VCU news

The Office of Multicultural Student Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University is hosting its inaugural Black Excellence Scholarship Ball: Celebrating a Heritage Rooted in Excellence that will recognize the academic and personal accomplishments of VCU’s black students, faculty, and alumni.

The event will be held at 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 22 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center, 403 N. 3rd St., Richmond. Faculty, staff and alumni tickets are available for $25, and can be purchased at https://blackexcellencescholarshipball.com/. Student tickets are sold out.

There’s a plethora of ambitious black students, faculty, staff, and alumni who strive for nothing short of excellence in all their endeavors.

At the ball, six VCU students will receive scholarships totaling $5,000, and faculty, staff, students and alumni will receive awards for their outstanding commitment to bettering the climate of the university through service, activism and innovation.

“Black Excellence is a testament of the relentless pursuit of innovation and creative thinking that is embodied in black people,” said Sasha Spruill, a student worker for OMSA who conceived of the event with Christina Hairston, vice president of Black Art Student Empowerment and Ashley Harris of the Black Graduate Student Association. “There’s a plethora of ambitious black students, faculty, staff, and alumni who strive for nothing short of excellence in all their endeavors. The purpose of this ball is to celebrate the accomplishments of those individuals who’ve enriched VCU’s campus.”

The event is sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, the Division for Inclusive Excellence, Residential Life & Housing, the Department of African American Studies in the College of Humanities and Sciences, the Activities Programming Board, the Intercultural Festival, and the African-American Alumni Council.

In addition to the scholarships and awards, there will be performances by “Tuesday Versus” and VCU’s Black Awakening Choir, as well as guest speakers, an open dance floor, dj Okay Dave, raffle prizes, a buffet dinner and an open cash bar.

For more information, visit https://blackexcellencescholarshipball.com/.