University-wide anniversary celebration looks forward

Reflecting on the past with an eye toward the future was the theme Friday of the Virginia Commonwealth University-wide 40th anniversary celebration at the Siegel Center, where hundreds of students, faculty and staff gathered together to share memories and expectations.

An anniversary program included photographic and video images of VCU’s 40-year history, and speakers reflected on VCU’s beginning and transformation over four decades into a major research institution.

William Blake, Ph. D., professor emeritus in the Department of History, began his career in 1965 with the Richmond Professional Institute – three years before it merged with the Medical College of Virginia to become VCU.  He recounted his memories of VCU’s beginnings – during a tumultuous 1968 – and said he was amazed to see what a powerhouse the university is now.

Medical student Shivani Shodhan of Los Angeles, who also received her undergraduate degree at VCU, said there is a sense of history attending classes in the historic Egyptian Building on the MCV Campus. She also said there is a sense of future and innovation in being part of a young university.

“I am excited to participate as new visions of VCU come to fruition,” she said.

VCU Alumni Association President C. Dandridge Massey said that it is easy to see the transformation of the university from the outside and how VCU has helped to transform lives on the inside. He urged alumni to “pay it forward” in support of VCU.

VCU President Eugene P. Trani said VCU always has had close ties to the community, and said that was why a major part of the celebration “pays tribute to the university’s legacy of caring with the community.”

The event featured the awarding of what will become the annual “Currents of Change” to FOR AFRICA, a benefit that raised nearly $50,000 for a school library and child development center in Ghana. The benefit was a collaborative effort of the VCU School of Social Work, VCU School of the Arts, Peacework, Inc. and artists in the Richmond area. 

FOR AFRICA also was among VCU’s “40 Acts of Caring,” which include volunteer and community-service projects, community-based research, and service-learning projects and that represent 22 units on the Monroe Park and MCV campuses. It was from the “40 Acts of Caring” that a Currents of Change award winner was selected. 

“VCU is a surprising and bold university in 2008,” VCU Rector Thomas Rosenthal said at the end of the celebration. “I can’t wait to see what the next 40 years bring.”