Illustration by Lauren Baldwin
A Welcoming Campus
VSU seeks a more inclusive campus
An advisory board at Virginia State University in Ettrick is seeking to make the campus more inclusive. The University’s diversity and inclusion initiative is comprised of students, faculty, staff and community leaders who volunteered to help develop a comprehensive living environment for VSU, according to Chevelle Moss-Savage, program administrator for the Advisory Board for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Queer/Questioning Intersex Asexual/Ally + (LGBTQIA+) Diversity and Inclusion. Initiative participants want to create a diversity and inclusion map of all safe zones and gender-inclusive bathrooms, add more gender-inclusive bathrooms, improve VSU’s rank on the Campus Pride Index listing of LGBTQ-friendly schools, and create a process to review all university documents for inclusivity.
The advisory board was created by VSU President Makola M. Abdullah to investigate ways for the university to be a more supporting learning environment for all students, faculty and staff within the LGBTQIA+ community.
The school in August 2017 became the first historically black university to provide gender inclusive bathrooms on campus, and is the first with a university-wide diversity and inclusion initiative to create a more inclusive campus culture for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, and asexual/ally students, according to VSU.
“The University understands the importance of generating a diverse and inclusive campus atmosphere for all students, faculty and staff,” according to Dr. Letizia Gambrell-Boone, vice president of Student Success and Engagement at VSU, in a release.
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Before and after example at Route 1 and Willis Road of what the changes to the area could look like when implemented (images courtesy Chesterfield County Planning Department)
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Jefferson Davis Corridor concept plan (Image courtesy Chesterfield County Planning Department)
Motor City
Planners envision a new downtown along Route 1 in Chesterfield County
Redevelopment along the U.S. Highway 1 corridor in Chesterfield County is getting a boost through a county grant and the release of a development plan.
The county in late April approved the Northern Jefferson Davis Special Area Plan, which seeks to stabilize and improve existing neighborhoods, and calls for creation of a downtown-like area at the intersection of U.S. 1 and Willis Road. Downtown Route 1 would be a high-density, mixed-use community, with high-rise, multifamily homes and the restaurants and retail mix that would support the residents, according to the plan.
The 151-page plan also calls for adding pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure along Jeff Davis Highway, area waterways and through neighborhoods, and for providing area residents with new transportation options. The area is 13.5 square miles from north of old Bermuda Hundred Road to the city of Richmond. It includes Ampthill, Bensley and Bellwood.
The plan envisions mixed-use, walkable neighborhoods.
The Jefferson Davis Association, a nonprofit that seeks to boost the U.S. Highway 1 corridor, has received a $25,000 federal redevelopment grant through the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors. The grant will be used to hire two part-time employees that would pursue permanent grant funding, support existing neighborhoods associations and improve communications with over 12,000 residents and business owners along Route 1, according to Kim Marble, president of the association.
This June’s parade will focus on decor since it will take place before sundown. (Photo courtesy James River Advisory Council)
Boat Parade
A Christmas tradition is coming in July along the James River. You can watch a flotilla of holiday-decorated boats motor 14 miles along the river on Saturday, July 21, as part of the Christmas in July Parade of Lights. The 25th annual James River Parade of Lights was canceled in December because of poor weather. The boats can be seen at 7:30 p.m. at the Dutch Gap Boat Landing and at 7:45 p.m. from Henricus Historical Park. Call 804-748-1567.
