophy, history, economics, theology, and political theory. Spiritual life was inseparable from intellectual life for him. He is remembered for his kindness, generosity of spirit, and quirky sense of humor.
Mark D. Braley, L’87, of Richmond, Virginia, Feb. 2, 2026. He served in the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division. He practiced law in Richmond and then became executive director of Legal Services Corp. of Virginia, where he designed and managed planning, fundraising, and development for Virginia’s legal aid system. He received numerous honors and awards and was a dedicated traveler.
Robert M. “Bob” Jones, attd.’87, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, Dec. 2, 2025. He received a degree in sports medicine from Austin Peay State University and was an enthusiastic NASCAR fan. He is remembered for sharing honest opinions, a unique sense of humor, and the deep love he had for his family and friends.
Jane E. Cook, W’88, of Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, Feb. 13, 2026. She had a long and successful career working for Citibank and then American Express in Manhattan. After moving to Mountain Lakes, her life was filled with volunteer activities, including championing a running and writing program for young girls and giving professional guidance through the Mountain Lakes Professional Women’s Group. In 2022, she helped establish Gateway Community Resource Center in Boonton, New Jersey, a place of accessibility and inclusivity that offers all the resources she found invaluable to her own career ascension.
’90s
Rebecca Plummer Cadwell, attd.’95, of Alberton, Montana, Dec. 9, 2025. After her marriage, she moved with her husband to a ranch in Montana that had been in his family for generations. She served with Spring Creek Indian Holiness Camp, where she planned children’s Bible school and helped manage the camp. She enjoyed crafts, canning, and trying new recipes.
Francis E. Hallman, C’96, of Varina, Virginia, Feb. 17, 2026. He worked many years for the Virginia Supreme Court as a computer programmer. In his free time, he was an avid BMW motorcycle rider.
’00s
Lisa Seubel Booth, L’02, of Weems, Virginia, Feb. 20, 2026. She practiced law with Williams Mullen and McGuireWoods before joining Dominion Energy in 2007. Throughout her career, she was respected for her intellect, professionalism, and dedication to her work and colleagues. She was devoted to her family and took pride in raising her three children.
’10s
Jeffrey S. Karow, ’16, of Genoa City, Wisconsin, June 2, 2024. He worked at the Virginia Cooperative Extension for Greenville County/Emporia City as a 4-H program assistant, educator, and shooting sports instructor for several years. He also was a professional house manager at Modlin Center for the Arts for six years and was a professional Civil War interpreter for Pamplin Historical Park for many years.
FACULTY, STAFF, AND FRIENDS
Nina Walker Ashley of Richmond, Virginia, Jan. 17, 2026. She worked at UR for 15 years and created lasting friendships with staff, alumni, and students. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she was a proud fan of the Tar Heels and the Spiders. She enjoyed the simple things in life and volunteered time to Tuckahoe Elementary School.
Harry W. Butler III of Doswell, Virginia, Jan. 4, 2026. He was a supporter of the university and a U.S. Army and Army Reserve veteran, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel. He worked at the General Services Administration, where he organized and ran national and international trade expositions.
Dorothy Palmer Chirimbes of Milford, Connecticut, Aug. 24, 2024. She was a supporter of UR and worked in classes for the deaf in the Stamford, Connecticut, school system.
Marc L. Duval of Mechanicsville, Virginia, Feb. 9, 2026. He retired from UR in 2010 as a project manager, overseeing construction and renovations on campus. A staff member for 22 years, he made friends easily and loved loud music and taking long drives in his Corvette.
Sheeran “Sherry” Flournoy of Richmond, Virginia, April 7, 2022. She worked at UR in 2009. A born teacher, she had a 54-year career in education in Virginia and North Carolina. She was instrumental in starting the International Baccalaureate program at Moody Middle School in Henrico, Virginia.
Patricia A. Higgason of Richmond, Virginia, Jan. 22, 2026. She worked at UR in Tyler’s Grill for more than 40 years.
Daniel T. “Dan” Murphy of Richmond, Virginia, Jan. 30, 2026. After several years in private practice, he joined the faculty of the UR School of Law in 1976, serving until his retirement in 2012. He became a tenured professor of law in 1982 and later was named professor emeritus. He taught contracts, business associations, and international law and was deeply committed to his students and
the law. He served as the law school’s first associate dean for academic affairs from 1981 to 1992 and twice as interim dean. Devoted to international education, he served 25 years as director of the law school’s Cambridge summer study abroad program at Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge, and for more than a decade as director of international studies. The university presented him the Distinguished Educator Award, and he was elected to the American Law Institute.
