[{"id":772,"date":"2026-08-23T11:54:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T11:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/?p=772"},"modified":"2026-08-23T11:54:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T11:54:20","slug":"activities-programing-board-hosts-successful-havoc-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/activities-programing-board-hosts-successful-havoc-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Activities Programing Board Hosts Successful Havoc Week"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Activities Programing Board (APB) hosted an extremely successful Havoc Week in April. Havoc week serves as APB\u2019s end-of-year celebration designed to help students de-stress, celebrate the completion of the academic year, and strengthen school spirit before finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This year&#8217;s series placed a stronger emphasis on creating a week-long signature experience by pairing large-scale APB programs with Spirit Week activities and daily giveaways, encouraging students to participate across multiple events throughout the week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Featured events included Pimp My Ram, Love &amp; Bingo: Courtside Havoc Bingo, The Ram Wears Prada, RamFest featuring Zack Fox, and Havoc on the Block Party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">APB welcomed approximately 2,476 student attendees. RamFest and Havoc on the Block Party were the highest attended programs, drawing 982 and 300 students respectively, while Love &amp; Bingo also exceeded attendance expectations with 230 participants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Student feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with students sharing that they appreciated the variety of programming, opportunities to connect with friends before finals, and the combination of entertainment, giveaways, and interactive experiences throughout the week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Office of Student Involvement team, which advises APB, shared that moving forward because we found week-long programming paired with high-value incentives encouraged students to attend multiple events rather than a single program APB plans to continue building on this model.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Activities Programing Board (APB) hosted an extremely successful Havoc Week in April. Havoc week serves as APB\u2019s end-of-year celebration designed to help students de-stress, celebrate the completion of the academic year, and strengthen school spirit before finals. This year&#8217;s series placed a stronger emphasis on creating a week-long signature experience by pairing large-scale APB [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1009,"featured_media":773,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2025-26-dsa-annualreport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1009"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=772"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":774,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772\/revisions\/774"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":768,"date":"2026-08-23T11:48:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T11:48:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/?p=768"},"modified":"2026-08-23T11:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T11:49:08","slug":"title-saeo-partners-with-vcu-libraries-to-open-sensory-room","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/title-saeo-partners-with-vcu-libraries-to-open-sensory-room\/","title":{"rendered":"SAEO Partners with VCU Libraries to Open Sensory Room"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In consultative partnership with the Office of Student Accessibility and Educational Opportunity (SAEO), VCU Libraries opened a new sensory room at the James Branch Cabell Library in September 2025. Designed specifically for students with acute sensory needs or sensitivities, the versatile study space can be tailored to individual preferences to reduce discomfort, stress, and anxiety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To plan the room, the library team studied SAEO\u2019s existing sensory facilities, documented optimal furnishings, and consulted with national peer institutions through the Sensory-Friendly Libraries Discussion Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe design is intended to provide students with an academic environment that will help them center their sensory needs so as to be more academically successful,\u201d said Laura W. Gariepy, Ph.D., former associate dean for research and learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/news.vcu.edu\/article\/2025\/09\/vcu-libraries-new-sensory-room-serves-neurodivergent-students\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/news.vcu.edu\/article\/2025\/09\/vcu-libraries-new-sensory-room-serves-neurodivergent-students\">Check out this article from VCU News to learn more<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In consultative partnership with the Office of Student Accessibility and Educational Opportunity (SAEO), VCU Libraries opened a new sensory room at the James Branch Cabell Library in September 2025. Designed specifically for students with acute sensory needs or sensitivities, the versatile study space can be tailored to individual preferences to reduce discomfort, stress, and anxiety. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1009,"featured_media":769,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2025-26-dsa-annualreport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1009"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=768"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":771,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768\/revisions\/771"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":765,"date":"2026-08-23T11:41:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T11:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/?p=765"},"modified":"2026-08-23T11:41:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T11:41:12","slug":"grace-lauren-housing-project-underway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/grace-lauren-housing-project-underway\/","title":{"rendered":"Grace &amp; Lauren Housing Project Underway"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an effort to meet high student demand for on-campus housing, Residential Life and Housing broke ground on the new West Grace Housing Project in February, marking the university&#8217;s first new housing development since 2018. This 325,000-square-foot project will offer approximately 1,000 new beds for VCU students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Living on campus remains popular due to a supportive, intentionally designed environment that focuses on providing students with a safe and secure residential experience. The halls offer programs designed to help students learn essential skills for living independently and harmoniously with others. Furthermore, living in VCU residence halls continues to positively impact student success; year after year, on-campus residents maintain higher retention rates and academically outperform their off-campus counterparts across every level (first-year, sophomore, junior, and senior).