An aerial image of a city skyline, including VCU Health's campus and its surroundings in downtown Richmond.

March 17, 2023

VCU is in the middle of it all

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By Mary Kate Brogan
School of Pharmacy

About 5 ways VCU is uncommon: In this series, we explore how VCU students learn, grow and challenge the status quo at one of the nation’s premier urban universities.

Virginia Commonwealth University is part of Richmond, and Richmond is part of us.

Home to 1.2 million people, Richmond – Virginia’s capital city – has been called:

To be a comedian, you need experiences to feed on. Virginia Commonwealth University theatre performance major Makai Walker has had an easy time finding them in Richmond – whether performing on stage at a local venue, out with friends exploring the city or making people laugh as part of an improv group on campus.

It’s one of the best places to start a business, and plenty of alumni do: Virginia is home to 320-plus VCU alumni-owned businesses, more than 180 based in Richmond alone. VCU alumni reported owning more than 480 businesses in January 2023. Of those, 38% were owned by Black and Indigenous people of color, and 47% were women-owned.

And you don’t have to wait until you graduate to start your business: VCU’s da Vinci Center has supported 116 student startups that have raised $5 million-plus in investment, revenue and acquisitions since 2018.

It’s a great place to find a job too: In 2021, LinkedIn ranked Richmond 9th in the nation for cities with the highest hiring rates and number of open jobs. Richmond has the highest concentration of Fortune 500 companies – eight – of any urban location in Virginia, and our health sciences campus is across the street from VA Bio+Tech Park, home to nearly 70 companies.

Explore Richmond

  • An aerial photo of the Richmond city skyline along a river under a blue sky.
    Richmond, Virginia's state capital, is a vibrant city that sits along the James River and is the center of a metropolitan area that is home to more than 1.2 million people. (Allen Jones, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
  • A student walks along a city sidewalk past the Pollak Building's brightly colored mural with the words \"graphic design\" translated into different languages.
    Richmond is known for its arts scene and its many colorful murals, including this new mural by Sudanese street artist and VCU School of the Arts graduate Assil Diab at the entrance of the VCU School of the Arts' Pollak Building. (Kevin Morley, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
  • A tour guide takes a group of tourists past a statue of a historical figure and into an atrium at the Virginia State Capitol.
    The Virginia State Capitol, Governor's Mansion and other legislative buildings are just a mile from VCU's Monroe Park Campus and less than a mile from VCU's health sciences campus. With the Capitol so close to campus, VCU students are known for getting involved and making their voices heard. (Kevin Morley, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
  • An aerial of a four-lane city street lined with colorful buildings and new apartments, including a VCU building.
    Broad Street, a major thoroughfare with shops, restaurants, art galleries and more, runs through VCU's campus in Richmond. (Kevin Morley, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
  • A model walks along a runway in a large brightly-lit atrium lined with art on the walls as an audience watches on either side of the runway.
    The VCU School of the Arts' annual fashion runway show and expo, last year held at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, is a well-attended event where rising merchandisers are part of an immersive experience and emerging designers show off their original works. (Allen Jones, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
  • A customer receives food at a food truck at the Broad Appétit food festival.
    Richmond hosts numerous festivals throughout the year, including Broad Appétit, a festival showcasing the local food available in Richmond. (Tom Kojcsich, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
  • A man in a hat and coveralls with a paintbrush paints a colorful mural underfoot on pavement outside a building
    Richmond artist and School of the Arts alum Ed Trask works on a painted logo at a groundbreaking event for a new building at VCU. (Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
  • A large loft-style building in downtown Richmond is lit up at night with cars passing by.
    Richmond's many neighborhoods offer dining and shopping destinations and places to live, such as loft-style living in renovated downtown warehouses like this one. (Courtesy of KBS)
  • An aerial shot of VCU's Monroe Park campus facing south toward the James River. Several buildings on the southwest side of campus sit on either side of a large road that becomes a bridge across a river, with trees and buildings on either side of the road and of the river.
    VCU's Monroe Park Campus in Richmond sits just one mile from the James River Parks System, with more than 600 acres to explore. (Allen Jones, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

VCU is where everything is happening. We’re steps away from theaters, art galleries, music venues and restaurants. We’re within 2 miles of art and history museums and the magnificent James River Parks system with 600-plus acres to explore – our Outdoor Adventure Program can help you make the most of it. We’re also just a few miles from a minor-league baseball stadium and athletics complex, where many VCU athletes compete.

On campus, our Siegel Center (one of the loudest!) is the home court for our Division I basketball and volleyball teams – just a few of the 17 teams that compete in the NCAA Division I Atlantic 10 conference – and home to our legendary pep band, The Peppas.

