In recent years, we have witnessed numerous college and university leadership turnovers in Virginia. Some of those transitions have followed long and successful presidencies. Others, however, were brief and ended unhappily. Why? For one, the demands of the job are enormous, especially the never-ending fundraising pressure. The various constituencies who must be satisfied require skills that few people possess. Institutional cultures, personalities and leadership styles, financial conditions, the composition of the board, alumni demands and expectations, or the response to a crisis are often factors that determine whether a presidency ends with accolades or recriminations.

If you’re interested in learning more about what makes a caring community tick, then attend this year’s Richmond History Makers event. The annual celebration on Oct. 20 will mark the fifth time Richmond has come together—under the big tent outside the Valentine Richmond History Center downtown TOM
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—to recognize grassroots leaders responsible for making our community a better place to live.

Four area students attended the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards conference Feb. 14-16 at the 4-H Airfield Center in Wakefield. The all-expenses-paid leadership-training program is designed to recognize, encourage, and further develop the leadership skills of selected high school juniors and seniors who have shown a potential for service to their schools and communities.

NONFICTION In “The Imperial Presidency” (published in 1973, during the Watergate scandal), Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. warned that the American presidency had gained too much power relative to Congress in the 20th century. His reasoning was straightforward. The 535-member Congress was notoriously slow to come to an agreement on just about anything. But the president—the decider, as our 43rd president memorably described himself—could respond quickly to the seemingly constant series of foreign policy crises that defined the American Century.

The winter of our discontent arrived with great expectations. In Richmond and across the nation, Americans are filled with fear and hope. Great mounds of money have evaporated for reasons many of us only vaguely understand.

Virginia Rep. Eric I. Cantor became the No. 2 Republican in the U.S. House yesterday, winning an uncontested election as the party’s whip. “Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good,“ Cantor said before the 175 Republican members of the House unanimously elected him. Cantor, who represents the 7th District, is the first Virginian from either party to hold the post. As whip, he will work with House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, to coordinate the votes and messages of GOP House members.