“For Africa,“ a benefit that raised $50,000 to aid children in Ghana, today received Virginia Commonwealth University’s Currents of Change award. The award, announced during a university celebration at the Siegel Center, will be an annual honor to pay tribute to VCU’s legacy of community involvement, VCU President Eugene Trani said. The “For Africa” benefit, staged by VCU and community groups last fall, included three nights of performances, a silent auction and an African market. The money raised was used to build a library for children and is helping build a child development center.

Dr. J. Dennis Hoban was not a medical doctor, but his research into how and what doctors should learn was beneficial to those who will be. Dr. Hoban was a curriculum consultant for the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. He had been director of education research at VCU’s medical school from 1999 to 2007. In 2005, he was awarded the university’s Educational Research Award for contributions that gained the school national attention.

A glitch in a Virginia Commonwealth University e-mail server is sending thousands of spam messages around the nation. The e-mail about October events from the College of Humanities and Sciences has been sent repeatedly to alumni. When recipients respond to the first message asking that they be removed from the sender’s list, their responses apparently are being sent to all addresses on the VCU server. The university is looking into the problem.

Virginia Commonwealth University’s faculty senate adopted a resolution yesterday designed to protect faculty rights during investigations such as the Rodney Monroe degree probe. The resolution says references to a faculty member’s tenure or future employment should not be permitted in any official VCU investigation. It also says faculty members should have the right to have an adviser or witness present and to sign a report of statements made under questioning.