State senators, VCU faculty to discuss higher education challenges in Virginia

By Brian McNeill

Two Virginia state senators and a panel of Virginia Commonwealth University faculty members will take part in a forum at VCU to discuss challenges facing higher education in Virginia.

VCU faculty members will offer their perspectives on the challenges they see at VCU and other state-funded universities, and Virginia state Sens. Glen Sturtevant, a Republican, and Don McEachin, a Democrat, will share their ideas and take questions from the audience.

“We're excited to be hosting this event because we believe it’s important for students to know the challenges facing higher education institutions right now,” said Jessica Diaz, a junior history and political science major in the College of Humanities and Sciences, and a member of Virginia 21, which is co-sponsoring the event with VCU Political Science.

“We are also excited to host the state senators who represent the VCU community,” Diaz said. “Having the senators speak with their constituents is a really great opportunity and hopefully students will be inspired to be active in state and local elections.”

The event, "A Night with Our State Senators: Addressing the Challenges Facing Higher Education,” will be held Wednesday, April 6, from 5 to 7:30 p.m., in room 3133 of Grace E. Harris Hall, 907 Floyd Ave. The event will be free and open to the public.

The faculty panel will include:

• Deirdre Condit, Ph.D., associate professor and chair of VCU Political Science.
• Edmund Acevedo, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences.
• Jesse Goldstein, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Sociology.
• Ravi Perry, Ph.D., associate professor, VCU Political Science.

As part of the forum, the senators and faculty panel will answer questions submitted in advance via Twitter. To ask a question, tweet it and tag the @POLIRams handle and use the hashtag #VCUStateSenateNight.

To RSVP, visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-night-with-our-state-senators-tickets-24012712670?utm-medium=discovery&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-source=cp&utm-term=listing

 

Subscribe for free to the weekly VCU News email newsletter at http://newsletter.news.vcu.edu/ and receive a selection of stories, videos, photos, news clips and event listings in your inbox every Thursday.