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Virginia Union University campus (Photo by Ayasha Sledge)
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Dr. Joseph Johnson served as VUU's acting president from July 2016 to September 2017. (Photo by Ayasha Sledge)
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Virginia Union University's new president, Dr. Hakim J. Lucas
Nestled north of downtown Richmond is a school that has served as an educational haven for people of color for more than 150 years. Virginia Union University, a historically black institution has graduated alumni including former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, NBA star Ben Wallace, and Oprah Winfrey Network life coach Iyanla Vanzant. With just over 1,500 students and a rich history in the metro Richmond area, Virginia Union continues to thrive as its next president takes office this month.
In mid-August, the university announced the appointment of Hakim J. Lucas, who will become the university’s 13th president Sept. 1.
He earned his bachelor’s degree from another HBCU (historically black college or university), Morehouse College in Atlanta, a master’s in education at Tufts University and his doctorate in education at Fordham University. He earned a master’s in divinity from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Lucas brings almost 20 years of higher education experience to VUU. In his most recent role as Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida, Lucas developed strategic plans which helped boost the university’s endowment by 53 percent, and netted more than $45 million in research grants. He’d been at Bethune-Cookman since 2012.
“Virginia Union University has a rich history of academic excellence, and I am honored to have the opportunity to lead this distinguished university,” Lucas says in a news release.
Dr. Joseph Johnson served as Virginia Union’s acting president since July 2016. In his first stint at VUU, he served as a senior vice president from January 2011 to December 2012, helping facilitate the writing of the school's strategic plan and the development of the Living and Learning Center. He has almost 50 years of education experience.
Access, Johnson emphasized in a July interview, is fundamental to what makes Virginia Union special and is a theme that links the school's past with its present. Virginia Union was established in the wake of the Civil War in the heart of the Confederacy — no small feat. "I get chills sometimes recalling the story," Johnson said. It is a powerful legacy indeed, particularly since the newly-established school was housed at Lumpkin's Jail, a former site where enslaved men and women were terrorized into being "broken," or prepared for a lifetime of servitude. That the facility was then used to educate freedman is not lost on Johnson. Symbolically, then, VUU is a place where black intellectual freedom was redeemed from a cruel past.
Virginia Union serves a large population of students who have financial needs. According to U.S. News & World Report, 96 percent of its full-time undergraduates receive need-based financial aid.
In addition to being a place where students can get a quality liberal arts education, the university is also home to the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology, which is known for producing theological thought leaders.
Virginia Union is a place where care for students, many of whom are having their first taste of freedom, is paramount. "We offer a very caring and nurturing environment," Johnson pointed out. He's speaking of the well-known family atmosphere that is offered at HBCUs, where students are offered a more structured learning experience than those typically seen at larger schools or predominately white institutions.
Nylla Carter, a sophomore at Virginia Union, says size is a benefit. "Due to the fact our school is small, it gives us a better chance to learn and have one-on-one time with our teacher in a classroom setting,” she says. “It also allows the students to be closer and somewhat like a family because we all know each other."
Virginia Union is fiscally healthy. With a $31.5 million endowment, the school is well positioned to sustain itself, even in a climate that is difficult for many institutions. But the school still faces challenges. One in particular is the national political landscape, which is creating barriers for students to be able to get crucial Pell grants or low-rate loans. "Because of the way the federal government is now aligning itself [it’s] creating challenges for us," Johnson says.
It is no secret that colleges and universities can serve as catalysts in the communities in which they are based. Virginia Commonwealth University's influence in Richmond's downtown core is one example, but VUU is no different, though on a smaller scale. "Virginia Union is a very significant community partner in not only the present but the future of the Richmond metropolitan area," says Johnson. He says the school is engaged with Richmond Public Schools, and works with a number of local businesses and community organizations. One thing that Johnson is clear about: Virginia Union wants true partnership in its collaboration with its community. "Sometimes people will come to us and talk to us about wanting to help us," he recalled. VUU respectfully rejects the premise of "help," and adopts a view popularized by former South African president Nelson Mandela — partners must be aligned with the values and goals of Virginia Union's mission.
The university’s new president is well-poised to help it achieve its goals of continued community partnership and development. Lucas specializes in fundraising, strategic planning and retention at HBCUs, as evidenced by his prior roles as Director of Development at State University of New York at Old Westbury and as Dean of Institutional Advancement and Development at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, New York.
As Union and its new leader foray into the future, Lucas says, “I look forward to joining the dedicated administrators, faculty and staff as we continue to make a difference in the academic life of our students.”
