Wednesday, October 7th, 2026

News

Two SGA members resign over discontentment with leadership

October 7, 2026

Sal Orlando, News Editor Two former VCU Student Government Association members resigned from the association last month over a series of grievances. Rosalyn Harper, a former SGA senator, stated in an email that she resigned from the association because it had reached a point where staying a senator would mean complicity with a “culture of retaliation, systemic hostility and bad-faith governance.” “Student government should be an environment where emerging leaders advocate for their peers and defend the vulnerable,” Harper stated. “Instead, I found myself constantly fighting an executive board that marginalized disabled members, policed peers’ personal backgrounds, suppressed democratic dissent and weaponized microaggressions against anyone who pushed back.” Harper stated that two main incidents caused her to step down, one being the “bad-faith targeting” regarding disability accommodations last semester. She stated that she watched leadership penalize a disabled senator over dress code mandates and conceal the Judicial Board ruling that excused him. “When I advocated for accessibility, [then] Press Secretary Bowen pulled me into a private, unsanctioned meeting to audit that student’s wardrobe and dismissively suggested he purchase alternative business attire — completely ignoring the financial realities of working-class students,” Harper stated. Harper stated that the second incident was the

VCU’s first-generation student population reaches a new high

October 7, 2026

Maddy Thurber, Staff Writer VCU’s class of 2030 has the most first-generation college students in university history. The university’s current first-year profile lists the number of first-generation students at 40%, according to VCU News. VCU reported that 36.9% of freshmen were first-generation in fall 2024, compared to 36.5% in fall 2023, according to its 2024-25 annual report. Hernan Bucheli, vice president for Strategic Enrollment Management and Global Initiatives, said VCU has taken a more “intentional approach” to reaching students who may not have a traditional roadmap to college. “We do not simply want to enroll more first-generation students, we want to create the conditions that enable academically prepared students to thrive, earn their degrees and fully realize the value of a VCU education,” Bucheli said. VCU defines first-generation students as those whose parents or legal guardians did not earn a bachelor’s degree. For these students, entering college can mean learning how to navigate higher education without family members who have gone through the experience themselves, according to VCU admissions. VCU offers support through You First at VCU, which provides programming, mentorship and opportunities for first-generation students to connect with faculty and staff. The university’s First-Generation Student Success and Research Center

Study shows anti-trans legislation causes distress among transgender individuals

October 7, 2026

Olivia Rine, Staff Writer A recent VCU study showed that anti-transgender legislation causes psychological distress to transgender individuals. This follows the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU announcement to discontinue gender affirming treatments for those under 19 years old. Catherin Wall, assistant professor of psychology at VCU, conducted the study, which and focused on examining transgender individuals and how they navigate their current environment.  “We were examining a number of factors related to psychological distress,” Wall said. “General experiences of gender-based discrimination, everyday experiences of discrimination. The study captured experiences of discrimination through a quantitative approach, focusing on how deeply people were following anti-trans legislation, as well as their anxiety regarding these legislative decisions.  Wall said the research showed that transgender individuals see anti-trans legislation as an existential threat. More than 2,000 legislative and policy-based initiatives have intended to reduce the rights of transgender individuals, according to the study. “The quantitative approach that we took showed us that above and beyond experiences of discrimination, psychological distress was mostly driven by anti-trans news and legislation, or anti-trans legislation anxiety,” Wall said.  Anti-trans legislation affects numerous aspects of trans individuals, influencing their access to health care and nonmedical transitions, according to the

