The Collegian
Sunday, January 18, 2026

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Features

Just call him Elbert: custodial worker befriends students

In a world where texting and emailing are becoming social norms, Elbert R. Dickens said the most unique thing about him was that he could communicate well with people in person. Dickens, a custodial worker at the University of Richmond since 2007, has been Wood Hall's primary cleaner for the past two years, he said.


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Richmond professor adopts daughter

After an arduous adoption process, Richmond political science professor Rick Mayes and his wife, Jennifer, are now in Peru where they have met their daughter, Alejandra, "Ali," for the first time. "When she was 5 days old, she was found early one morning by a gardener of a church in the city of Cusco outside the church's front doors," Rick Mayes wrote about Ali in an email.


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Dance class fuses culture and physical skill

Students enrolled in professor Matt Thornton's Capoeira Angola course are practicing physically demanding skills while learning about the cultural implications of an Afro-Brazilian form of dance and self-defense. Capoeira originates from African slaves as a form of cultural resistance, according to the course description.


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Cultural Advisers bring diverse groups together through alternative activities

Cultural advisers at the University of Richmond hope a new way to spend Saturday nights will build community and enhance diversity at the University of Richmond. CA Alternatives began last February with pizza and games in Whitehurst living room as an alternative to lodges or apartment parties, said Lisa Miles, assistant director of Common Ground. "We expected 15 people to show up," Miles said.


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Richmond attracts artistic talent with scholarships

Every year, the University of Richmond attracts talented visual and performing artists by offering up to six full-tuition scholarships to incoming freshmen through the Richmond Scholars program. Jennifer Cable, professor of music and director of the Richmond Scholars program, said artist scholars must major or minor in studio art, music, theatre or dance.


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Guest speaker discusses neoliberalism

"It is the aestheticizing of social difference that has led to discrimination in today's society," professor Shannon Winnubst from Ohio State University said at a speech on Monday. Her speech titled, "Hot Pink Dresses or 'Adam Smith' Ties?" discussed the "queer" challenge faced by many people in a neoliberal's world.


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What? Who is @URSpotted?

"A new semester brings with it fresh creepers who create things like @URspotted #uranidiot," @UR_An_Idiot, an anonymous Twitter account, tweeted at @URspotted. "Someone's a little jealous they weren't spotted @UR_An_Idiot1 #betterlucknexttimeCH," @URspotted tweeted in response.


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Prolific English professor retires after 20 years at Richmond

After working at the University of Richmond for 20 years, English professor Daryl Dance is retiring this spring, but be careful when mentioning the word retirement around her. "I want to make it clear, that what we're calling retirement and talking about as retirement, I don't look at as retirement in that sense of the word," she said.


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Chucho Valdes Performs at Camp Concert Hall

Chucho Valdes and the Afro-Cuban Messengers had bowed, waved to the audience and left the stage. But the crowd in the University of Richmond Camp Concert Hall was still standing, applauding and chanting for an encore. Valdes let the audience stand in anticipation long enough that people started to file out of the orchestra seats.


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Students look forward to service on alternative spring break

Some students at the University of Richmond are spending their spring break doing service work, discussing and learning about a social issue and bonding with their peers during an alternative spring break trip. Senior Chelsea Safran and junior Helene Calabrese will be returning to the highlands of Pampas Grande, Peru, on an alternative spring break trip for the second and third time, respectively. The trip to Peru focuses on health issues in the village of Pampas Grande and is led by Sean McKenna, a professor and pediatrician at the Medical College of Virginia. Safran said the group of about 15 students was preparing for the trip by deciding which medical supplies to bring and dividing into committees focused on specific health concerns, such as women's health.