This year's Bellis Fest, held April 4, saw both a turnout of hundreds of University of Richmond students and much better weather than last weekend's Pig Roast. Bellis Fest is the Westhampton College Government Association's annual spring festival.
Last weekend, University of Richmond's Panhellenic Council, sorority presidents and Emerging Leaders from each sorority attended the Southeastern Panhellenic Conference in Atlanta, Ga.
Six musicians from Colombia, all in their early twenties, are in the middle of a two-week stay in Richmond and are scheduled to perform several times at University of Richmond. These musicians are associated with the Knocking on Doors to Open Futures Foundation, which focuses on community development through music in Cartagena, Colombia.
Have you ever walked through a maze? Which pathways would you choose to venture? Would the choice be easier if beyond each doorway different music was playing?
No requests have gone through the University of Richmond Advancement Office to have the name of the future admissions building changed from Queally Center for Admissions and Career Services, according to Thomas Gutenberger, vice president of advancement. Gutenberger, Richmond College '87, said he was not sure what office would be responsible for receiving such requests, but the Advancement Office would have likely heard of the matter. The new admissions building was designated the Queally Center for Admissions and Career Services following a $10 million donation from Paul and Anne-Marie Queally, both 1986 graduates of the university.
University of Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth University hosted the 22nd annual French Film Festival at the Byrd Theatre in Carytown, which took place March 27-30. Francoise Ravaux-Kirkpatrick, a film studies and French professor at Richmond, co-directed and co-founded the program with her husband Peter Kirkpatrick, who is a professor of French and cinema at VCU. Ravaux-Kirkpatrick said it was their desire to create an event that would attract an American audience to French culture. "First it was films on the campus of VCU, but then it got too big.
Students who wanted to learn more about the controversy surrounding the legalization of marijuana attended a debate hosted by the Young Americans for Liberty April 1 in the Alice Haynes Room. There were three debaters at the event, Detective Tim Meacham of the University of Richmond Police Department -- although he was not representing the viewpoint of the URPD -- along with Thad Williamson and Jessica Flanigan, who are both professors in the Jepson School of Leadership. Flanigan said all drugs should be legal, and people should be able to buy heroin at Walgreens, if they are so inclined.
Matt Logan, a sophomore in Sigma Phi Epsilon, won the title of Mr. Richmond 2014 after walking the runway in his fraternity shirt, playing the guitar, singing a mash up of three music hits and sharing his life motto. "I was really happy to have won," Logan said.
Avery Safford was ready to live in an apartment on campus near Crenshaw Field with her teammates for her junior year. She and her three apartmentmates did not receive an apartment through the lottery process and are now looking to get a double/double dorm room.
Brad Groves, newly elected Richmond College Student Government Association president, said he would work to increase student representation at the higher levels of university decision-making in the coming year. Originally from Princeton, N.J., Groves came to University of Richmond intending to join the Robins School of Business. "I saw the university as a school that was on the rise," Groves said.
Open liquor bottles. Condoms. Richmond students as far as the eye can see. Is this a raucous lodge?
Ama Ansah, sophomore, is a site coordinator for Trojan Brand Condoms at University of Richmond, and has been distributed 500 condoms to students throughout the year at fraternity lodge parties and in Tyler Haynes Commons as part of Trojan's Great Condom Campaign.
University of Richmond's Pi Beta Phi chapter hosted its annual spring philanthropy event Ballin' for Books Wednesday, March 26.
Inclusivity has been a major focus at University of Richmond as part of the Richmond Promise. As a result of the hard work of many faculty and students, the university will be honored May 3 with the Catalyst Award for supporting LGBTQ students and creating a more inclusive environment. Presenting the award is ROSMY, a local organization based in Richmond that aims to ensure equal opportunities for LGBQT youth in Virginia. Ted Lewis, associate director of Common Ground for LGBTQ campus life, said, "The only reason 2013 was successful is because of lots of work done by faculty, staff and students for decades here at the University of Richmond." Lewis said the award was honoring the past academic year and the work done in 2013 by the university.
Pig Roast is a spring tradition at University of Richmond made famous by its barbecue, fraternity lodge parties and underage drinking. Eric Beatty, Richmond's police lieutenant, said in fact, the past rate of calls for police service on Pig Roast had not been much more than on a Friday night, but since Pig Roast was an all-day event, the number of violations went up. Beatty said last year there had been only a few traffic violations and two arrests on charges of public intoxication. Although none of the procedures for Pig Roast this year have changed, Joe Boehman, dean of Richmond College, said the two variables for the event would be the rain and the number of fraternities that were on probation. This year, only four of the lodges that are hosting events will have alcohol for students who are over 21.
Janet Jarman, an award-winning photojournalist from Richmond, spoke in the Jepson Alumni Center Wednesday night as part of the 2013-14 Jepson Leadership Forum.
The Office of Sustainability hopes to strike up more efforts to fight the risks of climate change in light of a new index that will rate University of Richmond based on steps taken to divest from fossil fuels. Asset Owners Disclosure Project's new Global Universities Index will rank over 300 universities in 32 countries on how much each institution is investing in fossil fuels.
Survey results showed when students were asked whether they would use a bike trail that directly led from the University of Richmond to the James River, the answer was an overwhelming yes. Todd Lookingbill, assistant professor of geography and the Eenvironment, addressed the question "How Can We Be Better Connected to the James?" Thursday as part of UR Downtown's lunch series, TAKE 30. The lunch series is held every third Thursday of the month at the UR Downtown building in the heart of Richmond.
At the second annual Green Bike Rollout March 20, about 50 staff and students came to the Weinstein Center for Recreation and Wellness for a three-mile ride around campus on the familiar yellow bikes. Lucia Anderson, outdoor and facilities coordinator, said the event would send 46 bikes throughout campus. "The goal of the event is not only to have people [at the event], but also to increase the visibility of the bikes," Anderson said.
The University of Richmond Emergency Medical Services team received two awards at the National Collegiate EMS Foundation's annual conference, held from Feb.