Richmond public transit ranking drops significantly

October 7, 2026

Saniyah Pullen, Contributing Writer  Richmond’s public transit has experienced a drop in ranking this year, from fourth in 2024 to 26th this year, according to the latest ConsumerAffairs evaluation. Richmond ranks third nationally in affordability, according to the study. Greater Richmond Transit Company’s Zero Fare Program, has free fare for all Richmond residents, according to the GRTC.  The program began in 2020 with funding support from a state grant as well as VCU. GRTC has continued the program since then, receiving funding from Virginia’s Department of Rail and Public Transportation, advertising, community partners and a rider incentive program according to the Richmonder. Chad Sanders, the Executive Director for RVA Rapid Transit, said zero fare transit is an essential economic driver and important to the community. “Saving $1.50 to $1.75 per trip keeps money in their [Richmond residents’] pockets for housing, food, and healthcare right when they need it most,” Sanders said.  Despite its high affordability ranking, Richmond ranks 34th in accessibility and 43rd in operational safety.  “This data mirrors what our riders tell us every day: A transit system cannot be truly world-class if it is free, but hard to safely access,” Sanders said. Sanders pointed to the infrastructure of

VCU President Michael Rao’s base salary increases to $1 million per year

September 30, 2026

Bryer Haywood, Staff Writer On Sept. 11, the VCU Board of Visitors voted to increase President Michael Rao’s base salary to $1 million per year beginning in fiscal year 2027.  The raise comes as the board voted in April to increase tuition by 3.9% for the 2026-2027 school year, according to a previous report by the CT.  In 2025, the Board of Visitors voted to increase Rao’s base salary to $895,618, a 9% increase from the previous year, according to a previous report by the CT.  “One of our Board’s most important responsibilities is to evaluate the performance of the president and ensure that the university has the leadership it needs for the future,” Rector Steven DeLuca said at the BOV meeting on Sept. 11.  Rector Steven DeLuca said at the BOV meeting on Sept. 11 that the boards most important responsibility is to assess the performance of the president and make sure the university “has the leadership it needs for the future.” In addition to increasing Rao’s salary, the board also voted to extend his contract into 2032. It included a bonus opportunity for Rao of up to 25% of his base salary. The average salary for VCU staff

VCU Rice Rivers Center aids in Atlantic sturgeon population recovery

September 30, 2026

Hazel Lair, Contributing Writer The Atlantic sturgeon, a federally endangered species of fish, has made its return to the James River for breeding season, despite worries regarding the population’s dwindling numbers. Now, the number of sturgeon is back in the thousands. VCU’s Rice Rivers Center, also known as “VCU’s river campus,” has worked to tag and track the fish in order to protect the species.  In 2007, scientists believed that the James River had only 300 sturgeon left, according to Smithsonian Magazine. As of last year, Rice Rivers has tagged over 2,500 separate sturgeon, confirming that the species still has hope for recovery. The Rice Rivers center has worked alongside the James River Association, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric The Upper Mattaponi Indian Tribe and the Pamunkey Indian Tribe to restore the sturgeon population, according to a previous report by the CT.  Researchers assist state and federal agencies on determining which habitats in the river are most important for “critical spawning, nursery and migration activities, as well as the importance of threats like collisions with large vessels and habitat loss,” according to  the VCU Rice Rivers Center website. Each year, as sturgeon sense the temperature drop in the fall, they

VCU ofrece apoyo para estudiantes navegando la “zona roja” 

September 30, 2026

Olivia Rine, Staff Writer VCU ha tomado varias medidas para combatir “la zona roja”, un término que se refiere a las primeras seis semanas del semestre, donde estudiantes están a alto riesgo de agresión sexual.   Tameika McCoy, defensora de sobrevivientes de VCU, dijo que hay mucho énfasis en las primeras 14 semanas del semestre, pero los Servicios de Apoyo para Sobrevivientes tienen reuniones para prevención durante el año entero.  Durante la zona roja, McCoy y los Servicios de Apoyo para Sobrevivientes tienen eventos para ayudar a estudiantes afectados. Estos eventos incluyen seminarios, un “Dia de Seguridad” en colaboración con la policía de VCU, y más esfuerzos para alcanzar al público.  “Acabamos de tener un seminario que se llama ‘Conversaciones Cruciales’ con estudiantes atletas, y hablamos sobre los límites, el consentimiento, las relaciones y la seguridad,” McCoy said.  McCoy dijo que esta hablando con los presidentes de organizaciones de fraternidades y sororidades para implementar estrategias contra la agresión sexual. Servicios de Apoyo para Sobrevivientes habla con grupos individualmentes para hablar de estrategias preventivas.   Los Servicios de Apoyo para Sobrevivientes ayuda a guiar estudiantes lidiando con las secuelas de agresión sexual.  McCoy dijo que los Servicios de Apoyo para Sobrevivientes están disponibles