George B. Tyler of Fairfield, Connecticut, Jan. 30, 2026. He was a supporter of the university and an Army medic during World War II. In 1954, he began a 37-year career as an engineer at Sikorsky Aircraft. He was a world traveler, an avid fly fisherman, and a published writer and photographer.
David A. Whitaker of Richmond, Virginia, Jan. 19, 2026. He taught on the faculty of UR for more than 30 years. He served as chair of the economics department and received the university’s Distinguished Educator award. He served in the U.S. Navy and Navy Reserve, retiring as a captain. In addition to teaching, he founded several local businesses and provided consulting services on public and private development projects throughout Virginia.
“Being a Spider means being part of a network of people who are passionate about making a difference
‘Being a Richmond Spider means everything to me’
Five things we learned reading notes from scholarship recipients to scholarship donors
1 2 3 4 5
and that’s something I’m proud to represent.”
Each year, scholarship recipients express their gratitude to scholarship donors and describe the impact of the scholarships they receive. Here’s what we learned reading the latest batch.
By
They use one word over and over: “Proud.” “I am proud to be part of this legacy of excellence,” wrote one scholarship recipient. “Being a Spider means being part of a network of people who are passionate about making a difference — and that’s something I’m proud to represent,” wrote another from Thailand. In note after note after note, one specific phrase recurs: “Proud to be a Spider.”
They really love their professors. Words like “amazing,” “friendly,” and “incredible” show up a lot. “Every single professor I have had thus far seems to really care about helping their students succeed,” a sophomore wrote in a comment other recipients consistently echoed.
They pursue opportunities they hadn’t considered. Over and over, students say that the support they get from scholarships frees them to take risks, go new places, and try new things. As one senior wrote, “Richmond has taught me that I can and should dream big, and your contribution has allowed me to do so.”
They see care in every corner of campus. Students repeatedly cite a wide range of programs and people whose support they feel, everyone from the D-hall staff member who swipes them in every morning to the career services adviser connecting them to an internship. One student, a senior, summed it up well. “It truly takes a village, and how blessed am I to have all of you in mine,” she wrote. “To be a Spider is to pursue the light of knowledge and to rally the community along the way.”
They recognize how important philanthropy is to their Richmond experience. One sophomore spoke for many when she wrote, “Because of you, I am making my dreams a reality.” Many describe their scholarship as not just support for study, but an embrace by a community they cherish. Another student wrote, “Richmond has truly become a home away from home for me, and it would not be possible to be here without your help.”
“It truly takes a village, and how blessed am I to have all of you in mine.” “Richmond has taught me that I can and should dream big, and your contribution has
“ We included a gift to Richmond in our will as a way to say thank you.”
—Ed Pruden Jr., R’72
ED AND PEGGY PRUDEN are deepening their longtime connection to Richmond by including the university in their will, a gift that will impact students for generations to come.
Discover how easy it is to include Richmond in your estate plans. We’re here to answer any questions you have and will work with you to find a gift that best fits your unique situation. Contact Jessica Will, director of gift planning, at jessica.will@richmond.edu, 804-287-1864, or giftplanning.richmond.edu.
WHAT’S ONE THING YOU’VE LEARNED NOT TO WORRY ABOUT?
Other people’s opinions — especially when it comes to my life, my career path, or my achievements.
KADEEM ALPHANSO FYFFE, ’13
Feeling like you need credentials for every single thing to have a seat at the table.
— KATIE LOSEY, ’02
I’ve learned not to worry about failure.
— GENE DE SOUZA, ’97
Trying new things.
— CYNTHIA PACES, W’92
What everyone else is doing or what society says you are “supposed” to do.
— KATIE FISHMAN, ’09
I try to worry about things as little as possible — it’s rarely a helpful use of headspace.
— DREW POFFEL, ’99
Having all the answers from the start. You’ll always find them.
— GWYNNE MCCUE, ’97
These answers all come from one item on the Spider Questionnaire. It’s a standard set of questions that we began asking Spiders about a year ago for the magazine’s website. Read more responses at magazine.richmond.edu.
