School of Social Work

In recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), the VCU School of Social Work is highlighting some of our alumni who work with survivors. Liz Cozzati (M.S.W.’16/SW), LCWS, is a sexual and domestic violence counselor at Safe Harbor. How prevalent are cases of interpersonal or intimate person violence in the populations you work with? Folks […]

Dear School of Social Work community, Following a great deal of national attention, collective anxiety and apprehension, the jury in Derek Chauvin’s trial has rendered a verdict of guilty in the murder of George Floyd. I share in the collective relief that I know many in our community feel about the potential step this represents […]

Two VCU School of Social Work alumni were recognized as part of the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs’ 14th annual Excellence in Virginia Government Awards on April 15, 2021. ‘Friends never leaves me’ John Purnell Jr. (M.S.W.’64/SW; M.P.A.’78/GPA) received the Grace E. Harris Leadership Award. Purnell was executive director of the […]

The School of Social Work is excited to share that our spring Commencement ceremonies are planned for Friday, May 14, 2021, at City Stadium (3201 Maplewood Avenue, Richmond, Virginia 23221; map with parking and accommodations highlighted). COMMENCEMENT RSVPS* Registration has closed for graduates and their guests who plan to attend the ceremonies. STREAMING THE CEREMONY* […]

Style Weekly’s Top 40 Under 40 awards is not only an annual cover-story edition for the Richmond magazine, it has also served as a kind of reunion for VCU School of Social Work alumni. From the origins of the award in 2004 to the most recent honors last fall, VCU social work graduates have been […]

Two-and-a-half decades after problems with her pregnancy delayed Felicia Smith’s second attempt at college, she is in the second semester of the M.S.W. Program at VCU’s School of Social Work. She graduated from the B.S.W. Program in May 2020, serving as the program’s student speaker at Commencement. She is the current president of the Association […]

As the new VCU School of Social Work dean prepared to start her job, she took stock of several key challenges. SOCIAL WORK MONTH: 2021: ORIGIN STORIES How could the program work more collaboratively with other academic units to offer more educational opportunities that cut across related disciplines? How could the school provide better access […]

VCU social work alum Sara Van Tongeren, Rev. Jennifer Adams and Jeffrey Sorenson received social justice awards from the city of Holland, Michigan, in January. For VCU School of Social Work alum Sara Van Tongeren (M.S.W.’08/SW), a “surreal” seven-hour city council meeting in August 2020 was delayed gratification for the passage of a long-awaited nondiscrimination […]

Originally published in VCU’s December 2020 Impact magazine. Ebony Mack (M.S.W.’18/SW) couldn’t help but exclaim. She had just received an email, in 2017, naming her the first recipient of the VCU School of Social Work’s Fostering Success Scholarship. “I think I was at work, and it came through. ‘Oh my, I got a scholarship!’ I […]

The roots go back nearly three decades for three VCU School of Social Work scholarships that honor two former faculty members and an alumna. Family and friends have supported the legacy of these loved ones – and made a significant difference in the lives of current social work students – through the Pamela B. Nystrom Memorial […]