Two SGA members resign over discontentment with leadership

October 7, 2026

Sal Orlando, News Editor Two former VCU Student Government Association members resigned from the association last month over a series of grievances. Rosalyn Harper, a former SGA senator, stated in an email that she resigned from the association because it had reached a point where staying a senator would mean complicity with a “culture of retaliation, systemic hostility and bad-faith governance.” “Student government should be an environment where emerging leaders advocate for their peers and defend the vulnerable,” Harper stated. “Instead, I found myself constantly fighting an executive board that marginalized disabled members, policed peers’ personal backgrounds, suppressed democratic dissent and weaponized microaggressions against anyone who pushed back.” Harper stated that two main incidents caused her to step down, one being the “bad-faith targeting” regarding disability accommodations last semester. She stated that she watched leadership penalize a disabled senator over dress code mandates and conceal the Judicial Board ruling that excused him. “When I advocated for accessibility, [then] Press Secretary Bowen pulled me into a private, unsanctioned meeting to audit that student’s wardrobe and dismissively suggested he purchase alternative business attire — completely ignoring the financial realities of working-class students,” Harper stated. Harper stated that the second incident was the mistreatment of a written response following the shooting at Virginia State University. She stated that the response was plagiarized from a tribute that she had written following the shooting at Old Dominion University. “When I wrote an original statement honoring VSU’s history as an HBCU, leadership and senators spent 45 minutes during a public meeting tearing it down, deriding it as ‘too flowery’ and ‘too much like Maya Angelou,’” Harper stated. “Using the name of an incredible Black poet as an insulting statement written for an HBCU mourning gun violence was a profound cultural microaggression and it made it unmistakably clear that our leadership had lost its moral compass.” Harper stated she believes the current SGA is ineffective at representing the real interests of the student body, and wants to see the association prioritize basic human decency over the culture they currently implement. She said she feels that the association relies on a system of containment, suppression and narrative control whenever its misconduct is exposed. Harper stated that when former Secretary of the Interior Jackson Mallory resigned from the SGA, leadership moved to censoring discussion in the association’s Slack channel. President Natalie Bowen sent an email following the resignation to

VCU’s first-generation student population reaches a new high

October 7, 2026

Maddy Thurber, Staff Writer VCU’s class of 2030 has the most first-generation college students in university history. The university’s current first-year profile lists the number of first-generation students at 40%, according to VCU News. VCU reported that 36.9% of freshmen were first-generation in fall 2024, compared to 36.5% in fall 2023, according to its 2024-25 annual report. Hernan Bucheli, vice president for Strategic Enrollment Management and Global Initiatives, said VCU has taken a more “intentional approach” to reaching students who may not have a traditional roadmap to college. “We do not simply want to enroll more first-generation students, we want to create the conditions that enable academically prepared students to thrive, earn their degrees and fully realize the value of a VCU education,” Bucheli said. VCU defines first-generation students as those whose parents or legal guardians did not earn a bachelor’s degree. For these students, entering college can mean learning how to navigate higher education without family members who have gone through the experience themselves, according to VCU admissions. VCU offers support through You First at VCU, which provides programming, mentorship and opportunities for first-generation students to connect with faculty and staff. The university’s First-Generation Student Success and Research Center