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The West Grace Street Housing Project will feature approximately 1,000 single and double semi-suite-style beds. The ground floor will include a secure residential lobby, as well as space for housing operations, faculty offices, resident amenities, and conferencing. Additional ground-floor features include a 5,000-square-foot dining venue, two 1,500-square-foot retail spaces, and a 6,000-square-foot mail center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This new residential facility is slated to open in fall 2028.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In an effort to meet high student demand for on-campus housing, Residential Life and Housing broke ground on the new West Grace Housing Project in February, marking the university&#8217;s first new housing development since 2018. This 325,000-square-foot project will offer approximately 1,000 new beds for VCU students. Living on campus remains popular due to a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1009,"featured_media":766,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2025-26-dsa-annualreport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1009"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=765"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":767,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765\/revisions\/767"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":752,"date":"2026-08-19T12:38:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T12:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/?p=752"},"modified":"2026-08-23T11:37:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T11:37:30","slug":"welcome-to-the-fall-semester-from-vcu-student-affairs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/welcome-to-the-fall-semester-from-vcu-student-affairs\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to the Fall Semester from VCU Student Affairs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dear Students,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Happy Black and Gold Wednesday! It is an honor to welcome you to VCU for the Fall 2026 Semester. Come meet me today at noon at the<a href=\"https:\/\/massmail.vcu.edu\/trk\/click?ref=z173r7sgll_0-34470_0_0x35d1b3x0507\"> Weeks of Welcome Black and Gold Wednesday Event<\/a>! Here are four action items I want you to know as you start the semester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>(1) Get Involved \ud83e\udd1d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rams show up, in class and at events, and we encourage you to get involved and explore the many opportunities VCU offers to build lifelong friendships and connections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Your student activity fee helps support the nearly 500 Registered Student Organizations. The best way to learn more about student organizations and things to do on campus is through<a href=\"https:\/\/vcu.campusgroups.com\/home_login\"> RamsConnect<\/a>, at the upcoming<a href=\"https:\/\/ramsconnect.vcu.edu\/theunderground\/rsvp_boot?id=1946023&amp;rel=title\"> SOVO Fair<\/a> on Friday, Aug. 21 and over the next few weeks at our<a href=\"https:\/\/ramsconnect.vcu.edu\/events?topic_tags=13473536\"> Weeks of Welcome<\/a> events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can specifically connect with the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, Office of Student Involvement, Office of Student Leadership and Engaged Learning, Fraternity and Sorority Life, the Student Media Center, and Residential Life and Housing for involvement opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>(2) Utilize DSA Support Resources \ud83d\udca1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our team in the Division of Student Affairs (DSA) is here to support you with innovative programs and services designed for your success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/counseling.vcu.edu\/\">University Counseling Services<\/a> (UCS) offers <strong><em>24\/7\/365<\/em><\/strong> comprehensive in-person clinical counseling services, recovery support, and outreach to all students. You can always call <strong><em>804-828-6200<\/em><\/strong> for assistance! Additionally, VCU students have access to free virtual care services through<a href=\"http:\/\/timelycare.com\/vcu\"> TimelyCare<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The<a href=\"https:\/\/advocacy.vcu.edu\/\"> Office of Student Advocacy<\/a> is the place to go to find answers to general questions, support when encountering a challenge, assistance in navigating university policies, and help for students needing emergency support. To seek support from the OSA team or to report something of concern visit<a href=\"http:\/\/go.vcu.edu\/getsupport\"> go.vcu.edu\/getsupport<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/health.students.vcu.edu\/\">University Student Health Services<\/a> offers a wide variety of primary care services with skilled doctors and healthcare professionals available for your medical needs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/recwell.vcu.edu\/\">Recreation and Well-Being (RecWell)<\/a> offers a wide variety of programs and services that include workout facilities, fitness classes, intramural sports, sports clubs, yoga classes, and much more.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/massmail.vcu.edu\/trk\/click?ref=z173r7sgll_0-34470_0_0x32224bx0507\">Student Accessibility and Educational Opportunity<\/a> works to foster an environment where all students have equal access to the University&#8217;s programs, services, and activities. Students can consult with the office about possible accommodations or disability-related support.