Community Engagement News

VCU researchers are helping to pilot the Building Wealth and Health Network, which addresses the underlying causes of poverty while promoting financial literacy. (Getty Images)

VCU researchers team up with Salvation Army to promote financial literacy for Richmond families while targeting the roots of poverty

Feb. 15, 2024

Psychology professor Marcia Winter says addressing both topics together, through the new Building Wealth and Health Network, can help break the cycle.

Craig Larson, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, leads a recent session of Math Circle, a monthly workshop that brings middle and high school students to campus to meet with math faculty and explore a range of math-related topics. (Dina Weinstein, Enterprise Marketing and Communication)

In the VCU Math Circle, local teen students get to shape their interest and knowledge

Dec. 8, 2023

Weekend sessions introduce middle- and high-schoolers to faculty and help reveal the breadth of math’s majesty in solving problems.

Anita Nadal, an assistant professor of Spanish in the School of World Studies, and her students served as volunteers at the naturalization ceremony at the Stuart C. Siegel Center on Sept. 18. (Photo by Brian McNeill, Enterprise Marketing and Communications).

VCU service-learning students offer bilingual support and gain perspective in Becoming Citizens

Sept. 20, 2023

Citizenship class at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture helps forge a path to this year’s ceremony at the Siegel Center.

The Loose Parts project’s first event, “The Fountain,” transformed a portion of Reedy Creek in Forest Hill Park into a temporary adventure playground. (Courtesy photo)

Loose Parts connects art and play to the serious work of child development

Sept. 20, 2023

Building on an overseas tradition, a VCUarts and humanities team is creating engaging local play spaces where children won’t hear the common refrains “Don’t touch” or “Get down.”

Nearly 600 people from 85 countries became American citizens in a ceremony at the Stuart C. Siegel Center at Virginia Commonwealth University.

At VCU, nearly 600 people from 85 countries become new U.S. citizens

Sept. 18, 2023

At the Constitution Day ceremony on Monday, American pride was reflected in personal journeys and an embrace of diversity.

Breyana Stewart has managed a variety of duties as an intern with the Richmond International Film Festival, which starts Sept. 26. (Kevin Morley, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

At Richmond film festival and local PR firm, VCU mass communications major makes the most of summer

Aug. 17, 2023

VCU’s Internship Funding Program is helping rising senior Breyana Stewart explore professional career paths.

Josue Laguna Gomez (left) and Oscar Vanegas (right), students in the Photovoice for English Language Learners program, with Anita Nadal (center), assistant professor in the VCU School of World Studies. (Contributed photo)

Service-learning class empowers Latinx students in Richmond schools to engage with important issues

July 26, 2023

Photovoice program encourages English language learners to take photographs to "create dialogue about what’s going on."

Carolyn Eastman, Ph.D., is a historian of early America with a special interest in 18th- and 19th-century histories of political culture, the media and gender. (Contributed photo)

History well-spoken: VCU professor Carolyn Eastman to explore speechifying in the Revolutionary Era

July 5, 2023

Oratory – and how it shaped the early American identity – will be the talking points of July 20 address at St. John’s Church in Richmond.

Marco Aldi, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, leads students in a braiding activity. (Contributed photo)

Twisted in knots? That’s a good thing at VCU Geometry Camp for middle-schoolers

June 23, 2023

The weeklong summer day program uses hands-on learning to make math meaningful at an impressionable age.

Albert Farrell, Ph.D., (left) and Catherine Ingrassia, Ph.D., interim dean of the College of Humanities and Sciences, pose for a photo after Farrell won the College of Humanities and Sciences Distinguished Mentoring Award this spring. Farrell, founding director of the Clark-Hill Institute for Positive Youth Development at VCU and longtime psychology professor, is retiring after 43 years at VCU. (Courtesy Alexis Finc, College of Humanities and Sciences)

Albert Farrell, mentor, researcher and founder of VCU’s Clark-Hill Institute for Positive Youth Development, retires after 43 years

June 8, 2023

Psychology professor has spent decades supporting Richmond and the study of youth violence prevention.