For the final event of the 2024 Sharp Series this past fall, UR welcomed Erwin Chemerinsky, a renowned constitutional law scholar and dean of UC Berkeley School of Law. In 2024, National Jurist magazine named Chemerinsky the most influential person in legal education in the United States.
Chemerinsky participated in a fireside chat with President Hallock and engaged in discussions with UR students, staff, faculty, and the broader Richmond community. Nearly 100 students, staff, and faculty members from the law school took part in a lunchtime event with Chemerinsky, where he discussed some of the most pressing free speech-related topics.
“It was amazing to hear from someone who has so much experience, and his knowledge of the First Amendment is so vast,” said Caleb Jennings, a second-year law student.
In October, presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin was the featured speaker at the 37th annual Weinstein-Rosenthal Forum on Faith, Ethics, and Global Society. Goodwin has spent more than five decades studying presidents and won a Pulitzer Prize for History for her book on Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.
In conversation with UR President Emeritus and humanities professor Edward Ayers, Goodwin reflected on previous U.S. presidents, noting that “history gives us perspective,” and explained current events in the context of her scholarship.
Schools across campus also welcomed various speakers. Lisa McKnight, Mattel’s executive vice president and chief brand officer, addressed a C-Suite audience at the Robins School of Business last semester. McKnight led the charge in defining Barbie’s global social mission with the launch of the Barbie Dream Gap Project, which, since its creation in 2018, has positively impacted more than 25 million girls. McKnight told the audience about her rise over a 25-year career at Mattel and shared behind-the-scenes stories of the high-grossing Barbie movie.
Grammy Award-winning rapper Killer Mike spoke to a sold-out crowd as part of a panel discussion in September focusing on the future of free expression. Liberal arts professor Erik Nielson, an expert on the use of rap lyrics in court, organized the event. The panel discussion, moderated by Nielson and journalist Bonnie Newman Davis, included author Mike Curato, American Civil Liberties Union attorney Emerson Sykes, and George Washington University law professor Mary Anne Franks.
Every year, the McDowell Institute Lecture Series also hosts speakers who examine and discuss the problems and prospects of leadership, constitutionalism, political economy, politics, and ethical reasoning. Open to students, faculty, staff, and the larger Richmond community, the lectures feature some of the world's top scholars and most influential thinkers. This year’s speakers included Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University and Director of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation at Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation; Barton Swaim, editorial page writer at The Wall Street Journal; and Brad Wilcox, professor of sociology at University of Virginia and Director of the National Marriage Project. As Wilcox reflected, the McDowell Institute’s “ … willingness to entertain a range of thinkers and ideas from across the political spectrum makes it a unique place in American higher ed.”
The Bonner Center for Civic Engagement Celebrates 20 Years
Experiential learning and community engagement is a strategic priority at UR. For twenty years, our Bonner Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) has played a central role in advancing this priority — supporting students, staff, and faculty who engage in a variety of opportunities across the Richmond region.
Each year, the Bonner Center supports faculty in a wide array of disciplines, allowing about two-thirds of undergraduates to complete a community-based learning course. This can include service-learning or volunteering; collaborative projects with community partners; clinical education, student teaching, and internships; bringing guest speakers into the classroom; and study trips and immersive engagement with community experts.
Through the CCE’s Bonner Scholars program — one of the largest in the country — 100 UR students intern 10 hours a week at a community-based organization in exchange for financial assistance while also participating in on-campus reflective exercises and educational programming. Through this program, and a variety of other opportunities through the CCE, UR students have worked with many local partners including the Metropolitan Business League, Henrico Education Foundation, Ronald McDonald House Charities, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, and FeedMore.
And, through the CCE’s Community Partner-in-Residence Fellows program, public sector and nonprofit professionals come to UR to conduct in-depth research on the major challenges their organizations face. As one example, this year Community Partner-in-Residence Fellow Duane Brown, director of vocational education at Rise Academy, researched the best practices for providing high school students access to industry-recognized certifications.