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>(3) Review Student Expectations Policies and Resources \ud83d\udcda<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As you look to connect with your fellow Rams and get involved, it is important to understand what is expected of you. I encourage you to review the<a href=\"https:\/\/massmail.vcu.edu\/trk\/click?ref=z173r7sgll_0-34470_0_0x35d1b9x0507\"> VCU Code of Student Conduct<\/a>, the<a href=\"https:\/\/conduct.students.vcu.edu\/transparency-reports\/registered-student-organization-rso-conduct-report\/\"> Registered Student Organization (RSO) Conduct Report<\/a> and to familiarize yourself with the<a href=\"https:\/\/massmail.vcu.edu\/trk\/click?ref=z173r7sgll_0-34470_0_0x35d1bbx0507\"> Hazing Prevention and Discipline Policy<\/a> and our VCU<a href=\"https:\/\/massmail.vcu.edu\/trk\/click?ref=z173r7sgll_0-34470_0_0x35d1bcx0507\"> Hazing Prevention<\/a> resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you haven&#8217;t already, complete the &#8220;Have you Herd? What New Rams Need to Know about Alcohol and Other Drugs at VCU\u201d course on<a href=\"https:\/\/massmail.vcu.edu\/trk\/click?ref=z173r7sgll_0-34470_0_0x35d1bdx0507\"> Ram Ready<\/a> by Monday, Sept. 7. Required training for new and returning students can be found on<a href=\"https:\/\/massmail.vcu.edu\/trk\/click?ref=z173r7sgll_0-34470_0_0x35d1bex0507\"> this helpful website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VCU is committed to providing an environment free from sexual misconduct, assault, harassment or any sex\/gender discrimination that may violate Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and other state and federal laws. To make a report and for additional information, please visit the<a href=\"https:\/\/massmail.vcu.edu\/trk\/click?ref=z173r7sgll_0-34470_0_0x35d1bfx0507\"> Title IX website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>(4) Remember These Safety Resources<\/strong> \ud83d\udee1\ufe0f<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Your safety at VCU is paramount, and we encourage you to play an active role in keeping yourself safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/massmail.vcu.edu\/trk\/click?ref=z173r7sgll_0-34470_0_0x34d0d6x0507\">VCU Police<\/a> encourages students to be aware of their surroundings at all times and to report any<a href=\"https:\/\/massmail.vcu.edu\/trk\/click?ref=z173r7sgll_0-34470_0_0x34d0d7x0507\"> suspicious behavior<\/a> immediately.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>All members of the VCU community are encouraged to become familiar with the<a href=\"https:\/\/vcu.public.doctract.com\/doctract\/documentportal\/08DA32A740D33773D021364CCD17A201?slu=08DCC15E6A062D4B8FE829215E631EA4\"> Threat Assessment and Violence Prevention Policy<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/orange.hosting.lsoft.com\/trk\/click?ref=znwrbbrs9_6-1c6b4x316ee6x025866&amp;\">.<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>VCU Police reminds students that officers are available to help all members of the VCU community; if you need assistance, please call (804) VCU-1234 \/ (804) 828-1234 to reach VCUPD directly at any time, day or night. Students can also download the free<a href=\"https:\/\/police.vcu.edu\/stay-safe\/livesafe\/\"> LiveSafe<\/a> app.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Pause. Verify. Protect: <\/strong>Look out for scams, particularly phishing scams, that target VCU users. You can read more in this<a href=\"https:\/\/massmail.vcu.edu\/trk\/click?ref=z173r7sgll_0-34470_0_0x35d1c3x0507\"> blog post<\/a> from our VCU IT team.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thank you for being a member of the Ramily and good luck this semester. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or need assistance. Follow us on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/vcudsa\/\"> Instagram<\/a> for important information and to engage with us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Go RAMS!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Aaron J. Hart, Ed.D.<br>Vice President<br>Division of Student Affairs<br>Virginia Commonwealth University<br>dsa@vcu.edu<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear Students, Happy Black and Gold Wednesday! It is an honor to welcome you to VCU for the Fall 2026 Semester. Come meet me today at noon at the Weeks of Welcome Black and Gold Wednesday Event! Here are four action items I want you to know as you start the semester. (1) Get Involved [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1009,"featured_media":756,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-2026-spring-2027","category-vpsa-communications"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1009"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=752"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":757,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752\/revisions\/757"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":749,"date":"2026-02-17T12:31:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T12:31:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/?p=749"},"modified":"2026-02-17T12:31:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T12:31:26","slug":"spring-2026-alcohol-and-other-drug-policy-and-resources-notification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/spring-2026-alcohol-and-other-drug-policy-and-resources-notification\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring 2026 Alcohol and Other Drug Policy and Resources Notification"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Creating a positive environment for learning is essential to the VCU community. Alcohol and other drugs can interfere with academic success and campus safety. At VCU, we proactively address these issues in both our well-being programs and our policy enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VCU Alcohol and Other Drugs Policy provides information about protecting your health, sustaining safety and promoting the general well-being of the VCU community. All VCU students are asked to take a moment to read the <a href=\"https:\/\/policy.vcu.edu\/doctract\/documentportal\/08DA32A63EDBC03643AC76578A0275BB\">VCU Alcohol and Other Drug Policy<\/a> in the online VCU Policy Library.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The policy outlines the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>VCU standards of conduct surrounding alcohol and other drugs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>University and community resources.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The health effects of alcohol and other drugs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Federal and state laws pertaining to alcohol and other drugs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Medical amnesty for students seeking medical assistance for themselves or others.