When Richmonder Martin Strother began to sing, his powerful basso profondo voice—without benefit of a microphone—easily commanded an auditorium or concert hall. “He was not a tall man, but he had a tall voice—a big, booming bass voice. He had a voice you would not forget,“ said soprano Lisa Edwards-Burr, assistant professor of music at Virginia Union University. She first worked with him at Dogwood Dell, when he portrayed her father in the Scott Joplin opera “Treemonisha.“

A French documentary that explores last fall’s presidential election through the sounds of two Virginia marching bands will make its U.S. debut next week.  Virginia State University and the University of Virginia provide the fanfare for “Marching Band,“ which is a portrait of young voters that melds personal stories of band members with the historic election.

At the Virginia Military Institute, where three to six cadets share rooms “so small they put their bunks up during the day so they can get around,“ officials had expected roommates also would share the swine-flu virus. “But that’s not happening,“ said VMI spokesman Stewart MacInnis. “We’re really not sure of the pattern” of how the virus is spreading among cadets on the Lexington campus, he said.

Virginia Commonwealth University has been ranked No. 11 in a survey of the top 25 “best neighbor” universities. Among programs cited were the “40 Acts of Caring” project that was part of VCU’s 40th anniversary commemoration last year and its partnership with the Carver community. The rankings were announced last Monday in Philadelphia at the 15th annual conference of the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities. The University of Pennsylvania and the University of Southern California tied for the top position.

Virginia State University has been awarded $3 million from the U.S. Department of Education for its master’s degree programs. The department’s Historically Black College or University Master’s Degree Program Award will be paid in $500,000 increments over a six-year period. The funding will be used for the VSU School of Engineering, Science and Technology’s biology, computer science and mathematics master’s programs.

Virginia Commonwealth University has named six finalists for dean of its Business School, including the interim dean and the retiring president of Disneyland Resort. The finalists, who will be on campus for interviews and meetings with students and faculty during the next month, are:

• David Urban, a VCU marketing professor who is serving as interim dean of the School of Business;

ETTRICK - Alfred Ngauja didn’t ask for much. He didn’t need to. “We’ve got a good defense here - no, I’d say we’ve got a great defense here,“ said Ngauja, a sophomore defensive back at Virginia State. “When we play like we did tonight, when we play hard, when we play up to our potential, there’s not too many teams who are going to score a lot against us. I told the offense: ‘Just give us a few points and we’ll get out of here with a win.‘“

Its first classes were held in an old slave jail at the close of the Civil War. A half-century ago, its students held sit-ins to protest a segregated lunch counter in downtown Richmond. And sometimes, when he needs a bit of motivation to get on with his studies at Virginia Union University, Corey Gibson stops to think about that history.

Its first classes were held in an old slave jail at the close of the Civil War. A half-century ago, its students held sit-ins to protest a segregated lunch counter in downtown Richmond. And sometimes, when he needs a bit of motivation to get on with his studies at Virginia Union University, Corey Gibson stops to think about that history.

Virginia Union University has a $28 million budget, employs 300 people and is an economic engine for Richmond, its new president says. Claude G. Perkins, who was appointed president this month after serving in an acting role since Jan. 21, said VUU’s finances are tied to its enrollment—and that enrollment is growing. The university estimates it will have about 1,600 students this year, including its graduate school.

Location: 2058 Garfield Ave., Lynchburg
  Affiliation: Private, Baptist
  Number of students: 274
  Annual tuition: $7,900
  Location: 700 Park Ave., Norfolk
  Affiliation: Public
  Number of students last year: 6,325, including 287 white students
  Annual tuition and fees: $5,972 in-state; $18,030 out-of-state

A conference celebrating Historically Black Colleges and Universities will begin tonight with the 105 Voices of History concert at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. The 105 HBCUs all have representatives at the concert, including two Richmond-area students from Virginia State University. Ashley Pettis, a senior music major from Richmond, will sing soprano, and D’Mario Hill, a freshman music major from Prince George County, will sing bass.

In 1970, the federal government targeted predominantly black colleges in Virginia, charging them with racial discrimination. Ten years later, the word “predominantly” had changed to “historically” and a new approach had emerged. Historically black colleges were defined as such in the Higher Education Act of 1965, but, for years after, the schools were viewed more as vestiges of a dual system than a means of economic mobility for African-Americans.

Former Richmond schools Superintendent Lucille Brown; former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder; Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones; Detroit Pistons basketball player Ben Wallace; former NBA player Charles Oakley
  Virginia State University
Msician and composer Billy Taylor; jazz violinist Joe Kennedy Jr.; musician Phil Medley, author of “Twist & Shout”; author Daryl C. Dance; actor James L. Avery Sr. (attended 1968-70), Uncle Phil on television’s “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”; former Del. Jean W. Cunningham, D-Richmond; Del. Rosalyn R. Dance, D-Petersburg

The annual listing of “America’s Best Colleges” has given new bragging rights to Virginia schools. Several universities moved up in the ranks as U.S. News & World Report yesterday scored more than 1,400 schools nationwide in a wide range of categories. On the magazine’s list of best national universities, the University of Virginia was ranked 24th and the College of William and Mary was 33rd.