And in the middle of it all, we have a campus – multiple campuses, in fact – with state-of-the-art facilities. Our Monroe Park Campus features residence halls and academic buildings interspersed with businesses and apartments, all centered around 7.5-acre Monroe Park, the city’s oldest park. Our health sciences campus, just blocks from the State Capitol and City Hall, serves health sciences students and, through VCU Health and our Level I Trauma Center, patients from the Richmond community and beyond.

Check out our campus

  • A student with hair in a bun and a New Student Orientation shirt over their shoulder rests a hand on a sculpture of ram horns in front of a plaza in the afternoon sun.
    A VCU student rests a hand on the Ram Horns outside The Commons. During New Student Orientation, students are encouraged to touch the Ram Horns and make a wish for their time at VCU. (Kevin Morley, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
  • Two students gather with others on the sidewalk at the Compass for ice cream on a sunny day.
    Students gather at the Compass, a plaza in the heart of the Monroe Park Campus that's filled with activity from activist gatherings to impromptu dance performances to free food giveaways. (Kevin Morley, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
  • A student in a large auditorium surrounded by fellow students in white medical school coats looks up while reading along with a pamphlet at a ceremony.
    A medical student reads along with her peers at the ceremony where medical students receive the coats they'll wear throughout their time in medical school. (Allen Jones, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
  • A student reads on a park bench along a sidewalk next to a tree-lined green space in Monroe Park.
    A student reads on a park bench in Monroe Park. (Kevin Morley, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
  • A common area with large windows on a sunny day in Gladding Residence Center with tables, couches and a basketball hoop has ample space to sit and hang out in between classes.
    A common area in Gladding Residence Center has ample space to sit, study and hang out when you're not in class. (Allen Jones, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
  • Students sit at tables under umbrellas on a brick sidewalk down the street from a hospital.
    Students gather on the health sciences campus near the Hunton Student Center, the VCU School of Medicine and the VCU Medical Center. (Tom Kojcsich, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
  • Students work out on a row of workout equipment on the other side of a rock climbing wall where a student climbs at Cary Street Gym.
    Students work out and climb the rock climbing wall at Cary Street Gym on campus. (Kevin Morley, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
  • The VCU Engineering Research Building at the corner of two major roads at night
    The VCU Engineering Research Building opened in 2021, expanding laboratory capacity for advanced research. (Courtesy of Baskervill)
  • A new building glistens in the rising sun next to other downtown buildings
    VCU Health's Adult Outpatient Pavilion opened in 2021. The new patient space is a place where students have opportunities to interact with patients as they work with team members to serve the community. (Joe Kuttenkuler, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
  • Students study by large windows on a sunny day at VCU Cabell Library across a green quad from Shafer Dining Court.
    Students study on a sunny day at VCU Cabell Library across from Shafer Dining Court. (Tom Kojcsich, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
  • An exterior photo of the Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU's new Children's Tower
    The Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU has a new Children's Tower opening in spring 2023 to provide more high-quality patient care to children. Health sciences students often have opportunities to work with patients in their coursework, and students in many majors often volunteer, conduct research or complete projects that impact patients. (Courtesy photo)
  • A new building sits along the banks of a wetland.
    The VCU Rice Rivers Center with its new research facility, shown here after its opening in 2021, supports learning and research across disciplines, including water resources, climate science, wildlife conservation and wetlands restoration. (Allen Jones, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
  • A student skateboards to class on a city street in front of a green wall with VCU letters on it.
    A student skateboards to class on the Monroe Park Campus. (Kevin Morley, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
  • Students in scrubs and street clothes sit on benches on a brick sidewalk in a courtyard in front of a large red-brick building that sits along a city street.
    Students chat on the health sciences campus across from the VCU School of Pharmacy and around the corner from the VCU School of Dentistry. (Tom Kojcsich, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
  • A student sits on a bright blue pool table in a large indoor space with other pool tables where several students wait to play pool.
    Students can spend time with friends in many campus spaces, including The Commons, a central hub to hang out, eat in the food court, play pool or video games or catch a movie at the theater. (Kevin Morley, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
  • A long exposure image of cars passing by the Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU lit with a projection of an artistic rendering of a word cloud of words that represent the uncommon experience VCU offers: Unafraid, unlimited, understanding, unequaled, uncommon, unexpected, unstoppable and unconventional.
    The Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU on the Monroe Park Campus is lit up at August night. (Kevin Morley, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

Getting around is easy. Richmond boasts an international airport and two Amtrak stations with service along the East Coast. We’re Virginia’s most bike-friendly university and in the top 40 nationwide. And with the city’s GRTC bus service running right through campus with free access for all students, from here, you can go just about anywhere.

Whether you're venturing out or sticking around on campus, VCU takes supporting and caring for students seriously, and you can read how we go about doing that in the next part of our 5 Ways VCU is Uncommon series.