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition, please be aware that VCU\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/recwell.vcu.edu\/thrive\/well-being-resources\/\"><strong>RecWell<\/strong><\/a><strong> <\/strong>provides a variety of alcohol and other drug prevention education and online resources. This includes a free, brief online self-assessment that provides personalized feedback and information on how relationships with alcohol and other drugs relates to goals and choices. VCU news also published this helpful <a href=\"https:\/\/news.vcu.edu\/article\/2025\/09\/making-safe-choices-at-vcu-what-you-should-know\">Making Safe Choices<\/a> article recently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VCU\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/recovery.vcu.edu\/\">Rams in Recovery<\/a> is an active community that supports students and staff in recovery and celebrates all that life in college can be without alcohol and other drugs. Email recovery@vcu.edu for more information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Best wishes for a safe and productive spring semester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sincerely,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Division of Student Affairs<br>Virginia Commonwealth University<br><a href=\"mailto:dsa@vcu.edu\">dsa@vcu.edu<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff: Creating a positive environment for learning is essential to the VCU community. Alcohol and other drugs can interfere with academic success and campus safety. At VCU, we proactively address these issues in both our well-being programs and our policy enforcement. VCU Alcohol and Other Drugs Policy provides information about protecting [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1009,"featured_media":672,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-2025-spring-2026","category-vpsa-communications"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1009"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":747,"date":"2026-02-05T20:57:27","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T20:57:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/?p=747"},"modified":"2026-02-05T20:57:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T20:57:30","slug":"expressive-activity-at-vcu-spring-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/expressive-activity-at-vcu-spring-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Expressive Activity at VCU Spring 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dear Students,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As you get settled into the spring semester, we want to share some information regarding expressive activity on campus.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VCU is a very diverse community with a host of differing viewpoints reflecting each of our personal lenses through which we see, and experience, the world. This diversity of viewpoint and opinion is a tremendous asset to our community.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our expectation is that you engage in conversations with others who share similar and dissimilar perspectives. In that regard, the university is committed to fostering a climate that encourages civil and spirited discourse.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VCU advocates for the dignity of all human beings. We understand that while creating an environment that supports civil dialogue, hurtful comments can be made by others. We are committed to creating a supportive culture for all our students while protecting First Amendment rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VCU is committed, as a public university, to ensure a strong commitment to the First Amendment and Virginia law. The First Amendment prohibits prior restraint on speech and taking adverse action against individuals or groups, whether affiliated with the university or not, based on the viewpoints of their speech. This freedom of speech also encompasses the rights of those who present differing viewpoints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/vcu.public.doctract.com\/doctract\/documentportal\/08DA32A740D31FB4D9FC17CC1351AF65\"><strong>Expression and Space Utilization Policy <\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;clarifies how expressive activities may occur at VCU. This policy was developed through a transparent and inclusive process that included multiple opportunities for student participation in feedback.&nbsp; For more information, please visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/dos.vcu.edu\/student-resources-and-information\/ram-voice\/\"><strong>Ram Voice<\/strong><\/a> page on the Dean of Students website. Additionally, here is a link to the <a href=\"https:\/\/dos.vcu.edu\/student-resources-and-information\/ram-voice\/campus-expression-and-space-utilization-maps\/\"><strong>Space Utilization Maps<\/strong><\/a><strong>.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We also have a team of staff members through the Division of Student Affairs who are available to consult and are often present when expressive activities occur on campus. The Dean of Student Advocacy office is available throughout the year to meet with students who have specific questions or concerns and can be reached at <strong>vcudean@vcu.edu<\/strong> or 804-828-8940.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a public university, we will uphold the constitutional rights of our community, and hold tight to our core values of decency, respect, diversity, and inclusion. We will foster an environment where all members of our community feel welcome, safe, supported, and able to succeed in the context of our mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thank you for your support of expressive activity on our campus and your willingness to engage in productive civil discourse with others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sincerely,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Division of Student Affairs<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear Students, As you get settled into the spring semester, we want to share some information regarding expressive activity on campus.&nbsp; VCU is a very diverse community with a host of differing viewpoints reflecting each of our personal lenses through which we see, and experience, the world. This diversity of viewpoint and opinion is a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1009,"featured_media":672,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-2025-spring-2026","category-vpsa-communications"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1009"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":743,"date":"2026-01-14T14:16:32","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T14:16:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/?p=743"},"modified":"2026-01-14T14:50:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T14:50:14","slug":"welcome-to-the-spring-2026-semester-from-the-division-of-student-affairs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/welcome-to-the-spring-2026-semester-from-the-division-of-student-affairs\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to the Spring 2026 Semester from the Division of Student Affairs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dear VCU Students,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Happy Black and Gold Wednesday! I am thrilled to welcome our new and returning Rams to campus for the Spring 2026 semester. To help you hit the ground running, I\u2019d like to share four essential tips for a successful semester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Get Involved, Stay Involved&nbsp; <\/strong><strong>\u2705<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Active engagement is the best way to build friendships, gain leadership experience, and develop new skills. Here are two immediate ways to connect:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Explore <a href=\"https:\/\/vcu.campusgroups.com\/home_login\"><strong>RamsConnect<\/strong><\/a>: Search for clubs, programs, and events that match your interests.