Spurred by a VCIJ at WHRO and ProPublica investigation, the recently approved Virginia budget includes nearly $60,000 over the next two years for a commission to study the disruption public college and university expansions have had on Black communities.
Read moreThe groundbreaking commission, which was proposed in response to our “Uprooted” series, would consider compensation for dislodged property owners and their descendants. Whether Gov. Glenn Youngkin will sign the bill is unclear.
Read moreSpurred by our “Uprooted” series, a task force created by the city of Newport News and Christopher Newport University will reexamine decades of city and university records shedding light on a Black neighborhood’s destruction.
Read moreFollowing an investigation by the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO and ProPublica, Del. Delores McQuinn introduces bill for a commission to investigate the displacement of Black neighborhoods by Virginia’s public colleges and universities
Read moreBlack enrollment at Virginia’s Christopher Newport University fell by more than half under longtime president Paul Trible, a former Republican senator who wanted to “offer a private school experience.” By 2021, only 2.4% of full-time professors were Black.
Read moreIn response to our reporting, state Delegate Delores McQuinn said a task force could shed light on the impact of college expansion in Virginia. Officials are also calling for displaced families to receive redress, from scholarships to reparations.
Read moreA provision in state law exempts college presidents’ “working papers and correspondence” from disclosure even after they step down — as we found out when we asked about one ex-president’s role in campus expansions that uprooted a Black neighborhood.
Read moreSchools including Old Dominion and the flagship University of Virginia have expanded by dislodging Black families, sometimes by the threat or use of eminent domain.
Read moreSixty-plus years ago, the white leaders of Newport News, Virginia, seized the core of a thriving Black community to build a college. The school has been gobbling up the remaining houses ever since.
Read moreDespite historic changes in educational and economic opportunities, the share of U.S. physicians who are Black men has remained unchanged since 1940. Virginia medical schools are still struggling to attract talented young men – a key to building trust between healthcare providers and the Black community.
Read moreA year into the Covid pandemic, educators and lawmakers across Virginia are still grappling with how to provide a safe, stable and enriching in-person instruction for 1.2 million public school students. Some families worry about the long-term consequences caused by a year of spotty, virtual learning. Others feel safer to ride out the pandemic and school year at home, concerned whether schools can keep their children free from the virus.
Read moreIn 2016, the only age group to see an increase in the percentage of voters was youth aged 18-29. Still, this group lagged far behind all other age groups. Only 46.1% of eligible voters in this age demographic voted according to the US Census Bureau.
VCIJ asked a dozen first-time voters in a presidential election to share what is motivating them to vote in Virginia during this election cycle. They also share what issues they care about, how they get their information and why they feel voting is important.
Read moreEliana Nachman, 18, is a recent graduate of Hermitage High School in Henrico, VA, and has been accepted to Mary Washington University this fall, where classes start on Aug. 24.
The university initially planned a hybrid of online and in-person instruction to minimize the risk of spreading the coronavirus. But as infections grew, the university announced on Aug. 13 that classes would be entirely online until at least mid-September.
The pandemic has upended a year full of promise for Nachman and her friends: “I was hoping it would kind of be all wrapped up by August. I guess I was just being naive.”
Read moreA review of dozens of school policies by the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism revealed incomplete or inconsistent rules for guarding student data, despite a 2015 state law enhancing protections. Many district policies appeared to be based on 50-year-old state guidelines originally intended to protect information about student health and report cards
Read moreVirginia school administrators say they are struggling to provide mental health services during the coronavirus pandemic, even as vulnerable students continue with online studies away from regular counseling and support.
As school systems move to virtual learning, school counseling resources, deemed critical to student wellness by the U.S. Department of Education, are unable to provide in-person therapy for high-risk students. The alternative treatments -- online sessions or new therapists from community services boards -- could fall short in continuing care and supporting students during the pandemic, mental health professionals say.
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