VCU news

By Pam Cox

The L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University will host its 2004 Wilder Symposium – “Elections 2024: The Importance of Listening to the People” – on Tuesday, Sept. 17, at 5 p.m. in VCU’s W.E. Singleton Center for the Performing Arts, 922 Park Ave. in Richmond.

The event is free and open to the public; registration is required through the Wilder Symposium website.

L. Douglas Wilder, 66th governor of Virginia and the nation’s first elected African American governor, will join an expert panel to discuss the importance of leadership by listening and responding to the needs of the people. Panelists will include two leading political analysts in Virginia – Bob Holsworth, managing partner of the consulting firm DecideSmart and founding director of the Wilder School, and Larry Sabato, founder and director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia – as well as Susan Gooden, dean of the Wilder School, and Robyn McDougle, associate dean of research and outreach at the Wilder School.

“Our democracy is built by the people for the people,” Wilder said. “Our government leaders must listen to their constituents and work to solve their concerns.”

Added Gooden: “This election cycle has seen many twists and turns of historic proportions. We have assembled a panel of renowned political experts to focus on and embolden the people to recognize the power of their voices and concerns as essential to a democratic society.”

The panel will accept questions submitted by the audience. McDougle also will share the findings of the latest nationally recognized VCU Wilder School Commonwealth Poll, which shows that Virginia is a battleground state in the upcoming presidential election.

Media interested in covering the Wilder Symposium must register, and they also can attend a media conference with Governor Wilder, Holsworth and Sabato at 3 p.m. before the public event. Media should contact Pam Cox (coxp3@vcu.edu or 804-937-7936) to register.

About the participants 

Douglas Wilder is the 66th governor of Virginia and the nation’s first elected African American governor, serving from 1990 to 1994. Governor Wilder graduated from Virginia Union University and Howard University School of Law, and he later established a legal practice in Richmond. He served five terms in the Virginia Senate before taking office as the lieutenant governor of Virginia. In 2005, he took office as the first directly elected mayor of the city of Richmond in decades.

Bob Holsworth, Ph.D., is a frequently called-upon and referenced political analyst. He is the managing partner of DecideSmart and the founding director of the Wilder School. His comments on Virginia and national politics have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post and other newspapers throughout the nation. He has appeared on major American TV networks and on the BBC. He was named one of the 100 Influentials in Virginia Politics by Campaigns & Elections magazine.

Larry J. Sabato, Ph.D., is recognized as one of the nation’s most respected political analysts. Leading Sabato’s Crystal Ball, ranked by Pew as the No. 1 leader in the field of political prediction, Sabato is the founder and director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia and is the author or editor of two dozen books on American politics. Teaching over 20,000 students in his career, Sabato celebrated his 50th year of association with UVA in 2021.

Susan T. Gooden, Ph.D., is dean of the Wilder School. She is an elected fellow of the congressionally chartered National Academy of Public Administration. Gooden is a past president of the American Society for Public Administration and a past president of the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs and Administration.

Robyn Diehl McDougle, Ph.D., is associate dean of research and outreach at the Wilder School. Under Governor Wilder’s leadership, McDougle has established the VCU Wilder School Commonwealth Poll as an esteemed polling operation not only in Virginia but nationally, including as an approved CNN Presidential Poll in 2020. The Commonwealth Poll provides voter opinions on current election forecasts as well as domestic and foreign policy issues across a wide spectrum of areas.