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Attend the upcoming <a href=\"https:\/\/vcu.campusgroups.com\/theunderground\/rsvp_boot?id=1942998\"><strong>SOVO Fair<\/strong><\/a>: Join us Friday, January 16 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the second floor of the Commons.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Additionally, do not miss these upcoming opportunities:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Week 2026<\/strong> <strong>(Jan 19\u201323):<\/strong> Join the VCU community for a week of reflection and community engagement honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. See week of event details <a href=\"https:\/\/mlkday.vcu.edu\/\">here<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Board of Visitors &amp; SCHEV Representatives:<\/strong> Represent your peers at the highest level. <strong>Apply by Sunday Feb 15<\/strong> using <a href=\"https:\/\/forms.gle\/Wa4VqEsRhftdMoh87\">this link<\/a> and l<a href=\"https:\/\/students.vcu.edu\/student-life-at-vcu\/get-involved\/student-leadership\/bov-student-reps\/\">earn more about our current student leaders here<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>VCU Homecoming Week (Feb 21\u201328): <\/strong>Check out the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vcualumni.org\/events\/homecoming\/\">VCU Homecoming 2026 website<\/a> for a full schedule of athletic and spirit events.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Utilize DSA Support Resources <\/strong><strong>\u2b05\ufe0f<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Division of Student Affairs (DSA) is dedicated to your well-being and success. Our programs are designed with student input to help you thrive. Please reach out to these units whenever you need support:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/omsa.vcu.edu\"><strong>Office of Multicultural Student Affairs<\/strong><\/a><strong> <\/strong>offers a welcoming space in the University Commons and hosts events that are open to everyone and encourages students to celebrate their whole selves and the global community we share.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/saeo.vcu.edu\"><strong>Office of Student Accessibility and Educational Opportunity<\/strong><\/a><strong> <\/strong>works to foster an environment where all students have equal access to VCU\u2019s programs, services and activities.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/advocacy.vcu.edu\/\"><strong>Office of Student Advocacy<\/strong><\/a> is the place to go to find answers to general questions, support when encountering a challenge, assistance in navigating university policies, and help for students needing emergency support.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/counseling.vcu.edu\/\"><strong>University Counseling Services<\/strong><\/a> (UCS) offers comprehensive in-person clinical counseling services, recovery support, and outreach to all students. Additionally, VCU students have access to free virtual care services through <a href=\"http:\/\/timelycare.com\/vcu\"><strong>TimelyCare<\/strong><\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/health.students.vcu.edu\/\"><strong>University Student Health Services<\/strong><\/a> offers a wide variety of primary care services with skilled doctors and healthcare professionals available for your medical needs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/recwell.vcu.edu\/\"><strong>Recreation and Well-Being (RecWell)<\/strong><\/a> offers a wide variety of programs and services that include workout facilities, fitness classes, intramural sports, sports clubs, yoga classes, and much more.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Review Student Expectations, Policies, and Resources <\/strong><strong>\ud83d\udcd9<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Being a Ram means upholding our community standards. Please familiarize yourself with the<a href=\"https:\/\/policy.vcu.edu\/doctract\/documentportal\/08DD5A576A3D02EB05C96267E2906DC0\"> Interim Student Code of Conduct<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/vcu.public.doctract.com\/doctract\/documentportal\/08DA32AA85BE764A67373C1A0775A51C\">Honor System and Standards of Academic Conduct<\/a>.<strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Please also familiarize yourself with the new <a href=\"https:\/\/vcu.public.doctract.com\/doctract\/documentportal\/08DA32A740D31FB4D9FC17CC1351AF65\"><strong>Campus Expression and Space Utilization Policy (CESU)<\/strong><\/a> and check out the <a href=\"https:\/\/dos.vcu.edu\/student-resources-and-information\/ram-voice\/\">Ram Voice webpage<\/a> for additional CESU resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Prioritize Safety and Community <\/strong><strong>\ud83d\udedf<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Practicing safety, civility and being a considerate neighbor is central to our identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Stay Safe When Driving and Walking:<\/strong> As the spring semester begins, it is important that you have a renewed awareness about staying alert when traveling through VCU, VCU Health and the City of Richmond. Please make sure to keep yourself safe when walking and driving around VCU by following the recommendations shared in this <a href=\"https:\/\/massmail.vcu.edu\/list\/260112C_0\/b8tyqnzcocj5.vib?a1=91kmfnse&amp;dr=0&amp;a4=skillmanj2%40apps.vcu.edu&amp;a3=50113&amp;a2=skillmanj2%40APPS.VCU.EDU&amp;a0=57544&amp;a5=4866462&amp;ssq=4866462\">stay safe message<\/a> sent out on Monday January 12.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Informed Involvement:<\/strong> Review the<a href=\"https:\/\/conduct.students.vcu.edu\/transparency-reports\/registered-student-organization-rso-conduct-report\/\"> Student Organization Conduct Report<\/a> before joining new groups.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Police &amp; Prevention:<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/police.vcu.edu\/\"> VCU Police<\/a> encourage you to stay aware of your surroundings and report suspicious behavior. Please also review the<a href=\"https:\/\/vcu.public.doctract.com\/doctract\/documentportal\/08DA32A740D33773D021364CCD17A201\"> Threat Assessment and Violence Prevention Policy<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Title IX:<\/strong> VCU is committed to an environment free from discrimination and misconduct. For reporting or resources, visit the<a href=\"https:\/\/equity.vcu.edu\/title-ix\/\"> Title IX website<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thank you for being part of our vibrant community. I wish you an incredible semester\u2014and don&#8217;t forget to wear your <strong>Black and Gold<\/strong> every Wednesday!