Honoring George Floyd: There’s still work to be done
As we mark the two-year anniversary this week of the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, social workers everywhere are continuing to fight systemic racism. The VCU School of Social work and professional organizations like NASW and NASW-Virginia support greater racial equity and multicultural competence among social work students, practicing social workers and their clients. […]
Discussion explores intersection of developmental disabilities, child welfare
VCU’s Child Welfare Stipend Program and Virginia Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (Va-LEND) presented a panel discussion, Developmental Disability and Child Welfare: What Do You Need to Know?, on May 24, 2022. The discussion focused on the ABCs of development disability and what child welfare workers need to know when working with children and caregivers […]
Message from the interim dean regarding Uvalde, Texas, shooting
Dear School of Social Work community, My heart is heavy today as I try to process the lives lost in Uvalde, Texas, as well as those forever changed. Many of you know that the place I consider home is an hour and a half from Uvalde, and I love and am deeply connected to this […]
Message from interim dean, President Rao on racially motivated violence
Dear SSW Community, It is heartbreaking to be writing to you again so soon, after the confirmation that the shooting Sunday in Laguna Woods, California, is being investigated as a “politically motivated hate incident,” according to authorities. We grieve for the Taiwanese community, and for the five victims, including John Cheng, who was fatally shot […]
Interim dean’s message: Race-based mass shooting in Buffalo
Dear School of Social Work Community, This weekend while our community celebrated new graduates and change makers, we were also faced with unspeakable violence. We join the world in grieving for the families of 10 victims who lost their life in a racially motivated hate crime. I write to express my grief and anger, as […]
Rebecca Gomez, Ph.D., LCSW, to serve as interim social work dean
Rebecca Gomez, Ph.D., LCSW, comes by her passion for the transformative power of higher education naturally – it’s in her genes. Gomez assumes leadership as interim dean of the VCU School of Social Work on May 16, 2022, after serving for nearly two years as associate dean of academic and student affairs. Dr. Gomez succeeds […]
It takes two: Summer Jones is the name to know for social work Commencement
Spring Commencement for the VCU School of Social Work had a distinctly Summer feel to it in 2022. Among the nearly 300 graduates who received degrees on May 13 at the Siegel Center, two stood out in the list of graduates: Summer Jones and … Summer Jones. That was not a typo. Summer Caroline Jones […]
New Ph.D. graduate Shenita Williams brings school social work experience to role as assistant professor
Shenita Williams, Ph.D., brings plenty of practical experience to her new role as an assistant professor in teaching in the VCU School of Social Work – not to mention a VCU perspective as a three-time graduate and newly minted doctor of education. Dr. Williams (B.S.W.’93/SW; M.S.W.’95/SW; Ph.D.’22/E) has also served as an adjunct faculty member […]
‘We can do this together’: Felicia Smith and daughter Raeven earning M.S.W. degrees
Felicia Smith‘s journey to earning her master’s degree in social work was decades in the making and slowed when she had complications during the pregnancy with her first daughter, Raeven, 26 years ago. The wait was worth it, as it led to mother and daughter syncing their career paths. And on Friday, May 13, 2022, […]
Ph.D. alumni award winner Bricout reinvents while maintaining value-driven purpose
John C. Bricout (Ph.D.’98/SW) has embraced the disruptive nature of innovation, reinvention and, as he calls it, working outside the box. All the more reason to find grounding in several key tenets developed as a doctoral student at the Virginia Commonwealth School of Social Work. Twenty-four years after earning his Ph.D., Dr. Bricout has been […]