“The central work of the CCE over the past two decades has been to catalyze relationships, partnerships, and lifelong learning,” said Amy Howard, associate provost for strategic initiatives and community engagement and the CCE’s first program manager. “What started as an idea on paper has grown into a vibrant, nationally recognized center with an outstanding, talented team dedicated to advancing our students’ learning, supporting faculty’s community-engaged teaching and scholarship, and deepening community relationships.”
Over the past two decades, the center has cultivated mutually beneficial relationships with more than 90 local organizations, many of which continue to influence the region’s approach to public policy, education, healthcare, and the arts.
“It's not static,” said Sylvia Gale, executive director of the CCE. “We listen for where our campus community and our surrounding regional community have something to offer one another and something to work toward together.”
One of the CCE’s longest partnerships is the United Way of Greater Richmond and Petersburg, which sponsors the region’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program. Richmond students take a series of courses to become IRS-certified volunteers and then provide free tax preparation services to qualified families and individuals.
The partnership has grown into more than tax preparation services. CCE and United Way staff also work closely to address evolving community needs and identify learning opportunities for students. That ongoing dialogue is what elevates the CCE’s work from one-off service opportunities to becoming full partners in our region.
UR Team Wins First Place at VFIC Applied Ethics Bowl
Should artificial intelligence guide sentencing in the judicial system or be used to make medical diagnoses?
These were among the questions that student teams pondered at the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges Applied Ethics Bowl, held on campus on Feb. 7. The UR team’s five seniors — Brett Barnes, Ashton Bear, Tommy Bennett, Jonathan Garner, and Caleb Silvergleid — placed first at the competition out of 16 teams. The team received the Batten Trophy, named in honor of Jane and Frank Batten, the event’s original funders.
“The Applied Ethics Bowl demonstrates the unique education that students receive at VFIC schools where small classes taught by dedicated faculty hone their skills in critical thinking and civil discourse and help them develop an ethical framework from which to make decisions,” said Locke Ogens, VFIC president. “These students graduate well prepared to be leaders.”
During four rounds of head-to-head competition, the teams presented their analyses, positions, and recommendations to a panel of judges comprised of business and community leaders from across the state. The teams considered case studies on “Ethics and Artificial Intelligence.”
The Spiders won three out of four rounds. The top two teams, UR and Washington and Lee University, advanced to a fifth and final round, which the Spiders won.
“Some of my teammates were shocked we won,” said Silvergleid, a philosophy and history major from Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. “We had become such a monster of a team over the last few rounds, I was excited but not surprised.”
Faculty advisor Brannon McDaniel, a philosophy professor, said teamwork was key to the team’s success. “They have to be fast on their feet, talk comfortably, come up with reasons that justify conclusions, and then convey it in a way that is jargon-free,” he said.
McDaniel has served as a faculty advisor for the ethics bowl since 2011. He said this was the first year the students were allowed to see the case studies before the competition began, though they were not allowed to use notes. They were not permitted to see the case study before the final match.
The teams had just one to two minutes to prepare for each step: an opening, a question for the other team, a response to a question from the other team, and a closing argument.
In his second year on the team, Barnes described the questions as well-formulated. “I especially appreciated the focus on the potential downsides of AI, something that I feel is not discussed enough in most spaces,” said the computer science and mathematics major from St. Charles, Illinois.
“My AI research experience at the University of Richmond prepared me to have a deep and thorough understanding of the current state of the industry, which provided me with critical context for many of the topics presented,” Barnes said.
UR served as the inaugural host for the event in 2000, and Spider teams have previously won in 2007 and 2022. Dara Gocheski, chief of staff to President Kevin F. Hallock, and event manager Jonathan Williams served as UR's primary liaison to VFIC and worked closely with them and campus partners to organize the event.
A networking luncheon brought participants together with corporate leaders from various fields, including VFIC board members. About 175 people attended the final round and reception.
“The students were poised, listened carefully, synthesized information, and grappled with timely and complex issues,” Gocheski said. “I kept hearing from audience members throughout the day how reassuring it was to see graduating seniors have these skills.”