VCU news

By Elinor Frisa and Rhea Braganza

In 1983, professor of English emerita Daryl Dance, Ph.D., who at the time was coordinator of Virginia Commonwealth University’s African American studies program, founded the Black History in the Making Awards. Ever since, VCU has been recognizing the achievements of Black students with the annual awards.

Departments, programs and units from across the university are encouraged to nominate students based on criteria such as academic achievement, service, and professional and learning experiences outside the classroom. This month, as VCU celebrated a new round of student recipients, the College of Humanities and Sciences caught up with six alums who earned the awards to see where they are now.

Jaz-Munn Johnson, M.D.

Johnson won a Black History in the Making Award in 2017 and graduated that spring with a bachelor’s in biology. He later returned to VCU for medical school and is currently in his second year of a pediatric residency at Johns Hopkins University, where he is on a health equity track. He aims to work as a physician in juvenile detention centers. Read this Q&A with Johnson.

 

Tonecia Brothers-Sutton

As an undergraduate, Brothers-Sutton studied broadcast journalism and was president of VCU’s Black Student Union. She earned a Black History in the Making Award in 2019. Now an associate attorney at Jackson Lewis PC, she attended law school at the University of Maryland, where she won numerous accolades, served in the Student Government Association and edited the Journal of Business and Technology Law. Read this Q&A with Brothers-Sutton.

Taylor Pattie

Pattie was surprised and honored when she won a Black History in the Making Award in 2019. After graduating with a B.S. in mass communications, she dove into a career in social media, eventually moving to New York City where she is a social media manager at Dwight School. She also is a talented musician with a passion for the arts – and has landed a residency at The Stonewall Inn Piano Bar. Read this Q&A with Pattie.

Sasha Pierre-Louis

User experience researcher Pierre-Louis earned her master’s in sociology in 2020 during the early months of the COVID pandemic. She now works for the State Department in federal contracting, where she improves applications used to submit travel documents. She also volunteers as a docent at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Read this Q&A with Pierre-Louis.

Fadel Allassan

Allassan, who during his time at VCU was a reporter and editor for The Commonwealth Times, won a Black History in the Making Award in 2018 and graduated the next year with a bachelor’s in political science. He now is the editor of Axios’ local outlets in Richmond and Northwest Arkansas but is about to start a job as a weekend news editor for CNN. Read this Q&A with Allassan.

Eloise Berry, Ph.D.

Berry earned her Black History in the Making Award in 1997 when she was studying for her Ph.D. in psychology. She volunteered in VCU’s multicultural student affairs office, and today she is assistant vice president in the Division of Student Life and director of the Office of Belonging and Inclusion at Villanova University. She also has an independent clinical psychology practice. Read this Q&A with Berry.