Study shows anti-trans legislation causes distress among transgender individuals

October 7, 2026

Olivia Rine, Staff Writer A recent VCU study showed that anti-transgender legislation causes psychological distress to transgender individuals. This follows the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU announcement to discontinue gender affirming treatments for those under 19 years old. Catherin Wall, assistant professor of psychology at VCU, conducted the study, which and focused on examining transgender individuals and how they navigate their current environment.  “We were examining a number of factors related to psychological distress,” Wall said. “General experiences of gender-based discrimination, everyday experiences of discrimination. The study captured experiences of discrimination through a quantitative approach, focusing on how deeply people were following anti-trans legislation, as well as their anxiety regarding these legislative decisions.  Wall said the research showed that transgender individuals see anti-trans legislation as an existential threat. More than 2,000 legislative and policy-based initiatives have intended to reduce the rights of transgender individuals, according to the study. “The quantitative approach that we took showed us that above and beyond experiences of discrimination, psychological distress was mostly driven by anti-trans news and legislation, or anti-trans legislation anxiety,” Wall said.  Anti-trans legislation affects numerous aspects of trans individuals, influencing their access to health care and nonmedical transitions, according to the

Richmond public transit ranking drops significantly

October 7, 2026

Saniyah Pullen, Contributing Writer  Richmond’s public transit has experienced a drop in ranking this year, from fourth in 2024 to 26th this year, according to the latest ConsumerAffairs evaluation. Richmond ranks third nationally in affordability, according to the study. Greater Richmond Transit Company’s Zero Fare Program, has free fare for all Richmond residents, according to the GRTC.  The program began in 2020 with funding support from a state grant as well as VCU. GRTC has continued the program since then, receiving funding from Virginia’s Department of Rail and Public Transportation, advertising, community partners and a rider incentive program according to the Richmonder. Chad Sanders, the Executive Director for RVA Rapid Transit, said zero fare transit is an essential economic driver and important to the community. “Saving $1.50 to $1.75 per trip keeps money in their [Richmond residents’] pockets for housing, food, and healthcare right when they need it most,” Sanders said.  Despite its high affordability ranking, Richmond ranks 34th in accessibility and 43rd in operational safety.  “This data mirrors what our riders tell us every day: A transit system cannot be truly world-class if it is free, but hard to safely access,” Sanders said. Sanders pointed to the infrastructure of

VCU President Michael Rao’s base salary increases to $1 million per year

September 30, 2026

Bryer Haywood, Staff Writer On Sept. 11, the VCU Board of Visitors voted to increase President Michael Rao’s base salary to $1 million per year beginning in fiscal year 2027.  The raise comes as the board voted in April to increase tuition by 3.9% for the 2026-2027 school year, according to a previous report by the CT.  In 2025, the Board of Visitors voted to increase Rao’s base salary to $895,618, a 9% increase from the previous year, according to a previous report by the CT.  “One of our Board’s most important responsibilities is to evaluate the performance of the president and ensure that the university has the leadership it needs for the future,” Rector Steven DeLuca said at the BOV meeting on Sept. 11.  Rector Steven DeLuca said at the BOV meeting on Sept. 11 that the boards most important responsibility is to assess the performance of the president and make sure the university “has the leadership it needs for the future.” In addition to increasing Rao’s salary, the board also voted to extend his contract into 2032. It included a bonus opportunity for Rao of up to 25% of his base salary. The average salary for VCU staff

VCU Rice Rivers Center aids in Atlantic sturgeon population recovery

September 30, 2026

Hazel Lair, Contributing Writer The Atlantic sturgeon, a federally endangered species of fish, has made its return to the James River for breeding season, despite worries regarding the population’s dwindling numbers. Now, the number of sturgeon is back in the thousands. VCU’s Rice Rivers Center, also known as “VCU’s river campus,” has worked to tag and track the fish in order to protect the species.  In 2007, scientists believed that the James River had only 300 sturgeon left, according to Smithsonian Magazine. As of last year, Rice Rivers has tagged over 2,500 separate sturgeon, confirming that the species still has hope for recovery. The Rice Rivers center has worked alongside the James River Association, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric The Upper Mattaponi Indian Tribe and the Pamunkey Indian Tribe to restore the sturgeon population, according to a previous report by the CT.  Researchers assist state and federal agencies on determining which habitats in the river are most important for “critical spawning, nursery and migration activities, as well as the importance of threats like collisions with large vessels and habitat loss,” according to  the VCU Rice Rivers Center website. Each year, as sturgeon sense the temperature drop in the fall, they