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Go Rams!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Aaron J. Hart, Ed.D.<br>Vice President<br>Division of Student Affairs\ud83d\udcf8 Make sure to follow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/vcudsa\/\"><strong>@VCUDSA<\/strong><\/a> on Instagram \ud83d\udcf8<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear VCU Students, Happy Black and Gold Wednesday! I am thrilled to welcome our new and returning Rams to campus for the Spring 2026 semester. To help you hit the ground running, I\u2019d like to share four essential tips for a successful semester. Get Involved, Stay Involved&nbsp; \u2705 Active engagement is the best way to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1009,"featured_media":672,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-2025-spring-2026","category-vpsa-communications"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1009"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":738,"date":"2025-12-17T18:58:48","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T18:58:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/?p=738"},"modified":"2025-12-18T14:22:38","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T14:22:38","slug":"happy-holidays-from-the-division-of-student-affairs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/happy-holidays-from-the-division-of-student-affairs\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy Holidays from the Division of Student Affairs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video aligncenter\"><video height=\"1080\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1920 \/ 1080;\" width=\"1920\" controls loop src=\"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/636\/2025\/12\/Holiday-Video-1.mp4\" playsinline><\/video><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During this special time of the year, I wish you all the best and hope your days are filled with joy and celebration. Go Rams! Dr. Aaron J. Hart, Vice President<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During this special time of the year, I wish you all the best and hope your days are filled with joy and celebration. Go Rams! Dr. Aaron J. Hart, Vice President<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1009,"featured_media":672,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,1,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-2025-spring-2026","category-uncategorized","category-vpsa-communications"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1009"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":734,"date":"2025-11-17T19:34:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T19:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/?p=734"},"modified":"2025-11-17T19:34:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T19:34:15","slug":"%f0%9f%8f%86-vcu-student-media-center-wins-big-at-2025-mediafest25-convention-in-dc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/%f0%9f%8f%86-vcu-student-media-center-wins-big-at-2025-mediafest25-convention-in-dc\/","title":{"rendered":"\ud83c\udfc6 VCU Student Media Center Wins Big at 2025 MediaFest25 Convention\u00a0in DC"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Student Media Center (<strong>SMC<\/strong>) at VCU continued <strong>its<\/strong> impressive streak of national recognition at the SPJ\/ACP\/CMA Convention (<strong>MediaFest25<\/strong>) in Washington D.C. last month. Students producing work <strong>through<\/strong> their involvement with the SMC have consistently gained national attention over the past several years, and this year was no different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The SMC picked up a total of <strong>21 awards<\/strong>, highlighted by the most prestigious honor for college newspapers: the <strong>ACP Pacemaker<\/strong>, which was awarded to the <em>Commonwealth Times<\/em> (<strong>CT<\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sarah Hagen, Managing Editor for the CT, shared, <strong>&#8220;It<\/strong> was an honor to win another Pacemaker for the CT and so many other awards for the SMC. I get to see our incredible staff in action every day, so I&#8217;m glad everyone else is able to see the results of their constant hard work. This recognition means a lot to the students who put their heart and soul into every word they write.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Andrew Kerley, Executive Editor for the CT, added, <strong>&#8220;Earning<\/strong> recognition for our work in journalism is like being told all of our late nights at the Student Media Center were worth it! I\u2019m endlessly proud of our team members, who push the boundaries of what we can do every day.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can check out a brief recap of awards via this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DQXaI7jkYe-\/?img_index=1\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DQXaI7jkYe-\/?img_index=1\">VCUDSA Instagram post<\/a> and the full list of winners can be viewed below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><u>2024 National Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Awards<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The SPJ Mark of Excellence awards are SPJ&#8217;s highest annual national honors for college journalism.To be eligible for consideration in the national competition, each of these entries had to win their category in our regional competition. VCU competes in Region 2 (Delaware, Maryland, Washington D.C., Virginia and North Carolina).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Sports Column Writing, National Winner: Kyler Gilliam, The Commonwealth Times<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Best Ongoing Student Magazine, National Finalist: Amendment Literary and Art Journal<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>2025 College Media Association Pinnacle Awards<\/strong><br><em>The CMA Pinnacle Awards are the annual awards for the best college media work in the nation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Sports Photo, First place: Anthony Duong, The Commonwealth Times (&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/vcustudentmedia\/docs\/ct-1.29.25\/5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">VCU Breaks the Bonnies&#8217; Curse 75-61<\/a>,&#8221; Jan. 29, 2025)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Literary Magazine Spread Design, First place: Casey Kendle, Reese Cilley and Kylie Grunsfeld, Pwatem (&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/vcustudentmedia\/docs\/pwatem_2025\/17\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">A Yellow Rabbit Among White Wolves<\/a>,&#8221; Spring 2025 issue)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Feature Photo Package, First place: Claudia Andrade-Ayala, Ink Magazine (\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/vcustudentmedia\/docs\/ink_magazine_vol._17_issue_2_raw_\/75\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">I\u2019m Built Different<\/a>,\u201d Spring 2025 issue)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Best Headline, Second place: Thailon Wilson, The Commonwealth Times (\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/vcustudentmedia\/docs\/ct-12.04.24_1_\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Rams Pillage the Vikings<\/a>,&#8221; Dec. 4, 2024)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Breaking News Photo, Honorable mention: Arrick Wilson, The Commonwealth Times (\u201c\u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/vcustudentmedia\/docs\/ct-11.13.24\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">They say no choice, we say pro-choice\u2019: Students protest anti-abortion advocates<\/a>,&#8221; Nov. 13, 2024)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Print Advertisement Design, Second place: Victor Romanko, The Commonwealth Times (\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/vcustudentmedia\/docs\/ct-1.29.25\/15\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Join our Newsletter<\/a>,\u201d Jan. 29, 2025)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Feature Magazine of the Year: Second place, Staff,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/vcustudentmedia\/docs\/ink_magazine_vol._17_issue_2_raw_\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ink Magazine<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Literary Magazine of the Year: Honorable mention, Staff,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/vcustudentmedia\/docs\/pwatem_2025\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pwatem<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2025 Associated Collegiate Press Pacemaker and Individual Awards<br><em>The ACP Pacemaker is considered the &#8220;Pulitzer Prize&#8221; of college journalism. Only 17 newspapers nationally were chosen as Pacemaker winners this year. The ACP individual awards are also considered the top national honors for college journalism.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 National Newspaper Pacemaker Winner: The Commonwealth Times<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Design of the Year: Illustrations, First place: Gillian Grunenfelder, Pwatem (\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/vcustudentmedia\/docs\/pwatem_2025\/25\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Cycle of Paris and Helen<\/a>,\u201d Spring 2025 issue)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Design of the Year:&nbsp;Illustrations, Third place: Aisha Virk, Ink Magazine (\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/vcustudentmedia\/docs\/ink_magazine_vol._17_issue_2_raw_\/65\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Trans Girls Love Slint<\/a>,\u201d Spring 2025 issue)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Design of the Year:&nbsp;Illustrations, Honorable mention: Killian Goodale-Porter, The Commonwealth Times (\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/vcustudentmedia\/docs\/ct-12.04.24_1_\/13\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">I can\u2019t afford to regret my abortion<\/a>,\u201d Dec. 4, 2024)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><u>2025 Associated Collegiate Press Best of Show Awards<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>ACP also hosts an on-site competition for new work students completed between the June deadlines for the big national awards.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u2022&nbsp;<\/strong>Best Magazine Design, Third place: Amaris Bowers, Summer DeCiucis, Zach Montgomery, Elizabeth Murphy, River City Fashion (\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/vcustudentmedia\/docs\/river_city_fashion_charmed_2025\/8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Life, Is, a Fashion Show,<\/a>\u201d Spring 2025 issue)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u2022&nbsp;<\/strong>Best Magazine Design, Sixth place: Gillian Grunenfelder, Elina Perera, Reese Cilley, Pwatem (\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/vcustudentmedia\/docs\/pwatem_2025\/25\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Shrinking Feeling<\/a>,\u201d Spring 2025 issue)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Best Feature Magazine, Sixth place:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/vcustudentmedia\/docs\/ink_magazine_vol._17_issue_2_raw_\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ink Magazine<\/a>&nbsp;(Spring 2025 issue)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Best Literary\/Art Magazine, Fifth place:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/vcustudentmedia\/docs\/pwatem_2025\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pwatem<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Best Literary\/Art Magazine, Eighth place:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/vcustudentmedia\/docs\/amendment_literary_and_art_journal_2025\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Amendment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Best Literary\/Art Magazine, Ninth place:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/vcustudentmedia\/docs\/annum_arcanum_volume_1_2025\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Annum Arcanum<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Best Newspaper, Eighth place:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/vcustudentmedia\/docs\/the_commonwealth_times_august_27_2025\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Commonwealth Times<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><u>Info about students<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>These are only students specifically named in individual awards \u2014 the overall awards for best magazines and newspaper are thanks to nearly 800 other students collaborating last year even if they can&#8217;t all be individually named.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Claudia Andrade-Ayaya is a staff contributor and editor for Ink Magazine and a junior Music student.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Amaris Bowers served as Managing Editor for River City Fashion from 2024-2025 and graduated in fall 2024 with a B.S. degree in Mass Communications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Reese Cilley served as Pwatem Editor-in-Chief from 2003-2005 and graduated in 2025 with a B.F.A. degree in Communication Arts.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Summer DeCiucis served as Editor-in-Chief for River City Fashion from 2024-2025 and graduated in spring 2025 with a B.S. degree in Mass Communications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Anthony Duong is a Commonwealth Times photographer and cartoonist, and a graduate student in Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Kyler Gilliam is a Commonwealth Times Staff Writer and a senior Mass Communications student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Killian Goodale-Porter served as illustrations editor for The Commonwealth Times from 2024-2025 and graduated in 2025 with a B.F.A. degree in Communication Arts and a Baccalaureate Certificate in Product Innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Gillian Grunenfelder is a Pwatem contributing artist and graduated in 2024 with a B.F.A. degree in Communication Arts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Kylie Grunsfeld is a Pwatem contributing photograhper and sophomore English student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Casey Kendle is a Pwatem contributing writer and a senior English student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Zach Montgomery served as designer for River City Fashion\u2019s magazine in 2025, currently art director for the Student Media Center and is a senior Graphic Design student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Elizabeth Murphy served as a photographer for River City Fashion magazine in 2025 and is a junior Photography and Film student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Elina Perera served as a staff writer and editor for Pwatem and is a junior Pre-Medical Lab Sciences student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Victor Romanko served as Art Director for The Commonwealth Times from 2024-2025 and graduated in 2025 with a B.F.A. degree in Kinetic Imaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Aisha Virk serves as Art Editor and Social Media Manager for Ink Magazine and is a junior Graphic Design student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Arrick Wilson served as sports editor for The Commonwealth Times in 2021-2022 and photo editor from 2022-2025, and graduated in 2025 with a B.S. degree in Mass Communications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 Thailon Wilson served as sports editor for The Commonwealth Times in 2024-2025, earned his B.S. degree in Mass Communications in 2025 and is currently a graduate student in Mass Communications.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Student Media Center (SMC) at VCU continued its impressive streak of national recognition at the SPJ\/ACP\/CMA Convention (MediaFest25) in Washington D.C. last month. Students producing work through their involvement with the SMC have consistently gained national attention over the past several years, and this year was no different. The SMC picked up a total [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1009,"featured_media":735,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-2025-spring-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1009"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":721,"date":"2025-10-29T13:11:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T13:11:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/?p=721"},"modified":"2025-11-10T20:38:41","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T20:38:41","slug":"annual-alcohol-and-other-drug-policy-and-resources-notification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/annual-alcohol-and-other-drug-policy-and-resources-notification\/","title":{"rendered":"Annual Alcohol and Other Drug Policy and Resources Notification"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dear VCU Community Members,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Creating a positive environment for learning is essential to the VCU community. Alcohol and other drugs can interfere with academic success and campus safety. At VCU, we proactively address these issues in both our well-being programs and our policy enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VCU Alcohol and Other Drugs Policy provides information about protecting your health, sustaining safety and promoting the general well-being of the VCU community. All VCU students are asked to take a moment to read the <a href=\"https:\/\/massmail.vcu.edu\/trk\/click?ref=z173r7sgll_0-33679_0_0x349e99x0580\">VCU Alcohol and Other Drug Policy<\/a> in the online VCU Policy Library.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The policy outlines the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>VCU standards of conduct surrounding alcohol and other drugs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>University and community resources.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The health effects of alcohol and other drugs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Federal and state laws pertaining to alcohol and other drugs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Medical amnesty for students seeking medical assistance for themselves or others.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition, please be aware that VCU\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/massmail.vcu.edu\/trk\/click?ref=z173r7sgll_0-33679_0_0x349e8fx0580\"><strong>RecWell<\/strong><\/a> provides a variety of alcohol and other drug prevention education and online resources. This includes a free, brief online self-assessment that provides personalized feedback and information on how relationships with alcohol and other drugs relates to goals and choices. VCU News also published this helpful <a href=\"https:\/\/massmail.vcu.edu\/trk\/click?ref=z173r7sgll_0-33679_0_0x354af4x0580\">Making Safe Choices<\/a> article recently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VCU\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/massmail.vcu.edu\/trk\/click?ref=z173r7sgll_0-33679_0_0x354af5x0580\">Rams in Recovery<\/a> is an active community that supports students and staff in recovery and celebrates all that life in college can be without alcohol and other drugs. Email recovery@vcu.edu for more information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Best wishes for a safe and productive academic year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sincerely,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br>Division of Student Affairs<br>Virginia Commonwealth University<br>dsa@vcu.edu<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear VCU Community Members, Creating a positive environment for learning is essential to the VCU community. Alcohol and other drugs can interfere with academic success and campus safety. At VCU, we proactively address these issues in both our well-being programs and our policy enforcement. VCU Alcohol and Other Drugs Policy provides information about protecting your [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1009,"featured_media":672,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,1,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-2025-spring-2026","category-uncategorized","category-vpsa-communications"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1009"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/721\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/studentaffairs\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}]